By calling or circumstance, millions in the “sandwich generation” feel the weight and cost of tending to aging relatives. Shanoah Bruner is among the quarter of American adults who find themselves in the “sandwich generation,” raising children under 18 and supporting aging parents.At her home in the Indianapolis suburbs, the 40-something mom lives with her husband, tween and teen daughters, mother-in-law, and biological father.The caretaking role comes naturally to Bruner. She was raised in a family that regularly opened their home to others and served their church and community. Plus, she worked in assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing for over 20 years.“I grew up in a very Christian home where, you know, people meant more than possessions,” she said. “So that’s just how I look at it, and it’s definitely rewarding for me, though that’s not the case for everybody.”As baby boomers descend into their twilight years, their kids are taking them in or helping manage care from afar. Sixty-six percent of caregivers are women like Bruner, most of them in their mid-to-late 40s, who also work outside the home.The demanding needs of caregivers and their loved ones offer believers a chance to provide support and gospel hope. Churches, nonprofits, and government and parachurch organizations have resources, and individual Christians can provide personal, tangible love in action.In 2022, the first Bible study specifically for dementia caregivers was published. Some churches are implementing caregiver workshops. The Caregiving Support Network hosts a program to “sponsor a caregiver,” and there’s even a dedicated “Caregiver’s Prayer.”Richard Gentzler Jr., an expert in ministry for aging adults, paraphrased former First Lady Rosalynn Carter when he wrote that ...Continue reading...

Spiritual care is essential as stressors among law enforcement rise.Sitting in the front row of a supervisor training in 2016, Stamford Police Sgt. Sean Boeger raised his hand every time the instructor asked who had dealt with a particular experience, including homicides, fatal accidents, and child deaths.During his nearly 30 years as a police officer, 48-year-old Boeger had helped with body recovery efforts at Ground Zero after 9/11. When 20 children were killed by a lone shooter in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, just 40 miles from Stamford, Boeger volunteered to help the small Newtown police department. He covered midnight shifts as officers took time to recover.The instructor at the training triggered something in Boeger. Until that class, he had never dwelt much on the effect of witnessing so much trauma. Driving home that evening, he also thought back to another incident, when he responded to a report of a small child falling out of an eighth-story window.“I felt overwhelmed, kind of panic-stricken,” he recalled of that evening. “I think I was more in shock from the stuff I’d never contemplated and the trauma impact it had on me. Because you don’t stop to think about it.”So Boeger did something he had never contemplated previously: He sought help from John Revell, a chaplain who had recently been spending time with his department.“I don’t know what’s going on with me, but I feel like I need to talk to you,” Boeger recalls telling Revell, whom he calls “the Rev.” Revell invited him over, interrupting his family dinnertime, and the two spent an hour or so talking. It opened the door to a longer-term relationship, and an eventual appreciation for the Rev’s consistent presence around ...Continue reading...

Pop singer Justin and model Hailey Bieber are expecting their first baby, and their parents are attributing glory to God for the news.

A heralded Catholic football player defends traditional moral values at a Catholic college—how novel—and within no time he’s being bashed all over the place. Had he endorsed transgenderism, or Hamas, he would now be praised to high heaven. The man is Harrison Butker, the phenomenal kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs. Butker is not in […]The post Harrison Butker is Right: Abortion is Bad, Traditional Families are Good appeared first on LifeNews.com.

"Praise You Anywhere" hitmaker Brandon Lake, CCM and country musician Anne Wilson and the music collective Elevation Worship are among the top nominees for annual K-Love Fan Awards.

