Tag Archives: Inspirational

Church Gives $40,000 To Ferguson Neighborhood

A Missouri church is stepping up to help residents of Ferguson, Missouri whose businesses and homes were damaged or destroyed by looters in the wake of the Michael Brown situation.

The Episcopal Church said it will provide $40,000 in grants to help those in need.

“This joint effort helps restock food pantry shelves to feed the hungry today, but it also provides nutritional counseling and food preparation education for a more healthy future,” said Bishop Stacy Sauls.  “… it helps local businesses get back on their feet, but it also partners with public and private groups to encourage entrepreneurship and sustainability; it provides a mechanism to deliver food and other assistance to shut-ins, but it does so by offering skills training to young adults and older youth that will help improve their lives for years to come.”

The Reverend Michael Dunnington of All Saints Episcopal Church told the Christian posts that he sees the grants helping multiple parts of the community.

“I think that this grant will go a long way to show the residents of Ferguson that the Episcopal Church cares about the immediate effects of the August troubles, and that we are interested in addressing longer-term needs in their community,” he told the Christian Post.

Dunnington added while protests are continuing in the town, they have been peaceful and not lead to further destruction.

Hundreds Rally For Prayer In School

Students, parents, community leaders and pastors gathered in Hartsville, South Carolina for a weekend rally in support of allowing prayer to be placed back in schools.

The Hartsville Center Theater hosted over 450 people who listened to leaders throughout the community talking of the need for prayer, the power of prayer and also to join together in songs of praise to God.

It was the second rally hosted by Florence One School Board member Pat Gibson Hye-Moore and Pastor of New Providence Baptist Church Cliff Leonard.  The men said it was the larger of the two events.  The event grew from a concern “that morality has plunged in America since prayer was removed from school.”

“We’re taking God out of everything,” lamented Hye-Moore. “We are taking the Creator, the one that created everything, we’re just trying to kick Him out and He’s not happy with that.”

South Carolina representatives in 2013 proposed a bill introducing a moment of silence prayer in the schools but it has not progressed beyond its introduction.

Smokey Robinson: God Set Me Free From Cocaine

Music legend Smokey Robinson is speaking out about his cocaine addition and how it ended instantly at a church in Los Angeles 30 years ago.

Robinson gave an interview with a London newspaper where he said the prayer of a pastor snapped the control the vile drug had over his life.

“She told me that God had told her I was coming [to the service]. And she told me all the things that were happening to me, physically and emotionally and mentally – which I shared with no on one earth,” Robinson said in an interview with The Telegraph. “No one knew. She told me every one of them that night. She said God had showed her what was going on. And I walked in that church an addict, and I came out free. May of 1986. Never looked back.”

Robinson said his addictions began smoking marijuana but he never thought he could end up a drug addict.

“I thought that it couldn’t happen to me. That’s the cunning of drugs … Because when I was younger I used to smoke a whole lot of weed. But weed was always manageable for me. I could have some killer weed and put it away for a year and not touch it! It never had the handle on me. I had the handle on it,” said Robinson.

Robinson travels around the world sharing his faith in places like prisons where he feels his testimony of overcoming drugs can be an inspiration to those jailed on drug related crimes.

Megachurch Baptizes 2,335 During Sunday Service

In one day, over 2,300 people followed Jesus Christ into baptism at a South Carolina megachurch.

NewSpring Church announced via social media that 2,335 people were baptized at 10 different locations during their Sunday morning services.   However, lead pastor Perry Noble said that despite the big overall number, it still comes down to the individual.

“Over and over again His people are called to celebrate who God is and what He has done,” Noble said. “As His church, we should refuse to be silent when He has been so good … every number has a name, every name has a story and every story matters to God.”

Noble said that baptism is the first day and individual officially goes public as a follower of Jesus Christ and as His representative on Earth.  The church notes on their website that reading the Bible and studying the teachings of Jesus makes it easier to hear the Holy Spirit’s guidance in daily life.

The pastor also noted that their goal is not to be a huge church but to get thousands saved so they can join other churches and expand their reach and effectiveness for Christ.

“We want all churches to be thousands strong because of the potential the church has,” Noble said.

Naghmeh Abedini Says Husband’s Imprisonment Has Made Her Faith Stronger

The wife of a pastor imprisoned in Iran for being a Christian says her husband’s ordeal has significantly strengthened her faith in Christ.

Naghmeh Abedini wrote for TrueWoman.com that she didn’t realize how selfish she had been with her life and her walk with Christ until her husband was jailed for simply being a follower of Christ.

“I finally learned how to fight my deceptive selfish flesh on a daily basis; every nag, tantrum, despairing thought, and fear,” Naghmeh writes. “Before Saeed was thrown into one of the world’s worst prisons, I struggled with fear and anxiety. More than anything, I was afraid of flying and speaking in front of people.”

Naghmeh says that on the day of her husband’s arrest, she felt the peace of God in a way she had never felt in her life to that point.

“The peace of God that surpasses all understanding covered my whole being, and I was freed of all fear. I no longer feared death of loved ones. I no longer feared the loss of finances or health. I no longer feared the future. I was truly free in Jesus,” said Naghmeh.

