Beautifully sculptured cathedrals dot the landscape of Kiev, Ukraine, reminding visitors that this Eastern European nation has been a hub of Orthodox Christianity for centuries. But these days the largest church in Ukraine is an independent charismatic congregation that meets in a dilapidated warehouse on the east bank of the Dnieper River.

Inside Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations, also known as God’s Embassy, worshipers sing Western choruses translated into Russian and punctuate their praise with occasional shouts of “Alleluia” and “Praise God.”

Just 16 years ago, a service like this would have been restricted under the nation’s communist leadership. But after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, a once underground evangelical community began to raise its head. Today observers say Kiev is at the center of a spiritual awakening that may spread across Europe.

At the forefront of this revival is the unlikely ambassador of God’s Embassy, a Nigerian native named Sunday Adelaja, who started the church in 1994 with seven people in a two-bedroom apartment. It now has 25,000 members who meet in 40 locations across Kiev.

According to Adelaja, more than 2 million people have accepted Christ since the church was founded, and 620 congregations have been planted in 22 nations, including the Netherlands, Germany, India, Russia and the United States.

God’s Embassy is “a church of the end times that goes outside the four walls, carrying the kingdom of God into different areas of society,” says member Lika Roman, the reigning Miss Ukraine.

And although Ukraine is predominantly white, Adelaja’s ethnicity “makes no difference,” says Vasiliy Onopenko, a member of God’s Embassy and chairman of Ukraine’s Supreme Court. “It doesn’t matter that he is not from Ukraine. The only thing that is important is that we both believe in Christ, that we both feel His covering, that we both feel His mercy and grace.”

In a nation still recovering from its oppressive past, Adelaja, 40, preaches a gospel of freedom and empowerment, and is intent on seeing Christian values influence every sector of society—from politics to entertainment to education. “The Great Commission is not what many of us have understood it to be,” the pastor says. “We think of it as evangelism—going out and bringing people into the church—but that’s not what the Bible says. God wants us to go out and draw people to Him.”

Adelaja is determined to spread the “good news” by whatever means available to him. He has written more than 60 books, hosts national TV and radio programs, and travels extensively throughout Europe and the United States. In recent years Adelaja and God’s Embassy have been featured in international media such as the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and the BBC for their influence on Ukrainian politics.

But in the early days of his ministry, Adelaja could barely find two people who would listen to a black man preach a gospel once forbidden in the Soviet Union. “When I first arrived, people would ask to see my tail because they thought black people had tails,” he says. “They would throw bananas at me and would tell me to go back to Africa.”

After complaining to God about the racial injustices, Adelaja discovered what proved to be key in evangelizing Ukraine. “God told me my problem wasn’t race. He said I had a problem with outcast people,” Adelaja says. “He told me: ‘You think ministry is about pulpit, promotion and advertisements. It’s not. It’s about people.’”

When he developed a compassion for addicts, alcoholics and outcast people, the church began to grow. He says the church’s increasing size and influence are signs that God is drawing people to Himself in an unprecedented way. “When I first arrived in Kiev, I would ride around on the city bus crying out in prayer for people in this city,” Adelaja says. “I would ask Him for one thing: ‘God, let Your Spirit come.’”
‘Born to Be Brilliant’

Born in the remote village of Idomila in Ogun State, Nigeria, Adelaja was raised in a Christian home by his grandmother. But instead of walking out his faith, Adelaja says he was a mean-spirited little boy who was angry with his grandmother for being too poor and sick to provide for him.

Rachel Adelaja reared her four children as a single mother and took in other village youth, including her grandson Sunday, who had been abandoned by his mother. Although poor, the family survived, often receiving financial help from Rachel’s son, who was a college professor.

But in 1972, tragedy struck. Two of her children died in separate car accidents within a month of each other, and in May of the following year a third child fell sick and died, though the illness was minor.

Each death seemed to have a rational cause, but villagers published rumors in the local newspaper that the siblings died as a result of a curse, accusing the family of being involved in witchcraft.

After burying three of her four children in less than a year, Rachel slipped into a coma and was hospitalized, leaving 6-year-old Sunday to fend for himself. He still bears deep scars on his legs from the six years he spent toiling in the bush of Nigeria, trying to earn a living. During that time, Adelaja says he was extremely bitter and once set his grandmother’s clothes on fire in a fit of anger.

It wasn’t until Rachel died of cancer when Adelaja was 15 that he began to realize how much his grandmother sacrificed for him. “It hit me—she loved me so much, but I was wicked to her,” Adelaja says. “People would tell her to give up on me, but she wouldn’t do it.”

That loss also marked a turning point. A mediocre student at the time, Adelaja says a letter from his brother convinced him to change his attitude and work hard in school. “He told me I was born to be brilliant,” Adelaja says. “I could not believe it. He said I could be at the top of my class.”
Taking the words to heart, the once self-destructive teenager became salutatorian of his high school class in 1986 and received a full scholarship to study journalism in the Soviet Union.

Six months before attending Belarusian State University, 19-year-old Adelaja made a decision that he says transformed his life forever. “I accepted Jesus while watching a televangelist preach the gospel from John 10:10,” he remembers. “It felt like 220 kilograms of weight had been lifted from me.”
Adelaja is convinced the hardships he endured in his youth gave him the stamina to withstand the persecution he would later encounter. He describes his early years in “old Russia” as “dark” and “dull” because people living in the former Soviet Union were forbidden to make personal and political choices.
“To read the Bible I had to go to the toilet and hide, and to pray I had to hide myself underneath a blanket and pretend I was asleep,” he recalls.