? Temple Baptist Church - 5-15-2024John 16:7-15? Introduction:? A. Once again, let me reiterate that this will not be a Systematic Theology study of Pneumatology. But because of the context found in John 14-16, we find some important things about the Person and Word of the Holy Spirit. The Person is the Holy Spirit and when speaking of the work of the Holy Spirit, the name the Holy Ghost is used.? B. Last week, I “scratched the surface” on two things: the Work of the Comforter to the comfortless. The disciples' hearts were “filled with sorrow.” Two words need to be explained: Comforter and comfortless:? 1. Comforter (παράκλητος? paraklētos? par-ak'-lay-tos)? in the Greek means to be summoned to the side of or to come to the aid of the comfortless. Our Lord said that it was “expedient” that He went away but would pray the Father to send the Comforter in Christ's stead. While Christ comforted the disciples for 3 ½ years, the Comforter would abide with them forever.? John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;? 2. Comfortless in the Greek comes from the word Greek word? ὀρφανός? orphanos? or-fan-os'? from which we get our English word orphan. Orphans have no families but the child of God has a spiritual family: our Father which is in heaven; our Saviour and Friend who love us; and the Holy Spirit that indwells us. Aren't you glad that you are not an orphan.? John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.? Psalms 27:10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.? All of our sorrows, come what may! Death, sickness, persecutions, trials and tribulations, personal failure, discouragement, disappointment, defilement, both real and imagined. He will not leave us comfortless: orphaned!? C. The Second name given to the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth,” which I will look at in a little more detail tonight.? John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.? D. Why do people not get saved and why do some saved never grow? The verses that we read to night are the problem.? 1. There are those who reject Christ CANNOT know the truth. “seeth him not … neither knoweth him”? 1 Corinthians 2:11-14 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (13) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (14) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.? 2. Both lost and the carnal saint oft times who reject the Bible CANNOT know the truth! The truth is available in our day.? Zechariah 7:11-12 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. (12) Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.? Acts 7:54-57 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. (55) But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, (56) And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (57) Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,? E. The Work of the Spirit of Truth:? 1. Verse 8.? John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:? a.? The Holy Spirit teaches us about Sin.? John 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;? 1)? The Truth about Adamic Sin.? Romans 5:12a Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;? Psalms 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.? 2) The Truth about Willful Sin.? Romans 5:12b and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:? Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;? 3) The Truth about Recompense for Sin.? a) Temporal Recompense.? Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.? b) Eternal Sense. Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.? b. The Holy Spirit teaches us about Righteousness.? John 16:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;? 1) Lack of Righteousness of the Sinner.? Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.? 2) Perfect Righteousness of the Saviour.? Romans 10:3-4 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. (4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.? 3) Imputed Righteousness of the Saint.? Romans 4:20-25 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; (21) And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. (22) And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. (23) Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; (24) But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; (25) Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.? 3. The Holy Spirit teaches us about Judgment.? John 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.? a) The Judgment of Satan and fallen angels. Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:? Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.? b) The Judgment of Sinners and their works.? Revelation 20:11-15 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (12) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (13) And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. (14) And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (15) And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.? 2. Verse 12-13.? John 16:12-13 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. (13) Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.? a. In Depth Teaching. “he will guide you into all truth”? Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;? b. In Inspired Revelation. “and he will shew you things to come.” The canon of Scripture was not Plenary until after the death of the Apostles as they would continue to write under the inspiration of God in their lives. After their death, the canon of Scripture was Plenary, complete.? 2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.? c. In Prophecy. Eschatology. Things to come. Knowing what the future holds and Who holds the future, we can face tomorrow and all our tomorrows in faith confidence through faith. “I do not know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow and Who holds my life in His hands!”? Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, (39) Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.? ? 3. Verse 14. John 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.? a. The Holy Spirit does not speak of or exalt Himself. Be careful around people who constantly speak of the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost.? b. The Holy spirit ALWAYS glorifies the Saviour and not Himself! We certainly honor and love Him, but He only speaks of and directs us to our Lord.

In a revelation that appeared to some as almost as unusual as his announcement of the suicide of his wife, Mica Miller, Pastor John-Paul Miller of? Solid Rock at Market Common? in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, said he tried to raise her from the dead but it didn't work.

The purpose of the project was to raise awareness of the dire situation of the hostages who have been held captive by Hamas for over seven months.

