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Nicaraguan prosecutors charged three U.S. citizens and 11 Nicaraguans with money laundering. | Mountain Gateway Ministries/ADF InternationalThe Nicaraguan judiciary has convicted 11 Nicaraguan pastors linked to the U.S.-based Mountain Gateway ministry on charges of money laundering. The case, which has caused great controversy in the Central American country and throughout the region, also implicates three U.S. citizens who have not yet been arrested, according to the prosecutor's office.The charges relate to an alleged money laundering network that operated through wire transfers from the U.S. to Nicaragua. The charges came just weeks after the ministry held a series of massive evangelistic...

The shooter, who has not been officially named, had been on a terror watchlist He was flagged to the FBI before he killed elite Texas cop Jorge Pastore Saturday Three others who died were Eman Ahmed El Nemr-Nassar, a mother, Ahmed Mohamed Nassar, 35, her son and Riad Mohamed Nassar, 32, her other son The gunman who shot dead a hero Texas SWAT officer during a hostage situation was on the terror watchlist, DailyMail.com can reveal. The FBI had investigated members of the shooter's family before Saturday's killing of top cop Jorge Pastore, law enforcement sources said. Cops responded to...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Four Mid-South pastors, including three from Memphis, and several business owners were indicted Tuesday in alleged schemes to steal thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief money, officials said. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Tennessee, they collectively defrauded more than $950,000 from federal programs, including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Officials said they allegedly obtained funds through coronavirus relief programs by using false information on behalf of their businesses or churches and used the money for personal...

I distributed hundreds of copies of the following at the March for Life at Rome, on May 20, 2023. - - - - - - - Pastors, Protect Your Flock! Dear friends, As a priest, one of my most important jobs is to PROTECT the souls entrusted to me as a good pastor. In this period of the world, there are more dangers for souls and more confusion in the world and in the Catholic Church than ever before. (Note: When pasting this document into Free Republic, it seems that most of the special formatting is lost, such as bold,...

Southern Baptist Convention Ejects Rick Warren's Saddleback Church. CREDIT: Twitter Wednesday, the membership of America’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), voted to defenestrate Rick Warren’s Saddleback megachurch. Saddleback, whose 23,000+ weekly churchgoers make it the second-largest congregation in the SBC, along with a much smaller church in Kentucky, was “disfellowshipped” for violating the 2000 edition of the Baptist Faith & Message by ordaining three women pastors. According to that document, “the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” At that moment, the SBC may not only have held firm against the Luciferian...

We’re all getting older. Almost every demographic in the United States is having fewer children. Population growth is slowing, and immigration rates are not fast enough to keep up with the aging nation.In 1970, the median age was 28. Half the population was older than 28, and half the population was younger than 28. This midpoint is now approaching 40. So we’ve shifted from a younger nation to a middle-aged nation.The economic implications of this shift are enormous but beyond the scope of this brief article. However, what is of note to the church is the aging of pastors, which...

Earlier this week, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) cut ties with Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church. The influential Southern California-based congregation had been part of the SBC since its founding, but the denomination dismissed Saddleback over a decision that founding pastor Warren made shortly before he retired.In 2021, Warren ordained three women as pastors, which caused the SBC to consider disciplining the church or kicking it out of the denomination. One of those women, Stacie Wood, the wife of lead pastor Andy Wood, is a “teaching pastor.” On Tuesday, the SBC Executive Committee deemed Saddleback to be “not in friendly cooperation...

As most Americans plan to celebrate Halloween on Monday night, many Christian parents will try to keep their children from being exposed to occultic ideas like witchcraft, demons and evil spirits. But other Christian families will embrace the time for candy, costumes and fun. Many pastors and churches urge members to avoid the annual observance altogether or suggest alternative activities like harvest festivals. However, others are less bothered by Halloween even though they acknowledge its pagan origin. In a series of interviews, The Christian Post asked pastors with children of their own about how their families approach Halloween. Most of...

A new survey reveals that pastors of nondenominational churches are more likely to hold a biblical worldview than pastors belonging to all other denominations. The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University released the seventh installment of its American Worldview Inventory Tuesday. The latest wave of research released builds on previous data that found only 37% of pastors hold a biblical worldview and analyzes the views of pastors by denomination. The survey is based on responses from 1,000 Christian pastors to 54 questions collected in February and March 2022. It examined the frequency with which 75% or more of pastors...

