ETERNAL FLAME NEWS: May 27, 2011

Friday, May 27, 2011

Judge Rules Pastor Can Say "Jesus Christ" In Memorial Day Prayer

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs cannot stop a pastor from invoking the name of "Jesus Christ" in his Memorial Day prayer at Houston National Cemetery, a federal judge said Thursday.

Scott Rainey, lead pastor at the Living Word Church of the Nazarene, on Thursday filed a lawsuit requesting a temporary restraining order against the VA and its director of the Houston National Cemetery from censoring his prayer reference to Jesus.

The suit argued that the government is unconstitutionally censoring his speech and engaging in religious viewpoint discrimination.

The judge hearing the case agreed with Rainey, granting his motion for the court to intercede.

"The government cannot gag citizens when it says it is in the interest of national security, and it cannot do it in some bureaucrat's notion of cultural homogeneity," U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes wrote in his three-page order. "The right to free expression ranges from the dignity of Abraham Lincoln's speeches to Charlie Sheen's rants."

This coming Monday, Rainey will be able to recite his prayer in full during a Memorial Day service at the cemetery to honor fallen U.S. soldiers. This is the third year that the pastor has been asked by the National Cemetery Council for Greater Houston to give the invocation at the event.

In his prayer, Rainey will ask God to grant peace in the nations and to families of fallen soldiers and give wisdom to the nation's leaders.

The prayer will conclude with the Lord's Prayer and one reference to Jesus: "While respecting people of every faith today, it is in the name of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, that I pray. Amen."

New Jersey Man Who Murdered His Extranged Wife and One Other In Church Expected To Receive Life In Prison

A California man convicted of shooting and killing his estranged wife and another person inside a New Jersey church faces sentencing Friday.

Joseph Pallipurath (PAL'-ee-PYOR'-ath) of Sacramento is expected to receive life in prison without parole.

He was convicted last month of murdering 24-year-old Reshma James and 25-year-old Dennis Mallooseril, a bystander who tried to help her. He was also convicted of attempted murder for shooting another woman.

Prosecutors say Pallipurath drove across the country to confront his wife, who had left to escape what relatives say was an abusive marriage. She was killed in the vestibule of St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya (kah-nah-NYE'-uh) Church in Clifton on the Monday before Thanksgiving 2008.

Pallipurath was arrested in Georgia within two days.

Those Left Homeless By Joplin MO. Twister Celebrate Remaining Blessings

By Debby Woodin news@joplinglobe.com

JOPLIN, Mo. — Storm-stricken residents demonstrated their Show-Me spirit Wednesday night by celebrating their blessings and their Missouri determination instead of mourning their losses.

An event dubbed “Community Prayer Gathering” at the Joplin Family Worship Center, 5290 E. Seventh St., focused on the encouragement that could be found within a city intent on rebounding and rebuilding.

“This community is going to be OK,” said Chris Dunn, who lost his home on 18th Street near Range Line Road on Sunday afternoon in the half-mile-wide twister that tore through six miles of the city’s center. “This community is pulling together like never before. This little bitty F-5 isn’t going to stop us.”

He said his faith in God will get him through and that he sees it to be his duty to help get others through it too. He and his wife, Lisa, are transplants here, he said, but the community’s spirit keeps them here, and they intend to rebuild and not move away. “I know this is where we’re supposed to be,” he told the congregation of Pastors Dan and Cindy Wermuth and their visitors.

Lisa Dunn said she is overwhelmed by the generosity she has found from those determined to recover from devastation. “The love and compassion in this area — wow, it’s unbelievable,” she said.

The Dunns were in Carthage when the storm hit and did not know the extent of the damage until they got near their home. They said their faith and their desire to focus on others has helped them and their daughter, Makenzie, a sixth-grader, contribute to the relief effort.

The girl has spent every day since the storm doing volunteer work at the church’s storm relief and resource operation. “She’s lost it all, but she’s going to be OK,” her mother said.

Makenzie told the crowd that her pets have disappeared. She left her little Jack Russell terrier crated when the family left home that day, and the dog knows how to open the crate. Makenzie believes the dog escaped and could be in an animal shelter. Her guinea pig is missing too.

