The post Kenneth Copeland Devotional 23 August 2019 – Leaving the Low Life Behind appeared first on Flatimes.
‘My God Is Bigger’: Heart Transplant Recipient, Who Nearly Died as an Infant, Starts College
When Cedarville University welcomed its record-breaking freshman and transfer student class this fall, no one was more thankful to begin her college experience than Lauryn Gibson. Gibson nearly died when she was six weeks old and received a heart transplant three days before her first birthday, WFMJ reports.
When she was six weeks old, Lauryn’s mother Heather noticed that she was struggling to breathe and took her to the pediatrician. The pediatrician told Heather that Lauryn was dying of congestive heart failure and told her to transport her to Clinton Memorial Hospital where an emergency helicopter would take them to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
“While we were in the helicopter, Lauryn’s heart stopped beating,” Heather recalled. “The pilot turned off the intercom so I couldn’t hear the medical staff talking, and then he began talking with me about what we’d experience when we landed, the sea of people who would be waiting for us, and to try and remain calm. He was phenomenal, “Heather said about what had happened on the flight to the hospital.
According to CBN News, the team revived Lauryn, but her family received the devastating news that her heart function was only at 8%. They were also told that she would not be able to leave the hospital unless she received a heart transplant. Heather refused to believe that she had to go…
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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
UN day for victims of religious persecution must lead to change
Similar to days such as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the 22nd August aims to lead to greater awareness of the prevalence of religious persecution and the violence faced by minorities, such as by Christians in the Middle East and Yazidis in Myanmar, and lead to change across the world in the experience of religious groups.
The recent report by the Bishop of Truro highlighted the difficulties Christians face in Iraq, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, among other countries, because of factors like blasphemy laws, religious conflict and the oppression of churches.
Religious freedom charity Open Doors have been highlighting how Christians in North Korea face labour camps, with one Christian saying there was a sign up saying: “Do not try to escape; you will be killed”.
Many Christians have fled countries like Somalia and Pakistan, such as the Bakhsh family who are seeking asylum in Scotland.
This month, a pastor was killed in Mexico during the church service.
Today is the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. The UK remains committed to ensuring the safety & protection of all faiths or beliefs and the freedom to worship & practice as people so choose #FoRBmatters pic.twitter.com/NfyPMdH9KN
— Human Rights at FCO (@FCOHumanRights) August 22, 2019
Dr Thomas Heine-Geldern,…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.
Pastor Miraculously Survives after Being Beaten nearly to Death
A pastor in India reportedly miraculously survived after being beaten nearly to death by a Hindu communist group.
According to Faithwire, Pastor Tilak was captured by a group of Naxalites and “mercilessly beaten.”
The group asked him:” Will you leave your Christian faith or not?”
“I cannot leave my faith … No,” Tilak said.
The group bound his arms and legs together and continued to beat him with a large stick. They then forced Tilak to crawl up a mountain path of rocks and thorns.
When they thought he was dead, the men threw Tilak’s body in a ditch.
They then went to the homes of other Christians, saying “See, as your Jesus was beaten and killed, so have we killed your pastor now. His body is in a ditch in the forest. Find him and bury him.”
A group of Christian families found his body and brought him back to the village. Tilak then allegedly opened his eyes.
“When his persecutors heard the news, they rushed to the house to see it for themselves,” Open Doors USA reported. “Hindu villagers, the same ones who had urged the Naxalites to silence this man, were shocked. They were the ones who had complained that he was polluting the minds of their neighbors with his gospel, confident that the Naxalites would make quick work of him.”
When Tilak recovered, the Naxalites took him to a forest and told him to leave the area.
“I left…
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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Fact-checking website cracks down on Christian satire site Babylon Bee
Snopes recently published an article entitled “Too Many People Think Satirical News Is Real”.
In it, the writers talk about a survey they conducted on what Americans’ views are on high-profile political issues.
They said: “We identified news stories – both true and false – that were being shared widely on social media.
“We discovered that many of the false stories weren’t the kind that were trying to intentionally deceive their readers; they actually came from satirical sites and many people seemed to believe them.”
