Whistle While You Pray

During the pastor's prayer on Sunday, there was a loud whistle from one of the back pews. Gary's mother was horrified. She pinched him into silence and after church asked, "Gary, whatever made you do such a thing?"

Gary answered soberly, "I asked God to teach me to whistle--and He just then did!"

[This joke is published in World's Greatest Collection of Church Jokes, Compiled and Edited by Paul M. Miller, and published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.2003.]

​Lonnie Royce Rex
May 11, 1928 - June 20, 2021
   93 years old
The obituary is in process of being written.

https://www.kleinfh.com/obituary/lonnie-rex

Guest Book
Share your thoughts and memories of Lonnie

FUNERAL SERVICE
Glorious Way Church
  Monday, June 28, 2021
  2:00 PM

11611 Champion Forest Drive
Houston, Texas 77066
 
Visitation and viewing will be held from 1:00pm until 2:00pm prior to the service.
John Greiner is the pastor of Glorious Way Church. He was trained by Pastor John Osteen for some 18 years. John was the father of Joel Osteen. Glorious Way Church is the church where Lonnie and Betty worshiped regularly. They loved to go to church and worship the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lonnie will be buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (No details at this time)

Let's Wish Missionary Statesman Hobert Howard a happy 93rd Birthday on Tuesday, June 29.

Author: Hugh H. Morgan
​
Hobert and his wife, Marguerite, reside in Rolling Green Retirement Village in Greenville, SC. They joyfully served as IPHC career missionaries for almost 62 years in India. They are both graduates of Holmes Bible College. God has blessed the work in India tremendously. The church in India is thriving as God has raised up national leaders to lead the church under the anointing and direction of the Holy Spirit.

You may wish to send Hobert Howard a birthday card.

His mailing address is:

Rev. Hobert Howard
#3 Hoke Smith Blvd
Apartment D109
Greenville, SC 29615

You may give him a call. That phone number is:

850-445-5610

You will enjoy hearing Hobert's voice when you call. I talk with Hobert and Marguerite Howard very often. They are our prayer partners and dear friends. It is remarkable how Hobert remembers so many of our IPHC family members, where they live and attend IPHC churches. 

Today, in their retirement years they reside in independent living in one of the finest retirement villages in the nation, Rolling Green Retirement Village in Greenville, SC.

Happy 93rd Birthday to Hobert.

Proverbs 25:16-28

16 When you're given a box of candy, don't gulp it all down;
eat too much chocolate and you'll make yourself sick; 
17 And when you find a friend, don't outwear your welcome;
show up at all hours and he'll soon get fed up. 

18 Anyone who tells lies against the neighbors
in court or on the street is a loose cannon. 

19 Trusting a double-crosser when you're in trouble
is like biting down on an abscessed tooth. 

20 Singing light songs to the heavyhearted
is like pouring salt in their wounds. 

21 If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch;
if he's thirsty, bring him a drink. 
22 Your generosity will surprise him with goodness,
and God will look after you. 

23 A north wind brings stormy weather,
and a gossipy tongue stormy looks. 

24 Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack
than share a mansion with a nagging spouse. 

25 Like a cool drink of water when you're worn out and weary
is a letter from a long-lost friend. 

26 A good person who gives in to a bad person
is a muddied spring, a polluted well. 

27 It's not smart to stuff yourself with sweets,
nor is glory piled on glory good for you. 

28 A person without self-control
is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out. 
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Healing Your Wounded Soul

Author: Joyce Meyer

The most important message I can ever share with people is that God loves them and has good plans for them through life in Christ. We all need to have a revelation about God’s love for us, because until we do, we’ll struggle to have true, lasting love, joy and peace in our everyday lives. 

The world is full of heartbroken people, who have been mistreated or abused in some way. And they’re pretending to be okay, desperately hoping other people will think they’ve got it all together.

The truth is, none of us are perfect, and we all go through hard times and get hurt by someone or something. It’s astounding the hurtful things people can do to others, but it has helped me to understand that hurting people hurt people. And many times when people abuse others, they are acting out of their own pain, so it goes on from generation to generation.

But I have good news: If you’ve been hurt in the past, you don’t have to spend your life being miserable, angry, bitter, resentful or full of self-pity, hurting others. Through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you can receive complete healing in your soul—your mind, will and emotions. God can restore your life and make your life better than it was before you were wounded.