As a member of the growing underground church, Adelaja endured constant harassment from the KGB, he says. And when his roommate reported him for hanging a portrait of Jesus on a wall, university officials raided his dorm room.

“The chief communist leader for the university told me I had to remove the portrait of Jesus,” Adelaja says. “I felt such a deep pain … but I could hear God whisper to me: ‘Don’t fight. Don’t resist them. Your destiny is at hand here; My calling for you is at hand.’”

He says the persecution he faced that day seemed prophetic in light of a dream he’d had the same year. “I had been praying at night for two weeks when Jesus came and took me to my future,” Adelaja says. “I began to see myself in my 30s, and I was preaching to white people.
“I saw myself preaching on a stage with great men of God, then Jesus took the microphone from one of the most famous preachers on earth and gave it to me.”

Influencing Nations
When the underground church began to emerge after the Soviet Union dissolved, Adelaja founded Word of Faith Bible Church in Kiev with his wife, Bose, a fellow Nigerian who studied engineering in Russia. He put his journalism degree to good use and launched a TV ministry and placed ads in the local newspaper, hoping to draw people to the church. But his marketing efforts yielded few congregants.

Although the nation was free of communist rule, most Ukrainians continued to believe they shouldn’t deviate from established norms, Adelaja says. But a turning point came for Word of Faith when the young pastor met a woman who was desperate for change.

Natasha Potopaeva, who introduced herself to Adelaja as “Natasha Alcoholic,” had been drinking for years when she cried out to God one night for help. Although she began to experience some peace, she says she still didn’t know Jesus. Then one day she turned on the TV and saw Adelaja inviting viewers to a Bible study.

“The Bible study became like food to me,” Potopaeva says. “I received Jesus into my heart, and I was overfilled with joy. I knew I had to help other people find the joy and peace I had.”

Potopaeva introduced Adelaja to drug addicts, alcoholics and others who were on the outskirts of society. “God told me to take off my tie, roll up my sleeves and go where preachers don’t go,” Adelaja says. “God would speak supernaturally to the addicts, and their lives began to change. Within a year, 1,000 people had joined the church.”

That’s when he renamed the church God’s Embassy, so it would be viewed as a place where people from all walks of life could find help. In 1994 Potopaeva founded Love Rehabilitation Center as an outreach of the church. It has since planted 3,000 centers throughout Ukraine and in other countries.

When Sergey Diordiev, 26, arrived at the center he had been a drug addict for six years and had served a year in prison for drug trafficking. “The Holy Spirit changed me,” says Diordiev, who now works for the center. “I was angry and hateful, and I never had friends, but here I have fellowship with other people.”

Bose Adelaja, who serves alongside her husband as co-pastor of God’s Embassy’s central church in Kiev, says both men and women should be trained to reach the world with the gospel. She is also lead pastor of another God’s Embassy congregation in Kiev and represents a growing number of female leaders in the church. “God is calling women not only in Ukraine, but in the U.S. and other countries to plant churches, pastor churches, evangelize the lost and train others for ministry,” she says.

Orthodox Christianity remains the dominant religion in Ukraine, but prominent leaders such as Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky and other politicians have gravitated to the charismatic God’s Embassy. In 1994, the church opened Stephania Soup Kitchen after Chernovetsky donated a building to the church. To date, more than 2 million people have received hot meals, as well as social, medical and rehabilitative services at Stephania.

“Pastor Sunday and God’s Embassy are highly respected in Kiev,” Chernovetsky says. “If we are to be certain of our ability to transform this world into a better place, and to love every person … we need those who can … give us godly insight.”

Through its Joshua Institute Bible school, God’s Embassy has sent out 1,500 graduates to plant churches, open orphanages, run for political office and impact other arenas in need of the gospel. And the church’s prison ministry is reaching out to a growing population of ex-offenders and inmates in Ukraine.

Elena Misoshnyk, 35, was serving a 12-year sentence for murder with no possibility of parole when she learned of God’s Embassy’s prison outreach and accepted Christ. “God started sending people to me who were on drugs and HIV-positive, and when they would … touch me, they would get healed,” says Misoshnyk, who served nearly seven years of her sentence before she was unexpectedly released under the provisions of a new law.

In recent years, God’s Embassy has captured the world’s attention for challenging government policies that restricted democracy and religious freedom. In 2003, a church-led protest caused city leaders to rescind their previous decision to deny the church an extension on its property lease.

The following year church members joined with voters from across Ukraine to protest a presidential election many considered fraudulent. The demonstration, which came to be known as the Orange Revolution, eventually led to a runoff election and victory for West-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.

As a result of his church’s influence, Adelaja has discussed political issues with former Israeli Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu. Last year he participated in the Clinton Global Initiative, an invitation-only event that convened diverse leaders to discuss solutions to global problems such as poverty, climate change and religious conflict. In August he addressed the United Nations.

Adelaja’s office wall is decorated with photos of him pictured with world leaders, including former President Bill Clinton and former Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright. “Pastor Sunday has played a major role in the international world,” says Henry Madava, a Zimbabwe native who pastors the 6,000-member Victory Church in Kiev. “[Ukrainian] politicians see the pureness Christians bring.”

Adelaja says God’s love for people cannot be confined to one country. For that reason, he has planted churches and a Bible school in in the U.S., and recently launched ChurchShift, an initiative designed to teach American pastors how to affect change in the culture by altering the way they think. He says wealth and prosperity often distract Christians from pursuing the true purpose of ministry.

