ONLINE CHRISTIAN CAFE SITE : THE HOPE CAFE , NOW OPEN

The Online Christian cafe site called The Hope Cafe, the 100% family friendly online Christian Cafe site known as "The Original Interactive Virtual Christian Cafe" is now open. This Christian Cafe is not for singles seeking love, romance, dating, and relationships or a dating service connecting single Christians with each other.

There is no membership to join this Christian Cafe and no free trial necessary. It is an interactive virtual cafe for the whole family to have access 24 hour a day and find fun, hope and happiness while developing a deeper love with their soul mate Jesus Christ, all for free!
The Christian cafe, called The Hope Cafe is located at www.TheHopeCafe.net and is regularly maintained with the most engaging inspirational video's available today in the "Latte Lounge", video devo's and edifying PDF's at are found at "Holy Grounds" (you can also listen to classical music for an hour while doing your devotions or homework there or simply watch a beautiful chapter of Proverbs for the day) and prayer requests are received 24 hours a day at the "Door of Hope" page.
Along with all of that, they offer an innovative Christian cafe chat room experience with virtual chat booths & al fresco seating called "Cafe Chat" and also accept private chat reservations for Church or Christian Group meetings in which they tailor design a secure "by invitation only" Christian cafe chat room for you.
Christian 'Rising Star' singers, comedians and speakers are welcome to submit their MP3 or video samplers for review. If accepted they will be uploaded for weeks of online exposure worldwide at the "Open Mic" Talent Search page there. Games & Trivia are at "Mocha Fun" and for kids there's "Club Chai". And those who are 'A Blessing in the Kitchen' will appreciate the cafe' recipes that are always being added. (Don't forget to stop-by their "Gift Shop" to receive the "free cookbook ebooks for cooking tips and pizza making" they're giving away for the Grand Opening.)
This amazing and original Christian Cafe, The Hope Cafe experience, is open for online ministry 24/7 . . . it's free . . . and there's "never a cover charge".

FAITH BASED FILM WINS BIG AT NON FAITH BASED FILM FESTIVAL

TULSA, OK-- Writer/Director Tracy J Trost celebrated his multi-award winning weekend this week for his first feature film "Find Me." The film took home a total of three awards at two film festivals over this last weekend, including a non faith based film festival.
On Saturday. Mr. Trost won 2nd Place for Best Feature Film at the Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival in Lithonia, GA. Then on Sunday, at the Script 2 Screen Film Festival in Tulsa, OK not only did lead actor Tyler Roberds of Okmulgee, OK win Best Actor for his role as Paul Jump in the film but, "Find Me" won the Best Feature Film Award as well.
When asked about his multi-award winning weekend, Mr. Trost replied, "It is an honor for me to be recognized by a panel of judges for our work on 'Find Me.' Making this movie was the beginning of the fulfillment of a life long dream. But to be awarded Best Picture for my first project is more than I expected."
Tracy J Trost is the President and Founder of Trost Moving Pictures and also the Writer/Director of "Find Me" a faith based feature film with a message of faith, hope, and forgiveness.
"Find Me" is based on the sport of geocaching and follows two college students who get caught up in a deadly game involving the kidnapping of a Senator's son. The film has received the Dove Foundation's Family Seal of Approval and will be in stores this January. To learn more visit: www.FindMeTheMovie.com

