Chris Ferguson –

How To Start A Healing Room –

“Every man is as holy as he really wants to be.”
(Man: the Dwelling Place of God, pg. 40)
“What does this word holiness really mean? Is it a negative kind of piety from which so many people have shied away? No, of course not! Holiness in the Bible means moral wholeness– a positive quality which actually includes kindness, mercy, purity, moral blamelessness and godliness. It is always to be thought of in a positive, white intensity of degree.” (I Call it Heresy, pg. 63)
“It is because of the hasty and superficial conversation with God that the sense of sin is so weak and that no motives have power to help you to hate and flee from sin as you should.” (Keys to the Deeper Life)
… so, are you on the path to holiness?

Teresa Jackson Osborn November 14 at 8:03am
Hi, Chris and Yvette…

Hey, friends…here is a special request from the parents of Asher Campbell who was born Wednesday night. “WE NEED PRAYER NOW. WE CAN’T HOLD ASHER FOR 2 DAYS (WHICH WAS HELPING HIM IMPROVE); NOW HE’S BACK ON A STRONGER BREATHING MACHINE; THE BRUISE HE HAD ON HIS HEAD FROM KRISTIN’S MONTH-LONG CONTRACTIONS IS CAUSING TOXINS TO BE RELEASED”

I posted this message this morning. I know you guys are a part of IHOP. Could you please send this out as a request? These parents are desparately in need of a miracle. Their faith has been under deep testing since the loss of their first child last year.

I have known Kristin (the mother) since High School.

If anything, pray that Chris and Kristin’s faith be strengthened through this!

Thank you both!

Teresa

Larry Jones Fired From Feed the Children

Monday, 09 November 2009 04:58 PM EST Adrienne S. Gaines News - Featured News

Feed the Children President Larry Jones was fired Friday from the ministry he founded 30 years ago. He is expected to file a wrongful termination suit this week.

The organization’s board of directors did not give a reason for voting to terminate Jones’ employment “effective immediately,” according to The Oklahoman. Jones’ wife, Frances, was not terminated.

(Photo: Larry Jones with wife Frances at feeding outreach in New York)

Read it all here

Thursday, 29 October 2009 04:00 PM EDT Adrienne S. Gaines News - Featured News
Rifqa Bary was transferred to Ohio on Tuesday in a move that officially ended Florida’s jurisdiction in the teen convert’s dependency case.

Bary, 17, is in the custody of Franklin County Children Services and has been placed in a foster home.

At a hearing Tuesday, a Columbus judge ordered that the teen’s Internet and phone use be monitored by Franklin County Children Services, the Associated Press reported.

“Bary’s use of Facebook was one issue that led to the situation,” said Jim Zorn, a children’s services attorney who asked Goodrich to restrict Bary from using the Internet and her cell phone. “What we want to restrict is the other people, the other organizations, the other forces, that have interjected themselves into this case inappropriately, and has caused the additional problems that we’ve seen.”

Bary fled her Columbus-area home in July claiming her Muslim parents threatened to kill her for converting to Christianity. Her parents, Mohamad and Aysha Bary, have denied those allegations, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said its investigation found no evidence to back up Bary’s claims.

Bary’s parents claim their daughter was brainwashed into believing she would be the victim of an honor killing. The teen spent nearly three weeks living with charismatic pastors Blake and Beverly Lorenz, who she met through a prayer group on Facebook. Another Christian couple Bary met on Facebook purchased a bus ticket for the teen to travel to Florida.

Ohio attorney Kort Gatterdam, who is representing the teen, said his client did not flee Ohio because of Facebook but “because of the conflict between Miss Bary and her parents,” the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Bary’s former attorney, John Stemberger, called the Ohio court’s decision “ridiculous and outrageous.”

“They’re treating her like she’s an inmate,” he told Charisma. “She’s a 17-year-old girl.”

Stemberger said he hopes to see Bary declared dependent on the state of Ohio until she turns 18.

