Apostolic church creates public social network site

Social networking sites have inundated the Web world. MySpace, Facebook, and the latest Twitter have become the rage to people of all ages, race, and religious affiliations. The extension of faith-specific networking sites has canvassed the social market platform, giving birth to sites such as Everyone’s Apostolic, Apostolic Fellowship Hall, and MyWorld, just to name a few.

Now an Apostolic church in Orange, NJ, has created its own social networking site, not exclusive to church members but open to all who are socially minded. The Web site committee for First United Tabernacle Church (FUTC) says the idea stemmed from wanting a social network to bring youths from all over.

Bishop Lloyd Faulknor of FUTC also presides over churches in Antigua and Grand Cayman and he desired all of his young people to establish a connection. The site administrator, Chastity Thompson, says “we wanted our own platform where we can blog, chat, and join groups, even though we are geographically apart.”

The youth department at FUTC birthed youthroc.com, known as The R.O.C, using Ning. Bernard Grey, youth minister and site committee member, says “this is a Christ-minded social network, which is why we named it Youth Radically Obsessed 4 Christ (Youth R.O.C.).”

It is a tool to network the message of Jesus Christ, encourage one another, and connect internationally with young people. The R.O.C. is for anyone who wants to join, including Non-Apostolics. The R.O.C is tailored for appropriate blogs, photo albums, videos, and groups. Since MySpace’s reputation has come under fire during the past couple of years, Grey says, “This is a way to lure them away from that and join this network so parents can be at ease.”

However, as the site administrator, Thompson will ensure that it maintains its premier purpose, to be a Christian networking site. If there are any inappropriate videos or pictures posted, the person will receive a warning. “If the member persists, I have the power to ban them from the network.”

The R.O.C. committee is making sure they won’t become a carbon copy of Facebook and MySpace. “A great feature we have that Facebook doesn’t have is the blogging feature, says Grey. Members can personalize their page using CSS code. The R.O.C. allows members to decorate, change font size, color, and add music to their pages. “This is a great exercise for those aspiring Web site designers.”

The site is still in its early stages, though. The current layout is just temporary, but The R.O.C. team has hired an experienced designer who has designed other network sites on Ning. They hope to give it an eye-popping transformation. “The sights, sounds, and colors are critical keys to drawing people to the site,” Grey says.

Once youthroc.com is official, the committee plans to advertise it on Facebook and by word-of-mouth. “We want this to be big!”

Do you know a church that has a public social networking site? Leave a comment.

-Kaleena Thompson, TAR Editor

Apostolic Faith youth group to ‘write the Bible’

The youth at Apostolic Faith United Pentecostal Church in Mountain Home, Ark., are getting a taste of what it was like for Bible translators to hand-copy early versions of the Bible.

Rick Lovall, youth pastor at the church, said the idea to write the Bible came to him as a neat way to study the Bible and raise money, too.

The youths are using a 1,000-page King James Version Bible for reference, and are soliciting donations (a minimum of $5 per page) to hand-write the Bible. So far, 42 people have committed to write 755 pages, with more expected, Lovall said. The slogan behind the event is “Write it! Learn it! Live it!”

Lovall said he doesn’t believe this type of fundraiser has ever been done before, adding the church hopes to raise a minimum of $5,000. How the money is used will be decided by the youth. Currently, Lovall said, their choices include funding a trip to the church’s National Youth Convention in Nashville, Tenn., in August, as well as purchasing  Bibles for missionaries in Uganda; or donating a portion of the funds to Sheaves For Christ, which buys 4×4 vehicles for missionaries, offers land grants to home missionaries and sponsors orphans at Tupelo (Miss.) Children’s Mansion. Other options include sponsoring clients at Windsong Ranch (a Christian-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Sheridan, Ark.), as well as donating funds to various homeless shelters in the Mountain Home area.

Lovall told The Apostolic Report that this fundraiser has united his local church and youth group. Apostolic Faith UPC will have CDs available with all of the necessary documents and sponsor sheets  needed to duplicate this fundraiser. Lovall spent hours putting together an Excel spreadsheet that lays out the pages in correct order and sequence.

