The famous pastors who attended Justin and Hailey Bieber’s wedding

The pop star and model got legally married last year in private, planning to throw a bigger celebration later on, which they did at Montage Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina on Monday.

Hailey Baldwin grew up in a Christian family and is the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin. Justin Bieber came to faith as an adult, getting baptised in the bath at the home of Hillsong NYC leader Carl Lentz.

Carl Lentz posted a picture on Instagram of himself with a group of like-minded young pastors in America.

 

 

Alongside him was Chad Veach from Zoe Church, Judah Smith from City Church in Seattle, Joel Houston (son of Hillsong founder Brian Houston and co-pastor of Hillsong NYC) and Rich Wilkerson Jr., the pastor at Miami Vous church who conducted the wedding of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

 

 

Carl Lentz also uploaded a picture of Justin Bieber with his son, saying: “Love you @justinbieber …you are a loyal friend, a kind hearted human being, a musical genius and continue to grow into a fantastic HUSBAND! Congratulations to you and @haileybieber… and thanks for being a steadfast big bro, to this little man..your one of his heroes and I think he has picked wisely!! Future is bright…”

 

 

Chad Veach uploaded a picture of all the pastors posing in a ostentatious room in the venue.

 

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Ex-police officer found guilty of killing youth pastor

A jury reached the verdict in Amber Guyger’s high-profile trial for the killing of youth pastor Botham Jean, in Dallas, after six days of witness evidence but just a handful of hours of deliberation.

Cheers erupted in the courthouse as the verdict was announced, and someone yelled: “Thank you, Jesus!”

 

In Texas, the sentence for murder is from five to 99 years in prison. The jury returned on Tuesday afternoon for the punishment phase.

It is unclear how long that part of the trial will last. Testimony will resume on Wednesday.

(Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Botham Jean’s mother, Allison Jean, rejoices in the courtroom after fired Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger was found guilty of murder, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019, in Dallas.

 

The basic facts of the unusual shooting were not in dispute throughout the trial. In September 2018, Guyger walked up to Mr Jean’s apartment – which was on the fourth floor, directly above hers on the third – and found the door unlocked.

She was off duty but still dressed in her police uniform after a long shift, when she shot Mr Jean with her service weapon. The 26-year-old accountant had been eating a bowl of ice cream before she entered his home.

Jean grew up in St Lucia and attended Harding University, a private Christian university in Arkansas to start a his career as an accountant.

He often led campus worship…

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Christian doctor loses legal battle over refusing to use transgender pronouns

Dr David Mackereth said he was sacked from his job for refusing to identify clients by their chosen gender instead of their biological sex.

The tribunal ruled that his Biblical view was “incompatible with human dignity”.

 

The ruling stated: “Belief in Genesis 1:27, lack of belief in transgenderism and conscientious objection to transgenderism in our judgment are incompatible with human dignity and conflict with the fundamental rights of others, specifically here, transgender individuals.

At proceedings in July, giving evidence, Dr Mackereth had said that he was asked in a conversation with his line manager: “If you have a man six foot tall with a beard who says he wants to be addressed as ‘she’ and ‘Mrs’, would you do that?”

Dr Mackereth, who now works as an NHS emergency doctor in Shropshire, said that in good conscience he could not do this and said that his contract was subsequently terminated over his refusal.

According to Christian Concern, which is giving the doctor legal support, he told the tribunal he was suspended the following month after being “interrogated” by his boss for refusing to “call any six-foot-tall bearded man ‘madam’ on his whim”. The medic claims he was told he was “overwhelmingly likely” to lose his job unless he agreed.

Dr Mackereth left his role on 25 June 2018, after an email exchange with his boss in…

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Iran’s top general says wiping Israel off the map is achievable: The surprising location of the world’s fastest-growing church

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, left, listens to Gen. Hossein Salami at a military parade near Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 22, 2019.

“This sinister regime must be wiped off the map and this is no longer . . . a dream (but) it is an achievable goal.” This was the declaration of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, Gen. Hossein Salami. He added that his country has “managed to obtain the capacity to destroy the imposter Zionist regime.”

Americans might read Gen. Salami’s statements as political posturing. In Israel, they do not have that luxury. 

