125-Year-Old Texas Church Mysteriously Catches Fire, Burns to the Ground

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125-Year-Old Texas Church Mysteriously Catches Fire, Burns to the Ground


125-Year-Old Texas Church Mysteriously Catches Fire, Burns to the Ground


Investigators are still trying to determine why a historic Texas church caught fire on Monday. The 125-year-old Church of the Visitation in Westphalia was all but destroyed after igniting on the morning of July 29. Tragically, the incident occurred just as congregants were planning a celebration to mark the church’s anniversary.


A heart-thumping video showed the beautiful building engulfed in uncontrollable flames — residents reported spotting smoke rising from the building some despite being some five miles away from the site.


“(It’s) extremely difficult and painful to be here,” Joe Vasquez, bishop of the Austin Diocese, explained to KWTXon Monday as the fire ripped through the sanctuary. “I’m very deeply affected by this and I know the people here are also heartbroken.”


The church has announced that it will be taking donations in a bid to rebuild the stunning structure. “This architectural beauty is now a loss,” Vasquez told the outlet, “and that’s what saddens all of us here.”


The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the incident. At this time, they are unsure of how the fire began.


The church was first constructed in 1894 after a storm destroyed two previous buildings. In December 1978, the church received the crucial “Texas Historical Marker,” in a…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Lebanon band banned from festival performance for upsetting Christians

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Lebanon band banned from festival performance for upsetting Christians

Mashrou’ Leila, were set to perform at Byblos music festival on August 9th. But the set has been cancelled “to prevent bloodshed and preserve security” according to the organisers, after Christian critics of the band on social media threatened to attack the concert, over lyrics they labelled as “blasphemous”.

The office of the town’s archbishop had published a statement that said the group “undermine religious and human values [and] attack sacred symbols of Christianity”, while the country’s Catholic Information Centre called them a “danger to society”.

 

 

Human rights organisations have condemned the decision, and the wider campaign against the group. Lama Fakih, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said: “The cancellation of Mashrou’ Leila’s concert reflects the government’s increased reliance on overbroad and abusive laws to stifle and censor activists, journalists, and artists.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the band, whose frontman is openly gay, said their lyrics were “misinterpreted” saying: “We are not on some sort of mission to arbitrarily blaspheme and disrespect people’s religious symbols”.

 

 

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What a Replant Looks Like From Within

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Replants sometimes struggle with their internal identity. Today we look at the inner workings of a replant and how to use your unique position for Kingdom impact.

Episode Highlights:

  • Not only do you need spousal cooperation in replanting, you need spousal perseverance as well.
  • “Just running the denominational programs” rarely draws people to a church anymore.
  • Gathered worship has to start where the people in the church are and needs to engage them authentically.
  • Praying for other churches models selflessness.

The five observations we discuss are:

  1. The replanter’s family
  2. The extinction of growth by low hanging fruit
  3. Worship in a replant
  4. Replants shouldn’t try to be a smaller version of a larger church
  5. Church replant facility uses

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

Revitalize & Replant is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and ChurchReplanters.com. More than 10% of churches in North America are at risk of closing and the North American Mission Board is committed to reversing this trend by decreasing the death rate of existing churches while simultaneously increasing the birth rate of new churches. To learn more about what it means to become a replanting pastor or to explore resources for replanting and revitalization in your own church, visit ChurchReplanters.com.

Submit Your Question:

Do you have a question about church revitalization or replanting for us to use on the…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Thom Rainer.

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Convicted Christian wins battle for church services for inmates

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Convicted Christian wins battle for church services for inmates

Freddie O’Neil, is serving a ten year sentence for rape and is currently an inmate at the John Howard Centre in London.

After being transferred to the psychiatric centre in 2018, Mr O’Neil filed a complaint about the lack of Christian services available to inmates.

Mr O’Neil claimed his numerous requests were not taken seriously by the NHS Trust which runs the centre, after which he sought legal action with the Christian Legal Centre (CLC).

A pre-action letter was sent to the East London Foundation Trust (ELFT) stating that, as a Christian, the patient needed to attend Sunday Christian services each week and receive Holy Communion.

CLC had been informed that no such service was available, which was in contrast to the Friday prayers being organised for Muslim inpatients each week.

 

In refusing the patient these services, CLC claimed the John Howard Centre was not only discriminating against Christian patients on the grounds of religion, but also breaching a number of its legal obligations including the right to freely exercise their religious faith through worship and observance.

Following a year-long legal battle, O’Neil said he knew he needed to take a stand, not only for his own spiritual needs but for those of his fellow inmates saying: “I am a damaged person, a convicted criminal, but the only true redemption I have found in my life is hope in Jesus Christ. I…

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Ancient Church of the Apostles reportedly discovered: Three reasons you should care

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Ancient Church of the Apostles reportedly discovered: Three reasons you should care

Note from Dr. Denison: While my wife and I are on vacation, our oldest son, Ryan, is writing The Daily Article. Ryan is an MDiv graduate of Truett Seminary and currently completing his PhD in Church History at B. H. Carroll Theological Institute. He has written The Daily Article in my absence in the past and was the co-author of our latest publication, How Does God See America? I am honored to share this ministry with him.

Archaeologists working in what they believe to have been the biblical city of Bethsaida claim to have recently found the Church of the Apostles, a fifth-century church supposedly built over the home of the disciples Peter and Andrew. 

While it will likely take at least a year to be certain, the mosaic tiles found in the location “only appear in churches,” according to Professor R. Steven Notley, who helped lead the project. 

In 725 AD, the Bavarian bishop Willibald toured the Holy Land and wrote of seeing the church of Peter and Andrew, but, until recently, there had been little evidence to corroborate the report. That no other churches have been found in the region supports the notion that the latest discovery is authentic. 

However, as Notley said, “It would be normal to find an inscription in a church of the Byzantine period, describing in whose memory it was built.” Until such an inscription is unearthed, it will be difficult to verify the claim with any real certainty. 

Given the significance of Peter and Andrew—and if the location can be verified—the Church of the Apostles is likely to become among the most popular historical sites in the region, and particularly for members of the Roman Catholic Church since they consider Peter to be the first pope. 

Does the Church of the Apostles matter today?

As exciting as it would be to find verifiable evidence of such an ancient church, does anything about this story take it from being merely interesting to being personally relevant? 

After…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.

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Understanding the Secrets of Changing Levels by Pastor Paul Enenche

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Joel and Victoria Osteen’s Devotional 1 August 2019 – Seeing His Glory

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Prayer Points on Today’s Open Heaven 1 August 2019

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Multiplying Grace by Pastor David Ibiyeomie

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Rhapsody of Realities 1 August 2019 — Christ Our Mediator And Reconciler

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