Meet Lagos Prophet Who Sleeps In COFFINS And GRAVES

The prophet has said that he follows this weird practice to show people that everything gathered on earth ends in vanity as a corpse goes to his grave with nothing after death.
The Nation reports:
Speaking to The Nation on why he keeps both strange and curious objects, the spiritual leader and founder, Pa Samuel Olawale, who is in his 80s, declared :
“Yes, it is true that I have a coffin covered with a black cloth in the church, it is in a big van. Not only this, I have a big hole dug by the altar. You can go and see it, take the picture. But for the grave or the hole, it is by the altar. And next time, I will open it for you while I am there. The two strange objects are pregnant with meanings. I have reasons why I am keeping them there.”
While preachers, evangelists and men of God go out preaching with the Holy Bible, asking sinners to repent , Pa Samuel Olawale (a.k.a Kogberegbe) goes out not only with the Holy Bible but always ‘armed’ with an empty coffin , a bell in his hand, preaching to sinners to repent and come to God.
He said: “Yes it is true that I am carrying the coffin about while preaching and what I am trying to point out is that no matter how wealthy you are you will not leave this world with these money, it all ends here. You will not go into the grave with your wealth or with money, be you a civil servant who stole money, be you an armed robber, be you a landlord or a caretaker, your money and wealth ends here the moment you are dead.”
He continued: “Any time I go out, I would at times sleep in the coffin, telling everybody that that is how we will end. Yes, we should remember this. If you are buried with expensive coffin, clothes and jewelleries, all will be stolen from you in the night and your carcass will be left. To me, life has no meaning until we come to God. Things are going wrong in this world and we should mend our ways.”
Kogberegbe added: “Yes, I even sleep there (in the coffin and the grave) at times too, to let us know that we will all end up in the grave!”
Asked whether people read different meanings to it, he replied: “Oh no, no, they all know that we are preaching the word of God. It is just to let us all know that there is nothing in this life. This is an ephemeral world, the grave is for prayer and we open it every year while praying on the mountain.”

- See more at: http://akpraise.com/2014/06/02/meet-lagos-prophet-who-sleeps-in-coffins-and-graves-photo/#sthash.vxQMfXHH.dpuf

Meet Lagos prophet who sleeps in COFFINS and GRAVES (PHOTO)

The prophet has said that he follows this weird practice to show people that everything gathered on earth ends in vanity as a corpse goes to his grave with nothing after death.
The Nation reports:
Speaking to The Nation on why he keeps both strange and curious objects, the spiritual leader and founder, Pa Samuel Olawale, who is in his 80s, declared :
“Yes, it is true that I have a coffin covered with a black cloth in the church, it is in a big van. Not only this, I have a big hole dug by the altar. You can go and see it, take the picture. But for the grave or the hole, it is by the altar. And next time, I will open it for you while I am there. The two strange objects are pregnant with meanings. I have reasons why I am keeping them there.”
While preachers, evangelists and men of God go out preaching with the Holy Bible, asking sinners to repent , Pa Samuel Olawale (a.k.a Kogberegbe) goes out not only with the Holy Bible but always ‘armed’ with an empty coffin , a bell in his hand, preaching to sinners to repent and come to God.
He said: “Yes it is true that I am carrying the coffin about while preaching and what I am trying to point out is that no matter how wealthy you are you will not leave this world with these money, it all ends here. You will not go into the grave with your wealth or with money, be you a civil servant who stole money, be you an armed robber, be you a landlord or a caretaker, your money and wealth ends here the moment you are dead.”
He continued: “Any time I go out, I would at times sleep in the coffin, telling everybody that that is how we will end. Yes, we should remember this. If you are buried with expensive coffin, clothes and jewelleries, all will be stolen from you in the night and your carcass will be left. To me, life has no meaning until we come to God. Things are going wrong in this world and we should mend our ways.”
Kogberegbe added: “Yes, I even sleep there (in the coffin and the grave) at times too, to let us know that we will all end up in the grave!”
Asked whether people read different meanings to it, he replied: “Oh no, no, they all know that we are preaching the word of God. It is just to let us all know that there is nothing in this life. This is an ephemeral world, the grave is for prayer and we open it every year while praying on the mountain.”

- See more at: http://akpraise.com/2014/06/02/meet-lagos-prophet-who-sleeps-in-coffins-and-graves-photo/#sthash.vxQMfXHH.dpuf

All Catholics Will Go To Hell - Chris Okotie

 
Pastor Okotie of HouseHold of God Church openly condemned catholics during his sermon last week

''All Catholics in the world will go to hell because they worship Satan and are led by an Anti-Christ 
Pope who is a friend to the devil.They are not Christians and have never been. They don’t know Jesus.They believe thatwhen they eat bread on Sundays, they are eating the body of Jesus. It’s ritual. The pope is an Anti-Christ and the Catholic church will soon declare for Satan. This is the end of times..“They don’t believe in heaven. They believe in purgatory, the purgatory that they invented,” Okotie said.