“Sometimes my minister friends in America tell me … they’re believing in faith for a thousand more members, a new car, a television show and so on,” Adelaja writes in his book, ChurchShift (Charisma House), which is scheduled to release in February. “When Christians change the goal of the church, and make it a place of conservation and escape rather than equipping and sending, we are working against the Great Commission. We are hoarding kingdom resources, namely people and their gifts.”

Adelaja says his church isn’t seeking to be defined by its political activism or its size; it just wants to see people set free. “The reward for seeking God is influence over a sphere of society so people can be rescued from the horrors of sin and evil,” Adelaja says. “Anybody who walks in obedience to God has the right to ask for nations to be restored and given into His hands. That’s what we do here at God’s Embassy.”

Valerie G. Lowe is the associate editor of Charisma. She traveled to Kiev, Ukraine, in April to file this report. Sunday Adelaja will address the Synergize Pastor’s Conference in Atlanta January 29-31. For more information, log on at billion.tv. To read an excerpt from Sunday Adelaja’s forthcoming book ChurchShift, log on at charismamag.com/adelaja.

God and the Orange Revolution
The prayer of Christians have shaped Ukrainian politics.
It was the toughest decision Sunday Adelaja had made as pastor of Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations in Kiev, Ukraine.
After enduring government persecution for years, Adelaja believed God was calling him and his congregation to take a stand and protest City Hall. Local politicians had accused God’s Embassy, as the church is commonly known, of being a cult and a threat to Kiev’s national identity. As a result, the church’s request for an extension of its rental lease had been denied.

It was 2003, more than a decade after the fall of the Soviet Union, but civil disobedience could still bring imprisonment or violent retaliation from the police. “In my mind it was not only foolish, it was dangerous,” Adelaja says.

The pastor had always believed the church should submit to the government because it carries a God-ordained authority. But Adelaja says God showed him that he was wrong. “He took me through the book of Acts and showed me that civil disobedience can be righteous when you are fighting unrighteousness,” he writes in his book ChurchShift, noting that the disciples broke the law when it prohibited them from preaching.

After spending time in prayer and consulting 12 of the ministry’s key leaders, Adelaja mobilized 3,000 members to march on City Hall. “God told me the people are the power and to use that power to protest the government’s decision,” Adelaja writes.

As a result of the church’s action, then-Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko extended the church’s rental agreement and gave God’s Embassy $5 million in free property. Not only had the ministry prevailed without incident, the protest established God’s Embassy as a change agent in Ukraine.

Sofia Zhukotanska, a lead pastor at God’s Embassy and a respected figure in Ukrainian politics, says God is raising up a new generation of people to lead in all areas of government. “The church should be strong and influential in all systems of the Ukraine,” Zhukotanska told Charisma. “It will have the Word for all Ukrainians.”

Adelaja says the church’s willingness to protest the government in 2003 gave Ukrainian residents the courage to demonstrate the following year against a flawed election during which Russia-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych allegedly used intimidation and electoral fraud to win the presidency over opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. The massive protest, dubbed the Orange Revolution, resulted in a runoff election and victory for West-leaning Yushchenko.

“Under God’s direction we had been used to change the mind-set of an entire country,” Adelaja writes. “I believe that the protest and prayers by our church and other churches led to the most important change in Ukraine in centuries.”

Political, economic and social challenges remain. But the pastor believes Christians are called to civic action. “God taught us that in order to transform a nation, we would have to leave the four walls of the church,” Adelaja says. “This is what the Great Commission is truly about.”

Source: Chrismamag.com
By Valerie G. Lowe

The media has painted the African-American church with a “broad, wide-ranging brush” as intolerant of other ethnic groups, divisive, and “filled with hostility,” complained Jakes in his commentary posted on CNN.

But that is just based on “stereotypical ideas” derived from the “extreme and not the norm” of what black churches are.

“Most, if not all, predominantly African-American church doors are open to all, not just to blacks, but to anyone who is seeking a spiritual home, guidance, support, direction, faith and a feeding of the soul in the purest sense,” said Jakes, founding pastor of the 30,000-member The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas.

Jakes’s church, although predominantly African-American, is composed of 20 different nationalities.

He added, “Many of us have worked with other organizations, different cultures and denominations believing that there is more to unite us than there is to divide us.”

Jakes’ comments are in response to the controversy surrounding Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama and his former pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

In recent weeks, sound bites of Wright’s hate-infused sermons have widely circulated on the Internet and through media outlets. Wright’s venomous condemnation of U.S. foreign policies and racism in America caused many to view the black church as a hate- mongering institution rather than a house of God.

It has also cast a shadow on Obama’s campaign as voters question the authenticity of his message of unity and moving beyond what divides Americans.

But Jakes defended Obama and his message of reconciliation and change, and urged Americans to not be stuck on the misrepresentation of the black church when there are more important things to take care of.

“I implore you to not take the words of a few and depict the thoughts, hearts and motives of many,” the influential pastor pleaded.

“As an American I plead with you that we are running out of time. It is critical that we dislodge ourselves from political distractions,” Jakes emphasized. “We must return to the task of looking for the right man or woman who can answer the bloodcurdling cry of a nation that is in search of a leader with a courageous effective plan for the war in Iraq, and the medical, moral, economic and security issues that are being ignored by these distractions. If we do not, we will have done a terrible disservice to our coming generations.”

Jakes called on Americans to get back on track and start listening again to what the candidates’ strategies are to solve the problems in the world.