PRAISE FOR TECHNOLOGY : TWEETING DURING CHURCH SERVICES GETS BLESSING OF PASTORS

It's Sunday night at Woodlands Church, and Pastor Kerry Shook tells parishioners to pull out their cell phones.
He has pocketed his own iPhone for now, but tells everyone else to turn theirs on.
“OK guys, you can start the twitters,” he tells the crowd of about 250.
The nondenominational church recently started a new service encouraging parishioners to tweet their thoughts, reflections and questions in 140 characters or less via Twitter, the popular micro­blogging social network.
Using the real-time messaging tool in church is gaining some steam nationwide and in Houston as some pastors look to make church more interactive, draw in new faces and appeal to younger demographics. Some see it as a diversion, but others — especially in contemporary services — are bringing smart phones to the pews and tweeting away.
The trend is likely to grow more among emerging churches still building their traditions and congregations, said Glenn Shuck, a professor in the religion department at Williams College in Massachusetts.
“In a sense it lends itself more to Protestantism than Catholicism,” he said. “At a Catholic church it would be seen as a disruption, just as it would be at any established church, because power flows from the priest to the parishioners. In this case … it certainly allows parishioners to have a great deal more involvement in what one might call ‘doing church.' ”
At Woodlands Church, the tweets are reviewed by church staff and pop up on a screen behind Shook as he preaches.
He ignores them all until he's done speaking, at which point he takes a look and addresses questions selected by a team backstage.
Recent tweets ranged from lighthearted to heartfelt:
“GREAT MESSAGE! I WANT TO DANCE :)”
“what a powerful worship tonight. what i needed.”
“How do you know the voice is truth?”
During sermon, or after?
Shook admits that when someone first suggested using Twitter during service, he worried that no one would pay attention to him.
“I was a skeptic at first,” he said. “No pastor wants their congregation to be distracted. But that's not what's happened.”
Instead, he says, it's a way to make members feel they're part of the message. To ensure that worshippers still get quiet time for the meditative and contemplative elements of spirituality, the service continues to include Communion and prayer.
Still, some say the tweeting is distracting, not only for fellow worshippers but for those posting tweets, as well. It's more productive, they say, to focus on the message.
Craig Hayes, the founder and pastor of the nondenominational CrossingPoint Christian Church in Fresno, sees the worship service as a sacred time for introspection and focus.
“If two people are talking at the same time, somebody's not listening,” Hayes said. “You cannot do two things at once and expect you're not going to miss something.”
Still, he understands that in this era of social media, organizations are looking for new ways to incorporate online networks. So he also encourages members to tweet — but after the service is over.
“It's a good way to connect good information to a larger group of people that may not normally go and get that type of information on their own,” Hayes said.
Community leaders said they haven't seen Twitter gain similar traction among the Houston area's Jews, Muslims or Hindus.
Rabbi Kenny Weiss, executive director of Houston Hillel, said he hasn't seen local synagogues adopt the practice but sees how it could help make services more inclusive. But conservative and Orthodox Jews probably wouldn't partake, as they're usually discouraged from using electricity during Sabbath, and that includes cell phones, noted Lee Wunsch, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston.
At mosques, the sermon and devotional prayer are usually considered one, so tweeting would be seen as detracting from the act of worship, said Kaleem Siddiqui, a spokesman for the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Ignoring a demographic
The Houston churches that use Twitter do so in a variety of ways.
At St. John's Downtown, Pastor Rudy Rasmus tweets to 1,300 Twitterfollowers, many of whom aren't necessarily at the United Methodist church.
He sees it as a way for the church to connect to those who don't attend in person but might be intrigued enough by a tweet to pay a visit and eventually become a member.
Members will tweet anyway, he said, suggesting churches must take advantage of it to stay relevant.
“It's a tweeting, Facebooking, MySpacing world,” said Rasmus. “For a church to ignore that is literally kind of diminishing the influence of current culture, and many churches miss that influence — and ultimately miss a demo­graphic of possible attendees.”
River Pointe Church's senior pastor, Patrick Kelley, said tweeting during the service lets him and his nondenominational congregation talk about a shared experience in a way that isn't disruptive.
He also encourages the Richmond church's 3,500 members to text questions to a special number, so he and other pastors can tailor sermons around them.
“In the larger churches people tend to be treated like the masses,” Kelley said. “Here we believe that everyone matters, and if that's true, everyone should be able to raise their hand and say, ‘Hey I have a question.' It lets them virtually raise their hand, and we love that.”
Can be embarrassing
Shook, of the nondenominational Woodlands Church, is still easing into Twitter. During the first interactive service, his wife, Chris, took questions from the congregation via Twitter, and he contributed a tweet of his own: “Chris shook looks really hot tonight!”
His son tweeted in response: “please don't broadcast your attraction to mom across Twitter — kind of embarrassing.”
Shook is learning through experience.
“I forgot it went out to the whole twittersphere. I was so embarrassed...,” the pastor said. “But I can see this becoming a real part of the service.”

MARATHON BIBLE READING IN FROME - READING THE BIBLE NON-STOP FOR 76 HOURS

Christians in Frome are undertaking an unusual marathon - reading the bible non-stop for 76 hours.
Over four days, 150 people aged from nine to 90 will complete the reading in slots lasting 15 minutes.
The event is being organised by Frome Area Churches Together and will raise £1000 for the Anglican Archbishops' Appeal for Zimbabwe.
"It's going to be quite an undertaking," said Reverend David Brinn, Churches Together chairman.
The marathon, which comprises of 66 books of the bible read in 300 sessions, will finish on Sunday, 11 October.
One of the readers was the Bishop of Taunton, Rt Revd Peter Maurice who read Genesis Chapter 30 verse 13 to the end of Chapter 32 on Thursday morning.
The overnight sessions will be in St Catharine's Roman Catholic Church and other venues will include Holy Trinity Church, St John's Church and the Wesley Methodist and Baptist Churches.