“That church, the Catholic church has been there for Satan and at the right time, they will declare for Satan,” Okotie said. He said Pope Francis is an Anti-Christ who does the job of the devil and that time is fast approaching when the Catholic church will pledge allegiance to Satan. He advised members of his church to come to the rescue of Catholics and evangelise them. This, he said, was not out of disrespect but out of respect for the word of God. He said those who know the truth should bring it to those who do not know it in the Catholic Church. He said Catholics are not Christians and do not worship the same Christ that he preaches in his church, at least the one spoken about in the Bible.

Okotie said he did not write the Bible but it was clear to him that those in the Catholic church were lost and were heading to hell fire. Okotie who has been married twice and divorced also twice said a beauty pageant will take place in his church next Sunday to select the most beautiful woman in his church.

Unbelievable! North Koreans Must Worship, Give Thanks to ‘Deceased Eternal President’ Every Day

By Abby Carr
Kim Jong Il statues Every North Korean must have photos of Kim Il Sung (left) and Kim Jong Il on the best wall of their home. (José Fernandes Jr./Flickr/Creative Commons)
Thanksgiving is fast approaching—a day every year when Americans stop to give thanks. But in the country of North Korea, thanksgiving to the nation’s “eternal president” Kim Il Sung must be given at every meal.
“The best wall on every house in North Korea must have well-cared-for photos of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il,” explains Seoul USA CEO Eric Foley. “At every meal, families look up at the picture and pray, ‘Thank you, Father Kim Il Sung, for this food.’”
While most Americans view the hermit kingdom as an atheist nation, Foley says in reality it is perhaps the most religious nation on earth because 100 percent of its citizens are required to worship Kim Il Sung. North Korea is the world’s only “necrocacy”—ruled forever by its deceased eternal president.
“This is challenging to Christians, who refuse to worship anyone other than God,” Foley says. “Those seen bowing their heads in prayer are considered seditious citizens and are persecuted.”
Overcoming this idolatry is the most pressing issue for the North Korean church. The way they’ve done this is to rely on four pillars: the 10 Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Lord’s Supper, and the Apostles’ Creed. Each of these is a protection against idolatry and helps them navigate through North Korea’s state religion known as Juche.
“As Americans thank God for our blessings and prosperity this Thanksgiving, let’s also consider our need to combat idolatry in our own lives,” Foley says. “We can grow stronger in this overcoming faith by learning from the example of our North Korean brothers and sisters in Christ. Reliance on the four pillars of worship is the key.”
The four pillars are integral to Christian life. That’s why they’re featured in Seoul USA’s 100 Days of Worship campaign running through Dec. 31.



source:vine

Deitrick Haddon Expecting another Baby Girl from Dominique

When I found out Dominique was pregnant, it was a surprise and a blessing at the same time. Both my children were surprises to me, but they’re here, and I am grateful. I always wanted kids, and God saw me fit to bless me with a family — and he’s blessing me fast! Dominique can certainly have babies really strong. Plus, Dominique and I are really attracted to each other, physically, spiritually and emotionally, so I have to be careful or I’ll suddenly have 12 children with her!
We’re having another baby girl! Destin really needs a baby sister, because she needs to stop bossing me around. We’re naming her Denver Monroe Haddon, unless I get an epiphany and decide to change it. But we’re definitely sticking with the D names: Deitrick, Dominique, Destin, Denver.
The wedding was perfect. When I saw Destin walk down the aisle, she let me know that the test, the trial, the persecution was all worth it. It was God telling me: “Deitrick through it all, I’m still rewarding you, even through your failures, I’m still blessing you.” Yet, according to people, I was wrong. I’m not a man of God…Because of my daughter? At the end of the day, a child is a blessing of the Lord. Seeing that really lifted a load off my shoulders, and at the end of the day, I’m winning.
Then, when I saw Dominique come after her, it was   overwhelming for me. I’m a man’s man. I don’t believe in crying, but I couldn’t contain myself. I was thinking about all that Dominique had gone through. She didn’t ask for this world. She’s beautiful, educated, she has degrees, she’s not trying to be a pastor’s wife and all that. I realize that I came with baggage. But at that moment, it was about us. Nothing else mattered, and I realized it was worth the fight.
I’ve come a very long way since Dominique and I first met. I come from a world where image is everything, but you can’t lose who you really are in all that. When my public image was smeared because of my actions, it left me in a place where I had nowhere else to go but to God, and to look to who I really was. I’ve learned more about me, Deitrick, not the public figure. Not the guy who gets up and preaches or the singer who does music videos, but about Deitrick, Dee Dee (my nickname back home).
One thing I’ve also learned is that, as a leader, we’re responsible to lead by example in our highs and in our lows. A pastor should be an example of what a man is supposed to be when he makes a mistake, or hits bottom. You can learn even more from your failures than you can from your victories.
This show gave me the opportunity to demonstrate how you walk through a situation like that, and come out okay. I now get messages from people saying they saw the show, and it made them want to go to church and reconnect with their spirituality again, or they proposed to their girlfriends because of seeing me marry Dominque. That’s huge! The thing to take away is: you WILL make mistakes. To expect to live 80 years and not fail somewhere – it’s impossible.



source:vine

Why did Pope Benedict XVI resign?

Benedict XVI shocked the world in February when he became the first pope to resign in almost 600 years. But attention shifted quickly to the succession, and the election of the new Pope, Francis. Amid the drama, one question was never fully answered - why did Benedict quit?

Pope Benedict's official resignation statement offered his waning physical and mental powers as the explanation, but it's long been suspected there was more to it. And my inquiries have confirmed that.
I went to visit the Nigerian Cardinal, Francis Arinze at his apartment overlooking St Peter's. He's one of the most senior figures in the church and knows the Vatican like the back of his hand. He was even, for a short time in March of this year, mooted as a possible successor to Pope Benedict. And he was one of the select handful of senior church officials who were in the Pope's Apostolic Palace when he broke the news to them personally.
I raised the subject of the scandals that had preceded the Pope's bombshell decision and, in particular the Vatileaks affair in which the Pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele, had leaked confidential documents exposing Vatican power struggles. Could that have been a factor in his resignation? His answer was unexpected.

'I have had to recognise my incapacity'

After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry... In today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to me.

"It is legitimate for a person to speculate and say 'Maybe,' because some of his documents were taken secretly. It could be one of the reasons," he told me.

"Maybe he was so pained that his own butler leaked out so many letters that a journalist was able to write a book. It can be one of the reasons. I don't expect him to be enjoying that event."
In the Vatican, young ambitious members of the church are advised to "hear a lot, see everything and say nothing". That such a senior figure should essentially countenance a departure from the official line is significant.
Essentially, Pope Benedict was a teaching Pope, a theologian and intellectual. "His idea of hell would be to be sent on a one-week management training seminar," one insider told me. His misfortune was to accede to the papacy at a time that there was a power vacuum, in which a number of middle-ranking members of the

Don't take my word for it, this assessment comes from the highest source - the current leader of the Church. And Pope Francis does not mince his words. "The court is the leprosy of the papacy," he has said. He has described the curia as "narcissistic" and "self-referential". This is what Joseph Ratzinger had to deal with.

Over a period of time dating back to final years of Pope John Paul II, the heart of the HQ of the Roman Church had become dominated by infighting cliques. This was what the Pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele said he wanted to expose by photocopying and leaking all those documents.

Benedict XVI pardoned his former butler Paolo Gabriele (centre)

But Gabriele said his relationship with Pope Benedict was like "father and son". So why did he act in a way that was sure to embarrass a man he was clearly close to?

"He said he had seen many ugly things inside the Vatican. At a certain point he couldn't take it any more," says his lawyer Cristiana Arru, clutching her rosary beads, in only her second ever public interview. "And so he looked for a way out. He says he saw lies being told. He thought that the Pope was being kept in the dark regarding key events."

Gabriele was found guilty of "aggravated theft" and spent three months in custody before being pardoned by the Pope. But that was not the end of it. The Church's leader set up an inquiry into the whole affair.
Three Cardinals produced a 300-page report. It was meant to be kept under lock and key, but a leading Italian daily claimed it had been briefed on its contents. The result? More embarrassing leaks, this time with claims of a network of gay priests exerting "inappropriate influence" inside the Vatican.
The headaches continued to mount for the German Pope. In many journalistic endeavours, "follow the money" is good advice for getting to grips with what is really going on, and it applies to the Vatican too. One of the most eyebrow-raising stories we encountered involved an annual Nativity scene in St Peter's Square.

Benedict XVI in front of the nativity scene in St Peter's Square in 2009

For years, deals were struck in which the Vatican paid several times the market rate. When a whistleblower tried to reform the system, officials in the papal court persuaded a hapless Pope Benedict to promote him to a role 4,000 miles from Rome.

Similar antics occurred at the Vatican Bank, for years a source of unwelcome headlines for the Catholic Church. It was set up to help religious orders and foundations transfer much-needed money to far-flung parts of the world. But when a sizeable proportion of the transactions are in cash and are being sent to politically unstable parts of the planet, it does not take a genius to see what might go wrong.

It appears that bank officials took key decisions without always informing the Pope. When the board ousted its reforming president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi (conveniently, on the day that the news of the Gabriele's arrest was getting saturation news coverage), the Pope did not find out until it was too late. He was "very surprised" in the later words of his private secretary. Gotti Tedeschi was an Opus Dei member and thought to be close to the Pope, but in the end this did not protect him.
Did all this prove too much for the ageing Pope Benedict?

Examine the precise words of the papal press spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi: "The Church needed someone with more physical and spiritual energy who would be able to overcome the problems and challenges of governing the church in this ever-changing modern world." Maybe that is as near as you are ever going to get from a senior official that the church had become ungovernable and needed someone else at the helm to stop the rot.

This is a church that now has a huge opportunity to move on and face up to the challenges of the 21st Century. Often seen as remote, its leadership is now canvassing the views of ordinary Catholics on hot-button issues such as contraception and gay marriage. Reform has come on the back of scandal. This is a development that has not gone unnoticed by Cardinal Arinze.
"What you have to remember," he says, "is that God often writes straight on crooked lines."




source:bbcnews

Are You Paced Or Pampered? (1) - 1 Cor. 9 vs 24-27, Heb. 12 vs 1, Psa. 18 vs 29.

God has set a race of destiny before every born-again Christian on this earth. He has also made enough provisions for every Christian to obtain the prize attached to the race. Let me ask you; are you running to obtain the prize? It is a privilege to be born-again and be aware that there is a divine destiny to pursue. As much as God wants you to win in life and destiny, He cannot force you to prepare and do everything possible to win the prize.

You must not think you are doing God a favour pursuing your destiny and you must not be satisfied with participating alone. Paul wrote in I Corinthian 9:24 that you are to run in such a way that you will obtain the price. Joseph in Genesis 39:7-9 was not ready to allow Potiphar’s wife to disqualify him from winning the price. He was paced enough to jump over the hurdle of seduction.

My focus this morning is to ask you if you have subjected yourself to serious pacing or are you being pampered for your destiny? If you are to jump a 2-meter high hurdle or obstacle that is directly placed in front of you, it could be a very difficult or impossible task. But if someone has paced you ahead to start running in order to jump the hurdle, you would have gathered more than enough momentum to jump.

There is power in pacing. Pacing is preparation that causes you to do extra-ordinary things that are within your destiny (Ps. 18:29). God paced me to read the whole bible four times a year when He was preparing me for my destiny. It was not convenient. Don’t be lenient on yourself. Any attempt to run away from pacing makes you unfit to manifest on the platform or stage of your destiny. If David was not paced to handle the sheep, he would not have been in the bush to face the challenge of saving the sheep from a bear and a lion which prepared him for destiny. You must be paced to win the race of destiny.

Prayer:Lord, I submit myself to the process you have drawn for me to be paced for my destiny fulfillment in Jesus’ name.

Rev Olusola Areogun

“This is the final end of Islamic influence in our country.” Angolan President

 According to reports, The Angolan Minister of Culture, Rosa Cruz e Silva said the religion was yet to be approved hence mosques all over angola will be closed.
“The process of legalisation of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human rights, their mosques would be closed until further notice.”
As part of the ban, the Angolan government ordered the demolition of the mosques in the country.
According to the official, such a decision became the latest in a series of attempts to ban “illegal” sects in the country.
This statement by Silva was made during her appearance last week at the 6th Commission of the National Assembly.
The minister says that the move became necessary in order to fight the emergence of congregations whose worshipping is contradictory to the customs of Angola culture.

The measure concerns not only Islam – many other not legalized faiths will face closure of their houses of worship.
The list of the banned sects published by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in the Angolan newspaper ‘Jornal de Angola’ contains all the sects, which are not allowed to conduct worship.
“In addition, we also have a long list of more than a thousand legalization applications,” the official stated.
Commenting on the issue, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said,
“This is the final end of Islamic influence in our country.”

The Strength Of A Woman!

Women as I have learn t since the age of creation have been a key force and helpmeet in the lives of the Mankind. We are known to be elastic beings, able to contain emotions, to love unconditionally and fight like a wounded lion when our offspring is threaten. Our wombs to nurture and carry on the next generations.

Our Lives one way or the other has not been a rosy path either, is it the Love for the men folks only to some it is rejected, cheated on, some taken for granted or not appreciated. Is it for Children we have labored for night and day only for some to go astray not remembering the potent words of the famous poem “My Mother”.  Is it our beloved career? Having to put to a halt because we have to sacrifice because that’s part of what we made of, an epitome of sacrifice.

I personally know of a woman, when in her twenties, her life have been of hopes and bright future at the prospect of marrying her love. She got married and was expecting in due time, a year into her blissful marriage, she found out that her Precious love was in an illicit affair with a promiscuous girl in the neighborhood who soon enough was  impregnated by him, her own world came crumbling down with thoughts of ‘walking away, but her unborn child… she thought to herself, what will people say?’ However, one thing I respect women for is our children come first. She waited and gave birth to twins but unfortunately lost one. The other young girl gave birth, lost the baby as well but the troubles of a woman in her in law’s house; the first wife was accused of killing the baby. With all Hope lost and nobody to turn to, she encouraged herself in the Lord, clinging to her only hope when her only son then started a strange sickness.

