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 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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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
China, in one of the most ludicrous displays of totalitarianism in history, has restricted Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without permission from the government. Based on a statement that was given from the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the ruling, which will be applicable as of March 2015, stringently states the processes an individual must follow in order to reincarnate is “an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation.” Source
A Christian man was beaten and imprisoned in Mexico in what has been described as “the latest instance in a long trend of persecution”. Lauro Nunez, from Chachalacas in the Oaxaca region, was attacked by a mob on Easter Monday as he attempted to return to his village to visit his family. He had previously been expelled from his home for his evangelical Christian faith. Source
There’s a change machine in my local supermarket. Drop in a pound’s worth of coppers – the irritating one and two pence pieces that just weigh your pocket down and that you hardly ever spend – and you get a shiny £1 coin back. It’s a great idea, and one that seems to have been ripped off by Perry Noble’s NewSpring church in South Carolina. The megachurch pastor has a reputation for controversy, and it’ll be interesting to see how many eyebrows his current project raises. Because the church is encouraging its members to tithe – give 10 per cent of their income – by offering a 90-day money back guarantee. Source
ALTOONA, Pa. — A grand jury report that found two former bishops helped cover up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by more than 50 priests in a Pennsylvania diocese has prompted a sitting judge to resign from a Catholic school board and the current bishop to remove cathedral banners that celebrate former bishops. Source
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
A painting that depicts President Barack Obama as Jesus Christ on the cross is on display in Boston. The artwork, titled ‘Truth,’ was due to debut four years ago in New York’s Union Square but the exhibition was cancelled due to public outrage. Source
The Scriptures were given to men, not in a continuous chain of unbroken utterances, but piece by piece through successive generations, as God in His providence saw a fitting opportunity to impress man at sundry times and divers places. Men wrote as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. There is “first the bud, then the blossom, and next the fruit,” “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” This is exactly what the Bible utterances are to us.
There is not always perfect order or apparent unity in the Scriptures. The miracles of Christ are not given in exact order, but are given just as the circumstances occurred, which called for this divine revealing of the power of Christ. The truths of the Bible are as pearls hidden. They must be searched, dug out by painstaking effort. Those who take only a surface view of the Scriptures will, with their superficial knowledge, which they think is very deep, talk of the contradictions of the Bible, and question the authority of the Scriptures. But those whose hearts are in harmony with truth and duty will search the Scriptures with a heart prepared to receive divine impressions. The illuminated soul sees a spiritual unity, one grand golden thread running through the whole, but it requires patience, thought, and prayer to trace out the precious golden thread. Sharp contentions over the Bible have led to investigation and revealed the precious jewels of truth. Many tears have been shed, many prayers offered, that the Lord would open the understanding to His Word.
The Bible is not given to us in grand superhuman language. Jesus, in order to reach man where he is, took humanity. The Bible must be given in the language of men. Everything that is human is imperfect. Different meanings are expressed by the same word; there is not one word for each distinct idea. The Bible was given for practical purposes.
(1SM 20)