| | 5 interesting facts about Saint Patrick | | Curated for you byCP Editors | | Good afternoon and Happy Saint Patrick's Day! It's Friday, March 17, and today's headlines include five facts about Saint Patrick, research on pastoral satisfaction, and a church George Washington helped to design honoring its enslaved builders. | | While some see Saint Patrick's Day as a day for heavy drinking, others view it as a day for honoring the memory of a famous saint of the early church. Few details are known about the life of the man and some of those have been disputed by at least one scholar. The story goes that Patrick was a native of Great Britain who was enslaved as a teenager by pirates, sent to Ireland, had a deep religious experience while in captivity, and later returned to Ireland as an adult who converted much of the island to Christianity. This article from The Christian Post highlights five interesting facts about St. Patrick, including parts of his personal history and a correction to a common misconception. Read the full list now. | | P.S. CP is proud to announce the release of "Exposing the Gender Lie," a free e-book in partnership with Summit Ministries. Click here to download your copy today. Don’t forget to sign up for the Unmasking Gender Ideology conference on March 23rd in Dallas, Texas, which is set to feature a panel of experienced professionals such as Mary Rice Hasson, J.D., of The Ethics & Public Policy Center, Woman II Woman founder Amie Ichikawa, and Summit Ministries President Dr. Jeff Myers. Have you listened to CP’s Generation Indoctrination podcast? Listen now on your favorite podcast platform. |
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| Survey: Only half of US pastors are 'very satisfied' with their vocation | | Research from Barna Group shows that just 52% of U.S. pastors are "very satisfied" with their vocation. The Resilient Pastor Initiative, which drew on data from nearly 600 Protestant pastors in September, examined the phenomenon of church leaders feeling "burnt out, lonely or unwell." The results mark a significant drop since 2015 when 72% of pastors characterized themselves as "very satisfied." Barna's research attributes the growing discontent among pastors to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing lockdowns that led to societal upheaval and restrictions on religious worship. The report notes, "Our research shows that today's pastors are deeply struggling with their sense of calling in the wake of COVID." In 2020, 67% of pastors surveyed considered themselves "very satisfied." A deep dive into the figures reveals that responses varied by age group, with 58% of respondents aged 45-plus reporting feeling "very satisfied" with their vocations, compared to just 35% of pastors younger than 45. Two-thirds of younger pastors (66%) also indicated they have gone through a period where they have "significantly doubted" their calling, compared to slightly more than half (51%) of older pastors. Seventy-two percent of pastors who have considered quitting experienced self-doubt about their ministry. Read more. | | West Virginia asks Supreme Court to allow law protecting girls' sports | | West Virginia Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom filed a motion with the Supreme Court on March 9 asking the justices to "vacate the injunction entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit" preventing the West Virginia Save Women's Sports Act from taking effect. The statute was signed into law nearly two years ago and prohibits trans-identified boys and men from competing on female-only sports teams at the secondary and university levels. The 2021 measure, which cites biological differences between men and women that give males an advantage in athletics as the justification for its enactment, has been tied up in court dating back to its passage two years ago when a federal judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton struck it down in July 2021. The ruling came in response to a male student who identified as a female seeking to compete on the girls' cross-country and track teams in his school district. A year-and-a-half after his initial decision, Judge Joseph Goodwin pivoted in what the motion filed before the Supreme Court described as a "180-degree turn," determining that the state of West Virginia had "an important government interest in providing equal athletic opportunities for females." Read more. | | Falwell sues Liberty U over retirement funds | | Former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. has filed a lawsuit against the Evangelical school his late father founded, claiming he's owed $8.5 million in retirement funds. The lawsuit claims that the Virginia-based university has denied and withheld funds Falwell was entitled to receive last Sept. 1. It contends that Falwell met every requirement agreed upon in the Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan to receive payment of the benefits. Falwell reportedly came to the $8.5 million figure, which includes an additional 6% annual investment return, based on a plan that he and Liberty negotiated in 2019. The Lynchburg News & Advance reports that the lawsuit states that Falwell would forfeit the account "only in the event that his employment is terminated for cause" or if Falwell engaged "in any competitive activity." Falwell resigned in the summer of 2020, and his resignation was accepted by the board. In a statement shared with the media, Liberty argues that the lawsuit was "part of a larger dispute currently pending in state court," adding, "The University will defend the new action on the same grounds it has already pled on the record in the state case. Liberty is confident it is not legally required to pay these funds and will file the appropriate responses with the federal court." Falwell's resignation came after public revelations that his wife, Becki, had an extramarital sexual relationship with a former pool boy who claimed Falwell knew and approved of the relationship. Read more. |
