The Northern California mountain city of Paradise, Calif. was devastated by a wildfire late last week destroying 95% of the city’s structures, including the homes of at least 45 Church of God families and one of the state’s largest Church of God worship centers.

Pastor Rob McCoy, who is also a member of the city council and acting mayor in Thousand Oaks, California, has been ministering to hurting people in that community after last week’s tragic shooting. McCoy is the pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel Church and also the chaplain of the local rescue unit. Ironically, despite the good work of the church, a lawsuit filed against the city of Thousand Oaks seeks to prevent the church from operating in a location formerly occupied by a YMCA.

Since 2010, Bless Friday® has provided an alternative to hectic Christmas shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. Churches and Christians in Houston, The Woodlands, Richmond, Trinity, and Cotulla, Texas and Seattle, Washington are preparing projects that honor Christ at Christmas on Friday, November 23 and also on Saturday the 24th. These churches encourage families and individuals to celebrate Bless Friday® as an alternative to Black Friday.

Church of God World Missions, led by Director David M. Griffis and Assistant Director M. Thomas Propes, has released an update on the two year-old initiative, Send the Light to the Cities (SL2C).

The international ministry Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) is using models built of LEGO® bricks as a tool to build community relationships with families while teaching children the Word of God. The CEF workers partner with local church volunteers by providing the popular building blocks, figures and instructions so the children can create a variety of buildings and vehicles, and by teaching the Bible program. The local church provides the helpers to sit and build with the children.

United Bible Societies (UBS) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) have released a joint publication entitled Your Word Is Truth: The Bible in 10 Christian Traditions. The book is a collection of essays by theologians and historians on how the Bible is used and understood in various traditions.

Church of God Care Ministries Division Executive Administrator Mitchell Corder recently reported on natural disasters and relief supplied through Church of God-related minsitries, including Men and Women of Action, God’s Pit Crew and Operation Compassion.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Planetshakers is a contemporary worship band and is world renown for their amazing artistry in music, vocals and in leading mass crowds in worship. With more than 30 internationally acclaimed albums, the band tours annually to the US, UK, Europe, South Africa, Asia, South America, Australia and New Zealand. With a global following of millions, Planetshakers are partnering with tvChaz.com to add their content to the new multimedia platform to expand their reach and be on the forefront of the advancement of technology and Christian user behaviors. The Planetshakers Conference, from Melbourne, Australia is now available for the first time on an on demand, pay per view basis on the tvChaz.com platform worldwide.

Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains are on-site in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where a gunman opened fire at the Borderline Bar & Grill last night. News reports indicate that 12 people, including a law enforcement officer who responded, were murdered in the attack. The gunman has also died.