Displaying items by tag: USA

Violent storms spawned 80 tornadoes across the Mississippi valley in April, resulting in over thirty deaths, levelling dozens of homes and flooding across south Florida. Throughout April and early May more than 70 chaplains from Billy Graham Rapid Response Team and Samaritan’s Purse have prayed with over 2,900 people as dozens professed their newfound faith in Christ.

Rev Franklin Graham told Liberty University graduates that America is dominated by a ‘culture of confusion and lies, coming from Hell’. He was the keynote speaker for their graduation ceremony. He said, ‘ I pray this class will stand for truth, as America changes so fast. I think the heart of God is grieved as He looks at our world today. I love our country, but it's in a downward spiral morally, spiritually, economically, and politically. The nation is in a freefall because we turned our back on God and His truth.’ He urged the graduates to be a beacon of light, standing on the Word of God while living in a culture of confusion and lies. Graham declared, ‘The Bible doesn’t contain truth, it is the truth, and every word of God is true. Truth is not what you say it is, but what God says it is.’

Texas has passed a bill that would allow public schools to hire chaplains in addition to school counsellors. A version of the bill sailed through the state Senate last month, and the House passed an amended version on 9 May in a vote to give school districts all the help they can muster to combat mental health problems and other crises. The Democrats' amendments to require parental consent was rejected, as was barring schools from using public funds for religious services. The School Chaplain Association believes the bill will increase school safety without intruding on students' religious beliefs. Schools will provide a representative of every denomination. To be eligible for the programme, chaplains must be endorsed by an organisation recognised by the US authorities.

A surprising surge of faith continues to spread among America's young people. It led to what some are calling the largest campus outreach event ever when 60,000+ students filled the University of Oklahoma's football stadium for worship and evangelism. The ‘Fill the Stadium’ event began when a graduating senior prayed a simple prayer: ‘God, what's next?’ The event sold out within days of its announcement. CBN News travelled to Oklahoma City to hear the sound of spiritual awakening rising in ‘The Cinderella City’. Students rallied for a time of worship with Kari Jobe and Chandler Moore, coupled with a concert from hip hop star Chance the Rapper. It won’t end here; this is the beginning. Many people are turning to Jesus and getting connected into small groups, campus ministries and churches. They will become disciples who multiply.

The prophet Joel records how the cattle, sheep and other animals suffer and moan because of the condition of the nation (Joel 1:10-12; 18-20). On 13 April, 18,000 dairy cows burned to death in a horrific barn fire in Texas. Over the last decade at least 6.5 million farmed animals in the USA have died by fire, many living in cramped mega-farms. They paid the price for farmers' profits and consumers' low-cost food. The Lord made provision for us to eat all kinds of food, but we are also to take care of God's creatures (Genesis 1:28). Jesus said, 'Not one sparrow falls to the ground without the Father’. While giving thanks for God’s provision, we should still grieve and lament unnecessary suffering and cruelty in the name of profit and convenience. Pray for greater alertness to, and awareness of, the conditions under which livestock are kept and our food is produced.

Core Group Mentorship is a discipleship movement that has seen God’s power turning their mentorship into a movement. A massive children’s revival is happening among Core Kids. The children are prophesying, evangelising, praying for people, and some are shaking while they praise Jesus. They worship freely and are even casting out demons. Thousands of children and teens are experiencing a strong move of the Holy Spirit. The leaders have trained and seen thousands of Core Kids turn to Jesus, walking in their full calling, set free, whole, and healed.

An additional 1,500 active-duty troops will join the 2,500 National Guards on the US-Mexico border in anticipation of an influx of migrants when the Covid-era restrictions expire on 11 May. Their assistance will free up resources so that US Customs and Border Protection can operate freely while soldiers fill gaps in ground-based detection, monitoring, data entry, and warehouse support. They will not be doing any law enforcement. Many believe further militarisation of the border is unacceptable in the middle of a humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere. Deploying military personnel signals that migrants are a threat. Nothing could be further from the truth. More encounters at the Mexico border are expected as smugglers take advantage of the changes. They are already hard at work spreading disinformation that the border will be open, placing strains on the entire system. There were 7,000 daily encounters on the US southern border recently. Numbers are expected to rise in the coming weeks.

Ralph was shot twice after he knocked on the door of the wrong home to collect his younger brothers. Doctors expressed shock that he survived. He has speech problems and has a long road to recovery. A six-year-old was shot after a basketball rolled into a man's yard. When she went to retrieve it, the man aggressively shouted at her. A father went to him complaining, ‘It was an accident’. The man got his gun and fired at neighbours. The girl had bullet fragments in her cheek. Her parents were also shot. Payton tried to enter the wrong vehicle in a car park and was shot. Kaylin was killed after driving down the wrong driveway. Every day about 50 people die and about 100 are injured from shootings. 12,719 people have died so far this year in gun violence. Since 13 April, when Ralph visited the wrong house, there have been 845 shooting incidents.

The Senate in Florida has passed a bill to ban most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The ‘Heartbeat Protection Act’ would prohibit physicians from knowingly performing or inducing a pregnancy termination after the gestational age of the foetus is over six weeks, as opposed to 15 weeks at present. Last year the state’s governor signed a law which bans abortion after 15 weeks, with no exception for rape or incest. It is being challenged in Florida’s supreme court. A decision is not expected until May. The Heartbeat Protection Act provides ‘an exception if the woman obtaining the abortion is a victim of rape, incest or human trafficking, subject to certain conditions’. Two Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against the legislation. The bill is expected to have the legislation signed, and Republicans are expected to pass their own version of the bill in the coming days.

Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records to hide damaging information ahead of the 2016 election. He was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to hush money paid to a porn star who says they had an affair. He said the ‘fake case’ was a Democratic conspiracy to interfere with next year's presidential election, in which he is running. There's nothing in America’s constitution preventing him from running for election: even if imprisoned he could still campaign, but will white conservative Christians still accept  him? They previously stood by his side despite sexual assault accusations, fascination with authoritarian leaders, and his fondness for racists. Now that he has been formally charged in a sordid saga, will they finally turn away from their man? A prolonged legal fight and a trial will be a major diversion from a presidential campaign - in time and energy, and the scheduling of election rallies. See