A group of vandals attacked churches in North Carolina leaving one with ten thousand dollars in damage.
The first church were struck last Saturday. Bales Memorial Wesleyan Church in Jamestown, N.C. had their sign broken, windows smashed and parking signs ripped from the ground. Flower beds were destroyed and the building struck with eggs and silly string.
Messages spray painted on the church included “He hates you!”
Grace Baptist Church in Greensboro found similar damage to their facility on Sunday.
Pastor Carl Pulliam said that Bales Memorial Wesleyan suffered around $10,000 in damages. The other church said it would cost at least $300 to repair a broken window but wouldn’t say how much it would cost to repair the cosmetic damage.
“Why would someone stoop so low to vandalize a church? In a word: Sin! The prophet Jeremiah says that ‘the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things,’” Coward wrote in a post on Facebook. “Yes, it’s true that Satan opposes God and he is probably laughing about this vandalism. But God’s shows us the destructive sin nature found in all mankind—including each one of us!”
Pastor Pulliam said he’s not angry at the vandals and forgives them. Pastor Paul Coward of Grace Baptist Church agreed.
“[W]e need to listen to the words of Jesus from the sermon on the mount, ‘But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:44),’” Coward stated.
The mayor of New York said that he is not going to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision that the New York School System could ban Christian organizations from holding meetings in school buildings.
The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court decision that said the school board could prohibit churches under the Establishment Clause. It was the third time the Court has sided with the city against churches.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he will allow churches to continue to meet in public schools despite the ruling.
“The administration remains committed to ensuring that religious organizations are able to use space in city schools on the same terms provided to other groups,” said mayoral spokesman Wiley Norvell. “Now that litigation has concluded, the city will develop rules of the road that respect the rights of both religious groups and nonparticipants.”
“While we review and revise the rules, groups currently permitted to use schools for worship will continue to be able to worship on school premises under DOE guidelines,” he said.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented the church in their case, said that while they welcome the Mayor’s decision, the rules need to be changed to allow equal access to all groups.
Most Americans say that there is value in attending church while at the same time saying they believe the church is dying.
The survey from Lifeway Research showed that nearly 9 in 10 Americans say attendance at church is acceptable and almost two-thirds think it’s admirable. Even non-religious people said by an 80% rating that church attendance was acceptable and 43% called it admirable.
However, most of those believe the church is declining in attendance and influence.
“Americans have a much more optimistic view of the people and practice of attending church than they do of the health of the church,” said Scott McConnell vice president of LifeWay Research. “Church attendance is much like regular exercise and driving the speed limit. People do not live out everything they admire.”
The survey found that the biggest groups who consider church attendance unusual or not important were those of younger ages. The survey says that those attending church are now more likely to do it out of choice rather than feeling pressure to attend by society.
“The longevity of the Christian church proves it is not a fad,” said McConnell. “Some Americans feel cultural expectations to attend church, but our recent research shows that those who actually do attend hold more closely to the teachings of Jesus Christ.”
A Mississippi pastor who took a stand for the unborn and was arrested for it 4 years ago has been exonerated on all the charges against him.
Pastor Steven Joiner of Columbus Church of the Nazarene came upon a protest by Pro-Life Mississippi in his city. He parked at a nearby business and walked over to thank them for their standing up for life. Joiner joined the group’s protest.
A police officer then approached the group and told them to leave saying they were blocking traffic. Pastor Joiner said he had a First Amendment right to stand on a public sidewalk. The pastor was arrested for “failure to obey a police officer.”
The pastor was initially convicted on charges of violating the city’s Parade and Handbill ordinance. An appeals court overturned that verdict. The pastor then sued for his right to protest.
The court ruled that the pastor’s rights were violated, ordered the city to pay $10,000 in damages and attorney fees. The city was also ordered to amend their law to protect free speech.
“The notion that one man can constitute a parade and that small groups of individuals need to seek permission and a permit from the government before they can open their mouths on a public sidewalk is repugnant to the Constitution and undermines the foundation of this nation,” Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Islamic terrorist group ISIS is continuing their campaign to eradicate any religious historic emblems by destroying historic Christian churches in Iraq.
The Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor says they have obtainted pictuers of terrorists using sledgehammers and other tools to destroy crosses and other Christian iconography. Statues were torn down and then smashed to pieces.
“The images show ISIS men engaged in the destruction of various Christian symbols, which ISIS perceives as being polytheistic and idolatrous,” JTTM reports.
“They don’t care what it’s called; they are just following their ideology and that means getting rid of churches and minorities. It is the Islamic State, and there’s no room for anyone else,” MEMRI Director Steven Stalinsky said, according to The Daily Mail.
The United Nations calls the actions of ISIS a “war crime.”
“This is yet another attack against the Iraqi people, reminding us that nothing is safe from the cultural cleansing under way in the country: it targets human lives, minorities, and is marked by the systematic destruction of humanity’s ancient heritage,” UNESCO’s Irina Bokova said.
