On Friday, May 26, MorningStar Ministries founder Rick Joyner suffered a series of strokes.

Acting President of MorningStar Ministries and Lead Pastor of MorningStar Church Chris Reed made the announcement on Pentecost Sunday:

“Our founder, Rick Joyner, had a stroke. It seemed that he had a succession of mini-strokes that, after the MRI was confirmed, he had a stroke on the right side of his brain. He’s in the hospital and Julia is of course with him and his family,” Reed told the MorningStar congregation.

“He has experienced some measure of loss of feeling on the left side, and to what extent or degree that is [unknown]. …He has increased movement now on his left side [since Friday],” continues Reed.

With such an event Reed asked for prayers for Joyner and his family, but also to respect their privacy as they navigate the healing process.

Calls for prayer echoed across social media as many, such as Apostle David E. Taylor, have been touched by Rick Joyner and his obedience to the call of ministry over the years.

“I’m posting this because I know the Body of Christ has been greatly touched by the life and ministry of Rick Joyner for so many years, and I know how powerful the prayer of agreement is!” Taylor wrote in a Facebook post.

“‘Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them,’ (Matt. 18:19-20).”

This is a developing story and will be updated as news is received.

James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

A Sunday morning clash erupted between dozens of Israelis, many of them Orthodox Jews, and Christians who the Israelis claimed were proselytizing at the Western Wall.

The Christians were part of the Pentecost 2023 Global Day of Prayer for Jerusalem and the Nations, a movement meant launch a decade of prayer and evangelism that seeks to see “100 million people praying, praising, exalting Jesus over the nations” with a “prayer focus on Jerusalem, Israel and Jewish people worldwide” according to the Pentecost 2023 website.

The event angered Israelis who viewed it as an insult to evangelize outside of the Davidson Center in the Old City portion of Jerusalem, in another example of strained relations between Orthodox Jews and Christianity in Israel.

Recently, ultra-Orthodox leaders in the Knesset, including Moshe Gafni, introduced anti-Christian legislation that said “soliciting someone to convert their faith should be punishable by one year in prison and solicitation to convert a minor would be punishable with a two-year sentence,” according to the Associated Press.

“Recently, the attempts of missionary groups, mainly Christians, to solicit conversion of religion have increased,” the legislation read, highlighting Christians as the main source for the bill’s purpose.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought the case to a close when he tweeted, “We will not advance any law against the Christian community.” The bill’s presence alone highlighted the growing divide between the Orthodox community and evangelical Christians, some of Israel’s most ardent supporters.

Several of the protesters told The Jerusalem Post that it was the words on the Pentecost 2023 website that they objected to the most, including calls for their salvation and converting them to Christianity.

One of the deputy mayors of Jerusalem and organizers of the protest, Aryeh King, claimed that the location of the Pentecost 2023 event “has nothing to do with Christianity, but actually with Judaism.

“Missionary terrorism is as dangerous as Islamic terrorism,” King said, adding that he has met “at least three of the participants at today’s demonstration who are Israelis that converted to Christianity.

“Do you think they would have allowed the Jews to hold a prayer service at the entrance to the Vatican? Or in Mecca? This is a provocation,” he adds.

The protesters were condemned by many within Israel, including Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry that said it “condemns any violation of freedom of religion and worship in Jerusalem and any violence against religious officials in the city. The State of Israel considers freedom of religion and worship in Jerusalem which is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, a central value to the fabric of life in the city.”

One deputy mayor, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, condemned the words of King and the actions of the protesters, saying it was not the groups intent to “missionize” and that much of the anger from the right-wing protestors was due to “misinformation.”

I condemn the demonstration today against our Christian Zionist friends who come to support our country and our eternal capital #Jerusalem watch my interview below..

— פלר חסן נחום Fleur Hassan-Nahoum (@FleurHassanN) May 28, 2023

“We have to fight constant delegitimization of the State of Israel by the foreign press, and for once we have press which is pro-Israel, from the Christian channels,” Hassan-Nahoum said. These Christians “are trying to show Israel in the best possible light.”

