What Hillary Is Learning About GenXers—and What Your Church Must Know - J. LEE GRADY CHARISMA MAGAZINE

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What Hillary Is Learning About GenXers—and What Your Church Must Know

1/27/2016 J. LEE GRADY  charisma magazine 

Hillary Clinton thought she had the full support of young American voters last year. She got high-profile endorsements from singers Pharrell Williams and Christina Aguilera. She appeared in a goofy skit on Saturday Night Live in which she praised herself for having a "young, cool vibe." She even brought in pop star Katie Perry (sporting Hillary Clinton campaign fingernails) to sing her signature anthem "Roar" at a campaign event in Iowa.

But now, just a few months later, 68-year-old Clinton is scrambling to convince Millennials and GenXers that she is their candidate. She even opened a Snapchat account and put her 35-year-old daughter, Chelsea, on the platform. But the latest polls show that, among Democrats, a majority of young voters are choosing Bernie Sanders, the ultra-liberal, "democratic socialist" senator from Vermont—who is six years older than Clinton.

The reason? Young voters have told CNN and other news outlets that they don't trust Hillary. They think she's dishonest. And they believe she is too tied to the Wall Street/Inside-the-Washington-Beltway establishment. They detect something fake.

We'll see how all this plays out in Iowa and New Hampshire in a few days. Meanwhile, I hope the church can learn a few lessons from politics. The truth is that Millennials and GenXers don't have much trust in the Christian "establishment" either. Here are a few things the church must learn fast if we want to win the trust of the younger generation:

1. Quit being phony. Young people today want authenticity. They can't stand anything fake or pretentious. We are way past the time when preachers can afford to be cocky and unapproachable. Ministers who arrive at church in limousines or who view ministry as a business venture might as well forget about attracting the younger crowd. Youth today cannot stomach the swagger of a slick televangelist who has been stuck in a 1980s time warp. If you genuinely care about taking the gospel to the younger generation, get rid of anything that comes across as fake. (And that includes pushing people to the floor when you pray for them.)

2. Stop preaching a money-focused gospel. Today's young people will go to the ends of the earth with you if you preach a message of humility and sacrifice. They want to heal the sick, stop child slavery and crush injustice. They despise corporations that oppress foreign workers and governments that exploit people. So if you spend all your time taking offerings for a private jet or manipulating people to give in your "first fruits offering," young people will yawn, roll their eyes and find a better cause to support. They can spot a religious con artist quicker than many adults who have been in church for years!

3. Cultivate real relationships. Today's young people don't place a high value on church attendance or religious routines. Part of the reason they stay away from programmed events is that they genuinely want to connect; they are not interested in keeping a chair warm just so you can fill your new sanctuary. They are relational. And some are starved for love because their own families split apart. They don't want to just listen to a preacher; they want to hear what you have to say and then have a coffee with you afterward. Churches that are successfully reaching young people create a true family environment of love and connection.

4. Offer assurance and encouragement—and follow through. Some of the young men I mentor were horribly disappointed by parents or spiritual leaders. Some were abandoned by their dads; others were verbally abused by pastors. For that reason, they expect older adults to fail them again—yet they thrive when a true mentor steps in to offer affirming words and caring hugs. But remember: If you tell a young person you will help them, keep your promise. Make the phone calls, send the texts and take them to lunch when possible. You are making a priceless investment.

5. Stop being religious and judgmental. Many of the young Christians I meet today are more passionate about their faith than their parents. They spend their summers on the mission field, get involved in 24/7 prayer efforts and forfeit cars and careers to serve the Lord. But when they walk into some churches they are instantly judged because they have scruffy beards, metal piercings in their noses or tattoos on their forearms. Then they listen to self-righteous Christians who bash sinners rather than model compassion. Is it any wonder that so many Millennials and GenXers have checked out of church?

It is possible to close the generation gap in the church, but this won't happen until older Christians start caring less about maintaining the status quo and more about loving and empowering younger believers. Let's make the necessary changes by slaughtering our sacred cows, embracing new music, learning new technology and welcoming a fresh wave of the Holy Spirit's power.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. He is the author of several books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 10 Lies Men Believe, Fearless Daughters of the Bible and The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale. You can learn more about his ministry, The Mordecai Project, atthemordecaiproject.org.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW from CHARISMA: Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here

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Why Are So Many Kids Being Told Public Prayer Is Against the Law? - TODD STARNES CHARISMA NEWS

Prayer is important at Florida's Cambridge Christian School. (Courtesy/Liberty Institute)

Why Are So Many Kids Being Told Public Prayer Is Against the Law?

