Raul Castro Says Private Meeting With Pope Francis Has Inspired Him to Return to Catholic Faith, Resume Praying

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Raul Castro Says Private Meeting With Pope Francis Has Inspired Him to Return to Catholic Faith, Resume Praying

Raul Castro (Photo: Reuters/Gregorio Borgia/pool)

Christian Post Report – Pope Francis meets Cuban President Raul Castro during a private audience at the Vatican, May 10, 2015. Pope Francis, who helped broker a historic thaw between the United States and Cuba, held talks with Cuban President Raul Castro on Sunday ahead of the pontiff’s trip to both countries in September.

Cuban President Raul Castro has suggested that a meeting with Pope Francis has inspired him to “resume praying” and return to the Roman Catholic faith.

“I will resume praying and turn to the Church again if the Pope continues in this vein,” Castro said after a 50-minute private audience with Francis at the Vatican on Sunday.

Following the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, a great deal of Catholic activity was suppressed in the country, with the government viewing the Vatican as part of the world capitalist system it opposed.

Francis has played a crucial role in mending relationships over the past year, however, and assisted in historic negotiations between Cuba and the U.S. in 2014 that renewed diplomatic ties and lifted a trade embargo between the two countries for the first time in decades.

Several publications, such as BBC News, have pointed out it is difficult to know for sure to what extent Castro’s comments are to be taken seriously, but the former Cuban leader has insisted he is not joking.

“The fact that the man who helped lead the Cuban Revolution would even joke about returning to the Catholic Church shows just how far the relationship between Havana and the Vatican has moved forward recently,” offered BBC correspondent Will Grant from Havana.

When asked by reporters to clarify his comments about joining the Catholic Church, Castro said: “I mean what I say.”

He added: “The pontiff is a Jesuit, and I, in some way, am too. I studied at Jesuit schools.”

Castro said that he has been following Francis’ ministry closely and reading his speeches.

“As I’ve already told my council of advisers, I read all of the Pope’s speeches,” he added, according to CNN. “I promise that I will go to all of his Masses — and with satisfaction. I left the meeting this morning impressed, very impressed by his knowledge, his wisdom, modesty, and by all the virtues that we know he has.”

Francis is due to visit Cuba in September, and will become the third pope to do so following the visits of John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI in 2012.

The Roman Catholic Church leader has criticized the world’s economic system on several occasions throughout his ministry, but has insisted his comments are not political in nature.

“Jesus affirms that you cannot serve two masters, God and wealth,” Francis said in an interview back in January about the Vatican report titled “This Economy Kills.”

“Is it pauperism? No, it is the Gospel,” he added.

“Jesus tells us that it is the ‘protocol’ on the basis of which we will be judged, it is what we read in Chapter 25 of Matthew: I had hunger, I had thirst, I was in prison, I was sick, I was naked and you helped me: dressed me, visited me, you took care of me,” Francis argued.

“This attention to the poor is in the Gospel, and in the tradition of the church, it is not an invention of Communism and [we] need not ideologize it, like sometimes happened in the course of history.”

Source : Christian Post

Pastor Ed Young, Wife Lisa on Mother’s Day: Why Sigmund Freud Failed to Understand What Women Want; What True Beauty Is

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Pastor Ed Young, Wife Lisa on Mother’s Day: Why Sigmund Freud Failed to Understand What Women Want; What True Beauty Is

EddYoung Screenshot

Christian Post Report – Pastor Edd and Lisa Young of Fellowship Church on Mother’s Day

Pastor Ed and Lisa Young of Fellowship Church in Texas had a special message for their congregation on Mother’s Day Sunday to unpack some of the biggest secrets about women that even Sigmund Freud failed to understand, and to explain what true beauty is.

“Is it possible to understand women?” Pastor Young asked his wife, Lisa, as they began the message in their megachurch.

Young said Sigmund Freud, known as the father of psychoanalysis, could not, and quoted him: “The great question that has never been answered and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my 30 years of research into the feminine soul, is, ‘What does a woman want?'”