Hassan-Nahoum also tweeted her support for the Christian meeting, writing, “I condemn the demonstration today against our Christian Zionist friends who come to support our country and our eternal capital #Jerusalem…”

The Anti-Defamation League also issued a response to the protests, saying, “the undeniable Jewish connection to the holy city must never justify excluding others from practicing their own beliefs and express their heritage.”

Regardless of the actions of a few dozen protesters, the Word of God is filled with an abundance of Scripture to bless and pray for the peace and protection of Jerusalem and Israel.

Even when there is resistance to doing so.

James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

What is the difference between faith in the invisible God and fantasy? Or the difference between faith and presumption? The lines that separate faith from fantasy and presumption can be fine, but they are definite, and they are clear. Failure to recognize those lines can be the difference between life and death, between truth and error, between a solid, fruit-bearing walk with the Lord and spiritual deception.

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) teaches that “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Faith is essential and foundation in our relationship with God.

Yet many would claim that this very act of faith—putting our trust in something or someone that we cannot see with our natural eyes—is an act of fantasy and self-deception. In the eyes of many skeptics and atheists and agnostics, believing in the God of the Bible is no different than believing in an alleged Flying Spaghetti Monster, as the so-called Pastafarians satirically argued.

Some believers would respond that there is massive, scientific and logical evidence that points to an intelligent designer. So it is hardly irrational to argue for the reality of Hebrews 11:6.

But however compelling those arguments may be—in my view, they are quite compelling—they are not the basis for our faith. They may contribute to our faith and supplement our faith and support our faith. But they are not the foundation for our faith, which requires us to take some kind of step in response to our beliefs. This kind of faith is illustrated in numerous biblical passages, in which the hearer was required to do something tangible in response to a word from the Lord.

Examples would be the man with a shriveled hand who stretched it out at the command of Jesus (Mark 3:1-5). Or the man who had been lame from birth responding to Paul’s call to, “Stand up on your feet.” The Scriptures state, “At that, the man jumped up and began to walk” (Acts 14:10a).

On a deeper level, true faith requires us to leave our own ways and put our complete trust in the character of God and the trustworthiness of His Word (see Luke 9:57-62). Sometimes true faith requires us to overrule our own logical thinking, trusting in the faithfulness of the Lord (see Prov. 3:5-6; for an example, see Luke 5:5-10).

How, then, do we separate this real and true faith from spiritual fantasy?

Surely all of us know people who have been deeply deceived. How do we know that we are not deceived?

And how do we separate this real and true faith from presumption, where we take action—supposedly faith-filled action in response to God—by our own fleshly initiative?

We separate faith from fantasy by doing spiritual reality checks that are ruthlessly honest. We separate faith from presumption by walking in deep humility and serious accountability. At the same time, we do not let these checks and balances stop us from exercising true faith, which often involves risk. After all, it’s challenging to get out of the boat and walk on the water at the Lord’s directive! (See Matt. 14:22-31.)

For a present-day example of spiritual fantasy, note these words from a pastor who prophesied that Trump would be reelected as president in 2020, spoken in May 2023 before a large church audience: “To all of those who said that we as prophets missed it when we prophesied that Donald Trump would be voted back in a separate term, you’re wrong. We did prophesy that he would be voted back in and he was voted back in by almost 80 million votes. And in the eyes of God the president of the United States right now in the courts of justice in heaven is not Joe Biden but it’s Donald Trump.” (At this point, the audience, also deceived, cheers its approval.)

The pastor continued, “Now, whether he’s in the office or not doesn’t matter but prophecy had to be fulfilled, and so God fulfilled the prophetic word. And so whether you occupy it in the physical sense or not does not matter. What matters is did God say it and did God do it, and He did.”

This is complete rubbish. It is self-deception at the highest level. It is sheer fantasy.