The wager only scratches the surface of his relevance to a post-Christian era.It is a common lament that we live in a post-Christian era. This fact raises challenges to our witness to the world. Most of our audience thinks that, in G. K. Chesterton’s words, Christianity has been tried and found wanting (rather than found wanting and left untried). It is not considered a live option. How do we bear witness well in this cultural context? We might do well to reconsider one of the most enigmatic thinkers in Christian history, Blaise Pascal.Pascal suffers from a public relations problem. As the source of Pascal’s wager, he is often considered a gambling man. He urges the non-believer to bet that God exists. What does one have to lose? In Beyond the Wager: The Christian Brilliance of Blaise Pascal, philosopher Douglas Groothuis shows that there is more to Pascal’s life and thought than his most famous argument. Groothuis demonstrates that we have much to learn from this brilliant thinker. Pascal, he argues, is a crucial thinker for our time.Essential writingsPascal came on the scene in the 17th century, during the early years of the Scientific Revolution. Several of his works contributed to this movement, including treatises on the geometry of conic sections, theories of probability, and conclusions to extensive experiments he had done to test the possibility of a vacuum. He invented the first functional calculator, which he had built to help his father with his work of assessing taxes.His best-known works, however, focus on Christianity. In the Provincial Letters, Pascal defends the Jansenist movement, which was condemned by the Catholic church, against the Jesuits. The Jansenists emphasized that the depth of human sinfulness required a work of God for our salvation. The Christian life ...Continue reading...

Māori Christians in New Zealand bristle at newly translated portions of the Bible that use the names of local deities.Last year, Bible Society New Zealand (BSNZ) released a 109-page booklet with 10 Bible passages published in a contemporary Māori translation for the first time. The version used the names of atua Māori, or Māori gods and deities, in place of words like heaven, earth, land, and sea. Genesis 1:1, for example, says that in the beginning, God made Rangi-nui (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (Earth Mother) instead of rangi and whenua respectively.The changes, meant to appeal to younger Māori, stirred debate. While some readers praised the changes (“The terms are more relatable,” wrote one respondent in a BSNZ survey), many, including Māori theologians and church leaders, decried the use of atua Māori in the Scriptures as “twisted” and “blasphemous.”The aim of publishing He Tīmatanga (A Beginning) was not to present a final translation but to offer a draft for feedback, said Clare Knowles, translation coordinator at BSNZ. Publishing these passages was part of an effort that began in 2008 to “retranslate the entire Bible into Māori [in] today’s language.”While Māori speakers in New Zealand have a Bible translation in their language, it was last revised in 1952. The most recent edition in 2012 mainly focused on reformatting the text with updated paragraphs, spelling, and punctuation, but the content has largely remained the same since missionaries first translated the Bible into Māori in the 19th century.“Imagine if the only English translation we had was the King James Version. … This is a bit like the situation with Te Paipera Tapu, the Māori Bible,” Knowles wrote in an article promoting He Tīmatanga.In New Zealand, about 8 percent of the population speak Māori, ...Continue reading...

A San Antonio pastor and church are receiving widespread praise after the minister paused his sermon to embrace and vow support for a homeless man whom he invited on stage after the man began shouting obscenities during a sermon on the Parable of the Lost Sheep.

One of the founding leaders of Victory megachurch, he never stopped running to share the gospel.Ferdinand “Ferdie” Cabiling, a bishop at one of the Philippines’ largest megachurches who ran across the Philippines to raise money for disadvantaged students, died April 1, the day after Easter. He was 58 years old.Dubbed “the Running Pastor,” the moniker describes not only Cabiling’s epic race but how he lived his life and served as an evangelist. For 38 years, he was a vocational minister of Victory Christian Fellowship of the Philippines, which has nearly 150 locations in the country. The branch he led, Victory Metro Manila, averaged more than 75,000 people each Sunday. [Note: The author is a member of Victory Church and was a part of the late pastor's small group in 2014.]In the past two years, his focus was on teaching evangelism to Victory leaders. Every time he received a teaching invitation, his answer was always yes, said his assistant, Faye Bonifacio.“He was a maximizer,” Bonifacio said, noting that Cabiling developed a habit of taking short naps while parked at a gas station between long drives. “Because he liked to drive, he did a lot in a day.”Hours before his death, Cabiling had visited a church member at a hospital an hour away from his hometown of Cuyapo before parking his car at a gas station, likely for a break before heading to his next destination. It was there that an attendant found his lifeless body and rushed him to the hospital he had just visited. Cabiling had died of a heart attack.“He was a serious man of passion, action, and conviction,” wrote Steve Murrell, the founding pastor of Victory, the flagship church for the charismatic-leaning Every Nation Churches and Ministries, which has churches and campus ministries in ...Continue reading...

