United Pentecostal Church faces foreclosure

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.— Riverside National Bank of Florida hands out bumper stickers to customers that proclaim their love for the bank, but members of the United Pentecostal Church of West Palm Beach may have a tough time feeling that love.

The Fort Pierce-based bank filed a $4.8 million foreclosure action against the church on Aug. 17, according to Palm Beach County Circuit Court records. It seeks to repossess United Pentecostal’s 18.3-acre property, at 394 State Road 7, in Royal Palm Beach.

The church bought the site in 2004 for $1.5 million and added a day care center. Its mortgage with Riverside was modified at $5.3 million in 2007.

The complaint named a handful of contractors who had filed liens against the church.

Riverside Executive VP Alan Polackwich said that the actual church building is not on the property that is in foreclosure. United Pentecostal started construction of a day care facility on the site, but ran into significant problems that stalled the project, he said.

“We’ve been working with these people for about a year, looking for a way to salvage this project,” Polackwich said. “Eventually, it came to a point that the church didn’t have a way to save this property, which led to a foreclosure.”

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Faceoff! Cops versus preachers on public sidewalk

A street preacher is accusing police of violating his constitutional rights after officers arrested him for not having a parade permit while he spoke out against homosexuality on a public sidewalk in Manchester, Ga.

Chris Pettigrew and Pastor Billy Ball and of Faith Baptist Church in Primrose, Ga., were arrested multiple times Aug 24 after they held signs on a public street corner telling people to repent and declaring homosexuality a sin.

They held signs that stated:

Repent ye, and believe the gospel. Mark 1:15
The sodomite lifestyle produces vile affections, ungodly lust, reprobates
Repent or burn
Three gay rights: AIDS, hell, salvation
“There were four of us to begin with. We weren’t preaching with any amplified sound,” Pettigrew told WND. “Basically, as soon as we got out of the cars and started toward the sidewalk, Manchester city police officers showed up and asked us if we had a parade permit.”

He continued, “We did not have a parade permit, and we informed them that we had no plans for obtaining a parade permit because we weren’t in a parade.”

Pettigrew said officers from the Manchester Police Department were initially cordial when they told him he must have a permit to stand on the sidewalk with his sign.

“We simply said, ‘We can’t do that. It’s our constitutional right to free speech. We’re not impeding any kind of traffic. We’re peaceably assembled, so we’re going to do what we came to do,’” he said.

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Prosecutor: Crime scene at Okla. church ‘horrific’

ANADARKO, Okla. — The scene inside a small Pentecostal church where a pastor was slain was “horrific,” an Oklahoma district attorney said Tuesday, calling it the most brutal he has seen in nearly 20 years as a prosecutor.

Police have released scant information about the killing of 61-year-old Carol Daniels, whose body was found Sunday inside the Christ Holy Sanctified Church, a weather-beaten building on a rundown block near downtown Anadarko. A preliminary autopsy deemed Daniels’ death a homicide caused by “multiple sharp force injuries,” said Cherokee Ballard, spokeswoman for the state Medical Examiner’s office. She declined to discuss further details.

“I’ve prosecuted over 50 murders,” District Attorney Bret Burns said. “This is the most horrific crime scene I’ve ever witnessed.” He declined to elaborate, saying he did not want to jeopardize the investigation.

With little official word on the grisly killing, rumors in the town were swirling as people wondered what motivated the crime and who was responsible. Burns has called for a meeting of local pastors on Wednesday.

State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown also would not say anything about the time of Daniels’ death, a possible motive or what evidence was collected at the scene.

Authorities do not have any suspects, she said, and were offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

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San Antonio Pentecostal church lowers gas prices

SAN ANTONIO — Cars lined up down the street to get gas at the Shamrock Station at Mainland and Bandera Road., drivers hoping to take advantage of the $1.99 gas prices. The cheapest gas in town was a gift, from nearby First United Pentecostal Church.

The church made the low prices possible by “buying down” the price of gas, donating enough money to reduce the price of gas by fifty cents for the first 1500 gallons pumped.

“We live out our faith and smile at people and make people smile,” said Pastor Brandon Cox. “We feel this is one way of living out the Christian faith by giving back to the community.”