JEWS AND LATINO PENTECOSTALS CELEBRATE SUKKOT

English, Hebrew and Farsi are commonly heard at Sinai Temple, one of the Westside’s largest synagogues. But Thursday night, its immense sanctuary was buzzing with Spanish.
Dozens of Latino Pentecostal church groups joined the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group, to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot and bolster a budding relationship.
“We’re barely starting to know each other," Pentecostal pastor Tony Solorzano said as he held a small Israeli flag. “We are tearing down the walls of ignorance.”
Solorzano, who was born in El Salvador, said Pentecostals have a strong interest in peace in Israel.
“We believe in Jesus Christ and he came to the holy land of Israel, so we identify with that,” he said. “The Bible says pray for peace in Israel, so we take that seriously.”
A gathering of some 800 — many of them Pentecostals — donned yarmulkes, danced and socialized under the sukkah, a traditional temporary hut used during the holiday.
For Pentacostals like Reyna Monterroso, the evening was not the first time they experienced Jewish culture.
The 42-year-old Gardena resident said she has been cooking traditional Jewish dishes, such as challah bread and brisket, for years.
“Como se llama, kugel?” she said, trying to recall the name for the casserole-like dish.
Seth Brysk, regional director of the American Jewish Committee, said the interaction between the two communities has included language and cultural classes for Pentecostal pastors. The sessions had done much to improve understanding between two groups that are not traditionally close.
“Although we have all these commonalities — Israel, an immigrant experience — there had not been a lot of direct contact,” Brysk said.

PASTOR STIRS CROWD OF 13,000 AT MIAMI EVENT

Guillermo Maldonado stood in front of his audience, opened his Bible, and shouted into his microphone, quoting the book of Galatians, extolling the ``supernatural power of God.''
He asked his audience -- some in tears and many with arms raised and heads cocked toward heaven -- to ``let your fire come down!''
It would have been a typical service for Maldonado, founding pastor of King Jesus Ministry, a Kendall church that is one of South Florida's largest, except he was speaking to more than 13,000 people at a packed sports arena in downtown Miami.
It was midday Friday, and the crowd -- which came bearing prayer books, notepads and flags representing a dozen Hispanic nations -- had packed into AmericanAirlines Arena for Day 2 of one of the region's largest Christian events.
Before it ends Saturday night, the Apostolic and Prophetic Conference, in its seventh year, will bring eight internationally known ministers to Miami.
Less a conference and more a series of fiery speeches and spiritual rejuvenation, it shows the growth of Maldonado's following, which was only a dozen people when he first began preaching in his living room 15 years ago, and the increasing popularity of Pentecostal forms of Christian worship, which stresses a personal and visceral connection with God.
``All of those who have never spoken in tongues, raise your hand!'' the Honduran-born Maldonado shouted in Spanish as he jumped, punched the air, ran and screamed intermittently throughout his two-hour sermon.
Audience members, bursting with energy, cheered the preacher on, as the English translator by his side told the audience: ``Drink! Speaking in tongues! Be filled!'' before they created a cacophony of sounds.
The 10,000-member church booked the Miami arena for the first time last year after the event outgrew its West Kendall grounds. It is charging a $103 admission to the event, and most attendees so far have come from Maldonado's church.
Yet, with international branches in Colombia and Honduras, a television ministry and his own product line of inspirational books, DVDs, CDs and prayer manuals, Maldonado's reach is wide. A mini-bookstore set up outside the stands was selling his newest book, Jesus Heals Your Sickness Today! for $12.99.
Other speakers Friday included pastor Alan Vincent of San Antonio and Bishop Tudor Bismark of Harare, Zimbabwe. Pastor Benny Hinn of Irving, Texas, who has caused controversy with his international ``miracle crusades,'' during which attendees claim to be cured of sickness and faint backward at the flick of his hand, was also scheduled to speak late Friday night.
Besna Usuaga, 30, a member of Maldonado's church, said Friday that she was excited to see her pastor and others such as Hinn, and to ``feel the spirit in me.'' Usuaga, of Kendall, came downtown with her husband, with whom she joined the church three years ago after years of being a lapsed Catholic. ``But it's not the people who go and preach that you're looking for,'' she said. ``It's the Lord.''
Usuaga is part of a growing trend. While Catholicism remains the dominant faith among Hispanics, a Pew survey released last year shows that 1.3 million of immigrant Hispanic Catholics have joined Pentecostal churches since coming to the United States. Almost half of all Hispanics who have joined Pentecostal denominations were raised as Catholics.
``Some people come to concerts here, some drink, some smoke marijuana,'' Usuaga said while taking a break on the arena's steps. ``But once you are here, once you are inside, you don't need any of that.''