Aug. 21, 2019: Pastor killed in Mexico; Planned Parenthood to pay whistleblower $3M; SC town pays $53K to settle church lawsuit
Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019:
Here are the latest headlines, brought to you by The Christian Post.
— Mexican pastor shot and killed while preaching at Sunday service
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A pastor in southwest Mexico was shot and killed during a church service on Sunday amid ongoing targeting of religious leaders by criminal gangs.
International charity group Christian Solidarity Worldwide said Pastor Alfrery Líctor Cruz Canseco was preaching from the pulpit at Fraternidad Cristiana church in the town of Tlalixtac de Cabrera in Oaxaca state when he was shot at point-blank range.
Canseco died while he was being transported to a local hospital. His attacker was arrested after congregants prevented his escape.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide, which advocates for Christians in over 20 countries, said the pastor’s murder follows a recent series of attacks that have targeted religious leaders in the region.
— South Carolina town pays $53K to settle church lawsuit over worship service ban
A town in South Carolina has lifted a ban on churches holding worship services in the community civic center after a federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of Redeemer Fellowship of Edisto Island.
The congregation of about 40 people and the municipality of Edisto Beach reached an agreement on Monday to bring an end to a lawsuit filed last year after the city council unanimously passed a ban on renting out the Edisto Beach Civic Center for “religious worship services.”
— Planned Parenthood to pay whistleblower $3M for wrongful termination
Planned Parenthood has been ordered to pay a former employee $3 million dollars in damages after firing her for reporting illegal activities and unsafe medical practices at their clinics.
A Maricopa County jury decided Friday that Mayra Rodriguez, who worked for Planned Parenthood for 17 years and oversaw three clinics, was wrongfully fired for reporting that several violations had been committed. The violations included not reporting the rape of a minor, the falsification of patient records, and incomplete abortions being performed, leaving women at risk of death.
Rodriguez said she hopes her lawsuit, Rodriguez v. Planned Parenthood Arizona, “is a lesson to other workers that the truth will prevail.”
— Kirk Cameron offers advice on raising godly children in social media-obsessed culture
Actor and producer Kirk Cameron was in Atlanta for the red carpet premiere of the movie “Overcomer” when he shared three points of advice for parents raising children in a social media obsessed culture.
Cameron told The Christian Post that first, parents need to set a good example. Second, he advised parents to maintain a good relationship with their children instead of allowing it to fracture and break. And thirdly, he said parents must “make the word of God the center of your home and what you teach them.”
Cameron added: “I would tell parents to be the kind of confident, wholehearted, full of faith Christian that you want your children to become. Let them see an example in you as a mom or dad.”
— Democratic presidential candidates talk God, faith and Trump as primaries near
Democratic presidential hopefuls are talking about prayer and their journeys of faith as the 2020 primaries near, making appeals to crucial voting blocs.
Speaking before a crowd of approximately 5,000 people at a joint venture of the Black Church PAC and the Young Leaders Conference at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park, Georgia, on Friday, three candidates seeking the nation's highest office spoke about the role of faith in politics and the state of the country.
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who is Baptist, said: “I get very frustrated when people want to try to separate this idea of the role of the church and the role of the civic space. That is just not true. You could no more divide your own body. The church is not four walls. The church is the body of Christ.”
Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, along with Julián Castro, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, also spoke at the event.
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