The $1.99 price at the pump was the lowest in San Antonio by 37 cents, according to gasbuddy.com.

Link to the Church Here

Mission Trip Makes the News

DAVISON, Michigan — To older Americans and history buffs, Okinawa was a defining battle in the World War II war against Japan. But, to Rachel Granger spending two months there this summer was a dream come true.

“I’ve had a love for Japan since about the seventh grade,” said Granger, 21, of Davison. “I’ve dreamed about visiting there for a long time.”

Granger, a 2006 Davison High School graduate, got her chance when she read a flier late last year about a mission trip planned this year by the United Pentecostal Church International.

Excited about the prospect, she started saving money from her part-time job at the Davison Tim Horton’s restaurant, holding bake sales, tapping friends and family for contributions and picking up sizable donations from her church, More Life Tabernacle in Flint Township, and her parents, Laura and Martin Granger, who paid the plane fare part of the $5,000 June 1-July 31 trip.

“My church gave me a generous gift,” Rachel said. “I’ve been going there all my life; they all know me.”

She would soon get to know many more people as she joined six other women and two men who flew from the United States and Canada to Tokyo and then on to Okinawa for the lifetime experience. Rachel was the only participant from Michigan.

Full Story by George Jaksa | Davison Flagstaff here

Obama to preach his healthcare message to religious leaders

President Obama has barnstormed the country to sell his healthcare overhaul directly to sometimes-skeptical Americans. Today he will bring his message to a friendlier audience — faith leaders who see reform as an ethical and religious imperative.

Obama is scheduled to address more than 1,000 religious figures in two conference calls, allowing him to extend his message to legions of faithful in the pews.

First up is a “High Holy Day” call this morning with rabbis from Judaism’s Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements. Organizers hope the call will provide fodder for synagogue sermons when the Jewish holidays arrive next month.

“There is a very important moral dimension to this discussion,” said Mark J. Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism which invited Obama to join the morning discussion.

The center is a co-sponsor of the second conference call later in the day — pegged as “40 Minutes for Health Reform” — with scores of lay leaders and clergy from evangelical, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish traditions.

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NY College Scraps Ban on ‘Religious Services’

A Christian law firm settled another case of alleged religious discrimination in which a church was not allowed to use facilities at a Binghamton, N.Y., college.

“Churches shouldn’t be discriminated against for their beliefs,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Daniel Blomberg. “We are pleased that Broome Community College now recognizes the constitutional right of churches and other religious groups to meet in public meeting facilities on the same terms as other groups.”

The lawsuit against the community college was filed in February after North Pointe Church was barred from renting space on campus. Although the church had been holding meeting there for several months, a few members of the public complained to the college about a church meeting in a public facility, according to ADF.

ADF lawyers stated in their arguments that the college’s policy banning “religious services” violates First Amendment rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion as well as Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection under law.

The college has agreed to scrap its ban and allow equal access to campus facilities as well as reimburse legal fees and costs. The settlement prompted ADF lawyers to file a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit with the court Tuesday.

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Focus on the Family selling its money-losing gay workshops

Focus on the Family will shed its controversial Love Won Out program for transforming homosexuals into heterosexuals because of budget troubles, the conservative media ministry said Tuesday.

The Colorado Springs-based ministry made the announcement in The Washington Blade, the country’s oldest gay and lesbian newspaper.

The Love Won Out conferences on “leaving homosexuality” will be handed over in November to a longtime ministry partner, Orlando, Fla.-based Exodus International.

“The economic challenges led us to this strategic decision,” Focus vice president Gary Schneeberger said Wednesday. “Love Won Out is not an inexpensive event to stage, and rarely, in over 50 cities where it’s been held, have we ever made back our investment, despite good attendance.”

Focus on the Family, which held its first Love Won Out conference in 1998, will lead its last on Nov. 7 in Birmingham, Ala. A $6 million shortfall in the $138 million budget also caused Focus president Jim Daly to send out a fundraising letter to 800,000 donors.

“Right now we’re facing a serious budget shortfall that threatens our ability to reach out to parents, families and married couples who count on our help,” Daly wrote. “I want to assure you we’re committed to good stewardship and living within our means, just as so many families are today.”

