The Oregon Faith Report - Faith News from Oregon

By Gospel for Asia Press Release,

Political factions in this mountainous country are debating a new constitution that includes anti-conversion laws and underscores decades-old religious tension. If ratified, the result could be a likely crackdown and severe persecution for dozens of Christian ministries serving there.

With the country facing its constitutional crisis, Gospel for Asia Founder Dr. K. P. Yohannan is issuing a call to prayer for Nepal.

U.S Authorities Accuse Portland Imam of Militant Ties

By Faith News Note,

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a petition in federal court against Mohamed Sheikh Abdirahman Kariye, a longtime imam at the Islamic Center of Portland, the largest mosque in Oregon.

According to the complaint, Kariye traveled from the U.S. to Afghanistan in the 1980’s and fought with the mujahedeen against Soviet forces in Afghanistan, dealing directly with Osama bin Laden and Abdullah Azzam, founders of Al Qaeda. Authorities say in the 1990’s, Kariye recruited sympathizers and raised funds for Maktab al-Khidamat, a pre-cursor of Al Qaeda and also was a founding officer and director of now defunct Global Relief Foundation, a designated terrorist organization.

By Tom Krattenmaker
 Award-winning Portland-based writer
Recent book: The Evangelicals you Don’t Know
Tom’s article also featured on USA Today

While Republican presidential candidates woo white evangelicals with their professions of piety and dark warnings about the oppression of Christians, a well-known evangelical ministry is gearing up for a very different outreach in a dramatically different setting.

International evangelist Luis Palau and his organization are in the final stages of preparing a massive evangelism festival in New York City. They’re bringing together Asians, blacks, Latinos, and whites from hundreds of churches for a Central Park crescendo expected to pull in tens of thousands of people in July. The festival follows months of community service by the mostly evangelical churches, which they pledge to continue.

By Robert Bakke,

Robert Bakke is a black belt, a jet captain, a NASCAR driver and author of Amazon’s new #1 Best seller, “Prayer at Full Throttle.” (#1 Amazon’s “Miracles” category) So what’s the twist? Bakke’s book is self-published…something he was warned not to do. “Everyone was telling me not to self-publish. They said it would cost too much money and would never go anywhere. Funny thing though, I’ve spent my life accomplishing what other people said wouldn’t work. Sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves and go for it.”

By Luis Palau Association
International ministry based in Beaverton, Oregon

In New York City’s iconic Central Park, world evangelist Luis Palau shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with thousands of people representing multiple languages, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds in an extraordinary display of the diversity of the Body of Christ. It was a fitting capstone to NY CityServe & CityFest, a historic campaign that brought together 1,700 churches and reached 180,000 people in person through more than 115 events in one of the most influential cities in the world.

Luis and his son Andrew partnered with local pastors Gabriel Salguero and A.R. Bernard, former New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera, and musical guests Amanecer, Israel Houghton, Mandisa, Rescate, Matt Redman, Hezekiah Walker, Marcos Witt, and TobyMac to put on a high energy program. Surprise guests to take the stage during the night included musical artist and good friend Chris Tomlin as well as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

By Randy Alcorn
Eternal Perspectives Ministries, Sandy Oregon
Please visit his blog

For many years I’ve written and spoken about Planned Parenthood, and I’m frequently reassured by people that it’s really a great and loving organization, and how dare I criticize them? For those who still believe this, take a look at this video.

By Catholic League for Civil and Religious Liberty

Bill Donohue comments on the resolution to put on hold the removal of a statue of Fr. Junípero Serra from the U.S. Capitol:

The California state legislature recently announced that it will postpone a vote on the proposal to remove the statue of Fr. Serra from the U.S. Capitol. California State Senator Ricardo Lara is responsible for both authoring the proposal and requesting that the vote be postponed. Lara cited Pope Francis’ upcoming visit as the reason for the postponement.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback and 2015 Super Bowler, Russell Wilson, spoke at The Rock Church in San Diego. The interview showcases how God helped his family during his father’s illness as well as Wilson’s pledge to his new girlfriend that he remain chaste until they are married. Below are some excerpts and the video:

Hearing God’s voice:“She was on tour, she was traveling, and I was looking at her in the mirror… and she was sitting there and God spoke to me and said ‘I need you to lead her’… and so I told her right then and there, what would you do if we took all that extra stuff off the table, and did it Jesus’ way?
Calling to do something special:“For me, I knew that God had brought me into her life to bless her, and for her to bless me. And to bless so many people with the impact that she has [and] that I have. We’re not going to be perfect by any means — you know, life’s not perfect, nobody is perfect. But he’s anointed both of us. I know that he’s calling for us to do something miraculous., something special. And I told her, and she completely agreed with the fact that… ‘can we love each other without that?” And if you can love somebody without that, then you can really love somebody.”
On being chaste: “I ain’t gonna lie to ya’ll now, I need you to pray for us.” he said. “If there’s a 10, she’s a 15. So I need ya’ll to pray for me.”

By Faith News Note,

An Oregon group, Parents Rights In Education, released a press release about a new policy that would allow children as young as 15 to be able to receive a sex change operation and have it be covered under the Oregon Health Plan. This story was picked up by Fox News last week and made the story national. KOIN-TV 6 also did a news story on it as well going deeper into the details of the news account. Both videos are shown below. Also, State Representative Bill Post added a Legislative perspective as well (read here).

Multnomah University News

The Multnomah community grieves the tragic loss of nine of our brothers and sisters in Christ at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Once again we find ourselves mourning because of a senseless and evil act of racially targeted violence. Our hearts are broken.

We echo this liturgy shared by one of our local churches in expressing our heartfelt cry unto the Lord on behalf of our kingdom family in Charleston.

We stand before you today, oh Lord
Hearts broken, eyes weeping, heads spinning
Our brothers and sisters have died
They gathered and prayed and then were no more
The prayer-soaked walls of the church are spattered with blood
The enemy at the table turned on them in violence
While they were turning to you in prayer