Trump’s Religious Liberty Order Doesn’t Answer Most Evangelicals’ Prayers

• Prayer breakfast pledge to ‘totally destroy’ Johnson Amendment comes up shy; conscience exemptions from LGBT anti-discrimination rules missing.

Image: WhiteHouse.gov

In his biggest religious liberty push since taking office, President Donald Trump officially laid out in an executive order some of the protections he has promised faithful supporters for months. The move came on the same day that evangelical leaders gathered in Washington for the annual National Day of Prayer.

One problem: This is not the executive order many evangelicals had been praying for.

Gone are the exemptions for religious groups faced with accommodating LGBT antidiscrimination regulations that conflict with their faith convictions. Instead, the order—titled “Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty”—extends political speech protections for pastors and religious organizations, aiming to let them to talk about politics without penalty. It also requests “regulatory relief” for religious groups, including evangelical universities, caught in a court battle over the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate.

“I am signing today an executive order to defend the freedom of religion and speech in America, the freedoms that we wanted, the freedoms that you fought for so long,” the president said in a Rose Garden ceremony. “The federal government will never ever penalize any person for their protected religious beliefs.”

This Black Pastor Led a White Church—in 1788

CHRISTIAN HISTORY

The remarkable tenure and steadfast faithfulness of Lemuel Haynes.

THABITI ANYABWILE

Image: Wikimedia Commons

A Model of Fidelity and Love


“If the church is to prosper and mature, she will need faithful men to lead and care for her. The church will need men who are sound in doctrine, whose lives are guided by the Word of God, and who are willing to defend the truth. The church will need to hold up as its ideal those who model fidelity and love toward God, men who will pour themselves out for the benefit of the Lord’s sheep. Men of this mold are gifts to the church from her Lord. In the late 1700s the Lord did indeed give such a gift to the church”
—Lemuel Haynes.

Lemuel Haynes was born on July 18, 1753 in West Hartford, Connecticut. Early biographers speculated that Haynes’s mother was either a daughter of the prominent Goodwin family of Hartford or a servant named Alice Fitch who worked for one John Haynes. However, speculations about his parentage proved profitless. Abandoned by his parents at five months of age, Haynes was raised as an indentured servant by the Rose family in Middle Granville, Massachusetts. The Roses treated Lemuel as one of the family’s own children, giving him the same pious instruction in Christianity and family worship that Deacon Rose gave all his children.

Following his indenture, Haynes volunteered in 1774 as a Minuteman and in October 1776 joined the Continental Army, thus becoming part of the American Revolution. Haynes volunteered just as the Continental Navy and Army suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Valcour Bay on October 11, 1776 and General Washington’s forces met defeat at the Battle of White Plains on October 28, 1776. In November 1776 Continental forces witnessed over three thousand casualties and the loss of over one hundred cannons and thousands of muskets in defeats at Fort Washington and Fort Lee. Lemuel served in the Continental Army until November 17, 1776, when he contracted typhus and was relieved of duty. Despite the dismal prospects of the Revolution at this point, as a patriot Haynes was determined to defend with life and tongue the newly developing nation and its ideals of liberty. His political values were shaped by his “idealization of George Washington and allegiance to the Federalist Party.”

War-Torn Middle East Churches

Syria and Lebanon celebrate the historic ordination of a pair of faithful clergy.

Image: Patrick Baz / Getty

The turnover among Christians in the Middle East, in addition to years of stirring among reformist Arab evangelicals, has made way for female pastors to rise into leadership positions vacated by clergy who have fled amid the mass migration in the region.

Not since three women were ordained by the Church of God in 1920 had an Arab woman been granted the ecclesial backing to administer the sacraments in Syria or Lebanon. Nearly a century later, a pair of female pastors—Rola Sleiman and Najla Kassab—were ordained in February and March of this year.

They represent a unique way forward for the meager evangelical population in the Levant, which has followed traditional gender roles.

“It wasn’t in my dreams,” said Sleiman, who studied at Beirut’s Near East School of Theology (NEST). “I just wanted to serve God. I never planned that I’m going to be ordained.”

Donald Trump signs executive order 'vigorously promoting religious liberty'

• The order includes provisions regarding the IRS and Obamacare

The ‘Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty’ order is meant to protect the tax-free status of politically active churches Reuters

Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing religious leaders a more active role in American politics on the National Day of Prayer.

Mr Trump said “faith is deeply embedded in the history of our country”. He also called the US a “nation of tolerance...we will never stand for religious discrimination”.

Vice President Mike Pence said the order reinforces the “importance of prayer” in the US and said Mr Trump has an “unshakeable faith in God and the American people”.

Mr Trump’s rhetoric about not standing for religious discrimination, will jar with some given the fact that Mr Trump took a hard line about letting Muslims into the US during his presidential campaign.

Hello, 

It gives me great pleasure to invite you to the first installment of the 2017 Christian Leadership Upgrade. This 25th edition is titled "Thou art the Christ" (Matt. 16:16). This will surely be an exposition of Christ in Christ as we March triumphantly into His fullness. How can we come into His fullness if He does not reveal all of His very self to us? How can He reveal Himself without His summons? What will be our response to this summon? I believe the whole of the 2017 Series (six in number) is Christ calling us to Himself. The 2017 Series is titled "JESUS CHRIST - Lord of All". 

'David's Sling' Joins Israel's Anti-Missile Defense Batteries

Israel has never involved itself in Syria's civil war; its mission has been to prevent Iranian weapons convoys traveling through Syria from reaching the Hezbollah terror group.

(Jerusalem, Israel)—[CBN News] Just days after Syria launched a missile at Israel, Israel launched David's Sling, its middle tier anti-missile defense battery. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
David's Sling takes its place between the Arrow 3 missile batteries and the Iron Dome, designed to intercept short-range rockets, such as those launched from the Gaza Strip. David's sling can take out rockets, aircraft and cruise missiles with ranges between 65 and 125 miles.

Monday's announcement followed Israel's successful interception by the Arrow 3 of a Syrian surface-to-air missile (SAM) overnight Friday that carried a 200-pound explosive payload.

Lenient Abortion Bill Struck Down in Ireland

(Christianheadlines) A bill that would have greatly relaxed the punishment for getting or performing an abortion in Ireland has been rejected.

Ireland currently has a strict ban on abortion, except for in cases in which the mother’s life is in danger. Getting or performing an abortion is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The new bill to relax the strict abortion ban would have made getting or performing an abortion essentially a legal activity, with only a “token” one pound ($1.22) fine imposed, according to The Christian Institute.

Doctors save baby's life moments after this church prayed: "if this wasn't a god moment i don't know what could be"

In addition to the baby's miracle survival, there's another astounding element to the story.

(Mooresville, NC)—[CBN News] Prayer matters—and that's a powerful lesson Melanie and Mike Leitner learned firsthand during their baby daughter's recent struggle for survival, as she battled a potentially deadly heart ailment. (Screengrab via WBTV)

Doctors told the family that they were "in a race against time," as baby Ella had a large mass in the left ventricle of her heart; they said she might not make it to her first birthday, leaving Melanie and Mike to find hope in their faith, as WBTV-TV reported.

As Ella waited for a new heart, Melanie and Mike saw her condition worsening. The baby regularly appeared gray and wasn't breathing well. Then, on Jan. 29, while Melanie and Mike were worshipping at Abundant Life Foursquare Church in Mooresville, North Carolina, something profound happened.

Their pastor stopped in the middle of service and decided to pray for Melanie, Mike and little Ella, telling the entire congregation about the baby's worsening condition.

Meet the amazing Mom who just fed 30,000 people with extreme couponing and the Bible

She wanted to feed 30,000 people before her 30th birthday.