“My hope is that the church remains a vibrant part of our process, sounding the alarm that warns: America, please wake up out of our sleep!” Jakes wrote.

Source: Christian Post

The approximately seven-minute video entitled, “The Church of Oprah Exposed,” was posted less than a month ago and has claimed the a Top Favorites spot in the News & Politics category of a popular social networking site.

According to reports, many of the latest visitor streams come from PerezHilton.com, a Hollywood gossip blog, whose author wrote that “crazy Christians” are trying to demonize Oprah as a “conduit of evil.”

However, the ‘new age’ philosophy the video attributes Oprah with spreading has been a cause of concern for many Christians for some time. Many believe the day-time host is leading many into spiritual confusion by distorting the gospel message of Christianity.

One pastor likened Oprah’s ‘many ways to God’ approach as a ‘blind man’ drawing close to the edge of a dangerous cliff. “She holds the trendy idea that religions are essentially the same,” writes Steven W. Cornell, a Pennsylvania-based pastor.

“She irrationally romanticizes the notion that God can be whatever you want him/her/it to be,” Cornell continues to write.

During the video, viewers are shown a clip of a previous show where Oprah blatantly denies Jesus as the only way to God. “How can there be only one way to heaven or to God?” Oprah asked the audience. When asked by a woman in the audience, “What about Jesus?” Oprah responded, “What about Jesus? There couldn’t possibly be one way.”

The video’s primary focus seems to be targeted at Oprah’s recent Webinar class, where she is promoting Eckhart Tolle’s new book entitled, “New Earth.”

With Tolle as a guest, Oprah explains how her view of God and the spiritual teachings of Christianity changed in her late 20’s after hearing a preacher describe God as a ‘jealous’ God. She said that by opening her mind to the “hugeness” of God, she was able to accept the notion that God is not jealous, but rather a “God of love.”

“God is a feeling experience,” Oprah said in the popular YouTube video, “not a believing experience. If your religion is a believing experience… that’s not truly God,” she says.

Christian radio talk show host Frank Pastore, is one of many Christian leaders who has spoken out on Oprah’s views, saying that her worldview is irreconcilable with that of Christianity. “If she’s a Christian, she’s an ignorant one, because Christianity is incompatible with New Age thought,” Pastore wrote on Crosswalk.

LivePrayer.com founder Bill Keller, an internet-based program on faith and values, believes Oprah may be starting her ‘own cult.’

When speaking with the Celebrity News Service, Keller said, “She has an incredible amount of influence over people and an incredible following.”

“I believe these New Age teachings are like ‘spiritual crack’ because people are hungry,” Keller continued to say. “The teachings satisfy…(but) then they are hungry again.”

Keller joins many Christian leaders who believe people are afraid to challenge Oprah because of her power, but expect more to question her teachings over the few months.

Source: Streamingfaith.com

In a two-part episode of Fox TV’s “Divorce Court” which aired last Thursday and Friday, Bynum told Judge Lynn Toler she had remained mum about suffering in her marriage to Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III because she didn’t want to look stupid in front of her tens of thousands of followers.

A renowned televangelist and “prophetess,” Bynum said in an interview with Toler, “You’re trained in the traditional sense of religion to be the person that is always fine. I didn’t want to look stupid because I think at that point, I found myself trying to live up to that.”

Her statement comes over a month after Weeks pleaded guilty to assaulting Bynum on Aug. 21 in a hotel parking lot outside Atlanta. He admitted to grabbing Bynum, throwing her down and kicking her. Weeks is currently on probation.

Bynum said she saw signs of trouble in her marriage years before the assault.

“I was just trying to make it work because I don’t like losing relationships,” she told Judge Toler on the reality TV show.

The couple had wed in a million-dollar, televised ceremony in 2002.

Although Bynum has forgiven Weeks, she said she no longer wants the marriage.

“I’m done,” Bynum said.

“I think I’ve said to myself, practically, ‘I love him but I love me more,’” she continued. “Now, I had to make my decision to still take the love that I had for him with me. I think I will always love him.”

Since abuse in Bynum’s marriage became public last year, many have speculated whether the evangelist is trying to gain more popularity and stay in the limelight. Bynum has shared her testimony with magazine publications, has been called the new face of domestic violence and said she is launching a new ministry that tackles the abuse that spouses all over the world suffer from.

But last week, Bynum assured Toler that this wasn’t a publicity stunt.

“I wasn’t responsible for it hitting the media,” the evangelist said. “I don’t think that I would bring myself to build a ministry and for one incident want to bring that kind of negative press to myself after 25 years of ministry.”

When news of abuse hit the media, Bynum embraced the opportunity and said she felt she had a “responsibility” to her thousands of followers to deal with the issue.

“At that moment, the shame left, the embarrassment left, and I began to see myself as an individual who was given an awesome opportunity to not only talk about it but for people to watch me go through the healing process,” she said on “Divorce Court.”

“If all that I have become in 25 years does not properly define who I am to the people that follow my ministry, then there’s no need me trying to explain it,” she added.

Although she initially thought her ministry would collapse following the highly publicized trial, Bynum revealed confidence in the ministry she built.

Bynum was invited to appear on “Divorce Court,” a popular courtroom show, to tackle the serious topic of spousal abuse. After sharing her testimony, Bynum assisted in a case of a woman filing for divorce due to domestic violence. The reality show’s Judge Toler said she normally wouldn’t take divorce cases dealing with domestic violence because it is such a complicated matter that a 30-minute show cannot do it justice.