1/26/2016 TODD STARNES   CHARISMA NEWS

Prayer is important at Florida's Cambridge Christian School.

"We train our students that prayer is foundational to their walk with Christ," Head of School Tim Euler told me. "Our faith is founded in prayer."

So when Cambridge Christian faced off against University Christian School last December in the 2A state championship football game, they asked the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) if they could begin with a word of prayer.

The FHSAA said no.

They told both Christian schools that offering a pre-game prayer was against the law—that it could be viewed as an endorsement of religion since the schools would be praying on government property.

"This is ridiculous," said Jeremy Dys, an attorney with Liberty Institute. "We've got two Christian schools being told they can't pray."

Liberty Institute, a law firm that specializes in religious liberty issues, is representing Cambridge Christian.

Dys said the FHSAA broke the law when they forbade the Christian schools from praying last December at the Citrus Bowl.

"We have the state trying to impose strictures upon the church," he told me. "I think we've gone a long way away from who we are as a country when the state starts telling Christian schools they can no longer pray in public."

Liberty Institute sent a demand letter to the FHSAA demanding a written apology for what they call a "gross violation" of the law. Should they fail to do so, the law firm has threatened to file a federal lawsuit.

The FHSAA has yet to respond to their demands.

The prayer ban disturbed not only the administration but also the football team.

Jacob Enns, the team's 17-year-old kicker, told me the prayer is extremely important.

"It's something we did before every game this season," he said. "It's been our tradition ever since I've been on the team, and our tradition was ruined. It made me wonder, is it wrong to pray?"

Still, the team gathered on the field and recited "The Lord's Prayer" before the game—and some spectators joined in.

"Prayer is something we've been taught to do and to do no matter what—even in public," Jacob told me.

For Cambridge Christian, prayer is a means to glorify God in all that it does—including on the gridiron.

"We are raising godly young men that can make a difference in the world they live in," head coach Bob Dare said. "This is why CCS is so committed to praying before every home football game."

It serves as a reminder to the young men on the field, Euler said.

"Football is great, but in reality their walk with Jesus and prayer is vitally more important," he said.

Todd Starnes is host of "Fox News & Commentary," heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is God Less America.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW from CHARISMA: Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here

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Netanyahu on Holocaust Remembrance Day: “We Are No Longer a Powerless People Begging for Protection” By Abra Forman - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

PM Netanyahu meets with Holocaust survivors. (Photo: GPO/Kobi Gideon.)

Netanyahu on Holocaust Remembrance Day: “We Are No Longer a Powerless People Begging for Protection”

By Abra Forman January 27, 2016   BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“He hath remembered His covenant for ever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations.” (Psalm 105:8)

World leaders and communities throughout the globe will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday, January 27, with ceremonies, memorials, and events intended to honor victims of the Holocaust and World War II.

While Israel remembers the Holocaust on the Hebrew date of the 27th of Nisan, which usually falls out in May, it is commemorated internationally on the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz, which occurred 71 years ago in 1945.

Among those set to recognize the solemnity of the day is American president Barack Obama, who is scheduled to attend a ceremony at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. The ceremony will honor four people considered Righteous Among the Nations – non-Jews who risked their lives to save or help Jews during the Holocaust.

The main gate at the former Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and the railroad tracks leading up to it. (Photo: Michel Zacharz /Wikimedia Commons)

One of the men being honored is US Army master-sergeant Roddie Edmonds, from Tennessee, who, along with his soldiers, was imprisoned in a German POW camp during World War II. When asked to identify the Jewish soldiers under his command, Edmonds refused, responding, “We are all Jews.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted the significance of Obama’s decision to attend the event, pointing out at his Sunday cabinet meeting that the American president has not visited the Israeli embassy in the US for many years. He called the event a “testament that the US-Israel relationship…is very strong and stable”, despite recent tensions between the two allies.

In his own remarks on the occasion, Netanyahu said that preserving the memory of the Holocaust was more important than ever in a “period of resurgent and sometimes violent anti-Semitism.”

