A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The pastor of a California church says his congregation has plans to open a restaurant and brewery and then use the proceeds for Planned Parenthood and other charities.

The congregation, Greater Purpose Community Church in Santa Cruz, Calif., already combines worship services with beer on tap at its current location. But it is planning on opening Greater Purpose Brewing Company in a former bookstore building in 2019, according to the local Good Times newspaper. Worship services will be held at the location on Sunday mornings.

“We hope to be an absolute conundrum for people walking by,” Christopher VanHall, the pastor of Greater Purpose Church, told Good Times. “A church that serves beer and gives the profits away to places like Planned Parenthood is really exciting to me.”

For many churches in America, a church that brews beer and donates money to Planned Parenthood – the nation’s largest abortion provider – is a double whammy. But not for VanHall, who believes a “woman’s right to choose is something most churches are silent on or opposed to, but that’s not where we stand in the faith community.” [ Source: Christian Headlines (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a Khartoum-based court has ordered the authorities to immediately surrender church property belonging to the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC). Authorities confiscated the property on February 11, 2018 when the church was demolished.

“The presiding judge today ruled that we should receive back our furniture, Bibles, sound system, stationery, and other items although the demolition case is still pending determination,” said Reverend Yahiya Abdurrahman Nalu. “We see this as a great step towards justice which has remained elusive for a long time, and we hope they will deliver our items soon and in good shape.”

The church was demolished in February when government agents claimed that it was built on public land. “Our appeal is about why the government brought down the church building that was put up in 1989 on a piece of land sold to us by a local person. Other buildings lying in the same stretch as our church were spared during the demolishing because they belong to Muslims. It is this partial application of the rule of law that agitates us,” Reverend Yahiya expressed. [ Source: Persecution.Org (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Amid what North Korea calls a “deadlock” in denuclearization talks, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Pyongyang next week, with the new Special Representative for North Korea, Steve Biegun, in tow.

This will be Pompeo’s fourth trip to Pyongyang, his third as the top U.S. diplomat. But it comes after North Korea said talks have been ‘derailed’ after the U.S. demanded the country reveal its secret nuclear facilities — which North Korea called “a fiction.” A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on private diplomatic conversations.

Pompeo announced Thursday that Biegun will direct U.S. policy on North Korea, handle the day-to-day negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea, and be the point person for other countries in the region. [ Source: ABC News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Trade talks between the U.S. and China failed to produce any visible sign of progress, reducing the prospects of a deal soon, people closely tracking the talks said.

The two sides largely repeated talking points during the discussions, these people said. The Chinese side seemed unready to offer new ways to address the Trump administration’s concerns that the bilateral trade deficit was too steep and that Beijing was coercing U.S. companies into transferring technology to Chinese partners, they said.

The two sides “exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance, and reciprocity in the economic relationship, including by addressing structural issues in China,” the White House said, adding that the U.S. side would brief more-senior officials on the results. [ Source: Market Watch (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Israel is not giving up trying to gain US recognition of its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

US National Security Advisor John Bolton said in a Reuters interview a day earlier that the Trump administration is not discussing possible US recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the strategic plateau.

“I’ve heard the idea being suggested but there’s no discussion of it, no decision within the US government,” he said. “Obviously we understand the Israeli claim that it has annexed the Golan Heights – we understand their position – but there’s no change in the US position for now.” [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Hurricane Lane continued to hammer Hawaii with torrential rainfall, strong winds and high surf on Thursday.

Nearly 20 inches of rain fell in 24 hours on the Big Island of Hawaii, which was the first to feel the impacts of the storm. As of Thursday evening, there were no reports of wind damage.

Officials activated emergency siren systems on Honolulu and Oahu Thursday afternoon because of the hurricane warnings. [ Source: Weather (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Senate passed its version of a $675 billion appropriations bill Thursday to fund the Pentagon in fiscal 2019, setting up negotiations with the House on a final spending plan.

The proposal represents the biggest hike in defense funding in about 15 years, but now must be reconciled by a conference committee with a similar $675 billion bill passed by the House in June. The Senate bill was passed as part of a minibus appropriations bill that included the departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services.

Congress has about a month to negotiate a final compromise on appropriations, vote on it and send it to President Trump for his signature before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The United Nations has run out of funding to pay for fuel needed for hospitals, water plants and other critical facilities in the Gaza Strip, the UN political chief said Wednesday.

Rosemary Di Carlo also told the Security Council that recent violent escalations between Israel and Palestinian terror groups “threatened to plunge Gaza into war.”

The Security Council held its monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the United Nations was working with Egypt to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and halt the violence. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Republican leaders in the Senate stepped in Wednesday to block Sen. Rand Paul’s latest effort to defund Planned Parenthood, an issue popular with the GOP base that some say could help energize voters for the midterm elections.

The Kentucky senator late last week signaled that he would offer an amendment to the appropriations bill funding the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, the relevant legislative vehicle for the Planned Parenthood funding ban. Supporters said that it would need just a majority to win.

Late Wednesday, Paul moved to add his amendment to an opening on a so-called “amendment tree” which has limited spaces for pending amendments. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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