Are Christians Looking for a Political ‘Savior’ in a President?

Evangelicals are an important voting block in most elections. However, in the 2016 Presidential race, their vote may be more critical than ever. So, they are being courted – especially by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

One thought up for debate after Trump’s meeting with evangelical leaders this week is whether or not Christians are out of focus when it comes to expecting spiritual leadership from whoever occupies the White House.  Continue reading…

Baptist Pastor Continues ‘Hate Speech’ Campaign, Despite Multiple Pentecostal Leaders Begging Him to Stop

reuters-pulse-vigil-flowers-scarfA Baptist pastor refuses to recant his hateful comments about the Orlando tragedy, despite several prominent Christian leaders publicly standing against him.

YouTube removed Verity Baptist Church Pastor Robert Jimenez’s sermon where he claimed the Orlando massacre was “great news.”

He later told the Sacramento Bee, “The point of the sermon is that the Bible teaches us that homosexuality, God put a death penalty on it. …

“All I’m saying is that when people die who deserve to die, it’s not a tragedy.”

Meanwhile, prominent Christian leaders, including Dr. Michael Brown and Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, publicly condemned any comments calling the Pulse shooting anything but horrific.   Continue reading…

World Council of Churches head outraged by Orlando shooting, urges automatic weapons’ control

olav-fykse-tveitThe general secretary of the World Council of Churches has expressed “shock, outrage and sadness” over the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida on June 12 said to be the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

In the attack, 50 people are reported to have lost their lives and 53 more were wounded in an attack by a single gunman on a nightclub frequented by members of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community.  Continue reading…

Climate is a matter of justice, peace and faith, world churches leader tells Lutherans

lutheranShanghai, Kolkata, Jakarta, Tokyo, New York City, Hong Kong, Miami and New Orleans are not cities linked to the geography of the Reformation that was happening 500 years ago in Wittenberg.

“These are among the thousands of cities around the world that will be hit by rising sea levels as a consequence of climate change,” said World Council of Churches general secretary, Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit.

He was speaking at the meeting of the main governing body of the Lutheran World Federation, its council, in Wittenberg, Germany, where 500 years ago “waves of change reaching every country on earth were created”.  Continue reading…

Pope Francis Meets With Evangelical, Pentecostal Leaders in John 17 Spirit (Interview)

geoff-tunnicliffe-pope-francisPope Francis and several prominent Evangelical and Pentecostal leaders met in Rome last Friday to discuss areas of mutual agreement and where they respectfully disagreed. The aim of the gathering, which had no official agenda, was to build unity between Christian traditions that have historic enmity.

The Rev. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, former secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance and chairman of the Advisory Board of Christian Media Corporation, said in an interview with The Christian Post Tuesday, that there was a John 17 spirit during the two meetings he had with Pope Francis. Tunnicliffe noted that formal meetings with the pope are often said to last only 30 minutes but one informal meeting with Francis and Evangelical and Charismatic leaders lasted over two hours. Those at the gathering sensed the presence of God, according to Tunnicliffe, and a unity of the Spirit as their discussions focused on Jesus Christ even as they talked about theological differences. Continue reading…

Pope Francis with judges at the Vatican: The Church must get involved in greater politics

pope-judgesThe Pope held a meeting at the Vatican with a hundred judges from around the world. They participated in the Summit of Judges on human trafficking and organized crime that brought together legal experts to analyze this scourge and seek to combat it.
Pope Francis praised the work of judges who often work under pressure and threats. So he told them that they are called to bring hope to how  justice works so that injustice does not have the last word.
He also condemned the traffickers whom he described as “the new slave hunters.”
POPE FRANCIS
“Victims are often betrayed even in the most intimate and sacred ways a person can be violated, that is, in love they aspire to give and take and that her family owes or who promise their suitors or husbands who instead end up selling them on the black market forcing them into hard labor, prostitution or sale of organs.”
Pope Francis explained that the Church is also called on to engage in the field of politics and again requested the abolition of the death penalty.
Then the pope signed a declaration in which the signatories make a number of proposals to end modern-day slavery. Among these measures, he asked to use the assets seized from traffickers in the rehabilitation and compensation of victims, the punishment of clients of sexual services or prostitution and forced labor are considered crimes against humanity.  Continue reading…

Leaders of the world’s two largest faiths reconciled with a hug and a kiss

pope-imamWith a hugely symbolic hug and an exchange of kisses on the cheek, Pope Francis and the grand imam of Cairo’s al-Azhar Mosque, which houses a 1,000-year-old university, took a major step toward restoring relations between major branches of the world’s two largest faiths, Roman Catholicism and Sunni Islam. The two met privately for 25 minutes in the pope’s private library at the Vatican.

“This meeting is the message,” the pope told the imam, Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb.  Continue reading…

‘Together 2016’ Organizer Meets With ‘Pope Francis’ to Unite Christians, Catholics on National Mall

hall-bergoglio-together-compressedWASHINGTON — An ecumenical event featuring Hillsong United, Lecrae, Michael W. Smith, Josh McDowell, Ravi Zacharias, Francis Chan and other renown evangelical and Catholic speakers and musicians that is set to take place in Washington, D.C. is raising concerns as it seeks to draw a million attendees to “link arms” in unity, including with the Vatican.

“Together 2016” is an event to be held on July 16 at the National Mall in Washington, and seeks to unite those of various backgrounds to “stand together for Jesus.” Both Christians and Catholics alike will be featured at the prayer and worship event…

This week, Hall announced that Jorge Bergoglio, also known as Pope Francis, will be delivering a video message to those in attendance…

Hall traveled to Rome on Thursday to meet with the Roman Catholic leader and other Vatican officials ahead of the event… Continue reading…

Related:  Pope and Hillsong plan a 1 million man gathering in DC

Episcopal Priest: LGBTQ People Will ‘Revitalize Christianity’

lgbt-640x480In a recent essay in Salon Magazine, the Reverend Elizabeth M. Edman argues for the power of “queer virtue” to combat “heteronormativity” and revitalize a Christianity that is too wedded to traditional ideas of human sexuality and marriage.

An Episcopal priest and a political strategist, Edman attempts to redeem the concept of “Pride” as central to the LGBT movement and integral to an authentically Christian life.  Continue reading…