Gospel for Asia With held Hundreds of Millions Meant for ‘Urgent’ Needs, Says ECFA

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Gospel for Asia With held Hundreds of Millions Meant for ‘Urgent’ Needs, Says ECFA

Christian Post Report – A screen shot of Gospel for Asia’s Christmas catalogue.

Shortly before cutting ties with Gospel for Asia last October, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability warned the organization’s leader, K.P. Yohannan, about a list of concerns it has with its financial accounting, including the withholding of hundreds of millions of donor dollars earmarked for “urgent” work overseas.

The warning is presented in a nine-page letter submitted as evidence in a class action lawsuit filed Monday against GFA, one of the largest missions agencies based in the U.S., alleging that the organization and several affiliates fraudulently solicited hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable donations, and misdirected the money into Yohannan’s personal empire.

In the letter dated Sept. 2, 2015, exactly one month before the ECFA cut ties with GFA, 16 key concerns about the way GFA conducts its financial affairs are highlighted.

Among the concerns are the presence of excessive cash balances held in partner field accounts in India and the use of trip participants to move hundreds of thousands of dollars out of the country that were not reported to U.S. authorities.

Concern was also raised about the use of nearly $20 million in donations earmarked for foreign missions for the construction of GFA’s new multimillion dollar headquarters in Texas.

Gospel for Asia (Photo: Screen Grab via HH Architects)

Gospel for Asia’s headquarters in Texas.

“Allegations were made that GFA had upwards of $150 million in partner field accounts, far more than necessary to provide appropriate operating reserves. During our visit on June 3, ECFA was informed that GFA field partner cash reserves were approximately $7 million,” said the letter signed by John C. Van Drunen, executive vice president of the ECFA.

“After ECFA requested detailed documentation of cash balances held by foreign field offices, on June 29, we discovered that GFA’s field partners had $259,437,098 on hand at March 31, 2014 and approximately $186 million in June 2015,” the letter noted.

When ECFA officials asked about the high cash balance in partner field accounts held in India, they were told “it was important to maintain the high balances in case the Indian government decided to block funds being transferred into the country.”

“The source of the balances was primarily from donor-restricted gifts to GFA, often raised in response to gift solicitations that communicated urgent field needs. ECFA staff expressed concern that the high reserves may not comply with ECFA Standards 4 and 7.1,” the letter continued.

It was only after the ECFA raised this concern that the organization put forward a plan to reduce the reserve cash balances to $72 million in late July and then to $11 million in late August. GFA staff told the ECFA that they had no control over field partners.

In a meeting with Yohannan in July as well, the ECFA said he told them he had no idea the field offices held such high cash balances.

“In our meeting on July 1, ECFA staff asked you what the GFA board would think if they knew of the high balances in partner field accounts. You indicated that neither the board nor you were aware of the magnitude of the balances. You responded, ‘They would be as surprised as I am,'” the letter noted.

The board was informed on July 13.

In further observations of the financial practices of GFA, the ECFA appeared dissatisfied with the reason the organization gave for using trip participants to hand-carry nearly $290,000 overseas.

“ECFA received concerns regarding GFA’s lack of disclosure with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding a total of $287,500 of cash sent with trip participants that exceeded federal mandatory reporting during the years 2013, 2014, and 2015,” the organization noted.

“On June 3, ECFA reviewed this issue regarding compliance with ECFA Standard 4. When ECFA staff queried GFA concerning the reason that excessive cash was carried out of the U.S., GFA staff said the practice was used to avoid reporting the incoming cash in India,” it added.

ECFA officials didn’t buy it.

“ECFA observes that GFA has been transferring approximately $50 million from the U.S. to India per year. Thus, carrying in a few hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to avoid reporting in India does not seem to be a sound basis for the practice,” it said. “While ECFA cannot conclusively determine if there was a sound basis to carry cash into India, we are clear that there is no justification to disobey U.S. law with respect to reporting cash carried out of the U.S.”

