The 8th Commandment clearly meant little to whoever broke into the safe at Lakewood Church and stole over $600,000 in donations Sunday night.
The Houston, Texas church, home of internationally known pastor Joel Osteen, reported Monday morning that someone had broken into their safe and taken away all the donations received during the weekend’s services.
Cash, checks and credit card information was stolen. The church says that the funds were insured, so the church will not lose revenue, but that there was no way to assure someone would not try to use the stolen account numbers for other kinds of fraud.
Donors were encouraged to check their accounts for fraudulent activity and to take steps to protect their accounts.
Church officials say $200,000 of the theft was in cash.
Houston police are investigating the theft. The police are reviewing surveillance video from inside the church but have not named any suspects.
The church isn’t violating any rules with the school that hosts their services. They have taken steps to try and accommodate neighbors of the school who are complaining about the traffic in the area on Sundays.
Still, the neighbors of City of God church meeting at Santa Monica elementary school continue to complain and harass the members and leadership of the church. They openly say they don’t want a Christian church in their neighborhood.
“I don’t want anything happening here on Sundays,” said Azin Ehsan, who moved into the neighborhood in 2001. “We have so much noise during the week, we just want it to be quiet. They should find a better venue.”
Azin Ehsan has rebuffed the church’s efforts to work with her and two other neighbors. They met with school officials to complain about the church’s being allowed in their neighborhood and use of the school.
Another neighbor thinks the reason of the people are complaining is that they have an issue with Christians.
“Nobody complains when John Adams [Middle School] has football games. I don’t hear about people writing letters about what a nuisance that is but suddenly, the church for an hour makes a different noise and the community is in an uproar?” Sidonie Smith asked. “We can’t have a double standard about noise in the community.”
I personally believe every church in America needs to prepare. In times of crisis or disaster, people turn to leaders for help. Even those who don’t belong to your church or congregation will come to you – and that’s a good thing! We want to share the Gospel in the Last Days! That’s what we were born for! That’s the reason God chose us to be living at this time in the history of the world! We were born for “such a time as this.”
While some may think that they’re obligation is more spiritual than practical in times of crisis, I assure you that until people’s physical needs are met, they’re not going to listen to your Gospel! There’s a verse in the Bible that talks about those who do nothing but pray and bless. This verse is usually quoted in the context of faith, but I want you to read it again in the context of practical preparations for others in need:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:14-17 ESV) Continue reading →
The city of Buffalo, New York is being hit with “Mass Mobs”.
However, this new breed of flash mob is actually blessing those they target.
The “Mass Mob” votes online for a specific older Catholic church in the area for Sunday worship. The mob then swarms that church in the morning, worshipping with regular attenders, admiring the architecture of the old cathedrals and providing the churches with a much needed boost in support.
Many of the churches have fallen over the last century from thousands in attendance each week to in some cases less than 50. The founder of the “mob” says the idea is to expose area Catholics to new congregations and churches in a hope of sparking a revival.
“I call these churches faith enhancers,” Christopher Byrd told the Associated Press. “You can’t help but walk in and feel closer to a higher power.”
Byrd hopes that churches that “fall off the radar screen of people” will again be seen as viable houses of worship.
A major archaeological find has been discovered in southern Israel.
The Israeli Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of a Byzantine-era structure that they said likely “served as a center of Christian worship for neighboring communities.”
The discovery was made during a routine salvage operation in preparation for a new neighborhood in the area of the discovery site.
The building is about 72 feet long and 40 feet wide. It contains a central hall with two side aisles divided by marble pillars. A courtyard area features a white mosaic floor and a cistern.
Also found were five inscriptions including references to Mary and Jesus.
The IAA also recovered glass vessels, oil lamps, cooking pots and bowls. They estimate the church and items to be at least 1,500 years old.
We really are living in such a prophetic time! This is a time like never before or ever again. It’s such a worldly time and there’s hardly anything on television worth watching. Jim and I have become news junkies because of this fact!
It breaks my heart to see some of the things the kids are now subjected to on television, and they’re watching it because that’s all there is! What troubles me is that we are losing all of our values, not just in this nation but in the world! This isn’t just a cliché – it’s a fact – a fact that anyone who loves God should be alarmed about.
For my generation, even in the crazy times we didn’t lose our values. We still knew right from wrong but now, there isn’t any such thing! It’s considered hateful now to even voice your opinion of what is right and wrong. Everybody is doing what they think is right in their own eyes! The Bible talks about that! (Judges 17:6, 21:25, Proverbs 14:12) Continue reading →
While Christmas is a time of celebration, joy and family for many people, there are millions of people who face a less than joyous time.
Churches across the country have been holding what are called “Blue Christmas” or “Longest Night” services to reach out to people who are working through the loss of a loved one, a marriage or other difficulties during the holidays. The services are more somber than many Christmas celebrations and focus on the power of God’s forgiveness that came through the birth of Jesus.
In St. Louis, a man attended the service because he was still dealing with the loss of his mother earlier this year. Charles Brown told the Associated Press he felt the service was a time for him to lay his burden down and took comfort from the message that God is with him.
Pastors prayed and anointed parishioners with oil who sought prayer, salvation or comfort.
Some of the churches did not even include a sermon. The services focused on the reading of Scripture, prayer and songs of healing.
It will be a very merry Christmas for Nome Covenant Church.
The church in a town of under 4,000 where the average temperature stays well below zero is on the far reaches of the Alaskan frontier. The church met in a building that was 75 years old and was literally being held together by cables.
The church’s pastor lived in fear of the church collapsing.
“Our old church was 75 years old, it was built with available materials at that time,” Pastor Harvey Fiskeaux told Fox News. “I was actually fearful it was going to fall in.”
The church found an outpouring of Christian love from Samaritan’s Purse, the Christian humanitarian organization known most for their Operation Christmas Child outreach.
The group flew 140 volunteers from all over the country to help the church build a brand new church and outreach center next door to the old church building.
“As a church we are there to help the infrastructure of family, children, and youth,” said Fiskeaux. “We are trying to help people’s lives.”
A church in Brighton, Massachusetts was destroyed by a group of vandals.
Our Lady of the Presentation Church’s organ was completely destroyed by the assailants who entered the church some time between November 23rd and November 25th. Police say a gold crucifix was ripped from the altar and thrown to the front door.
An oil portrait of Pope Francis was ripped from the wall and ripped into pieces. The vandals then painted satanic messages and emblems on the painting.
Fire extinguishers throughout the building were used to spray residue on the walls. Several doors and windows were also broken.
Officers found food and a half empty bottle of wine at the scene indicating the criminals spent some time in the building.
St. John’s Seminary released a statement saying the violators were captured on security video and that the tape is in the hands of the Boston Police Department.
A church that had their entire supply of food to be given away for Thanksgiving stolen by thieves is seeing an outpouring of support from the community.
Christ Temple Apostolic Church in Sacramento had a window into their church’s gym shattered allowing the thieves access to make off with hundreds of dollars in food donated for the church’s annual Thanksgiving meal for the homeless.
The church is known for their outreach to the homeless community despite a series of hardships. The church has had to close half their building because they can’t afford $70,000 to fix a leaking roof. The day after they housed homeless in their gym, thieves broke into the gym and stole the church’s sound system.
Now, members of the community have been dropping off food donations at the church to replace the stolen items. One man who had never heard of the church before the thefts told CBS13 in Sacramento that he brought a couple of turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce and a smile because he wanted to help those helping the community.
