April 1, 2020: Gunshots fired at church, few Americans hold biblical worldview, online searches for prayer skyrocket
Wednesday, April 1, 2020:
Here are the latest headlines, brought to you by The Christian Post.
— Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne says shots fired at church
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Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne of River at Tampa Bay Church in Florida, said he's now getting death threats and shots were fired at his church's sign after he was arrested Monday for holding worship services during the coronavirus pandemic in violation of a "safer-at-home" order.
He said “religious bigotry and hatred” sparked by the media has led to the death threats and he called police to report the gunshots fired at his church.
The pastor is facing two second degree misdemeanor charges for unlawful assembly and violation of public health emergency rules. He’s now being represented by the religious liberty nonprofit law firm Liberty Counsel. He said he plans to “follow the Holy Ghost” on how to proceed.
— Online anti-porn ministry getting increased interest from churches
An online ministry that helps men struggling with sex and pornography addiction has been getting increased interest from churches looking to partner with them because many other support groups are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Live Free Community app allows each church to set up their own community. Due to financial constraints faced by many churches right now, the group is waiving its setup fee.
— Record low number of Americans hold biblical worldview, survey says
Only 6 percent of Americans possess a biblical worldview, according to a new survey released by the recently launched Cultural Research Center based at Arizona Christian University. The survey, called the American Worldview Inventory, is the first release of an annual report from veteran researcher George Barna, who is the CRC research director.
The survey asked 51 worldview questions that examined both what people believe and how they conduct their lives. One-fifth of those who attend evangelical Protestant churches espouse a biblical worldview, as do one-sixth of those who attend charismatic or Pentecostal churches, the survey found. The numbers were much lower for those among mainline Protestant churches and Catholics.
— UK church sues city for canceling 3-day conference over biblical views
The Scotland-based Destiny Church is suing the Edinburgh City Council over the cancellation of a three-day conference because the city council is offended by the views of one of its speakers, Louisiana pastor Larry Stockstill, who's opposed to abortion and homosexuality.
Stockstill is the former pastor of the multicampus Bethany World Prayer Center in Louisiana, which is now led by his son, Jonathan. Stockstill also founded the church planting network know as Surge Project.
The church is being represented by the Scottish law firm Lindsays, which argues that the council violated U.K. discrimination law as well as breached the European Convention on Human Rights by canceling the conference.
— Google searches for 'prayer' have 'skyrocketed' amid coronavirus outbreak
The number of searches on Google for the word “prayer” has greatly increased over the past few weeks amid global reports about the new coronavirus, according to research by Jeanet Sinding Bentzen, associate professor at the University of Copenhagen and executive director of the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture.
Bentzen analyzed internet searches for prayer in 75 countries and reported that “search intensity for prayer doubles for every 80,000 new registered cases of COVID-19.”
Bentzen found that during March, internet searches for prayer “surged to the highest level during the past five years for which comparative Google search data is available, surpassing all other major events that otherwise instigate intensified demand for prayer, such as Christmas, Easter, and Ramadan.”
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