An agreement to that effect had been negotiated last week. Stemberger said Bary’s parents, who emigrated from Sri Lanka, agreed to leave their daughter in Ohio state custody for the next nine months to avoid being held in contempt of court for failing to provide requested immigration documents.

But after the teen was transferred into Ohio custody, her parents fired the attorney who brokered the deal, nullifying the agreement, Stemberger said.

Tennessee minister Jamal Jivanjee, who also converted to Christianity from Islam, believes Bary is in “grave” danger in Ohio.

“[Bary's parents] completely went back on the agreement that they made to leave Rifqa alone, and I believe they now are planning to continue to pursue to get her back against Rifqa’s will,” Jivanjee wrote in an email sent Wednesday.

He called on Bary’s supporters to contact Franklin County Children Services and the Ohio governor’s office and urge them to allow Bary the use of her cell phone and Facebook, and to view the teen’s parents and local Islamic groups as a serious threat.

Stemberger, however, disputes Jivanjee’s claim that Bary is in grave danger, though he says she is not as safe in Ohio as she was in Florida. He points to a comment this week from Franklin County Children Services executive director Eric Fenner, who told the Columbus Dispatch he has no reason to believe the teen would be unsafe with her parents.

“The [children's services] department over there is … on record that they believe there’s no threat,” Stemberger said. “It’s a very biased situation. They’re just predisposed toward not believing Rifqa. In Florida, at least people have seen and heard her. She is very credible.”

ARE MISSIONARIES BEGGARS?

by Don W. Hillis

“How to be sure of the will of God” has been replaced as the number one problem of Christian young people

who are thinking of missions. The big hang-up now is money. They object to begging for support.

David Howard of Inter-Varsity says, “It is the complaint I hear with more consistency than any other. Again and

Again students say to me, “I believe that I am as committed to the Lord as I can be. I want to serve Jesus Christ.

I am perfectly willing to go overseas and serve the Lord, but this business of going around and drumming up

support, I cannot buy it. I will not buy it!” Howard describes this attitude of many potential missionary

candidates in these words, “You’ve got yourself set with all your affluence, and now I come to you on my hands

and knees and ask you to support me.”

Howard Fenton Jr., adds, “They are right…it is a problem. There is something underlying the method that tends

to degrade the candidate – it does support an economic double standard…the missionary does have experiences

where he laughs because he doesn’t want to cry. Maybe there is a better way. If so, what is it?”

Fortunately, it is possible to be both sympathetic and Scriptural toward the problem. And just as fortunately, the

Scriptures are far from silent on this issue.

In the Old Testament economy, those who served the Lord and his people (the priests, Levites and prophets)

lived off the tithes and offerings of the people. And there was a definite relationship between Israel’s

faithfulness in giving and God’s blessing the nation. The prophet Malachi accused Israel of robbing God in

relation to tithes and offerings. He then promised that God would open the “window of heaven” to those who

would be faithful in the matter of giving (Malachi 3:8-10).

Jesus, who so easily could have turned stones into bread and multiplied loaves and fishes, lived off the gifts of

His friends during his public ministry. The he pulled the economic rug out from under the feet of those He

called into His service. He insisted that the fishermen should leave their fishing, the tax collector, his tax

collecting and the tent maker, his tent making.

When Jesus sent out the seventy “into every city and place,” He commanded them to “carry neither purse, nor

script, nor shoes.” They were to accept the hospitality of those who would open their homes, “eating and

drinking such things as they give: for the laborer is worthy of his hire.” (Luke 10:4-7)

Whether it involves the preacher in America or the missionary overseas, the Lord has ordained that those who

“preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel” (I Corinthians 9:14). And is a pastor expecting his people to

support him any different from an apostle (missionary) expecting churches to support him?

As far as I can discover, Paul only apologized once to the Corinthian believers for failing to insist that they

should share his support. He assured them that this is a way they could prove the sincerity of their love for God.

He warned them of the danger of sowing sparingly and encourage them with the reward of sowing bountifully.

He assured them that God is able to make all grace abound toward them in this matter of sacrificial giving. He

reminded them that God loves a cheerful giver.