Toler’s staff, however, thought Bynum’s story of surviving domestic violence would help others living with abuse find strength to leave violent relationships and also attract some solid ratings, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Weeks was also asked to go on “Divorce Court,” but he declined the offer, said divorce attorney Randy Kessler, spokesman for Weeks.

“Bishop Weeks understands that he cannot prevent his wife from saying whatever she wants, but as in the past, if mistruths are told, he will respond accordingly,” said Kessler.

Source: Christian Post

The self-published book by minister Thomas Weeks III includes chapters with titles such as “I Would Rather Push You Now Than Punch You Later” and “She Wanted to Be Oprah at Any Cost” and says it was Weeks who suffered physical and emotional abuse in the relationship.

In the 153-page “What Love Taught Me,” Weeks says the Aug. 21 dispute was nothing more than a continuation of the “heated fellowship” the two ministers engaged in during their marriage. The scuffle between the two in a hotel parking lot landed Weeks in jail on charges he pushed, choked and beat Bynum, and he ultimately pleaded guilty to assaulting her. He is serving three years of probation.

Weeks claims his wife instigated the parking lot incident and used it to paint herself as a poster girl for domestic violence and to boost her ministry.

“Ultimately, she had to have a plot and a plan to destroy my credibility, to leak issues that were in the process of being resolved … so that she could get out of the marriage almost blameless,” he wrote.

Weeks said he wrote the book in the days after his arrest. Within days, Bynum announced her intentions to become “the new face of domestic violence” and last week, she appeared in a two-part episode of “Divorce Court” offering advice to a couple dealing with alleged abuse in their marriage — moves Weeks said were indicative of her desire for more secular fame.

“She needed a way out of the marriage so that she could keep her following, possibly grow her following … develop a cause that can support her without preaching and promote her secular career, while ending her marriage,” Weeks wrote. “Juanita was tired of preaching. She was tired of the conference circuit. She was more bored.”

Amy Malone, Bynum’s publicist, said Monday she had not seen the book and could not comment. Bynum did not immediately respond to a request through Malone for a response to Weeks’ claims.

The book is Weeks’ most lengthy public statement about their marriage. He remained largely silent while charges from his criminal case loomed and because he held out hope for reconciliation with Bynum, who filed for divorce.

Weeks said he is telling his story to help others heal, to clear his name and to bring balance to the story that has unraveled over the past eight months.

Weeks said in the book that they both had strong personalities and that there were times when their arguments turned violent.

In one altercation Weeks describes, he says Bynum became enraged and choked him when he was distracted on his laptop computer while riding home in a limousine after a black tie affair in New York. Weeks claims that a few months later, Bynum punched him in the face and neck while he was sleeping.

Weeks said Bynum was the instigator of both incidents and that he walked away.

“I decided a long time ago to become a man avoiding domestic violence,” Weeks wrote. “My internal mantra was I would rather push you now than have to punch you later. I can count at least 20 to 25 times I had to get out of the room before things escalated, and some of those times I had to push her out of the way as a result of her trying to keep me in the room where things could have gotten much more serious.”

The night of Aug. 21 was an example of such a situation, Weeks said.

According to him, the couple had just finished arguing at the Renaissance Hotel when Weeks left and headed for his vehicle.

Bynum followed, blocking the driver’s side door and began to cause a scene, Weeks said. He says she then swung at him with a cell phone in her hand.

“Avoiding her swing to my head, I pushed her away with great force causing her to hit the ground pretty hard,” he said. “I paused and looked at her because I have never pushed her that hard.”

By morning, reports of the confrontation were circulating on the Internet and in the media and Weeks turned himself in two days later to face charges of aggravated assault and making terroristic threats.

Bynum is a former hairdresser and flight attendant who became a Pentecostal evangelist, author and gospel singer. Her ministry blossomed after she preached at a singles event about breaking free of sexual promiscuity. Among her books are “No More Sheets: The Truth About Sex” and “Matters of the Heart.” She has recorded top-selling Gospel albums and also preaches through televised sermons.

Weeks — who is known to his followers as Bishop Weeks and is the pastor and co-founder of Global Destiny Ministries in Duluth — co-wrote “Teach Me How to Love You: The Beginnings” with Bynum.

Source: Associated Press

However, the purpose for dating is to prepare for marriage. How can a healthy marriage be built on a foundation of lust? As a matter of fact, dating should be a time to establish a friendship and discover whether your potential partner is suitable for marriage, not a time to act upon lustful thoughts.

Single people should strive to build relationships upon a stronger foundation—God’s plans and purposes. If couples become engrossed in racy Hollywood scenes, they’ll feel compelled to mimic those behaviors, instead of waiting until a genuine, godly relationship has a chance to bloom. I understand that some people simply don’t know any other way, which is why I’m motivated to share in this area. Heavy petting and intimacy before marriage places a relationship on shaky ground. Strong marriages are built on a solid foundation of mutual respect, appreciation, and unconditional love—the God—kind of love. To this very day, after 20 years of marriage my wife and I are still the best of friends, and we have a great time together—we thoroughly enjoy each other’s company.

During our dating period we abstained from sexual relations and developed our friendship over a period of three years. I know most people can’t even imagine abstaining that long! However, when we decided to date God’s way, He helped us do the seemingly impossible. Taffi and I have built our lives with the wealth of wisdom that comes from the Scriptures. As a result, we enjoy a mammoth reward; we wouldn’t have had it any other way!

We became good friends in the early stages of our relationship. We had an amazing time getting to know each other and growing in the things of God. We attended church together, played tennis, attended local events, movies, and spent quality time in fellowship with other Christians. We had a great time exploring each other’s personalities and sharing our hopes and dreams for the future.