Source : Christian Post

Ciara Suing Rapper Ex-Fiance Future for Defamation

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Ciara Suing Rapper Ex-Fiance Future for Defamation

Christian Post Report – Singer Ciara arrives at the 2015 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, November 22, 2015.

Ciara Harris believes her ex-fiance and rapper Future has marred her public reputation. Now the R&B singer is suing him.

In the lawsuit obtained by the New York Daily News, Ciara, 30, says Future, who was born as Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn, publicly lied about paying $15,000 in child support and never seeing his child.

“Defendant has never paid the plaintiff ’15k a month’ for child support ever, but he made this statement deliberately to cast the plaintiff in a negative and disparaging light,” the lawsuit states.

While Future has claimed Ciara’s controlling nature has kept him from seeing his child, the singer said she has offered him multiple opportunities and he has done so 19 different times in 13 months.

“Some of those occasions spanned several days. (Ciara) has gone out of her way to bring the minor child to Georgia to spend time with the defendant,” the lawsuit states. “(Ciara) has never withheld the minor child from defendant and has offered numerous dates for visitation that the defendant has declined. Plaintiff’s name, professional reputation, reputation as a good mother and brand have been significantly injured.”

Despite her differences with the rapper, Ciara has been vocal about how much of a blessing their shared son is in her life.

“Honestly, I feel like everything in life happens for a reason and my son has been the greatest gift that God has given me in my life and been the most game-changing thing that’s happened to my life, in a necessary way,” she said on Power 105.1 FM’s syndicated radio show “The Breakfast Club” earlier this year.

According to the entertainer, she has already taught her son to praise Jesus.

“The other day we were saying, ‘Thank you, Jesus’ and I would say, ‘Say, thank you!’ And he would say, ‘Tank you!’ I’d say, ‘Je-sus’ and he’d say, ‘Yee-yus,'” she previously told People about her son. “It is so sweet!”

Although she only has one son, some believed the singer was also carrying another child by her boyfriend and Seattle Seahawks player Russell Wilson last year. The singer called in to the nationally syndicated “Russ Parr Morning Show” where she addressed pregnancy rumors started by fans who noticed that her normally slim figure was a little thicker around the mid-section.

Since some believed this was evidence of pregnancy, Ciara decided to respond by saying, “Of course not!”

“You know, it’s so funny, I might have had a cheeseburger a little too close to showtime. What’s funny is that I’ve learned, after pregnancy, your body changes differently,” she said on the radio show. “Listen, I can have a salad and it’ll be like ‘aww junk!’ [My stomach] was not that big, they exaggerated that. I’m not carrying anything in my belly but good food.”

Still, the singer has spoken about having children with the Seattle Seahawks’ Wilson in the future.

“I definitely [want more kids], yes. [Russell and I] discuss a lot of things … a lot of good things,” she previously told People.

Source : Christian Post

Cora Jakes Coleman Questions If God Told Le’Andria Johnson to Pass Out Cigarettes, Condoms

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Cora Jakes Coleman Questions If God Told Le’Andria Johnson to Pass Out Cigarettes, Condoms

Christian Post Report – “Preachers of Atlanta” premieres February 3, 2016. The cast features (l-r) Pastor Le’Andria Johnson, Pastor Canton Jones, Pastor Judah Swilley, Pastor Corey Hambrick and Pastor Kimberly Jones-Pothier. Premieres Feb. 3 at 10 p.m. ET.

Would God really tell Grammy Award winning gospel singer and pastor Le’Andria Johnson to minister to prostitutes by giving them cigarettes and condoms?

Bishop T.D. Jakes’ daughter and Faithing It: Bringing Purpose Back to Your Life! author Cora Jakes Coleman doesn’t seem to think so. After catching wind of the Oxygen show “Preachers Of Atlanta,” Coleman admits that her spirit was troubled when she witnessed Johnson’s actions.

“It vexed my spirit to sit back and watch it. I cannot wrap my head around God telling someone to give somebody a cigarette,” Coleman said on Periscope, according to EEW Magzine reports. “She says that she cusses, she drinks, but at the end of the day, when the Lord tells her to do something, she does it.”

