Several large Bible ministry groups are calling for the first International Day of the Bible and are encouraging groups of any size to read or articulate Scripture in creative ways publicly or online without any commentary at noon local time on November 24.

“This is a very simple act of faithfulness and honor to God about His word,” Richard Glickstein, president of the National Bible Association, told The Christian Post. “God’s word is meant to encourage us and bring us personal hope, but it is also meant to bring us together to realize that this is such a great gift … and trust that He can change our world through it. The words of God changed my life and continues to. It’s not our event, we hope it’s an event for the body of Christ and those who love God, come together and thank Him

Organizers ask in their announcement: “Have a favorite Psalm? Or, a special passage that has helped you through tough times? Want to share with the world how much the Bible means in your life? Or ask Him to bless your nation?” People of all ages are being invited to participate in International Day of the Bible by taking pause for a few minutes to read or even sing Scripture or otherwise creatively express their love of The Good Book…Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian Post

No suspects and no possible motives have been offered in the wake of Saturday’s shooting. His family already has forgiven the killer.

A Tennessee family and the Memphis-area’s pastor’s flock are in mourning after Don Smith was shot and killed Saturday in unexplained circumstances.

Smith was the pastor at Prospect Park Missionary Baptist Church in Whitehaven.

“All we know is right now he was murdered, and we can’t find the person who did it,” said Raymond Jones, identified by WREG television, with whom he spoke, as a relative. “We’re still trying to put pieces together of what actually happened that caused his death.”

His body was found by two men walking their dogs near a pond in the Hickory Hill area, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities. The Shelby County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed that Smith was killed from a gunshot wound.

“We were just in disbelief,” Alandria Williams-Ware said. “We couldn’t understand why somebody would want to do something, or something this tragic would happen to us. We just had no clue.”

Smith’s wife and daughters shared some of the same memories as other family members.

“He was the type of person who would give you anything you asked for, give him your last,” Williams-Ware said in a report on the Christian Post.

“The shirt off his back. Anything,” Alice Howard added.

If Pastor Smith wasn’t on the pulpit, family members said he could be found spending time in the kitchen.

“Sundays, we compared dinners on Sundays. He’d call me, I’d call him. We’d trade our food,” Howard recalled.

Just like his cooking, family and friends said being in the same presence as Smith could warm your soul.

As Smith’s family plans his funeral, they’re not holding a grudge against whoever killed their loved one.

However, they are still looking for answers and closure.

“As a family we’re already forgiving this person, but we want justice served,” Jones said.

Pastor Smith’s funeral will be held at the Golden Gate Cathedral on Saturday at 11 a.m. A wake will be held on Friday between 4 and 7 p.m.

Source and Original Content by Charisma News

Point Loma Nazarene University wants to offer human trafficking survivors who want to earn a college degree a full-ride scholarship.

PLNU, a private Christian university located in San Diego, officially launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign this week with a goal to raise $40,000 in 40 days. The money will fund the Beauty for Ashes Scholarship Fund, a reference to the Bible verse Isaiah 61:3.

San Diego is the 13th highest child prostitution area in the country, according to the FBI and PLNU’s Center for Justice & Reconciliation resource website, Abolish Human Trafficking. The site also says 1.2 million children are trafficked every year, and it’s the second-largest source of illegal income in the world.

“One of the things we are hearing over and over again … is that (the survivors) so badly want a college education, but that just seems so completely out of the realm of possibility for them,” said Kim Jones, external relations volunteer at CJR. “Many of them, when they’re rescued, don’t even have their high school diploma.”

While being accepted into the university and receiving the scholarship is one thing, being successful throughout the four years it takes to earn a degree is another. So PLNU is developing a plan to ensure the survivors, who will remain anonymous among the student population, get the support they’ll need to succeed.

“We’re in the process of developing that plan, and it starts with the fact that anybody who applies for the scholarship will need to be referred in by a direct service agency, so that they already have some connection to some agency in town that has been working with them and knows their story and knows what level of support they need,” Jones said.

The $40,000 would cover one year’s cost of attendance for one person, but the university hopes to be able to help more.

“In most circumstances, somebody coming in, in this situation, is also going to be eligible for other sources of grants and aid, so we’re hoping the scholarship will be a supplement to get to the full amount they need to be here,” Jones said.

A couple of survivors are currently going through the application process at PLNU for the fall 2015 semester, which is when the scholarship will first be awarded.

The university looks at the scholarship as a long-term deal and plans to have the scholarship be self-sustaining in the future, according to Jones.

“We’re really using the crowdfund as a way to get the word out and raise friends as much as raise funds,” she said. “We’ve got a long-term need to grow the fund way beyond $40,000.”

Mollie Ah Sing, a senior at PLNU who also interns at CJR, is excited about the scholarship but said this is a serious issue for the community to understand.

“It’s a super exciting thing to be at a university that is taking steps to live out what we believe in,” she said. “We hope that by setting an example it will continue.”

Source and Original Content by Charisma News

A Christian-run bakery is to face legal action over its refusal to create a cake featuring a pro-same sex marriage slogan.

The Equality Commission has confirmed that it is taking Northern Ireland-based Ashers Baking Company to court because it declined the order from a pro-gay activist in Belfast. It warned the company that it could face a sexual orientation discrimination case.

In a letter sent to the bakery last week, the Commission warned that it would start legal proceedings unless the company acknowledged that it had been in breach of the law. It said that “the claimant will be seeking only modest damages for the upset and inconvenience caused”, but warned that “failing this, a civil bill will be issued”.

The commission said yesterday that it had now received a reply from the bakery’s solicitors “stating that their view remains unchanged, that their clients have not acted unlawfully”… Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian Today