Displaying items by tag: USA

On Sunday, Chance the Rapper became the first artist to win a Grammy award without selling physical copies of his music - or selling much of his music at all. He won three Grammys (best new artist, best rap album and best rap performance), defeating the likes of Kanye West, Drake and DJ Khaled. Later, he was joined by Kirk Franklin and other singers for a performance of Colouring Book's ‘How Great’ and ‘All We Got’. They were accompanied by a huge gospel choir who helped them end the triumphant night in true Sunday worship fashion. ‘Ya better stand up right now and stop playing, I'm worshipping my God. He's powerful, merciful, worthy’, Chance declared while he and Franklin went back and forth praising God at the mainstream awards ceremony. Earlier in the evening, he said, ‘I want to thank God for my mother and my father, who supported me since I was young, for Kirsten, for Kensli, for all of Chicago, and I want to thank God for putting amazing people in my life.’ The 23-year-old rapper from Chicago releases his songs online without charge.

Among all homeless families in the USA, over three-quarters are headed by single women with children; about 30 percent of children in the foster care system would be discharged if their parents were properly housed. CityHouse in Delray Beach, Florida, is now providing transitional housing and support for those who would otherwise be homeless and at risk of having their children placed in foster care. Families at the Avenue Church had been providing shelter for such children. ‘We would take that child till the mum or dad got better. But what we discovered was that it was really the mum that needed care as well,’ explained Casey Cleveland, lead pastor at the church. In 2013 a small apartment building was secured with enough units to house five single mothers and their children, and CityHouse was established. The mothers must demonstrate a willingness to make a positive change in their lives, pay a small amount of rent, and attend weekly Bible studies on the property.

President Trump named Judge Neil Gorsuch as his nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States, to replace Justice Antonin Scalia who died last February. Gorsuch currently serves on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and has the backing of pro-life and conservative groups. Trump recognised the importance of the decision, saying, ‘He is the man our country needs to make sure the rule of law and the rule of justice are followed. After defence of the nation, appointing a justice is the most important decision a president makes.’ Gorsuch pledged that, if confirmed, he would uphold the Constitution of the United States. There is likely to be strong opposition from the Democrats and other liberal groups when his confirmation is voted on. See

America and new President Donald Trump has been hitting the news headlines repeatedly in recent days. He lost the popular votes but won a majority of States through the electoral college system. America was deeply divided under President Obama and remains so under President Trump. It is not simply a political divide, there are divides across the age groups, rural voters v city voters and deep divisions on ethnic lines.

From a Christian perspective we believe unity is high on God’s agenda. Many American cities are working hard to bring the churches together so people around them see one body. Globally we believe there is a spiritual special relationship between the USA and the UK. We are both called to take the gospel to the world.

So at a time when Christians are arguing vehemently on Facebook and Twitter that Donald Trump is the Lord’s anointed, and others that he is just plain dangerous, we recommend three pray points:

• God bless America - we believe America has a key role in showing and communicating the gospel and we pray for God’s hand on its government and President - give them wisdom and may God’s will be done.
• God strengthen our links - at a time of great disagreements we pray the UK and USA might stand together as servants, ready to do what you call us to do.
• Bring healing - the disagreements are so fierce but God says He wants His church to be one so that the world will know Him. Disunity is the enemies strategy. Lord, we pray for the Holy Spirit miracle of unity, heal the hurts, enable your people to disagree but stand together.

The inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America took place in Washington, watched by tens of millions around the world. His speech was full of rhetoric and confirmed many of his aims mentioned in the campaign leading to his presidency: America First, never let you down, trade deals changing, Mexico wall, anti-terrorism. Think big, dream bigger. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, before reading a passage from 1 Timothy, said: ‘Mr President, in the Bible rain is a sign of God's blessing. It started to rain, Mr. President, when you came to the platform. It's my prayer that God will bless you, your family, your administration, and may He bless America.’ We will wait to see when the rhetoric becomes reality and what priorities President Trump sets. One of his first actions was a memorandum designed to move forward the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. See:

As Donald Trump is sworn in today as the 45th President of the USA, there is huge uncertainty and concern in many different countries. Some fear that he will be far too influenced by President Putin, for example on easing sanctions on Russia, making a deal on Syria, and settling the Ukraine issue. Relations with Mexico are set for a downturn because of Trump’s plans to build a wall along the border and to deport illegal Mexican immigrants. Palestinians fear that he will pursue a pro-Israeli policy, while others hope for a more active US role in the Middle East than under Obama. Europe will want to see whether Trump’s negative remarks about NATO and the EU translate into a change in policy, and countries such as China and South Africa will wonder if Trump will impose tougher conditions on new trade deals. All over the world, people will watch and wait to see what kind of president we will have for at least the next four years.

The largest stained-glass window in the world, depicting scenes from Genesis to Revelation, is being built in Leawood, Kansas. The congregation at the Church of the Resurrection raised several million dollars to build the window, which will be the centrepiece of their new $70-million sanctuary. More than 160 panes of glass are being fused in California, and will then be shipped to Leawood to be put together like a puzzle. Pastor Adam Hamilton wants to make this new sanctuary a very holy place that attracts many families to visit the church. ‘We hope people say, we've got to go see what's inside there. They would've heard about the window at Resurrection and say let's go check it out because there's nothing else like it anywhere in the world.’ The new sanctuary, including the window, will be ready for the Easter weekend this year.