To maintain our holiness, we refrained from anything that stimulated our hormones. We didn’t sit around talking about sex. We guarded our hearts, and abstained from temptations that would taint our relationship with God and each other. Today we have five awesome children and the wonderful marriage God intended.

I encourage you to pursue God’s wisdom on how to govern your relationships. Allow Him to escort you into a relationship that supersedes even the best Hollywood movies! I know, because I live it every day.

Scripture References:

Romans 12:1, 2

Galatians 5:17, 24

2 Timothy 2:22

James 1:15

Titus 2:12

Source: creflodollarministries.org

KANO, Nigeria, May 1 (Compass Direct News) – Musa Yaro lifted his sonorous voice and read out a passage from Risalla, an Islamic publication, and then handed down his judgment: “Whoever insults our prophet, Muhammad, must die. You, Abdullahi Umaru, having insulted the Holy Prophet Muhammad, must therefore pay the price for your crime. You must die by the sword.”

At this pronouncement in Randali village in Kebbi State, a group of fanatical Muslims led by Yaro and Abdullahi Ada pinned Umaru to the ground and slaughtered him over allegations that he had blasphemed Muhammad.

This act took place on July 14, 1999, but echoes of the tragedy reverberated last Friday (April 25) at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in Abuja, where a panel of justices confirmed the death sentence for Ada and others involved with the murder. Justice George Oguntade ordered that Ada be hanged until confirmed dead.

A year ago the Supreme Court had already condemned Ada, Yaro and Abubakar dan Shalla to death by hanging. Three other accomplices were also condemned to death.

With sharia (Islamic law) in force in Kebbi and 11 other states in northern Nigeria – though supposed to be applied only to Muslims – the high court judgment has further prompted Muslim calls for legislation against “blasphemy.” The National Assembly has begun amending the 1999 constitution.
Muslim leaders in northern Nigeria’s Kano state have called for a national law on “blasphemy,” leaving Christian leaders with the fear that Islamic law could be used to arbitrarily put Christians to death. The secular court convictions for the murder of Umaru are in part behind the agitation for “blasphemy” legislation, they say.

Bauchi state Gov. Mallam Isa Yuguda has called for sharia to be enshrined in the Nigerian constitution. Besides Bauchi and Kano, other northern states enforcing sharia are Gombe, Niger, Yobe, Borno, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara.

The Rev. James Zoaka of the Church of the Brethren in Kano told Compass that Christian leaders’ fear that a law on “blasphemy” passed by the National Assembly would lend legitimacy to Muslim fanatics killing Christians on flimsy pretexts.

“In Islam, anybody who speaks against Mohammad faces death with certainty, but in Christianity, repentance is for everyone who commits sin,” Rev. Zoaka said. “This is the reason why we cannot support the call for a law against blasphemy.”

The Rev. Nelson Jebes of the Evangelical Church of Christ in Nigeria added that the call for a national law against “blasphemy” is unacceptable. “The law would be used against Christians who would be falsely accused of blasphemy of the prophet Muhammad,” Rev. Jebes said. “We have seen innocent Christians being wrongly accused of blaspheming Muhammad, and they have been attacked. So, enacting a law on such claims is like legalizing the illegality.”

Samuel Salifu, secretary-general of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said that the Muslim accusation of “blasphemy” is baffling in the multi-religious landscape of Nigeria.

“Why should Muslims complain about blasphemy when their holy book, the Quran, blasphemes Jesus Christ?” he said. “The Quran says Jesus is not the son of God, and is this not blasphemy? Muslims must learn to be tolerant and allow peace to reign in this country.”

Source: Compass Direct News

The church (the NJ branch) started at a humble beginning and now by the grace of God it is experiencing growth in every dimension - spiritually, numerically and in maturity.

Pastor Herbert, a man of vision, has never relented in his efforts to see come to pass what God has in-stored for his people (the church). He believes that the church is not an end in itself but a means to an end and that is to direct and lead the church to experience the fullness of the realities of the Kingdom of God here in earth before they go to heaven.

The theme that runs through all his messages is righteous living and becoming a winner in whatever sphere of life you find yourself. Due to Pastor Herbert’s unconditional love for his congregation, when it came time for the church to appreciate him, it became easy and natural for them to sow back into his life as a sign of appreciation and great love.

The Pastor’s Appreciation Day service commenced with an hour prayer dubbed “hour of prayer”, which was led assiduously by Bro. Augustine. This was followed by a praise and worship session, which one can confidently say is unique only to HOFM. The “atmosphere” was so thick and charged that one can almost cut through with a bread-knife.

Rev. Herbert, himself plays the electronic keyboard and sings as well. His passionate and genuine worship draws even the die-hard spectators to surrender and join in the worship. Mrs. Fanny Adjei, who is the leader of the praise team, releases everything within her into the praise and worship that gives you no excuse to worship the LORD. Praise and worship at HOFM is a new experience each Sunday and they are very thankful to the Lord for that.

The day’s sermon was preached by Rev. Herbert Saforo Addo. The main scripture for his message was taken from 2Kings 4:8-17. The account of this passage of scripture was about a wealthy married woman from Shunem. This woman saw a need in Elisha’s life and asked him to come for meal in her house.

This became a routine for Elisha anytime he passed that way. According to the biblical account, the woman realized that Elisha was a man of God and so she prepared a room for him to use whenever he was in town. It was made clear that the woman did not do this great service out of selfish motives but rather out of kindness and also because she sensed a need in the life of the man of God.