When I was in the Holy Land last week, I asked several of my Israeli friends to identify the external threat that most concerns them. Each of them answered instantly and emphatically: “Iran.” 

The Israeli government agrees, stating: “Iran publicly denies the Holocaust, and is the only country that openly calls for the annihilation of another state—the State of Israel. Furthermore, Iran has been developing and testing rockets that it boasts can, and will, be used to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.” 

But the good news in Iran is both remarkable and surprising. 

The fastest-growing church in the world 

If I asked you to name the country with the fastest-growing church in the world, would you put the Islamic Republic of Iran at the top of your list? According to Sheep Among Wolves, a two-hour documentary about the revival taking place within Iran, you should. 

Frontier Alliance International (FAI) produced the documentary and supports disciple-making teams targeting the unchurched and unengaged. FAI points to researchers who believe the underground church in Iran is the fastest-growing Christian church in the world. Even Iran’s intelligence minister agrees that Christianity is spreading in his country. 

Three factors explain this remarkable spiritual awakening and offer us steps to take in joining this movement where we live today. 

One: The…

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Church of Sweden leaves Twitter after declaring Greta Thunberg is successor to Jesus Christ

The tweet from last December said: “Announcement! Jesus of Nazareth has now appointed one of his successors, Greta Thunberg.”

The tweet has gained recent popularity since Thunberg has been in the spotlight this year with her fiery speeches warning against global warming.

In an impassioned speech at the UN climate action summit, the 16-year-old, who has inspired a global climate strike movement, told delegates they would never be forgiven if they failed to tackle rising temperatures.

“People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing, we are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and the fairy tale of endless economic growth. How dare you?”

The Church’s tweet was met with some sarcastic and humorous responses, while others bashed the Church.

One person tweeted: “Time and time again I ask myself: when was the Swedish church kidnapped by left-wing extremists?”

After…

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Vatican’s secretariat of state searched in financial probe

The Vatican press office did not provide details about the search and seizures or the nature of the complaints.

In a brief statement, the press office said the complaints arrived over the summer from the Vatican bank and auditor general’s office. It said the chief prosecutor at the Vatican’s criminal tribunal authorised the seizures.

 

They were believed to be the first at the secretariat of state, which co-ordinates the activities of the Holy See, functions as the seat of governance of the universal Catholic Church and oversees diplomatic relations with more than 180 nations.

For nearly a decade the Vatican has been trying to clean up its financial act by adhering to international anti-money laundering norms and reforming its bank, the Institute of Religious Works, after decades of accusations that it worked as an offshore tax haven.

Key to the effort has been the creation of the Financial Information Authority (AIF) which works as an internal financial watchdog and liaises with financial intelligence units of other countries to share information about suspect transactions.

In addition to the secretariat of state, the AIF offices were searched on Tuesday, the Vatican said.

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Five Documents That Say Something About Your Church

By: Chuck Lawless

We can learn a lot about a church by reviewing its written documents. I encourage you to evaluate your own congregation based on these documents.

1. By-laws. The by-laws of a church typically speak to day-to-day operations and are often more easily changed than a church’s constitution. Quite often, by-law amendments such as these examples tell us something about the church’s history.

  • Any former member who re-joins ___________ Church may not vote in a business meeting and may not serve in a leadership role for a minimum of six months after joining the church.
  • Worship services at ____________ Church may take place only on Sunday.
  • Persons who serve as administrative assistants at __________ Church may not be members of the church at the same time.

Whether or not you agree with these by-law amendments, what do you suppose had happened in the history of these congregations?

2. Calendar. A church’s calendar gives some indication of a congregation’s priorities. Take a look at your church’s calendar, and consider these questions:

  • What percentage of activities focuses only on meeting the needs of church members?
  • What percentage is intentionally and clearly directed toward reaching unbelievers and unchurched folks in the community?
  • If members were to attend everything offered (or even a particular percentage of the events), would they have time to focus on raising families and reaching friends and neighbors?

3. Budget. Likewise, a church’s budget illustrates what the…

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Six Things Christians Tend to Get Wrong about Muslims

I recently endured a gruesome situation at my ministry job. 