Beloved in Life, people who sympathize with you today can tomorrow turn their backs. When there is no one, but you have a creator, an advocate who is ever ready to help, people can only console us for a time but in a matter of time they go tend to their businesses, you are left on your own and that is why we have a Friend in Jesus, the Bible is a book of a Life time achieving solutions to Problems.  A study guide to our everyday Life,  to lift us up when we are down, to direct and guide when we are lost. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thy own understanding”. Proverb 3:5

(Back to the sister)- Soon she got a land even though she was on a meager salary but as women saving matters a lot, it should be our top priority. Twenty years later, she has her own house with tenants, she built in a posh area of Lagos, the Land back then was an area she never knew will be a Island which she got at a cheap price compare to now.  Her two children to cater for with or without the Husband’s support who now cannot lay a claim of achieving a thing.

She might have made the mistake of not marrying right or didn’t pray ahead to fight against hip cups in her marital destiny but there is always the place of retracing one’s step.  Women are spiritually inclined to the things of the Spirit. The truth is what we did yesterday cannot be rewritten; our now, our today should be of important. Use your spiritual sensitivity to your advantage, it is one of the greatest weapons you have as a woman! The strength of a woman lies in Her Creator and God not in Man!

PRAYER-MY SPIRITUAL LIFE RECEIVE FRESH FIRE IN JESUS NAME!

CHRIST IS OUR MERCY SEAT PSALM 91:1

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.    In the Old Testament, there was a place where God met with His people. In Exodus 25:22, God said, “And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony...” This place was above the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant, under the wings of the two cherubim. The psalmist calls it “the secret place of the Most High…under the shadow of the Almighty”. 
The mercy seat covered the ark which contained the three emblems of man’s rebellion: the golden pot of manna—man’s rebellion against God’s provision, two tablets of stone on which God wrote the Ten Commandments—man’s rebellion against God’s standard, and Aaron’s rod—man’s rebellion against God’s authority. Once a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrificed animal on the mercy seat and so make propitiation for the sins of Israel. 
Today, it is not the blood of animals that makes propitiation for our sins, but the holy blood of the Son of God. (Romans 3:24–25) The word for “propitiation” in the original Greek text is hilasterion, which actually means “mercy seat”. So Christ is our mercy seat. His blood speaks for us and puts God on our side. God does not see our rebellion. He sees the blood of His Son and accepts us! 
That is why we can come boldly to the secret place of the Most High, in Christ, and feel secure that we have every right to be in God’s presence. We can come boldly to Him to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) 
And because Christ, our mercy seat, covers us with His blood, we are under God’s protection. We are in the secret place of the Most High, abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. Here, no evil will befall us, nor will any plague come near our dwelling. (Psalm 91:9–10) In the secret place of the Most High, we are favored and kept safe from all harm













By Olubukola Olotu

Pope Francis: ‘I Believe in God, Not In A Catholic God

Pope Francis has once again had a sly dig at the Roman Catholic Church, condemning its narcissistic “Vatican-centric view” of religion.
The new Pope, who was elected earlier this year after Pope Benedict’s resignation, has been praised for his comments since taking the position.
During a discussion with the atheist editor of La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper, Pope Francis once again made it clear that he is looking to reform the church.

The Pontiff commented, “This Vatican-centric view neglects the world around us. I don not share this view and I’ll do everything I can to change to it.”
He then went on to lay out his plan, stating, “The Church is or should go back to being a community of God’s people, and priests, pastors and bishops who have the care of souls, are at the service of the people of God.”
Pope Francis continued, “And I believe in God, not in a Catholic God, there is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation. Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator. This is my Being. Do you think we are very far apart?”
Since becoming the leader of the Catholic Church, Francis has proven that he is a more liberal kind of Pope. He has proven this by being more lenient on various subjects which have included homosexuality and atheism.
Recently, he even criticized the church for being too obsessed with certain issues. Back in September, he was quoted as saying, “We have to find a new balance, otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and the fragrance of the Gospel.”
He then added, “The church has sometimes locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules,” before asking his clergy to not act like government officials or bureaucrats.