I have addressed the false Trump prophecies at length elsewhere, but for the moment, let me simply say this. First, these prophets did not say that Trump would be voted in but not sit in office. Not for a moment. They made very clear that he would continue in the White House for four more years. To put some ridiculous spin on it after the fact is to deny reality.

Second, the whole issue is who sits in the White House and runs the country. That’s what we were concerned about, and that’s what we were voting for. Who cares about the alleged president of the United States in the alleged “courts of justice in heaven” when the one making crucial decisions for our country right now is the man who currently sits in the White House, namely Joe Biden? That’s what matters in reality.

Third, if these prophets had really heard from the Lord, why didn’t they tell us the most important part of the story, namely that (in their view), Trump would be reelected but the election would be stolen? Wasn’t that the real issue? This would be like me prophesying to you that tomorrow, the Lord would give you a brand-new car, only to fail to tell you that it would be stolen before it was delivered to you. In the end, you’re still without the car.

Cults have grown out of false prophecies like these, including some that set dates for the Lord’s return. When the prophesied dates didn’t come to pass, rather than acknowledging their error, they built whole theologies on the alleged spiritual nature of His return.

True faith gets true results, because it is based on truth, including the truth of God’s existence and the truth of Jesus rising from the dead. And because we find God and His Word to be utterly reliable, beginning with His transforming work in our own lives, we can trust Him in the face of temporary, contrary evidence. Soon enough, that faith will turn to sight. Soon enough, our trust will be vindicated.

In the case of spiritual fantasy, things continue to spiral out of control until we have lost touch with reality. We will still “believe” no matter what, and no amount of factual, contrary evidence can convince us. Careful!

When it comes to presumption (for a well-known biblical example, see Num. 13-14), this arises when we act on our own impulses rather than God’s directives, often because of our spiritual immaturity or pride or stubbornness or carnality.

We can avoid this dangerous attitude by:

1. Constantly praying, “Not my will, but Yours, Lord.”

2. Walking in humility towards others and being quick to receive correction.

3. Not over-exalting our own importance or spirituality.

4. Having a submissive and honoring attitude towards authority.

5. Being immersed in the Scriptures and renewing our minds to what is written.

6. Establishing a solid track record of stepping out in faith, by which you can learn to differentiate between our own impulses and the Spirit’s voice.

In the end, we dare not draw back from true faith because of the dangers of spiritual fantasy, and we dare not try to show off our faith by acts of presumption.

The key, instead, is to cultivate intimacy with the Lord and instant obedience to His voice, learning from our experiences (including from our failures). True faith yields amazing results in this world and glorious fruit in the world to come. True faith overcomes the world. (See 1 John 5:4.) {eoa}

Dr. Michael Brown () is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is “The Political Seduction of the Church: How Millions of American Christians Have Confused Politics with the Gospel.” Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

There appears to be a large divide between how people view Jesus compared to how they view His followers.

Jesus is viewed quite favorably by most people, not just by Christians but also members of other faiths. When it comes to Christians however, especially in examples such as megachurches and celebrity pastors, the opinions sour rapidly, even among the Christian community.

In a national survey conducted by the Barna Group, the third part of their “Spiritually Open” series, 2,005 U.S. teens and adults were asked from December 13-22, 2022, if they had positive views on a variety of aspects of Christianity.

Jesus (71%), Spirituality (65%), the Bible (63%) and Christianity in general (57%) scored the highest in how Americans regard them.

There is a noticeable drop however once people are asked about topics such as the churches in their community (47%) and Christian pastors or priests (44%).

As the survey became more specific, it was clear that there is a disconnect between Jesus and what He preached, and how His modern-day followers are received by the public.

The list of those who are negatively viewed by both the Christian and non-Christian groups take five out of the 11 categories including: Evangelicals (25%); famous or well-known worship bands (26%); famous people or celebrities who are Christian (26%); celebrity pastors (17%); and megachurches (16%).

