Tag: politics

Pulpit Freedom Sunday: Pastors Stand Firm in Face of IRS Intimidation

Pulpit Freedom Sunday: Pastors Defy Tax Rules, Back Political Candidates 
Nanette Byrnes (Reuters, October 7, 2012)

[Thanks to Public Catholic for the follow-up. Check it out here.]

Constitution and Declaration of Independence on Grungy Betsy Ros

Charlotte, USA – Baptist Pastor Mark Harris stood before his flock in North Carolina on Sunday and joined hundreds of other U.S. religious leaders in deliberately breaking the law in an election-year campaign that tests the role of churches in politics.

By publicly backing candidates for political office from the pulpit, Harris and nearly 1,500 other preachers at services across the United States were flouting a law they see as an incursion on freedom of religion and speech.

Under the U.S. tax code, non-profit organizations such as churches may express views on any issue, but they jeopardize their favorable tax-exempt status if they speak for or against any political candidate.

“Pulpit Freedom Sunday” has been staged annually since 2008 by a group called the Alliance Defending Freedom. Its aim is to provoke a challenge from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in order to file a lawsuit and have its argument out in court.

The event has grown steadily in size, but the IRS has yet to respond – even though the pastors tape their sermons and mail them to the agency.

Now in an election year, where a few swing states – including North Carolina – will be crucial, political analysts say pastors campaigning from the pulpit could have an impact. Continue reading “Pulpit Freedom Sunday: Pastors Stand Firm in Face of IRS Intimidation” →

Please pray for Syrian believers – Day 2

Peanut Gallery: This week I am praying for Syrian believers. I encourage you to pray for them with me, and/or to select another country or people group of your own for which to pray. Information on other countries for which to pray is available here.

Day 2: Please pray for Christian unity among the various denominational sects in the midst of Syria’s civil war strife.

Jesus’ prayer for unity:

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one.  John 17:20-22 NLT

Christians have historically represented approximately 10% of the Syrian population with the majority population made up of 74% Sunni Muslims and the remainder scattered among various Shia Muslim sects. (Wikipedia)

Christians in Syria make up about 10% of the population.[1] The country’s largest Christian denomination is an Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch(officially known as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East),[2][3][4] closely followed by a Uniate[5] Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and then by an Oriental Syriac Orthodox Church; there are also a minority of Protestants. The city of Aleppo is believed to have the largest number of Christians in Syria. (Wikipedia)

Current News – Fighting centered in Aleppo (10/3/2012).

Aleppo, Syria’s commercial capital with a population of 1.7 million people, has become one of the focal points of the nearly 19-month-long crisis in the country. (France24.com)

This video shows the devastation of car bombs detonated in Aleppo – click here France24.com.

Please join me in prayer  –

  • For peace in the country and an end to the bloodshed. For God’s rich mercies on the suffering people.
  • For the safety and protection of the churches, keeping the church’s faithful witness.
  • Wisdom and vision for church leaders.
  • For the glory of the living God to dwell in the Church.
  • To empower the Church to reach out to the suffering, to share the divine cure of the gospel, and to speak the word of the Lord in all boldness.
  • That the evil powers of darkness will be defeated in our land.
  • That the values of false religion will be exposed for what they are and despised and rejected by many.
  • For many souls to come to know the love and forgiveness of Christ and to enjoy His saving grace.
  • That the Lord would send wise, God-fearing counselors to the decision-makers in all parties in the country.

With love… from Syria.

Please pray for believers in Syria – “My people are hurting…”

Peanut Gallery: The Holy Spirit has led me to pray for believers in Syria for the coming week.

This prayer request (sent to Open Doors UK) comes from a pastor in Syria and is self explanatory. See below –

Please join me in prayer…

  1. For peace in the country and an end to the bloodshed. For God’s rich mercies on the suffering people.
  2. For the safety and protection of the churches, keeping the church’s faithful witness.
  3. Wisdom and vision for church leaders.
  4. For the glory of the living God to dwell in the Church.
  5. To empower the Church to reach out to the suffering, to share the divine cure of the gospel, and to speak the word of the Lord in all boldness.
  6. That the evil powers of darkness will be defeated in our land.
  7. That the values of false religion will be exposed for what they are and despised and rejected by many.
  8. For many souls to come to know the love and forgiveness of Christ and to enjoy His saving grace.
  9. That the Lord would send wise, God-fearing counselors to the decision-makers in all parties in the country.

_________________________________________

With love from Syria…

Syria has been closed to the outside world for many weeks. We have since received this letter from a leading pastor in Syria. In it he writes of the situation in Syria, his hopes, fears and trust in the Lord. He also asks for prayer. The pastor writes to the church in the UK – he writes to you. Please read this and keep him in your prayers.

Dear Friend,

My people are hurting...

It was much unexpected turmoil. Not even in our wildest dreams did we imagine the violence that is sweeping across the country now. For many years Syria enjoyed peace and stability in the heart of the unstable Middle East. We were a safe haven for our neighbors. We received displaced people and refugees from other countries like Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan, and even from Somalia and other far away areas. Yet now the violence pushed the host people out of their homes, fleeing for their lives.

Many are displaced internally and many others are external refugees living in the most humiliating circumstances, deprived of even shelter , clean water, power, food, and medical care. Millions are not sleeping in their own beds, forced out of their homes to find themselves with their children homeless and living in public parks or in the wilderness. Others are not sure if they or their children and loved ones will see the light of a new day, tens of thousands of families lost loved ones: a child, a father, a mother, or a husband. Hundreds of the injured died for lack of medical care. Thousands of children go to bed terrified of the sound of shelling. Hundreds of thousands are in camps in neighboring countries. Continue reading “Please pray for believers in Syria – “My people are hurting…”” →

PLEASE READ THIS POST: The current state of politics in the USA is a travesty against voters’ interests… the very people who put them in office. The author describes her personal experience inside the Oklahoma political system. But she might as well be describing political life here in South Carolina. This is a sad state of affairs.