“It is commemorations like this that remind us all where the oldest and most enduring hatred can lead,” he said. He warned, however, that in Europe and elsewhere, “Jews are once again being targeted just for being Jews,” drawing attention to hatred against individual Jews, the collective Jew and the Jewish state.

“Israel is targeted with the same slurs and the same libels that were leveled against the Jewish people since time immemorial,” he said in his statement. “The obsession with the Jews – the fixation on the Jewish state – defies any other rational explanation.”

Netanyahu pointed out that despite horrifying human rights violations perpetrated by ISIS, North Korea, Iran and Syria, the UN Human Rights Council condemns Israel more often than all of them put together. “Some things just don’t change,” he said.

But, he added, one very important thing has changed – the Jews themselves. “We are no longer a stateless people endlessly searching for a safe haven. We are no longer a powerless people begging others to offer us protection,” he said. “Today we are an independent and sovereign people in our own homeland….Today we can protect ourselves and defend our freedom.”

He concluded that while Israel would protect itself from the openly-declared goals of Iran, ISIS and Hamas to destroy the Jews, “Europe and the rest of the world must stand up together with us. Not for our sake; for theirs.”

Several European leaders also made statements commemorating the day and drawing parallels between the Europe which allowed the Holocaust to happen and modern-day anti-Semitism. In a message to European Jewry on Tuesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that he had never imagined that 71 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, Jews in France would be told to hide their kippahs, Jewish schools and synagogues would have to be guarded, and Europe would be so inhospitable to Jews that immigration to Israel would reach an all-time high.

Juncker said that it was of the utmost importance to “counter the dangerous rise of extremism, racism, xenophobia, nationalism and anti-Semitism.” He added, “We are determined: Never again. Because a Europe of hate is one that we refuse. Because a Europe without Jews would be no longer Europe.”

On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who recently admitted that anti-Semitism in Germany is “more widespread than we imagine,” opened an exhibition of Holocaust art in Berlin featuring 100 works by 50 Jewish Holocaust inmates and survivors, on loan from the Israel’s Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center) at an exhibit of Holocaust art. (Photo: YouTube)

“The millions of individual stories during the Shoah remain deeply rooted in our national conscience,” said Merkel at the opening of the show, using the Hebrew word for the Holocaust.

At the site of Auschwitz itself, which was liberated by Allied troops on January 27, 1945, Polish President Andrzej Duda is expected to attend the annual memorial ceremony on Wednesday, along with Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.

Events and ceremonies marking the day will also take place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris and at the United Nations complex in New York.

Last week, the Vatican issued a statement recognizing International Holocaust Remembrance Day, saying that the day “calls for a universal and ever deeper respect for the dignity of every person.”

A Vatican representative said, “In remembering the Holocaust, we also remember that unless all men and women are recognized as one great family and unless we coexist with both neighbor and stranger, inhumanity awaits us.”

Never again. Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Day & Heroism Remembrance Day

Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Day), or Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laGvura (the Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day)

We especially remember our Jewish friends around the world on this day.

Steve Martin
Love For His People
Charlotte, NC

Holocaust – 'atheists at the heart of the problem' | Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

Holocaust – 'atheists at the heart of the problem'

Wednesday, January 27, 2016 |  Charles Gardner  ISRAEL TODAY

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Topics:

Anti-Semitism

As UK Christians remember the Holocaust, marked on January 27 as the day in 1945 when Auschwitz was liberated, they have been reminded that it was spawned by godlessness and the rejection of faith.

Steven Jaffe, a member of the UK’s Jewish Board of Deputies, was addressing a largely Christian audience at a church in Sheffield, Yorkshire.

He said the exodus from Egypt was immediately followed by the battle with Amalek, who had no reason to attack Israel. There was no territorial dispute or history of conflict, for example. And they attacked the sick and the elderly – those who were most vulnerable. (Deuteronomy 25.17-18)

“The conflict with Amalek is not over,” he said. Amalek denied God and his power in the same way the Nazis did, and the latter mirrored their lack of mercy.

He recalled that Britain’s former Chief Rabbi, Lord Sachs, was once asked where God was during the Holocaust, to which he is said to have replied: “Where was man?”