The daughter of the famed senior pastor at The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas, went on to speak about Johnson’s claims that God told her to lead such an unconventional ministry.

“I feel like when you start saying, ‘God told me to do this’ and ‘God said so and so,’ that you have to be careful with that because you have to be held accountable for what you said that God told you to do,” she said.

However, Johnson, the 33-year-old pastor and founder of Imperfect People Changing Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia, explained her ministry to Entertainment Tonight.

“I want to meet them where they are, you know? And the best thing that I can do [is] dress up like them … and start a conversation, create a conversation,” Johnson told Entertainment Tonight. “By the end of that conversation, then I can be like, ‘OK, let me take this wig off, you know, let me come back. I’m gonna meet you at this place, let me come back and I’m dressed in regular clothes,’ and they gonna be like, ‘Who are you?’ And I’m like, ‘The same girl that was in them shorts and fishnets.'”

It is hard for the youth minister to agree with Johnson’s representation of Christ.

“This is a poor representation of what we as preachers and ministers of the gospel are supposed to be showing the people of God,” she said. “..We have to be very careful about what we allow people to see. There is an issue I have when you open up the world to seeing your struggle in such a way and then you don’t offer a resolution or a solution or wisdom or encouragement or something right off the bat.”

While Johnson allowed cameras to follow her as she cursed at her husband on the show, Coleman believes the pastor needs to be concentrating on her home, which is her “first ministry.”

“You are not concentrating on your first ministry,” Coleman said. “I think there is a thin line between being a preacher and cussing your husband out in the parking lot. I feel like if we continue to condone sin and we continue to allow sin to be okay, that we will really lose the integrity of our church and it’s not good.”

Source : Christian Post

Newboys Starting ‘Love Riot’ After Achieving First Platinum Record

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Newboys Starting ‘Love Riot’ After Achieving First Platinum Record

Newsboys (Photo: Newsboys)

Christian Post Report – (L-R) Jody Davis, Jeff Frankenstein, Duncan Phillips and Michael Tait are Newsboys.

After three decades in the music industry, the Newsboys have decided to do something different.

The Christian rock band, consisting of Duncan Phillips, Jody Davis, Jeff Frankenstein and Michael Tait, has decided to start a Love Riot.

Love Riot is the name of the group’s 19th studio album, which was inspired by their desire to spread love to people who need it.

“When I speak from stage, I often talk about love,” Newsboys frontman Michael Tait said in a statement obtained by CP. “Darkness has been so prevalent in our culture. Let’s have a love riot — it’s time.”

One of the ten songs featured on the record record is called “Guilty,” which also happens to be featured in the upcoming film “God’s Not Dead 2” that the band also appears in. However, the album is not going to focus on what’s wrong with the world, according to the band’s drummer.

“It doesn’t work to get out there and point a finger,” drummer Duncan Phillips said in a statement. “We want to impact the world with a straight and true message, and deliver it with all-encompassing love.”

Last year, the group passed a major milestone by officially receiving a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for their song “God’s Not Dead (Like A Lion).” The song, released on the independent contemporary Christian music record label Inpop Records, was one of the first Platinum certifications in Christian music last year, which means it sold at least one million units.

Mark Lusk, president of Inpop Records, spoke about the importance of the Daniel Bashta written record “God’s Not Dead,” which was released in 2011.

“‘God’s Not Dead’ is among Christian music’s most significant songs of the decade,” Lusk said in a statement. “Newsboys’ impassioned performance of Daniel’s powerfully-penned statement of Truth is not only a defining song in Inpop’s history, but it continues to encourage people around the world to stand for Christ.”

Although Newsboys have sold more than 8 million units, garnered eight Gold certifications with 33 number one radio hits with numerous Dove awards and Grammy nominations, the group only received their first platinum record last year.

In a previous interview with The Christian Post, Newsboy drummer Duncan Phillips spoke about how meaningful each accomplishment is for the band.