But Freud had a “God gap,” the pastor and his wife said.

They shared two things that are crucial in understanding women.

“The better we know God, the better we know ourselves,” Lisa said, sharing the first point, and quoted Jeremiah 1:5, which reads, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”

And when women know themselves, others can also know them better, Pastor Young said.

But how can God be known better? It’s the “BPC” principle: Bible, prayer and church, they said.

Prayer, which is having a conversation with God; reading the Bible, which is God’s Word and the “unlimited mirror;” and going to church, can help one know God better, Young said.

Lisa shared the second point, saying, “What matters is the matter,” and explained that men and women have different brain matter.

When God made Adam and Eve, He didn’t make identical twins, but He created them male and female to complement each other, she added.

The word, “helper,” in the Book of Genesis doesn’t mean a “servant,” but “a complement to,” she clarified.

When you take your eyes off God, you begin to feel insecure, a feeling that most women struggle with in their lives, and takes us off-track, Lisa said. “Don’t let insecurity steal the position that God has for you.”

Your boyfriend, or husband or father cannot be a substitute for God in giving you a sense of true security, she added.

When we look at ourselves, it matters what eyes are we looking through. There are four things about how God looks at us, Lisa said.

One, remember that you’re forgivable, as God has promised in the Bible, Young said, adding that we can believe we have been forgiven because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Two, believe also that you’re valuable because God sent His only Son to die for you and resurrect for you, he said. Lisa added that if you were the only person in the world, God would still have sent His son to save you.

Three, you’re also loveable, Pastor Young said. “We’re the object of God’s love… I’m loved by the God of this universe, and am made in His image.”

Four, “I’m capable,” Lisa added. God has a plan and purpose for us, and we are capable, she explained. The only question is if we are available, she added.

“When we see ourselves as God sees us, I think we’ll understand the beauty of who we are,” Lisa said, adding women often struggle with the issue of beauty.

“All women have the desire to be beautiful,” she said, adding that beauty is not what the media or culture says it is. God is the author of beauty.

She read from Proverbs 31:30: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

Fear the lord means respecting and understanding God, she explained. “Beauty is understanding who we are.”

Source : Christian Post

Pastor Ed Young, Wife Lisa on Mother’s Day: Why Sigmund Freud Failed to Understand What Women Want; What True Beauty Is

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Pastor Ed Young, Wife Lisa on Mother’s Day: Why Sigmund Freud Failed to Understand What Women Want; What True Beauty Is

EddYoung Screenshot

Christian Post Report – Pastor Edd and Lisa Young of Fellowship Church on Mother’s Day

Pastor Ed and Lisa Young of Fellowship Church in Texas had a special message for their congregation on Mother’s Day Sunday to unpack some of the biggest secrets about women that even Sigmund Freud failed to understand, and to explain what true beauty is.

“Is it possible to understand women?” Pastor Young asked his wife, Lisa, as they began the message in their megachurch.

Young said Sigmund Freud, known as the father of psychoanalysis, could not, and quoted him: “The great question that has never been answered and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my 30 years of research into the feminine soul, is, ‘What does a woman want?'”

But Freud had a “God gap,” the pastor and his wife said.

They shared two things that are crucial in understanding women.

“The better we know God, the better we know ourselves,” Lisa said, sharing the first point, and quoted Jeremiah 1:5, which reads, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”

And when women know themselves, others can also know them better, Pastor Young said.

But how can God be known better? It’s the “BPC” principle: Bible, prayer and church, they said.

Prayer, which is having a conversation with God; reading the Bible, which is God’s Word and the “unlimited mirror;” and going to church, can help one know God better, Young said.

Lisa shared the second point, saying, “What matters is the matter,” and explained that men and women have different brain matter.

When God made Adam and Eve, He didn’t make identical twins, but He created them male and female to complement each other, she added.

The word, “helper,” in the Book of Genesis doesn’t mean a “servant,” but “a complement to,” she clarified.

When you take your eyes off God, you begin to feel insecure, a feeling that most women struggle with in their lives, and takes us off-track, Lisa said. “Don’t let insecurity steal the position that God has for you.”