If you are a youth pastor needing a great idea or a pastor who would like to try this at your local church, the materials are available. Please contact Rick Lovall if you would like more information.

The $40 Write The Bible Fundraiser CD will include: Excel spreadsheet of the Bible charted into 1,000 pages, PowerPoint to use to introduce the idea to the church/youth group, sponsorship sheets, promotional flier/poster, and a form letter to use to obtain sponsors. Print these out, and you are ready to Write The Bible!

Write it! Learn it! Live it!

Rev. Rick  Lovall (870) 404-8024, or e-mail writethebible@yahoo.com. You can also follow the progress at www.writethebible.blogspot.com.

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Obama urged to appoint first ‘gay’ to Supreme Court

With a vacancy soon on the U.S. Supreme Court, homosexual blogs are discussing the potential of a homosexual being appointed.

Politico.com reports homosexual-rights groups are upset with President Barack Obama for not choosing an openly “gay” person for his Cabinet, and are urging him to appoint the first openly homosexual justice. The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund is hailing the candidacy of First Amendment scholar Kathleen Sullivan, while Stanford law professor Pam Karlan is also frequently mentioned. Both have been open about their sexuality and have been active for homosexual legal causes.
Matt Barber is a spokesperson with Liberty Counsel. “Well, in light of this nation’s undeniable Christian heritage, it’s hard to believe we’re even having a conversation about whether a sitting United States president will count deviant sexual behavior as a favorable qualification in determining a nomination to the highest court of the land,” he says.
Barber offers a message for members of the Senate to send to President Obama. “We insist upon a Supreme Court justice who will strictly interpret the Constitution — which was the clear intent of our Founding Fathers — and not use the Constitution [or] abuse the Constitution as a means to an ideological end, which I fear this administration intends to do,” he concludes.
The new justice will replace Justice David Souter, who has announced he is retiring at the end of the current session.

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MO turns tables on Obama stimulus money

Missouri is taking a different approach to use stimulus money from the pro-abortion Obama administration for pro-life causes.

The Missouri House has passed a bill that would provide what they are calling scholarships. Daniel McConchie of Americans United for Life (AUL) tells OneNewsNow how the money would be used.
“Maternity homes and pregnancy resource centers in the state — they can apply for grants,” he explains. “They are setting aside $2 million of the stimulus money to be able to promote these types of alternatives to abortion, especially for those women who find themselves in very desperate situations where they need help.”
McConchie believes it is a good model for other state governments to use. “This is one not only that we help promote a culture of life in the states that consider doing this, but also help vulnerable women at the same time,” he adds.
AUL can provide the language of the bill to lawmakers in other states and answer related questions, McConchie says.

 

 

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Homeland agency pulled back extremism dictionary

Black power, white supremacists, abortion foes make list

By Audrey Hudson (Contact)

WASHINGTON — The same Homeland Security Department office that categorized veterans as potential terrorists issued an earlier report that defined dozens of “extremists” ranging from black power activists to abortion foes. The report was nixed within hours and recalled from state and local law enforcement officials.

Whites and blacks, Christians and Jews, Cubans and Mexicans, along with tax-hating Americans were among several political leanings listed in the “Domestic Extremism Lexicon” that came out of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) in late March.

The lexicon lists definitions for key terms and phrases used by Homeland Security analysts “that addresses the nature and scope of the threat that domestic, non-Islamic extremism poses to the United States,” the report said.

Click here to download a PDF of “Domestic Extremism Lexicon”

Black separatism was defined as a movement that they said advocates the establishment of a separate nation within the U.S., and its members “advocate or engage in criminal activity and plot acts of violence directed toward local law enforcement” to advance their goals. Black power is a “term used by black separatists to describe their pride in, and the perceived superiority of the black race,” the report said.