“To be in it as long as we have and to kind of be riding the success level that we are, I don’t take it for granted. We’re all stoking so hard saying I can’t believe it,” he previously told The Christian Post. “People still want to come see us play. I’m the most excited about this band than I’ve ever been in my life.”

Love Riot will be available where albums are sold on March 4. For more information, visit http://www.newsboys.com/.

Source : Christian Post

Iran Claims Republicans Worked to Stall Release of Pastor Saeed Abedini, American Hostage Until 2016 Elections

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Iran Claims Republicans Worked to Stall Release of Pastor Saeed Abedini, American Hostage Until 2016 Elections

saeed abedini (Courtesy of ACLJ)

Christian Post Report – Pastor Saeed Abedini is imprisoned in Iran for working with underground churches and his effort to build an orphanage.

A top Iranian official claims that Republican members of Congress directly asked the Iranian administration to hold off on releasing Pastor Saeed Abedini and three other American hostages until the eve of the 2016 elections.

“In the course of the talks for exchanging prisoners, the Republican rivals of the current U.S. administration who claim to be humanitarians and advocates of human rights sent a message telling us not to release these people (American prisoners) and continue this process (of talks) until the eve of U.S. presidential elections,” said Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, according to Tasnim News Agency, a privately owned news agency whose stated aim is “defending the Islamic Revolution against negative media propaganda.”

Abedini and three other Americans were released by Iran back in January following a prisoner swap, after years of campaigning for their freedom.

Admiral Ali Shamkhani(Photo: Reuters/Khaled al-Hariri)Admiral Ali Shamkhani, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Director, speaks to the media after his arrival at Damascus airport, September 30, 2014.

Some Republican presidential candidates, such as Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, celebrated the release of the hostages, but blasted President Barack Obama for agreeing to the prisoner swap that entailed giving Iranian regime $1.7 billion in exchange for releasing five Americans.

Cruz, who had spoken out for Abedini’s release, said that the pastor coming home to his family in Boise, Idaho, is great news, but added that the deal is problematic, because “it reflects a pattern we have seen in the Obama administration over and over again of negotiating with terrorists, and making deals and trades that endanger U.S. safety and security.”

Rubio added in a separate statement: “Our enemies now know that if you can capture an American, you can get something meaningful in exchange for it.”

He insisted, however, that he still would have found a way to free the Americans.

“We would have given them sanctions, crippling sanctions … there would have never even been a discussion on these deals until they were released. Iran needs more from us than we need from them. We need to remind ourselves of that,” Rubio asserted.

Shamkhani refused to say which Republicans allegedly asked for a delay in releasing the American hostages, but said Iranian officials “acted upon our independent resolve and moved the process forward.”

The Supreme National Security Council Secretary also argued that Iran decided to release a number of the Americans the regime is holding hostage ‘based on the country’s [so-called] humanitarian approach’.”

Abedini, who Iran claims endangered national security because of his Christian faith, opened up about some of the abuses he suffered during an interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren in North Carolina.

The pastor told Fox News that he was beaten and tortured during prison, with interrogators trying to get him to sign confession papers for crimes he didn’t commit.

Abedini also refused to renounce his Christian faith despite pressure to do so, and revealed that he would spend some days in near constant prayer.

“Each day for hours and hours, sometimes more than 20 hours, I just prayed,” he said.

“The best thing I could do over there was [pray],” he added.

Source : Christian Post

Cleveland Cavaliers Coach Latest in NBA to Talk About Jesus and Criticisms

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Cleveland Cavaliers Coach Latest in NBA to Talk About Jesus and Criticisms

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue (Photo: Reuters/USA Today Sports/David Richard)

Christian Post Report – Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue reacts after a 114-107 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Quicken Loans Arena.

Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue is not worried about the speculation that he schemed behind the scenes to get the position of head coach, saying that people spoke negatively even about Jesus so he doesnt expect to be an exception.

