US College Students Embrace Evangelism Challenge

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US College Students Embrace Evangelism Challenge

College students across the United States were joined by believers of all ages as they participated in Engage24, a one-on-one evangelism initiative that challenged Christians to share the Gospel with at least one person in a 24-hour time period.

hen the development of Engage24 began in 2011, Brian Frye, the national collegiate strategist for the North American Mission Board, and his team believed that encouraging college students to share their faith required a creative approach.

“Instead of focusing on the end result, we decided to, first, focus on the process,” Frye said of the Oct. 14 effort. “Instead of only concentrating on how many people came to Christ on one particular day, we wanted to see how many college students would share their faith on that particular day. And if we did that first, then we could ultimately accomplish the goal of seeing people come to Christ.”

One-on-one evangelism has had a personal, life-changing impact on one particular student at the University of Texas at Arlington. A Cambodian with Buddhist roots, Putti Sok came to Christ after a fellow student shared the Gospel with her. Seeing how one-on-one evangelism changed her life, she is now on staff with Baptist Campus Ministry at the university and leads their campus’s Engage24 movement.

Kevin Stacy, collegiate projects specialist for NAMB, noted it can be difficult to track the results of Engage24 and see how many college students shared the Gospel during that day.

“Hearing success stories like Putti’s is so encouraging because we get a glimpse of the impact that this movement is having on campuses across the country,” he said.

Stacy, who also serves on the Baptist College Network Committee that helps lead Engage24, said they rely heavily on Twitter to track results and read reports from students who had the opportunity to share the Gospel during the day.

Along with the University of Texas at Arlington, schools such as the University of South Florida, the University of Arkansas, the University of Georgia, Texas Christian University, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the University of California Riverside and others partnered with their Baptist Campus Ministry groups and accepted the Engage24 challenge…Read More

Source and Original Content by Baptist Press

Tennessee Church Gives New Vehicle To Homeless Man

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Tennessee Church Gives New Vehicle To Homeless Man

Stacey Tuell has part of his life back.

The homeless man lived in his car until it was illegally towed last summer. Last week, a Mount Juliet church stepped forward to offer a replacement.

“I know it’s just a car, but I feel like a normal person again,” Tuell said.

Tuell suffered a slow slide into homelessness after a string of misfortunes, some of his own making.

He was laid off his job as a welder about two years ago, then hit a rocky patch in his marriage. He moved out of the home where his wife and daughter still live. He couldn’t find a job. He racked up a string of misdemeanor offenses, from driving on a suspended license to possession of drug paraphernalia. He began living in his Pontiac Sunfire.

Police arrested Tuell — just as he was heading to his car — for failing to appear in court on a misdemeanor offense last summer.

Two hours later, they towed his car. It was legally parked.

A local pastor who had befriended Tuell found a volunteer lawyer who took his case to court. A judge found the car had been illegally towed and ordered it released. The lawyer, William Hunt, and Tuell went straight to the towing lot with the judge’s order in hand. But by then, it was too late. The car — and all his possessions, including a wedding band, a watch, family photographs and all his clothes — were gone.

Members of The Glade Church in Mount Juliet were among the first who stepped forward after reading about Tuell’s plight in The Tennessean last week.

The church has an “automotive ministry” — a group of about 40 men who volunteer every Monday night to tinker with used cars to get them into good working condition. Tuell’s new car, a 1998 white Ford Expedition, is the 54th they have given away since 2009…Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN 1

Christian Group Mounts Petition Drive Against Television Comedy ‘Black Jesus’

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Christian Group Mounts Petition Drive Against Television Comedy ‘Black Jesus’

An African-American Baptist convention born out of the 1960s struggle for civil rights has denounced the television comedy “Black Jesus” and is mobilizing members to join a petition drive asking network officials to take the program off the air.

The Progressive National Baptist Convention, formed in the early 1960s and the denominational home of Martin Luther King, denounced the program that airs on Adult Swim — a Turner Broadcasting System-owned cable network that shares channel space with the Cartoon Network — as “nothing short of blasphemous.”