Going Through the Healing Process

I know what it’s like to hurt so much you don’t think you can stand it anymore and you feel hopeless about the future. For most of my childhood, my father abused me and I never knew growing up what it was like to feel safe, secure and loved. As a result, I became an angry, suspicious, critical, judgmental adult.

When I left home at 18, I thought I was leaving my problems behind me, but I came to realize there were many problems in my soul because of the abuse I had endured. I desperately needed the healing love of God to restore my life! 

Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV) says Jesus came “to preach good tidings to the poor…to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn…to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness….”

Thank God for His promise to heal the brokenhearted, comfort those who mourn, and set the captives free! Now, I’m not going to tell you it’s easy to go through the healing process; it takes time, diligence in studying the Word, and lots of prayer to walk out the healing that is yours by virtue of the blood of Christ. But as believers in Jesus, we have the authority of His name to overcome sin and access the power of God in our lives so we can experience the promises in His Word.

And the promises of God belong to anyone who is born again!

Making the Divine Exchange

When we come into a relationship with Christ, a divine exchange happens. He takes our sin and the messes in our lives and gives us His righteousness, peace and joy (see Romans 14:17). He gives us joy for mourning, beauty for ashes, praise instead of depression, forgiveness instead of blame, righteousness instead of guilt, hope instead of despair…and on and on. All we have to do is give up our ashes and receive God’s beauty.

A good place to start is admitting you need God’s help. It’s okay not to be okay—God helps the humble! (See 1 Peter 5:5-7.) We need to pray, “I love You, Lord, and I appreciate my salvation, but I am a mess! I want the truth in Your Word to set me free from deception, the bondage of sin, and pain in my soul. Please help me…open my eyes in any area where I am deceived and teach me Your truth.”

Then we need to commit ourselves to study the Word and grow in our faith in Christ. As we renew our minds according to the Word, we will trust God more completely and believe what He says more than what others say to us, more than our feelings, and more than our circumstances. That’s when we live in His beauty…filled with His love, free from the prison of our past, and healed in our soul. 

I want to encourage you today to humble yourself before God and take Him at His Word. He loves you more than you can comprehend, and He wants you to be free to walk in His good plans for your life. Take time every day to study His Word, pray and cast your cares on Him because He cares about you and wants what is best for you. When you do, you’ll find that life becomes a beautiful, wonderful, amazing journey!
***********

For more on this topic, order Joyce’s teaching resource Healing the Soul of a Woman Action Plan. You can also contact us to receive our free magazine, Enjoying Everyday Life, by calling (800) 727-9673 or visiting www.joycemeyer.org. 

Joyce Meyer is a New York Times bestselling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc. She has authored 130 books, including BATTLEFIELD OF THE MIND and her newest devotional QUIET TIMES WITH GOD (FaithWords). She hosts the Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs, which air on hundreds of stations worldwide. For more information, visit www.joycemeyer.org.

Please note: The views and opinions expressed throughout this publication and/or website are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Joyce Meyer Ministries.

Copyright © 2021 Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved www.joycemeyer.org.                                  

If You Don't Love People, You Don't Love God
​
Author: J. Lee Grady

Posted in: Fire in My Bones

A lot of people ignore the last chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans because it's basically a long list of ancient names we can't pronounce. After Paul finishes his masterful teaching on grace and salvation, he sends warm greetings to his many friends in Romans 16.
​
​Paul was apparently reluctant to leave anyone out of this list. He mentions Phoebe, Aquilla, Epaenetus, Mary, Adronicas, Junia, Ampliatus, Urbanus and "Prisca," an endearing nickname for Priscilla. He greets Stachys, Apelles, Herodion, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis and those in the household of Aristobulus. He says hello to Rufus, Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, Philologus, Julia, Nereus and Olympas.

Paul refers to many of these people affectionately as "my beloved," "my kinsman" or "a choice man." They were not casual acquaintances. They were Paul's close friends, and he carried them in his heart. He had been in prison with some of them. He missed them so much that he wept when he thought of them.

And after mentioning these 26 people—plus Rufus' unnamed mother and Nereus' unnamed sister—Paul sends greetings from his co-workers, Timothy, Lucius, Jason and Sosipater. And he reminds everyone to "greet one another with a holy kiss" (16:16). Paul's love for people was not just affectionate in a verbal sense. It was downright slobbery.

