Displaying items by tag: USA

Famed Christian geneticist Francis Collins has urged churches to remain closed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 amongst congregations. Speaking to the Southern Baptist Convention, Collins said that churches gathering in person are a ‘source of considerable concern’ because of the potential for ‘super-spreading’. Meanwhile the US Supreme Court ordered a federal district court to reconsider its support for restrictions on indoor religious services in California. The restrictions are being contested in several other American courts by Christians insisting their liberties are being infringed. Collins also urged Christians to reject the idea that mask requirements ‘invade your personal freedom’. He said, ‘This is a lifesaving device. When you put on that mask, you're protecting yourself from other people, but mostly you're protecting them from you. You're doing the unselfish, loving thing of saying, “I'm going to protect people from me”. That's a Christian action if ever I've heard one.’

Electors from each state meet on 14 December to nominate the next president formally, but Trump wants to overturn the result, and challenges the Pennsylvania result. His legal team claims voters in Democrat-leaning areas were given more opportunities to correct mistakes on their postal ballots than elsewhere, and over 680,000 postal ballots were counted without proper oversight from poll watchers. They lost the case but then took it to a federal appeals court where it was also rejected. The judge said, ‘Calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and proof. We have neither here.’ The team intends taking the case to the Supreme Court. The government's top lawyer, William Barr, said, ‘We have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election.’ Challenges are dropped or settled in most other states as 14 December looms.

Katy Perry went back to her Christian roots for her performance at the American Music Awards. The pop star was joined by country music star Darius Rucker to sing their duet ‘Only love’, but she began the performance with a short version of the hymn ‘As the deer’ that is based on Psalm 42:1: ‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.’ Perry’s parents are pastors and started their daughter’s career as Christian artists. She got her big break in 2008 with a secular song. Then in 2018 she said, ‘My mum has prayed for me my entire life, hoping I'd come back to God. I never left him, I was just a little bit secular, I was more materialistic and more career-driven. But now it's more about spirituality and heart wholeness.’

On 24 November, Emily Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, formally designated Joe Biden as the apparent winner of America’s presidential election, providing federal funds and resources to begin an official transition from Trump to Biden. The new president must now fill 4,000 political positions (see). President Trump has spent over two weeks claiming that he had won the election and pushing conspiracy theories about fraudulent voting. He tweeted, ‘Our case STRONGLY continues; we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.’ Pray for swift, smooth and unhindered organising of the president-elect’s packed schedule, particularly the daily security briefing.

A series of sackings and appointments - with rumours of more to come - has created a sense of deep uncertainty around the US intelligence and national security community. Some believe this is part of an attempt by Trump to hold on to power; many others see it driven by a desire for personal revenge. But there remain fears that the uncertainty of a divisive transition could hold real dangers. The sacking of a number of top civilian leaders at the Pentagon, including the secretary of defence, was, many believe, just the start. Trump wants to achieve specific policy goals during his final days, like removing troops from Afghanistan. America's national security is accused of being in a ‘deep state’ of conspiring against him. In recent months, he has declassified information which he wrongly thinks supports his case. The head of cybersecurity is in trouble because he proved vote rigging was false.

There have been ‘Save the Children’ demonstrations to protest against child sex trafficking and paedophilia at home and abroad. After a two-year investigation into a Florida sex trafficking network, over 170 people have been charged. This has been part of a two-year investigation uncovering a sex-trafficking network in Florida, leading to an ‘unprecedented’ number of arrests. Among those netted were a local candidate for office, a teacher, and a former chairman of the fundraising arm of Florida State University athletics.

The kings of Jordan and Bahrain flew to Abu Dhabi for an important meeting with crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as Bahrain’s foreign minister Abdullatif al-Zayani was in Israel meeting his Israeli and American counterparts. These important and unprecedented meetings illustrate the tectonic changes emerging in the Middle East. The tone was different in Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi. A Gulf Air flight which arrived in Tel Aviv, with Zayani and US envoy Avi Berkowitz on board, was the first of its kind; very likely Gulf Air will soon join Flydubai and Etihad, which have announced regular flights to Israel. Meetings about peace and the brave new world illustrates how Israel and the Gulf States are moving toward. This area improvement has been midwifed by the USA.

Only New Year’s Day and Thanksgiving interrupt the daily 6 am prayer meetings that Pastor David Galvan has held since 5 February 1996 at New Life Church in Dallas. On Thanksgiving, the church holds an annual baptism in an area lake, incorporating prayer into the meeting. On New Year’s Day, the church is in worship and fellowship from 7 pm on New Year’s Eve to the early hours of the New Year, including prayer. Other holidays, including Christmas, are included in the daily schedule. When Covid-19 restrictions briefly limited gatherings to ten people months ago, Galvan transitioned the daily prayer hour from the church’s 190-seat chapel to a conference call. Attendance has more than quadrupled. ‘All these years up to the pandemic, it attracted from 5 to 12 people on weekdays and on Saturday it was about 70. Now we’re averaging 35 to 50 daily’.

Donald Trump had previously said if the presidential election were close, he would accuse his opponents of voter fraud and trying to steal victory. Before all votes are counted he has done just that, claiming to have won, and launched a supreme court challenge, baselessly alleging fraud. At the time of writing, Biden is in the lead, but by the slenderest of margins. On 5 November, Trump tweeted, ‘I hereby claim victory’ - despite trailing at the time by 214 votes to 253. Pray for acceptance to replace the anger in people wanting to win more than they want to be right. With the nation on edge, the final result may not be known for days. Pray for peace on the streets.

‘Volleyball has taught me many valuable life lessons about integrity, hard work and perseverance, but my athletic experiences and lessons learned pale in comparison to my greatest passion, living a life committed to the person of Jesus Christ,’ said Jenny the daughter of 1960 decathlete gold-medal winner Rafer Johnson. Jenny grew up in the world of sports and joined a highly competitive UCLA college programme. ‘When I made it to the collegiate level I was just learning how to own my faith and what it means to have God in my sport, that they’re not separate things’ She had a Christian coach who encouraged her to keep up her Christian testimony. As she accepted the challenge, she got even better at volleyball and became the team captain. Her team won All-Tournament Team honours. Later, she and her partner won the silver medal at the beach volleyball world championships in Marseille.