Northland’s connection to Houma is a virtual one. The church is partnering with one of its online congregants, [...]]]> LONGWOOD, Fla. /PRNewswire/ — This weekend, Northland, A Church Distributed will host a backpack drive to collect school supplies for families in need in Central Florida, as well as those affected by the oil spill in Houma, La.

Northland’s connection to Houma is a virtual one. The church is partnering with one of its online congregants, Terri Goulette, who worships with 2,000 others from around the world each weekend via interactive webstream.

Goulette, who lives in an area that has been severely affected by the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, wanted to do something to help the families who lost their livelihood as a result of the spill. One morning she awoke with an idea: backpack drive. Remembering Northland’s annual school drive, she invited her church family in Florida to join her in gathering 1,000 backpacks and school supplies for the children of commercial fishermen, shrimpers, oystermen, truck drivers, ice factory workers and others.

“They were expecting a plentiful season this year, but just two weeks before the fishing season opened, the oil spill happened,” Goulette explains. “It has been very hard riding down the bayous and seeing all the shrimp boats and oyster boats just lined up when they should be harvesting seafood.”

While there is a great need for back-to-school supplies in Houma, there are thousands of homeless children in Central Florida who cannot afford back-to-school supplies. To help meet this need, Northland’s backpack drive will also benefit several local organizations:

– A Gift for Teaching, an organization that works within Seminole County
Public Schools to provide kids and teachers with supplies throughout
the entire year
– Christian HELP, which provides for the vocational, material and
spiritual needs of those who are unemployed
– Harvest Time, a hunger and disaster relief organization meeting the
needs of families

Backpacks are needed for grade school, middle school and high school students. Individuals may choose to fill a backpack with supplies, or just donate supplies or backpacks. Donations can be dropped off at Northland’s Welcome Center in Longwood through Aug. 2.

ABOUT NORTHLAND

Northland, A Church Distributed (http://www.northlandchurch.net/) is a pioneering congregation of 12,000 led by senior pastor Dr. Joel C. Hunter. Focused on building an international community of worshipers, the church connects thousands of believers worldwide, using live, interactive weekly worship streaming through the Web, Facebook, iPhone and other environments. Northland has several sites throughout Central Florida, as well many house churches and partner ministries around the globe.

Faith Comes By Hearing, a non-profit Audio Bible organization, recently released this free Bible app to the App Store.

The Bible.is for iPhone app’s major features include: – Listening and reading together – Dramatized audio with [...]]]> ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Read, listen to and share the Bible with your friends and family through the Bible.is iPhone app.

Faith Comes By Hearing, a non-profit Audio Bible organization, recently released this free Bible app to the App Store.

The Bible.is for iPhone app’s major features include:
– Listening and reading together
– Dramatized audio with 180 characters, music and sound effects
– Audio New Testaments with full text in 37 languages and 63 versions
– Simple verse sharing on Facebook
– Complete Bible in English (Old and New Testaments)

“There are many free Bible apps out there, but this is the first that allows you to read and listen to your favorite Scripture together,” said Troy Carl, Faith Comes By Hearing’s national director. “You can also bookmark, highlight, and add notes to verses just like in a print Bible.”

“This app was designed to provide a quality Bible experience,” added Carl. “The Scripture is crisp and clear for easy reading with simple audio controls. There’s also a 40-day listening program that guides you through the entire New Testament in just 28 minutes a day.”

Future updates to these mobile apps will deliver the Bible in audio and text in hundreds of languages. Faith Comes By Hearing currently has the audio New Testament in more than 450 languages with a goal of recording the Bible in 2,000 languages.

The Bible.is suite of applications puts the Bible at your fingertips, anytime, anywhere in the world in audio, text and multiple languages. This free iPhone app is the first in a series of app releases designed through the Digital Bible Project, the world’s largest active collection of digital Scripture made freely available to individuals, organizations, developers and programmers. Free Bible.is apps for Android, Blackberry and iPad are also being developed and tested for future release.

The Bible.is app is available for free from the App Store or at www.itunes.com/appstore. Learn more about the Bible.is suite of applications at www.Bible.is.

About Faith Comes By Hearing

For more than 35 years, Faith Comes By Hearing has been standing with poor and illiterate people of the world to provide them with Audio Scripture in their own language. From mobile and online technologies to solar-powered Audio Bibles, Faith Comes By Hearing continues to innovate and invite people to hear God’s Word for themselves.