A new study from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University has found that just 37% of Christian pastors in the United States have a biblical worldview, demonstrating that spiritual awakening is "needed just as desperately in our pulpits as in the pews," according to the pollster.The nationwide study of about 1,000 Christian pastors found that just slightly more than a third (37%) of the U.S. pastors hold a biblical worldview. The majority (62%) possess a hybrid worldview known as Syncretism.The study, released Thursday, showed that 41% of senior pastors — as compared to 28% of associate pastors —...

“Pastors cannot be expected to have the same level of skill, training and experience as professional therapists,” said Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). “Pastors have a shepherding and counseling role to play, but should refer when people need the next layer of care. Pastors should also play a role in minimizing stigma around seeing therapists.” Several evangelical leaders noted that a key challenge for pastors is discerning when they have both the skill and the necessary time to help, and when they should refer. Most leaders indicated that pastors deal well with mental health issues...

Joe Biden’s executive orders mandating shots are not popular with the American public. With resistance to the experimental COVID-19 vaccination going viral across the country, a group of Ohio clergy are taking a jab at the White House’s mandate. Leading clergy representing over one hundred congregations across the Buckeye Bible Belt are giving their disapproval of the national vaccine mandate and have written the President in an open letter. “Joe Biden can take his medical advice somewhere else, we are not going to listen to him,” says Pastor J.C. Church, one of the one hundred and one clergy co-signors. “This...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God of love...

The Christian cold war will mean an increase in church splits, takeovers, and other power struggles as people choose sides on existential questions, including theology.Along with the rest of the country, American Christianity is in the middle of a cold war. As this war heats up, it will mean church splits, takeovers, fights over denominational resources, and other power struggles as the Donald Trump era has increasingly brought clarity and pushed people to choose sides on existential questions.The Southern Baptist Convention, the United States’ largest Protestant denomination, is one key example of this dynamic affecting American Christianity as a whole....

Three years ago, I conducted a poll on Facebook asking, “Should pastors and Christian leaders just preach the gospel, or should they also comment on relevant social and political issues?” Exactly three years later, I posted the same poll on Twitter. How did the results compare? Obviously, there is nothing scientific about these polls. They simply indicate how my Facebook and Twitter communities feel about the question. As for these two social media communities, although they have much in common, in many ways they are disparate in their viewpoints and beliefs. How did the results compare? In 2018 on Facebook,...

China: Prominent Leader Arrested On Sept. 17, Pastor Hua Huiqi was arrested by Chinese authorities in Fengtai District, Beijing, according to China Aid Association. Pastor Hua reportedly called his wife, Ju Mei, and told her he had been forced into a Public Security Bureau (PSB) vehicle while on his way to a dinner meeting. Less than 30 minutes later, Hua phoned his wife again and told her that the police had taken him to an unknown location. The phone line then went dead. Six days later, Pastor Hua was seen being escorted to Beijing Tiantan Hospital by five PSB officials...

President Joe Biden urged local pastors and priests on Monday to promote the coronavirus vaccines to skeptical supporters of President Donald Trump. During a White House event on coronavirus relief, Biden was asked by a reporter how to get more Republicans and supporters of President Trump to get vaccinated.

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverb 22:6Plain and simple. If a Christian is true to their faith, by putting their faith in God and Only God through Christ, then God will lead them to do what is right,. and the right thing to do is to Homeschool. In 99% of the World, the government's education system is anti-Christian. So why are you sending your child to be indoctrinated against you and your GOD? I specifically blame pastors who fail to educate the flock as...

If you’re a pastor during this election season, the easy path is to say nothing about politics. You won’t step on anybody’s toes. Nobody will walk out in the middle of your sermon. You won’t lose disgruntled members (and donors!). A few people might ask you to say more about politics, and they will grumble, but they won’t leave the church. You’re safe.Dr. Wayne GrudemBut does God want you to stay silent at this time?I can’t answer that for you. It’s between you and God whether you preach about any political issues at all, and, if you do, which issues...

One of our most popular videos encourages pastors to speak out more on moral and cultural issues. And a poll I recently conducted on Twitter confirmed that congregants want their leaders to be more vocal on cultural and even political issues. But what is a proper balance? What should our priorities be as preachers of the Word and shepherds of the flock? Most pastors would say, “My calling is to preach and teach the Scriptures, not to be a cultural commentator.” To a certain extent, that is true. But it is also overstated. After all, doesn’t the Bible itself comment...