My worry is that the growing influence of rank atheism in Britain and Europe will have a bearing on the future of anti-Semitism. The poisonous view that God does not exist naturally leads to godless behaviour and thought, even among those previously tutored in godly ways. The result is that even some who claim to have faith, and who perhaps stand in pulpits, start believing the lie that is proclaimed so often through almost every strand of media.

It is indeed frustrating that, as fast as we spread word about the horrors of the Holocaust, vowing that it should never be repeated, the vile infestation of anti-Semitism creeps into every crack and crevice of a broken society as the walls of a Judeo-Christian civilization come crashing down around us.

In polite Britain, hatred of Jews is generally not expressed openly, but often takes the form of a loathing of Israel, so that the very mention of the Jewish state is enough to raise the hackles, not only of the politically-aware man in the street, but of the semi-biblically aware man in the pew.

As Steven told the Bush Fire Church, such loathing cannot be explained in rational terms. But he was spot on target, I believe, in linking the phenomenon with a society that has thrown God out of the window. Pledges of never letting it happen again are not enough, in my opinion; without a recovery of faith in the God of Israel, there can be no guarantee that another holocaust won’t take place.

Even as I write, Iran is boasting of a nuclear deal that “has provided an historic opportunity to… face threats posed by the Zionist entity.” It is well to recall that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, collaborated with Hitler, thus setting the stage for today’s jihad against Israel. And yet, bizarrely, former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and current Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas have both publicly denied that the Holocaust ever took place.

Against such a dark background, however, there is plenty of encouragement. The Sheffield gathering heard much about the heroic acts of so-called ‘righteous Gentiles’ like Sir Nicholas Winton, who rescued 669 children from Czechoslovakia in 1938. Generations of people – almost 7,000 of some of the world’s greatest doctors, lawyers, teachers and inventors – owe their lives to the act of one man’s efforts to help Jewish children escape the Nazis.

And Steven Jaffe himself, through the launch last year in the neighbouring city of Leeds of the Shalom Declaration, committing to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and fight against anti-Semitism, is sending out a clear message of Christian support for Britain’s Jewish community. “There isn’t a corner of the British Isles that the Shalom Declaration has not been signed,” he said.

Making nonsense of campaigns to boycott Israel, he pointed out that one in six of the drugs and medicine dispensed through Britain’s famous health service have either been manufactured or developed in Israel.

And on the faith front, we were told that “there are more Jews learning the Torah today in Israel that at any time in our history”.

All of which is preparing them well for the great event we are perhaps soon to witness when Jesus reveals himself on a grand scale to his brothers in the flesh.

Though many Jews quite understandably have a problem with this, especially with the Holocaust in mind, the key is forgiveness.

British television viewers were treated to a remarkable Channel 4 documentary, The girl who forgave the Nazis, recounting the story of how Hungarian Jew Eva Kor, now 81, a former inmate of Auschwitz, has publicly forgiven 94-year-old Oskar Groenig, the death camp’s former accountant, who was recently sentenced to four years in jail for his part in the Nazi’s evil scheme.

Eva and her twin sister Miriam were experimented on by the infamous Dr Josef Mengele, but survived the camp, though Miriam died in 1993 possibly through the effects of the experiments. Eva said: “It’s time to forgive, but not forget… I believe that forgiveness is such a powerful thing... and I want everybody to help me sow these seeds of peace throughout the world.”

This takes amazing courage. But it’s worth remembering that Jesus, our Messiah, made the first move when he prayed, as he died in agony on a cross in Jerusalem: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23.34)

When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he had already long since forgiven them for acting treacherously against him.

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases…” (Psalm 103.2-3)

“Seek the Lord while he may be found…for he will freely pardon.” (Isaiah 55.6-7)

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Charles Gardner is author of Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com

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The Bible Series That's Too Edgy For TV "Of Kings And Prophets" - MOVIEGUIDE CHARISMA NEWS

"Of Kings And Prophets" is too edgy for television. (YouTube)

The Bible Series That's Too Edgy For TV

1/27/2016 MOVIEGUIDE CHARISMA NEWS

Of Kings and Prophets, a new series set to air on ABC in March, is a Hollywood rendition of the stories of Samuel, Saul and David from 1 and 2 Samuel in the Bible. The show's trailer recently previewed at the Television Critics Association winter press tour.

