Top of the Week: California County Caught Spying on Church Members From Next-Door Church

Following are snippets of the top stories posted on cn.mycharisma.com over the past week. We encourage you to visit the links to read the stories in full.

California County Caught Spying on Church Members From Next-Door Church

A California church has denied coercion with county officials after being accused by a neighboring church of spying on its members who defied lockdown orders during the COVID pandemic.

Media reports say that Substack investigative journalist David Zweig obtained court documents that revealed enforcement officers with Santa Clara County began spying on the congregation at Calvary Chapel San Jose and reported details about the church’s worship, prayer and other church meetings.

Pastor Mike McClure defied the mandated social distancing order and reopened the church during the pandemic in 2020 for regular church services and business.

A Prophetic Warning to Americans, from the Underground Church

There is a Satanic lullaby here in the West. A very subtle droning lullaby that is causing the church to drift asleep. That’s how one Iranian woman described the American church when her family moved here before deciding to return to Iran. The simmering pressure and intensity in the underground church kept their faith alive and real, in a way that started to diminish in the lukewarm churches in the West.

That woman, along with two other women leaders in the underground church in Iran felt the Spirit of God placed an urgent prophetic message on their hearts to share with American Christians.

As they watched Biden’s speech in Sept. 2022, they were moved by his demonizing pro-life supporters as “potential terrorists.” Disconnected from American politics, they heard Biden’s words and felt an eerie similarity to the rhetoric they have listened to in their country before.

Former Megachurch Pastor Who Had Affair Now ‘At Peace with God’

If there is one thing that God has engrained into Pastor Jeremy Foster over the past year, it’s grace.

He has received a lot of it, and he’s learning more and more every day how to give it back to others.

The founder of Hope City Church in Houston, Texas—a megachurch with weekend attendance of roughly 12,000—resigned his position as lead pastor over a year ago after confessing to an adulterous affair. During the past year, he has received counseling and has attempted to mend relationships between his ex-wife, his children and his ex-church.

Prophecy: Exposure Is Coming to the American Church

Is the church in the West truly prepared for an increase in persecution? Shaking has started in our culture and it is revealing the hearts of men, left and right. Many prominent pastors you relied on to guide you in your walk have come out with mind-boggling scandals, false prophets are innumerable in a social media age and Christian-Judeo values are now looked down upon by many in today’s society.

“People are looking at what’s going on in the world. You know, God has allowed things to be shaken. People are looking for answers,” YouTube sensation Marcus Rogers says in an interview with Charisma magazine.

Rogers is the pastor at Firehouse Church in Chicago, Illinois, and is no stranger to the trying times the church is facing. Not only does he shepherd the flock at his church, but he also has a massive online presence where many look up to him for political guidance, cultural answers and discernment on Christian leaders.

Wood Uses Scripture to Defend Saddleback’s Position on Women Pastors

Andy Wood isn’t about to apologize for Saddleback’s Church stance on appointing women to positions of authority in his church.

Wood, who took over as lead pastor at Saddleback last fall for founding pastor Rick Warren, says that, despite the fact his church was expelled from the Southern Baptist Convention in February for its decision to hire a female pastor—his wife, Stacie, as a teaching pastor—Saddleback will continue to stick to what God’s Word has to say on the subject.

In a recent video on the church’s YouTube channel, Wood pointed out several Scriptures in God’s Word that proved that women indeed were allowed to take on such positions in the church. {eoa}

Bring Charisma magazine home with a subscription today!