After former coach David Blatt was fired in the middle of the season last month, Lue took over the Cavs’ head coaching position. However, with his new position came rumors and criticism.

“Look, they ridiculed Jesus Christ, so I’m certainly no exception. I don’t care what’s being said,” Lue told Cleveland.com. “I know how loyal I was to Coach Blatt, and the people that know me understand that. I have no control over what people think. I have a job to do and I’m going to do my best.

Since he has heard criticism about himself possibly scheming to get the job, Lue is dispelling the myths concerning the matter.

“Me and Blatt are cool. We’ve spoken a few times since [he was let go]. I texted him a few days ago, so it’s not what people want to think,” he said. “To say I was doing things behind the scenes to get this job is crazy. This job? A team that’s in first place? Come on.”

Lebron James, the 31-year-old Cavs forward, has also exalted the name of Jesus Christ when he suffered trying times during this basketball season. In a Dec. 4 game against the New Orleans Pelicans, James worked hard to score a season high 37 points in his team’s 114-108 overtime loss.

While some questioned if the return of the team’s then injured guards Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving would be a solution to some of the Cavaliers’ problems, James used the name of Jesus Christ to quell those questions.

“I hope we don’t think that way. It’s never that way,” James said, in a previous Cleveland.com report.

“When you get your guys back, you prepare just as you prepare before. There’s only one guy ever in the world that everything will be all right when he comes back and that’s Jesus Christ. Other than that, you can’t bank on nobody being OK.”

For Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard D’Angelo Russell, knowing that people like James and Jesus suffered from criticism gives him comfort when facing his public scrutiny. While his shooting has been inconsistent after transitioning from a starter to bench player, Russell brushed off his critics by saying, “LeBron gets criticized. Jesus still gets criticized,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Anytime anybody says anything bad about me, that means I’ve got to work,” he said in a Times report last month. “LeBron [James] still gets criticism. Jesus still gets criticized.”

Source : Christian Post

Lolo Jones Fans Scold Olympian for Retaliating Against Critic

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Lolo Jones Fans Scold Olympian for Retaliating Against Critic

Lolo Jones (Photo: Reuters/Danny Moloshok)

Christian Post Report – U.S. Olympic track and field star Lolo Jones poses at Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Sports 2014 award show in Los Angeles. California, July 17, 2014.

When Lolo Jones retaliated against one critic by posting the person’s personal photo on her Twitter as a form of revenge for negative comments, the Olympian’s followers did not approve.

During Super Bowl 50, the 33-year-old Christian hurdler posted an image of herself during a race and jokingly wrote the caption, “when they say ribs are ready before Super Bowl starts”

A critic who caught wind of the image decided to respond, “well we know you were the last to get yours then.”

Jones decided to react to the message by writing, “When haters try to discourage you, Keep working. Victories don’t come without failures along the way.”

However, she didn’t stop there. The athlete with over 400,000 Twitter followers chose to take things one step further by posting an image of the critic to her social media page.

She proceeded to blast the image by writing, “My face when I wake up in the morning with no makeup on… (y’all didn’t think I would let her off that easy huh).”

However, a number of Jones’ followers did not approve of her retaliation.

“You are an Olympian Lolo,” one person wrote. “Do you really need to do this? C’mon!”

Another referenced Luke 6:29 by telling Jones, “Lolo, you could’ve turned the other cheek…why let it get to you?”

The move may have caused Jones to lose some fans.

“You were one of my favorite athletes and I looked up to you a lot,” one person wrote. “But I just lost so much respect for you.”

While it is unclear why Jones chose to single out the critic, she has admitted to struggling with feelings of defeat after struggling with racing and injuries in recent years. Last year Jones suffered from a torn hip labrum, which resulted in her third major surgery in recent years, and she admitted to feeling defeated.

“It was the first time in my career that I thought, I don’t know if I can try this again. Mentally, I was breaking down,” she told ESPN last year. “I love running and had a desire to go for Rio in 2016, but the setback was mentally draining. It messed with my confidence.”