(Woodbridge, VA)—[CBN News] Extreme couponing is certainly one way for families to save a boatload of cash, but for one mom it has also become an avenue to help feed tens of thousands of hungry mouths. (Photo: Lauren Puryear/via ScaryMommy.com)

Through her motto, "Love God. Love Others. Serve the World," Lauren Puryear is making a difference in the lives of scores of Americans. According to Scary Mommy, Puryear, a mental health clinician who resides in Woodbridge, Virginia, decided last year—then aged 29—that she wanted to feed 30,000 people before her 30th birthday.

Shocking: in Iceland 100% of babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted — think about that?

The value of a child born with any disability cannot be eradicated by any nation. They are created in the image of God.

[PregnancyHelpNews/ LifeSiteNews] In recent remarks to the Citizens Assembly in Ireland, Dr. Peter McParland, an ob-gyn at National Maternity Hospital, pointed to a sign of things to come.(Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com/ LifeSiteNews)

“In Iceland,” the doctor said, “every single baby—100 percent of all those diagnosed with Down syndrome—are aborted.”

The horrors of the statement above can scarcely be grasped. Iceland has become the first nation to boast of eradicating Down syndrome from its country.

Dr. McParland expounded on this systematic annihilation stating, “There hasn’t been a baby with Down syndrome born in Iceland in the past five years.”

Iceland is not alone in its aspirations to create a “Down syndrome-free” world. The holocaust of Down syndrome babies is a global epidemic, taking the lives of human beings created in the image of God on the basis of a prenatal diagnosis indicating Down syndrome.

Denmark follows closely behind Iceland and predicts it will be a “Down-syndrome free” nation in the next 10 years.

Meanwhile, 90 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in the womb are aborted in Great Britain and the United States.

Among the many reasons these statistics are so tragic is that some babies diagnosed in utero with Down syndrome are born without the condition, while in other cases, doctors who fail to recognize markers for Down syndrome through prenatal testing are open to shockingly titled “wrongful birth” lawsuits.

Even assuming all diagnoses are correct, exactly who are we eradicating from our planet?

NBC News points to studies showing the following:

99% of people with Down syndrome are happy with their lives.

97% of people with Down syndrome like who they are.

96% of people with Down syndrome like how they look.

Statically the vast majority of people with Down syndrome are happy, satisfied, and affectionate members of society—something that couldn’t be said of people born without the disability…

Pastor finds a massive raw diamond: what he does with it will make you ask, "Would I do the same thing?"

It's estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars.

(Sierra Leone)—[CBN News] Pastor Emmanuel Momoh made one of the biggest discoveries this week—a 706-carat diamond worth millions of dollars. He found the uncut stone near one of his churches in Sierra Leone's mining communities. (Photo: AFP/via WND.com)

Analysts say it is the 13th largest diamond to ever be pulled from the ground.

While the massive stone could have immediately made Pastor Momoh a wealthy man, he decided to give the diamond away in hopes that the proceeds could help his impoverished country.

"WAR ROOM" STAR PRISCILLA SHIRER RETURNING TO THE BIG SCREEN

The filmmakers describe their movie on Facebook as "a powerful reminder of how God can soften the hardest of hearts, offer forgiveness to the unforgivable, and mend broken relationships."

[CBN News] Priscilla Shirer, Bible teacher and star of the faith-based 2015 box-office hit "War Room," is returning to the big screen. (Screengrab via CBN News)

This time she'll be acting in the new film, "I Can Only Imagine," based on the popular song by "Mercy Me" band member Bart Millard.

"Bart Millard really made a decision to discover his gift because he had a strong teacher who said, 'You are going to do it because I see something in you that you do not see in yourself.' So I could not just pass up the opportunity to play the small but pivotal part to this story," Shirer tells CBN News.

For your brain and body, sleeping well is as beneficial as "winning the lottery"

"Research proves that improving the quality and quantity of sleep amongst the population—as well as discouraging the use of sleep medication—is an effective, simple and cheap method of raising the health and wellbeing of society as a whole." -Dr. Nicole Tang

(United Kingdom)—[Warwick University] Improving your sleep quality is as beneficial to health and happiness as winning the lottery, according to research by the University of Warwick.(Photo: Public Domain)

Dr. Nicole Tang in the Department of Psychology has discovered that working on getting a better night's sleep can lead to optimal physical and mental wellbeing over time—and that quality of sleep is more important than how many hours you get.