My supervisor was appropriately leaning hard on me to repent for a mess in which I was complicit. I felt, before God, that I had repented but could not figure out how to convince my supervisor of this. I didn’t get where he was coming from nor what he was looking for. 

It ended with me being forced to resign. 

All along, I was in pain, thinking, I don’t understand, and I’m sure not being understood. 

Ever felt that lack of understanding? 

Hurts, doesn’t it? 

Much of my career has been given to helping Christians learn about, love, and connect to Muslims in the US and abroad. I’ve led trips, taught classes, and facilitated experiences. I’ve talked to hundreds of Muslims and tons of Christians. I’ve asked a bunch of questions and answered a few. 

One of the things I’m left wondering is whether Muslims in the US largely feel misunderstood. I think maybe so. With many of us having no Muslim friends, but at the same time being bombarded with negative information about them, it’s no surprise. 

If some of the following things reflect your thinking, you’re not alone. But we don’t have to stay where we are. There’s better information out there, and there are Muslims all over the place to befriend. 

Here are six important things Christians get wrong about Muslims. 

1. We assume Muslims are all the same. 

Now, to be honest, Muslims do have a global unity narrative they try to uphold. 

In my early days as an ethnographer trying to understand differences among subcultures, I must have been told a thousand times, “There are no differences in Islam. We are all the same.” You don’t have to be super discerning (lucky for me!) to see that’s simply not the case. 

Muslims differ from one another in many and dramatic ways: Ethnicity, language, culture, interpretation of Islam, understanding of the Quran, modernization, and…

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Boko Haram Executes Two Christian Aid Workers in Nigeria

Boko Haram Executes Two Christian Aid Workers in Nigeria



JOS, Nigeria, September 30, 2019 (Morning Star News) – Islamic extremist group Boko Haram released a video last week showing the execution of two Christian aid workers in Nigeria, sources said.


Lawrence Duna Dacighir and Godfrey Ali Shikagham, both members of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Plateau state, are shown kneeling while three masked, armed men stand behind them in a video posted Sept. 22 on Boko Haram’s Amaq news agency site. The two young men, who had gone to Maiduguri to help build shelters for people displaced by Islamic extremist violence, are then shot from behind.


Speaking in the Hausa language, the middle one of the three terrorists says in the video that they have vowed to kill every Christian they capture in revenge for Muslims killed in past religious conflicts in Nigeria. Dacighir and Shikagham, originally from Plateau state’s Mangu County, were captured by Boko Haram, now called the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), as they carried out their work in displaced persons camps.


Ethnic and religious tensions resulted in large-scale clashes between Muslims and Christians in Jos in 2001 and 2008.


It is not clear from the video, temporarily posted on YouTube, when the two men were executed. Their identities were confirmed by a relative, the Rev. John Pofi, a COCIN pastor.


Pastor Pofi, a cousin of the two executed Christians, told…

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In California’s Coachella Valley, Catholic Church Ministers to Indigenous Purépechas

In California’s Coachella Valley, Catholic Church Ministers to Indigenous Purépechas



MECCA, Calif. (RNS) — Aida Sansor and Maria Teresa Pacheco have traveled the Eastern Coachella Valley area, seeking to connect with the indigenous Purépecha community.


Sansor and Pacheco are with Missionary Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit, a nonprofit corporation of Catholic women based in Mexico City. The organization has provincial headquarters in Los Angeles. 


They were brought on by the Diocese of San Bernardino, which serves Riverside and San Bernardino counties, under a three-year contract to reach the estimated 1,500 Purépechas living in the region. They started last August.


Although their presence in the Coachella Valley may be categorized as “Hispanic ministry,” the Missionary Guadalupanas recognize that the Purépecha people “have their own culture,” Sansor said.


“They’re a community that deserve a lot of respect. They have their own language and traditions,” Sansor said.


“We’re here to accompany them in their Catholic faith,” Sansor said.


Purépecha is a language and the name of the pre-Hispanic people of the Central Mexican state of Michoacan. Purépecha people in Riverside County speak Purépecha as well as Spanish, and some, especially the children, also know English. The community has endured discrimination due to their language and traditional clothing.


Sansor and Pacheco have immersed themselves in…

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