pastor leaves church over Trump support evang abandoned role

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pastor leaves church over Trump support evang abandoned role

By Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter Follow
Pastor Keith Mannes, formerly of of East Saugatuck Church of Holland, Michigan, preaches his final sermon at an outdoor service on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020. | Screengrab: Facebook/East Saugatuck Church

A pastor of a Christian Reformed Church congregation in Michigan has left the ministry due to his belief that the church is too supportive of President Donald Trump.

Pastor Keith Mannes preached his final sermon at East Saugatuck CRC on Oct. 11, telling the Holland Sentinel that he felt the church had “abandoned its role” in not holding Trump more accountable.

“There’s a quote from Martin Luther King where he said, ‘The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state,’” Mannes told the Sentinel.

“The question of the church largely and how it’s functioned in this moment has been really disturbing. That’s been troubling enough that I need to lay it all down.”

According to the pastor, he had to be “very careful to not speak about” his issues with Trump with members of the congregation, adding that it was “tearing me up.”

Mannes, who said his dislike of Trump over his rhetoric and actions had been…

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Bird Breaks World Record for Non-Stop Flight After Flying From Alaska to New Zealand in 11 Days – Urban Christian News

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A bird said to have the aerodynamic build of a “jet fighter” has been tracked flying more than 12,000km (7,500 miles) from Alaska to New Zealand, setting a new world record for avian non-stop flight.

The bar-tailed godwit set off from south-west Alaska on 16 September and arrived in a bay near Auckland 11 days later, having flown at speeds of up to 55mph.

The male bird, known as 4BBRW in reference to the blue, blue, red and white rings fitted on its legs, also had a 5gm satellite tag harnessed on its lower back to allow scientists to track its progress. It was one of four to leave together from the Alaskan mudflats where they had been feeding on clams and worms for two months.

The male bar-tailed godwit, whose standard weight is between 190gm and 400gm, can double in size before a long flight but is able to shrink its internal organs to lighten the load.

After leaving Alaska, the birds headed south over the Aleutian Islands and on to the Pacific Ocean. The journey is thought to have been prolonged by strong easterly winds, which pushed the group towards Australia.

The satellite recorded a point-to-point flight of 12,854km but the scientists believe that once rounding errors are taken into account the journey will have been around 12,200km. It is estimated that the total flight time was 224 hours. The previous longest recorded non-stop flight by a bird, of 11,680km, was recorded in 2007.

Dr Jesse Conklin, from the Global Flyway Network, a consortium of scientists studying epic migratory journeys, said: “They seem to have some capability of knowing where they are on the globe….

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Husband forgives distracted driver who killed his wife: The power of faith in storms of deception and pain

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Husband forgives distracted driver who killed his wife: The power of faith in storms of deception and pain

(Adobe Stock)

Melissa Nielsen kissed her husband Curtis goodbye and told him she would see him soon. She then left for her daily morning walk around their neighborhood in Rigby, Idaho.

Within minutes, Curtis’s phone rang. It was Melissa’s friend saying she’d discovered her on the side of the road. Curtis rushed to the scene, where he found his wife lying on the ground. Their next-door neighbor, Lincoln Lear, was standing nearby in horror. 

Lincoln’s life was already deeply difficult. His wife suffers from a debilitating respiratory condition. In 2014, the couple lost their oldest son to a neuromuscular degenerative disorder. Then came the news that their two other children have the same disorder. 

That morning, Lincoln said he had been driving to work and reached down to plug in his phone to charge. In that moment, he swerved and hit Melissa. 

As Curtis knelt beside his wife’s body, their four children (ages fifteen, eleven, eight, and four) were sleeping at home. “I started breaking down,” he recalls. “I started to pray. I knew she wasn’t going to be with us after this.” 

However, Curtis knew Melissa would want him to forgive Lincoln. So that’s exactly what he did. 

Lincoln was subsequently charged with vehicular manslaughter and pleaded guilty, but Curtis has been supportive of him. Lincoln’s offense is punishable by a year in jail and steep fines, but Curtis insisted he not go to jail or pay anything. “He was always being tortured enough by his own actions,” Curtis explained, “and I didn’t want to jeopardize him not having time with his own family.” 

Lincoln says, “I feel so grateful. Everybody’s been so supportive, caring, and sympathetic. If his attitude was different, I’d be in jail.” 

