| | 70 Georgia churches sever ties with UMC over homosexuality debate | | Curated for you byCP Editors | | Good afternoon! It's Monday, June 6, and today's headlines include a group of Georgia churches parting ways with The United Methodist Church, an analysis of the baby formula shortage, and a megachurch leader who has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three children. | | The United Methodist Church North Georgia Conference announced Thursday that 70 congregations in Georgia have decided to leave the UMC due in part to the denomination's ongoing debate over homosexuality. The disaffiliation, which will become effective June 30, represents nine percent of their churches and three percent of their members. The UMC Book of Discipline presently labels homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching" and prohibits the blessing of same-sex unions or the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, but many in the UMC oppose the Book of Discipline stance and some prominent leaders have refused to enforce the rules. In January 2020, a theologically diverse group of UMC leaders agreed to advance a proposal at the next General Conference that would create a new Methodist denomination for those who oppose changing the Book of Discipline. Theological conservatives subsequently created the Global Methodist Church to serve this purpose. Although the General Conference has been postponed to 2024 due to ongoing challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the GMC announced that it would launch on May 1 of this year rather than wait for any separation proposals to be approved. Read more. | | Also of Interest ...Pro-life group 'appalled' Illinois allowing underage girls to get abortions without parents' knowledgeActivists to blockade Supreme Court ahead of expected abortion decision | | P.S. Volume 2 of CP Magazine is here! If you'd like to help support Christian journalism, this digital-only offering runs just $19.99 annually—or get your free copy when you sign-up for a free Christian Post account. Sign-up to download your flipbook or PDF copy today. |
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| Church rents movie theater marquee in response to LGBT pride event: 'Then cometh shame' | | A Michigan church is stirring up strong reactions from the community after renting out a popular movie theater sign and quoting Bible verses on it ahead of a nearby LGBT "pride" event. Pastor Josh Langdon of Lowell's Bible Believers Church told The Christian Post that the church rented out the space to stand up to what he calls an "extreme LGBT agenda that we believe is unbiblical and damaging to our culture." The congregation rented the Old Theater marquee in Lowell, Mich., and put the words of Acts 16:31 on one half and Proverbs 11:2 on the other in the King James Version. Proverbs 11:2 reads: "When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom." Read more. | | Bureaucrats vs. babies: How government caused the baby formula shortage | | Author and economist Roger McKinney discusses the baby formula shortage, pointing to Food and Drug Administration bureaucrats as a key part of the problem. On the FDA shutting down the Abbott Labs plant, which produced nearly one-quarter of all formula in the U.S., McKinney asks, "The supply before the shutdown was already short about 20% and parents were screaming for relief. Is no one at the FDA smart enough to see that shutting down the Abbott plant would severely worsen the shortage, and so plan to alleviate it? Or were they too busy with [LGBT] training to bother?" McKinney further points out the dangers of having four companies control more than 90% of the supply, saying Americans' desire to have the federal government regulate industry is short-sighted and provides control to an idolized government full of humans who are self-serving. Read more. | | Megachurch leader pleads guilty to sexually abusing 3 children | | California state prosecutors say Naason Joaquin Garcia, the leader of a Mexico-based megachurch, has pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts of sexual assault involving three separate minors. The plea comes just days ahead of trial and after his lawyers claimed he is "100% innocent." The 53-year-old Garcia, who is the leader of the Guadalajara-based church La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World), filed the guilty plea just three days before the trial was set to begin. The former preacher pleaded guilty to two counts of forcible oral copulation involving minors and one count of a lewd act upon a child, and co-defendant Susana Medina Oaxaca also pleaded guilty to a charge of assault likely to cause great bodily harm, per Reuters. Read more. | | Also of Interest... | | Judge angrily denies bail for megachurch leader after hearing on alleged sex videos involving minorsMegachurch leader who allegedly made sex videos with minors to face trial in SeptemberJudge refuses to dismiss case against megachurch leader Naason Joaquin GarciaCalifornia prosecutors fabricated case against megachurch preacher accused of sex crimes: defense |
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| June is LGBT 'Pride Month' and Google won’t let you forget it | | In this op-ed, Michael Brown calls out Google for what he says is its biased push toward LGBT activism and reflects back to his 2011 book, A Queer Thing Happened to America, which cautioned readers about falling for the belief that "there is no gay agenda." Brown concludes, "Today, in 2022, like it or not, LGBTQ+ Pride Month is embedded on your Google calendar. And there is no gay agenda." Read more. | | Why pro-abortion activists desecrate churches | | Following the leak of the draft opinion by the Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade, pro-abortion activists across the country have vandalized churches and disturbed services a bid to make their opinions known. Professor and church historian Carl Trueman blames the antics on the infantilism of our age, writing, "Clearly, there is no issue so profound—not even the mystery of the creation of new life—that cannot be reduced to sophomoric silliness. But if the idiom has been that of puerile performance, the focus on churches indicates that desecration is becoming a default strategy for the political class in the modern West. And that bodes ill for some of our most basic freedoms." Read more. |
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| Pakistani police refuse to rescue Christian girl from Muslim kidnapper | | The parents of a 15-year-old Roman Catholic girl in Pakistan’s Punjab province say their daughter was abducted two weeks ago by a Muslim man, who has now forced her to marry him and convert to Islam, but police remain uncooperative despite the accused being identified. Saba Masih was abducted on May 20 from the Madina Town area of Faisalabad city when she was going to work with her older sister, according to Morning Star News. Her father, Nadeem Masih, says their 45-year-old Muslim neighbor, identified as Muhammad Yasir, forcibly took Saba away in a rickshaw. The family says they immediately called the police but have seen no progress in the case, asserting the "investigating officer keeps telling us that Saba has converted to Islam and contracted marriage with Yasir, but he has not shown us any document as yet. We are pleading with police to at least recover the girl and arrange our meeting with her so that we can ascertain the facts ourselves, but he doesn’t listen to us." Read more. | | Is the State Dept. pushing a 'political narrative' on Nigerian violence? | | The U.S. State Department says it has raised concerns about religious freedom in Nigeria even though advocates accuse the Biden administration of pushing a "political narrative" as the West African country faces increasing extremist and communal violence. Advocates contend the government isn't doing enough to halt increasing violence. The State Department's latest religious freedom report featured a 25-page section on the state of religious freedom in Nigeria, which was previously included on the department's "Countries of Particular Concern" list of governments that engage in or tolerate egregious violations of religious freedom. Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed Nigeria from the list last November, less than a year after then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added the nation to the list. The new report cites testimony from "civil society organizations and media," who "stated that insecurity was pervasive throughout the country and increased nationwide, particularly in the North West region." As noted in the report, "Islam is the dominant religion in the North West region." Read more. | | Also of Interest... | | Nigerian priest fears more persecution after Boko Haram leader's death: 'Time bomb waiting to explode'At least 3,400 Nigerian Christians killed, 3,000 abducted so far in 2021, NGO estimates43K Nigerian Christians killed, 18K disappeared in last 12 years: NGO reportReligious freedom advocacy group unveils top 3 Christian persecutors of 2021 |
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