Paul began the book of Romans by telling his friends: "I long to see you..." (1:11a). Toward the end of the letter he says he looks forward to visiting them so that he can "find refreshing rest in your company" (15:32, NASB 1995). This miracle-working apostle and theological genius reveals another side of himself; he's gushy, mushy and huggable. He's the quintessential people person.

It makes me sad to think Romans 16 is ignored today because the fervent love Paul showed his Roman friends is the essence of Biblical Christianity. God wants us to love each other with pure, over-the-top passion.

Paul's love for people was not just evident in his letter to the Romans. He told the Philippians: "I long for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus" (1:8). He wrote to the Thessalonians: "Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you ... our own lives" (1 Thess. 2:8). He told Timothy: "I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears" (2 Tim. 1:3-4).

This is what the Bible calls "the love of the brethren" (see Heb. 13:1). Our love for each other is supposed to be sincere, not faked. It is supposed to be fervent, not cool or professional. It is supposed to be affectionate, not distant or clinical. It is supposed to be dripping with emotion, not dry and intellectual. Our passionate love for each other flows out of our love for Jesus.

But there's a problem. Everywhere I go today I hear Christians bashing the church and complaining that they can't attend this or that local fellowship because of loveless, hypocritical believers. We've become experts at nitpicking; we are quick to find fault; then we are even quicker to judge and condemn. And we have figured out how to make these judgmental pronouncements sound super-spiritual.
​
Church dropouts today have a long list of reasons why they can't worship with other Christians: 1) "We don't agree with all their doctrines;" 2) "The pastor preaches too long;" 3) "The worship is too long;" 4) "The worship is too short;" 5) "The church closed during the pandemic;" 6) "The church never closed during the pandemic;" 7) "A church member posted something online that offended me;" 8) "A church member complained about something I posted online;" 9) "The pastor didn't speak to me last Sunday;" or 10) "No one spoke to me when I visited."

There are actually 1,001 ways a Christian can and will offend you at church. But your job is not to count the offenses; it is to forgive every time. That is what fervent love requires. Yet we have become experts at being offended, and our bitterness squelches the holy love God wants us to demonstrate.

The apostle John wrote: "The one who says that he is in the Light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother and sister remains in the Light, and there is nothing in him to cause stumbling" (1 John 2:9-10).

If we want to be spiritually mature, this is the bottom line: We must love people no matter how they hurt us. Canceling the church is not an option. If your love has grown cold, ask God to remove the offense—and invite His people back into your heart again.

[J. Lee Grady was editor of Charisma for 11 years before he launched into full-time ministry in 2010. Today he directs The Mordecai Project, a Christian charitable organization that is taking the healing of Jesus to women and girls who suffer abuse and cultural oppression. Author of several books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, he has just released his newest book, Set My Heart on Fire, from Charisma House. You can follow him on Twitter at @LeeGrady or go to his website, themordecaiproject.org.

J. Lee Grady is an ordained minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with credentials in the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. He is currently the editor of Encourage magazine, a monthly online digital publication for leaders and growing Christians. You may find it on the website of the IPHC. Go to www.iphc.org.

J. Lee Grady is a friend of mine and he has granted me permission to publish his articles in Hugh's News.] 

Lonnie still speaks

Please Click Here to see and hear Lonnie Rex tell his amazing stories of adventures and opportunities God gave him to work with Oral Roberts and T.L. Osborne and to serve others in Poland, Russia, and North Korea.

Phil Snyder, Associate Professor of Information and Logistics Technology at the University of Houston, interviewed the world-renowned missionary, Lonnie Rex, for this biographical documentary and we are pleased to share his life of adventures in faith with you. Enjoy!

Many people dream of being used of God to touch people around the world… This life was not a dream for Lonnie Rex; it was reality.

He was the most connected Christian in the world in the second half of the 20th century. He connected with world leaders and the most influential religious individuals on the planet. Among the people in Lonnie’s realm were Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborn, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, Mikhail Gorbachev, President George H.W. Bush, President Ronald Reagan, John Osteen, President Vladimir V. Putin, and Mohammed Ali. This is only a small portion of the total list of people Lonnie has known and worked with around the world. 