From 1978 to 2008, he fought for legal recognition and freedom to worship for the Anabaptist denomination. Nguyen Quang Trung spent 30 years trying to get the Mennonite church recognized and registered by the government of Vietnam so that believers could meet and worship legally. When he finally succeeded, he celebrated the triumph with the words of the apostle Paul: “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” (Rom. 14:8).Nguyen, a pastor and two-time president of Hội Thánh Mennonite Việt Nam (Vietnam Mennonite Church), died on March 23 at age 84. He was known for his “patient persistence” and “tireless efforts to promote and legally confirm a Mennonite presence in Vietnam,” Gerry Keener, former head of Eastern Mennonite Missions, told Anabaptist World.Nguyen was born in Gia Dinh, an industrial area outside Saigon. His mother died when he was five. His father was a committed Christian who raised him in the Evangelical Church of Vietnam, part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance.In his 20s, Nguyen found himself drawn to the Mennonites, spending a lot of time in a reading room established by the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities. He took classes on English and the Bible and learned the Anabaptist teachings about nonviolence.“The same Spirit that empowered Jesus also empowers us to love enemies,” the missionaries taught Nguyen, “to forgive rather than to seek revenge, to practice right relationships, to rely on the community of faith to settle disputes, and to resist evil without violence.”Nguyen embraced the idea that Christians should “follow Christ in the way of peace” and practice “nonresistance,” even if they faced persecution and death.The ...Continue reading...

The champion of “native missions” trained more than 100,000 evangelists but got in trouble for financial mismanagement.Athanasius Yohannan, who built one of the world’s largest mission organizations on the idea that Western Christians should support “native missionaries” but got in trouble for financial irregularities and dishonest fundraising, died on May 8. He was 74 and got hit by a car while walking along the road near his ministry headquarters in Texas.Born Kadapilaril Punnoose Yohannan and known for most of his ministry as K. P., Yohannan founded Gospel for Asia in 1979. Over the next 45 years, the organization trained more than 100,000 people to preach the gospel and plant and pastor churches in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and other places in Southeast Asia, according to a recent ministry report. Gospel for Asia raised as much as $93 million in a year and in 2005 reported it was supporting about 14,500 indigenous evangelists and pastors in same-culture and near-culture ministry. Christians in the US were asked to give $30 per month to support them.“If we evangelize the world’s lost billions … it will be through native missions,” Yohannan wrote for CT. “The native missionary is far more effective than the expatriate. The national already knows the language and is already part of the culture. In many instances, he or she can go places where outsiders cannot go.”Yohannan’s death was mourned by Gospel for Asia, the church that he started and served as metropolitan bishop, and prominent political leaders in India.“He will be remembered for his service to society and emphasis on improving the quality of life of the downtrodden,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media. “May his soul rest in peace.”Both the governor of Kerala and the ...Continue reading...

From 1978 to 2008, he fought for legal recognition and freedom to worship for the Anabaptist denomination. Nguyen Quang Trung spent 30 years trying to get the Mennonite church recognized and registered by the government of Vietnam so that believers could meet and worship legally. When he finally succeeded, he celebrated the triumph with the words of the apostle Paul: “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” (Rom. 14:8).Nguyen, a pastor and two-time president of Hội Thánh Mennonite Việt Nam (Vietnam Mennonite Church), died on March 23 at age 84. He was known for his “patient persistence” and “tireless efforts to promote and legally confirm a Mennonite presence in Vietnam,” Gerry Keener, former head of Eastern Mennonite Missions, told Anabaptist World.Nguyen was born in Gia Dinh, an industrial area outside Saigon. His mother died when he was five. His father was a committed Christian who raised him in the Evangelical Church of Vietnam, part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance.In his 20s, Nguyen found himself drawn to the Mennonites, spending a lot of time in a reading room established by the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities. He took classes on English and the Bible and learned the Anabaptist teachings about nonviolence.“The same Spirit that empowered Jesus also empowers us to love enemies,” the missionaries taught Nguyen, “to forgive rather than to seek revenge, to practice right relationships, to rely on the community of faith to settle disputes, and to resist evil without violence.”Nguyen embraced the idea that Christians should “follow Christ in the way of peace” and practice “nonresistance,” even if they faced persecution and death.The ...Continue reading...

