Search Results pentecostal

Skip to main content.

Religion News Blog is a non-profit service providing academics, religion professionals and other researchers with religion & cult news

ReligionNewsBlog

Religion news articles about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues

Navigation:

Latest Religion & Cult News

• Note: 'Full Story' links with an

take you outside Religion News Blog.

Thursday November 12, 2009

‘Witches, possessed’ flock to Kenya pastor Lawrence Omambia

Of course it isn’t all that unusual for a pastor to claim healing powers. Witness the blow-dried televangelists of America and elsewhere, who often advertise their dramatic healing powers in infomercials.

But in western Kenya the belief in the supernatural is far deeper, and the line between Christianity and the occult is thin at best.
» Full Story

Saturday October 10, 2009

Fraud • Quackery:

Doctor who claimed herbal treatment could cure cancer is charged with fraud

A doctor who is also an ordained minister was charged by federal prosecutors after claiming that her ‘C-Extract’ was an alternative to traditional cancer treatments.

Using her influence as an ordained Pentecostal minister, Christine Daniel tapped into the vessel of faith to entice people from across the nation to try her regimen.
» Full Story

Saturday October 3, 2009

Benny Hinn:

Texas televangelist Benny Hinn refused entry to Britain

Benny Hinn, from Texas, who draws large crowds to his Pentecostal revival rallies, was turned back at Stansted airport under new rules on visiting ministers of religion.

A Border Agency spokesman said: “Under the UK’s tough new points-based system, religious workers must obtain a valid certificate of sponsorship prior to arriving in the UK. These rules are designed to make sure that a legitimate sponsor is linked to each application to enter the UK for work purposes.
» Full Story

Wednesday September 16, 2009

Islam:

Convert Languishing in Jail in Ethiopia for Handing Out Bibles

Christian sources in Ethiopia said that, contrary to Ethiopian law, 39-year-old Bashir Musa Ahmed has not been formally charged since his arrest on May 23 in Jijiga, capital of Somali Region Zone Five, a predominantly Muslim area in eastern Ethiopia.

Zonal police arrested him after he was accused of providing Muslims with Somali-language Bibles bearing covers that resemble the Quran, the sources said.
» Full Story

Tuesday September 15, 2009

Renascer / Reborn in Christ Church:

Brazil’s evangelical churches growing; leaders of two churches face fraud charges

Estevam Hernandes Filho and Sonia Hernandes

Evangelical Christian churches are luring Brazilians away from Roman Catholicism, the dominant religion in Brazil. In 1950, 94 percent of Brazilians said they were Catholic, but that number fell steadily to 74 percent by 2000.

The New York Times article mentions several churches, among which Renascer/Reborn in Christ — whose leaders are facing fraud, larceny, tax evasion and money laundering charges.
» Full Story

Thursday September 10, 2009

Matthew Murray:

The Nightmare of Christianity

The Nation has posted an excerpt from the book, Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party [Kindle version available], by Max Blumenthal.

The excerpt tells the back story of Matthew Murray, the young man who in December 2007 killed himself after fatally shooting several people at a YWAM training center and at the New Life Church, both in Colorado.
» Full Story

Monday August 3, 2009

Faith Healing • Madeline Neumann:

Father found guilty in prayer death of his daughter

A Wisconsin man accused of killing his 11-year-old daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care was found guilty Saturday of second- degree reckless homicide.

Neumann’s 41-year-old wife, Leilani, was convicted on the same charge in the spring and is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 6. Both face up to 25 years in prison.
» Full Story

Thursday May 28, 2009

Hillsong Church:

Hillsong pastor defends ministry against cult claim

Celebrity evangelist Brian Houston has defended his Hillsong ministry against allegations it is a “cult-like” organisation as the Sydney megachurch opened a “campus” church on Brisbane’s southside recently.

Houston is interested in expanding further into Europe, where Hillsong already operates in London, Paris, Kiev, Stockholm and Moscow.
» Full Story

Saturday May 16, 2009

Science and Religion:

Mom asks immunization exemption for daughter for religious reasons

A West Virginia mother says it would be sacrilege and a health risk to immunize her daughter against childhood diseases, and she wants a federal judge to order public school officials to admit her without the required shots.

“I sincerely believe that (it) is wrong to immunize and that it is a sacrilege,” Workman said in her lawsuit filed in the Southern District of U.S. District Court.
» Full Story

Friday May 15, 2009

RNB Roundup:

RNB’s Religion News Roundup: faith healing, witchcraft, exorcism and more…

Today’s edition of RNB’s Religion News Roundup includes two items about witchcraft, one somewhat funny, and one seriously disturbing.

The funny item involves the believe in Tanzania that by use of witchcraft one can transport crops from one farm to another (i.e. stealing in order to save oneself lots of hard work).

The serious item comes from Nigeria, where hundreds of children falsely accused of witchcraft have been killed.

There are also news items about faith healing, a link to resources for religion reporters covering the on-going torture debacle, and more…
» Full Story

Monday May 11, 2009

Carlton Pearson:

New Thought church members oppose appointment of Carlton Pearson as senior minister

Carlton Pearson, once regarded as one of the nation’s most influential Pentecostal preachers, was denounced as a heretic for his teaching that everyone goes to heaven: Muslims, Buddhists, gays, even the devil.

Now Pearson faces a different battle, as members of a New Thought church in Chicago are protesting his appointment as senior minister.
» Full Story

Thursday May 7, 2009

Christianity • Religion Trends:

God is back: How Ned Flanders won the evangelical crusade

Virtually everywhere in the developing world fiery preachers are preaching a faith that would appeal to Ned Flanders: live your life according to God’s law, read the Bible as the literal word of Truth, treat your neighbour as yourself. And everywhere they are thriving.

In 1900, 80 per cent of the world’s Christians lived in Europe and the United States; today, 60 per cent of them live in the developing world.
» Full Story

Tuesday April 28, 2009

Kevin Jerome Pushia:

Bail review for pastor accused in killing man for his life insurance postponed

A Baltimore pastor who worked with developmentally disabled people was charged Friday with befriending a blind and disabled man in his care, then paying a hit man $50,000 in church funds for an execution so he could collect life insurance money.

Police are looking for other possible victims and examine whether Pushia had been plotting similar killings.
» Full Story

Tuesday March 17, 2009

UCKG:

Brazilians accused of racism and discrimination in SA church

A storm is brewing at the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, with South African pastors accusing their Brazilian bishop of racism, discrimination and favouring Portuguese pastors.

At least 50 pastors have left the church since the end of 2008 and some of those who have left say there are hundreds of others who are too afraid to leave because they have no financial backing.
» Full Story

Monday March 16, 2009

RNB Roundup:

Religion news roundup: Scientology, religion trends, Islam, Gwen Shamblin, and more

In today’s Religion News Roundup stories about: • Muslims behaving badly, • a ’starvation diet’ weight-loss guru addressing school children, • a couple of televangelists, • and one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Also present: • vampires, • as well as Christians who are holding their first ever symposium on aliens (from outer space, that is). Speaking of aliens, • a Scientology PR guy does a good job inoculating people against Scientology. • More…
» Full Story

Tuesday January 20, 2009

Renascer / Reborn in Christ Church:

Collapse of Brazil church roof kills 9

Fire department officials in Sao Paulo sorted through tons of debris Monday to determine what caused the roof of an evangelical church packed with worshipers to collapse just as evening service ended, with the toll in the disaster climbing to nine dead and 113 injured.

The church has also been plagued by scandal. Husband and wife founders Estevam and Sonia Hernandes, now living in the U.S., have been charged by Brazilian officials in connection with alleged fraud and money laundering. [video]
» Full Story

Monday December 29, 2008

Exorcism:

U.S. Supreme Court asked to hear Texas exorcism case

The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to review the case of a former Colleyville woman who claims a forced traumatic exorcism left her so physically bruised and emotionally scarred that she later attempted to commit suicide.

A sharply divided Texas Supreme Court ruled in June that the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God staff and members are protected by the First Amendment because it involves an ecclesiastical dispute over religious conduct.
» Full Story

Monday December 8, 2008

USA:

Detroit Churches Pray for ‘God’s Bailout’

The Sunday service at Greater Grace Temple began with the Clark Sisters song “I’m Looking for a Miracle” and included a reading of this verse from the Book of Romans: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Pentecostal Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, who shared the sanctuary’s wide altar with three gleaming sport utility vehicles, closed his sermon by leading the choir and congregants in a boisterous rendition of the gospel singer Myrna Summers’s “We’re Gonna Make It” as hundreds of worshipers who work in the automotive industry — union assemblers, executives, car salesmen — gathered six deep around the altar to have their foreheads anointed with consecrated oil.
» Full Story

Thursday November 27, 2008

Mercy Ministries:

Mercy Ministries exorcism books leaked

Handbooks allegedly used to perform exorcisms on sick girls at the controversial Mercy Ministries residences in Sydney and on the Sunshine Coast have been leaked to LIVENEWS.com.au.

