us news
More Churches Using Pickleball for Community Building, Outreach: ‘Everybody Has Fun’
Maryland – It’s the country’s fastest-growing sport with almost 20 million Americans playing pickleball. And now, churches are tapping into its popularity.
It’s a relatively easy sport to pick up. That may be why it’s growing so quickly and courts are popping up all over the country.
At Emmanuel Church in Huntingtown, Maryland, they have three that they open to both members and non-members.
“We have a lot of regulars,” Bill Holston, a member at Emmanuel, told CBN News. “It falls off a little during the summer months because people can play outside and somehow that’s a little bit more fun.”
Courts are open Monday evenings to members who are allowed to bring up to two guests. Holston, one of the organizers, begins each session with a short word and prayer. From there, the games begin.
“When we’re playing, it’s pretty competitive but it’s really a good time,” said Wayne Boblitt, a regular player.
Emmanuel offers several one-hour sessions. CBN News visited during the 4 pm window.
“I used to be a person always in a shell, like kind of nervous about doing things, but this kind of really opened me up to other things and being able to fellowship with other Christians and having a mutual fun time together,” Lisa Gratch, another player, told CBN News.
It’s all part of a larger growing trend happening across the country – churches tapping into the popularity of pickleball to grow community and also as an outreach to non-believers.
In addition to Mondays, Emmanuel invites the community to play on the third Saturday of each month.
“Evangelical churches, Catholic churches, Methodist churches, non-denominational churches do pickleball which is kind of fun,” Bob Smietana, a reporter at Religion News Service, told CBN News. “They use it as outreach, community building, and are having a good time with it.”
Smietana talked to churches across the country for a recent report he did.
“It is a game that anyone can play,” he explained. “So that’s what folks told me. The first time you show up you can go from having never played to playing and having a good time fairly early.”
An estimated 19.8 million Americans played pickleball in 2024, up about 45 percent from 2023.
“We’ve got 80-year-olds playing, all the way down to 10-year-olds and we can play together,” Christine King, another player and organizer at Emmanuel Church, told CBN News. “It’s just such a sport that I think everybody has fun!”
King brought her young granddaughter to the session CBN News was at. She said they’ve had several people show up for pickleball who then started going to church.
“They haven’t been to church in 20 years and then they come and some have been maybe in a different religion and I thought it was pretty cool,” she said.
Holston put it this way:
“When I first became a believer years ago back in the mid 70’s there was a concept of ‘Friendship Evangelism’ and this is what it is,” he said. “Reach out to your neighbors, reach out to your friends, reach out to your coworkers, and give them something cool to do with you guys.”
And that’s it. Have fun, get some exercise, and grow the kingdom, one “dink” at a time.
Sources:CBN News
us news
ഇന്ത്യൻ ക്രിസ്റ്റ്യൻ ഡേ സമ്മേളനം സെപ്റ്റംബർ 19 വൈകിട്ട് 5 മണിക്ക് ഇർവിംഗ് സിറ്റിയിൽ
ഡാളസ് : ഇന്ത്യൻ ക്രിസ്റ്റ്യൻ ഡേ സമ്മേളനം ഇർവിംഗ് സിറ്റിയിൽ സെപ്റ്റംബർ19 ശനിയാഴ്വ വൈകുന്നേരം 5 മണിക്ക് ബെഥനി ഫുൾ ഗോസ്പൽ അസംബ്ളി ഹാളിലാണ് ആരംഭിയ്ക്കുന്നത്. സമ്മേളനത്തിൽ ഇർവിംഗ് മേയർ (A I Zapanta ), ഷെർവിൻ ഡേസ്സ് , ഡോ. സിസിൽ അനിയൻ തുടങ്ങിവരാണ് മുഖ്യ പ്രസംഗകർ. ഇവരെ കൂടാതെ ഇന്ത്യൻ പ്രവാസികളായ ക്രൈസ്തവ ജനതയെ പ്രതിനിഥീകരിച്ച് വിവിധ സഭാ മേലദ്ധ്യഷന്മാരും, പ്രതിനിധികളും, സംഘടനാ ലീഡേഴ്സും, പൊതു ജനത്തെ അതിസം ബോധന ചെയ്ത് സംസാരിക്കുന്നതാണ്.
ക്രൈസ്തവരായ ഇന്ത്യൻ ജനതയുടെ പൈതൃകം, സംസ്കാരം, സാഹോദരിയത്വം , ഐക്യത തുടങ്ങിയ മൂല്യങ്ങളെ ഉയർത്തി കാട്ടുന്നതിനും, ക്രിസ്തുവിൻ്റെ സ്നേഹം മറ്റുള്ളവരിലേക്ക് പകരപ്പെടേണമെന്നതാണ് ഈ സമ്മേളനം ലക്ഷ്യമാക്കുന്നത്. പാസ്റ്റർ മാതൃൂ ശാമുവേൽ, പാസ്റ്റർ ജോൺ യല്ലംമ്പള്ളി, പാസ്റ്റർ പോൾ ഗോരപ്പ തുടങ്ങിയവരാണ് ടെക്സസിലെ ഇന്ത്യൻ ക്രിസ്റ്റ്യൻ ഡേയുടെ മുഖ്യ സംഘാടകർ.
