Randal D. Pinkett (born 1971 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a business consultant who in 2005 was the winner of season four of the reality television show, The Apprentice. Pinkett was the first African American to win the US version of The Apprentice.
Well it just so happens that he is a great believer in God.
It is so encouraging to read about his love for God on his website!
He writes on his Website…
My faith and belief in God have always been a source of strength. First and foremost, I am a child of God – a spiritual being with a physical manifestation, rather than a physical being with a spiritual element. My spirituality permeates my personal relationships, my business interactions, and my volunteer activities. I thank the Lord every day for allowing me to see another day, for the food before me when I eat, and for the people he has brought into my life. In reading Bible scripture on a daily basis, I strive to allow God’s word to be the compass that guides my life.
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News agency Christian Telegraph released a list of Christian ministers who, in our opinion, had most impact on world Christianity in 2009.
1. Rick Warren – newsmaker of the year
Pastor of the famous church in the USA – Saddleback Church, became one of the most important newsmakers in the year of 2009. He led the prayer during President Obama’s inauguration, took stand to protect Christian values in America. His name most often appeared in the news headlines than the names of other Christian ministers.
2. Brian Huston – media person of the year
Senior pastor of the Hillsong church Sydney that has its affiliate churches in capital cities of many other countries received the title of the media person 2009. Pastor Huston and his team began to actively use social Internet services in their ministry. The new worship album of Hillsong United jumped to top positions of the world charts and became the leader of downloads on the Internet. Also a major presentation of Hillsong TV-project The I Heart Revolution: We’re All In This Together was held in Sydney this year.
3. Rick Joyner – teacher of the year
The head of the MorningStar Ministries took the role of referee and spiritual mentor of Todd Bentley, who left the ministry in 2008 after the scandal following the divorce with his first wife. In the video interview Rick Joyner took with Todd and his new wife, he tried to show the root of the problem that happened with the young minister and to teach other Christians to escape such problems in the future.
TD Jakes Writes…
For years I’ve been telling you to Get ready…Get ready… Get ready. Now, it’s time to Be Ready! We’re entering the year 2010 and I am very excited about what God is about to do. The most important thing I want to stress for the New Year is “Strategy.” If you’re planning to use the struggle and adversity from 2009 to propel you forward in 2010, I believe you will be blessed!
The Bible says “write the vision and make it plain” (Hab 2:2). I’m encouraging the church and believers to get a strategy in place for 2010 by participating in the “My 2010 Plan” Campaign.
Consider sowing a special seed and over the next 365 days, let’s work together to set in place systems, order and structure for the entire year. To equip you with a few tools to help get your plan in place, we created a special web site: www.my2010Plan.org.
The year 2010 is not just a date, but looking back at 2009 and the worldwide recession gives us an indication of what is to come. Whenever God pulls back a bow, the arrow is going to go further than it’s ever gone before! I believe the year 2010 is going to be that turning point. God promises to restore the years that the cankerworm, palmer worm, and the locust have eaten.
In 2009, these vermin ate into resources – retirement, homes and finances. But our God has declared that the coming year will be the time of restoration and renewal. But you have to be prepared! I can’t stress that enough.
Start right now preparing your strategy and plan for 2010. Write your goals, work your plan and get ready to sow your seeds in expectation of a double portion harvest! I’m believing God for a double portion, not just financially, but of wisdom, faith, inspiration and the most important thing, a “Strategy.” Remember, what you plan for is what you are going to get!
“Are You Listening” is available for purchase at www.verityrecords.com right now. The single will be available next week on iTunes, Wal-Mart and other major retailers. It’s only a $1.29, please support this amazing single.
Article Source: gospelconnoisseur.com
Pat Robertson, the American Christian televangelist and host of “The 700 Club,” said that Haitians need to have a “great turning to god” while he was reporting on the devastating 7.0 earthquake that shook the island nation – the most powerful to hit the country in a century.
As Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said “well over” 100,000 people may have died in the natural disaster, Robertson took to the airwaves Wednesday on his show and said that the country has been “cursed by one thing after another” since they “swore a pact to the devil.”
“Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about,” Robertson said Tuesday.
“They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said ‘We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.’ True story. And so the devil said, ‘Ok it’s a deal.’ And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another,” Robertson said.
Pastor Rick Warren is the Senior Pastor Megachurch Saddleback in California and the author of the best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life. Last Wednesday Rick Warren posted a blog on the church’s website appealing to his congregants for $900,000 as there was a shortfall in the offering. The blog was as follows:
“Dear Saddleback Family,
THIS IS AN URGENT LETTER unlike any I’ve written in 30 years. Please read all of it and get back to me in the next 48 hours. I have thrilling news to share with you below but first some seriously bad news:
With 10% of our church family out of work due to the recession, our expenses in caring for our community in 2009 rose dramatically while our income stagnated. Still, with wise management, we’ve stayed close to our budget all year. Then… this last weekend the bottom dropped out. On the last weekend of 2009, our total offerings were less than half of what we normally receive – leaving us $900,000 in the red for the year, unless you help make up the difference today and tomorrow.
