Category: U.S.

U.S.

Goodness, Gracious, the President Said What?

Charisma Staff

In the time-honored Presidential thanksgiving proclamation, President Barack Obama called on Americans to give thanks to our “gracious God.”

Despite the turbulent season the nation is facing, he encouraged Americans to look to the numerous blessings seen in the last year.

“As we stand at the close of one year and look to the promise of the next, we lift up our hearts in gratitude to God for our many blessings, for one another, and for our Nation,” he said this week.


U.S.

Though it’s Haunting America, This is Having Little Effect on Churches

Charisma Staff

Megachurches across the country are holding their own during uncertain economic times, a new survey shows.

Most megachurches continue to see attendance and giving rise, and the bigger the church is, the more likely it is to experience increases, Leadership Network reported in its 2010 Large Church Economic Outlook Report.

According to the Christian Post, survey results indicate that the economic downturn is having little impact on America’s larger churches. A full 100 percent of churches with 8,000 or more attendees experienced growth in attendance and giving from 2009 to 2010. And all surveyed churches with attendance of 10,000 to 14,999 plan to reach this year’s budget projections.

Overall, 81 percent of megachurches’ congregations with attendance of 2,000 or more saw more attendees and only 9 percent reported lower attendance. Sixty-seven percent of megachurches increased their budget, with the average increase being 3 percent, and the same proportion said they expect to meet their 2010 budget.

U.S.

Millions Connect to God in This Unique Way

Charisma Staff

LifeChurch.tv never set out to be a leader in the app world – it simply wanted more young people reading the Bible. Yet Tuesday the Edmond, Okla.-based church celebrated reaching an astounding 10 million-plus users with a smartphone application that remains one of the world’s most popular.

YouVersion, the free online and mobile Bible LifeChurch.tv launched as an app in April 2008, includes 41 different translations in 22 languages. According to Bobby Gruenewald, LifeChurch.tv’s innovation leader and the app’s developer, someone new installs YouVersion every 2.8 seconds, while in the same time span 12 people open the Bible app.

“When we set out to find a way to help people engage with God’s Word and to have a deeper relationship with Christ, we never realized that God would use one idea in such a way that could change so many lives and draw people closer to each other and closer to Him,” Gruenewald said during a webcast on Tuesday.

U.S.

Charismatic Church Leaders Commit to Integrity at Orlando Summit

Charisma Staff

Larry Stockstill has seen enough fellow ministers fall. At a “Summit on Integrity” Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., the Louisiana pastor and a roomful of influential Christian leaders took a stand against the American church’s ongoing leadership crisis by pledging to walk with integrity in every area of life.

Amid the latest ministry scandals, Stockstill, senior pastor of Bethany World Prayer Center in Baton Rouge, La., charged pastors and church leaders with specific ways to not only avoid moral failure, but also leave a Billy Graham-like legacy of integrity.

“We’re now seeing many of the largest churches in America pastored by people who are living a double lifestyle,” Stockstill said at the all-day gathering. “This is a crisis. This isn’t something I’m dreaming up–this is the reality of where pastors are right now.”

With ministry scandals reported almost weekly and studies indicating that up to 40 percent of American pastors view pornography every day, the need for integrity among church leaders is obvious. Yet Stockstill and the assembly, which included the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Washington, D.C., discussed how leadership integrity isn’t simply staying away from sexually explicit websites, but includes everything from keeping a commitment to managing church budgets to honoring a spouse.

U.S.

Pastor Who Threatened to Burn QuranLoses Members

Charisma Staff

Terry Jones–the Pentecostal pastor who caused an international stir after he threatened to burn the  Quran on Sept. 11–recently said that members of his church had left because of his stance against Muslims.

 Interviewed near Ground Zero this week, he said that his Gainesville, Fla. congregation was not interested in the “truth†about radical Islam.

“People come to church and want to hear, ‘God loves you, you’re a good person,'”  the NY Daily News quoted Jones as saying. “That’s true. God does love you. But there’s more we need to tell people, and they don’t want to hear it.”

U.S.

‘Significant’ Church Tax Battle

Charisma Staff

A church bookstore in Nashville is at the center of a legal battle being viewed as a major test case for religious freedom.

Authorities have ruled that For His Glory Bookstore at Christ Church is not eligible for property tax exemption and owes a portion of $350,000 in dues dating back to 2004.

Leaders have warned that if the ruling—under appeal—is upheld, it could set a significant precedent for church bookstores and other church ministries not only in Tennessee, but also in other parts of the country.

U.S.

Kentucky Ministry Takes Church Outside

Charisma Staff

Servant’s Heart in Louisville, Ky., doesn’t hold a traditional Sunday service and doesn’t consider itself a church. Instead, the Assemblies of God mission is taking ministry to residents in a low-income community known as Portland.

Teams witness during weekly prayer walks, regularly visit a liquor store to share Scripture with customers and hold home Bible studies. The mission has held clothing and food giveaways and helped sponsor free medical clinics.


U.S.

Federal Court Defends Phrase ‘Under God’

Charisma Staff

A U.S. Court of Appeals recently upheld a New Hampshire law that requires teachers to schedule a voluntary recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The unanimous three-panel decision was decided Nov. 12 after an agnostic and atheist couple — with children in the New Hampshire public school system — filed a suit claiming the pledge was an infringement on their children’s rights because it said the United States was a nation “under God.”

In the opinion brief, Chief Judge Sandra Lea Lynch stated that the Pledge of Allegiance was an act of teaching history rather than a religious exercise.

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