She would like to see the remains of the family’s home. Her parents said they had been counseled to allow her a visit, but they are not ready yet.

Cindy Wermuth said the Dunns’ feelings are a testimony to “the peace of God.”

Makenzie’s optimism is an example of why volunteering is important work even when people face grievous situations.

“Volunteering takes your mind off what you don’t have,” she said.

Church members have pitched in this week to receive and distribute truckloads of donations of storm relief goods from organizations ranging from the Professional Bull Riders Association to the Pentecostal Holiness Association of Oklahoma City. A shipment from Feed the Children is expected within a few days, Cindy Wermuth said.
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Duluth Church Closes It's Doors On Sundays Because Congregation Have Other Things They Want To Do

By Lisa Bauman
Duluth News Tribune

Updated: 05/25/2011 01:08:17 PM CDT

For hundreds of years, people have gone to church services on Sundays. But at one church in Duluth this summer, Sunday will not be the day to congregate and celebrate the Lord.

Instead, that day will be Wednesday.

"You've got to do something bold and different once in a while," said the Rev. Peter Bagley, who has been the pastor at United Protestant Church for more than nine years.

It started with one member of the congregation who reportedly said, "I like church. I also like going to the cabin."

That sentiment, plus an annual decrease in summer church attendance, got others thinking - until they had a revelation.

"Our solution is to have our regular worship service at a time when our disciples can attend," Bagley said. "While some churches will add a Saturday night service, we have decided to take what may seem to be a very unusual step and move the whole service to another day and time."

He believes his church may be the first in the Duluth area, and maybe the first church in the state, to make such a switch. While he knows some may question whether changing the day of worship is a biblically correct thing to do, Bagley points to a similar issue raised in the Roman church during the days of the Apostle Paul.

According to Romans 14:5-6, he said, "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it."

Charlotte Franz, pastor at sister congregation Pilgrim Congregational Church in Duluth, said she wishes United Protestant well in their endeavor.

"I hope that for their church members that it is positive and for those interested in finding out more about a church, to check this out if it better fits their schedule," she said.

She said her congregation also has been taking stock of what she called a "habitual way to operate" and see if it's really effective in today's world.

"We didn't consider taking away Sunday," she said. "For us it was more about doing things cooperatively with other people. I think more and more churches are realizing we just can't operate out of habit."

To that end, Pilgrim is joining Hope United Methodist Church, Chester Park United Methodist Church and United Baptist Christian Church for services on the Sundays of Memorial Day weekend, July 4 weekend and Labor Day weekend.

"I think it's a way of building relationships in a time when attendance is down for all of us," she said. "I think of this as a time of experimenting with things. We'll try it and evaluate and see if it works."

Crystal Cathedral To Be Sold As Church Files For Bankruptcy

SANTA ANA, Calif -- SANTA ANA, Calif. - The Crystal Cathedral, the gleaming architectural landmark in Orange County that has been a Southern California attraction for decades, will be sold as a method of exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reconciling millions in debt, church officials confirmed Thursday.

A reorganization plan could be filed in a Santa Ana court as early as Friday.

The Garden Grove megachurch, founded by Robert H. Schuller, was also the birthplace of the enormously popular weekly televangelist series "Hour of Power." But faced with decreasing revenues over the last few years, the church filed for bankruptcy protection in October, saying it owed more than $50 million to creditors, including vendors who assisted in the church's famed Christmas and Easter services.

Worship services and community outreach programs would not be affected by the reorganization, church spokesman John Charles said.

Under the proposed plan, the 40-acre campus would be sold to a real estate investment group, which alleviates financial pressure from a $36-million mortgage, Charles said. He would not divulge the sale price or the investment group.

The church also has a guaranteed option of leasing the campus for 15 years. After four years, the church can buy back the core portions, including the 10,000-pane cathedral, the 13-story Tower of Hope, the welcome center and the cemetery.

"It's great news," Charles said. "It gives us the opportunity to pay everybody off and start fresh."

The only building the church cannot buy back is the four-story Family Life Center on the campus, said Marc Winthrop, a bankruptcy lawyer for the church. The center is already for sale.