source:inquisitr

Church of England votes in favor of female bishops

The Church of England's governing body voted overwhelmingly in favor of female bishops on Wednesday, ending a 20-year impasse that could see women ordained as senior clergy by the end of 2014.
A vote on a package of measures to endorse women bishops was supported by 378 members of the General Synod while eight voted against and 25 abstained after months of behind-the-scenes talks to unite reformers and traditionalists.
A year ago, a blocking minority succeeded in rejecting draft legislation on women bishops, leaving the church in crisis. That vote, lost by just six votes, was criticized by parliament and one senior church official called it a “train crash.”
After that, church leaders set up a committee to find common ground. Its proposals won widespread acceptance in the Synod on Wednesday, even among groups previously opposed.
"The train is on the tracks, the train is moving forwards, and we now have some stations to pass along the way but we can begin to see the end of this particular journey," the Bishop of Rochester James Langstaff told a news conference.
The legislation will be discussed again at a meeting in February and a vote on final approval is likely in 2014.
The issue of female clergy has divided global Anglicanism. Women serve as bishops in the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand but Anglican churches in many developing countries do not even ordain them as priests.
Critics of female clergy say Jesus chose only men as his apostles, while supporters say it is a matter of equality.
The spiritual head of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, supports women bishops but has struggled to unite the mother church for the world's 80 million Anglicans on the issue.

Archbishop of Canterbury? 
Last year's draft legislation failed mainly due to concerns that a code of practice to cater for parishes that objected to women bishops did not go far enough.
The new recommendations would create an independent official who can intervene when traditionalist parishes complain about women bishops' authority and guidelines for parishes whose congregations reject women's ministry.
Those in favor of the plans were warned not to "open the champagne bottles" just yet as there were still major issues to be resolved.
Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament: "I strongly support women bishops and hope the Church of England takes this key step to ensure its place as a modern Church in touch with our society."
Even many traditionalists acknowledged it was time for change and to end the deadlock. Paul Benfield, of the Synod's Anglo-Catholic group, said it was "a workable way forward.”
The Church approved the ordination of women priests in 1992, but delayed making them bishops because of opposition within its previously all-male clergy. Bishops play a key role in many Christian churches because only they can ordain new clergy.
Amanda Fairclough, a priest from Liverpool, said she had "no doubt one day a woman will be called by God to be the Archbishop of Canterbury.”




source:nbcnews

JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST JESUS

ROMANS 8:16–17The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ... As long as you are born again, you are no longer a “slave”, but a son of the Most High God. And God does not just call you His son. He also calls you “an heir” through Christ. (Galatians 4:7) In fact, Romans 8:17 says that you are “joint heirs” with Christ. As a joint heir with Christ Jesus, you inherit everything that He is. How precious Jesus is to the Father, is how precious you are to the Father. The way the Father loves Jesus, is the way the Father loves you! How accepted are you by God today? Look at Jesus. That is how accepted you are! Christ is the measure of your acceptance. How favored are you by God? Look at Jesus, who is seated at the Father’s right hand. You enjoy that same favor today because whatever Christ enjoys, you enjoy! As a joint heir with Christ Jesus, you also inherit all that He has obtained from the Father. How much Jesus has, is how much you have. How prosperous is the one who made all things, and who put the gold, silver and diamonds in the earth? So are you in this world! (1 John 4:17) I used to read the Bible to find out how to be a successful and victorious Christian. But now, I read it to find out more about Jesus because I know that when I find Him, I find my every blessing in Him. (Ephesians 1:3, 2 Peter 1:3) My friend, all that Jesus is in heaven today, you are in this world. All that belongs to Him belongs to you. That is why it is in your interest to know Him more, to see Him in all His glory and beauty. And because Jesus is so glorious, it will take you a lifetime to discover everything that He has done for you and has for you. Beloved, you are an heir of the Most High God. You are a joint heir with Christ Jesus. So find out all the blessings that your rich inheritance includes and start walking in them today!

Don’t Ever Be Without A Father (1) - Genesis 35 vs 1 - 18.

 
In the above text you can see the intervention of a father in the life of Benjamin when his dying mother was setting a wrong course for him, many generations would have been affected if not for the father figure in his life. The kingdom of God is a FATHER and SON flow. In the world fatherlessness can be by force, but never in the kingdom. In the kingdom you can only be fatherless by choice or by ignorance! You need someone who knows you in your destiny; someone who calls you after your destiny. Don’t make yourself a father when you should be fathered. Don’t react against the caution of a father. Don’t neglect or overlook the silences of a father; the prodigal son failed here.

Don’t incur the wrath or anger of a father. This is the problem of the prodigal son: he rejected the ministry of a father! Great people in the Bible that fulfilled their destiny are not without a father, consider the following for examples:
Timothy had a father in Paul.
Solomon had a father in David.
Elisha had a father in Elijah!
Do you have a father?

The following are some of the things a father will do for you:

1. BEGET: Initiates the process, either a foolish son or a wise son, every father is begetting someone. As a father, do those you are raising look like you or like Christ? Be sure you will give an account of how you are raising them.

