Displaying items by tag: USA

Pastor and author John Piper has said, ‘Those who choose to marry non-believers are acting in open defiance of the teaching of the apostles and of God’. Piper is known for strict Calvinist theology. He said not marrying a Christian indicates how deeply compromised the believer’s love for Christ is; Christians who marry non-believers and ignore their pastors’ warnings ‘should be excommunicated from their church community’. Opposers to excommunication might say, ‘You won’t be able to win them to Christ by putting them out of the church’. But elders must be prepared to hear criticism before declaring this is ‘emphatically not what the Bible teaches’. Not everyone agreed with Piper. Twitter comments included ‘quite literally one of the worst things I have ever read’ and ‘I benefited from Piper’s teaching in the past, but this HAS to be the worst’.

At a time of deep racial tension, two pastors - Derrick Hawkins, middle-aged and white, and Jay Stewart, young and black - have united their culturally segregated churches. The pair are leading the journey of racial reconciliation by example. In 2014 Pastor Derrick visited Jay’s church service and asked him to mentor him as he prepared to take over the role of senior pastor in his church. They began meeting and established a great friendship. In 2016, they decided to go beyond the norm and merge their completely culturally different ministries. 90% of African-American Christians worship in all-black churches. 90% of white American Christians worship in all-white churches. The pair believe God has a ‘better narrative of unity’, and want Christians to step out of their comfort zones and reflect the bride of Christ. Stewart said the risks of forming relationships with those who look different from you is worth the reward that comes from doing so.

Hollywood filmmaker DeVon Franklin and worship leader and Pastor Cory Asbury have teamed up to turn a worship song, Reckless Love, into a feature film. Based on Asbury’s difficult relationship with his father, the movie explores how that vital relationship impacted the singer’s personal view of God. Cory has worked with the Bethel Music Collective since 2015, and this song has been number one in Billboard's Christian Songs chart and is sung in churches globally. He was approached by Franklin, the Christian filmmaker behind Miracles of Heaven, Breakthrough and the animated Christmas film The Star. When he was asked to share his story he was hesitant. Franklin said, ‘Cory, what if this film is bigger than you and your story? What if it brings healing to your dad and dads all across the world?’ That question decided it.

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.