Your boyfriend, or husband or father cannot be a substitute for God in giving you a sense of true security, she added.

When we look at ourselves, it matters what eyes are we looking through. There are four things about how God looks at us, Lisa said.

One, remember that you’re forgivable, as God has promised in the Bible, Young said, adding that we can believe we have been forgiven because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Two, believe also that you’re valuable because God sent His only Son to die for you and resurrect for you, he said. Lisa added that if you were the only person in the world, God would still have sent His son to save you.

Three, you’re also loveable, Pastor Young said. “We’re the object of God’s love… I’m loved by the God of this universe, and am made in His image.”

Four, “I’m capable,” Lisa added. God has a plan and purpose for us, and we are capable, she explained. The only question is if we are available, she added.

“When we see ourselves as God sees us, I think we’ll understand the beauty of who we are,” Lisa said, adding women often struggle with the issue of beauty.

“All women have the desire to be beautiful,” she said, adding that beauty is not what the media or culture says it is. God is the author of beauty.

She read from Proverbs 31:30: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

Fear the lord means respecting and understanding God, she explained. “Beauty is understanding who we are.”

Source : Christian Post

Raul Castro Says Private Meeting With Pope Francis Has Inspired Him to Return to Catholic Faith, Resume Praying

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Raul Castro Says Private Meeting With Pope Francis Has Inspired Him to Return to Catholic Faith, Resume Praying

Raul Castro (Photo: Reuters/Gregorio Borgia/pool)

Christian Post Report – Pope Francis meets Cuban President Raul Castro during a private audience at the Vatican, May 10, 2015. Pope Francis, who helped broker a historic thaw between the United States and Cuba, held talks with Cuban President Raul Castro on Sunday ahead of the pontiff’s trip to both countries in September.

Cuban President Raul Castro has suggested that a meeting with Pope Francis has inspired him to “resume praying” and return to the Roman Catholic faith.

“I will resume praying and turn to the Church again if the Pope continues in this vein,” Castro said after a 50-minute private audience with Francis at the Vatican on Sunday.

Following the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, a great deal of Catholic activity was suppressed in the country, with the government viewing the Vatican as part of the world capitalist system it opposed.

Francis has played a crucial role in mending relationships over the past year, however, and assisted in historic negotiations between Cuba and the U.S. in 2014 that renewed diplomatic ties and lifted a trade embargo between the two countries for the first time in decades.

Several publications, such as BBC News, have pointed out it is difficult to know for sure to what extent Castro’s comments are to be taken seriously, but the former Cuban leader has insisted he is not joking.

“The fact that the man who helped lead the Cuban Revolution would even joke about returning to the Catholic Church shows just how far the relationship between Havana and the Vatican has moved forward recently,” offered BBC correspondent Will Grant from Havana.

When asked by reporters to clarify his comments about joining the Catholic Church, Castro said: “I mean what I say.”

He added: “The pontiff is a Jesuit, and I, in some way, am too. I studied at Jesuit schools.”

Castro said that he has been following Francis’ ministry closely and reading his speeches.

“As I’ve already told my council of advisers, I read all of the Pope’s speeches,” he added, according to CNN. “I promise that I will go to all of his Masses — and with satisfaction. I left the meeting this morning impressed, very impressed by his knowledge, his wisdom, modesty, and by all the virtues that we know he has.”

Francis is due to visit Cuba in September, and will become the third pope to do so following the visits of John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI in 2012.

The Roman Catholic Church leader has criticized the world’s economic system on several occasions throughout his ministry, but has insisted his comments are not political in nature.

“Jesus affirms that you cannot serve two masters, God and wealth,” Francis said in an interview back in January about the Vatican report titled “This Economy Kills.”

“Is it pauperism? No, it is the Gospel,” he added.

“Jesus tells us that it is the ‘protocol’ on the basis of which we will be judged, it is what we read in Chapter 25 of Matthew: I had hunger, I had thirst, I was in prison, I was sick, I was naked and you helped me: dressed me, visited me, you took care of me,” Francis argued.