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Teacher’s rant on Christians draws court rebuke

Rules harsh criticism of student violated Establishment Clause

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

In what apparently is a first-of-its-kind decision, a federal court has ruled that a California teacher violated the rights of a student by making fun of Christianity.

Teacher James Corbett of Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo already had a reputation for dissing the faithful when Chad Farnan began taking an Advanced Placement European history class from him two years ago.

In his class and in front of Farnan, Corbett criticized creationism as “religious, superstitious nonsense” and now he’s been brought up short by a federal court ruling that determined his statements violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

That prevents Christian teachers from proselytizing during class time, and now apparently prevents agnostic or atheist teachers from condemning the faith during class time.

“We hope that the impact of this will be that teachers will begin to consider whether their comments express disapproval toward religion or hostility toward religion,” Jennifer Monk, a lawyer who represented Farnan, told WND.

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Brownback votes for Sebelius

A Kansas pastor says by endorsing Kathleen Sebelius for Health and Human Services secretary, Senator Sam Brownback “violated the scriptures and his own church’s teaching” and “betrayed” many conservative Christians who had been his largest base of support.

Senator Brownback (R-Kansas) joined home-state colleague Pat Roberts and seven other Republicans Tuesday to help Kathleen Sebelius win approval (65-31) to serve as HHS secretary. The nomination of the Kansas governor — which Brownback has supported since it was announced almost two months ago — was controversial because of her failure to pay taxes and her lack of honesty regarding the large sum of campaign donations she received from notorious Kansas abortionist George Tiller.

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Judiciary Committee greenlights ‘hate crimes’ Members refuse to protect Christian pastors from charges

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee today rejected an opportunity to protect Christian pastors who preach the biblical condemnation of homosexuality and approved on a 15-12 vote a "hate crimes" bill that supporters admit could be used to bring charges against religious leaders.

The bill, H.R. 1913, now will be considered by the full House of Representatives.

The committee rejected a number of amendments offered by several members seeking to protect religious liberty, to protect the unborn, to protect against violence by illegal aliens, and to clarify the bill’s meanings of "gender identity" and "sexual orientation."

One of the rejected proposals was offered by Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, who sought to ensure ministers could not be prosecuted for abetting a "hate crime" simply because they preach from the Bible or another religious book.

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Church-Shopping: Why Do Americans Change Faiths?

From Time Magazine Online

Forty-three years ago, this magazine published a stark cover with the words "Is God Dead?" stamped in red against an inky black background. The accompanying article predicted that secularization, science and urbanization would eliminate the need for religious belief and institutions before long; in modern society, only the weak and uneducated would persist in their faith. Yet rumors of religion’s demise turned out to be premature. Over the past few years, neo-atheists like Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens have taken up the cry again, encouraged by studies showing that the percentage of Americans who report no religious affiliation has more than doubled since 1990. But as a new report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows, it is a mistake to conclude that more Americans are rejecting religion. Leaving church, it turns out, doesn’t mean losing faith.

When Pew researchers set out last year to map the U.S.’s religious landscape with a groundbreaking survey of more than 35,000 people, they expected fairly straightforward answers to questions about individual religious affiliations. (The survey included more detailed questions about religious beliefs and practices than have been asked in past censuses; the 2010 census will not ask about religion at all.) What the Pew researchers didn’t anticipate is that fully 44% of Americans have changed faiths at least once. Some converted from one religion or denomination to another; others grew up with no tradition only to adopt one as an adult; still others left their childhood faith and found themselves with no religious home.

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Americans tend to swap faiths

The U.S. is a nation of religious drifters, with about half of adults restlessly switching faith affiliation at least once during their lives, a new survey has found.

And the reasons behind all the swapping depend greatly on whether one grows up kneeling at Roman Catholic Mass, praying in a Protestant pew or occupied with nonreligious pursuits, according to a report issued Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

While Catholics are more likely to leave the church because they stopped believing its teachings, many Protestants are driven to trade one Protestant denomination or affiliation for another because of changed life circumstances, the survey found.

