Simply Chrysolite Releases Christmas Special

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Simply Chrysolite Releases Christmas Special

Multiple award winning girl band Simply Chrysolite have set the mood right for the Christmas season with the release of this carol “Joy To The World”, as well as the acapella version now available on itunes, googleplay, amazon mp3, spinlet and other digital stores.

Named after one of the precious stones in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem as written in Revelation 21:20 – the 7th foundation out of 12, ‘Simply Chrysolite‘ is made up of five young ladies from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa; Thab’zo Mkhwanazi (25), Phumzile Ngcobo (27), Dolce Bophela (28), Thabiso Mkhize (28) and Pretty Nguse (23).

Totally different from the thousands of ‘Joy to the world’ versions out there in the market, this funky, afro-rhythm and blues styled tune would get you up on your feet, before God’s throne room of praise and actually leave you there – body and soul.

Composed and arranged by their mentor, Rev. Tim Omotoso (a leading Nigerian televangelist, the Senior Pastor of Jesus Dominion International, founder of Tim Omotoso Global Outreach and Ancient of Days Broadcasting Network). The songs are produced by Agboola Shadare (a renowned international award winning producer), and recorded at KZN Music House, Greyville, Durban in South Africa.

Simply Chrysolite was formed by Rev. Tim Omotoso in 2009, and have since grown to become one of Africa’s most popular gospel bands. Grammy-winning gospel musician Kirk Franklin has described them as “fresh, dope and crazy” and said that he was “totally amazed by their voices and harmony”.

Feel free to download these songs on itunes, googleplay, amazon mp3 and other online stores simply by searching for, ‘Joy to the world by Simply Chrysolite’ and ‘Joy to the world (Acapella version) by Simply Chrysolite too.

Reshare with your friends and families on your social network accounts by using the harsh-tag, ‘#JoyToTheWorldSimplyChrysolite’.

Together we can bring Joy to the whole world this festive season and beyond.

Visit Simply Chrysolite’s website: www.simplychrysolite.co.za to familiarize yourself with their wonderful brand.

Source and Original Content by PraiseWorld Radio

Nigerian MegaChurch Pastor, Bishop Oyedepo Curses Boko Haram, Predicts Its End

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Nigerian MegaChurch Pastor, Bishop Oyedepo Curses Boko Haram, Predicts Its End

The founder and President of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, has angrily predicted the end of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

Daily Independent reports that the clergyman made the prediction on Friday at his church Shiloh programme, while reacting to the unabated killings, and suicide bombings.

Oyedepo shouted, “Today Friday, 12 December 2014, marks the end of the harassment of Boko Haram in Nigeria, because Nigeria has been delivered from these fundamentalists.

”He explained that the economic strides of each part of the country was solely based on the level of productivity which is at variance with any other senseless consideration, adding that defying theories of rational thinking seeking to tear the country apart, must come to an end

“I am sponsored by no one; I am a servant of the Most High and except I am not sent would you ever hear again of these terrorists’ mindless killings in the country.

Their end has finally come,” he said.Oyedepo, who just turned sixty-year-old was reportedly speaking at the Hour of Visitation morning programme of the just concluded 16th Shiloh, when he rained curses on any political undertone as well as saboteurs in the army, who have compromised the war against terrorism.

The Bishop during the prayer session both on ground in Canaanland and online, also cursed the sponsors, masterminds, informants and executioners of the Boko Haram extremist.Oyedepo assured that the last attack on any church is the very last the nation would ever witness.

Meanwhile, the shiloh event, which has been decentralised to accommodate millions of participants around the world, and followed across Nigerian cities comprising Maiduguri and Damaturu, had over 2000 delegates drawn from 52 countries.

In a related development, economic activities in Jos, the Plateau State capital, were paralysed on Friday, after Thursday’s twin bomb blasts that killed 32 people and injured 45 others at the terminus business hub areaHowever, the Assistant Chief Planning Officer, North central zone of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mohammed Suleiman, on Saturday confirmed that 32 persons were killed while 47 were injured in the twin blasts.

He said NEMA personnel were providing medical assistance to hospitals where the injured victims are currently receiving treatment.

Abubakar Muhammadu Badu, the state Commissioner of information, on Saturday the state government is shocked over the lives and properties that were destroyed in the twin bomb blasts.

He said the government sympathised with the families that lost their loved ones and prayed for quick recovery for the injured.

Source and Original Content by JustGospel

Pope Francis Expresses Concern for Beleaguered Middle Eastern Faithfuls

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Pope Francis Expresses Concern for Beleaguered Middle Eastern Faithfuls

Pope Francis has expressed concern for members of the Syriac Catholic Church who have had to flee from the “inhumanity” unfolding in the Middle East.

“Many have fled to find refuge from an inhumanity that throws entire populations on to the streets, leaving them without any means for survival,” he said in a special audience with Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem Joseph III Younan and about 350 of his faithful from the Syriac Catholic Church.

