| | Operation Christmas Child to deliver 200 millionth shoebox | | Curated for you byCP Editors | | Good afternoon! It's Friday, November 25, and today's headlines include Operation Christmas Child delivering its 200 millionth shoebox to a child in Ukraine, six Thanksgiving Day facts, an analysis of COVID-19 deaths, and the "Let's Talk Purity" podcast's episode on how to survive holiday chaos. | | Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child will deliver its 200 millionth shoebox filled with toys this season to a child in Ukraine. The Christian missionary program partners with churches throughout the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and South Korea to deliver shoeboxes filled with toys, hygiene items and school supplies for children in countries suffering from war, disease, poverty and disaster. Founded by evangelist Franklin Graham in 1993, the ministry has delivered Christmas gifts and the Gospel to more than 198 million children in over 170 countries and territories over the last three decades. In December, the 200 millionth shoebox will be packed and hand-delivered to a Ukrainian child impacted by war by former Ukrainian shoebox recipient Elizabeth Groff. | Groff, now 28 and living in Texas, once received a shoebox at an orphanage in eastern Ukraine when she was 11. Even after being adopted by an American family and attending Virginia Tech University, Groff still remembers the yellow yo-yo inside. "It may seem small, but it is powerful when delivered with a message of love and hope! It changed my life," she said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. "Eighteen years ago, a shoebox gift opened my heart to God's Word and now I have the opportunity to personally demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to a Ukrainian child." Continue reading.Also of Interest ... Poll reveals Americans determined to buy a real Christmas tree despite inflation What can one healed leper teach us about Thanksgiving? |
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| 6 Thanksgiving Day facts | | While hundreds of millions of Americans have always known Thanksgiving as a federal holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, this was not always the case for the autumn observance. This article highlights six key developments that led to Thanksgiving becoming the modern-day observance that Americans know it to be, including President George Washington issuing the first presidential Thanksgiving proclamation in U.S. history in 1789 and its establishment as a federal holiday in 1870 by President and former Union general Ulysses S. Grant. Read more. | | Church of Norway open to ordaining unmarried, cohabitating priests | | Bishops in the Church of Norway, the largest Christian denomination in the Scandinavian country, say they are open to ordaining unmarried cohabiting priests, going against a resolution of the Bishop’s Conference that prohibits cohabitation. Norwegian news outlet Vart Land found in a survey that all bishops in the Church of Norway would be willing to ordain priests who live with their partner without being married. The outlet also discovered that the bishop of Oslo, Kari Veiteberg, had been ordaining cohabiting priests, cantors, catechists and deacons since 2017. Under current rules, the Church of Norway does not allow the ordination of unmarried cohabiting partners as per its 1995 statement on the issue, with the resolution stating that employees from the Church cannot "establish a cohabitation outside of an arranged marriage," according to Dagen. However, the Church’s presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, recently stated that bishops can decide to ordain unmarried cohabiting priests on their own. "They agree to hold marriage as the best arrangement for cohabitation, but also agree that each bishop must make an individual assessment of each candidate seeking marriage." Read more. |
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| America in turmoil: How should Christians respond? | | In this editorial, Christian Post Executive Editor Dr. Richard D. Land discusses the rise of humanistic philosophy in American culture and how Christians should respond to the resulting existential crisis concerning the objective understanding of truth and the belief that life has meaning and purpose. "Like our first-century Christian brothers and sisters, we must be 'transformed by the renewing of our minds' (Rom. 12:1-2). To be truly effective in changing lives and changing culture, we must first experience that spiritual change ourselves," Land writes. Read more. | | 5 things that hinder the presence of Christ | | Pastor Shane Idleman discusses five things that will hinder the presence of Christ in your life and what you can do to get back on track. Among the bunch: secret sin, which Idleman says believers should acknowledge and turn from to find rest for the soul. Read more. |
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| Fiery Sermon Rebukes the Respect for Marriage Act | | "I only preach the gospel," they say. They fail to realize that the gospel affects all areas — from the unborn to LGBTQ+ issues, AND from wokeness to wicked legislation — the gospel changes the heart, which in return, changes the nation. | | As a result, the "gospel" they preach is often a watered-down, non-offending, powerless message because they lack the boldness to tell people the TRUTH! | | Love People; Expose the Agenda | | It’s not hate speech; true love communicates the truth! | | TRUTH SOUNDS LIKE HATE TO THOSE WHO HATE TRUTH | | Don’t be shamed into silence.Listen to this Sermon from Pastor Shane Idleman | | |
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| Analysis: Vaccinated people are now a majority of COVID deaths | | For the first time, more than half of all Americans who died after contracting COVID-19 were vaccinated at least once, according to data on COVID-19 deaths in August. Of the deaths attributed to coronavirus in August, the Post reported that 58% received either a primary dose or a booster of some type of COVID vaccine. The newspaper cited an analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted by Cynthia Cox, vice president of the Kaiser Health Foundation. "We can no longer say this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated," said Cox, who conducted the analysis for the Post's health section, The Health 202. Read more. | | Most parents believe 'Drag Queen Story Hour' events are inappropriate | | A Rasmussen Reports survey has found that a strong majority of parents, including most parents of school-aged children, don't believe "Drag Queen Story Hour" events featuring men dressed as women are appropriate for young audiences. The survey of 1,000 U.S. American adults showed that 60% of adults consider such events to be inappropriate for children. Just 29% said Drag Queen Story Hour is appropriate, while 11% indicated they consider the events "very appropriate." Seventy-one percent of respondents also stated that they believed Drag Queen Story Hour should not receive any taxpayer funding. In New York City alone, since 2018, taxpayers have paid more than $200,000 to fund the program, where drag queens interact with schoolchildren as young as 3 years old, the New York Post reported in June, citing city records. Read more. | | Also of Interest... | | Tennessee bill would pose criminal penalties for performing drag shows in front of kids Texas comptroller announces investigation into bar that hosted drag show for children Pastor inviting drag queen to church for ‘children’s sermon’ is sign of ‘dying United Methodism’ |
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| 'Power Ranger' dies by suicide | | Actor Jason David Frank, known for his iconic role as the original Green Power Ranger in the children’s sitcom "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," died by suicide early Saturday morning. He was 49. Frank, a professing Christian, was found deceased in a Texas hotel room and had noticeably died by suicide following an argument with his wife, who was booked in a separate room. Frank trained professionally as an MMA fighter and owned a number of Karate schools. He also co-founded a Christian-based MMA apparel company named Jesus Didn't Tap. "We came up with Jesus Didn't Tap. That means He didn't quit, He didn't give up—tap out," Frank shared with CBN News in a 2014 interview where he opened up about his Christian faith. Read more. | | Podcast: Surviving holiday chaos | | Richard and Brittni De La Mora recently took to their "Let's Talk Purity" podcast to break down how tough relationships and negative patterns can create chaos in Christians' lives during the holiday season. The duo explained the importance of "setting boundaries to avoid sin," with Richard De Le Mora explaining, "Oftentimes, when we go back to our families … and you are still at odds with that particular person, it's very easy for you to walk in this holiday season, wanting to hold a grudge, holding on to offense. When we walk into that room, it shouldn't be about us. The Bible teaches us, 'Blessed are those who are peacemakers.'" Listen to the couple's tips for surviving holiday chaos 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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