2. IDENTIFY: The hidden destiny in your children. Samson, Elijah, David-Solomon. It takes a father to see a hidden destiny.

3. NAME: Name a child after his destiny and not emotions. An example is Benjamin versus Benoni (Gen. 35:18). A name supplies identity.The following also will have great impact on your journey so pay special attention to them.

• The words of a father
• The embrace of a father
• The anger/pain of a father

Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to every area I am not cooperating with the father you have placed in my life in Jesus’ name.

Methodist pastor on trial for officiating at gay son’s wedding

After weeks of cross-examination, witness lists and wrangling over admissible evidence, the Rev. Frank Schaefer will stand in the gymnasium of a rural Methodist retreat center Monday to answer a charge: Did he violate his faith when he officiated at his son’s same-sex wedding? The rare jury of 13 Methodist pastors will consider over the next couple of days if Schaefer should be defrocked for saying yes in 2006 to the request of his son, Tim, who a few years earlier was a teen contemplating suicide after tearful nighttime prayers for God to make him “normal” went unanswered. But in a nation where places of worship seem increasingly to line up on one side or another on hot-button issues, something else seems on trial: the mere possibility of a spiritual middle ground. Schaefer and members of Zion United Methodist had largely tried to avoid the topic of sexuality and focus on God. Now, the issue is unavoidable. “I see you on both sides. I see your tears and I hurt for every member of this church that is in pain. You have to remember — God is in control,” pastoral assistant Clydette Overturf preached Sunday to about 60 congregants, many with tears streaming down their cheeks. “We are a family. Families have struggles. We aren’t the first church to hurt and we won’t be the last.” Indeed, Schaefer is the first among as many as five Methodist pastors who could face a church trial on the topic of gay rights. The trials represent perhaps the biggest flare-up in recent years in mainline Protestantism over the issue of sexuality, which has torn the mainline in two in recent decades. Methodists are the second-largest group of Protestants in the United States at 8.3 million members. A church trial is unusual, as is the sight of a pastor as a “defendant” for his ministry to his own son. The Schaefer family is also atypical in that three of the pastor’s four children are gay. At the same time, parts of the story unfolding at Zion are very familiar in American religion: a church torn apart by some sort of change, fights about the traditional service vs. the contemporary one, who controls the budget and whether the pastor had the right to fire the choir director the way he did. In a way, Schaefer’s collision with half of his congregation was inevitable. Schaefer grew up in a conservative evangelical home in Germany and believed as a younger adult that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching,” he said in an interview, using the terminology of the Methodist Book of Discipline. After studying at a theologically diverse seminary, he became convinced that there were different ways to read scripture. But when he wound up being called to a rural, more traditional part of the country, he realized he had a choice to make. “It’s a very conservative area. If you have to make a choice as a minister: If I am going to be a shepherd to these people, I can never talk about it. Which I didn’t,” he said. Nor at home. Tim Schaefer, the oldest son, says he remembers suspecting his parents wouldn’t reject him, but he wasn’t sure. He was too afraid of how their view of him might change if he said something. Schaefer began at Zion in 2002 after serving another Eastern Pennsylvania church. That was two years after an anonymous parent called the pastor to tell him Tim, then 16, was gay and considering suicide. Schaefer and his wife asked their son point-blank. “What sticks in my mind, he was so upset not that I was gay, but that I had planned to wait to leave the house before saying anything,” Tim Schaefer, who now works in retail and lives in Massachusetts, said. “My wife and I lost it in tears, we hugged him, we told him we loved him so much. To me this was definitely the proof — he did not choose this,” the pastor said, separately, in a phone interview. But even as Schaefer felt he was being silent on the issue in church, some longtime members noticed a change from previous pastors when he came 11 years ago. He started a second, contemporary service and began focusing heavily on it in an attempt to grow the church. He wasn’t hesitant to change the structure of the service and music. And “there was a drift from scripture,” said Bonnie Leibold, an aquatics instructor from Schaefferstown who was the assistant choir director at Zion for 30 years, until she left because of the dispute. “There was a lot of his take on scripture.” “His preaching was unorthodox. It’s hard to pinpoint anything. The church just felt like it was changing,” said Kitty Mease, 85 ,who left two years ago after a half-century at Zion. Schaefer practiced with his band instead of being present in Sunday school, he wasn’t always polite to Mease husband and, while he didn’t preach explicitly on homosexuality, general comments about inclusion felt coercive in a traditional community, she said. “He was trying to change our views. Some of this we knew — though we didn’t know the extent that the entire family was this other lifestyle apparently. How shall I say — if you agreed with the way he did things, you were fine. If not, he more or less ignored you,” she said. Over the years, the tensions over decision-making and culture built. Some older members left, newer members came. And in 2006 came Tim’s request. He called his father to say he was engaged, and would the pastor marry them? Both knew the moment was fraught in Methodism, which has