“This attention to the poor is in the Gospel, and in the tradition of the church, it is not an invention of Communism and [we] need not ideologize it, like sometimes happened in the course of history.”

Source : Christian Post

Why Aren’t Young People Getting Married in Church?

CM Editor
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Why Aren’t Young People Getting Married in Church?
After June, October is the most popular month for weddings. However, only thirty-nine percent of young adults are getting married in churches. (For more, see Nick Pitts’s Going to the courthouse? Millennials gonna get married?.) Researchers tie this fact directly to the growing number of non-religious millennials in America.
Does it seem that the Christian worldview is under assault on every side? As you watch the culture change regarding marriage, euthanasia, pornography, drug abuse, and other social issues, does the news seem uniformly bad?
The fault is not with the gospel. As Eric Metaxas noted in his address at Dallas Baptist University last week, God is still God. He is still King of the universe and Lord of all that is. Everything is his. There is no such thing as a “Christian” tree, for instance. Every tree belongs to God. There is no “secular” space outside his sovereignty.
If the gospel is not advancing, the problem is with those called to advance it. I believe Western Christians must deal with a pervasive failing, one that undermines all we seek to do for the Kingdom. It is Satan’s last resort, and often his most effective lie. If he cannot lead us into sin and away from God’s work, here’s his temptation: to do God’s work in our ability. Why? Because he knows we will fail.
In John 15, Jesus made this dramatic statement to his followers: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5). If we “abide” in him, connected to our Lord through Scripture and prayer (v. 7), we will bear “much fruit.” Fruit is the inevitable, natural product of a healthy tree. But if we do not abide in him, we can do “nothing.”
Human words cannot change human hearts. You and I can do nothing eternal, spiritual, or God-glorifying in our natural capacity. Only the Lord can draw people to the Lord. Only he can save souls and change lives. This he does through us, but only when he can work through us. Self-sufficiency is the spiritual cancer of our age. When we admit our need of God and submit to his Spirit, he uses us to advance his Kingdom and change our world. (Tweet this)
Leonard Ravenhill wrote these convicting words years ago. Are they still true today?
The church has many organizers, but few agonizers; many who pay, but few who pray; many resters, but few wrestlers; many who are enterprising, but few who are interceding. People who are not praying are playing.
Two prerequisites of dynamic Christian living are vision and passion. Both of these are generated by prayer. The ministry of preaching is open to a few. The ministry of praying is open to every child of God.
ithes may build the church, but tears will give it life. That is the difference between the modern church and the early church. Our emphasis is on paying, theirs was on praying. When we have paid, the place is taken. When they have prayed, the place was shaken (Acts 4:31).
In the matter of effective praying, never have so many left so much to so few. Brethren, let us pray.
What if your present significance and eternal legacy depended entirely on the vitality of your communion with Christ? In fact, they do.
Publication date: October 26, 2015

 

For more from the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture, please visit www.denisonforum.org.

Do you want to live a life in whole-hearted pursuit of loving God and others? 

Read today’s First15 at www.first15.org.

Latino-Owned Colorado BBQ Restaurant Criticized for Its Plan to Host ‘White Appreciation Day’

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Latino-Owned Colorado BBQ Restaurant Criticized for Its Plan to Host ‘White Appreciation Day’

White Screenshot from NBC News

Christian Post Report – Edgar Antillon of Rubbin Buttz BBQ

A barbecue restaurant in Colorado is drawing criticism after its Hispanic owners announced they plan to hold “White Appreciation Day” honoring white people with a 10 percent discount.

“We have a whole month for Black History Month,” Edgar Antillon, one of the two owners of Rubbin Buttz BBQ in Milliken, told 9NEWS. “We have a whole month for Hispanic Heritage Month, so we thought the least we could do was offer one day to appreciate white Americans.”

It started as a joke but Antillon and the other owner Miguel Jimenez made it real by announcing they’ll host “White Appreciation Day” on June 11 by offer a 10-percent discount only to white customers.

