Nigerian pastor to be hanged after setting church members on fire

A Nigerian pastor is on death row after dousing several church members in petrol and setting them ablaze.

One congregant died as a result and Emeka Ezeuko, known as Reverend King by his followers, was sentenced on Thursday to death by hanging.

He denied all six charges against him, saying his victims were burnt by an electrical generator exploding, according to local media reports. The case has developed into a large-scale scandal in Nigeria with allegations of sexual abuse made against Ezeuko who made followers call him God or Jesus ‘all the time’.

One witness said he had repeatedly abused her and was made to serve him meals naked. The same victim said she had had four abortions after Ezeuko impregnated her multiple times.

The court in Lagos heard Ezeuko had tortured his followers to force them into confessing to sex outside marriage before setting them alight as a punishment for their sin.

But one witness to the trial said the renegade pastor reacted defiantly to his sentencing.

‘I am not afraid to be hanged. After all Jesus Christ was hanged. That was how Jesus was hanged and the crowd was against him. It is a great honor for me to follow the footpath of the Lord Jesus Christ,’ he shouted to the courtroom.

Christian Couple to Sue Church of England School After 6 Y/O Boy Allowed to Wear Dress to Class

By LEAH MARIEANN KLETT ( news@gospelherald.com )

A Christian couple is suing a Church of England elementary school and said there is an “agenda” overriding their religious beliefs after their six-year-old son’s classmate was allowed to wear a dress to school.

Blind Black Woman Outraged After She Is Ordered To Sit In The Back Of Church

A Georgia woman thought she found the perfect church. It was located in her neighborhood and would accommodate her service dog, Hook. Cynthia Coleman, 58, is legally blind, with no vision in right eye and only peripheral vision in the left.

However, Coleman was told to take Hook and sit in the back pew after they sat down in the front of the church during her first visit, WXIA-TV reports.

“Sitting down for about five or 10 minutes and about four or five deacons approached me in a way that made me feel very uncomfortable. Somewhat aggressive,” she told the outlet.

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To no avail, Coleman explained that she could not see the pastor from the rear. But the deacons insisted that Coleman and Hook sit in the back over concerns that the dog would become agitated during the service.

“I was about in tears because we don’t choose to be blind, and we don’t choose to be disabled. I almost felt like the leper in the church,” she told WXIA-TV. “In a public place, especially in a church, we should be welcomed with open arms.”

Coleman believes the church acted inappropriately. She said the deacons could have admitted unfamiliarity with how to manage a service dog and asked her to explain “how this works.”

“It was discrimination. It was discrimination. I had never in my life been discriminated against. Never,” she stated to the station. “And to be discriminated against for the first time, as a disabled person in a church is disgusting.”

The church declined to comment.

[written by Nigel Roberts]

Pro-LGBT group launches campaign asking Christians to raise money for gender transition surgeries

An organization is launching a campaign asking Christians to donate money to help transgender people pay for surgeries related to their gender transition as a form of reparations for past discrimination.

Faithfully LGBT, a group that seeks to share the stories of LGBT people of faith, is raising funds for the transgender community through a campaign called #TitheTrans.

“There needs to be tangible ways that progressive Christians, who disagree with anti-trans theology, give to the transgender community,” says Eliel Cruz, founder of the organization. “I want Tithe Trans to be a way for Christians to begin to pay reparations for the damage we have caused,” he added.

The group noted that transition surgeries can cost anywhere between $10,000 and $90,000. About 20 percent of transgender individuals do not have any form of health insurance, and many insurance companies do not provide coverage for procedures related to gender transition, according to NewNowNext.

“Christians have disparaged the bodies of trans people, which has contributed to a culture of violence against them,” a statement from the Tithe Trans fundraising site read.

“From promoting anti-trans bathroom legislation to theology that has lead to suicides and homelessness.For those Christians who have seen this violence and have been horrified by it, it’s time to put your tithe money where your beliefs are,” it continued.

According to a news release published on the group’s website, the money collected by the campaign will be directed to the Jim Collins Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to provide grants to cover gender transition surgeries. Applications for grants are reviewed by a board of trans activists, who provides as many grants as the organization’s funds allow.

A fundraising goal of $10,000 has been set by the organizers, and while the campaign is directed at Christians, others are also allowed to donate. The organizers are hoping to surpass its fundraising goal, but, as of Sept, 9, the campaign has only raised $512.

The hashtag #FaithfullyLGBT was first used by Cruz when he was sharing his column of the same name at Religion News Service in 2015. Since then, others have used it to create visibility for the intersection of their faith and their sexuality.

In January 2016, Cruz launched a photo campaign highlighting the faces of LGBT people of faith. The photographs are also featured in the Faithfully LGBT website, each one accompanied by the subject’s name, sexual orientation, and religious tradition, as well as a quote about the individual’s relationship to sexuality and faith.

[ written by Jardine Malado]

• “Church,” “body of Christ” you have failed miserably! If God were truly in this modern day Christianity THERE’S NO WAY this would be happening! If “the church” wont stand against evil beyond the comforts and safety of the pulpit then what good is the “church”!?  I believe that there is a remnant of people, those who dont wear suits or titles who are standing against evil. Their voices seem unheard because they are few in number and are being drowned out by the popularity and performances of the Pharisees of today.