During the panel with the show's producers and executives immediately following, questions were asked regarding the apparent level of sexual and violent content in the trailer, and what that means for the series. Multiple critics who saw the pilot were surprised by the amount of nudity included, especially considering the fact that Of Kings and Prophets follows the relatively family-friendly TV series Marvel's Agents of Shield on Tuesday nights in March.

Executive producer Chris Brancato said that the series isn't going to shy away from mature content.

"We're going to go as far as we can," Brancato said. "This story is an Old Testament [one that's] violent [and] sex-drenched. It's one of the world's first soap operas. ... You will watch a show that is tasteful but that also tells the story you can read if you want to pick up the Bible."

MovieGuide notes that there's a huge difference between a textual description of events and an actual depiction of acts.

The show's writers are Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, who previously worked on Ridley Scott's Bible-based epic, Exodus: Gods and Kings

Brancato explained that in order to meet the standards and parameters regarding content shown on broadcast television, some of the more explicit content may be edited out for broadcast and only included in online streams of the series.

"We have the wonderful ability to put a show on broadcast and then also have an online streaming version, which has less restrictions ... on it, so it may be that what you saw in this sexual clip in this trailer would probably be in the online version and not on broadcast," he said.

"The love story is essential to this pilot story," Brancato said. "We were seeking in that scene to suggest the pent-up passion and sexuality between these two characters. ... There is no discussion about trying to add more sex or violence for the simple sake of doing so. We're trying to tell the story that is in 1 and 2 Samuel, which has plenty of sex and violence on its own."

Unsurprisingly, and disappointingly, there's no discussion of the real themes of repentance, redemption and walking with God, which is far more intriguing than the sex and violence ABC is trying to sell to the American public. 

Want to watch a Hollywood Awards show that celebrates your Christian values? Find out more here!

This article originally appeared on movieguide.org. 

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW from CHARISMA: Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here

Does This Scientific Timeline Detail End-Time Prophecies? - JESSILYN JUSTICE CHARISMA NEWS

Does This Scientific Timeline Detail End-Time Prophecies?

1/26/2016 JESSILYN JUSTICE  charisma news

(Photo above) How close are we to the end of the world? (Flickr/Creative COmmons)

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

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Are we any closer to the end of the world? The scientists behind the "doomsday clock" are set to make an announcement detailing just how close we are to destruction, according to the Associated Press.  

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists have been predicting the end of the world in terms of "minutes to midnight," based on world events like nuclear threats, political leadership and weapons treaties, since 1947. 

In 2015, the world was listed at "3 minutes to midnight," which is the closest the clock has been to the predicted end times in 30 years, according to Fusion.  

"It is worth noting that while humans have not yet succumbed to any full-on, post-apocalyptic scenarios, plants and animals are not faring so well. Many scientists believe the planet has already entered its sixth mass extinction, and according to a recent report in Science, more than 75 percent of species of animals and plants could be gone within a few centuries," Fusion's Ari Phillips writes.  

"According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the danger posed by climate change, the recent North Korean nuclear test, and tensions between the United States and Russia, which remain 'at levels reminiscent of the Cold War,' will be the main factors influencing the decision to adjust the Doomsday Clock or not," Phillips writes.  

The timeline and scientific tracking echoes what figures like televangelist Jim Bakker and authors like Michael Snyder and Paul McGuire have noted about current events.  

Bakker says he's had many dreams about the future of America.  

"Our people were being dominated by people from another land that spoke other languages. ... That's what the Lord showed me," Bakker says. 

In another dream, Bakker says he saw a city on fire.  

"The unique thing, it was belching out, part of the smoke was pitch black when tires burn rubber. ... I don't know what the black smoke was, but it was a horrible fire. Cars burning, oil tanks exploding. There was extreme black smoke, toxic, so bad that people were fleeing the city," Bakker described. 

The dire circumstances, however, could ignite a revival.  

"Ultimately, we must remember that—like the children of Israel, the early Christians and the Pilgrims and Puritans who founded America—money is spiritual and all economic prosperity comes from the Lord! We need to seriously pray, repent and cry out to God for a biblical revival and another Great Awakening," McGuire says. "We must remember that God is bigger than the international banking system, but we must stop looking to manmade institutions to save us and pray to God. The Bank of Heaven is not broke!"

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW from CHARISMA: Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here