“’Black Jesus’ undermines the faith of the African-American community when our faith in Jesus is the only consistent source of empowerment that has brought us through centuries of enslavement, dehumanization and depersonalization,” says a description of the Washington-based PNBC’s Cancel Black Jesus Campaign.

“We cannot ignore those indignities that stare us in the face and undermine our faith,” the petition says. “It was only through our faith that we found meaning in life and the strength and courage to face life’s challenges.”

“Black Jesus,” which just completed its first season, features Jesus Christ living in modern-day Compton, Calif., a Los Angeles County slum known for gang violence, sex and drug dealing and home to famous rap artists including Ice Cube and Dr. Dre.

As portrayed by actor Gerald “Slink” Johnson, creator Aaron McGruder’s Jesus is on a mission to spread love and kindness to a small group of followers. The show has received generally favorable reviews, but a plot line that includes growing marijuana in a community garden sparked controversy even before the series premiere Aug. 7… Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN 1

Mark Driscoll Speaks for First Time After Mars Hill

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Mark Driscoll Speaks for First Time After Mars Hill

Mark Driscoll is back. Sort of.

Days after stepping down as head of Seattle’s Mars Hill megachurch, Driscoll spoke briefly Monday (Oct. 20) at the Gateway Conference in suburban Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Initially, he and conference organizers agreed that he would not give a formal address at the conference.

But Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church near Dallas, said Driscoll requested to come to the conference as an attendee. “That was big of him to just come and be ministered to,” Morris said.

“We could crucify him, but since someone’s already been crucified for him … ” Morris said, his voice trailing off. “It’s very sad that in the church, we’re the only army that shoots at our wounded. And I’d like you to stop it.”

Driscoll’s resignation came in the wake of accusations of plagiarism, bullying and an oversized ego that alienated some of his most devoted followers. Conference attendees gave Driscoll a standing ovation as Morris handed him the microphone.

“What do you want me to do?” Driscoll asked, teasing about the dangers of giving “a microphone to a preacher who’s been gone for a while.”

Driscoll spoke for three minutes, telling the crowd that he’s praying for Jesus to show him “blind spots” where he could grow.

“There are a lot of things I could say that would make me feel better. I don’t know if it would make me look better, but I don’t think it would make Jesus look better,” he said.

Driscoll asked the crowd for prayer for his family of five children, ages 8 to 17. “I’ve cried a lot lately,” he said. “It’s been a rough season for the family… Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN 1

J. Moss Speaks On Tragic House Fire Incident

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J. Moss Speaks On Tragic House Fire Incident

Grammy Award Winning producer and Stellar Award Winning artist J Moss speaks on the recent loss of his family home due to fire.

“It’s hard to take losing everything that you own in a matter of minutes,” said J Moss.

On last Tuesday evening at approximately 4:30 PM, fire started in the basement of the Moss family suburban West Bloomfield home and quickly spread to each floor. Currently, the cause of the fire is believed to be due to electrical issues. Fortunately, J Moss’ wife and two sons had not arrived home from school at the time. The following day after walking through the home and seeing the devastation, J Moss was just thankful that he was able to escape the fire without any injury.

“Many people just assumed that it was just maybe a kitchen fire in a couple of rooms, but no everything is gone. This is when the only thing you have is your faith and you see if you believe what you sing about,” says Moss.

Many family, friends, and Moss supporters have been sending their love and prayer to the family.

“Everyone has been awesome,” says Moss.

Source and Original Content by Praised.com

Hollywood Actor,Shia LaBeouf Finds God While Filming Movie

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Hollywood Actor,Shia LaBeouf Finds God While Filming Movie

Actor Shia LaBeouf claims to have “found God” during the making of his latest film, Second World War epic Fury.