Launched in [...]]]> LOS ANGELES /Christian Newswire/ — Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the world’s largest religious broadcaster and America’s most watched and requested faith channel, is pleased to announce that the Church Channel, its 24-hour network featuring church and religious programming from a wide variety of denominations and ministries, is now available on DISH Network, channel 258.

Launched in 2002 in response to viewer demand that has made worship and church services one of the most popular program categories on faith-based television, the Church Channel reaches over 43 million households nationwide.

With its addition to the DISH Network lineup, the Church Channel is now available on many major satellite and cable services, including DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, Verizon Fios, and Sky Angel, as well as in selected markets on Comcast and Charter Cable. In addition, the network is carried internationally via 87 satellite transponders.

Paul Crouch Jr., TBN’s Chief of Staff, recalled that the idea for a network dedicated to church programming was born when TBN executives realized that church services are among the most popular and highly rated programs on television.

Christian researcher George Barna discovered that up to one-third of Americans were not making church attendance a regular priority, and that number was growing each year. His research also found that millions
of Americans were turning to Christian media as their primary source for spiritual input, a statistic that provided momentum for the launch of a network devoted to broadcasting worship services.

“Along with this viewer need, we were also aware that a lot of dynamic churches and ministries were producing top quality programs,” said Crouch. “We launched the Church Channel to tap into those resources and to provide a powerful new avenue to help viewers cultivate a relevant, meaningful worship lifestyle.”

Today the Church Chanel features ministry programs from the nation’s most influential and popular spiritual leaders, along with the best programming from America’s Mainline, Evangelical, Charismatic, and Catholic denominations and churches.

Rod Henke, program director for the Church Channel, noted that no religious network features a wider variety of church service and religious programming than the Church Channel. “We’ve taken care to select the very best of what is being produced in church programming today,” he said, “and we feature prominent and favorite church leaders more often and at more convenient times throughout the week.”

Henke noted that with its launch on DISH Network, the Church Channel takes its place as one of the most popular and uplifting faith channels available on satellite and cable television. “Think about it! Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, viewers in more than 43 million households across America have unlimited access to the very best in church and ministry programming. In today’s market, we think that’s a big plus.”

About Trinity Broadcasting Network
Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is the world’s largest religious network
and America’s most watched and requested faith channel. Each day TBN offers 24 hours of commercial-free inspirational programming that appeals to viewers from a wide variety of denominations and backgrounds. Beginning in 1973 as a single UHF station in southern California, TBN now reaches every major continent via 78 satellites and more than 18,000 television and cable affiliates worldwide. In the United States, TBN is available to 92 percent of the total households. Its website receives millions of visitors monthly. In addition to TBN, the network owns and operates seven networks, including the Church Channel, JCTV youth network, TBN Enlace USA Spanish language network, and Smile of a Child children’s network. For more information on TBN, visit www.tbn.org and www.tbnnetworks.com.

Nearly 1,000 citizens from all 50 states signed the free petition on [...]]]> RALEIGH, N.C. /Christian Newswire/ — The Pray In Jesus Name Project is faxing more than 140,000 petitions to the North Carolina State-House, demanding legislators reverse Speaker Joe Hackney’s ban against the forbidden word “Jesus” during public prayers spoken by volunteer pastors giving the invocation.

Nearly 1,000 citizens from all 50 states signed the free petition on the first day, which was then faxed to each of 120 North Carolina State Representatives and all 50 Senators.

On May 31, Speaker Hackney verbally banned Jesus’ name as “illegal speech” by disinviting Pastor Ron Baity from praying before the legislature after pre-screening the prayer content and objecting to his closing words, “in Jesus name.” No written policy exists banning prayer content, but the Speaker is now writing one.

“I got fired,” said Ron Baity, pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. He had been invited to lead prayer for an entire week but his tenure was cut short when he refused to remove the name Jesus from his invocation.

“Our petition campaigns have helped reverse Jesus-bans in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, Oregon, California and Virginia, and now we fight for free religious speech in North Carolina,” said former Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt, leader of The Pray in Jesus Name Project. Klingenschmitt himself was punished for praying “in Jesus name” in uniform in 2006, but was later vindicated by the U.S. Congress. “Pastor Baity is a hero for refusing to water-down his prayers,” he said.