In a video message, Bishop TD jakes, senior pastor of The Potter’s House in Dallas said he expects 2010 to be a year of “double portion.”
Considering the global economic slump that many have suffered through over the past year or so, Jakes sees light at the end of a tunnel.
“The Bible is not mystical about loss. It’s just the modern day teachers that we have today that led us down the wrong path to thinking that there would be no challenges,” he noted. “The Bible has always been clear that there would be looses. But He promised to restore the years [of] cankerworms.”
Alluding to a biblical passage in the Old Testament book of Joel, Jakes called 2009 a year when cankerworms, palmerworms and locusts ate into people’s resources, retirements and homes. But just as Joel prophesied in the Bible, Jakes believes God will restore in the new year what was taken away.
“When you look at 2010, I believe it is time for us … to look at the fact that we have been through enough things, been through enough turmoil that now we’re ready to move to the next level,” he declared in the video message, while noting that 20 is “10 carried into a double dimension. Whenever God pulls back a bow, the arrow is going to go further than it’s ever gone before. I believe that the turning point is going to be 2010.
The Vatican will review security procedures after a woman jumped a barrier and rushed at Pope Benedict XVI for the second time in two years, this time managing to knock him down before being pulled away by guards, the Vatican spokesman said Friday.
Benedict, 82, wasn’t hurt and delivered his traditional Christmas Day greetings in 65 languages from the loggia overlooking St. Peter’s Square. While a bit unsteady at first, he also delivered a short speech about the world’s trouble spots without problem.
The incident in St. Peter’s Basilica raised fresh questions about security for the pontiff, however, after officials said the woman involved had jumped the barrier at the 2008 Midnight Mass in a failed bid to get to the pope. She even wore the same red-hooded sweat shirt.
A former national leader of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan will be conducting evangelism campaigns and engaging in the ministry of racial reconciliation as an ordained minister in the largest body of black churchgoers in America.
Johnny Lee Clary, 50, was ordained last month to serve within the six-million-member Church of God in Christ and hopes to educate people on the destructiveness of division and inequality.
“When the day comes for me to make my journey home, I hope to be remembered not as the former National Leader Of the Klan, but as a man who saw wrong and tried to right it, to build a better world to leave for our children, both black and white,” Clary says.
Though the historically black denomination has a few white ministers, Bishop George D. McKinney, who ordained Clary last month, told the Tulsa World “it’s not every day that we get a former klansman.”
“We’re making history,” added Clary, who currently lives in Miami, Okla.
“We’re building a bridge of racial reconciliation, and what better way to do that than with a former KKK leader ministering in a black church that boasts over 6 million members?” he told the Oklahoman.
“I hope I can have a great impact.”
Clary had joined the KKK at the age of 14 after his father committed suicide and his mother abandoned him. And for 16 years, Clary advanced in the white supremacist organization, all the way up to becoming an imperial wizard.
Johnny and Melissa Clary
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. St. John 14:6 KJV
Excelsis Fine Fragrances of San Rafael, California announced today that its flagship fragrance, The Pope’s Cologne, will soon be available in the United Kingdom.
The first shipment is now on its way to Cenacle Catholic Books and Gifts. Cenacle provides an extensive selection of Roman Catholic liturgical supplies, gift items and books which it ships worldwide via its website.
The Pope’s Cologne is an aristocratic, Old World cologne made from the private formula of Pope Pius IX (1792-1878). It has been described as “a fresh, new fragrance from the past with notes of violet and citrus.”
It is offered in a handsome two ounce, embossed flacon with a fine mist pump spray and gift-worthy carton. Sold worldwide, it has been featured on The CBS Sun.
Cenacle House is located in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, WN8 6SR, UK. Its owners are Moray and Catherine Ness.
From his home in Montreat, NC, Billy Graham released this statement following the death of Oral Roberts:
“Oral Roberts was a man of God, and a great friend in ministry. I loved him as a brother. We had many quiet conversations over the years. I invited Oral to speak at one of our early international conferences on evangelism held in Berlin in the 1960s.
“Oral was preceded in death by his wonderful wife Evelyn, who I also knew and loved. She was a woman of God, and a powerful prayer warrior.
“Just three weeks ago, I was privileged to talk to Oral over the telephone. During the short conversation, he said to me that he was near the end of his life’s journey. I look forward to the day that I will see Oral and Evelyn Roberts again in Heaven–our eternal home.”
Franklin Graham, President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, had this to say:
“Oral Roberts was loved and admired by millions of people around the world. I always appreciated the times when he went out of his way to befriend me. He invited me to speak at Oral Roberts University when I was just starting my ministry and was an encouragement to me.
“I thank God for his friendship and Godly example and his faithfulness in ministry. He will be greatly missed. Our love and condolences go to Richard and Roberta and their families.”