Although Jones made a name for herself after winning three NCAA titles, she has struggled to earn an Olympic medal in her appearances at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics. While she has yet to earn a medal for the Olympic games, where she competed for hurdling and bobsledding, Jones believes she is better off for the experience after coming up short and being publicly ridiculed.

“It proved to me how mentally tough I am, that I could pour my heart into a sport in the face of failure. This helps going into Rio, where people are saying, ‘She’s been injured, she’s too old, she should throw in the towel,'” Jones told ESPN . “I have already faced failure. You’ve got to continue to pursue your dreams even when it hurts. It’s not how you start, but how you finish.”

Source : Christian Post

Perry Noble on the 6 Signs That Prove Church Is Making a Difference

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Perry Noble on the 6 Signs That Prove Church Is Making a Difference

pastors (Photo: Screengrab/NewSpring Church/Perry Noble)

Christian Post Report – Pastor Perry Noble talks to congregants of NewSpring Church about sin and freedom, Anderson, South Carolina, January 24, 2016.

The Bible points to six ways in which the church has proved it can make a true difference, NewSpring Pastor Perry Noble explained in a recent blog post and sermon.

The six “signs” that prove the church can make a difference include devotion, a sense of awe, unity, generosity, sincerity, and salvation.

Scripture points to four ways to live out devotion, Noble explains, including the Apostle’s Teaching, fellowship, the breaking of the bread, and prayer.

Additionally, as Scripture explains in Acts 2:43, the early church had a perpetual “sense of awe” when witnessing the changes happening in Christianity.

“The early church did not take for granted what was happening. The entire movement began NOT because of an unbelievable new set of teachings or because a new program was launched – it began because a guy named Jesus had been executed in public, was placed in a tomb and three days later walked out ALIVE!” Noble states on his blog.

The focus of the church in Acts 2:44 and 2:45 is to maintain unity and be generous to the community, Noble continues, adding that the early church also practiced sincerity in its commitment to Jesus.

Lastly, the sixth sign of a healthy, impactful church is salvation, the megachurch pastor concludes, explaining that the early church “carried a conviction that the Gospel was the greatest message in the world and that as they boldly declared it, along with the moving of the Holy Spirit, lives would continue to be impacted, entire communities would be changed and God would get the glory for it all.”

Noble also sought to explain how the church can make a real difference in his latest sermon on February 7, in which he provided several examples of how NewSpring gives back to its community and changes peoples’ lives.

Although he provided several instances of NewSpring’s dedication to the community, he spoke specifically about the church’s Gauntlet 2016, an annual student ministry conference that seeks to bring new youth to Christ.

After outlining the several ways in which NewSpring has made a difference, Noble explained that “the best is yet to come in this place,” adding, “Some of you are like ‘this sounds like bragging,” but no it’s not bragging ‘it’s boasting in the Lord.'”

Source : Christian Post

Nuns’ Soup Kitchen Face Eviction After Heavy Rent Increase

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Nuns’ Soup Kitchen Face Eviction After Heavy Rent Increase

Sisters of Fraternite of Notre Dame (Photo: Screengrab/WLS-TV)

Christian Post Report – A group of Chicago nuns facing eviction from the building where they run a soup kitchen in San Francisco, California, seen distributing food to the homeless in a WLS-TV report in Chicago, Illinois, on February 9, 2016.

A soup kitchen run by an order of nuns in the San Francisco area faces eviction after their rent was substantially increased by their landlord.

The Fraternite Notre Dame Mary of Nazareth Soup Kitchen were told last month that their rent was to increase from about $3,400 to $5,500.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle published Monday, Fraternite Notre Dame member Sister Mary of the Angels stated, “All we want to do is help the homeless.”

“Homeless people often have no affection, and here we can say hello and give them some good food. I give my heart,” explained the nun.

Based in Chicago, Illinois, the Fraternite Notre Dame is an order that came to the United States from France, where it was found in 1977.

In 2008, Fraternite Notre Dame opened a mission in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco, dubbing the location the Mary of Nazareth Soup Kitchen.