Despite deceptive claims by the ACLU’s easily-offended atheist complainers, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals specifically authorized legislatures to allow Jesus-prayers in Turner v. Fredericksburg, when Justice O’Connor wrote: “the Establishment Clause does not absolutely dictate the form of legislative prayer. In March, the legislature employed a single chaplain…the legislature in Simpson allowed a diverse group of church leaders from around the community to give prayers at open meetings. Both varieties of legislative prayer were found constitutional.”

Concerned citizens are encouraged to sign the free petition at prayinjesusname.org and tweet these words on Facebook and Twitter:

Speaker of the House Bans “Jesus” as illegal speech during prayers, fires Pastor. Sign free petition! http://tinyurl.com/illegaljesus

He attributed decline [...]]]> WASHINGTON /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Tennis star Cliff Richey — the number one ranked professional tennis player in the United States in 1970 who won 45 tournament titles over a 26-year career — sees tennis having a “resurgence” in the next five years, rebounding from loss of television profile relative to the PGA golf tour.

He attributed decline to lack of investment in promotion by the USTA. The sport has improved because of technological advances in equipment, better training and stronger athletes — but “serving is still not as good as it could be” and “not a lot of strategy” is being played.

Richey’s prediction came during a talk at the annual convention of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

“I know two things. I know tennis. I know depression.” Richey said, discussing his recent book, Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match.

He had “addictive highs” while improving his tennis skills, he said, but “When you reach highs, you always come down.”

During his worst depression in the 1990s, Richey was immobilized; he covered his windows with black trash bags, couldn’t sleep, and couldn’t drive a car. He credits his recovery to a “three-legged stool” of medication, cognitive therapy and a healthy lifestyle.

“Losses and stress” trigger depression, including those affecting the competitiveness of athletes. “If I lost a stroke or a swing it was almost traumatic,” he said. Financial or family issues also are triggers.

He outlined a “tool kit” for fighting depressive episodes: accept the “gray zone” in which “a mediocre day is okay”; accept “default” days and simply say “It’s over, it’s done”; and avoid “self absorption” that’s a symptom of depression .

“Focus on someone else. Do unto others.”

Richey has a strong Christian faith . He welcomes debate with others in the Christian community who see religion over medication as the remedy for depression.

“God created physicians,” said an audience member.

“I am not pushing medication,” he said. “I tell people: Go talk to your doctor. But I know what it’s done for me.”

“I’d tell it to God’s face.”

Martin, a nationally-recognized escape artist turned evangelist, has announced plans to attempt a “Leap of Faith,” in Ottawa, Ill., July 13, at 2 p.m. Martin will be handcuffed by an area locksmith before donning [...]]]> OTTAWA, Ill. /PRNewswire/ — What do the Bible, a parachute and a pair of handcuffs have in common? Escape Artist Anthony Martin…

Martin, a nationally-recognized escape artist turned evangelist, has announced plans to attempt a “Leap of Faith,” in Ottawa, Ill., July 13, at 2 p.m. Martin will be handcuffed by an area locksmith before donning a parachute and leaping from an aircraft at 14,000 feet. He will have to free his hands in order to deploy the parachute and save his life. Martin, 44, an escape artist who has been featured four times in Ripley’s Believe It or Not, has reserved July 14 as a rain date should weather conditions prohibit the attempt.

The handcuffs for the escape attempt will be supplied by a Joliet locksmith and verified to be legitimate and unaltered before the leap. The escape is being made possible by the sponsorship of Skydive Chicago, which will both prepare Martin and film the attempt at its skydiving facility located at 3215 E 1969th Road in Ottawa, Ill.

The film of the stunt will be shown at Martin’s evangelistic outreaches.

Aerial escapes have been a signature stunt for Martin, who has escaped from a locked box thrown from an airplane as well as a similar handcuffed jump over the Snake River Canyon for the Discovery Channel.

Martin, a Christian since childhood, has been using his unusual talents to evangelize and promote his Christian beliefs for the past 12 years. Ambassador In Chains Ministries, founded by Martin, was launched in 1998 as a resource for local churches. Details of the ministry are available on his website at www.anthony-escapes.com. Martin said he uses his escapes as a metaphor for escaping eternal death through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

For the moment, Martin will be preoccupied with the prospect of temporal death while he plummets to the Earth at 180 miles per hour. Martin estimates his body position and altitude at the time of the jump should give him between 40 and 50 seconds to free himself if he is to survive.

For more information please visit these helpful websites: www.anthony-escapes.com or www.skydivechicago.com.