Working to find out why there is such a negative view, especially of people with “no faith” and of “other faith” in the survey, Barna discovered that by far the largest factor in their viewpoints was, “the hypocrisy of religious people” (66%).

As reported by Barna, “This isn’t to say that, at a surface level, present-day Christianity doesn’t have a welcome presence in the U.S. It is typically seen as respected, principled, loving, friendly, generous and so on. More telling than these general descriptions, however, are the glaring disparities between how Christians and those of no faith regard Christianity. These gaps represent the hurdles the Church needs to overcome, especially if sharing faith or welcoming people into churches is the goal.”

Looking at the pollical, social and economic landscape of America today, tribalism has taken over much of the culture. The adage of “if you’re not for me you’re against me” has taken root in many hearts across the country, including the church.

Much of the negativity from other faiths or people of no faiths derives from the fact that modern culture conflicts with many of the teachings within the Word of God. This has led the church to be viewed as anti-homosexual (40%), too involved in politics (42%), out of touch with reality (38%), hypocritical (49%) and judgmental (48%) by those of “no faith.”

According to David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group, “The work of Christians is to embody Jesus—full of truth and grace—and reflect His image in all they say and do,” he said. “The data shows they too often fall short.”

These feelings and views of those not belonging to the Christian faith show the words of Jesus in Matthew 9:13 are not being kept where He says: “But go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

There is a spiritual thirst in America today, and the living water that will quench it only comes from Jesus Christ, and according to the Barna Group:

“Our data on the rising spiritual openness in America reveals a tremendous opportunity for faith leaders. The challenge facing the Church is whether they are ready and able to meet the spiritually open—where they are, as they are.”

James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

Hundreds gathered at Pensacola Beach on Memorial Day weekend to pray, worship and give their lives to Jesus Christ.

More than 30 people were baptized and dozens of others received salvation during Sean Feucht’s latest stop in Pensacola, Fl.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by LET US WORSHIP (@)

“A new JESUS PEOPLE Movement is here,” he wrote on social media.

Hundreds gathered on the warm, sandy beach lifting up the name of Jesus on Saturday—just 24 hours before Pentecost Sunday.

“What began with a SOUND became a COMMISSIONING (Acts 2:6),” he wrote referencing Pentecost Sunday.

He added, “The baptism of the Holy Spirit was not to make our worship cooler, our podcasts better or our marketing slicker. It was unto the BOLD proclamation of the GOSPEL. One that can’t be canceled, censored or silenced.”

Fourteen local churches and ministries jointly sponsored the annual Family Beach Fest hosted by Pastor Ben Martin of Pace Assembly.

“These are days of great collaboration for the Church in America. Time to unify and PUSH BACK darkness over our cities,” he shared adding, “Pray for a harvest today!!!”

As CBN News has reported, the Christian artist has traveled across the country since the COVID pandemic hosting these events as a way to spread God’s Light and hope.

People of all ages and from different walks of life have come out to these worship events to receive salvation, be baptized and entrust their lives to the Lord.

To read the full story, visit our content partners at CBN News.

Reprinted with permission from . Copyright © 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.“

The family of pastor and author Michael Catt is asking for prayer after his battle with prostate cancer has “taken a turn for the worse.”

Catt’s lifelong ministry has had a nationwide impact, from his time at Sherwood Baptist Church to his efforts as an executive producer of faith-based films like “Facing the Giants,” “Fireproof,” “Courageous” and “Woodlawn” through Sherwood Pictures.

Now the Catt family has released a statement on social media saying the husband and father faced a major setback.

“In recent months, his health has taken a turn for the worse, and he has had several surgeries, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits,” the family said. “Recently, doctors found a tumor in his brain stem. They do not recommend operating on the tumor. Because of this, we have chosen to forego any future cancer treatments, with the goal now being to make him as comfortable as possible through palliative care for the few months he has left this side of heaven.”