The difference faith makes in a marriage 

Grace in a world of hate makes headlines and changes hearts. So does faith in a world of…

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8 Reasons It’s Tough for Some Folks to Hear Us When We Preach

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Not everyone listens to us when we preach, even when we’re in the same room. Here are some reasons some people struggle to listen:

  1. Something’s happened during the week that’s captured all their attention. It’s usually a difficulty, and it’s usually something that consumes their mind so much it’s tough to hear anything else. I think particularly of family and work issues.
  2. They’re typically so busy that just sitting still for any length of time—much less listening—is hard. Frankly, I’m one of those persons. I have to make myself listen, and it’s seldom easy.
  3. Distractions in the worship service have already diverted their attention. The distraction can be anything, especially as the enemy wants people not to hear the Word (see #8 below). Anything from a cold room temperature to a crackling sound system to a crying baby or a sleeping adult can turn our attention elsewhere.
  4. In some cases, we’ve hurt them in the past (or, at least that’s their perception), and they’ve never moved beyond that. They still come to church because it’s their church, but they find it hard to listen to us without remembering yesterday’s situation.
  5. Sometimes we’re boring. The problem is that we usually don’t recognize it, and few people are honest enough to tell us. They love us as their pastor. They wouldn’t want to hurt us—so they tolerate boredom but don’t listen.
  6. They’re frustrated with the music part of the worship service. In some cases, they cling to their personal…

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

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Lakewood returns to in-person worship after 7 months

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Lakewood returns to in-person worship after 7 months

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Follow
Pastor Joel Osteen speaks at Lakewood Church on Oct. 18, 2020. | YouTube/Lakewood Church

Lakewood Church in Texas reopened its doors for its first in-person worship service on Sunday since the COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions began in March. An emotional Pastor Joel Osteen spoke about reigning over problems to more than 4,000 people.

“About a month ago, or a few weeks ago, I felt like God put in my spirit it was time to come back,” said the pastor of the Houston megachurch, which held the indoor service at 25% capacity. Attendees were required to wear masks at all times and follow social distancing.

“We’ve never been closed; the building was closed but can I tell you these last months, we have had our greatest outreach of ministry in 61 years,” Osteen told the congregation, sharing that 12 million people watched the service online during Easter weekend.

“God has raised up Lakewood for this time. Hey, when does the world need hope any more than now?” 

During his sermon, Osteen said, “We were not created to go through life overcome by problems, struggling to make it in mediocrity … God created us to reign, to be the victor, not the victim.”

We can reign over all our…

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Swiss Missionary Kidnapped in 2016 Is Killed by Islamist Extremists

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Swiss Missionary Kidnapped in 2016 Is Killed by Islamist Extremists


Swiss Missionary Kidnapped in 2016 Is Killed by Islamist Extremists

A Swiss missionary who was kidnapped in January 2016 has been killed by Islamist extremists.

The woman, Beatrice Stöckli, was “apparently killed by kidnappers of the Islamist terrorist organization Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslim (JNIM) about a month ago,” according to the Swiss Foreign Ministry.

Christianity Today reports that Beatrice was killed just weeks before other hostages were freed, including Sophie Petronin, a 75-year-old French aid worker.

It’s unclear how Beatrice was killed.

“It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of our fellow citizen,” said Swiss Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis. “I condemn this cruel act and express my deepest sympathy to the relatives.”

Swiss officials said they “worked over the past four years, together with the relevant Malian authorities and with international partners, to ensure that the Swiss citizen was released and can return to her family. Members of the Federal Council have personally and repeatedly lobbied the relevant Malian authorities for her release. An interdepartmental task force under the leadership of the Foreign Affairs Ministry was deployed. The task force also included representatives of … [the police, the intelligence services] … and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. In addition, the authorities were in constant contact with the victim’s family.”

Beatrice was 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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Do I Know Anything About Harissa At All?

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Do I Know Anything About Harissa At All?

In America, the heavily spiced condiment has been diluted, distorted, and sold en masse. Mansour Arem’s setting the record straight.

The post Do I Know Anything About Harissa At All? appeared first on TASTE.