Paul used illustrations: (1) the Macedonian believers who gave out of their deep poverty; (2) Christ who gave up

the riches of heaven; and (3) the Father’s willingness to give His indescribable Gift to us.

Though Paul, as a missionary, had learned how to be abased and to abound, how to be full and how to hunger,

he rebuked those who were careless about giving to the Lord’s servants and commended those who were

faithful.

The missionary does not accept the gifts of God’s people as handouts for his personal well-being. He is a

representative of God’s work. That work does not go on unless God’s servants do it and they cannot do it

without support.

Another answer is to take a new look at some positive values found in raising one’s own support. Several of

today’s largest and fastest-growing missionary organizations use this system. And the personalized support

program is a basic contributing factor to their growth.

Deep, personal relationships between the Christian worker and his home church do much to promote a longtime

interest in both giving and intercession. And, without the intercession of many friends, the battle can be

lost. Furthermore, any deep sense of God’s leading should be accompanied by the confidence that when he

guides, He also provides. Raising one’s own support is a challenge to faith.

Dr. Fenton shares this wise counsel with missionary candidates, “See yourself not as a huckster of your own

services or as a promoter of your own support, but as one who has firsthand contact with God – and who,

therefore, has something to share with others. See your mission to the churches not as a money-raising junket,

but as a further fulfillment of the Great Commission; you are going because of a divine call – to share with

others what you know about Jesus Christ.

When the missionary candidate sees raising his support as an opportunity to prove his faith, to inform fellow

Christians of God’s work, to inspire them to invest in the things of eternal consequence and to encourage them

to pray for him and for the work of his Lord, then his deputation is no longer a mountain, but a ministry. He

probably will even find himself making new personal friendships that will be of rich spiritual benefit to him, to

his friends and to his work. There is no substitute for friends who really care.

“After all pious platitudes have been swept away,” says Fenton, “you will need the friendship, the prayers and

the deep interest of God’s people more than you need your monthly support. And a period of pre-field

deputation may be the means God will use to give you a wider circle of praying friends than you presently

have.”

Paul appears to have counted the Philippian church as his home church. He had no sooner left the newly-found

church at Philippi (Acts 16) than they sent financial aid to him. He received at least two “support checks” from

them during his two weeks in Thessalonica (Philippians 4:16). These believers never lost their interest in

supporting Paul but apparently there were times when they had no way of getting money to him.

Though this great missionary was willing to go without the necessities of life, he told the Philippian believers

they had done well in supplying his financial needs. He obviously felt other churches should have done the

same, and thus have fruit that would abound to their account (Philippians 4:14-17).

The common denominator in the accounts of Elisha accepting the hospitality of the widow of Zarephath, Elisha

rooming with the Shunamite family, Jesus eating in the home of Mary and Martha, and Paul enjoying the gracious

hospitality of Philemon is that of giving and receiving. Though the recipients did not take the kindness of the

givers for granted, neither did they apologize for being on the receiving end. In each of these cases a warm

personal relationship was built up between the giver and the receiver.

There are hundreds of missionaries whose testimonies corroborate that of TEAM’s missionary, Bessie

Degerman, as she says, “I would not exchange the faith-expanding experiences I had watching the Lord supply

my needs for going to Japan for anything. It has been one of the highlights of my missionary experience.”

Are missionaries beggars? I guess the answer really depends upon one’s perspective of God’s work and

interpretation of His Word.

50 Kids Rescued from Sex Slavery

  10-27-09

by Kim Trobee, editor

Sixty pimps are arrested in 36 cities across the U.S. through an operation aimed at saving kids.

The FBI, in conjunction with the Innocence Lost National Initiative, rescued 50 kids from sex slavery over the weekend.  The sting covered 36 cities and included 631 arrests, including 60 pimps.

Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI, said child sex slavery continues to be a significant problem in our country.

“There is no work more important than protecting American’s children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization,” he said in a statement.  “Through our strategic partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies, we are able to make a difference.”