Analyzing the sleep patterns of more than 30,500 people in UK households across four years, Dr. Tang finds that improving your sleep quality leads to levels of mental and physical health comparable to those of somebody who's won a jackpot of around £200,000.

"War Room" star Priscilla Shirer returning to the big screen

The filmmakers describe their movie on Facebook as "a powerful reminder of how God can soften the hardest of hearts, offer forgiveness to the unforgivable, and mend broken relationships."

[CBN News] Priscilla Shirer, Bible teacher and star of the faith-based 2015 box-office hit "War Room," is returning to the big screen. (Screengrab via CBN News)

This time she'll be acting in the new film, "I Can Only Imagine," based on the popular song by "Mercy Me" band member Bart Millard.

"Bart Millard really made a decision to discover his gift because he had a strong teacher who said, 'You are going to do it because I see something in you that you do not see in yourself.' So I could not just pass up the opportunity to play the small but pivotal part to this story," Shirer tells CBN News.

Historic restoration of Jesus’s burial shrine in Jerusalem completed

In October, when conservation work was in full swing, experts said they’d found original limestone bed on which Jesus was laid to rest

— The tomb of Jesus has been resurrected to its former glory. Just in time for Easter, a Greek restoration team has completed a historic renovation of the Edicule, the shrine that tradition says houses the cave where Jesus was buried and rose to heaven.

Gone is the unsightly iron cage built around the shrine by British authorities in 1947 to shore up the walls. Gone is the black soot on the shrine’s stone façade from decades of pilgrims lighting candles. And gone are fears about the stability of the old shrine, which hadn’t been restored in more than 200 years.

“If this intervention hadn’t happened now, there is a very great risk that there could have been a collapse,” Bonnie Burnham of the World Monuments Fund said Monday. “This is a complete transformation of the monument.”

WITHOUT FEAR By Sharon Jane Akinyemi - Part 3

Researchers at the University of Illinois found that fish-eaters with high levels of PCBs in their blood have difficulty recalling information they have learned just 30 minutes earlier. Fish’s bodies absorb toxic chemicals in the water around them, and the chemicals become more concentrated as they move up the food chain. Big fish eat little fish, with the bigger fish (such as tuna and salmon) absorbing chemicals from all the other fish they eat. Fish flesh stores contaminants, such as PCBs, which cause liver damage, nervous system disorders, and fetal damage; dioxins, also linked to cancer; radioactive substances like strontium 90; and other dangerous contaminants like cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium, and arsenic, which can cause health problems ranging from kidney damage and impaired mental development to cancer. These toxins are stored in the body fat of humans who eat fish and remain in their bodies for decades.

MUSIC: Because You Love Me - Michelle Lang & Stillwater

REMINISCE: Flood of tributes for missionary, Ruth Elton, at 80

September 21, 2014

No distance was too long for admirers of Mama Ruth Elton, a British born misionary, particularly those who have benefited from her generosity and benevolence, to be part of her 80th happy birthday. Guests came from all parts of the federation. They particularly came from towns where Mama Ruth Elton had patiently served in spreading the gospel of the Lord – from Kogi to Ondo, Oyo and Osun states. The celebrator since she was three years old had been in Nigeria when she followed her missionary parents, Pa Sydney and Mama Hannah Elton, in July1937. Since she was introduced to the Christian faith by her parents and following the consequence of the latter rain revival of the early 50s, Mama Ruth’s passion was inspiring to others. She proved herself a worthy enthusiastic assistant to her parents in spreading the gospel in many parts of the country, particularly rural communities, where residents were yet to hear of the Word of the Lord.

The King’s Event Centre in Ilesa, Osun State, the venue of the thanksgiving service and reception, two Saturdays ago, was filled to capacity. Adorned in their best attire, the guests paid glowing tribute to the woman described by the preacher at the thanksgiving ceremony, Rev. Mike Oye, as smallish in stature but giant in faith.