As many of you know, Michael has been courageously battling prostate cancer for the past five years. In those five years, he has been blessed to have minimal side effects or pain, despite dozens of radiation and chemo treatments.

— Michael Catt (@MichaelCatt) May 24, 2023

The Georgia pastor was first diagnosed with prostate cancer five years ago and has been courageously battling it since.

“In those five years, he has been blessed to have minimal side effects or pain, despite dozens of radiation and chemo treatments,” read a Twitter post.

What a blessing when @PaulGotthardt & Brea rang the doorbell in Canton today with 100’s of prayer cards from people at @SherwoodChurch – we’re so grateful for the laughter, conversation and prayer time.

— Michael Catt (@MichaelCatt) May 8, 2023

Catt’s wife, Terri, and two daughters, Erin and Hayley are now asking for prayer.

To read the full story, visit our content partners at CBN News.

Reprinted with permission from . Copyright © 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.“

Destiny Christian Church (DCC) has announced that their first satellite campus will be the historic Capital Christian Center (CCC) in Sacramento, California.

This move by the charismatic megachurch in Rocklin, California, will assist the financially struggling CCC and the large Christian school associated with the church.

“Destiny Christian Church and Capital Christian Center share over 130 years of ministry in the Sacramento region. We have the same heartbeat to preach the Gospel, teach biblical truth and give people hope. A couple months ago, Pastor Rick Cole and Pastor Greg Fairrington began to dialogue about a formal ministry collaboration. Our priority has always been about the stability, unity and health of the ministry,” the announcement reads.

Both churches are affiliated with the Assemblies of God denomination, and are located relatively close to one another, assisting in a smooth transition process for both the administrations and their congregants.

Destiny Christian Church’s Lead Pastor Fairrington told the Christian Post that his family has personal ties with CCC, a 105-year-old church “that his wife’s family has been a part of for over 70 years.

“The church was the predominant church in Sacramento, and [Glen Cole] introduced this to the church, told people what we were doing, invited people who lived on our side of the town … to attend our church. He financially supported us 34 years ago,” Fairrington said. “He mentored and became one of my heroes. And now, 34 years later, it’s important for my wife and I to stand and help and assist this church that helped us start our church.”

While there is still a process to follow including various legal and technical responsibilities to finalize and votes of approval held by each church this summer, both sides are optimistic about the success and future of the merger.

Fairrington says CCC is “one of the leading voices in our region,” highlighting the importance of the church to the community.

“Together, Destiny and Capital have impacted the Sacramento region. We have a legacy of loving people, serving people and providing people an encounter with the presence of God. Over the past few years, Capital has experienced a destabilization of its financial foundation. Collaborating with Destiny, and uniting under their spiritual leadership, provides the necessary financial and spiritual strength to continue its impact in the region for decades to come,” the letter continues.

While the school, Capital Christian School, is flourishing nicely after the pandemic, reporting numbers of nearly 1,000 students, the church is still struggling with financial issues brought on by the lockdowns.

“We definitely want the school to thrive and succeed and create the financial foundation that that can happen,” Fairrington says. “It’s very, very critical that we create an environment for that school to succeed.”

As reported by the Christian Post, “The agreement comes over a year after a lawsuit accused Dave Arnold, a former teacher and coach at Capital Christian School, of abusing several students while he worked there for about three years during the early 1980s.

“The lawsuit also accused the late Pastor Cole of covering up the abuse, according to The Sacramento Bee. Fairrington acknowledged the lawsuit but said he doesn’t know many details about it. He insists that the lawsuit didn’t play a factor in the decision for this collaboration.”

Fairrington has been in the news in recent years as well, for his stand against the COVID lockdowns and offering religious exemption letters to those who did not want to get the vaccine. He was vocal during the recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom saying that the governor’s policy decisions, “have continually contradicted the Word of God and have been in opposition with the millions of Christians in California.