remained largely unmoved over changing its rules on same-sex marriage, despite two decades of prodding by advocates. If anything, as the more conservative African wing of the denomination gets larger, American liberals become numerically weaker. The denomination’s governing body reaffirmed in 2011 its teaching against homosexuality and the ban on clergy performing same-gender weddings. A measure saying Christians weren’t of one mind on the topic failed 55-45. “I figured I had two choices. I could ask him and he’d surely say yes but will be risking his career. Or I could spare him that and not ask him, but I knew deep down he would have been hurt by that,” said Tim Schaefer. On April 28, 2007, in front of about 150 people in a Massachusetts restaurant, Schaefer presided over his son’s wedding. He made no announcement of his role in the wedding to his congregation, though Leibold and others say rumors about his participation existed for years. The younger Schaefers came to church, sometimes with same-sex partners. While Leibold, Mease and others say they don’t support gay marriage, they say the difference of view with their pastor wasn’t a key issue as tensions continued to build. Some of them went to the superintendent, or regional leader, and the bishop with emotional complaints about how decisions were made. “They kept telling us, ‘You have to resolve this yourself,’ ” Leibold said. “But [the bishop said:] ‘If you bring me something [like a rule violation] I can address that.’ ” But Overturf says the culture change in how sexuality was discussed, compared with how previous, traditional pastors addressed the matter, was a big factor. When she began preaching on inclusion, she said, some congregants wouldn’t shake her hand on the way out. “[Sexuality] was an issue. The rest is scapegoating,” she said Sunday. “But the struggle began when we began to grow, to bring in people of different ethnicities, viewpoints, and it didn’t look like it did in 1952. I really believe that was the stress.” The stress hit its zenith this spring, when the longtime choir director was removed. Within days, the 2007 wedding certificate was secured from Massachusetts. It was turned over to the bishop within a few weeks of the statute of limitations running out, which would have voided the case. The choir director’s son, who no longer lives in the area, was the formal complainant. The church-trial system keeps his name and argument private until the trial begins, but Leibold said they all felt their trust was violated by Schaefer’s unannounced decision to break the Book of Discipline. “It’s about the violation. Not being able to trust that your minister is trustworthy and solid,” she said. The spring got nasty. A “listening session” in the sanctuary called by the bishop turned into what Leibold called “mob mentality,” with people cheering loudly for Schaefer. People began asking questions about the wedding and Schaefer made it clear that he wasn’t sorry for what he had done. “I was outed in my theology — I don’t think it’s a sin. I lost friends over that,” he said Sunday afternoon. National advocates on both sides started consulting members of the small church that sits between rolling farmland and a historic cemetery. About half the church’s 250 members left, either because they disagreed with Schaefer officiating, they were disgusted with Methodist officials for pursuing the pastor or they didn’t want to go to a church gripped by so much acrimony. Tensions over gay equality in church have been going strong for decades, but they revved up recently because of same-sex marriage, some experts say. Now, most U.S. Methodist church trials are on this topic, and so far no one has been acquitted. Often the defendant tries to broaden the case to ask: What did Jesus think on the topic of sexuality? Church officials try to keep it narrow, to the question of what the Book of Discipline actually says. Schaefer and his defense team say Methodism’s governing documents are contradictory. The Book of Discipline also calls pastors to minister equally to all people, he noted. Methodism’s constitution demands inclusiveness. “If you peel back all the layers, these are fundamentally very different ideas about interpretation of scripture, the whole notion of revelation, whether the word is still being revealed in our day or if it’s one that’s unchangeably fixed in the words of scripture. Does God still speak?” said Scott Campbell, a Harvard University chaplain and counsel to one past and one current pastors facing trial for officiating. “Those of us who want to say God is continually making things new see this as one of the manifestations of this newness.” Schaefer says he sees newness. He’s getting supportive e-mails from around the world and is finding himself pastor to gay and lesbian young people. Locals in Lebanon held a concert fundraiser for him and then a candlelight vigil last weekend. “I’ve had tennis buddies hug me. I’ve never had that before,” Schaefer said with a chuckle. “I see the church as not just a book and officials but the people.” On Sunday, the people of Zion were still trying to maintain that middle road, the one disappearing from much of American religion. Even as their pastor was not present, with his lawyers preparing for a church trial, the church members tried to stick with the routine. The bulletin led with an item urging people to decorate the sanctuary for Advent, and services started with an announcement about ordering poinsettias. People who may disagree about gay marriage but want to stay together as a church belted out contemporary Christian rock, and when Overturf said, “God is good!” the congregation responded, “All the time!” The talk was not about sexuality, but about prayer. “We pray, God, you use this opportunity to help people see that you are alive,” said a man leading a mid-service prayer. “Not everything goes the way we want. The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. But you’re always there.” source:wp