| FAITH IN THE NEWS | | Can Christians be demon possessed? Deliverance minister sets the record straight | | | Pastor Alexander Pagani, who is known for his deliverance ministry, is setting the record straight when it comes to claims that he and others working in deliverance ministry believe Christians can be possessed by demons. Pagani, who authored the book The Secrets To Deliverance, was recently featured in the "Come Out in Jesus' Name" film, which has inspired debate among American Christians. While some have argued that the ministers in the film are promoting anti-biblical rhetoric and teaching that demonic forces can possess Christians, Pagani pushed back on those claims during a recent podcast. The pastor stated that "what we're battling is a war of etymology, which is the origin of words," asserting, "Let me emphatically say here, for like the millionth time, a Christian cannot be demon-possessed!" Read more. | | DID YOU KNOW? | | Tragedy in Nashville: Trans shooter kills six at Christian school | | | A shooting at a Nashville, Tenn., Christian school gripped the nation on Monday. Audrey Hale, 28, opened fire at Covenant Presbyterian School, killing three children and three adults before being shot dead by police. Hale, a biological female who identified as male, reportedly sent her friend a suicide note just minutes before the mass shooting. On Tuesday, CP shared details about the six victims: 9-year-olds Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs, as well as Mike Hill, the school's 61-year-old custodian; Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher; and Katherine Koonce, 60, who worked as the head of school. Churches and pastors spoke out in the wake of the devastating news, with Scott Sauls, senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, offering a reminder of the hope found in Christ amid tragedy. "Even as we wait in grief, the text of Scripture whispers hope. 'We grieve … with hope.' (1 Thessalonians 4:13) It's a good thing that in times like this, hope doesn't have to be a feeling. It is more of an inescapable, resurrection-sealed fact than it is a feeling, to be sure," Sauls shared in a blog post. | | Nashville-based Christian musicians took to social media to express their grief, with "In Christ Alone" hymn writers Keith and Krystyn Getty writing, "Today tears have flowed, our minds numb with shock and hearts heavy with grief. We are heartbroken." Award-winning artist Matthew West, who revealed his family lives just miles from the school, wrote a prayer on Facebook that read: "Dear Lord, we need you. We thank you for promising to stay close to the brokenhearted. Be with those who need you right now. You are the God who meets us in the middle of our grief, fear, and heartbreak." Singer/songwriter Michael W. Smith took to Instagram to call on people to "love one another" and "serve one another." Artist Lauren Daigle canceled her album preview concert to instead host a prayer vigil for the Nashville community. | | Attorney General Merrick Garland clarified that federal investigators are not yet treating the shooting as a hate crime, arguing a motive has yet to be established. Republican lawmakers pushed back on his statements during a U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, with Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee stating that police had already announced that Hale had left behind "a manifesto and other writings that indicated deeply disturbing motives, as well as plans for another attack." Garland's comments came as President Joe Biden faced criticism for "joking" about a possible anti-Christian motive behind the shooting. Meanwhile, mainstream media avoided the terms "Christian" and "transgender" in their headlines altogether. | | As people across the U.S. mourned the tragic loss of lives, Dare 2 Share Ministries International founder and President Greg Stier offered insights for speaking to children and teenagers about tragedies. Explaining the importance of mourning with those who mourn (Romans 12:15) and refusing to live in fear (Hebrews 2:14-15), Stier stressed the importance of taking one's worries to God in prayer and reaching out to the broken and the bullied. | | FEEL GOOD STORIES | | Pastor plans all-boys school for black youth to combat poverty, promote 'Kingdom culture' | | T.J. Grooms, an assistant pastor at Chicago's New Beginnings Church, shared his church's desire to establish an all-boys Christian school for first through eighth-grade students during a recent event. "We need to make a concerted effort to win our young men and to train them as being the heads of their families, understanding the importance of manhood, not when we see them as a teenager but instill into them those ideas and those principles in their formative years," the pastor insisted during the 2023 Black Conservative Summit in Chicago, Ill. last Friday. "If our school is centered around Kingdom culture, then it wipes out me telling a young child that there’s a system that is automatically bucked up against them that will stop them from doing work because they already in their mind think that they are not able to do what it is they put their mind to," he continued. Reflecting on his 5-year-old daughter bringing home an assignment that asked her to color in a picture of two same-sex parents with rainbow colors, the pastor contrasted the values at the future school in comparison to what his and other children experience in public schools. Fellow panelist and Vertex Partnership Academies CEO Ian Rowe stressed the importance of young people finishing their education before shifting focus to "work, relationships, marriage, then children," emphasizing that an all-boys school would be "the place where you can have that kind of conversation to talk about what are the likely rewards or consequences when these decisions are not made without the knowledge of what could really be possible with your life." Read more.Final Thoughts ... | | This week, our CP Voices contributors weighed in on issues such as grace after salvation, the importance of supporting organizations that empower mothers to care for their children, and Revelation 11. As we close out the week, we'd like to leave you with this thought from International Fellowship of Christians and Jews President and CEO Yael Eckstein: | | "As my family thinks back to that first Passover from the Bible, we can only imagine the emotions that washed over the Israelites. Enslaved for centuries, Moses was now leading them away from Pharoah, away from Egypt, away from bondage. And he promised that not only were they free, but that our powerful and loving God would protect them. But we can also see how God rescues and protects His children, even today. Just as He once sent Moses to lead the Israelites to freedom, God is using The Fellowship's faithful supporters to rescue His children. As the war in Ukraine rages on, we've helped thousands of Jews escape the hardships of life in a war-torn country. I have been blessed to greet so many of them—families, orphans, elderly Holocaust survivors—upon their arrival in the Holy Land, where they were finally safe and could receive the care they so desperately needed." | | You can read Eckstein's account of Svitlana, a Jewish grandmother from Ukraine who The Fellowship helped escape the war-torn country, along with her young grandson, Daniel, a small child already suffering from medical issues, here. | | | | And, that's a wrap | | See you next week. - CP Editors |
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