One of the most hopeful signs is what is beginning to happen in the Church of England, the official church of which Queen Elizabeth II is the titular head. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is a Spirit-filled Christian who speaks in tongues. Steven told me that recently he gave an altar call and prayed for each person who came forward for the baptism of Holy Spirit. This is virtually unheard of. Source
Category: Apostasy
Cops bust ‘baby farm’ where you can buy an infant for $1,400
A hospital is persuading women who want to terminate their pregnancies to have the babies so it can sell them for $1,400 each to childless couples.
The shocking “baby farm” has been exposed at the 30-bed Palash Hospital in the Gwailor district of India. Two of the sold babies have since been rescued by police.
Prateek Kumar, from the ASP crime branch, told Times of India: “Three others have been sold to childless couples in Uttar Pradesh and Chattisgarh.” Source
Electronic ‘Tattoo’ Transforms Skin Into a Screen
Researchers have taken the concept of wearable technology to a whole new level by developing an electronic patch that transforms skin into an LED screen.
The flexible display, created by scientists at the University of Tokyo, is as thin as cling film and is described as electronic skin, or “e-skin.”
“The advent of mobile phones has changed the way we communicate,” said Takao Someya from the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Engineering. “While these communication tools are getting smaller and smaller, they are still discrete devices that we have to carry with us. Source
Shaky Economy Costs General Conference Millions of Dollars
An unsteady global economy shaved 20 percent off the income received by the General Conference last year, and church leaders are reworking budgetary plans as they prayerfully seek to navigate the uncharted waters ahead. While tithe and offerings remained strong worldwide in 2015, exchange-rate losses linked to the fluctuations
of regional currencies against the U.S. dollar cost the General Conference, the administrative body that oversees the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a total of $19.4 million.
“My fears that were presented in October actually came true,” General Conference treasurer Juan R. Prestol-Puesán said in an interview…
The General Conference would have had $19,441,294 additional income this year if 2015 exchange rates had remained the same as in 2014, according to the treasury report to the Spring Meeting. In another loss, the variability of financial markets cost the General Conference a total of $2.8 million in capital and unrealized gains in 2015. Those investments had represented a gain of $2 million in 2014. Source
Protestant South Becoming a New Catholic Stronghold (2013)
Dixie Catholics credit the strong Southern sense of community, and dialogue with faithful Protestants, with helping to power the Church’s growth there.
LINDEN, Va. — In the waves of turbulence that rippled throughout the Catholic Church in the 1970s, the nuns of St. Dominic’s Monastery found themselves forced to leave their longtime home in Wisconsin in search of a new one.
The nuns moved to a temporary residence in Washington, D.C., while looking for a permanent setting conducive to the cloistered, contemplative life they sought to lead. It would be more than two decades before they found one. When they did, it was in what may seem a most unlikely place: the rural northeast of Virginia, considered one of the Protestant Bible Belt states of the South.
The story of St. Dominic’s Monastery’s southern move may be the story of U.S. Catholicism. New data shows that some of the fastest-growing dioceses in the country are deep in the U.S. South.
The third-fastest-developing diocese is Atlanta, which saw the number of registered parishioners explode from nearly 322,000 in 2002 to 1 million in 2012 — an increase of more than twofold, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. Atlanta also has the largest Eucharistic Congress in the country, with an annual attendance of about 30,000, according to an archdiocesan official. Source
Christians, Muslims in Thailand gather to promote harmony and peace
Bangkok, Thailand, Apr 12, 2016 / 12:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic officials attended the inauguration of a new mosque in Bangkok earlier this week, in an effort to foster interreligious dialogue, and harmony between their communities in Thailand. Source
Megachurch Pastor Preaches About Christians Making the ‘Dangerous Prayer’
Christians must push themselves to pray the “dangerous prayer” of availability, Pastor James Brown of Crossroads Church said in a recent sermon, telling his congregation that when “God calls you, he equips you.”
Brown, who serves as the executive pastor of discipleship at the Minnesota-based evangelical church, said in a March sermon that Christians need to be more like children in their service to God, pushing themselves to “fearlessly” invite God’s presence into their lives. Source
Pope to meet senior Methodists during launch of new ecumenical office in Rome
Pope Francis and senior Methodist representatives from around the world will take part in a series of events to mark the opening of the new Methodist Ecumenical Office in Rome (MEOR). Source.
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Oxford theology students can skip Christianity lessons
Theology students at Oxford will no longer be required to study Christianity throughout the course for the first time in 800 years after undergraduates complained about lack of diversity. Changes are being made to the degree to mirror shifts in religious beliefs and culture in the wider British society, according to academics. Source
Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby discuss ways of working for unity
Pope Francis met on Monday with the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, saying he hoped their meeting would serve to “strengthen further our bonds of friendship and our commitment to the great cause of reconciliation and communion between Christian believers.” Source