Known as much for his off-screen bad-boy persona as much as for his on-screen charisma in films like the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon, former Disney child star LaBeouf says that he was influenced by co-star Brad Pitt and director David Ayer in his spiritual awakening.

He told Interview magazine: “I found God doing Fury. I became a Christian man … in a very real way. I could have just said the prayers that were on the page. But it was a real thing that really saved me.

“I had good people around me who helped me. [Brad Pitt] was really instrumental in guiding my head through this. Brad comes from a hyper-religious, very deeply Christian, Bible Belt life, and he rejected it and moved toward an unnamed spirituality. Whereas [David Ayer] is a full subscriber to Christianity. But these two diametrically opposed positions both lead to the same spot, and I really looked up to both men.”

LaBeouf, 28, has a Jewish mother and Pentecostal father, who are divorced. He has previously identified himself as Jewish, writing in I am Jewish, compiled in honour of slain journalist Daniel Pearl: “I am what you would call a claimer Jew. See, I claim to be Jewish because it is beneficial to be Jewish … How? I have a personal relationship with God that happens to work within the confines of Judaism … Really, I feel cocky when I say I am Jewish, not bad cocky, but good cocky. Because what I am really saying is that I am one of the few chosen ones out there. I made it; God chose me and I take pride in that.”

He has also said: “Religion is funny. If it gives people hope, it makes sense. But it never made sense to me.”

In Fury, LaBeouf plays a Christian soldier whose faith helps him to cope with the shocking violence he sees all around him, while Pitt – in real life a pacifist – plays a tank commander who believes that violence is necessary and takes to it with relish.

His own life has seen plenty of drama. He was fired from a Broadway play and briefly imprisoned after spitting at a policeman, and has been treated for drug and alcohol abuse.

Source and Original Content by Christian Today

North Korea Releases Detained American Christian

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North Korea Releases Detained American Christian

An American citizen who was detained by the North Korean authorities after leaving a Bible in his hotel room has been freed.

Jeffrey Fowle was arrested at the airport in April and was held behind bars until his release this week.

CNN reports that he was picked up by an American government plane on Tuesday and is already on his way back to the US.

It was not clear from the report how the release came about, but a senior State Department official confirmed to CNN that the North Korean authorities had indeed let him go.

Last month Fowle told the network that he was due to go on trial soon and had pleaded with the US for help to secure his release.

He also claimed that his treatment had been “very good so far”.

“And I hope and pray that it continues, while I’m here two more days or two more decades,” he said.

He spoke to CNN along with two other Americans being held behind bars in North Korea, Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae.

Bae is a Christian who formerly ran tours in North Korea. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour in 2012 after being found guilty of trying to overthrow the North Korean government.

Miller was sentenced to six years of hard labour in September for committing “acts hostile to the DPRK”. It was reported that upon entering North Korea on April 10, he tore up his tourist visa and requested political asylum.

Fowle, from Ohio, spoke previously about his desire to get back to his wife and three children.

In a statement in August, they pleaded on his behalf with the government of the DPRK and offered a “heartfelt apology”.

“Jeff has apologised publicly for his actions and Jeffrey’s family petitions the government of the DPRK for mercy toward Jeffrey and asks for his release,” they said.

Source and Original Content by Christian Today

Religious Faithfuls Divided Over Supporting Hong Kong Protests

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Religious Faithfuls Divided Over Supporting Hong Kong Protests

When Wu Chi Wai attended seminary in then-British colony Hong Kong in 1980, he took part in passionate discussions about universal suffrage, the ideals of a one-man-one-vote system, and the opportunities for democracy to take root in Hong Kong. More than 30 years later, those ideals are still dreams for the university students at Pastor Wu’s church.

Starting Sept. 26 tens of thousands of dreamers, both young and old, inundated the island’s main throughways to protest Beijing’s tightening control over the region. Police response varied throughout the weeks-long protests, yet standoffs between police in riot gear and protesters shielding themselves with umbrellas gave the protests the name “The Umbrella Revolution.”