“White Appreciation Day! June 11th. Because all Americans should be celebrated!!” reads a sign at the restaurant.

Many have not liked the idea and see it as a kind of racism.

It’s “wrong” and “a perpetuation of racism,” Ricardo Romero, a civil rights activist in northern Colorado, told KUSA. “If you’re going to give a discount, give it to the whole community.”

Jennifer McPherson at the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies also warned of possible legal repercussions.

“If someone felt like they were being discriminated against, they could come to the civil rights division and file a complaint with our office, and we would investigate that,” she was quoted as saying.

Antillon and Jimenez said they expected criticism because there’s a history of racism in the America.

Antillon, who was born to Mexican parents, doesn’t agree with the critics. “We’re all American, whether you came from a different country, or you were born here,” he said. “We’re all American.”

The move by the owners has resulted in publicity. The restaurant’s website was down early Saturday due to traffic overload. “Due to a high volume of traffic, our website is down,” read the message.

Source : Christian Post

How Do You Honor Your Mother?

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Christian Post Report – Exodus 20:12

  • Dr. Charles F. Stanley
    (Photo: In Touch Ministries)
    Dr. Charles F. Stanley (File).

The command to “honor . . . your mother” isn’t a suggestion, and nobody is exempt. Her character or effectiveness as a parent is not the issue. God established this guideline for Israel because a respectful home was crucial to the nation’s future success. The same is true for us today. God blesses our homes when we respect our mothers with words, attitudes, and actions.

LOVE HER UNCONDITIONALLY. We’re called to love our moms as God does. He didn’t qualify His love with expectations or conditions to be met first. He lavished affection on us “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8).

FORGIVE HER COMPASSIONATELY. Since there are no perfect mothers, at times we’ll have to forgive them. If your mom seems harsh or unloving, show compassion. As a child, she may have experienced hardships that wounded her spirit.

REMEMBER HER GRATEFULLY. This Mother’s Day, thank Mom for all she did for you when you were young. But don’t let it end there. Nothing is more hurtful than feeling forgotten. Make room for her in your busy schedule. After all, she made countless sacrifices for you.

TREAT HER KINDLY. Let your mother know she’s valued. Take time to listen attentively to her words, and help her out when she is in need.

Does your mother feel loved and honored? What can you do to bring a big smile to her face? In our adult years, it’s easy to distance ourselves from our moms because life gets hectic and multiple demands steal our time. Make it a habit to pray for her daily and contact her regularly.

Used with permission from In Touch Ministries, Inc. © 2015
All Rights Reserved.

Source : Christian Post

After 4,700 Dead, Liberia Now Declared Ebola-Free; ‘Pain and Grief Will Take a Generation to Heal,’ Says President Sirleaf

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After 4,700 Dead, Liberia Now Declared Ebola-Free; ‘Pain and Grief Will Take a Generation to Heal,’ Says President Sirleaf

Ebola (Photo: Reuters/Tony Gentile)

Christian Post Report – An ambulance carrying an Italian doctor, who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone, arrives at the Lazzaro Spallanzani infectious diseases institute in Rome, Italy, November 25, 2014.

The World Health Organization has finally declared Liberia free from one of the world’s deadliest viruses, but after this West African nation lost at least 4,700 people to Ebola. The risk still remains as the epidemic persists in other countries in the region.

“The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia is over,” WHO representative Dr. Alex Gasasira said at a press conference in the capital city of Monrovia on Saturday, reading his group’s statement.

The official announcement comes 42 days after the country had its last Ebola case, as per the benchmark, which requires two incubation periods of 21 days for new cases to emerge, for declaring the end of the outbreak.

“Interruption of transmission is a monumental achievement for a country that reported the highest number of deaths in the largest, longest, and most complex outbreak since Ebola first emerged in 1976,” WHO said in the statement.

Ebola – which can cause fever, vomiting and diarrhea – spreads through contact with bodily fluids such as blood or saliva. Liberia had at least 3,000 confirmed Ebola cases, and more than 4,700 people, including 189 health care workers, died of the disease since March 2014.