The audience, made up of bishops, priests and laity from the Eastern Rite Church, came after the bishops’ annual synod, which was held in Rome on December 8-10. Participants came from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and the Holy Land, as well as from the diaspora communities in Europe and North and South America.

The Pope offered his prayers and encouragement, especially for those from “Iraq and Syria, who are living a time of great suffering and fear in the face of violence”.

“The difficult situation in the Middle East has caused and continues to cause the movement of faithful from your Church to the eparchies of the diaspora, and this brings you new pastoral challenges,” he said, such as how to remain faithful to one’s traditions while adapting and contributing to new cultural settings.

Having so many faithful move abroad “impoverishes the Christian presence in the Middle East, land of the prophets, of the first preachers of the Gospel, of martyrs and many saints, the cradle of hermitages and monasticism”, Pope Francis said…Read More

Source and Original Content by Catholic Herald

Christian Widow Killed in Bomb Blast in Nigeria

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Christian Widow Killed in Bomb Blast in Nigeria

For Jummai Sunday, 63, Thursday (Dec. 11) began like any other for the Christian widow. After a morning devotional, she visited sick or bereaved families, and then returned home to gather items for sale at her market spot near the bus terminal area in Jos, Nigeria.

She survived the twin bomb blasts that the Boko Haram jihadist group is suspected of setting off that evening, but gunmen who swooped in on survivors killed her with shots to her head, leg and hand, relatives said. At least 31 other people in the predominantly Christian area were killed and 45 wounded by the Islamic extremist group that has created violent chaos for five years in its bid to turn Nigeria into a sharia (Islamic law) state.

Her body was taken to a hospital in Yan Shanu, a Muslim quarter of the city where her son went to retrieve her corpse – taking with him a small contingent of police and soldiers, as he had learned that Muslims were shooting Christians in the area.

Another Christian woman selling her wares beside Sunday was shot but survived to tell relatives how the widow died…Read More

Source and Original Content by CNN

Three More Pakistani Christians Accused of Blasphemy

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Three More Pakistani Christians Accused of Blasphemy

Three more cases of blasphemy accusations have emerged in Pakistan, even after a Christian couple’s beating to death and burning in a brick kiln after allegations of blasphemy horrified the world, including the metropolitan elite in the country.

The Christian couple were killed over suspicions of desecrating the Qur’an on November 4. The Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed the resolve to bring the perpetrators “to justice” and appointed Senator Kamran Michael to be the focal person in the case.

Condemnation from top religious clerics gave some hope to human rights defenders for some positive change. The Pakistani police arrested dozens of suspects in connection with the lynching of the couple but all these measures have failed to curb the rising levels of discrimination against Christians…Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian News Network

Exodus: Gods And Kings tops Box Office with $24.5m

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Exodus: Gods And Kings tops Box Office with $24.5m

“Exodus: Gods and Kings” toppled “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″ from its perch atop the box office, but its opening weekend results fell short of heavenly status.

The biblical epic picked up $24.5 million from 3,503 locations. That was in line with projections, but bringing the story of Moses to life carried a hefty $140 million pricetag. The 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment production will need to perform well overseas and will have to build an audience Stateside if it’s going to be profitable.

The debut audience was 54% male and 65% over the age of 25, and the film played particularly well to Hispanic and African-American moviegoers, who made up 18% and 20% of the crowd, respectively.

“We got the religious audience, but the opening audience was much more diverse than just that,” said Spencer Klein, executive vice president of theatrical distribution at Fox.

Its opening also fell short of the launches of other religious-themed films such as “Noah” ($43.7 million), “Son of God” ($25.6 million) and “The Passion of the Christ”($83.8 million). Working in “Exodus’” favor is that films that open in December have a longer runway. The Christmas holidays means many moviegoers are on vacation, allowing films that debut softly to stick around longer than they might at other times of the year.

“This is a great start for us leading into the holiday stretch,” said Klein, adding, “In this play period you get such a big multiple [on a film’s opening weekend].”

Parting the Red Sea and unleashing plagues of frogs played well in premium formats. “Exodus” generated 11% of its opening from premium large screen formats and 44% of its receipts from 3D showings.

The weekend’s other major new entry, “Top Five,” picked up $7.2 million across 979 locations, good enough for a fourth place finish. Chris Rock wrote, directed and stars in the film about a comedian at a professional and personal crossroads, earning some of the strongest notices of his career.

“We got the launch we wanted and the reaction we had hoped for,” said Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures. “We do feel that word of mouth is going to continue to build as we keep expanding.”

Paramount Pictures picked up worldwide rights to the film from the Toronto Film Festival for $12.5 million and, as part of the pact, the studio agreed to pay at least $20 million in promotion and marketing. It will be on roughly 2,000 screens by the end of 2014 and will begin its overseas launch next year…Read More

Source and Original Content by Variety

Activist Group Threatens School with Lawsuit Over Bible Distribution

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Activist Group Threatens School with Lawsuit Over Bible Distribution

A prominent atheist activist organization has threatened to file a lawsuit against a Georgia school district if it allows a well-known Bible distribution ministry to continue to offer Bibles to public school students.