Amid the undulating crowd, Wu and about 50 other pastors and seminary students took shifts standing with a 20-foot-tall white cross. They offer prayer, spiritual counsel, and advice to the protesters “to demonstrate God’s presence among them.” Groups of Christians holding signs saying “Lord give us peace” gathered to read the Bible and sing hymns. Some churches opened their doors as support centers, allowing protesters–regardless of their political persuasions–a place to pray, rest, and use bathrooms.

Christians make up about one-fifth of Hong Kong’s population and play a significant role in the democracy movement, yet churches remain divided about how to respond to the restive political climate.

While the communist regime in mainland China ostentatiously quashed Christianity in the late 1940s, Christianity flourished in Hong Kong under British rule. Churches and missionaries provided much-needed education and social services to a stream of refugees fleeing from mainland China. Even today Christian groups run about half of all public schools.

In 1997 Britain handed Hong Kong over to China, raising fears among Hong Kong Christians that Beijing would clamp down on their freedoms. But instead the Chinese government allowed Christians to continue meeting, evangelizing, and serving the community. With tensions eased, Beijing presented Hong Kong pastors an offer many couldn’t refuse: access to mainland China’s expansive mission field through a partnership with the government-sanctioned Three-Self church.

Francis Yip, a professor at Chung Chi Divinity School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), said before the handover Christians didn’t know how they could evangelize on the mainland: “But the success of the befriending policy of the Communist Party toward the evangelical church means that they now have … opportunities to do their work in China.” Hong Kong pastors have developed relationships with Three-Self church pastors, met with officials, trained pastors, and even built a harmony theme park in Northeast China.

In return for access, those pastors stopped criticizing the central government, kept politics out of the pulpit, and overall became pro-establishment. They enjoyed a high level of religious freedom and didn’t want to rock the boat and lose access to what Yip calls “the great opportunity of spreading the gospel in mainland China.”

Some Christians saw worrisome changes after the 1997 handover, especially related to church-run schools. Yip said the government required schools to establish management boards to keep them independent from their sponsoring bodies, and limited to 60 percent the number of board members who could come from the church.

Last year tensions between Hong Kong and China ramped up again. China-backed companies strong-armed newspapers that spoke out against the government. Pro-democracy journalists faced knife attacks. In June, Beijing released a white paper reminding Hong Kong that the central government has “comprehensive jurisdiction” over Hong Kong, and that the “high degree of autonomy enjoyed by Hong Kong is subject to the central government’s authorization.” On July 1, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, whose leadership includes Rev. Chu Yiu-Ming and outspoken Christian Benny Tai, staged a peaceful sit-in to commemorate the 17th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover. Half a million people jammed the roads, and police arrested 500 protesters who refused to leave.

The precipitating event of the current protests occurred on August 31, when China announced that a committee filled with Beijing loyalists would determine how many and which names appear on the 2017 ballot for chief executive. While some pragmatic Hong Kong residents resigned themselves to that development, Occupy Central saw the move as the beginning of a long fight… Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian Headlines

Christian Group Calls for International Pressure to Stop Execution of Asia Bibi

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Christian Group Calls for International Pressure to Stop Execution of Asia Bibi

A group working to protect Christians from blasphemy laws has said that international pressure on Pakistan is needed to overturn the death penalty handed to Christian mother of five Asia Bibi. Christian leaders in Pakistan have vowed to continue appealing the case and fighting for the mother’s life.

“We continue to hope because, as Christians, our faith nourishes hope. We continue to pray for Asia Bibi and for her release, so that the Lord protects and comforts her. But there are many elements that are not conducive to optimism,” said Haroon Barkat, director of the Masihi Foundation, in an interview with Fides News Agency on Tuesday.

Barkat, whose group works in Pakistan to protect Christians falsely accused of blasphemy, added that “international pressures and mobilization can be useful” in influencing the case. He said that above all, “the political will of the government and of the highest authorities in Pakistan is needed” to put an end to the many false blasphemy cases where Christians in Pakistan are persecuted.