The ranks of those unaffiliated with any religion, meanwhile, are growing not so much because of a lack of religious belief but because of disenchantment with religious leaders and institutions.

The report estimates that between 47 percent and 59 percent of U.S. adults have changed affiliation at least once. Most described just gradually drifting away from their childhood faith.

"This shows a sort of religion a la carte and how pervasive it is," said D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist of religion. "In some ways, it’s an indictment of organized Christianity. It suggests there’s a big open door for newcomers, but a wide backdoor where people are leaving."

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1 million red envelopes deluge White House

Over one million, empty, red envelopes have poured into the White House mail room, symbolizing the empty promise of lives snuffed out in abortion; and with Red Envelope Day planned for tomorrow, coordinators estimate that number could more than double.

The Red Envelope Project is an idea sparked in the mind and prayers of a Massachusetts man, Christ Otto, who envisioned in January thousands of red envelopes sent to the White House, a visual expression of moral outrage over the president’s position on abortion.

On the backs of the envelopes, senders write a message Otto composed: "This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception."

"We are trying to change the president’s heart," Otto writes on a website explaining the project. "This is a message to a man that God hears the cry of innocent blood. It is not a political stunt, although I hope it changes policy in Washington. If the capital is flooded with so many letters that no one can deny it, I am hoping the image will be burned into Barack Obama’s mind that this is about human blood, and that he lies awake at night until he cannot resist doing something about it."

The original project began small, but when Otto sent out an email to friends asking them to join him in the envelope effort, the symbolic gesture spread through the Internet like wildfire.

"I sent an email to 120 people who pray for me daily, and asked them if they wouldn’t mind sending a red envelope, and if they thought it was a good idea, forwarding it on to their friends," Otto told WND. "About a week and half later, a friend told me to Google it, and I found about 30 blogs dedicated to the red envelopes."

Otto told WND a few days later, he began receiving contacts from national pro-life organizations and churches that had taken up the cause.

By February, Otto learned of a Texas man named Brian Potter, who set March 31 as Red Envelope Day, a date when supporters would drop hundreds of thousands of the envelopes in the mail, presumably being delivered to the White House near the beginning of Holy Week, just prior to the start of Passover.

Potter’s Red Envelope Day website has also partnered with AmazingCauses.com to enable supporters to send the red envelopes online in one easy and coordinated effort, so that, in Potter’s words, "they will send out a truckload of envelopes to the White House."

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A study Bible wins ‘Christian Book of the Year’ award

The ESV Study Bible has been named the "Christian Book of the Year" by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, marking the first time the honor has been given to a study Bible.

The Bible, which is in the English Standard Version, includes study notes from evangelical Christian scholars and other reference materials. Published by Crossway, it also won in the best Bible category.

The honoring of the study Bible follows two previous first-time wins of other products. In 2008, the Word of Promise New Testament Audio Bible became the first audio product to win; in 2007, Karen Kingsbury became the first woman and the first novelist to win, for her book, Ever After.

The award was announced March 19 at the kick-off for the 2009 Christian Book Expo in Dallas. The Christian Book Awards, which previously were known as the Gold Medallion Book Awards, were established in 1978 to recognize Christian books for excellent content, design and literary quality.

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Apostolic Fellowship Hall

Connecting Apostolics

With the advent of social media networks (SMN), online meeting places are the new forums of the early part of this decade.  It started with the popularity of such sites as My Space and Yahoo 360.  Now we find our conversations sprinkled with terms such as tweeting and check your PM…

The latest rage in Social networking is Facebook and Twitter.  These sites are great for reconnecting with long lost high school buddies, or from people you knew from a church attended long ago.  Their limitations, as far as Apostolics are concerned, is their intimate connection with worldliness.

In this vein, several social networking sites have sprung up for Apostolic Pentecostals including the wildly popular Everyone’s Apostolic SMN.  Just recently, as reported on The Apostolic Report, EA has decided to charge a fee for all but the most basic of features.  Because of this, several alternatives to EA have recently arisen.  Several sites have sprung up using Ning, the software which powers EA.  Another alternative is Apostolic Fellowship Hall.