A public memorial service to honor evangelist Oral Roberts, founder of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (OREA) and Oral Roberts University (ORU), who died has been scheduled for Monday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. at the Mabee Center on the campus of ORU, 7777 South Lewis, at the corner of 81st St. and Lewis Ave., Tulsa.
The Roberts family has invited the public to join them in honoring the life and memory of their beloved father and grandfather. They recognize he is a great part of the Tulsa community, and many who have been impacted by his ministry will want to pay their respects at this event.
Special parking and seating areas will be reserved for family members and invited guests, while general public parking will be in Lots B, C, D and E. Both North and South main entrances will be open for public access. Doors will open at 1p.m.
For those not able to attend the memorial service in person, it will be broadcast live on television on local channel 53 KGEB-TV, and on Golden Eagle Broadcasting carried on satellite and cable. Specific details are available online at www.goldeneagle.tv. The service will also be webcast live at the same address.
Arrangements have been made for the public to send condolences and reflect on Oral Roberts’ life online at www.oralroberts.com.
Archive Article: Christian Today
Rev Les Isaac, founder of Street Pastors,
Black Christians across the denominational spectrum have been told they must play a greater role in stemming youth killings and violence and bringing peace in their communities,
The call comes from Rev Les Isaac, founder of Street Pastors, the initiative set up five years ago to combat gangs, drugs, guns and anti-social behaviour in inner cities.
He commented, “I was inspired to set up Street Pastors five years ago following the shooting of four teenage girls outside a hairdressers in Aston, Birmingham on New Years Day in 2003, because I strongly believed that having trained Christians patrolling the streets late at night who provided prayer, support and protection to young people would play a part in stemming youth violence and it has.”
“Our Street Pastors have stopped fights, gang wars, advised and prayed with young people who want to leave behind their life of crime, as well as provided support, assistance and a listening ear to members of the public who just want to speak to someone.”
He continued, “There have already been over 11 youth murders in London this year and Black Christians concerned about the violent behaviour of our youth should consider becoming Street Pastors.
“We also need believers of all races and cultures to ask God what role they can play to help combat the epidemic of violence that is greatly impacting the lives of young people.”
Women in Christian leadership are being invited by Tearfund to take part in a trip to Malawi next year (February 2010), to spend time with women affected by poverty and HIV.
The trip will include visits to local churches which are reaching out to people in their communities who are affected by HIV, as well as opportunities to stay with a family in a community overnight and shadow them during the day.
‘We know that poverty always disproportionately affects women, and that they are very involved in caring for others and in finding practical solutions to issues in their communities,’ says Yioula Taliadorou, Church Relationship Manager at Tearfund.
‘I know that the women who come on this trip will return challenged, humbled and inspired to share their passion for justice and tackling poverty with their families and churches.’
During the trip, there will be opportunities for the team to work alongside local families and churches and to pray with and for them, as part of Tearfund’s Connected Church programme which helps UK churches to partner with churches in the poorest parts of the world.
Scottish singer and songwriter Yvonne Lyon, who went to Cambodia with Tearfund on a similar trip earlier this year, said: ‘I fell in love with the way church does things. There was an emphasis on the spiritual and education combined. ‘For example, we met a teenage HIV support group and I saw groups of women and children in the village learning about health. I wasn’t expecting to see something so practical which was obviously restoring respect and dignity. I felt really proud and I believe in what Tearfund does.’
The trip runs from 22 February to 5 March and costs £850 plus flight costs.
For information call 0208 943 7868 or www.tearfund.org/News
That’s the dilemma facing leaders of the United Methodist Church, and it may bring the long-standing practice of guaranteed jobs for pastors to an end.
Since the 1950s, United Methodists and their ministers have had a deal: Ministers went where they were assigned, even if it meant leaving a church they loved, and the denomination guaranteed ministers they would always have a job.
“It’s kind of a sacred trust,” said the Rev. Ann Moman, associate general secretary at the Nashville-based Methodist General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
But shrinking membership and budgets may make that system unsustainable. Methodist bishops and two denominational committees want to end job security for ministers, known as guaranteed appointment.
“There’s a good deal of momentum towards doing away with guaranteed appointment,” said Lovett Weems, who runs the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
Membership Declines
Job security for Methodist ministers dates to 1956. At that time, Methodists had begun ordaining women pastors, but at least one bishop refused to appoint them to churches. African-American pastors ran into similar problems.
“It started as a restriction to the power of bishops,” Weems said. “A few years later, it became a right of clergy.”
But as membership has dropped, so has the number of churches able to afford pastors. In 1960, United Methodists claimed about 10.8 million members. Today, membership is at 7.8 million. Average Sunday attendance is about 95 people. And half of Methodist churches draw 50 or fewer people to Sunday services.
The Methodist job guarantees apply only to full-time ordained clergy, known as elders in full connection. Weems said that a church needs about 125 people to support a full-time minister. In some cases, elders serve two or more churches at a time. Many churches are served by part-time or local pastors who have no job security.
Article Source: www.tennessean.com