Barkat expressed hopes that the Supreme Court will decide to overturn the death sentence handed to Bibi in 2010, which was upheld by Pakistan’s second largest court last week.

Human rights and persecution watchdog groups have condemned Bibi’s death sentence. The Christian mother was accused of blaspheming against Islam in a 2009 incident where she got into an argument with a group of Muslim women who were offended that she drank from the same water bowl as them.

Catholic leaders in Pakistan declared that they will be appealing the ruling at the country’s Supreme Court, Catholic News Service reported.

“Like it or not, we have to accept the court order,” said Father Emmanuel Yousaf Mani, director of the National (Catholic) Commission for Justice and Peace.

“The only option before us now is to appeal against the verdict. We have applied for a certified copy of the verdict. We will appeal against it in the Supreme Court,” Mani said, adding Christians were praying for an acquittal.

Other groups, such as the Cecil & Iris Chaudhry Foundation, criticized the ruling for punishing Bibi on false charges.

“Bibi has wrongly been convicted of blasphemy. We remain optimistic that the rule of law will prevail and justice will be done (when the appeal is heard in the Supreme Court). For now that is our only hope,” the Catholic advocacy group said.

The statement echoed International Christian Concern’s comments that Bibi’s case is an example of how Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan are abused by the harsh implication of the blasphemy laws, which are often used to settle personal scores.

“Sadly, the vast majority of blasphemy accusations brought against Christians and others are false. Unfortunately, pressure from Islamic radical groups and general discrimination against Christians in Pakistan has transformed trial courts and now appeals courts into little more than rubber stamps for blasphemy accusations brought against Christians, regardless of the evidence brought to bear in the case,” said ICC’s Regional Manager for South Asia, William Stark.

Christians remain a distinct minority in Pakistan, making up only 1.5 percent of the nation’s 180 million people, more than 96 percent of whom are Muslims.

International pressure, including petitions from several American politicians, such as Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, helped free Christian mother Meriam Ibrahim earlier this year in Sudan. Ibrahim had initially been sentenced to death for refusing to identify as a Muslim and for marrying her Christian husband, which sparked an international campaign for her release.

Source and Original Content by Christian Post

US Churches Begin To Treat Immigration According to the Bible

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US Churches Begin To Treat Immigration According to the Bible

Seventy percent of Americans believe illegal immigrants threaten the country’s culture and economy. That can put the Church in a position of drawing the line on compassion.

The subject of immigration and the Church goes back to Bible times.

Scriptures talk about showing compassion to the “stranger” in your land, but what if that stranger breaks the law to get there?

Churches regularly face that question as thousands illegally cross the border, including women and children.

A Better Life

That includes 18-year-old Jose Maldonado, who’s waiting to see if the courts will allow him to stay in the U.S.

“Some of them say we just come here to take their jobs and behave badly,” Maldonado said. “I like this country a lot and you can have a better life. That’s why I came here: to have a better life and to help my family.”

Last year, Maldonado traveled from Honduras, up through Mexico, across the Chihuahua Desert and into Texas.

The three-month journey almost cost him his life.

Out of his group of 25, only three people made it through brutal desert conditions to reach America.

Maldonado had very little food or water and knew he couldn’t survive on his own strength. That’s when he said he cried out to God in the desert — literally.

“I always read the Bible and prayed, and I promised God since I left Honduras that if I made it to the U.S, well, I would dedicate myself to the things of the Lord,” he said.

Maldonado said his grandparents raised him from a young age after his parents abandoned him.

They passed away when he a was teenager, leaving him on his own. He said often the only place to turn is the gang life.

“I lived in San Pedro Sula for a while and there are a lot of gangs there,” Maldonado said. “I really like soccer and there was a group that rooted for the team I liked. And the group that rooted for them said I had to join their gang or else they would kill one of my family members… Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN 1

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