The documents, obtained clandestinely by a girl who “escaped” the group’s clutches, shows counsellors how to rid ‘demons’ from girls struggling with anorexia, depression and drug addiction.
» Full Story

Monday November 24, 2008

Witchcraft:

Nigeria sees rise in number of children accussed of witchcraft

Increasingly Nigerian children accused of witchcraft are tortured, murdered or abandoned. The director of one child protection agency says the teachings of some churches are partly to blame.

“Churches have strong influence on people and some church leaders get some parents to sheepishly believe that their kids are witches and wizards. This is the focus of most of these churches, which have departed from preaching righteousness and salvation of souls to stigmatisation of children as witches and wizards.”
» Full Story

Thursday November 13, 2008

Faith Healing • Madeline Neumann:

Prosecutors in faith healing death case cite Oregon verdict

In an effort to counter a motion by Dale and Leilani Neumann to have second-degree intentional homicide charges dismissed against them, Marathon County prosecutors this week have filed a legal argument that cites an Oregon case involving a parent praying for his son while he died of acute leukemia.

The couple were charged after their 11-year-old daughter, Madeline Kara Neumann, died March 23 from complications of undiagnosed diabetes. After she fell ill, the Neumanns reportedly chose to pray for Kara’s recovery rather than seek a doctor’s care.
» Full Story

Monday October 6, 2008

Prosperity Teaching:

Foreclosures: Did God Want You to Get That Mortgage?

Has the so-called Prosperity gospel turned its followers into some of the most willing participants — and hence, victims — of the current financial crisis?

While researching a book on black televangelism, says Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at the University of California at Riverside, he realized that Prosperity’s central promise — that God will “make a way” for poor people to enjoy the better things in life — had developed an additional, dangerous expression during the subprime-lending boom.
» Full Story

Friday October 3, 2008

Faith Healing • Homosexuality/Lesbianism/Bisexuality/Transg.:

Faith healers dangerous for public health, Amsterdam alderman claims

The City of Amsterdam and the COC — an advocacy group for LBGT men and women — are calling for an investigation by the Netherlands Health Care Inspectorate into healing rituals offered by Pentecostal churches for homosexuals and HIV patients.

The healing services can lead to HIV patients forsaking their medicines, and contribute to the stigmatization of homosexuals.
» Full Story

Saturday September 20, 2008

Juanita Bynum • Thomas Weeks:

Televangelist Juanita Bynum’s ex-husband seeks new wife on Web

The ex-husband of national televangelist Juanita Bynum, who divorced after a parking lot fight between the two landed him in jail, plans to take his search for a new wife to the Internet with videos featuring dating tips and what he’s looking for in a mate.

Thomas W. Weeks III, a minister who runs an Atlanta-area church and is known to his followers as Bishop Weeks, said the 10-episode series will be available starting Tuesday on his Web site.
» Full Story

Wednesday September 17, 2008

Fresh Fire Ministries • Todd Bentley:

Todd Bentley event cancelled; plus Debating the Lakeland Outpouring’s legacy

For four months, the Florida Outpouring was an international phenomenon.

Then, in early August, the board of directors of Bentley’s Fresh Fire Ministries of Abbotsford, British Columbia, announced he and his wife were separating because he had developed an “unhealthy” emotional attachment to another woman. There were reports that Bentley engaged in “excessive drinking.”

Bentley abruptly turned the revival over to the Rev. Stephen Strader, pastor of Ignited Church, and left town.

What is the Lakeland Outpouring’s legacy?
» Full Story

Older »

RNB Twitter Feed

Follow Religion News Blog on Twitter: You'll get RNB items plus additional religion news links

follow RNB on Twitter

About Religion News Blog

Religion News Blog (RNB), published by Apologetics Index, highlights news items and other resources on world religions, cults, religious sects, new religious movements, alternative religions, abusive churches and - to a lesser extent - related issues (e.g. ethics, human rights).

The information is provided for research and educational purposes.

RNB's non-profit news clipping service is used by - among others - Christian apologists, countercult professionals, anticult organizations, cult experts, teachers, religion professionals, reporters and other researchers.

Categories / News Trackers:
Samples of the hundreds of religious news subjects covered in Religion News Blog include (click links for respective news trackers): the Alpha Course, Alternative Healing, Catholic Church, Christianity, Cults, Falun Gong, Hate Groups, Interfaith issues, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism / Mormon Church, Polygamy, Religion Trends, Scientology, Transcendental Meditation, Unification Church, Wicca / Witchcraft, and many more.
[More info : How to link]