Lonnie was arrested in Ghana for attempting to overthrow the government when in truth he was bring a moped to a leper colony. He played James Bond traveling up and down the Nile River and throughout Europe while bringing two C-47 planes full of food for the nation of Armenia. He traveled to North Korea at their invitation, three times! He became friends with the Cardinal of Warsaw who became Pope John Paul II while delivering milk to the children of Poland. Vladimir Putin was his personal KGB agent when he traveled to the Soviet Union at the end of the cold war. He visited refugee camps of Ethiopian Coptic Christians where babies were born too weak to cry. He promised them he would tell their story to the world. He kept his promise. He received the highest honors South Korea could bestow on a non-Korean. He was knighted by the Russian Orthodox Church. 

His amazing stories must be watched and heard to be believed. Lonnie L. Rex has led a life that is unbelievable until you know his stories. 
“I don’t ask God for money. I only ask God for ideas. But God always funds His ideas.” Lonnie R. Rex

The Rev. Dr. ​James O. Davis gives an excellent commentary on God's Word about rebellion and stubbornness in his latest newsletter, Global Church Network. Here is what he says about God's Will:

God's Will

There are some people who say that, that God’s will is always done in everything. God’s will is not always done. If God’s will is always done, why did Jesus teach us to pray, “...Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done?" No, there are a lot of things that are not the will of God, and God will allow you to disobey Him. This reality does not diminish God’s sovereignty at all. God gives men and women the power to rebel against Him without diminishing God’s sovereignty. God has given man or a woman a choice. You can choose to obey, or you can choose not to obey. 

Then, Dr. James O. Davis explains what the truth about rebellion and stubborness:

“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." What he means is offering the very best, animals on the altar. In verse 23 we read: “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” God says disobedience is like witchcraft. If you are disobeying something that God told you to do, you are practicing a form of witchcraft. 

Well, you may not be thinking you’re practicing witchcraft, but disobedience puts you on the same side of the fence as Satan. That’s what made the devil the devil, was his rebellion against the will of God. And before long, Saul, who had disobeyed the Lord, was consorting with a witch, if you know your Bible. 

Secondly, disobedience is not only like witchcraft, but it’s also iniquity. Disobedience is a clenched fist in the face of God. It is saying, “God, not Your will, but mine be done." Now it may be a small thing, but disobedience over a small thing is not a small thing because disobedience is a big thing, even if the thing is a small thing that you’re disobeying. 

There may be some small thing in your heart and in your life that God is prompting you to do, but if you’re disobeying God, I mean, if you’re defying God over that small thing, that small thing becomes a big thing. God says it is witchcraft. God says that it is iniquity. 

[Editor's comment: May God deliver us from rebellion and stubbornness. Let us say Yes to God's calling and opportunities He gives us to serve and bless others. I thank God for James O. Davis. What a great man of God he is.]
​

​The Church of God in Christ will host the installation service of Rev. Drew Sheard June 22 and the consecration service for the jurisdictional and auxiliary bishop designates June 23, 2021. The events will be livestreamed via the denomination's website and the Facebook page.

The former Detroit-based math teacher was elected as the new presiding bishop over the largest Pentecostal denomination in the country in March. This came on the heels of former Presiding Bishop Charles Edward Blake Sr.'s October 2020 announcement that he would not seek reelection.

The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world!  With a presence in over 120 countries, this 6.5-million-member, Spirit-Filled and Holy Ghost led -church is making impact in all four corners of the world.  The delegates of COGIC elected its newest leader, the Bishop J. Drew Sheard as its Presiding Bishop and Chief Apostle.

​President's Prayer Group

Author: Ron White

Elisha said, "Please let a double portion of  your spirit be upon me" (2 Kings 2:9b, NKJV).

Pray for the employees of Emmanuel College to live our core values: We value our Evangelical/Pentecostal tradition and heritage including a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and a commitment to advance God's kingdom on earth.

Pray every Wednesday to be led by the Holy Spirit into all wisdom and unity and in love for one another and for the lost.

Pray daily for the eradication of the corona virus in our nation and around the world and for a return to normal operations for Emmanuel College in the fall. 

Thank you for praying. 