സമ്മേളന സ്ഥലം : Bethany Full Gospel Assembly, 2901 N MacArthur Blvd.Irving,.Tx.75062
വിശദ വിവരങ്ങൾക്ക് ബന്ധപ്പെടുക: 469 212 3216.
Sources:globalindiannews
us news
കോർക്ക് ഏബേനസർ ദൈവസഭയിൽ സെപ്റ്റംബർ 19 ശനിയാഴ്ച ഏകദിന യുവജന ക്യാമ്പ്
അയർലൻഡ്: ഏകദിന യുവജന ക്യാമ്പ്: കോർക്ക് ഏബേനസർ ദൈവസഭയുടെ ആഭിമുഖ്യത്തിൽ എറൈസ് & ഇഗ്നൈറ്റ്’ എന്ന വിഷയത്തെ ആസ്പതമാക്കി ഏകദിന യുവജന ക്യാമ്പ്, 2026 സെപ്റ്റംബർ 19 ശനിയാഴ്ച രാവിലെ 10:00 മുതൽ കോർക്കിലെ ഏബേനസർ ദൈവസഭ ഹാളിൽ വച്ചു നടത്തപ്പെടും.
പ്രശസ്ത ദൈവവചന പ്രാസംഗികനും ഗായകനുമായ പാസ്റ്റർ കാലെബ് ജീ ജോർജ് ക്യാമ്പിൽ മുഖ്യസന്ദേശം നൽകും. യുവാക്കളിൽ ആത്മീയ ഉണർവും ദൈവീക അനുഗ്രഹവും ലക്ഷ്യമിട്ട് ക്രമീകരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന ഈ ക്യാമ്പ്, ആത്മനിറവിനായുള്ള മികച്ചൊരു അവസരമായിരിക്കും
കൂടുതൽ വിവരങ്ങൾക്കും സൗജന്യ രജിസ്ട്രേഷനും പാസ്റ്റർ എം. എം. തോമസ്, പാസ്റ്റർ കെ. പി. ബിജുമോൻ എന്നിവരുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെടാവുന്നതാണ്
ഏവരുടെയും പ്രാർത്ഥനാപൂർവ്വമായ പങ്കാളിത്തം പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കുന്നതോടൊപ്പം, എല്ലാ യൗവനക്കാരെയും പരിപാടിയിലേക്ക് സ്വാഗതം ചെയ്യുന്നതായി ഭാരവാഹികൾ അറിയിച്ചു.
Sources:cchintha.in
us news
Theologian Uncovers Dangerous ‘Common Sense’ Hidden in Kids’ Movies Today
Very often, the truth is hiding in plain sight. That’s certainly the case with much of children’s entertainment.
The underlying message affixed to any number of movies geared toward kids seems to be some version of following one’s own heart, listening to his desires, chasing after her feelings. But that message, according to Trevin Wax, is a direct contradiction to the Gospel.
Wax, an author and visiting professor at Cedarville University, recently appeared on CBN’s “Faith in Culture,” were he eschewed such ideologies. While the world calls those ideas “common sense,” he said they are incongruous with Christianity.
“You think of these slogans that are out there, like, ‘Be true to yourself,’ ‘You do you,’ ‘Live your truth,’ ‘You are enough,’ ‘Follow your heart,’ ‘Chase your dreams,’” he said. “Sociologists call that ‘expressive individualism.’ … That’s the plot line in so many movies, even, like, good wholesome movies, in Disney movies. … It kind of passes for common sense in our day and age.”
The secular understanding of “freedom” is a far cry from true freedom as explained in Scripture, Wax said.
“It’s just so easy to define freedom in our day as a freedom from constraints, from limitations,” he explained. “[The world says] freedom is me doing whatever I want to do, when the Bible actually teaches that, ‘No, you doing just whatever you want to do, especially in our flesh, is a kind of slavery.’”
Throughout the New Testament, the Apostle Paul explains human beings will always be slaves to something — either to sin and our own desires or to a just and merciful God whose ways are higher and better than our own.
In Romans 6:16, Paul wrote, “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living” (NLT).
“True freedom is submission to God, and it’s freedom for something,” said Wax. “It’s not doing whatever we want; it’s aligning our wants with God’s will, recognizing that that’s when we’re truly freest.”
Wax is the author of the new book, “The Gospel Way Catechism for Kids,” a children’s edition of his book by the same title.
In it, he and his co-author, Thomas West, outline 50 faith-centered questions and answers for children to read, study, and talk about with their families. He explained that these catechisms should serve as conversation starters in the home.
“A catechism isn’t supposed to be everything,” he said. “It’s supposed to be something. It’s meant to give you the structure or the scaffolding that you can then come in later and begin to fill in.”
While the world teaches a “meditation” that empties the mind of everything, Wax emphasized a godly mindfulness that calls believers to fill their minds with the commands and promises of Scripture.
“We’ve got to distinguish the Christian understanding of prayer from just mindfulness routines or just Eastern meditation that leads us to sort of empty our minds,” he explained. “[B]iblical meditation … is a filling of the mind with Scripture and God’s Word.”
Sources:faithwire
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