Papillon, Europe’s Most Wanted Bear, is Captured After 42 Days on the Run – Urban Christian News

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M49, also known as Papillon after the prison escape film, in July 2019 after an earlier escape. Photograph: AP
M49, also known as Papillon after the prison escape film, in July 2019 after an earlier escape. Photograph: AP

A brown bear nicknamed Papillon for its propensity for escaping from its enclosure has been captured by rangers in the Italian province of Trento after 42 days of freedom.

Codenamed M49, the 149kg (23st) bear fled from the Casteller centre on 27 July after climbing over its enclosure, which had been reinforced following previous escapes.

M49 was the most wanted bear in Europe and considered an “escape genius”. Italian authorities compared the bear to Papillon, the eponymous character from Henri Charrière’s memoir about escaping from a French penal colony, which was released as a film in 1973.

An order for the bear’s capture was issued in June 2019 by the president of Trento province, Maurizio Fugatti, who declared that the animal was a risk to humans after it was seen close to inhabited areas. The first escape took place on 15 July 2019, when M49 managed to climb over three electric fences and a four-metre-high barrier at a wildlife enclosure in the northern Italian province of Trento before disappearing into the woods.

On that occasion, the authorities granted permission to rangers to shoot the bear if it came close to inhabited areas. “The fact that the bear managed to climb over an electric fence with seven wires at 7,000 volts demonstrates that this specimen is dangerous and a public safety problem,” Fugatti stated in 2019.

The animal, which has been implicated in the killing of livestock, was captured on 29 April, but remained in captivity for only two…

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Terrorist is Shot Dead by Police in France After Beheading Teacher Who Showed His Class Cartoons of Mohammed for School Lesson

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The French President Emmanuel Macron denounced what he called an ‘Islamist terrorist attack’ after a teenager shouting Allahu Akbar allegedly beheaded a school teacher with a knife in Paris.

The victim was said to have been a middle school history teacher who had enraged parents by displaying cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to pupils.

The attacker, whose identity has not been officially established, was shot by French officers as they tried to arrest him and later died of his injuries, police said.

Today the French leader visited the school where the teacher worked in the town of Conflans-Saint-Honorine and met with staff.

He said: ‘One of our compatriots was murdered today because he taught… the freedom to believe or not believe.

‘He said the attack should not divide France because that is what the extremists want. We must stand all together as citizens.’

A source told Le Parisien: ‘The victim had recently given a lesson to his students on freedom of expression and had shown the caricatures of Muhammad’. The murdered teacher was later identified as Samuel P.

His lesson led to an enraged man confronting him with a knife, and then cutting his head off, said the source.

The dead suspected terrorist was described as an 18-year-old who was born in Moscow, and who had links with the school.

The bloodbath took place in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a suburb some 25 miles from the centre of the French capital on Friday at around 5pm (1500 GMT) near a school.

People are seen outside an entrance area near the scene of a stabbing attack in the Paris suburb of Conflans St Honorine. The dead suspected terrorist - killed by police - was described as an 18-year-old who was born in Moscow, and who had links with the school where the teacher he allegedly killed worked
People are seen outside an entrance area near the scene of a stabbing attack in the Paris suburb of Conflans…

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Pastor Murdered, Two Arrested, One at Large

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Pastor Murdered, Two Arrested, One at Large


Pastor Murdered, Two Arrested, One at Large

A Florida Pastor was murdered after an altercation broke out between a group of men in front of a local business. Gregory Boyd, 54, pastor of New Birth Harvest Outreach Ministries Churches of Deliverance in Miami, Florida, was allegedly shot and killed by three perpetrators when he was caught in the crossfires of the dispute, according to The Christian Post. Two of the alleged perpetrators have been arrested, but the third one is still at large.

According to the Miami-Dade Police Department, Boyd was murdered in front of the Shoe Time store at 6:05 P.M. on Thursday, September 10. He was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center. He died in the hospital from his injuries.

According to Local10, the two who were caught have confessed to the murder, but several people opened gunfire in the parking lot where Boyd was killed while walking to his car, according to investigators. Investigators believe Boyd wasn’t meant to be the target but was caught in the crossfire.

According to multiple outlets reporting on a Facebook live video that has since been taken down, the alleged homicide perpetrators were arguing about something before one of them opened fire. And according to witness statements given to Local10, one of the shooters was in a “white shirt” and “he kept shooting and shooting and shooting.” Another witness said “suddenly I heard all of these shots.” One of the…

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