Christian clergy take part in opening ceremony of mosque; Evangelism is a Four Letter Word...more

Mosque buys former church-Christian clergy, including pastor of Episcopal Church, participate in opening ceremony
Christian clergy helped a Muslim mosque open in a Pentecostal church.

"It's open faith; we're brothers," Ali Mohammad, an organizer of the mosque, tells North Carolina's News Observer.

The Muslims are stripping the church of its Christian roots, including removing any crosses and handing them over to pastors in the area.

When they opened on Saturday, Christian clergy, including Pastor Jim Melnyk of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, participated in the ceremony. Other pastors from Methodist and Baptist congregations were also present.

"I see it as an important statement of community, that we take each other's faiths seriously," Melnyk says. "I want to acknowledge how important it is to build bridges in the community when we're living in a time that is so anxiety ridden and there's so much mistrust going on in the world around us. It's important when we can find common ground and share our community."...

Albert Mohler: Performing Abortion is “God’s Work?” The Real Story of Christianity and Abortion  ...The early church was decidedly, vocally, and courageously pro-life and opposed to abortion. One of the earliest documents of Christianity after the New Testament is the Didache, dated to around A.D. 80-120. The teaching describes two ways: the way of life and the way of death. The way of life demands that Christians “shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, … you shall not murder a child by abortion nor commit infanticide.” Both abortion and infanticide were common in the Roman Empire. Christians were forbidden to murder any child, born or unborn. The way of life honors the sanctity of life.

Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150-215) made clear the sin of women who “in order to hide their immorality, use abortive drugs which expel the matter completely dead, abort at the same time their human feelings.” Tertullian (A.D. 160-240) taught even more comprehensively: “For us, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder a birth is just a speedier man-killing; nor does it matter when you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to birth. That is a man which is going to be one; you have the fruit already in the seed.” These two are just examples of a pro-life position rejecting abortion that included — at the very least — Athenagoras, Hippolytus, Basil the Great, Ambrose, Jerome, John Chrysostom, and Augustine.

As ethicist Ronald Sider commented, “Eight different authors in eleven different writings mention abortion. In every case, the writing unequivocally rejects abortion.” The most comprehensive survey of early Christianity on the question of abortion comes from Michael J. Gorman in Abortion and the Early Church. As Gorman states, “all Christian writers opposed abortion.” Every mention of abortion in the early church rejects it, forcefully...

Evangelism is a Four Letter Word

I get it. Culture is changing rapidly and radically. The methods we have used successfully for decades have become ineffective, even counter-productive. Heaven? Spiritual laws? Bible verses? These no longer spark spiritual interest. Evangelism training isn’t what it used to be, but in many cases is uncertain of what it should be.

 

This frustration is actually good news. Good because it is causing us to reimagine how we think about evangelism (see my earlier guest post on The Exchange) and, whether we like it or not, forcing us to redesign training tools and equipping experiences... Excellent ideas...

Franklin Graham: Christians under attack, should engage in politics  ...
In reaction to a decline in church attendance and what he described as a national move toward secularism, Graham said Christians who think they can continue to sit quietly in the pew will see the practice of their faith placed in jeopardy.

Graham highlighted the 2013 incident involving the Oregon bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa as an example of a couple punished for their faith.

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries ordered owners Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer $135,000 in damages after the pair refused to serve the soon-to-be-wed same-sex couple on the grounds of religious belief. The business eventually closed in 2016.

"This has been happening across the country," he said. "It’s increasing. We are going to be attacked. Let’s pray and get Christians involved in politics."...


Apr 10, 2017
Uncovering Carnage -First Things




Total Solar Eclipse 2017: When, Where and How to See It (Safely) On Aug. 21, 2017, people across the United States will see the sun disappear behind the moon, turning daylight into twilight, causing the temperature drop rapidly and revealing massive streamers of light streaking through the sky around the silhouette of the moon. On that day, America will fall under the path of a total solar eclipse...