The plan, which could be approved at a June 1 bankruptcy court hearing, will allow the cathedral to repay more than 550 creditors in the next 42 months.

Since filing for bankruptcy, the church has been mired in controversy. Financial documents related to the case revealed generous pay and tax allowances for cathedral officials. Then, in March, choir members were outraged after being asked to sign a sex covenant some perceived as anti-gay.

New Course Teaches Christians To Mirror Christ In Any Business Venture

Living as a Christian in today's society can be a challenge. But mirroring Christ in any business venture can be even more of a challenge, something Patrice Tsague is well aware of.

Tsague is a Christian business man, training believers to build kingdom businesses through his ministry known as the Nehemiah Project.

"It's about Christians recognizing that their business is their platform for ministry. It's their pulpit," he explained.

Don't Leave Your Faith at Home

Tsague says too many Christians leave their faith behind when operating in the business world.

"They have falsely concluded that business is about making money. My faith is about praying, going to church and doing all these Christian activities and not brought the two together," he said.

Through his Biblical Entrepreneurship course, he teaches business leaders to use the Bible as a guide for exercising Godly stewardship.

"Business has gotten a bad reputation. It's because people have chosen to use the wrong motivation and the wrong practices," said Jerome Leonard, president of the Taylor Leonard Corporation.

The Nehemiah Project works in partnership with Regent University's Center for Entrepreneurship. The center's director, Dr. John Mulford, says the need for core Christian values is vital.

"Over and over again, I hear people saying, 'I'll never do business with another Christian because I've been burned,'" he told CBN News.

Multilevel Marketing or Pyramid Scheme?

One popular business opportunity pursued throughout the Christian community is multi-level marketing. It's model compensates workers not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the results from sales people they recruit.

Hundreds of these companies exist -- selling everything from clothing to jewelry to vacations.

Many Christians are attracted to multi-level marketing companies such as Mary Kay Cosmetics, Avon and Amway. Experts agree that while many of these companies are viable business models - they urge believers to use caution.

"When you appeal to greed, then the person who's doing it isn't thinking about providing a service in a value to someone. He's just trying to figure out how am I going to make more money," Mulford explained.

Some argue it follows the same business model as pyramid schemes. Those illegal business practices promise participants payment, service or ideals primarily for enrolling other people rather than supplying any products or services.

"Unfortunately the way that's it's done there has not been too much difference between multi-level marketing and pyramid schemes," Tsague said.

"As Christians, we've got to ask the question, 'Am I getting into this thing because I'm trying to make more money or am I getting into this because I really want to serve people?'" he said.

"'And if all I do is serve people and never recruit one person can I still be successful?' If the answer is no, then that is a pyramid scheme," he added.

Mulford and Tsague both agree that the bottom line for Christians is to do business God's way.

2011 Billbord Music Awards Un-Family Friendly Show Has Parents Television Counsil Outraged

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 5/27/2011 8:40:00 AM
The Parents Television Council (PTC) is urging the public to voice its objection to a sexually explicit segment of the recent 2011 Billboard Music Awards show, which aired on television.

The PTC's primary mission is to promote and restore responsibility and decency to the entertainment industry and answer America's demand for positive, family-oriented television programming. Communications director Melissa Henson explains that though the awards show was rated suitable for children at least 14 years old, it was aired during a time when children of all ages could have been watching.

"They opened the broadcast with an S&M (sadomasochism)-themed performance by Rihanna and Britney Spears, in which they were dressed in dominatrix outfits," Henson reports. "They were singing lyrics along the lines of 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me.'"

The PTC communications director contends it was completely unacceptable for Disney, which owns ABC and purports to be a family-friendly network, to make such material available to children, especially since there was no advance warning about the content.

But PTC notes this is not the first time the Billboard Music Awards show has shown extreme content to viewers. In 2002, for example, Cher used an expletive on stage. The next year, Nicole Richie made a statement using multiple choice words.

"We are urging folks to contact ABC and let them know how outraged they are by the content," Henson notes. "You can go to ParentsTV.org right now to take action. We are also asking folks to contact some of the sponsors, many of whom should have known better," she adds.

Those supporters include Old Navy, McDonalds, and Chevrolet.