At the peak of transmission in Liberia, which occurred during August and September 2014, the country was reporting from 300 to 400 new cases every week.

“During those 2 months, the capital city Monrovia was the setting for some of the most tragic scenes from West Africa’s outbreak: gates locked at overflowing treatment centers, patients dying on the hospital grounds, and bodies that were sometimes not collected for days,” WHO said. “Flights were cancelled. Fuel and food ran low. Schools, businesses, borders, markets, and most health facilities were closed. Fear and uncertainty about the future, for families, communities, and the country and its economy, dominated the national mood.”

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf criticized the slow initial response to the outbreak in the region.

“This Ebola outbreak is a scar on the conscience of the world. For some the pain and grief will take a generation to heal,” Fox News quoted her as saying Saturday. “Therefore, let today’s announcement be a call to arms that we will build a better world for those Ebola could not reach … It is the least the memories of our dearly departed deserve.”

WHO said while it is confident that Liberia has interrupted transmission, “outbreaks persist in neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone, creating a high risk that infected people may cross into Liberia over the region’s exceptionally porous borders.”

In late September, Thomas Eric Duncan, a man from Liberia, tested positive for the virus in the United States during his visit to relatives in Texas, sparking fears in the U.S. and elsewhere.

“We went through just a horrific epidemic,” CNN quoted Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as saying. “It’s a searing memory that many of us will carry with us for the rest of our lives.”

Source : Christian Post

Greg Laurie Says America’s Hope Lies in God’s House, Not White House

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Greg Laurie Says America’s Hope Lies in God’s House, Not White House

GregLaurie Screenshot

Christian Post Report – Pastor Greg Laurie speaking on National Day of Prayer at Harvest DC

Pastor Greg Laurie of California’s Harvest Church told a gathering of pastors and church leaders earlier this week that the Unites States has many external threats like terrorism but it also has a greater internal threat from those attacking religious freedom and the family, and that can be dealt with only through a spiritual revival in God’s House.

Laurie said he still believes that the United States is the greatest country on earth, “but our country needs help.”

In a special message, “America, This Is Your Wake-up Call!” on National Day of Prayer at Harvest D.C., Laurie acknowledged there are many threats to America, including terrorism and nuclear weapons from nations like North Korea and Iran. “But they are enemies on the outside.”

But what about enemies from the inside, he asked.

America was founded on Judeo-Christian values. “But what started as freedom of religion is now turning into freedom from religion,” the pastor said, explaining that many want “God out of our courtrooms, out of our classrooms, out of our culture.”

Then, there’s breakdown of the family and absence of leadership by men in it, he said, and added that most social problems America is facing today are rooted in it.

Laurie noted that the U.S. Supreme Court now looks ready to redefine family although God has defined it and “that’s the right definition.”

A family can survive without a nation, but a nation cannot survive without the family, he said.

“There’s only one hope for America today, and I think it’s not a political solution … though there’s a place for politics.” Godly influence is needed in the country’s politics, he went on to say, but added that what the United States needs the most is a spiritual awakening. “America needs a revival,” he said.

He quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14, which reads, “And My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

This principle and promise, he said, applies to any nation, including America. “God doesn’t point the finger at the White House, he points the finger at His House. It’s us, folks,” he explained.

“Do we need spiritual revival today?” he asked the pastors and church leaders, suggesting it starts with individuals. “Are we being the godly persons we’re meant to be?”

Laurie also mentioned American Pastor Saeed Abedini, who is in a jail in Iran due to his Christian faith. Laurie read out a letter Abedini wrote from his prison cell on the National Day of Prayer saying America needs revival.

The California pastor urged churches to pray for Abedini, quoting Acts 12:5: “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”

The megachurch leader said prayers are answered when they are in accordance with God’s desire.

He encouraged listeners to offer prayers to God, explaining we can possibly pray for various reasons, including, to impress others. We should pray earnestly and specifically, with agony, putting our hearts into it, he advised.