“Our Sisters serve a good, hot meal to 300 persons a day, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.,” stated the order on its website.

“They also go and bring full meals to senior citizens, and on a different day, they do the same to 25 AIDS patients living in their homes, near the Soup Kitchen.”

According to ABC Chicago, while the order does its share of charity work, Fraternite Notre Dame owns millions of dollars worth of property and is not in good official standing with the Roman Catholic Church.

“They call themselves a ‘traditional Catholic religious order’ and some donors may believe that the organization is approved by the church, but it isn’t,” reported ABC.

“They are part of an unsanctioned French order and overseen by a priest who the Chicago Archdiocese has said is not in good standing with the church.”

Local media noted that the Sisters are not taking the situation passively, having hired an attorney to fight the eviction.

“The sisters’ lawyer, Daniel Fitzpatrick, said the building’s owner wants the nuns to pay the higher rent or leave. Fitzpatrick is fighting the eviction, pro bono, on the grounds that the soup kitchen is also the nuns’ residence because they sleep in the back,” reported the Chronicle.

“Fitzpatrick said the rent was raised from $3,465 to $5,500 a month as of Jan. 15, and he advised the nuns to fight it. As it is now, he said, they can barely meet the lower rent by selling their pastries.”

Nick Patel, the landlord for the Mary of Nazareth Soup Kitchen, is out of the country. For the time being, the matter being put “on hold” according to his lawyer.

Source : Christian Post

Tina Campbell Gets Fired From ‘Mary Mary’?

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Tina Campbell Gets Fired From ‘Mary Mary’?

Tina Campbel (Photo: AMC Networks)

Christian Post Report – Mary Mary’s Tina Campbell

Tina Campbell’s position in the award-winning gospel duo Mary Mary is in jeopardy in the fifth season of her WEtv hit show with her sister and fellow group member, Erica Campbell.

“How about we just cast another Mary Mary,” Erica Campbell’s husband and the group’s producer, Warryn, asks in an upcoming trailer for the show provided by WEtv.

Warryn’s threat to fire Tina comes after the singer refuses to cooperate in expediting the process of creating another Mary Mary album. For over two years, both Erica and Tina took a hiatus from the group to focus on their solo music efforts.

While Tina is not quite ready to make another group album, the pair are contractually obligated to do so or may have to pay back over $1 million to the Sony record label. The former Mary Mary group manager Mitchell Solarek arrives on the scene in a trailer for the upcoming show, pitching one of his clients to join the award-winning music duo.

That client happens to be 18-year-old singer and former contestant on “The Voice,” Koryn Hawthorne.

While Tina tells her sister that the financial repercussions for not giving Sony their promised album would be Warryn’s problem, she refused to believe that there would be another version of the group without her.

“There’s never going to be another Mary Mary,” Tina said in a trailer for the show.

Last year, Tina told JET magazine that she refused to engage in drama on her show this season.

“I’m contractually committed, yet I want to reflect my God even with these executives and behind the scenes people,” Campbell told JET. “I’m not compromising my faith by no stretch of the imagination.”

While Tina is the more outspoken of the sisters, she admits that this season was harder for her to film because of her decision to release negativity in her life.

“I’m not what TV likes. TV likes drama and I have a very big personality, [and] I think TV likes that kind of person, but, they’re looking for fear and problems,” Tina added. “I ain’t that. So it’s challenging for me at times. They’ve got to be creative when they’re taping my life and things.”

The singer has publicly documented her decision to forgive her husband and drummer, Teddy Campbell, for stepping outside of their marriage and even renewed their vows. After engaging in a number of interviews, taking to social media, creating an album and devotional book about overcoming marital strains, Tina is ready to document the results of forgiveness on her show.

“All we’re doing is literally showing people what the process of forgiveness looks like — not just in marriage but in everything in our life,” she told JET.

Season five of Mary Mary airs March 3 on WEtv at 9 p.m. ET.

Source : Christian Post

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