The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter on Friday to the superintendent of the Bartow County School System after Gideon International reportedly distributed Bibles at Cloverleaf Elementary School earlier this month. The organization asserts that the distribution is unconstitutional.

“We understand that teachers announced the Bible distribution and sorted their students into those wanting Bibles and others,” the letter, written by staff attorney Andrew Seidel, outlined. “In our complainant’s class, only one child (not our complainant’s) refused to take a Bible. … The teacher then walked the students to the library, and, leading by example, took a bible from the adult male that set up shop in the public elementary school library.”

FFRF then asserted that the distribution was unlawful because it took place while school was in session, and because a teacher was involved. It stated that the practice makes students who do not want a copy of the Bible to feel ostracized and claimed that the sole student who declined was “teased…Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian News Network

Church Posts “Santa Is Satan” on Sign

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Church Posts “Santa Is Satan” on Sign

During the holiday season most churches will put out signs about, ‘the season for giving’ or ‘the reason for the season’, but one Harlem Church is saying something completely different.

‘Santa is Satan’, according to people of Harlem Born Again Baptist Church. The big, bold sign is posted right outside of the Church’s doors. Neighbors around the area say Pastor Edward Carothers does this every year for different holidays.

News Channel 6 reached out to Pastor Carothers several times, but have no received a response.

Other Pastors in the area don’t want to be associated with any sign that has a negative impact.

“I don’t know the church in itself, but just as far as a church putting that on the sign I think that tends to create a bigger wedge between the church and the community,” Carrel Davis said…Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN1

Jesus Selfie Ad: Advertising Campaign aims at Drawing Young Adults back to Church.

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Jesus Selfie Ad: Advertising Campaign aims at Drawing Young Adults back to Church.

The Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn is trying to remind young adults who have strayed from the church or are seeking a place of worship that God is ever-present with a new advertising campaign portraying a woman taking a selfie with Jesus.
The daring ad shows a lone young woman taking a selfie. However in the snapped picture, she is not alone; an image of Jesus is just behind her. Emblazoned at the top of the ad are the words, “It’s Never Just a Selfie”; at the bottom, the diocese bids viewers, “Join us for Christmas.”

Monsignor Kieran Harrington, the vicar for Communications for the Diocese of Brooklyn, explained the ad stating, “New York is an exciting place to live. Yet for some it can also be lonely. We launched this campaign to remind our neighbors that they are not alone, that we are family.”

Brooklyn Bishop Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio said the ad is also a creative response to “Pope Francis’ call for a church of mercy and hope ‘where everyone is welcomed, loved and forgiven.”

The Diocese hopes the message behind the ad will drive young adults in its 187 parishes to attend Christmas mass.

The Christmas “Selfie” ad is one of 11 clever ads translated in English, Spanish and Mandarin. One urges the unchurched to “party like it’s 1 AD” while another proclaims Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and the three wise men as “the original friends and family plan.”

A similar ad campaign last year proclaimed Jesus the orginial hipster.

The “Selfie” ad became more well known after National Public Radio’s Peter Sagal mocked the ad during the “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” weekend game show. Last weekend he joked “The Catholic Church preaches that Jesus is always with us. In fact, He’s right behind you.” He then quipped, “For starters, why didn’t Jesus just offer to take the picture Himself? His hands were occupied.”

First Baptist Church in Dallas Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress said of the jokes on FOX News, “When it comes to Christianity, it’s open season.”

NPR President and CEO Jarl Mohn told FOX News Host Bill O’Reilly that the show’s goal is to poke fun at the news and make people laugh, and he “regrets that we didn’t succeed in this case.”

The controversy hasn’t seemed to put a damper on the Diocese’s efforts. It is featuring the ads in print as well as making them the inspiration for 30-second radio messages inviting the borough of Queens to join its 213 churches for Christmas.

Source and Original Content by CP

Laws to Fast Track Woman Bishops into Lords Set to be Unveilled

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Laws to Fast Track Woman Bishops into Lords Set to be Unveilled

New laws due to be unveiled this week will mean woman bishops will be fast tracked into the House of Lords.

There had been fears it could be at least a decade before a female member of the clergy was given a place in the Lords after the Church of England’s General Synod voted in favour of woman bishops last month.

The Sunday Times reports that Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has ordered the law to be re-written to allow woman to jump the queue of bishops waiting for a seat.

It means the first female bishop would take the next place in the ‘Lords Spiritual’ when it becomes free.

The first could be in place by the middle of next year.

Twenty six bishops have a place in the House of Lords but only five, Canterbury, York, Winchester, Durham and London, have a permanent seat.

The rest of the Church of England’s seats are given on the basis of service length, with the average wait around ten years.

Reports suggest the law will last a decade to create equal representation before being changed back.

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian News

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