Ron White, Ed.D.
President
Emmanuel College
181 Spring Street
Franklin Springs, GA 30639
706-245-2803

​The Mighty Name of Jesus

Author: Anne Graham Lotz

"I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father"(John 14:13, NIV).

Jesus’ name has meaning that reveals Who He is. His name is LORD, which means Jehovah God. He is the Jehovah of the Old Testament Who revealed Himself to His people. Today Jesus reveals God to you and me. His name is also Jesus, which means Savior, because He came to save us from the penalty and power of our sin. And His name is Christ, which is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament name Messiah. He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy that pointed to the Anointed One of God Who would come down to reign and rule on the earth.

To pray in Jesus’ name means we come to God believing that Jesus is our Lord — believing He has revealed God to us and in response we have submitted to His authority. To pray in Jesus’ name means we believe He is our only Savior Whose death on the cross provides atonement for our sin. And it means we acknowledge that He is the Christ, Who is coming again to rule the world in peace and righteousness. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?

Blessings,

Anne Graham Lotz

Copyright © 2021 Anne Graham Lotz (AnGeL Ministries) Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved www.annegrahamlotz.org.

Gen 50:19-21  Joseph's unconditional love and forgiveness he gave to his brothers who had sold him into slavery

19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. 
NIV

God can change any situation and bring reconciliation, forgiveness, and healing. Our trust is in God alone Who can make all things right.

A Pious Man

Charlie Jones was a pious man who had been the head usher at Central Church for seventy-five years.

On his one hundred-fifth birthday he stopped going to church. 

Alarmed by the old fellow's absence after so many years of faithful service, Pastor Anderson went to see him.

He found Charlie is excellent health, so the minister asked, "How come after all these years we don't see you any more?"

The old man looked around and lowered his voice, "I'll tell you Pastor," he whispered, "when I got to be ninety, I expected
God to take me home any day. But when I got to ninety-five, then one hundred, then 105. So I figured that God is very
busy and must've forgotten about me--and I don't want to remind Him."

[This joke was published in World's Greatest Collection of Church Jokes, Compiled and Edited by Paul M. Miller, and 
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. The book was given to me by Pastor David Sparks, Flat Rock Pentecostal Holiness Church
in Mt. Airy, NC.]

​Psalm 126 May God restore the fortunes to Zion
When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion,
we were like men who dreamed. 
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them." 
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy. 

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negev (Streams in the desert)
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy. 
6 He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him. 
NIV

[Editor's note: The Negev was a pastoral region in Biblical times, but the Nabataeans, a Semitic people centered in what is now Jordan, developed techniques of terracing and of conserving winter rains, which made the Negev a thriving agricultural area. It was an important granary of the Roman Empire.]

Tricia Rex Carnes, a daughter of Lonnie and Betty Rex, has informed me of the following arrangements for the funeral/memorial service for Lonnie Rex.

Tricia wrote:
We just got the first service planned for Dad. This coming Monday at 2:00 PM with a 1:00 PM viewing ahead of time. 
Glorious Way Church, Houston, TX. John Greiner is the pastor. He was trained by Pastor John Osteen for some 18 years. John was the father of Joel Osteen. 

Glorious Way Church is located at 11611 Champion Forest Drive, Houston, TX 77066

A reception will be held after service. 

This is the church where Lonnie and Betty Rex attended regularly while living in their lovely home in Spring, TX. just a few miles from the church.
​
Dad will be flown to Tulsa on Tuesday. We are not confirmed on the grave service yet.

Klein Funeral Home, 16131 Champion Forest Drive, Spring, TX 77379 is in charge of the services for Lonnie Rex.

The obituary is in the process of being written.

​Effective Sunday July 4th, we will move our Sunday program on TBN to Sunday afternoon at 3:30pm Eastern / 12:30pm Pacific. While these decisions are never easy, we are confident that this move will position our program with better placement and produce an even stronger viewing audience.

Our current weekly Broadcast schedule (Eastern times) is below...

Sunday
8:00am Hillsong Channel
3:30pm TBN

Monday
10:30pm Daystar

Thursday
3:00pm Hillsong Channel
9:30pm Hillsong Channel

Make sure to set your device to "Record Series" and never miss an episode.

At any time, you can also watch online at RonCarpenter.com (click Watch) or via the Ron Carpenter app that can be downloaded free in your app store.