Local and state agencies work with the FBI to track and file charges against those suspected of human trafficking.

Through the Innocence Lost Task Forces and Working Groups, nearly 900 children have been rescued from sexual slavery.

Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said for the first time the issue is being seen as a national problem.

“There are now 34 task forces around the country – federal, state and local – going after this problem,” he said.  “What we’re trying to do is wake up the country to what’s happening to our children and save lives.”

by Teresa Neumann : Oct 22, 2009 : Lillian Kwon – Christian Post

“What I’m after is getting the church to be united around deep church or mere Christianity, as C.S. Lewis said first, so that we can work together and move into mission and really present a unified front to a watching world instead of one that’s always arguing and complaining. Why would someone out there want to join a family that’s always arguing?”

Writing for the Christian Post, reporter Lillian Kwon reveals the thought processes behind Pastor Jim Belcher’s passion to see unity in the church.

As the title of his book suggests—Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional—Belcher uses C. S. Lewis’ term “deep church” to describe what he calls a third alternative to what many currently label the “traditional church” vs. the “emerging church.”

For those unfamiliar with those terms, the “emerging church” represents and appeals to postmodern Christians who are dissatisfied, or disagree with, some of the extra-biblical teachings of the traditional church that emanate from the scriptural exhortation to “be in the world but not of it.”

For example, writes Belcher, pointing out the weaknesses in both: “The traditional church is pacifist in the area of culture but not in the realm of politics, and the emerging church is pacifist in the realm of politics but not in the realm of culture. Both sides suffer from the lack of a comprehensive view of Christ and culture that treats the private and public realms in a consistent manner.”

“The emerging voices,” he continues, “blame the traditional church for being sectarian, having no desire to reach people in postmodern culture, being uninterested in the biblical call to be creative in the arts and having sold out to Christendom (the church-state political alignment)…The traditional voices argue the emerging church has succumbed to the worst forms of syncretism, becoming indistinguishable from the postmodern world they say they want to reach. They have assimilated, become worldly and lost their ability to be salt.”

According to the report Belcher’s “third way” is for Christians to be distinct from the surrounding culture but also engage it. “It’s a starting point,” he says, “not the end all and be all. I don’t think we’ve got it all figured out.”

“What I’m after is getting the church to be united around deep church or mere Christianity, as C.S. Lewis said first, so that we can work together and move into mission and really present a unified front to a watching world, instead of one that’s always arguing and complaining,” he said. “Why would someone out there want to join a family that’s always arguing?”

Follow the link provided to read the report in its entirety.

Read Full Story…

by Teresa Neumann : Oct 26, 2009 : Julia Duin – The Washington Times

“I went into [my research] underestimating the power and vitality of religion.”

Writing for the Washington Times, reporter Julia Duin has revealed the fact that Adrian Wooldridge, co-author of the book The Right Nation and God is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith is Changing the World, believes the world is following America’s lead as it pertains to faith going hand-in-hand with democracy. (Photo: Washington Times)

“Religion now goes hand in hand with modernity,” Wooldridge told Duin, noting the secularism of Europe runs counter to their findings. He is also quoted as saying he believes Pentecostalism will be the major form of 21st century Christianity.

“The sort of religion that is on the rise is the emotive, assertive Charismatic religion,” he said. “It’s compelling Catholicism in Latin America to change. There’s a physical surprise when you go to Guatemala and see how vibrant the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements are. Same thing for Lagos and Nairobi. I went into that book underestimating the power and vitality of religion.”

When Duin asked Wooldridge, an atheist, how he personally reacted to his findings, he replied: “I must say I have more respect, I felt more warmth for religion after doing research for the book, partly because of the people I came across, such as the Pentecostal pastor in Philadelphia who has done the most amazing work dealing with crack cocaine. It did strike me that religious people have done amazing work to help the poor. But where are the atheists doing exactly the same thing?”

Read other noteworthy comments by Wooldridge, such as the impact of Islam in the future, by clicking on the link provided.

Read Full Story…