Rev. Herbert went on further to explain that a good deed done to a true man of God will never go unrewarded. To buttress his point, Rev Herbert referred to Matt. 10:41 “He who receives and welcomes and accepts a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives and welcomes and accepts a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward,”which attests to the fact ones good deed towards a man of God, will be rewarded accordingly.

As in the case of the woman from Shunem, Elisha was compelled to meet a need in her life. That need turned out to be that the woman had no son and her husband was an old man. Not only was the woman childless but her husband’s condition had made the situation hopeless in the natural. Without hesitation the man of God prophesized that she will have a son in a year’s time. This news was met with doubt on the part of the woman but the faith of Elisha was so strong that it superseded every doubt and it yielded the expected result.

Pastor Herbert alluded to the fact that many times our situation becomes so hopeless that we think nothing can be of help since we may have tried other means to remedy the situation and they could not help us.

Pastor Herbert went the extra mile to explain to the congregation that it is expedient for believers to honor their Pastors since that is scriptural and it is something that is expected from all of us. He ascertained this truth by quoting Galatians 6:6, which says that “Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.”

The message for the occasion was appropriate and it helped explain the misconception surrounding giving, especially giving to the man of God. In my opinion, House of Faith is not only a place where one can have an excellent praise and worship but in addition to that the unadulterated word of God is preached with clarity and power.

The entire HOFM family joyfully welcomes you (regardless of your background and who you are) to worship with them every Sunday @ Linwood Middle School, 25 Linwood Place, North Brunswick, NJ 08902 from 9am to 12noon. Tel: 732-354-0141 (O) / 732-501-5067 (C).

Just over half the Communion leaders surveyed felt the Episcopal Church had reassured them it would not appoint another gay bishop or allow blessings for same-sex couples, but the rest felt it fell short, he said in his Advent Letter to Anglicans.

Williams said he would ask professional mediators to help guide talks between the Episcopal leadership and its traditionalist critics among U.S. and foreign Anglicans.

Their four-year feud threatens to split the 77-million member Communion, which gave the U.S. church a deadline of September 30 to change its position. But the nuanced answer it gave has clearly not won wide approval.

“We have no consensus,” Williams wrote, noting the crisis went beyond issues of sexuality to encompass questions about how to interpret the Bible. “All of us will be seriously wounded and diminished if our Communion fractures any further.”

Williams, who is spiritual head of the Communion but has no direct power over its 38 member churches, also said he had not changed his mind about keeping two U.S. bishops — one gay, one traditionalist — from an Anglican summit due next summer.

“I have not seen any reason to revisit this,” he said.

The consecration of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson in 2003 pushed tensions between Anglican liberals and traditionalists — many in developing countries — to the breaking point. Williams has not invited him to the Lambeth Conference in England.

WARNINGS FROM WILLIAMS

Several U.S. parishes and one diocese have switched loyalty to Third World archbishops. In May, Church of Nigeria primate Archbishop Peter Akinola consecrated an American bishop, Martyn Minns, the traditionalist whom Williams has also excluded.

Williams warned Third World primates not to snub the Lambeth Conference, the Communion’s highest decision-making body held every 10 years. Akinola threatens to lead a boycott if the Episcopalians do not reverse their pro-gay line.

He also criticized foreign churches offering to oversee U.S. traditionalists opting out of the Episcopal Church. To date, one diocese and 32 parishes have left and another three dioceses and 23 parishes have voted to do so.

That is a tiny minority of the 7,600 parishes in the 2.4-million member U.S. church, but the precedent is damaging. A Canadian bishop has switched to the main Anglican branch in South America and some parishes there are considering it too.

Williams said this hollowing out of traditional Anglican structures, where local bishops oversee all parishes in their diocese, was being done without any agreed guidelines.

“It creates a seriously anomalous position,” he wrote. “It creates rivalry and confusion. It opens the door to complex and unedifying legal wrangles in civil courts.”

Williams said he also plans to form a small working group of primates, as the heads of the member churches are known, to address problems facing the Communion.

Source: Tom Heneghan

Dr. Hilliards willingness to Say Yes! to the Lord has fostered his ability to provide leadership in the growth of the church from 125 members in 1983 to 6,000 members today. Now, One Church in Three Locations, the Cathedral International has expanded its ministry to serve the specific needs of three different locations in New Jersey: Perth Amboy, Asbury Park, and Plainfield, NJ. Cited by the American Baptist Churches (USA) as a model for church growth, the Cathedral International functions as a multifaceted relevant church in which sixty ministries are at work in three cities, with many of its members traveling from throughout the tri-state region of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Through the facilitation of the gospel via Streamingfaith.com and the Word Network, Cathedral International now reaches millions of homes across the globe. The Cathedral International is scheduled to break ground on 100 acres in Cranbury, NJ to erect a new edifice that will seat 4,500 in fall 2006.

Consecrated as Bishop in 1995, Dr. Hilliard is the Presiding Bishop and Founder of the Covenant Ecumenical Fellowship and Cathedral Assemblies, Inc. In this role, Bishop Hilliard serves as the spiritual advisor and mentor for several pastors and churches across the United States and West Africa. A true bridge builder, Dr. Hilliard hosts monthly interdenominational clergy gatherings. He has also established the Safe Harbor Clergy Leadership Conference where innovative leaders from different denominational backgrounds gather to confront and minister to various issues faced by clergy daily, as well as, to expand their theological and social horizons. Dr. Hilliard is a member of the Yale University Center for Faith and Culture where curriculums are developed to help pastors and their congregations envision and practice Christian faith as an integral way of life. Dr. Hilliard is an active member of the Board of Directors, Somerset Christian College, Somerset, NJ; Oxford University Round Table where world leaders discuss important policy questions pertaining to church, state and education in a collegial, think-tank atmosphere; and a visiting professor of Church Renewal at Drew University School of Theology, Madison, NJ, and Group Convener and Mentor of the Donald Hilliard Fellows, Doctor of Ministry Program.

