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Pastor John Carlson prayed for them and God delivered on his prayers. A healthy baby. A negative HIV test. A winning lottery ticket. The senior pastor at the Christian Prayer Center (CPC) saved homes from foreclosure and put cancer into remission.
Except, of course, he didn’t.
The online prayer service was a fake, the creation of a Seattle businessman who was shut down this week by the Washington state attorney general’s office after bilking 125,000 people across the country out of more than $7m.
Benjamin Rogovy was ordered to stop what the attorney general, Bob Ferguson, called “unfair and deceptive business practices” and repay the money he took from unwitting customers along with attorney costs, court fees and $1m in civil penalties if he does not comply with the order.
“I believe in the power of prayer,” Ferguson said in a statement. “What I do not believe in and what I will not tolerate is unlawful businesses that prey upon people – taking advantage of their faith or their need for help – in order to make a quick buck.”
Rogovy’s websites – christianprayercenter.com and oracioncristiana.org – offered to pray for desperate English and Spanish speakers if they paid between $9 and $35 for the service. He created fake ministers who would assist with religious ceremonies and were available for consultation. The CPC also used the name “Pastor Eric Johnson”; according to the attorney general’s office neither Pastor Johnson nor Pastor Carlson exist.
In addition, Rogovy locked his hapless victims into recurring monthly payments through a “deliberately confusing website”.
“The AGO investigation found that once consumers submitted and paid for a prayer request, they were directed to a Web page that gave them the option to receive ‘continued blessings’,” Ferguson’s statement said. “Between 2011 and 2015, CPC collected more than $7 million from 125,000 consumers nationwide. Some of these consumers were charged repeatedly, resulting in a total of over 400,000 transactions.”
Consumers must file a complaint with the Washington state attorney general’s office by 12 June to receive a refund. They can do so online, and will receive an email from the Christian Prayer Center by 6 April informing them of the process.
On Thursday, the fake prayer websites told viewers: “The Christian Prayer Center is now closed. We thank you for all the prayers, and we cherish the opportunity to have created a place where Christians could meet to support each other.” The sites then referred viewers to other prayer centers, including ones that did not ask for payment in return.
The center did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment left on a phone number listed on its still functioning Facebook page.
Ferguson said Rogovy also defrauded consumers through another fake, for-profit ministry called the Christian National Church, and the so-called Consumer Complaint Agency (CCA), which promised to hold businesses accountable for a fee of $25.
Rogovy has been ordered to repay about 40,000 victims nationwide a total of $750,000. No claim needs to be filed to receive restitution from the CCA.
(The Gaurdian)
“The AGO investigation found that once consumers submitted and paid for a prayer request, they were directed to a Web page that gave them the option to receive ‘continued blessings’,” Ferguson’s statement said. “Between 2011 and 2015, CPC collected more than $7 million from 125,000 consumers nationwide. Some of these consumers were charged repeatedly, resulting in a total of over 400,000 transactions.”
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- Elangwe Pauline
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In a sermon delivered during the solemn priestly ordination mass recently at the St Joseph Cathedral in Mamfe, Bishop Andrew Nkea of the Mamfe Diocese warned the college of priests, newly ordained and would- be- priest that the priesthood is not for adventurers. He stated that priesthood is neither a profession, business nor job but a holy vocation destined by the almighty God. He lamented the bad and ungodly practices that go a long way to derail the image of the Holy Roman Catholic Church putting its faith regularly under public scrutiny.
To the astute Bishop of Mamfe Diocese, the only fact about priesthood is living up to spiritual and holy expectations incarnated in the ordination vows. The need to keep and sustain a quality and positive human and Church reputation is necessary, he noted. The two newly ordained priests where mandated to be flag bearers of Mercy in its divine standard. His Lordship Bishop Andrew Nkea described Rev Fr Nchianang Ronald Eyong and Rev Fr. Roland Arrey as fathers of Mercy due to the fact that their ordination came at the time when the Holy Father Pope Francis declared this year as the “Year of Mercy” in the Catholic Church the world over.
The bishop called on the newly ordained men of God to shun the intimation of Christians during confession and pray for the forgiveness of sins and of the resurrection. The memorable period in the life of a priest commences from ordination vows and it is incumbent on them to respect to the later as long as they served as reverend men of God, Bishop Nkea Observed. Bishop Nkea reminded the newly ordained through the Gospel of John 20:19-23 that those whose sins you forgive are forgiven and those whose sins you retain are retained, he said.