“This is all about the importance of Sacramento in the state of California,” Fairrington told the Christian Post about the unifying of the two churches. “We want to see California changed and be a move of God in this state. … So, it starts in Sacramento. And so, this is about the kingdom and this is about preserving the strong witness of Capital Christian Center, that its voice in the community and in the region would be strong again.”

James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

What happens after we die? If you ask people this question today, you will hear a variety of answers, from the traditional heaven and hell to zombies and reincarnation. For the believer in the Bible, the answer to this question is not only very important, but it is clear and without controversy. Knowing the answer to this single question can and should fundamentally change the way you plan and walk your life.

Unfortunately for many believers, our journey through life is viewed as if we were playing a game such as Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders or Parcheesi. For those unfamiliar with these games, each of them has a starting point, and the way to win is to move your game piece from that starting point to the finishing point. In the same way, many of the believers I speak to and know look at their walk as believers in this same format.

They were born, and through a series of dice rolls, they traverse the path of their life from birth until death. To them, winning the game of their lives is getting from the start square to the home square as quickly as possible with as few “move back three places” as possible. In other words, people spend their whole life trying to get to heaven as quickly as possible with as few problems physically and spiritually as possible. We have been programmed or taught to believe that our primary goal as a believer is to “get to heaven.”

The problem is that when we read the Bible, that doesn’t appear to be the primary goal of those about whom we read. For instance, Abraham sojourned in Canaan so that his grandson could dwell there. By faith, Abraham left the land of his fathers and traveled to the place where G-D would show him. But, when Abraham arrived, he didn’t say, “OK, I made it from the start square to the finish square. I am done.” No. In fact, Abraham lived his entire life as a sojourner so that his after-life would provide a place for Jacob to dwell instead of sojourning.

Moses, as a leader of Israel, lived his whole life so that in his after-life, Joshua would be able to lead the people of Israel into the promised land. If we take time to look, we will see that none of the heroes of our faith that we read about in the Bible lived their lives with a focus on making it to heaven. They all lived their lives with a purpose and goal of leaving a testimony of faithfulness, or an after-life that left a spiritual and physical inheritance to those who would still be alive.

As with all things biblical, our primary example will always be Yeshua (Jesus), who perfectly demonstrated through His life, death and Resurrection how to prepare for His after-life. Not only did He live His entire life so that when He died He provided life abundantly for those who would live in His after-life, but He also went to the world to come to prepare a place for us there.

“Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may also be” (John 14:1-3, TLV).

I believe with all of my heart that as believers, our primary goal should not be just to make it to heaven; rather, we should focus our kingdom efforts on preparing for our after-life. Every one of us will someday leave this world. But leaving this world should not be our goal, nor should leaving this world be the focus of our prayers or actions. Our eyes should not be fixed on the home space, as if simply getting from start to home makes us winners.

In fact, living in that way doesn’t make us winners; it makes us selfish and self-serving, both of which are contrary to the fruit of the Spirit. If we want to finish our race strong, we must set our eyes not on where we will spend our afterlife. Instead, we must focus upon our after-life, as in what we will leave behind when we are no longer here.

It is way past time that we as believers realized that if we properly prepare to leave an after-life inheritance here on earth, we will also be found faithful, enter into the joy of the Lord and receive our eternal inheritance. {eoa}

Eric Tokajer is the author of “Overcoming Fearlessness, What If Everything You Were Taught About the Ten Commandments Was Wrong?,” “With Me in Paradise,” “Transient Singularity,” “OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry,” “#ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer,” “Jesus Is to Christianity as Pasta Is to Italians” and “Galatians in Context.”

There appears to be a large divide between how people view Jesus compared to how they view His followers.

Jesus is viewed quite favorably by most people, not just by Christians but also members of other faiths. When it comes to Christians however, especially in examples such as megachurches and celebrity pastors, the opinions sour rapidly, even among the Christian community.

