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Jan. 10, 2020: Pastor held captive releases video plea; Chick-fil-A; Texas teen sends mass shooting threat to church

Friday, Jan. 10, 2020

Here are the latest headlines, brought to you by The Christian Post.

— Texas teen arrested for sending mass shooting threat to church during worship service livestream

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19-year-old Brady Michael Martinez of Kountze, Texas, was arrested Sunday afternoon for sending a mass shooting threat to a church during their Sunday morning worship service. The Liberty Police Department arrested Martinez on “Charges of Terroristic Threat” after he posted the threat on Open House Ministries' Facebook live page during their livestream. 

Martinez is also facing misdemeanor charges for a similar threat he made against Crestwood Baptist Church in Hardin County, Texas. The threat against Open House Ministries comes just a week after a gunman killed to parishioners at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement before being shot and killed by a security guard.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/texas-teen-arrested-for-sending-mass-shooting-threat-to-church-during-worship-service-livestream.html

Boko Haram kidnaps pastor, releases video showing his plea for help

A pastor abducted by a faction of the radical Islamic extremist group Boko Haram during a raid in the Adamawa state of Nigeria last week has issued a plea for help in a video released by the terrorist group. 

The Nigeria-based extremist group known for terrorizing the Lake Chad region released a video showing the Rev. Lawan Andimi pleading for his release.

Andimi is the head of the Christian Association in Nigeria’s chapter in the Adamawa state and was declared missing last Thursday following a raid in the town of Michika. 

Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2019 World Watch List. 

https://www.christianpost.com/news/boko-haram-kidnaps-pastor-releases-video-showing-his-plea-for-help.html

— Chick-fil-A ‘inadvertently discredited’ Salvation Army, Christian orgs in defunding, Dan Cathy says

Chick-fil-A chairman and CEO Dan T. Cathy has admitted that the company “inadvertently discredited several outstanding organizations” when it announced last November that it would no longer donate to certain Christian organizations, including the Salvation Army, which have been criticized as anti-LGBT for holding biblical views on sexuality.

Cathy’s admission comes in response to a petition signed by 116,000 people submitted by the American Family Association and American Family Radio President Tim Wildmon. The petition asked the company for clarification on the rationale behind the company’s decision to stop donating to the Salvation Army, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the Paul Anderson Youth Home.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/chick-fil-a-inadvertently-discredited-salvation-army-christian-orgs-in-defunding-dan-cathy-says.html

— Ex-Fuller Seminary student joins lawsuit over gay marriage ban, sexual ethics standards

A second Fuller Theological Seminary student has joined a lawsuit against the California-based nondenominational seminary over its ban on noncelibate same-sex relationships. On Tuesday, Nathan Brittsan, a pastor and graduate student who is in a same-sex marriage, added his name to a lawsuit with Joanna Maxon who was expelled by Fuller in September 2017 for being in a same-sex marriage.

Maxon brought the original suit against Fuller in November, arguing that her expulsion violated Title IX given that Fuller receives federal funding. Becket, a law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases and has successfully argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, has agreed to represent Fuller.

Mason and Brittsan have not said why they chose to attend Fuller Seminary given that it requires its students and staff to uphold the biblical standard of marriage and sexuality. 

https://www.christianpost.com/news/ex-fuller-seminary-student-joins-lawsuit-over-gay-marriage-ban-sexual-ethics-standards.html

— Wife files $9.5M lawsuit against Mormon church for reporting husband’s sexual abuse of daughter

The wife of a Mormon man who confessed to leaders of his church that he sexually abused his underage daughter has filed a $9.5 million lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for violating his confidence and reporting him to authorities.

Timothy Samuel Johnson, 47, and his wife, Kristine Johnson, were members of a Stayton ward when his wife learned he had "engaged in inappropriate conduct" with his youngest daughter, according to the lawsuit.

Johnson, the lawsuit explained, told a local church panel in Oregon about the molestation in 2016 to seek their help and guidance. He was later arrested and convicted of four counts of second-degree sexual abuse in 2018 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

While Oregon has mandatory reporting laws for certain professions, including clergy and pharmacists, confessional-style "clergy-penitent privilege" is an exemption to mandatory reporting laws and Kristine Johnson's case is arguing that there was a violation of that privilege.

The lawsuit requests $5.5 million for Timothy Johnson’s wife for loss of his income and for extreme emotional distress, as well as $1 million for each of his four children.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/wife-files-9-million-lawsuit-against-mormon-church-reporting-husbands-sexual-abuse-daughter.html

To read more stories from a Christian perspective, visit christianpost.com.

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