Dr. Hilliards multifaceted mindset is reflected in the numerous community development initiatives established under his leadership. He is the Founder and CEO of the Cathedral Community Development Corporation (CCDC), an umbrella organization providing numerous outreach services to the local community. Joy in the City is a child-care center. The Cathedral Community Counseling Center provides therapy for both the church and the community. The Cathedral Bible Institute partners with Oral Roberts University in offering theological studies to bible students. The Cathedral Family Life Center hosts banquets, receptions, and provides space for a creative dance center and youth activities. In addition, the Cathedral and the CCDC own 9 properties, several of which offer economic empowerment opportunities for entrepreneurs. The CCDC recently ventured into affordable housing construction, selling homes to a diverse of persons from the local community. The church has been cited by the city and state as a major catalyst for the renewal and development of downtown Perth Amboy.

Over the past five years, he has authored six books on a variety of relevant topics: Stop the Funeral, Somebody Say Yes!, A Safe Harbor Begins @ Home, Faith in the Face of Fear, In the Grip of His Mercy, and his latest release Church Growth from an African American Perspective. Bishop Hilliard is currently working on two new books tentatively entitled The Way Back from Shame and Fries With That? A 2002 Hampton Ministers Conference speaker, Bishop Hilliard has ministered at various churches, conferences, and conventions across the United States and internationally. Vision Casting, birthed out of Bishop Hilliards call to serve corporate America as a Christian motivational speaker, is a motivational-action company formed by Bishop Hilliard to encourage Executive leadership to pursue life with a higher level of intensity, and a disciplined mindset for success.

Bishop Hilliards latest big launch Be Healed: The CD is a professional live recording of worship at the Cathedral International. Be Healed seeks to liberate the broken hearted through the reading of Scriptures, prayer, and worship. Joy3 Music, Bishop Hilliards own gospel professional recording company, was birthed in 2004. It is Bishop Hilliards vision and ambition for Joy3 Music to introduce fresh and anointed talent to the gospel industry, with the purpose of spreading the message of the gospel through song, the spoken word and dramatic arts. Again, the glimmer transforming into a burst of opportunity, Bishop Hilliards ability to see promise in small things began at age 12. In those early years he started a series of beginning enterprises: shining shoes, cleaning toilets, selling greeting cards and candy, cutting lawns after school, and organizing a neighborhood carnival whose proceeds benefited research on muscular dystrophy. As the son of Alease Hilliard-Chapman and the late Donald Hilliard, Sr., Hilliard credits his parents for providing a stable and loving home where education and hard work were emphasized.

Ordained into the Gospel ministry by the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. in 1978 and consecrated a bishop under the hand of Bishop John R. Bryant in 1995, Bishop Donald Hilliard, Jr. is the Presiding Bishop and founder of the Covenant Ecumenical Fellowship and Cathedral Assemblies. In this role, Bishop Hilliard serves as the spiritual advisor and mentor to several pastors and churches across the United States. A true bridge builder, Bishop Donald Hilliard, Jr. served as the Group Convener and Mentor of the Donald Hilliard Fellows Doctor of Ministry Program, and visiting professor of Church Renewal at Drew University School of Theology, Madison, NJ; visiting chapel preacher and lecturer at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL; a former member of the Yale University Center for Faith and Culture National Working Group; and a member of the Oxford Round Table, Harris Manchester College, Oxford, England. Bishop Hilliard currently serves The African American Pulpit, the leading academic periodical on black preaching, as an executive advisory board member; and is a current board member of Gospel Today.

Dr. Hilliard earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern College (now Eastern University), St. Davids, Pennsylvania, The Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, and an earned Doctor of Ministry degree from the United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio, as a Dr. Samuel D. Proctor Fellow. He is also the recipient of various honorary doctoral degrees.

From an array of community groups, non-profit agencies and governmental associations, Hilliard has received numerous awards and citations for his efforts inside the church and beyond, including his role in the ongoing renewal of downtown Perth Amboy. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award from Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ (1995) and Eastern College, St. David’s, PA (1997), The American Baptist Church, USA Evangelism Award (1996). He was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA. (1995). He also received the Perth Amboy Chamber of Commerce Executive of the Year Award (1994) and the Drew University Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award (1994). Dr. Hilliard received the prestigious New Jersey Child Assault Prevention (CAP) Award (1999) and the Roberto Clemente Special Recognition Award (2001) from the Puerto Rican Association for Human Development, Perth Amboy, NJ. He is a member of The Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops, and is a lifetime member of the NAACP. Most recently he received the Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice; and has also served as a commissioner for the Perth Amboy Redevelopment Authority

What you see over the last 20 years has been a divine leap of faith, said Hilliard, who partners in ministry with his wife, the Min. Phyllis Thompson-Hilliard. They are the proud parents of three wonderful daughters.

Bishop Hilliard is a servant of God who continues to say Yes to the Lords call on his life, and by doing so has positively affected the lives of thousands with his gift to turn a glimmer of hope into opportunity.

Source: thecathedral.org