In a national survey conducted by the Barna Group, the third part of their “Spiritually Open” series, 2,005 U.S. teens and adults were asked from December 13-22, 2022, if they had positive views on a variety of aspects of Christianity.

Jesus (71%), Spirituality (65%), the Bible (63%) and Christianity in general (57%) scored the highest in how Americans regard them.

There is a noticeable drop however once people are asked about topics such as the churches in their community (47%) and Christian pastors or priests (44%).

As the survey became more specific, it was clear that there is a disconnect between Jesus and what He preached, and how His modern-day followers are received by the public.

The list of those who are negatively viewed by both the Christian and non-Christian groups take five out of the 11 categories including: Evangelicals (25%); famous or well-known worship bands (26%); famous people or celebrities who are Christian (26%); celebrity pastors (17%); and megachurches (16%).

Working to find out why there is such a negative view, especially of people with “no faith” and of “other faith” in the survey, Barna discovered that by far the largest factor in their viewpoints was, “the hypocrisy of religious people” (66%).

As reported by Barna, “This isn’t to say that, at a surface level, present-day Christianity doesn’t have a welcome presence in the U.S. It is typically seen as respected, principled, loving, friendly, generous and so on. More telling than these general descriptions, however, are the glaring disparities between how Christians and those of no faith regard Christianity. These gaps represent the hurdles the Church needs to overcome, especially if sharing faith or welcoming people into churches is the goal.”

Looking at the pollical, social and economic landscape of America today, tribalism has taken over much of the culture. The adage of “if you’re not for me you’re against me” has taken root in many hearts across the country, including the church.

Much of the negativity from other faiths or people of no faiths derives from the fact that modern culture conflicts with many of the teachings within the Word of God. This has led the church to be viewed as anti-homosexual (40%), too involved in politics (42%), out of touch with reality (38%), hypocritical (49%) and judgmental (48%) by those of “no faith.”

According to David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group, “The work of Christians is to embody Jesus—full of truth and grace—and reflect His image in all they say and do,” he said. “The data shows they too often fall short.”

These feelings and views of those not belonging to the Christian faith show the words of Jesus in Matthew 9:13 are not being kept where He says: “But go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

There is a spiritual thirst in America today, and the living water that will quench it only comes from Jesus Christ, and according to the Barna Group:

“Our data on the rising spiritual openness in America reveals a tremendous opportunity for faith leaders. The challenge facing the Church is whether they are ready and able to meet the spiritually open—where they are, as they are.” {eoa}

James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

Hundreds gathered at Pensacola Beach on Memorial Day weekend to pray, worship and give their lives to Jesus Christ.

More than 30 people were baptized and dozens of others received salvation during Sean Feucht’s latest stop in Pensacola, Fl.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by LET US WORSHIP (@)

“A new JESUS PEOPLE Movement is here,” he wrote on social media.

Hundreds gathered on the warm, sandy beach lifting up the name of Jesus on Saturday—just 24 hours before Pentecost Sunday.

“What began with a SOUND became a COMMISSIONING (Acts 2:6),” he wrote referencing Pentecost Sunday.

He added, “The baptism of the Holy Spirit was not to make our worship cooler, our podcasts better or our marketing slicker. It was unto the BOLD proclamation of the GOSPEL. One that can’t be canceled, censored or silenced.”

Fourteen local churches and ministries jointly sponsored the annual Family Beach Fest hosted by Pastor Ben Martin of Pace Assembly.

“These are days of great collaboration for the Church in America. Time to unify and PUSH BACK darkness over our cities,” he shared adding, “Pray for a harvest today!!!”

As CBN News has reported, the Christian artist has traveled across the country since the COVID pandemic hosting these events as a way to spread God’s Light and hope.

People of all ages and from different walks of life have come out to these worship events to receive salvation, be baptized and entrust their lives to the Lord. {eoa}

To read the full story, visit our content partners at CBN News.

Reprinted with permission from . Copyright © 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.“