Rev Fr Roland Arrey was born in Bota Limbe. He attended GNS and GPS mile one Limbe, went to GBHS Limbe. After his one year of formation in the postulancy at the St. Raphael’s formation house, Romajaay-Diocese of Kumbo, he proceeded to the Noviciate at the Noviciat Betel in Sokone-Diocese of Kaolack, Republic of Senegal. He further went to the St. Joseph’s Major Seminary, Ikot-Ekpene-Akwa Ibom State, earning a bachelor of Philosophy Degree from the Pontifical Urban University of Rome and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from the University of Uyo-Nigeria.
God in his infinite image created and planted Rev Fr NchiaNang Eyong Ronald on the 28th of November 1985 in Manyemen. He attended GNS and CS Mbonge where he obtained his FSLC. He continued his secondary education in the Bishop Rogan Minor Seminary, BIROCOL Buea, and backed his GCE Ordinary and Advanced Levels. He proceeded to the St. John Mary Vianney Spiritual Centre, Bafut, St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary Bambui and then the Pontifical Urban University Rome.
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- Cham Victor Bama in Mamfe
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Pope Francis has criticized the “rejection” of refugees by the countries that could offer help, as European countries have been acting to stop an unprecedented inflow of refugees. “The Easter message of the risen Christ... invites us not to forget those men and women seeking a better future, an ever more numerous throng of migrants and refugees... fleeing from war, hunger, poverty and social injustice,” the Pope said in his Easter message on Sunday. “All too often, these brothers and sisters of ours meet along the way with death or, in any event, rejection by those who could offer them welcome and assistance,” the Holy Father added.
Pope Francis has frequently urged the international community to fight xenophobia and open doors to refugees. His latest remarks come as Europe has been witnessing an unprecedented influx of refugees who are fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria. Last year, more than a million refugees entered Europe. Many blame the interventionist and hegemonic policies of Western powers and their regional allies for the spread of violence in the region.
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Ghana: New Pentacostal Churches Spreading Words of Spiritual Confusion,Fear, Noise And Inconvenience
Is religious life in Ghana out of control? New Christian churches outside the main denominations are springing up, raising fears not only of spiritual confusion but also secular concerns about noise and inconvenience.
In 2014 there were more than 10,000 churches in Ghana. This refers not to the number of consecrated buildings, but to the number of faith-based groups claiming allegiance to Christianity. The pulse of the faithful may quicken on hearing of this growth in religious observance, but some residents living in the neighborhood regard it chiefly as a nuisance.
"We don't have peace of mind. They make noise throughout the whole night," one Accra resident told DW. "The churches are too many, everywhere, some of them make a lot of noise, you can't even talk," said another.
Wrecked classrooms
Part of the problem is that the new faith-based groups do not always have access to purpose-built churches but use educational facilities such as school classrooms for their religious meetings. Some of these facilities are wrecked during acts of religious observance.
The Church of Pentecost has several branches scattered across Ghana and they usually hold their services in classrooms. National chairman Opoku Pyinah admits there are difficulties but insists they are manageable. "Sometimes in some places, chairs and tables are broken, some classrooms become dirty. On the other hand, there are some places where churches pay for the use of such classrooms and some of them repair the chairs and tables that are broken," he told DW.
Some of the preachers are charlatans conning the gullible with messages of impending doom. Their activities have incurred the wrath of a former president of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, who believes they are a sad reflection on the state of his country. "If we can behave in such an ignorant manner, should it surprise you that the country is being consumed by so much filth," he said in a stinging critique of the new brand of religious fervor.
'Cannot be inward looking'
But talk of miracles and instant riches is a huge crowd-puller. Some of the new churches have large congregations, but their pastors are inexperienced. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong , General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, says religious life does not exists in a vacuum.
"Yes, there are challenges in the church, but it's not like let's do church, church, church. We live in a country; the church is situated in the nation. So the church cannot be inward looking," he said.
That is several steps away from a call for regulation. But freedom of worship is guaranteed under Ghana's constitution and faith-based groups can't be forced into joining associations that would be open to regulation. So unless the law is changed, the frustration felt by some Ghanaians at the unbridled religious fervor of some their compatriots may continue.
