The post Billy Graham Devotional 13 August 2019 – Life-Changing Power appeared first on Flatimes.
Cathedral choir’s 38,000 ft high performance
The group was returning from a visit to Krakow in Poland when it was asked by the captain if it would sing while on board the Jet2 Flight.
Singing mostly using music sheets on their phones, they were given a large applause after their short burst of the Tantum Ergo and the Amen.
Our Cathedral Choir sang at 101 metres under ground and 38,000 feet above ground during their tour to Poland- here’s a video of them on @jet2tweets LS950 very early this morning as they returned home! pic.twitter.com/CIJVWh0wfD
— Wakefield Cathedral (@WakeCathedral) August 12, 2019
Wakefield Cathedral’s Canon Precentor, the Revd Canon Leah Vasey -Saunders said: “This is taking the English choral tradition to new heights!
“It was great to be asked, and a fantastic end to our choir tour.”
The choir’s visit to Poland also saw a performance in a salt mine 101m underground as well as appearances at numerous churches and a music festival.
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Fired for Following the ‘Billy Graham Rule’? Former Sheriff Deputy Is Suing
A former sheriff’s deputy of a North Carolina town says he was fired because he followed the so-called Billy Graham rule and refused to be alone with any woman who wasn’t his wife.
Manuel Torres, who also serves as a deacon at East Sanford Baptist Church in Sanford, N.C., is suing the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the towns of Siler City and Apex for religious discrimination, according to ABC 11 in Raleigh-Durham.
The lawsuit says he was “ordered to train a female deputy, which would require he spend significant periods of time alone in his patrol car with the female officer trainee.” When he asked for accommodations, his requests were “alternately granted and denied.”
The suit even claims the department once retaliated against him by denying him backup “where a gun was present on the scene,” ABC 11 reported.
An official within the sheriff’s office “expressed his anger” at Torres’ religious beliefs prior to his dismissal, the suit says.
Torres is suing the towns of Apex and Siler because, he says, they refused to hire him due to his religious beliefs after his dismissal.
Billy Graham and his associates famously made a pledge early in his ministry never to be alone with any woman that wasn’t their wife.
Vice President Mike Pence also follows the rule. He said in 2002 the rule helps “build a zone around your…
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Pope warns of dangers of nationalism
The pope’s comments came in an interview by Vatican Insider, the online news supplement to the Italian newspaper La Stampa.
Asked about the dangers of sovereignty or nationalism, the pope said it represented an attitude of isolation and closure.
“A country must be sovereign, but not closed” he said.
The pontiff suggested national sovereignty should be defended but not at the detriment of relationships with other countries.
When he was asked about his views on immigration, Pope Francis said: “First and foremost never neglect the most important right of all: the right to life. Immigrants come above all to escape from war or hunger.
Concerning immigrants already in one’s home country, certain “criteria must be followed,” he said.
“First, to receive, which is also a Christian, Gospel duty. Doors should be opened, not closed. Second, to accompany. Third, to promote. Fourth, to integrate” the newcomers in the host communities, he said.
In the interview, Pope Francis said the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the Amazon is an “urgent” gathering, not of scientists and politicians, but for the Church, whose focus in discussions will be evangelisation.
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2020 named ‘Year of the Bible’ for worldwide evangelicals
Secretary General Bishop Efraim Tendero says he wants evangelicals across the world to read the Bible and reflect more, invest in the translation and publication of it and ensure people in all walks of life can engage with it.
Addressing the thousands gathered at the Jesus Global Youth Day in Manila, Philippines, he said: “Properly understood, the Bible points us to the Creator whose Word is true, righteous and endures forever.
“We will highlight the importance of the Bible as the enduring foundation for fostering unity, freedom, development and quality of life today and for the years to come.”
The yearlong initiative will launch formally at the newly-built Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC in September and has the backing of ministries such as Wycliffe Bible Translators, YWAM, American Bible Society, and Call2All.
The WEA represents some 600 million evangelical Christians across the world with the intention to “advance the Good News of Jesus Christ and effect personal and community transformation for the glory of God”.
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Hillsong worship leader renounces faith
One of the writers of some of Hillsong’s biggest worship songs has said he’s "losing his faith".
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A true American hero comes home: The power of community
With these words, Roy Knight III described the remarkable funeral service held last Saturday for his father, Roy Knight Jr.
Col. Knight’s homecoming made national headlines last week, and for good reason.
A true American hero
Roy A. Knight Jr. enlisted in the United States Air Force just days after his seventeenth birthday, following the example of his five older brothers, all of whom served in World War II. He served in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea, then became a fighter pilot, serving in Germany and France.
He and his family returned to Texas in 1963. He completed his bachelor’s degree, then received orders for Southeast Asia. He reported in January 1967 and flew combat missions almost daily until he was shot down on May 19, 1967.
Col. Knight was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, and six Air Medals for his bravery. His remains were recovered and identified in February 2019.
“Dallas Love Field fell absolutely quiet”
A reporter named Jackson Proskow was at Love Field Airport in Dallas last Thursday. He had been covering the shooting in El Paso and was waiting for his connecting flight to New York City. There, he said, “Dallas became the place where the weight of the world seemed to melt away—the place where the good outweighed the bad for the first time in days.”
Here’s what happened: the reporter noticed camera crews at the gate, then a gate agent from Southwest Airlines began handing out American flags. Next came an announcement over the PA system stating that an inbound plane was carrying Col. Knight’s remains.
“Today, Col. Knight is coming home to Dallas,” said the agent.
He told the waiting crowds that Col. Knight said farewell to his five-year-old son at this very airport fifty-two years earlier before leaving to go to war. Then the agent made this remarkable…
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What Do You Do If Most of Your Church Members Do Not Live in the Community?
Perhaps the most common question I get in church revitalization goes something like this inquiry: “What do I do to get people in the community to come to our church when our members don’t live in or near the community?”
My response is usually not well received. Simply stated, you can’t expect the community to come to your church if your members don’t live in the community. The most common reason someone attends and eventually connects with a church is relationships. Those relationships are unlikely to develop when church members and community members live in two different places.
Further, community members will often feel like you don’t care about them if members live elsewhere. It’s really an untenable situation.
Is it an impossible situation? To call any situation impossible is to deny the power of God. But it is a very difficult situation, one that rarely ends well. A few radical decisions have to be made:
- Someone must become a missional presence in the community. You can’t be on the mission field in absentia. You must live there. If the church does not have one or more families living in the community, it does not qualify to be a gospel presence there. In fact, the church should have several families willing to live in the community.
- The church must begin to look like the community. If the community is 90 percent non-white and all the church members are white, the church obviously does not reflect the community. Until the demographics of the community and the church are more…
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Joyce Meyer Devotional 12 August 2019 — I Am Protected
The post Joyce Meyer Devotional 12 August 2019 — I Am Protected appeared first on Flatimes.