Apostolic Fellowship Hall has been created with the purpose of providing a free, safe alternative to Facebook and EA.  Features of AFH at the present time include the ability of users to create Blogs, add posts to Groups as well as create their own groups,  add photo albums, and videos to their home page. Advertise in the classified section, create pages,  post to the wire (a twitter like feature), add and share bookmarks (similar to sites such as stumble upon, digg and reddit), And post questions which other users may then answer.

There is also a new website using Ning which calls itself “Unashamedly Conservative Apostolics,” and only allows conservative Apostolics to join. Your Pastor (or someone he trusts) must also join this network. This new “conservative” network requires an invitation to join it.

Other new ones include “Apostolics Online” and “My Apostolic Network.”

Social networking seems to be gaining strength, and for right now at least is the ‘in’ thing on the WWW.  Who knows what the next big craze will be, but when it rolls along, The Apostolic Report will be there to cover it.

Is there another Apostolic social network that you use? Leave a comment below…

Everyones Apostolic to start charging Subscription Fee

The popular Apostolic social networking website, everyonesapostolic.com, will soon start charging a subscription fee for anything but the most basic  membership. EA is still continuing explosive growth, adding more than 3,000 members each month. The rise in popularity of Everyones Apostolic began less than a year ago when Everyones Connected changed names, and eventually closed completely. Everyones Apostolic now has over 43,000 members. Time will tell if this will have a significant impact on their membership numbers.

From their website:

“Due to the ever increasing demand of our available resources we must begin charging a nominal subscription fee to help fund our continued efforts. We thank you for your support. This new program will go into effect beginning March 3rd 2009. Those that upgrade before March 3rd will receive a 50% early bird discount.”

The new plans are as follows:

Member — $0/year

• Add New Pictures
• Add New Videos
• Add New Music
• Edit Page Theme
• Add New Discussions
• Add New Blogs
• Add New Events
• Add New Groups
• Add New Classifieds

Ministry Partner — $10/year

• Add New Pictures
• Add New Videos
• Add New Music
• Edit Page Theme
• Add New Discussions
• Add New Blogs
• Add New Events
• Add New Groups
• Add New Classifieds

Ministry Partner Plus — $20/year

• Add New Pictures
• Add New Videos
• Add New Music
• Edit Page Theme
• Add New Discussions
• Add New Blogs
• Add New Events
• Add New Groups
• Add New Classifieds

Ministry Partner Premium — $30/year

• Add New Pictures
• Add New Videos
• Add New Music
• Edit Page Theme
• Add New Discussions
• Add New Blogs
• Add New Events
• Add New Groups
• Add New Classifieds

What do you think? Are you going to pay and help support this website? Leave a comment below…

Apostolic Minister and Spouse Celebrate 50 Years Together

Rev. and Mrs. Joseph Cannon, of Diboll, TX, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on December 6, 2008. Their children surprised them with a party honoring their marriage at JR’s Barn in Diboll on Saturday, December 6. Their children are Jody Cannon of Diboll, Jubal and Tracie Cannon of Lufkin, Jeff and Lori Cannon of Diboll, and Jon Cannon of Diboll. In attendance were numerous guests, including Rev. Cannon’s brother, Jack Cannon, his wife, Margie, and their son, Mike, who drove from Milton, Florida, to surprise and honor them.

Other guests came from Arcadia, Florida, Lake City, Florida, LaGrange, Texas, as well as many friends from this local area. Rev, and Mrs. Cannon moved to Diboll over two years ago. They previously lived in Arcadia, Florida, where they were the pastor of the First United Pentecostal Church for 26 years. They have also been pastor of churches in Okeechobee, Florida, as well as LaGrange, Texas. Rev, and Mrs. Cannon are well-loved by their family and friends, and by anyone who makes their acquaintance. In addition to their four sons, they have a daughter who lives in Cape Coral, Florida, and they are blessed with thirteen grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

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