(DW)
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- Elangwe Pauline
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A bishop from the Syrian province of Aleppo says the majority of the Arab country’s Christian community supports President Bashar al-Assad in any future election. The Chaldean Catholic bishop, Antoine Audo, said on Wednesday that about 80 percent of Syria’s Christian population would support Assad if he stood for reelection. Speaking to reporters in Switzerland’s city of Geneva, Audo criticized “propaganda” against the Syrian leader, insisting that there was no persecution of Christians by the government. He further said that ongoing deadly conflict in the country aimed to “destabilize the Syrian society and transform the war into a confessional war."
The bishop added that other minorities and communities in the country also supported Assad in his fight against “the extremists.” Audo stated that different terrorist groups including the Daesh militants fighting the government in Damascus posed a serious threat to Syrian Christians, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the country. According to Audo, the country’s 1.5 million Christian population before the start of the foreign-backed militancy in 2011 now stands at about 500,000, “due to insecurity.” He said only around 40,000 of Aleppo’s once 160,000 Christian population remained in the province, adding that the community faced great dangers day to day.
The Christian figure also noted that Damascus has served as a model for peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims and that the current situation has been "imported." The comments come as UN-brokered indirect negotiations between the Damascus government and the foreign-backed opposition, aimed at resolving the five-year conflict, resumed in Geneva on March 14. The first round stalled on February 3 after the opposition refused to continue the talks.
The Syrian foreign-backed opposition has been insisting on the removal of Assad as a precondition for the establishment of a transitional government. The foreign-sponsored crisis in Syria flared in March 2011. The conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people and displaced almost half of Syria’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders, according to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research.
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On March 16, speaking publicly on a rare occasion, Pope Benedict XVI gave an interview to Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference, in which he spoke of a “two-sided deep crisis” the Church is facing in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. The report has already hit Germany courtesy of Vaticanist Guiseppe Nardi, of the German Catholic news website Katholisches.info. Pope Benedict reminds us of the formerly indispensable Catholic conviction of the possibility of the loss of eternal salvation, or that people go to hell: The missionaries of the 16th century were convinced that the unbaptized person is lost forever.
After the [Second Vatican] Council, this conviction was definitely abandoned. The result was a two-sided, deep crisis. Without this attentiveness to the salvation, the Faith loses its foundation. He also speaks of a “profound evolution of Dogma” with respect to the Dogma that there is no salvation outside the Church. This purported change of dogma has led, in the pope's eyes, to a loss of the missionary zeal in the Church – “any motivation for a future missionary commitment was removed.”
Pope Benedict asks the piercing question that arose after this palpable change of attitude of the Church: “Why should you try to convince the people to accept the Christian faith when they can be saved even without it?” As to the other consequences of this new attitude in the Church, Catholics themselves, in Benedict's eyes, are less attached to their Faith: If there are those who can save their souls with other means, “why should the Christian be bound to the necessity of the Christian Faith and its morality?” asked the pope.
And he concludes: “But if Faith and Salvation are not any more interdependent, even Faith becomes less motivating.” Pope Benedict also refutes both the idea of the “anonymous Christian” as developed by Karl Rahner, as well as the indifferentist idea that all religions are equally valuable and helpful to attain eternal life. “Even less acceptable is the solution proposed by the pluralistic theories of religion, for which all religions, each in its own way, would be ways of salvation and, in this sense, must be considered equivalent in their effects,” he said.
In this context, he also touches upon the exploratory ideas of the now-deceased Jesuit Cardinal, Henri de Lubac, about Christ's putatively “vicarious substitutions” which have to be now again “further reflected upon.” With regard to man's relation to technology and to love, Pope Benedict reminds us of the importance of human affection, saying that man still yearns in his heart “that the Good Samaritan come to his aid.” He continues: “In the harshness of the world of technology – in which feelings do not count anymore – the hope for a saving love grows, a love which would be given freely and generously.”
Benedict also reminds his audience that: “The Church is not self-made, it was created by God and is continuously formed by Him. This finds expression in the Sacraments, above all in that of Baptism: I enter into the Church not by a bureaucratic act, but with the help of this Sacrament.” Benedict also insists that, always, “we need Grace and forgiveness.”
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- Life Site News
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