Tag Archives: Church

Thieves Steal Church’s Thanksgiving Meals; Community Rallies

A church that had their entire supply of food to be given away for Thanksgiving stolen by thieves is seeing an outpouring of support from the community.

Christ Temple Apostolic Church in Sacramento had a window into their church’s gym shattered allowing the thieves access to make off with hundreds of dollars in food donated for the church’s annual Thanksgiving meal for the homeless.

The church is known for their outreach to the homeless community despite a series of hardships. The church has had to close half their building because they can’t afford $70,000 to fix a leaking roof. The day after they housed homeless in their gym, thieves broke into the gym and stole the church’s sound system.

Now, members of the community have been dropping off food donations at the church to replace the stolen items. One man who had never heard of the church before the thefts told CBS13 in Sacramento that he brought a couple of turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce and a smile because he wanted to help those helping the community.

Catholic Church Sees Attendance Increase From Pope Francis

The Catholic Church is reporting a huge upswing in attendance in the 8 months since Pope Francis was chosen to lead.

Churches in Britain have seen a 20% rise in attendance with a mix of new and returning members. More than half of priests in Italy have reported seeing a significant upturn in attendance and Spain’s church leaders report a decade-long slump in attendance has suddenly reversed.

In addition, leaders in the U.S., France and Latin America report growth.

All of those surveyed credited Pope Francis and his appeal to those who have felt like they were being cast aside from the church. Surveys say that people are very impressed with his simple lifestyle, devotion to service to the poor and needy and his commitment to rid the papacy of pedophile priests.

One columnist even said that Pope Francis has become the world’s biggest voice for change in the current system getting people to focus on the needs of others.

Can Dry Bones Live Again?

What could be more unlikely than a pile of human bones living again? It doesn’t seem like a very intelligent question to ask and an even more impossible thing to actually occur.

Yet, God Himself asked the question of Ezekiel as he looked out over the valley of dry bones:

And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live?

and I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. —EZEKIEL 37:3

As Ezekiel looked at the dry valley of bones, he had no hope. He saw only bones that appeared to be dead, dry and beyond hope.

There was a reason God asked Ezekiel if the bones could live. God wanted Ezekiel to know that the bones could live, and that he had a very important role to play in their living. Let’s read on:

Ezekiel 37:1-10: Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

In these last days, there are many of God’s people that appear to be dead, dry and beyond hope. The battles have been fierce, and while they appear to be defeated, don’t count them out just yet. In fact, it is the Lord’s heart to count them in! The Lord is raising up an army – a vast army from the bones of those who appear to be lifeless and without hope!

It is the prophetic call and responsibility of the Church to speak life to the dry bones within. The Lord said “I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!”

From my own personal experience, when you have been down for such a long time, and someone tells you that you CAN get up – it’s as life-giving as the very breath you breathe! You can rise again! You may have been told it’s over, you’re done. But, God says NOW is the time, NOW is your time!

Jesus came to give hope to the hopeless. It’s time we learn to speak life to those who need encouragement and hope. When you speak words of life, you are literally creating the will to live – and that is Jesus’ heart!

NOW is the time to speak life to someone!

Nigerian Christians Killed In Church Attack

At least 19 Christians have been killed when gunmen stormed a church in Okene, Nigeria and opened fire during the middle of worship. The pastor was among those killed.

The terrorists used Kalashnikov assault rifles leading to government officials suspecting the militant Islamist group Boko Haram which has been responsible for the murders of other Christians inside Nigerian churches. Continue reading →