A Pennsylvania pastor praised God for what he called a "miracle" after an F1 tornado ripped off the roof of his church as about 100 people worshiped inside on Saturday evening, and everyone survived without any significant injuries.

Yair Netanyahu shared a survey on Instagram favoring Ofer Winter as Defense Minister, a controversial figure praised by Avigdor Liberman.

A majority of American Protestants were raised by devout mothers, a study finds.The vast majority of American Christians were raised in the faith—and most can point to the influence of their moms.In a 2023 study, the American Bible Society found that a majority of believers remain in the same religious tradition as their mothers. This agrees with a large body of mainstream social science research dating back to the 1970s that says the active faith of mothers is a strong predictor of religious transmission.Some of this may be attributed to the natural bond children have with their mothers. But there is also research that shows that moms take a more active role in faith formation in America.A 2019 Barna Group survey found that Christian teenagers who say their faith is very important to them are 20 points more likely to talk to their moms about religion than their dads. More than 70 percent of Christian teenagers read the Bible, 70 percent talk about God, and 63 percent pray with their moms.Continue reading...

The champion of “native missions” trained more than 100,000 evangelists but got in trouble for financial mismanagement.Athanasius Yohannan, who built one of the world’s largest mission organizations on the idea that Western Christians should support “native missionaries” but got in trouble for financial irregularities and dishonest fundraising, died on May 8. He was 74 and got hit by a car while walking along the road near his ministry headquarters in Texas.Born Kadapilaril Punnoose Yohannan and known for most of his ministry as K. P., Yohannan founded Gospel for Asia in 1979. Over the next 45 years, the organization trained more than 100,000 people to preach the gospel and plant and pastor churches in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and other places in Southeast Asia, according to a recent ministry report. Gospel for Asia raised as much as $93 million in a year and in 2005 reported it was supporting about 14,500 indigenous evangelists and pastors in same-culture and near-culture ministry. Christians in the US were asked to give $30 per month to support them.“If we evangelize the world’s lost billions … it will be through native missions,” Yohannan wrote for CT. “The native missionary is far more effective than the expatriate. The national already knows the language and is already part of the culture. In many instances, he or she can go places where outsiders cannot go.”Yohannan’s death was mourned by Gospel for Asia, the church that he started and served as metropolitan bishop, and prominent political leaders in India.“He will be remembered for his service to society and emphasis on improving the quality of life of the downtrodden,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media. “May his soul rest in peace.”Both the governor of Kerala and the ...Continue reading...

One of the founding leaders of Victory megachurch, he never stopped running to share the gospel.Ferdinand “Ferdie” Cabiling, a bishop at one of the Philippines’ largest megachurches who ran across the Philippines to raise money for disadvantaged students, died April 1, the day after Easter. He was 58 years old.Dubbed “the Running Pastor,” the moniker describes not only Cabiling’s epic race but how he lived his life and served as an evangelist. For 38 years, he was a vocational minister of Victory Christian Fellowship of the Philippines, which has nearly 150 locations in the country. The branch he led, Victory Metro Manila, averaged more than 75,000 people each Sunday. [Note: The author is a member of Victory Church and was a part of the late pastor's small group in 2014.]In the past two years, his focus was on teaching evangelism to Victory leaders. Every time he received a teaching invitation, his answer was always yes, said his assistant, Faye Bonifacio.“He was a maximizer,” Bonifacio said, noting that Cabiling developed a habit of taking short naps while parked at a gas station between long drives. “Because he liked to drive, he did a lot in a day.”Hours before his death, Cabiling had visited a church member at a hospital an hour away from his hometown of Cuyapo before parking his car at a gas station, likely for a break before heading to his next destination. It was there that an attendant found his lifeless body and rushed him to the hospital he had just visited. Cabiling had died of a heart attack.“He was a serious man of passion, action, and conviction,” wrote Steve Murrell, the founding pastor of Victory, the flagship church for the charismatic-leaning Every Nation Churches and Ministries, which has churches and campus ministries in ...Continue reading...