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| A tool to help start your own revival | | Christian Post Executive Editor Dr. Richard Land discusses the Asbury University revival, his own experiences ministering during the Jesus Revolution of the early 1970s, and the importance of training and equipping Christians to share their faith with unchurched neighbors and fellow citizens. True revival "cannot be contained in a church building. For it to be truly a revival and an awakening, it must spill into the streets in the form of evangelism. This is a primary part of God's plan for changing the world," he writes. Read more. | | Can a Christian have a demon? Deliverance and church division | | In this op-ed, Dr. Michael Brown discusses Pastor Greg Locke's "Come Out in Jesus' Name" film and why he believes a genuine believer cannot be indwelt by demons and need an exorcism. Brown contends, however, that it is possible for a genuine believer to come under demonic power and need to be delivered and set free. Nonetheless, he maintains that believers should not let themselves be divided on topics such as this. "If we agree on the fundamentals of the faith—I mean, the eternal, non-negotiables—and we agree that Satan is our enemy whom we overcome in Jesus’ name, then we are more in harmony than not," he concludes. Read more. |
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| Church honors 'spiritual legacy' of enslaved builders | | A historic church in Virginia that President George Washington helped design recently installed a pair of plaques to honor those who built the structure, including those who were enslaved. Pohick Episcopal Church of Lorton, which traces its origins back to 1724 and its current buildings to 1774, placed the two plaques near the doors on the structure's western wall. In an interview with CP, the Very Rev. Lynn Ronaldi, rector at Pohick Church, explained that the congregation wanted "to honor, by name, all who contributed to the construction of our church, and to our ongoing spiritual legacy." She added that they long believed that the church was "built in part by enslaved labor ... but had no evidence." After enlisting the help of Pohick docent Dick Hamly and Fairfax County staff, they were able to locate the names of multiple enslaved persons on the site during the construction of the church. In total, there were 73 individuals named as contributing to the construction of Pohick, with 27 of those named being enslaved. "I hope that people who see these plaques recognize that Pohick Church is grateful for all who contributed to the construction of this house of worship," Ronaldi said. Read more. | | Hillsong Church to make changes following whistleblower's report | | Hillsong Church has announced a series of financial management changes in the wake of a whistleblower's report that led an independent member of the Australian parliament to characterize leadership as engaging in shopping sprees that would "embarrass a Kardashian." The newly appointed Global Senior Pastor Phil Dooley and Stephen Crouch, chair of Hillsong Church's global board, announced that the church has been undergoing a forensic audit by accounting firm Grant Thornton since August 2022. The Australia-based Evangelical global church network also trimmed its staff by 153 through "voluntary resignations" to save $9.47 million annually, implemented a new gifts and honorarium policy, adopted a new culture focused on more effective mission-focused ministry and launched a third-party evaluation of the church’s financial structure and processes. The church has been on the defense since Andrew Wilkie used parliamentary privilege on March 9 to accuse Hillsong Church of engaging in financial excess, citing reams of financial records and genuine Hillsong Church board documents he received from a whistleblower. Read more. |
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| Raymond Arroyo: 'We ignore history at our own peril' | | Bestselling author Raymond Arroyo believes it's crucial we remember history and share it with children—especially as society increasingly seeks to erase stories of American figures that left an undeniable impact on the United States. "We ignore history at our own peril," Arroyo told CP. He cautioned against the push to think "there is something flawed about the history of the past, that they are better than their past," explaining, "I'm not sure that's true. I don't think we're any better than anybody else. In fact, I think, in some ways, we're a lot worse. So it's important to mark history and abide by these lessons." Arroyo, the host of EWTN’s "The World Over," says it's important we remember we are part of a chain that is not isolated to our current time. "We are part of the people who brought us to this point. And it's important for us to know them and mark them and revere them or take lessons from the bad choices, the bad decisions they made. When you don't do that, you suffer those things again and again and again," he shared. Fueled by the belief that historic American figures should be remembered, Arroyo penned a children's picture book series titled Turnabout Tales. His first installment in the series is based on the younger years of inventor Thomas Alva Edison. The book, The Unexpected Light of Thomas Alva Edison, highlights how Edison's mother, Nancy Edison, helped to cultivate the inventor's interest in nature and science. The illustrated book touches on how Edison’s curiosity often got him into trouble: "If he were alive today, he would probably have been diagnosed with ADHD," Arroyo noted. Instead, his mother's encouragement compelled him to learn, experiment, and investigate further, eventually inventing the phonograph, the motion picture camera, the first voting machine, the light bulb, the electric grid, the dynamos and the alkaline battery. "All of those things would never have been possible were it not for the training of Nancy Edison and the mind of her son, Thomas," Arroyo said. Watch the full interview here. | | | | | | | | Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We look forward to seeing you again on Monday! -- CP Editors |
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