Here’s a quick rundown of the top stories on charismamag.com:
Don’t Let Satan’s Mind Games Discourage You
Many of my friends are walking through tough circumstances right now. One man’s business has failed. Another man is experiencing chronic pain, and doctors can’t find a medical solution. Another is battling an addiction. One married couple I know is struggling with infertility. And several friends are feeling they have failed as parents because their adult children have walked away from God.
Meanwhile even many pastors are experiencing discouragement. Some of my pastor friends have even been thinking of leaving the ministry because they feel like failures.
My message to them is blunt: “Don’t even think about quitting!” If a cloud of heaviness has settled over you recently, don’t let this stop you from fulfilling your mission. Take these steps to regain your strength:
Vineyard Senior Pastor Faces ‘Historic’ Spiritual Abuse Charges
Causeway Coast Vineyard officials have responded to allegations that its senior pastor, Alan Scott, has committed “historic” spiritual abuse toward the church’s staff and congregation.
Last month, The Roys Report released a story that former Vineyard staff accused Scott of “abuse, manipulation and lies” since taking over the leadership of the church in 2020.
Former Causeway Coast (then Anaheim Vineyard) College Pastor Cynthia Andrews told The Roys Report that Scott, with church attendance plummeting, had allegedly “instituted salvation quotas for staff with spreadsheets recording how many people key staff had led to Christ.”
Street Preacher Unjustly Arrested at Pride Rally While Quoting Bible Verse
Damon Atkins strolled up to Reading, Pennsylvania’s “first ever” pride rally wielding a sign, a Bible and his faith. Less than one minute after joining a smattering of other Christians expressing their views, Atkins found himself getting hauled off in cuffs and charged with criminal disorderly conduct.
The shocking encounter was captured on video by local resident Matthew Wear, who said he wasn’t aware of the rally and only got out of his car in order to “provide encouragement” to the other Christians in attendance. Wear told CBN News he “preached for about 10 minutes across the street” when an officer aggressively approached him, laid his finger on him and said “if you don’t stop shouting insults across the street I will arrest you on the spot.” Wear’s immediate reaction to the officer’s threat was that he “was a tyrant” and “meant business.”
A few moments later, Atkins showed up and briefly interacted with the same officer. He tried to quote 1 Corinthians but was unable to finish before the arrest was made.