Intoducing the 2017 T.T.T Kingdom Initiatives

Dear Beloved,

We are extremely delighted to introduce the above to you as our co-labourer in the pursuit of Christ Jesus.

As we await our coming King earnestly, the world is getting increasingly darker with unprecedented iniquities, unrest, economic and political systems failing on massive scale hence the need for us to sustain the gathering of the Saint who desires to learn more of His way so we can become one with Him.

We are enjoined in Heb. 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but EXHORTING ONE ANOTHER: AND SO MUCH THE MORE, AS YE SEE THE DAY APPROACHING."

The greatest love we can show to one another is to stir ourselves unto the path of oneness with Christ Jesus, and that is what our 2017 Initiatives is essentially about.

Introducing the Initiatives as follows:
1. Christian Leadership Upgrade (C.L.U)
2. Christian Youth Upgrade (C.Y.U)
3. Patterned Builders School (P.B.S)
4. 4-7 Seminar (47S) / Kingdom Talk Interchange (K.T.I)

There Was A Man, S. G. Elton: There Is A Church Uncertain Of Her True Identity And Mandate

If you studied in the University of Ife before 1987 and you were an active Christian, you would certainly have been impacted by the ministry of a man named S. G. Elton; especially if you were also part of the Evangelical Christian Union.

Twice in each yearly cycle, he would attend the meeting of ECU in the company of his wife and sometimes, their daughter, Ruth. The first event was the inauguration of the new leadership of the Union that usually happened during the Harmattan Semester and coincided with the end of a calendar year. The second, and in my opinion, the more critical meeting took place in the Rain Semester during the valedictory service (send-forth) of the graduating set. In was in those meetings I discovered the true essence of the prophetic and apostolic ministry.

Scenes from C.L.U 19: A Walk through the Tabernacle

INTRODUCTION

Christian Leadership Upgrade (C.LU) is a TRUMPET calling the bride to upgrade into the fullness of Christ which is the ultimate upgrade and also to follow the revealed pathway of the Holy Spirit in to Jesus Christ.

The Third Temple has hosted Upgrade for 18 times since its inception in April, 2013, it runs 6 times in a year between the months of April to September, on the 3rd Saturdays respectively.

CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP UPGRADE, APRIL 16, 2016.

AEROBICS: Cardio Fat Blast Workout

MUSIC: All I once held dear - Robin Mark

BIOGRAPHY: Benson Andrew Idahosa- A General in Nigeria's Church history.

Idahosa, Benson Andrew (1938 -1998)
Church of God Mission International Inc. Nigeria 

His Early Christian Ministry Testimony

As a young Christian, I once heard my pastor say during a morning service that Christians could raise the dead in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believed it with all my heart. And flying around on my bicycle in those days, I went through the city of Benin in search of a dead person to raise to life. After about five hours of hard searching I found a compound where a little girl had died a few hours before. The corpse had been cleaned and prepared for burial. I walked boldly up to the father of the dead child. "The God whom I serve can bring your baby back to life," I told him. "Will you permit me to pray for the child and bring her back to life?" The man was startled, but he agreed. With great enthusiasm, I walked into the room and up to the bed. The child was cold and dead. With strong faith in the Lord, I called on the Lord to restore the child back to life. I turned to the corpse and called it by name, "Arise in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Oh Glory to God! The corpse sneezed, heavily, alas. The child had come back to life! (Benson Idahosa)

Benson Idahosa's Childhood

Benson Andrew Idahosa was born in Benin City on September 11, 1938 of Apoor pagan parents. He was a sickly infant who was always fainting. As a result of his constant illness his father ordered the mother to throw him in the dust bin. When he was eighteen months old he was left on a rubbish heap to die. He was rejected by his father, sent to work on a farm as a servant and was denied education until he was fourteen years old. His education was irregular due to the poor financial status of his parents. He later took correspondence courses from Britain and the United States while working in Bata Shoe Company.