At least 14 people were killed when terrorists attacked their churches.
Officlals in Lahore, Pakistan said that at least 70 were wounded in the twin attacks. One church was Catholic, the other was Protestant.
Geo TV reported that police stopped one of the bombers outside the church, forcing him to detonate outside killing one officer and wounding others. The second bomber was able to enter the church and detonate in the middle of services.
“Islamist militants in Pakistan have attacked Christians and other religious minorities often over the last decade or more. Many Christians, who make up less than two percent of Pakistan’s population of more than 180 million, accuse the government of doing little to protect them, saying politicians are quick to offer condolences after an attack but slow to act to improve security,” Retuers reported.
The Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, claimed responsibility for the attacks and said they are planning to attack more churches.
Officials in Panama City Beach, Florida have revoked the local tax-exempt status of a “church” that has been running a sexually-themed nightclub during Spring Break.
“It’s very disturbing, especially inside our city limits here in Bay County,” Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman told reporters this week. “I think we’re better than that.”
The group calling itself “Life Center Church” has been hosting an event called “Spring Break Amnesia” since February that featured items local officials called “shocking” for a place of worship.
“A bottle club, charging $20 at the door and selling obscene T-shirts is not being used as a church,” Property Appraiser Dan Sowell told the Panama City News Herald. “A God-fearing, God-honoring church in January does not sponsor this type of debauchery in March.”
The “church” had been advertising events on their website that were anything but Christian.
“‘Slumber’ is a pajama and lingerie party hosted by the sexiest ladies on the beach,” the site’s event description read just three days ago. “‘Anything But Clothes’ showcases your artistic side, featuring your mind and body. How creative can you be? Bare as you dare to attend in anything but clothes (toga, body paint, etc.).”
The church’s “pastor” once had another church in the area called Faith Christian Family Church. He was arrested and placed on probation for giving pot to teens.
Just days after reports that 20 Christians were tortured by police in the Indian state of Rajasthan, Hindu extremists attacked two churches in four days.
In central India’s Madhya Pradesh, the extremists forced their way into a private home and beat the Christians inside the home. The town’s police were backing up the extremists during their assault.
The group accused pastor Lal Singh of converting poor Hindus to Christianity in violation of law. After the beatings, the police arrested two of the Christians.
The police also confiscated all the Bibles and other Christian materials in the home as “evidence.”
Then about 45 miles away in Alirajpur District, a dozen extremists shouting anti-Christian slogans tried to break into a church service at Rampura village. About 300 people were in a service as the extremists tried to storm the building.
“They were shouting slogans against Christianity and using abusive language,” said Pastor Kanhaiya Lal, whose church worship site moved from Jobat to the village three years ago. “I had not seen most of them before and think they are from nearby villages, because I do not recognize them as residents from Jobat city.”
Church members stayed in the building and continued to worship until police showed up to remove the extremists.
A church in Washington state is taking a place one home to stripping and prostitution and turning it into a center to show the light of Christ to the world.
Bethany Community Church, a multi-site Seattle-based church, rents a former strip club called “Sugars.” The building has been turned into a site for the church to launch missions and serve the surrounding community.
Pastor Scott Sund told the Christian Post they found the building available when a staff member saw a sign for rental in their neighborhood.
“A local businessman purchased the property from the federal government which had seized it because of money laundering and prostitution charges against the strip club in the facility,” explained Sund.
“When it came up for rent, our children’s ministry director Anna Guerrero, who lived in the same neighborhood, brought it to my attention. At the time we were looking for a full time rental in order to facilitate our Sunday worship services.”
The building now has offices in the back portion for seven staff members and the bulk of the rest of the building is “One Cup”, a coffee house where all profits go to charity.
We now serve breakfast from out front of the Café every Tuesday to homeless and drug addicted people. From that outreach ministry we’ve started a Bible study,” Sund said. “We have a great relationship with the methadone clinic and nearby neighbors have begun work to clean up and transform their own spaces.”
The lawyers representing Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church in Sudan is appealing a court decision to close the church and seize their property.
On February 18th, police arrived at the church with an order from a local court demanding the church be locked and seized. The church’s lawyers say the order not specifically state what land or property was subject to seizure.
“In November 2014, congregants held a protest vigil in order to prevent NISS agents from gaining access to the land and illegally destroying and confiscating the property. In December 2014 the church was partially destroyed and 37 congregants arrested.”
The court is claiming the land was sold to a Muslim businessman by a church committee. It was later discovered that the government formed a committee they said was a committee of the church and sold the land. A lower court ruled in favor of the church that the committee was not associated with the church but a higher Muslim court said the Christians had to leave.
“The court order will effectively facilitate the illegal closure of yet another church at a time when the government has stated that the construction of new churches will no longer be permitted. We call upon the international community, and in particular the African Union, to hold Sudan to its obligations to protect the right to freedom of religion or belief and to guarantee the profession and free practice of religion as outlined in international statutes to which the nation is party,” Christian Solidary Worldwide said in a statement.