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What are the real differences between the OPC and the PCA? Most of the stories told in the OPC are told by ex-PCA’ers who had a bad experience in the PCA. And most of the stories told in PCA are told by former OP members or ministers who were frustrated in the OPC. And so the stereotypes grow!   Alternately, someone with experience in two or three OP churches generalizes from that to the whole OPC (or vice versa, with the PCA).   My own experience is somewhat limited, but I have had the advantage of serving for the last...

The global-warming debate is shifting from science to economics. For years, the fight over the Earth's rising temperature has been mostly over what's causing it: fossil-fuel emissions or natural factors beyond man's control. Now, some of the country's biggest industrial companies are acknowledging that fossil fuels are a major culprit whose emissions should be cut significantly over time. A growing number of these companies are pushing for a mandatory emissions limit, or "cap." Some see a lucrative new market in clean-energy technologies. Many figure a regulation is politically inevitable and they want to be in the room when it's negotiated,...

http://www.coralridge.org/medialibrary/default.aspx?mediaID=CRH0921_S

The Pastoral Search Committee of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., announced on January 18, 2009 their choice for their next pastor: William Graham Tullian Tchividjian, 36, pastor New City Church (EPC) in Margate, Fla. Tchividjian is a grandson of Billy Graham.

Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for president of the United States, has repeatedly claimed to be a Christian, but there is more evidence disputing that declaration than affirming it according to Dr. Gary Cass, Chairman and CEO of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. Dr. Cass observes, "From his speeches and his writings, even his personal history--despite protestations to the contrary--it appears that Obama's 'Christianity' is carefully constructed to appease traditional American voters."  Americans expect their leaders to embody Judeo-Christian ideals and beliefs, so it is important for Obama to be perceived as a practicing Christian.  Every one of the forty-three United...

All, Mission To The World, the PCA's international ministry, has issued an appeal for funds to aid in the relief of Myanmar cyclone victims. I know that most of us have heard stories about countries and large relief agencies having their hands tied, but God will provide a way for His church to break through manmade barriers. _________________________________________________________________ Horrifying and harrowing stories are emerging in the aftermath of the catastrophic tropical cyclone that devastated much of already poverty-striken Myanmar. Reuters News is reporting as many as one million people left homeless. No one really knows how high the death toll...

A magistrate in Summit County Common Pleas Court has ruled that the property at Hudson Presbyterian Church belongs to the faction of the congregation that voted to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Magistrate John Shoemaker on Friday rejected the argument of the Eastminster Presbytery that all property of the church is held in trust for the denomination as outlined in the PCUSA constitution. - snip - He also said that the presbytery's attorney is filing objections to the magistrate's ruling because it contradicts the denomination's constitution.

"We can change the world." Words said by one of our nation's greatest moral leaders, Dr. D. James Kennedy, who went to his reward in heaven last Wednesday morning and is being honored today in a public funeral in Fort Lauderdale.   I know what you're thinking: "Of course he said that. Look at what he had: a mega ministry, on television every week, spreading the gospel through Evangelism Explosion throughout the globe, a seminary, a school ...." What matters even more is when he said them. He said those words when he was the brand new pastor of Coral...

“Now, I know that someday I am going to come to what some people will say is the end of this life. They will probably put me in a box and roll me right down here in front of the church, and some people will gather around, and a few people will cry. But I have told them not to do that because I don’t want them to cry. I want them to begin the service with the Doxology and end with the Hallelujah chorus, because I am not going to be there, and I am not going to be...

Dr. D. James Kennedy, the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, has retired, his daughter announced from the pulpit of the Fort Lauderdale Church Sunday. He was pastor for 48 years. The announcement capped off months of speculation spun by his absence from the pulpit since December after suffering a brief heart failure. "I formally announce the retirement of Dr. D. James Kennedy as senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church," Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy announced to reactions of quiet gasps among the 1,700 listeners.

Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York was ranked the number one multiplying church in America. Based on a survey sponsored by Leadership Network, Outreach Magazine's 2007 list of the top 25 multiplying churches placed Redeemer on top, Mars Hill Church in Seattle second and NorthWood Church in Keller, Texas, third. All three churches have planted a total of 100 churches since their founding. Since its founding in 1989, Redeemer has swelled to 4,800 worship attendants each week and apportions 15 percent of its budget to church plants. Its pastor, the Rev. Timothy J. Keller, is sought after by pastors around...

Justin Griffin of Columbia started losing his vision as a senior in high school, the same year he professed his faith in the Lord. “My plans for me in high school were to graduate, join the military and become a professional soldier,” he said. “I had no love of God. I had no love of people. “Basically, I was my own God.” A victim of retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary disease of the retina of the eye, Griffin said he didn’t view his failing vision as a curse. “When the blindness came, I looked on it as a blessing,” said the...

Leading officials from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) say a report by a conservative group of Presbyterians "mischaracterizes" the denomination's positions on controversial matters. The PC(USA)’s stated clerk, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, and its General Assembly Council executive director, Linda Valentine, addressed a letter to leaders within the denomination clarifying the church's stance on biblical authority, the singular saving Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the Trinity among other issues. The letter, dated June 12, and an attached document deals with a February strategy report released by the New Wineskins Association of Churches (NWAC) – a network of dissident Presbyterians in the...

Complete Title: 35th PCA GA Approves Recommendations of Federal Vision Study Report MEMPHIS, TENN – The 35TH General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, meeting in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, June 13, approved the recommendations of its Interim Committee on Federal Vision. After the committee made its report, a motion was made to postpone taking action on the recommendations at this GA, to add two new members to the committee, and to direct the committee to include more exegesis of relevant biblical passages in its report. This motion failed. After further debate the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to approve...

The pregnancy-center clinic, with its new ultrasound machine, has been open only since December, but already the staff can count the women who came in considering an abortion and changed their minds: five women converted, six lives saved, they declare, since one was carrying twins. "They connected," nurse Joyce Wilson says, recalling the reaction of the women who saw the filmy image of their fetus onscreen. "They bonded. You could just see it. One girl got off the table and said, 'That's my baby.'" "Another got up," Deborah Wood says, "and said, 'This changes everything.'" Wood is the CEO of...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Rev. D. James Kennedy, the longtime pastor of Fort Lauderdale's Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, was hospitalized after a heart attack. He is listed in serious condition. Church officials said the 76-year-old Kennedy was rushed to a local hospital from his home Thursday evening. They said he is becoming more alert and responsive. Kennedy has been a prominent leader of the national religious right movement. His sermons have appeared on TV on his show, The Coral Ridge Hour, for years. He is one of the most popular religious broadcasters in the country and pastor of one...

The other day I heard a Muslim exclaim in exasperation: “It cannot be that easy, that Christ dies for sinners, and that is it.” He was complaining that the Christian view of salvation seemed too easy. In a sense one can understand his dilemma. At times the Bible seems to declare that salvation is simply a matter of receiving a free gift, and at other times it seems to require such a high standard from us that heaven would seem to be the habitation only of God and His angels. John 3:16 famously tells us that whoever believes in Christ...

(Austin) - UT journalism associate professor Robert Jensen has found himself at the center of many debates. This time, the conflict lies over his religious beliefs and membership in a local church. The Presbyterian church he has been attending since last December was reprimanded Friday for admitting him as a member. St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church was told by the Mission Presbytery, the regional governing body of 157 Presbyterian churches in South and Central Texas, that the acceptance of Jensen into membership was "irregular." Furthermore, it was "void" because Jensen has said in the past he doesn't believe in God. "I...

TRINITY CHAPEL in suburban Atlanta’s Cobb County is hardly the picture of a revolutionary outpost. It’s a stylishly modern Church of God—a denomination that, though conservative, is certainly mainstream. Parishioners are drawn from a community whose average income is a comfortable 35 percent above the national norm, whose tree-lined country roads intersect McMansion subdivisions....Reconstruction—an obscure but increasingly potent theology whose top exponents hold that Christian crusaders must conquer and convert the world, by the sword if necessary, before Jesus will return....Reconstruction has slowly absorbed, congregation by congregation, the conservative Presbyterian Church in America (not to be confused with the progressive...

The issue of homosexuality continues to put pressure on mainline Protestant denominations. Here is a brief recounting of what has happened among some of those churches over recent months: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Delegates to ELCA's 2005 national convention in August angered homosexual activists in the 4.9-million-member denomination when they rejected a proposal to allow the church, under certain circumstances, to ordain homosexuals in long-term, committed relationships. The convention upset conservatives, however, by refusing to vote for a resolution that would remove the ambiguity from the denomination's regulations regarding whether or not a minister could bless same-sex unions....

This is from Rev. Richard Bailey, Assistant Pastor of the Plains Presbyterian Church in Zachary, Louisiana. Our shelter is up and running very well. We can house about fifty folks. Some have come and caught their breath and moved on to family and friends. Others have been with us from the first day. We are working to get them registered with all of the different agencies. There is a LOT more to a shelter than a bed and a meal. Here is what we know from around Southeast Louisiana Presbytery: Desire Street Ministries and Fellowship are flooded. Their website is...

Pastor follows Baptists' lead in presenting resolution to denomination Following the lead of Baptist activists, a Tennessee pastor from the Presbyterian Church in America today is scheduled to introduce a resolution to the denomination's General Assembly to urge members across the nation to pull their children out of public school. As WorldNetDaily reported, a group of Baptists last year presented a resolution to the Southern Baptist Convention that eventually was killed. Noting that "the millions of children in government schools spend seven hours a day, 180 days a year being taught that God is irrelevant to every area of life,"...

PCA Chaplains: Teach Soldiers to Live and Die By Robert J. Tamasy Day after day, distressing news bombards us about Iraq and other parts of the tumultuous Middle East: Hundreds of casualties, including U.S. troops. Insurgents continuing to stir unrest through terror. With this region gripped by such madness, we wonder what God is doing there. In reality, God is working remarkably–often using PCA-ordained and sponsored chaplains as His life-changing instruments. The chaplains’ work is not the stuff of headlines. But they are guiding soldiers to Jesus Christ through their lives as well as their words. They direct worship...

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND—Nineteen years ago in St. Louis, Lee Capper was preparing to graduate from Covenant Theological Seminary. Nicely perched at the top of his class he was eager to accept a quick and prestigious call—perhaps to an established church in a Florida suburb, to an assistant pastorate in a major downtown market, or to a new church plant—one stemming from a thriving congregation and ready to sprout in fertile new ground. Whatever his thoughts at the time, Capper dreamed of a life that bears little...

The Rolling Stone Magazine reversed its decision not to air an advertisement for the Today’s New International Version (TNIV) of the Bible earlier this week, but the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)-affiliated Lifeway Christian Resources has not yet changed its decision to keep the edition out of its 122 bookstores because of the version’s gender-neutral translations. The controversy over the International Bible Society (IBS) and Zondervan Publishing House’s TNIV began in 2002 when initial publishing began. Fundamentals and evangelicals rejected the version’s rendering of male terms like “son” and “father” into the gender neutral “child” and “parent”, respectively. By the year’s...

Among Christian denominations, Presbyterians have a reputation for sobriety and decorum. However, as denominations and churches try to out do one another in the rush to appear the most "authentic" and "with it", that noble reputation might be coming to an end.... the only guilt trip was laid on those daring to retain the traditional Judeo-Christian reluctance to the practice. Throughout, Haack criticizes Christians leery of those branded in this fashion, likening the attitude to racial prejudice. But the last time I checked, the individual has no choice over their race; getting tattooed is a matter of personal volition. Might...

