Cleveland, TN–The Church of God General Advisory Council met with members of the International Executive Committee (IEC) on Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at the International Offices.

The new film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood celebrates TV’s famous Mister Rogers by looking at how his Christian kindness impacted the life of a cynical journalist who was assigned to write about him. In one scene, Fred Rogers (played by Tom Hanks) is shown kneeling by his bed, praying with a note pad and mentioning the journalist by name.

Does Genesis actually connect to Revelation in a way that’s meaningful to today’s Christian? Author Lauren Reeves gives a definite yes to that, and in her book Forgotten Faith, she takes the reader on the journey that ties the first book of the Bible to the last—and shows how both provide a reason for hope and are relevant to today . . . and to tomorrow.

Cleveland, TN–A special Christmas-themed chapel service will be taking place live from the Church of God International Offices on Wednesday, December 4. The 10:30 am EST start of the holiday chapel service will originate from the Leadership and Communications Center.

Aiming to provide vital medical help for hundreds of thousands of traumatized, but courageous and resilient victims of Sudan’s “hidden” war, U.S.-based nonprofit organization African Mission Healthcare (AMH, www.africanmissionhealthcare.org) launched a new campaign today-“Nuba 2020”- (www.Nuba2020.com) to coincide with Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3.

Prison Fellowship International (PFI)–the largest and most extensive association of Christian ministries working in the criminal justice field–announced the Global Capacity Initiative, a new program to provide capacity building support to underperforming Prison Fellowship ministries.

Church of God Youth and Discipleship is preparing for another season of Winterfest gatherings. This year the nine events begin next month and will be highlighted by the 20th anniversary of Smoky Mountain Winterfest being staged at Thompson-Boling Arena on March 13-15, 2020.

If the title of this blog ignited fear or anxiety in your heart, I’d like to propose that not all supernatural experiences or practices hail from the kingdom of darkness. In fact, the truth is that many spiritual encounters or expressions that are demonstrated in darkness are often a perversion of something created by God! I’m concerned that in an effort to not be deceived, some Christians take things that are spiritually powerful or supernatural and assign them to the New Age movement! Consequently, what’s left is a passive, paralyzed and powerless church.

Atheists are at it again, in Knox County, KY this time, trying to prevent the exercise of free speech if it involves Christian viewpoint. In October, the school district allowed the launch of a pilot “Bible Release Time” program operated in partnership with Elgin Children’s Foundation (ECF) and a local church. Many similar programs run throughout the state—a class for religious instruction allowed by Tennessee law following these requirements: 1) Children must have a signed parental request; 2) It must be off school property; 3) Government funds cannot be used. On Halloween night, a local atheistic group enacted a deceptive ploy to scare school boards and parents, similar to when after-school Good News Clubs have been launched by Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF).