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A 35-year-old Tennessee woman is behind bars for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old boy she met at church. Courtney Bingham photo courtesy of Loudon County Sheriff’s Office Courtney Michelle Bingham was arrested on Dec. 4 after allegedly sending nude photos to the teen she met at Bethany Baptist Church in Loudon, Tennessee, where she served as a youth leader. “She chaperoned him at several church events,” Detective Sgt. Jason Smith of the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “She was actively involved with the youth.” Bingham faces charges of aggravated statutory rape and soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor. She is being held at the Loudon County Jail in Lenoir City, Tennessee, in lieu of bond totalling $57,500 for both counts. Her next court appearan...

Why Are Millennials Leaving Church? Millennials Explain \Nearly one year ago, Sam Eaton, a millennial from Minneapolis, wrote a blog post detailing “12 reasons millennials are over the church.” Since then, he has received thousands of hateful and angry comments. But what he wants Christians to know is that that was his love letter to the American church. “I got a lot of hate for this,” said Eaton, an elementary school music teacher and founder of a suicide prevention ministry called Recklessly Alive. “I love the church like Christ loved the church. I want to see it prospering and I look around and I see my generation has left.” Eaton was joined this week by two other millennials to discuss his controversial blog post on “The Table” podcast, h...

Ecclesiastes 8 (KJV)1 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed. 2 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God. 3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. 4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou? 5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment. 6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. 7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be? 8 There is no man t...

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. -John 17:15-16 How are God’s people supposed to engage the broader culture around them? There is much confusion about the topic of cultural engagement. Whereas some Christians choose to ignore culture, others rail against it. And others are seduced by it. The Bible calls us to engage the broader society while retaining a distinctive Christian identity and purpose. We need to think deeply and clearly about what it means to engage secular, pluralistic culture, especially in our work. Many Christians are confused about how and to what extent they should engage the world. For this reason, discussing cultural engagement requires humility and submis...

Today’s Prayer Requests VERA BANKSTON-JONES | Father God, You saved me again, me seeing You got something for me to do! Keep me, Lord safe!…….SELAH Margie Chance | please pray for my son Merle who is dying from cancer he has bone cancer and leukaemia and is in a lot of pain the blood they give him does not seem to be helping any more thank u VJ | plz  pray for me a financial miracle in my life  TINA | Please pray for understanding and wisdom, due to which there is a problem for me at the workplace. I face a lot of criticism due to my lack of understanding regarding work. Please need assistance with prayer very desperately, I don’t know how long I can tolerate this Danny | in need of prayer my life is haywire right now every time I get 2steps ahead I get pu...

Prayer Team When you decide to follow Jesus, you are not following a religion, but beginning a personal relationship with God through Christ. However, your faith isn’t just a personal thing that has no implications for connection with other people. Scripture gives six reasons why the Church—the worldwide body of Christians—is important in your faith journey. 1. Church Was God’s Idea God wanted to have a people for himself: “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3). Jesus, too, spoke of the church. He made it clear that establishing the church was one of his primary missions and that, despite opposition, nothing would stop it: “….on this rock I will build my church and the ...

Christian Finns deported from Malaysia COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Four Finnish tourists who were arrested in Malaysia last week for distributing Christian materials in public places on a resort island returned to Finland on Wednesday according to AP News Timo Valtonen held up a pen — similar to ones inscribed with Bible verses that were seized in Malaysia — as he and three others were greeted by supporters at Helsinki’s Vanta airport. They were detained last week in Langkawi and investigated for allegedly causing disharmony and violating their visa status. Police seized 47 pens and 336 notebooks containing Bible texts. They were deported Tuesday. Proselytizing of Muslims by members of other religions is forbidden in Malaysia, although the reverse is allowed. Muslims, who comprise nearly tw...

It is easy to picture my InterVarsity community as my personal gang. Colin—one of our chapter leader and hip-hop director of our school’s radio station—can throw down a mean rhyme on a moment’s notice, so I think that alone makes it a pretty good analogy for us. Our little gang has its own lingo, inside jokes, and knowledge that new Christians don’t have. I should know. When I first joined our InterVarsity chapter, I understood about 80 percent of what the other students were saying…and I come from a Christian background. There were phrases thrown about that made me a little nervous, threw me off a bit. So, I’m not surprised when I hear new Christians are concerned about losing their individuality in terms of how they talk, look, and act once they start following Jesus. Jaime Castañe...

Ecclesiastes 1 (KJV)1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. 3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? 4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. 5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. 6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. 7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. 8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, n...

Day 40 (15 September 2018, Saturday) Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” To succeed in its mission despite the mounting challenges, the Church must persevere on in doing good for the nation – to seek righteousness, justice and mercy; to bring the good news to all the people in this land.  We are called to press on. Make no mistake, this is a long-term endeavour such as in running a marathon or a long distance relay.  It will need many hands to join together and it will take more than one generation to see its fruit and that is why the Church must continuously engage each generation’s young people so that hope and the mission is passed on and taken up anew. “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is ga...

Preface for Day 36 – 40:  Harvest and Mission  By sending off workers to the harvest fields The Lord of the harvest is building His Bride who will unconditionally to enhance the work of the Kingdom/global missions. Focusing on East Malaysia (Sarawak) Sarawak:  2,354,048 (Ethnic Groups:  Iban 30.3%; Malay: 24%; Bidayuh: 8.4%; Malanau: 5.2 %; Other Bumiputera: 6.6%; Chinese: 24.5%; Indian: 0.3%; Others: 0.7%).  Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia.  It is known as “The Land of Hornbills” for it is the home of a vast number of hornbills, and Sungai Rejang (590km) is the longest river in Malaysia.  The state capital, fondly known a Kuching, “Cat City”, is located on the banks of the wide Sarawak River. James Brooke was the first “white rajah” who ru...

Day 39 (14 September 2018, Friday) Acts 13:2 – 3 While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  Then after fasting and praying Although hope can be fragile and elusive, hope is also a resilient and inexplicably tangible commodity.  Hope drives us on, often when it is in the direst of times.  It motivates us to do the best.  It energises us to turn visions into reality.  In whatever circumstances, hope in the coming Kingdom of God should galvanise Christians to extend his love to a lost and hurting world. Beyond the Biblical accounts, godly Christians through the ages have acted boldly when faced with dwindling hope.  They persevered on and some paid the ult...