NEWS FROM CHRISTIAN POST

A police chief in Arkansas is refusing to remove a small white cross from the lawn of the local police department after an atheist group demanded he do so. The police chief has argued that residents do not find the cross offensive and therefore it will not be removed.

(Photo: Screenshot via KARK-TV)

Small white cross in Searcy, Ark. that has drawn the ire of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation contacted Jeremy Clark, police chief of the Searcy Police Department, asking that he remove the small wooden cross from the front lawn of the department, arguing that its presence is a violation of Separation of Church and State. The FFRF claims it was contacted by a local resident who feels too intimidated to directly request the police department remove the cross.
Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, told the local KARK-TV that her organization has asked Clark to remove the cross from the property on multiple occasions. Clark told the local media outlet that he doesn't plan to remove the cross just because an organization from another state has told him to. Clark also added that the cross was already there when he took his position as police chief in February 2013.
"Someone put it there, I didn't put it there. I don't know who did," the police chief said. "I wasn't going to remove it just because this organization in another state told us that we should. We're here serving the citizens of Searcy and I don't feel like we've done anything to offend them."
Reader comments on the KARK-TV page and other articles seem to support Clark's stance on keeping the cross. "Thank you Chief Clark. Our community has the right to post the symbol. A great majority of citizens in Searcy and [White County] are Christian. If the person who wrote the 'complaint' is so 'offended,' please print their name. Chief and other city leaders are named, why not the complainant? Our community has the right to know who they are. Or even if there really was a complaint," Michael B. Wood, who is described on his Facebook as being an associate professor at Harding University in Searcy, commented on an article by The Daily Citizen.
The town's former Police Chief Kyle Osborne told The Daily Citizen that the crosses were placed sporadically throughout the town by members of St. Paul United Methodist Church in 2011.

EXPANDING YOUR PRAYER HORIZON

January 16 - Today we are praying for Africa: The Unreached of Africa


Africa:

Population: 1,033,042,510
Largest religion: Christian
Percent Evangelical: 17.7%

For prayer information on Africa, visit the Operation World website

STUBBORN SPIRITUALITY

DAILY FEEDING FROM THE SHEPHERD

The Message to King Hezekiah:
2Kings20:1
" In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, this is what the LORD says: Put your house in order,because you are going to die; you will not recover."

The Message from King Hezekiah:
 2Kings20:2-3
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, "Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with a wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes."

The Message for Us
2Kings20:5
"Go back and tell Hezekiah,the leader of my people,this is what the LORD says: I have heard your prayers and seen your tears;I will heal you."

MY TAKE: THE RIGHTEOUS IS AS BOLD AS A LION; EVEN BEFORE THE AWESOME GOD!!!

DREAMS 2014

Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer.

~Marcia Wieder

As God reveals stuff through dreams to you, remember to ask for guidance and please act once guided. God honors faith. 

WHAT'S UP AMERICA: Belief in God, Heaven and Miracles Down; Belief in Evolution Up.

By Jeff Schapiro, Christian Post Reporter

 

December 19, 2013|9:40 am

The percentage of Americans who believe in God, heaven and miracles decreased in the last several years, according to poll results released Monday, while the percentage of people who believe in Darwin's theory of evolution is on the rise.

A new Harris Poll found that nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of American adults believe in God, though that number is down from 2005, 2007 and 2009, when 82 percent believed in Him. Sixty-eight percent of people now say they are absolutely or somewhat certain God exists, though that number has decreased by 11 percentage points since 2003.

Since 2005, belief in heaven has decreased from 75 percent to 68 percent and belief in miracles has dipped from 79 percent to 72 percent. Since 2009 the belief that Jesus is God or the Son of God also decreased (from 72 percent to 68 percent), as did belief in the resurrection (from 70 percent to 65 percent).
Belief in the theory of evolution, on the other hand, has risen from 42 percent to 47 percent in the last eight years. Since 2003, the percentage of adults who say there is no God has increased from nine percent to 16 percent, and uncertainty as to whether there is a God has risen from 12 percent to 16 percent.
Twenty-nine percent of Americans, including 60 percent of those who self-identify as being very religious and 56 percent of born-again Christians, believe God controls what happens on the Earth. Another 37 percent, including 52 percent of Catholics, say God only observes what happens on the planet.

The survey, in which 2,250 American adults participated, also found that the percentage of people who view all or most of the Old Testament (49 percent) as the "Word of God" has decreased by six percentage points since 2008. The same is true for the New Testament, which 48 percent of Americans say they view as God's Word

ALL THINGS FOR 2014 GOALS

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.

~Anatole France

 

DAILY FEEDING FROM THE SHEPHERD.

2Kgs.13:1-3

" In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah,Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king in Samaria,and he reigned seventeen years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to commit,and he did not turn away from them. So the LORD's anger burned against Israel,and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son."

Key Lessons:
1. When we worship gods our hands have made (materialism,humanism, idols of demons etc) other than the true God,Jehovah,we break the first commandment of God (you must have no other gods but me) and must be ready for the incidental judgement.
2. Jehoahaz had a bad model,Jeroboam son of Nebat. He was the first king of the Northern kingdom,Israel. Bible records that he legitimized and proliferated the worship of idols in Isarel. We must be careful in whose steps we walk. Jesus Christ is our perfect model.
3. Disobedience of God's commandments open the door for torment and subjugation of the person concerned by satanic forces.