The Ohio State University researchers asked a sample of 800 Americans whether they believed 120 “widely shared falsehoods.”
The study revealed that “stories published by The Bee were among the most shared, factually inaccurate content in almost every survey we conducted”.
It also found that Republicans were more likely to think that Babylon Bee articles were not satire.
The writers added: “Of the 23 falsehoods that came from The Bee, eight were confidently believed by at least 15 percent of Republican respondents.”
Kyle Mann, editor-in-chief of the Babylon Bee, criticised the research on Twitter, saying the study was not conducted in a way that would produce accurate results.
That survey @snopes shared is horrible. Did they seriously paraphrase Bee stories and ask people if they thought they were true? That’s an awful way to figure out what percentage of…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.
How an idea about a UN day for persecuted religious people became a reality
The UN day for commemorating those who are victims of violence due to religion or belief started as just an idea in Ewelina Ochab’s head – a legal researcher, writer for Forbes and Roman Catholic (pictured above, far left).
Having worked on religious freedom and human rights for nearly four years, she wondered whether it might be helpful to victims and survivors and charities that work with them if there was a day that was recognised worldwide where religious persecution was acknowledged.
“I was always very impressed with how the UN states and civil society mark one of the days focused on acts of violence against women and girls and I wanted to create something similar.”
“It required a lot of work. The first step I took was to approach a number of NGOs…I wanted to hear from them whether they would appreciate having such a day, whether this would help in their work and be appreciated by survivors of such atrocities.”
After hearing positive feedback from aid charities and lobby groups about the idea, she took it forward.
“It’s not only up to the NGOs whether they want to have such a day. To establish such a day, we needed to have states who were willing to support it, who were willing to table it at the UN. So, that was the second step – to approach states to get their support and to approach parliamentarians as well, who could then encourage governments to…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.
Seven Reasons a Guiding Coalition Is Vital in Church Revitalization
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Many times when we talk about church revitalization, we talk about change. And when you change things, you will need a guiding coalition to help implement and support the change.
Episode Highlights:
- Influence grows exponentially when you enlist supporters to help carry out a vision.
- It’s imperative for pastors to do a lot of listening when they are leading a church toward change.
- The history of a church can often help define the present and project the future.
- Roadblocks are most easily and most often overcome through relationships.
The seven reasons we discuss are:
- The coalition has webs of relationships.
- The coalition has built trust the pastor may not have.
- The coalition is critical to understand the history of the church.
- The coalition can handle roadblocks.
- The coalition can be a source of encouragement.
- The coalition should be a source of accountability.
- The coalition can provide the wisdom of crowds.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Revitalize & Replant is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and ChurchReplanters.com. More than 10% of churches in North America are at risk of closing and the North American Mission Board is committed to reversing this trend by decreasing the death rate of existing churches while simultaneously increasing the birth rate of new churches. To learn more about what it means to become a replanting pastor or to explore resources for replanting and…
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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Thom Rainer.
Islamaphobia definition called ‘vague and dangerous’
Cross-party think tank Civitas have today released ‘Islamophobia: An Anthology of Concerns’, a book containing essays from contributors from a variety of religious and philosophical persuasions.
Contributors include Richard Dawkins, Tim Dieppe from Christian Concern and Lord Singh of Wimbledon.
Attempts to define ‘Islamophobia’ risk curtailing freedom of speech and hindering work intended to expose extremist activities, a new collection of essays warns, according to Christian Concern.
The definition, which has been proposed by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims is: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”
Tim Dieppe, Head of Public Policy at Christian Concern said: “This anthology shows the widespread concern about formalising a definition of Islamophobia. People from many different faith persuasions or none can all agree that free speech is one of the fundamental requirements of a free society.
“The proposed definition by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims is vague and dangerous. Its adoption would clearly lead to restrictions on what can be said about Islamic beliefs and practices. It is shocking and disturbing that various political parties and local councils have rushed to adopt this definition without proper consideration of the…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.