We also recently updated our mailing address to:

Ron Carpenter Ministries
PO Box 26569
Greenville, SC 29616

We thank you for your partnership as our TV, iChurch and Worldwide On-line ministry would simply not be possible without your ongoing and generous support. If you have any questions or need more information, please don’t hesitate to contact our RCM office at 408-780-0711.

Sincerely,

Ron Carpenter

[Editor's Comment: I have known Ron Carpenter since his college days at Emmanuel College where he played basketball. Our daughter, Stephanie, was a year ahead of him. She was there in a revival service when Evangelist John Todd prophetically spoke over Ron. They were all amazed. However, the prophecy came true. When Ron dedicated his new church in Greenville, Shirley Spencer, editor of Advocate, asked me to cover the story since she could not be there. Melvine, Greg, and Stephanie accompanied me. Roe Messner and his wife, Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, were present. We met Tammy Faye for the first time. I had written to Jim Bakker for five years while he was in prison. On several occasions I responded to letters from Tammy Faye. A few days before the federal judge released Jim from prison, I had written him and gave him this Scripture verse:
Proverbs 21:1
 The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will.
KJV

The Lord impressed me that the federal judge would release Jim Bakker shortly. His heart was in the hand of the Lord, and He had turned it in favor of Jim Bakker. Sure enough, it happened suddenly. Jim Bakker wrote about it and quoted me in his book, I Was Wrong. Shortly after Jim was released from prison he called our home in Richmond, Virginia. I was not at home when he called. When Jim told Melvine he was Jim Bakker, she exclaimed, "The Jim Bakker!" He responded by saying, "I am the only Jim Bakker I know." He did not leave a telephone number, and I was never able to connect with him. While I was in Branson, MO, for a NAE Chaplains Commission Retreat, I tried to connect with Jim, but could not get through the red tape to speak to him.

I read about Jim Bakker's sentence in prison in Charisma in an article written by Jamie Buckingham. It was entitled, "The Fallen and Forgotten." As I thought about this brother in Christ, I wondered if anyone would come to my rescue if I had a moral failure. After a lot of thought and prayer, I decided to write Jim Bakker, and I continued writing for some 5 years as God would give me a Scripture to encourage him.

I thank God for what PTL was meant to be. I had been there a few times before the collapse of this great ministry. I went back for a World Missions Board Meeting afterwards. I have fond memories of PTL. The devil used the moral failure of the leader to bring down the ministry. The media led the way in the demise of PTL.

Sometime later, when Ron Carpenter went on TBN for his first televised worship service, Ron asked me to cover the story when Matt Crouch and his wife, came. I covered the story in Hugh's News. Melvine went with me to the service. We were treated with a lovely dinner banquet. It was a glorious service and the presence of God was manifestly present.

It is my understanding that Ron Carpenter now has two campuses, one in California and the one in Greenville, SC. He flies back and forth to minister to the two congregations, as well as the expanded television audience. I pray God's continued blessings upon the extensive ministries He is giving to Ron Carpenter.]

Gregory Holmes Morgan was born in the Evergreen Memorial Hospital in Evergreen, Alabama on June 29, 1964. Melvine Stewart Morgan was his mother, and Hugh Holmes Morgan was his father.  Hugh was the pastor of the Brownville Pentecostal Holiness Church, a small country church about 6 miles from Evergreen in Conecuh County, Alabama. Greg was a blue baby and they were planning to change his blood. However, scores of people were praying for Greg in the local church, and those who had gathered for the annual Campmeeting of the Alabama Conference at River Springs, near the home of I. H. Presley, a retired minister of the IPHC. God heard their prayers and Greg did not need a blood transfusion.

When Greg was 9 months old his colon telescoped and was swallowing itself as a result of measles. Melvine and I took him to Jackson Hospital in Montgomery where the best pediatric surgeon in the southeast performed a delicate operation by removing some 18 inches of his colon. Greg was placed in an oxygen tent. Things turned from critical even worse. Gangrene set in. Greg's abdomen swelled extensively. Although he was in great pain, he never cried out or complained. However, big tears ran down his face.

God moved upon Johnny Smith of the Birmingham First Pentecostal Holiness to drive to Montgomery to pray for Greg. He came to the hospital, and reached into the oxygen tent and anointed Greg with oil and prayed the prayer of faith. Nothing seemed to be happening. The surgeon told the nurse to give Greg a bottle of milk. Greg drank the whole bottle and when he did, things turned around for Greg and God healed Greg.