The champion of “native missions” trained more than 100,000 evangelists but got in trouble for financial mismanagement.Athanasius Yohannan, who built one of the world’s largest mission organizations on the idea that Western Christians should support “native missionaries” but got in trouble for financial irregularities and dishonest fundraising, died on May 8. He was 74 and got hit by a car while walking along the road near his ministry headquarters in Texas.Born Kadapilaril Punnoose Yohannan and known for most of his ministry as K. P., Yohannan founded Gospel for Asia in 1979. Over the next 45 years, the organization trained more than 100,000 people to preach the gospel and plant and pastor churches in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and other places in Southeast Asia, according to a recent ministry report. Gospel for Asia raised as much as $93 million in a year and in 2005 reported it was supporting about 14,500 indigenous evangelists and pastors in same-culture and near-culture ministry. Christians in the US were asked to give $30 per month to support them.“If we evangelize the world’s lost billions … it will be through native missions,” Yohannan wrote for CT. “The native missionary is far more effective than the expatriate. The national already knows the language and is already part of the culture. In many instances, he or she can go places where outsiders cannot go.”Yohannan’s death was mourned by Gospel for Asia, the church that he started and served as metropolitan bishop, and prominent political leaders in India.“He will be remembered for his service to society and emphasis on improving the quality of life of the downtrodden,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media. “May his soul rest in peace.”Both the governor of Kerala and the ...Continue reading...