Israeli Leaders Take The “Ice Bucket Challenge”

A video from a man trying to call attention to Lou Gehrig’s Disease by dumping a bucket of ice water over his head went viral and launched an unusual fundraising campaign that’s raised millions in research funding the ALS Foundation.

The phenomenon has gone worldwide and now leaders in Israel are stepping up to be a part of the fundraising.

The first major leader to take part of Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, the spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces.  He posted pictures online August 19th showing him pouring the ice water over his own head.  He then issued challenges to other leaders including members of the Knesset and the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.

Yesh Atid MK Dov Lipman jumped on the challenge and not only did the bucket of water but also made a large donation for the research.

Then Wednesday morning, the Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. accepted his challenge.  Ron Prosor had a staff member pour the ice water on his head outside of the Israeli embassy in New York.  Prosor then nominated the U.N.’s secretary general Ban Ki-Moon to do the challenge.

Prosor joked the water was only slightly colder than the reception Israel gets at the U.N.

Over 4,000 Accept Christ At Greg Laurie Outreach

Pastor Greg Laurie hosted “2014 SoCal Harvest” at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California and over 4,000 people came forward to accept Christ as savior.

The organizers say that over 41,000 people attended the worship event’s last night.  Almost 70,000 attended over the three day event.

“I know that there is emptiness deep inside you … you were born with it,” Laurie said as part of his message.  “Right now, Jesus sees you; He doesn’t see a crowd. And He cares about you, and He loves you.”

The three-day event focused on Jesus within the lives of the believer and how someone who doesn’t know Christ and hasn’t accepted them as Savior has a void within them that they can’t fill no matter what the world may offer them.

The outreach was part of Greg Laurie’s 25th consecutive year of large-scale outreach events.  The theme that Laurie has focused on this year is hope that can be found only in the personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

“This is something really amazing that God has done,” Laurie said. “I don’t know of another ongoing evangelistic event like this anywhere in the world that’s happened for 25 years – a large scale overt evangelistic event. I would say don’t take this for granted.”

Young Egyptian Boy’s Prayer For Iraq Goes Viral

The sound of a small, fragile little boy’s voice is being passed around the world to remind people to pray for persecuted Christians in Iraq.

The boy, known only as Mario, lives in a suburb of Cairo, Egypt.  He is a regular watcher of an Arabic Christian television satellite network called SAT-7 KIDS.  He called into a show because he wanted to pray for the families in Iraq because he was hurting for them even though they were hundreds of miles away.

This is Mario’s prayer translated into English:

“We thank you for extending your glory to everything in our lives, Lord…

We pray for Iraq and all the Arab countries, they’re in your hand, Lord. Let there be peace and forgiveness, oh Lord, in terms of those who are doing bombings. Watch over the innocent people…

Even those killing others, you love them very much. You wait for them that they may come back to you again, oh Lord.

Lord Jesus, you said, ‘Come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ Yes, Lord. May we come back to you in everything, Lord Jesus.

Whether it be a small problem or a big problem, whether it be among nations or something material, or anything. If it be household problems, you will be glorified, Lord Jesus.

I thank you for hearing and answering us. Amen.”

The World Evangelical Alliance had called on Christians worldwide to focus on Christians and other minorities being persecuted by Islamic terrorists in Iraq.

South Carolina Church Baptizes Over 700 At Church Camp

A church camp hosted by a South Carolina church ended up with a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit that lead hundreds of youths to be baptized.

The summer camp of NewSpring church, which is called “The Gauntlet”, held baptisms for 733 teenagers in Daytona Beach, Florida.  The event is in its 9th year and had over 3,000 middle and high school students for four days of experiencing God and developing fellowship with their peers.

“The thing that sets the Gauntlet apart is relationships,” NewSpring spokeswoman Suzanne Swift told The Christian Post on Monday. “Culture offers a lot, but the hope we have in Jesus coupled with the community that students build at the Gauntlet is what makes it different. Once students experience hope in Jesus they tell everyone about it.”

Pastor Perry Noble said that of the 733 who were baptized, 240 of them were teenagers who accepted Christ for the first time.

The church was quick to note they do not require the teens to be members of their church to be baptized, only to have accepted Christ as their Savior.  They encourage all the teens to be involved in a local church in their home communities.

New York Church Offers To Sponsor Meriam Ibrahim

A New York City church is offering to pay for the flights to have Meriam Ibrahim and her family leave Sudan along with providing them food and shelter.

Pastor William Devlin of Manhattan Bible Church traveled to Sudan and met with the Foreign Minister.  The pastor says that he asked the Minister to intervene to allow the family to leave the country with him.

“The Devlin family has offered to bring this family back to the USA from Khartoum and have them live with us. I have been interviewed by the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C. and I have also met for three hours with the U.S. Ambassador to Sudan here in Khartoum – and his senior staff,” Devlin said in an email to The Christian Post on Sunday.  “I, along with another brother in the Lord, were able to go to the Safe House where this persecuted family is currently living in Khartoum and minister to them for over an hour.”

The family is reportedly in good health despite the Sudanese government’s continued actions in keeping Ibrahim from leaving the country.  The family is still waiting for the results of an ultrasound to see if newborn Maya will be able to walk after complications with her birth.