In recent months, Greg has been hospitalized twice. The first time, he was in the hospital for 9 weeks and 3 days. He had Sepsis. The infection went to his brain and has caused mental and emotional problems with accompanying spiritual issues. He had a large ulcer surgically removed from his stomach. He had to have multiple blood transfusions, and he was placed on a ventilator with a tracheotomy.

The second time Greg was hospitalized he was placed on a psychiatric at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center where he was diagnosed with severe depression.

Greg needs your prayers for healing. He needs God to intervene to help him obtain Social Security and Medicaid disability. The present status is a class call Urgent Need. Only God can move upon those in Social Security and Medicaid to rule in Greg's favor. It seems very slow to me, but I believe God is working behind the scenes. He is in control of this situation.

I want to thank you for your many prayers.

Greg will be 57 years old on June 29. 

If you wish to send him a birthday card, you may write Greg at our home address:

Greg Morgan
17 Sweet Apple Lane
Winder, GA 30680-3349

Remembering Lonnie Rex

From the archives of Hugh's News . . .

The 2017 and 2018 Hugh's News Man of the Year

I want you to meet and get to know Dr. Lonnie R. Rex who is the 2017
and 2018 Hugh's News Man of the Year. So, let's begin.

Lonnie R. Rex is the son of the late Rev. Dr. Robert L. Rex, a Pentecostal Holiness preacher/pastor/church planter and founder of the
IPHC Extension Loan Fund, who became the executive director of Evangelism USA and World Missions.

Lonnie purchased the first $100 bond, and today the IPHC Loan Fund has grown to some $60 Million Dollars in assets.

As a child Lonnie was stricken with polio. His life was in the balance. He was not expected to live. His parent's prayers touched the heart of God to spare his life. God granted their request and he lived to overcame this physical challenge miraculously. It took a lot of faith, grit, determination, work and perseverance.

Through his father's preaching, Lonnie's heart was captured by the story of the lad who gave his lunch of five barley loaves and two small fish to Jesus. That became Lonnie's burning desire to give whatever he had to Jesus. It became the motivating force in the extensive ministries God entrusted to him. Lonnie never asked anything from God for himself. Rather, he prayed that God would give him ideas, concepts, and wisdom to help others in need. God answered his prayers.

He attended Oklahoma City University and earned a Bachelor of Music degree. He received four honorary doctorates through the American Bible Institute, Wesley Synod (twice), and Methodist Wesley. 

Lonnie met the love of his life at the Oklahoma Conference Camp Meeting in Oklahoma City. They also attended the Stamps School of Music in Dallas, where they both increased their knowledge of Gospel songs and hymns. Lonnie enjoyed listening to the Charles E. Fuller Old Fashion Gospel Hour and Rudy Atwood who played the piano for his choir. They always opened with the hymn, "Heavenly Sunlight." Lonnie would take down the key changes of the great hymns and would then go to the church in Houston his father pastored, and play it on the piano.

Lonnie and Betty fell in love and were married April 8, 1949. They chose New Orleans as their honeymoon site. 
                                                                                                             
For many years Lonnie served well-known American evangelists. God gifted Lonnie to be one of foremost fund-raisers of the 20th Century through his letter writing that helped to fund the costs of mass evangelism and healing ministries. His writing style was a gift from God, and his appeals for money touched the hearts of the people in the mass mailing list provided for him and the people gave generously. God blessed his efforts to help others through these various ministries.

In the meantime, God led Lonnie to create the David Livingstone Foundation. This non-profit humanitarian foundation brought food, clothing, shelter, and education, as well as financial, medical, and spiritual resources to many nations around the world. He sent boats to carry hundreds of Vietnamese refuges to safety. He provided ambulances, built clinics, hospitals, and orphanages on three continents.

In his best selling book, My Amazing Adventures With God, Lonnie shares some of the most intriguing stories that came about as he faced the challenges and opportunities God provided for him. However, you need to know that Lonnie's first book was entitled, Never a Child, was published in 1989.

He was named to "Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, and Who's Who in Religion."