? Temple Baptist Church - 5-8-2024John 14:15-19; 15:26-16:7? Introduction:? John 14:15-19 If ye love me, keep my commandments. (16) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (18) I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (19) Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.? John 15:26-27 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: (27) And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.? John 16:1-7 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. (2) They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. (3) And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. (4) But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. (5) But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? (6) But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. (7) Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.? A. As we continue to look at the prophecy of? Christ's work on earth ending, it has caused great consternation to His disciples.? 1. The Lord has said that He is going away and they cannot go with Him but promises that they can come to where He is later.? John 13:36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.? 2. The Lord has foretold that His disciples will be hated for His name's sake as they hated Him first.? John 15:18-20 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (19) If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (20) Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.? 3. The Lord has foretold that His disciples will be persecuted and put out of the synagogues and ultimately will die for the cause of Christ.? John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.? 4. Sorrow has “filled” their hearts. “Filled:” A sorrow that consumed them at this time.? John 16:6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.? B. The Lord is now telling His disciples that it is “expedient” that He go away.? 1. “Expedient” – a means of attaining an end. Something good and profitable. In their best interest! Oft times, troubles, and trials in the child of God's life are expedient. They are necessary in the short term to bring about something good in the long run.? 1 Peter 1:6-7 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: (7) That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:? 2. They did not understand now but, when the fulness of the Person of the Holy Ghost will come, they will realize the expedience of Christ's going away.? C. Why expedient?? 1. Because the price for sin had to be paid, the resurrection of the dead had to be accomplished, and the two ascensions had to occur. The first ascension to place the blood of Christ upon the Mercy Seat in heaven and the second ascension so as to produce our High Priest, Advocate, and Mediator.? 2. Because God dwelling with man was not sufficient as God dwelling in each man individually. Christ in the flesh was limited because He became flesh and flesh cannot be everywhere at one. The Holy Spirit of God could indwell each individual man.? 3. Because of the empowering of each believer to bring about boldness in witness.? D. I do not want to preach a series on Pneumatology, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but do want to do justice to what is said in these verses. In verse 7, we find that the Lord will send the “Comforter” to them. “Comforter” –? παράκλητος? paraklētos? par-ak'-lay-tos? – Summoned or called to one's side, especially called to one's aid. An intercessor, succorer, assistant.? 1. The Promise of the Comforter.? John 14:16-19 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (18) I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (19) Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.? a. Verse 16. The Promise of His Coming. “I will pray the Father, and He shall give”? b. Verse 16. The Promise of His Comforting. “Another Comforter” To take the place that Christ had before His death, burial, and resurrection.? c. Verse 16. The Promise of His Continuing. “abide with you for ever” He will never leave nor forsake the child of God. “I have Somebody with me, to bear my heavy load!”? d. Verse 17. The Promise of His Counsel. “The Spirit of truth”? e. Verse 17. The Predicament of His Presence. “whom the world cannot receive”? f. John 15:26. The Purpose of His Work. “He shall testify of me” A lot of religionists speak much of the work of the Holy Ghost, but the work is not His entire purpose. The Holy Spirit, in His Person, and the Holy Ghost, in His Word, ALWAYS POINT THE BELIEVER TO CHRIST AND NOT TO HIMSELF!? 2. The Person of the Comforter. He is God! At this point, I want to look at a theological statement that shows the Equality of God the Holy Spirit..? “God is one God, manifesting Himself in three Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. These Three are all co-equal in all power and attributes.”? a. He is One with God. “God is one God, manifesting Himself in three Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.”? b. God is one God! “One God” shows the absolute truth of the unity of the Godhead or Trinity. The word “Trinity,” like the word “Rapture,” is not found in your Bible but the truth of the Trinity is all through your Bible.? 1) The word “Godhead” is used three times in the Bible with the number three speaking of perfect unity. “Godhead” speaks of divinity and comes from a root word meaning “perpetual.” The word “perpetual” means unending or continuing forever.? Acts 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the? Godhead? is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.? Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and? Godhead; so that they are without excuse:? Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the? Godhead? bodily.? 2) In the Old Testament, we find the unity of God established. the First Mention of God is found in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God” with the word “God” being plural. This Hebrew name for the Trinity was used in the plural form:? 'ĕlôhı̂ym? el-o-heem'? 3) In Genesis 1:26 and 11:7, we fine the? phrase? “let us”? used when speaking of the Godhead or Trinity.? 4) In the New Testament, we find the three-fold work of the Godhead? separated? and explained.? 1a)? God the Father sent? His Son to die for the? sin of the world;? 2a) God the Son gave His life for the payment of the sins of the whole world;? 3a) God the Father sent? the Comforter (Holy Spirit)? to indwell and teach the believer.? c. In the New Testament, we find the separation of offices.? 1) As the United states has three branches of government, the Godhead has three Persons with distinct works.? 2) The Holy Spirit has every attribute (Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence) of God the Father and God the Son making Him also Almighty God.? 3) “These Three are all co-equal in all power and attributes.”? 3. The Purpose of the Comforter.? a. He was to be their Comforter! I thank God every day for the amazing grace that He has extended to us in salvation and given to us in our earthly sorrows. My beloved sister, Sharon, who has cancer has been one of the greatest examples of God's grace that I have ever seen. We love and may miss her for a little while here but will spend eternity with her there. We then comfort others with the comfort that we have comforted of God.? 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; (4) Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. (5) For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.? b. He was to be their Teacher. “Spirit of Truth.”? 1) The world cannot discern the Truth of the Word of God.? John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.? 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (13) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (14) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.? 2) The Believer can know the Truth of the Word of God.? John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

A film producer behind last year's popular movie "Sound of Freedom," which raised awareness about the prevalence of human trafficking, is facing criticism after he expressed solidarity with social media personality Andrew Tate, who is accused of sex trafficking.?

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Critics of the Antisemitism Awareness Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week argue that the bill's language is “unconstitutionally vague” and raises concerns about the First Amendment, particularly when it comes to speech about Israel and the New Testament. Here are six reactions to the Antisemitism Awareness Act from influential figures on both sides of the political aisle.?