The director of the US office of government ethics has criticised Donald Trump's plan to hand control of his business empire to his sons before his inauguration next week. Walter Shaub said that the plan does not match the standards of US presidents over the last forty years, and would not remove conflicts of interest. ‘Every president in modern times has taken the strong medicine of divestiture’, he said, referring to a process whereby Mr Trump would sell off his corporate assets and put the profits into a blind trust run by an independent trustee. The Trump Organisation is an umbrella company for his hundreds of investments in real estate, brands and other businesses. Another problem for the president-elect is the huge and very public rift between himself and the US intelligence community, over its recently-published conclusion that the Kremlin sought to support Trump’s election. Neither side is likely to back off and both may come out damaged. See:

Mark Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook, has announced he is no longer an atheist, but in fact sees religion as ‘very important’. Zuckerberg posted a ‘Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah’ message from his family to his followers on Facebook. After he posted the comment, a user asked, ‘But aren't you an atheist?’ In response, the 32-year-old billionaire replied, ‘No. I was raised Jewish and went through a period of questioning things, but now I believe religion is very important.’ When another user asked, ‘But why doesn’t Facebook notify us that it is Jesus’ birthday today?’, Zuckerberg joked, ‘You're not friends with Jesus on Facebook?’ adding a smiling emoji with a halo. Earlier in 2016, he and his wife met Pope Francis to discuss ways in which technology could help the poor.

Dr. Michael Brown (www.askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated "Line of Fire" radio program. In a perceptive article on WND.com mainly referring to last month’s US election, he writes, “By all counts, 2016 was a year of great shaking, perhaps of divine proportions.” He goes on to say that “much of the shaking is the result of the Lord responding to the prayers of His people, who for many years have been asking Him to rock our world (not destroy our world) and wake us up.” He then poses the question, “Could a spiritual movement like this happen again in our day?” His five valuable keys to moving from shaking to awakening that are quoted in full below are important to consider prayerfully:

1. “To the extent prayer played a role in the shaking of 2016, it must be maintained and even increased. Many Christians prayed fervently in the months leading up to the elections, recognizing how terribly broken our nation was and how desperately we needed divine intervention. But human nature being what it is, once we get past the feeling of crisis, we take our foot off the gas. Now is not the time to let up. To the contrary, we must redouble our prayer focus if we want to see real, lasting change.”

2. “We must put our hope in the Lord, not Donald Trump. Let’s say that Mr. Trump turns out to be a phenomenal president, appointing terrific Supreme Court justices, effectively fighting terrorism, strengthening our economy (especially in the inner cities), securing our borders and creating compassionate solutions for worthy immigrants, replacing Obamacare with a much better plan, restoring respect for America abroad – and even more. Even if he managed to do all this, which would be more than remarkable, he would not in any way usurp the role of the church, nor could he. He could not turn the hearts of rebels and mockers; he could not restore a spirit of prayer to the church; he could not break the hold of sexual bondages; he could not unite broken families – and on and on the list goes.
So, while we pray for our president to succeed in his mission, we put our trust in the Lord, not him, for spiritual awakening.”

3. “We must give ourselves to the Great Commission and to changing hearts and minds, especially among young people. Change will not come to America from the top down. It must rise from the grass roots up, and the most effective “weapon” we have, along with prayer, is the gospel. With the Lord’s help, we must make Jesus known to a generation that does not know Him, and we must demonstrate to the world that God’s ways are best – ways of life and harmony and peace.”

4. “If, in fact, we have been given a divine respite, a reprieve of sorts, we must maximize this opportunity with holy desperation. If we don’t, things could get worse than ever, and in a hurry at that. Along with many other leaders, I do believe that we have been spared what could have been a disastrous Hillary Clinton presidency, in particular when it comes to issues of great concern to the church (especially abortion, religious liberty and the meaning of marriage). But if that is true, then what we do with this respite is of critical importance. Will we redeem the time and maximize the moment, not only on the political and social fronts but on the spiritual and relational fronts as well? Will we seize hold of our liberties and make a real difference? I dread to think of what’s ahead of us if we don’t.

5. “We must not underestimate the depth of division in our country. The task is massive, and only with the help of the Holy Spirit will we see positive, lasting change. Even if we’re right about God giving us a respite with the Trump election, we cannot forget how divisive he has been as a candidate (and even president-elect) and how these elections have revealed the deep rifts that stand between us, in particular along the lines of sex, race, skin color, age and religion. And while we understand that there will always be deep divisions in a nation of 330 million people, we also understand that as followers of Jesus, we have been given the message of reconciliation, both vertically and horizontally, and it is through a great spiritual awakening that these deep divides can be bridged.”

WND.com, Dec. 27

Let us continue to pray towards a Great Awakening for the USA and for the nations of our world in 2017. May this be a year of great breakthroughs for the Body of Christ worldwide!