Global Warming Bombshell: A prime piece of evidence linking human activity to climate change turns out to be an artifact of poor mathematics. by Richard Muller (prof physics - University of California, Berkeley) Progress in science is sometimes made by great discoveries. But science also advances when we learn that something we believed to be true isn’t. When solving a jigsaw puzzle, the solution can sometimes be stymied by the fact that a wrong piece has been wedged in a key place. In the scientific and political debate over global warming, the latest wrong piece may be the “hockey stick,” the...

To PCA members and all others willing to help: Our denomination, through the Mission to North America, has a relief presence on the ground in SW Florida. What follows is information from Covenant Life's website and links to MNA's website: As of Aug 18th: (new information below) The Disaster Relief Coordinators have set up shop here at Covenant Life's facility. Ron will lead a team this morning, and Judy will be here in our office doing call-backs and lining up other teams. Eventually they will need food simply to service those who return from helping. Again, we will keep you...

The congregation of First Presbyterian Church in Charleston, Miss., has voted 75-1 to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) and affiliate with the Presbyterian Church in America. The Charleston congregation became the fourth PCUSA church to leave the denomination because of their disagreements with the decisions and statements of denominational leaders and the higher governing bodies. All four congregations – First in Charleston, Circleville in Circleville, N.Y., Rivermont in Lynchburg, Va., and Norcrest in Findlay, Ohio – were affiliated with the Confessing Church Movement within the PCUSA. The Circleville, Lynchburg and Norcrest congregations affiliated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The Presbytery...

It took the Vatican about 72 hours to declare excommunicated Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and the four bishops he consecrated without a papal mandate on June 30, 1988. Whether one agrees with his decision or not, Lefebvre acted for what he thought was the best interest of the faithful, consecrating four bishops to preserve the traditional Mass and sacraments in a time of "diabolical disorientation" in the Church, to recall Sister Lucy’s memorable phrase. Indeed, the Church’s Code of Canon Law exempts from penalties such as excommunication one who acts out of what he believes is necessity, even if his good...

There is one supremely urgent question in life which every person must answer. It was asked by Jesus Himself: "But who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15). It is finally not "What do others say?" but "What do you say?" That alone really counts.On the surface it is admittedly a strange question. Indeed, coming from the lips of anyone but Jesus of Nazareth it would seem absurd. "Who am I?" asked by someone else could not even be taken seriously. "Why, of course, you are a man, a human being, just like all other human beings—who do you...

<p>A Presbyterian activist who may be stripped of his ministerial credentials this month for suggesting church conservatives withhold funds from denominational coffers will speak tomorrow at National Presbyterian Church in Northwest.</p> <p>Parker T. Williamson, 63, the chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, a conservative lobby group that urges Presbyterians to withhold their contributions, is in hot water with a denomination he says has gone soft on homosexuality and abortion.</p>

Holiness is not denying God's truth and living any way we please. PCANews - When I was the pastor of a Dutch-speaking church near The Hague, Holland in the early 1980s there were two issues that were the rage of the day: women’s ordination and homosexuality. Many liberal denominations made points and got lots of press coverage because they ordained women and ostensibly shook off years of encrusted, backward dogma. In addition, practicing male homosexuals were admitted to the Lord's Supper and female homosexuals got “preggy”—they still had to get a male to provide the sperm. Funny how that still...

The Bush administration tells us they might change the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act (PCA), which forbids the military from engaging in domestic law enforcement. They don't want their hands tied if they have to defend the country against a terrorist attack, they explain, and the PCA might get in their way. This is part of their ongoing policy of "putting everything on the table" that might conceivably help eradicate terrorism. In the hunt for the world's evil-doers, they don't want to come up short on power. It's almost touching the way PCA is being discussed in the media, as if...