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School officials face jail time for meal-time prayers

A principal and an athletic director are facing criminal charges for a lunch-time prayer.

Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Pace High School in Santa Rosa County, Florida. The ACLU claimed some teachers and administrators were endorsing religion, but the school chose to give in to the ACLU’s demands rather than fight them in court.

According to the settlement, all school employees are banned from engaging in prayer or religious activities before, during, or after school hours. Now two school officials are facing criminal charges for offering meal-time prayers at an appreciation dinner for adults who had helped with a school field house project. Principal Frank Lay and athletic director Robert Freeman are scheduled to go on trial next month on criminal contempt charges. If convicted, both are subject to fines and imprisonment.

Matt Staver is founder of Liberty Counsel, which will argue the court order prohibiting prayer at school-related events violated Lay’s and Freeman’s constitutional rights.

 

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Teen comes up with prayer app for iPhone

SACRAMENTO, Calif — For eons, people have reached out to the Almighty with prayers and supplications. Soon they might be able to use their iPhones.

Teenager Allen Wright of Fair Oaks, Calif., thought up an application for the Apple iPhone called “A Note to God.”

It lets iPhone users send prayers into cyberspace and allows them to read the prayers of others. The messages are stored in a database, and users remain anonymous.

Wright, 17, submitted his proposal to Medl Mobile, a Los Angeles startup that is developing apps for Apple to sell on its Web site. It selected “A Note to God” from 20,000 proposals.

“It’s so simple, it’s brilliant,” said Andrew Maltin, one of the co-founders of Medl Mobile. “We think it’s going to be extremely successful.”

Wright, a junior at Del Campo High School and regular churchgoer, said he came up with the idea while lying in bed and feeling lonesome.

“If you want to send a message, and you don’t have anybody to talk to, you could send a little prayer,” he said.

Apps, which iPhone users download from Apple, range from free to $5 or more. Users can play games, find restaurants or transform their iPhones into remote controls. There are hundreds of applications.

Successful apps can generate thousands or even millions of dollars for developers. Any proceeds from “A Note to God” would be shared among Apple, Medl and Wright.

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Christian leaders in battle with ’spiritual forces’

A well-known Christian author and pastor says the Church’s emerging leaders need prayer because they’re on the front line of today’s spiritual battle.

Dr. Jack Hayford told Minnesota’s KTIS Radio that he worries about moral challenges and the general vulnerability of good leaders. That is why he encourages Christians to pray fervently for young leaders.

“The nature of temptation today — especially by reason of the moral decay in our culture, [how it] is often done, how it appeals — [gives us reason to] pray for a wall of defense, a wall of fire, around leaders you love, and constantly hold them up against the battle,” says the pastor.

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Christians to Rally in Calif. to Defend ‘Jesus’ Prayers

Former Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt has flown to Lodi, Calif., which has become the latest battleground over praying in the name of Jesus Christ.

Klingenschmitt, who previously went on a hunger strike to protest for the right to invoke Jesus’ name, is expecting hundreds of people to join him Wednesday for a “Stand Up for Jesus” statewide prayer rally.

“Jesus is not an illegal word, the Bible is not a banned book, and evangelistic speech is not a crime,” he wrote in an online petition that has collected more than 5,000 signatures.

The petition is directed toward Lodi City Council and Mayor Larry Hansen who are considering changing their prayer policy to possibly ban all prayers.

For years, the city council has had prayers at the start of their meetings and most of the prayers have invoked the name of Jesus.

But in May, atheists and agnostics at the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent the council a letter of complaint over the prayers, saying they “impermissibly advance Christianity.”

The Madison, Wis.-based group has not threatened to sue but it has not ruled it out either, according to Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the foundation.

The city’s policy requires all prayers to be “non-sectarian and non-denominational.”

Klingenschmitt, who founded the national organization Pray in Jesus Name Project, and other religious leaders argue that praying in Jesus’ name is constitutional. At a press conference Monday, he said they are standing up for Christian invocations as well as for permitting prayers of other faiths, including that of Muslims, Buddhists and even non-believers, at council meetings.

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