Pastors and others also need to pray in unity with other believers, without a sense of competition or theological conflict.

Laurie encouraged all pastors to preach the Gospel more, to everyone. “Build an evangelistic culture in your church… Wrap up all your messages with the Gospel,” he said. “This is your wake-up call.”

Source : Christian Post

‘For the Love of Ruth’ Film Brings Modern Biblical Story of Ruth to TV (Interview)

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  • 'For The Love Of Ruth'
    (Photo: TV One)
    ‘For The Love Of Ruth’ Premieres on TV One Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. ET.

Christian Post Report – Denise Boutte was praying for a breakout film role after starring in a number of Tyler Perry productions, but she did not expect portraying a well known biblical character in “For the Love of Ruth” would impact more than just her acting career.

Boutte, the 33-year-old actress who has proven her comedic timing and acting abilities in screenwriter and producer Tyler Perry’s “Meet the Browns” and “Why Did I Get Married” will debut on small screens as the biblical character Ruth in a modern retelling of the Old Testament story.

“In my professional career, I had been waiting and praying for a project that would allow me to show a different side of my acting. It wasn’t about the hair or the makeup, it was about the heart,” Boutte told The Christian Post. “So when this project was presented to me, I was like, this is the project I’ve been having on my dream board for some time now, waiting for that wonderful opportunity.”

“For the Love of Ruth” will premiere on TV One just in time for Mother’s Day, featuring an all-star cast of Loretta Devine portraying Naomi, James Pickens Jr. playing her brother-in-law, Stephen Marachond, and Gary Dourdan appearing as Braxton Marachond.

While there are some slight differences in the televised modern retelling of the biblical story of Ruth that features Braxton in place of the Bible’s Boaz, writer Rhonda Baraka kept many elements presented in the Bible. Ruth, a hard working woman who hasn’t had an easy life, forms a bond with her mother-in-law, Naomi.

However, when Ruth’s husband and Naomi’s son dies, faith and love prove to be important for the characters’ whose lives are transformed throughout the film. Boutte described playing Ruth as a humbling experience that allowed the actress to explore a range of different emotions.

“Ruth’s journey, she actually did have faith. She wouldn’t have actually identified it as such in the beginning until she meets Loretta Divine’s character, Naomi, and Angie Stone’s character who tries to reel her in because she’s had a hard life,” Boutte said, describing her character. “But she’s a survivor. She’s always had the glass half full perspective. But until she meets Naomi, played by Loretta Divine, she really doesn’t know what that is.”

Viewers will witness Ruth drawing closer to her Bible and faith as her bond with Naomi gets stronger, which is something that stood out to Boutte.

“She is pretty fearless; until Naomi shows her exactly what faith is she really doesn’t have the ability to take it to the next level. For me personally, it was just a very humbling experience living with this character the time I portrayed her,” Boutte told CP. “She had a hard life and I can say thank you God I was blessed not to have been in a lot of the situations she was in.”

In the film, Naomi has to deal with a cancer battle, which Boutte admits was not easy for her. The actress’ mother faced a similar battle two years prior, after the loss of Boutte’s father.

However, she believes others may be able to look to this film for inspiration if they can identify with similar circumstances.

“Here is this woman that nothing can shake her faith. Even in having cancer that was in remission and came back, it’s not going to shake her because she’s like, ‘I need something and if I don’t have this in my life to make this journey as peaceful as possible, I have nothing,'” an emotional Boutte told CP. “So just to see that unchanging, unwavering faith in the midst of a storm, I think that all of us can take something from that.”

No matter where people are on their spiritual journey, Boutte insists there is something special for them in “For the Love of Ruth.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re not the most religious person out there, the point is that it’s nourishing and nurturing for the soul. (The film) is not quoting every Bible verse known to man,” the actress said. “There are some quotes that are in there, but for the most part you don’t have to think that you’re going to be beat over the head. If you are human, there’s a story in there that you can relate to with regard to your life journey.”

“For the Love of Ruth,” produced by Swirl Films will premiere at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 9.

Source : Christian Post

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