Richard Young who collected the stories that Lonnie Rex told from memory and helped Lonnie to put in print wrote that Lonnie Rex was the most connected Christian in the world in the last fifty years if the 20th Century. He connected with leaders and the most influential religious individuals on the planet. Among the people in Lonnie's realm were Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborne, Pope Paul II, Mother Teresa, Mikhail Gorbachev, George H.W. Bush, President Ronald Reagan, John Osteen, President Vladimir V. Putin, and Mohammed Ali. This he said is only a small portion of the total list of people Lonnie has known and worked with around the world.

Lonnie was arrested in Ghana for attempting to overthrow the government when in truth he was there bringing a moped to a leper colony.  He played James Bond traveling up and down the Nile River and throughout Europe while bringing two C-47 planes full of food to the nation of Armenia.

He traveled to North Korea at their invitation, three times! He became friends with the Cardinal of Warsaw who later became Pope Paul II while delivering milk to the children of Poland. Vladimir Putin was his personal KGB agent when he traveled to the Soviet Union at the end of
the cold war. He visited refugee camps in Ethiopian Coptic Christians where babies were too weak to cry. He promised them he would tell their story to the world. He kept his promise.

Lonnie Rex received the highest honors South Korea could bestow on a non-Korean. He was knighted by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Many people dream of being used of God to touch people around the world. This life was not a dream for Lonnie Rex; it was a reality.

Richard Young wrote on the back cover of My Amazing Ventures with God . . . "This amazing story must be read to be believed. Lonnie Rex has led a life that is unbelievable until you know his stories."

I met Lonnie Rex in 1954 when I was playing trombone in the Quantico Marine Band, at Quantico, VA, approximately 33 miles from Washington, DC. It was at the National Pentecostal Holiness Church in the heart of DC that I met Lonnie and Betty Rex. As I recall, Ray Stewart was the
senior pastor. When he moved to another church, we were blessed to have W.J. Nash as our pastor. I had met Walter and Frances Nash and their three sons, James, Bill, and Marshall when I was a student at Emmanuel College for one year prior to my enlisting in the United States Marines Corps.

My friendship with Lonnie and Betty Rex has continued through the years. Lonnie is an avid reader and supported of Hugh's News. I have given him permission to be my mentor. He reports on almost all editions of Hugh's News. He is able to detect in a flash my blind spots and responds with positive recommendations for improvement. That kind of editorial consultation is invaluable to me as a writer and editor. I am constantly learning at the age of 85.

Lonnie and Betty Rex are noted for their twin concert grand piano duets. Lonnie directed the now famous Lonnie Rex choirs of 200 at General Conferences and Sunday Conventions accompanied by a piano and organ, as well as a full orchestra that Lonnie recruited and directed. Lonnie and Betty worked closely together and the music has never been quite the same as those glory days of yesteryear.

Will you welcome Dr. Lonnie R. Rex as our 2017 and 2018 Hugh's News of the Year.

And congratulate Lonnie on his 90th Birthday, May 11.

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​Marriage and Sexual Morality

A Biblical and pastoral position paper adopted by the
International Pentecostal Holiness Church Council of Bishops
October 19, 2016

Preface
On June 26, 2013 the United States Supreme Court in United States v Windsor struck
down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in a split 5-4 ruling. The Defense of Marriage Act
was enacted by the United States Congress on September 21, 1996, and stated that the federal
government would only recognize marriage as between one man and one woman. The Windsor
decision paved the way for the United States Supreme Court, in another 5-4 decision, to rule
exactly two years later on June 26, 2015 in Obergefell v Hodges that same sex marriage is legal
in all fifty states of the United States of America.

1 In both decisions, the International Pentecostal Holiness Church rejected the legal and
moral grounds of the Court’s decision.

In light of the widespread media, political, social, and educational promotion and
celebration of sexual activity contrary to the Word of God; and for the sake of our marriages,
our children and grandchildren, and our witness to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, the IPHC
Council of Bishops adopted this statement on July 24, 2015. Our views are consistent with the
IPHC Manual and are based on the Word of God--the Bible, historic Christian teaching, and our
desire to witness in truth, love, and grace to our lost world.

To read the complete text of this position paper you may Click Here on this hyperlink.

For more information about the IPHC and current news, you may go to this website: www.iphc.org

Hugh's News is the electronic flagship of communications serving IPHC ministries and he body of Christ worldwide.