New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins Live Stream Free: Watch NHL Playoffs 2015 Hockey Online (TV Start Time)

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New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins Live Stream Free: Watch NHL Playoffs 2015 Hockey Online (TV Start Time)

Crosby Ray Stubblebine/Reuters

Christian Post Report – Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins go against the New York Rangers defense.

The New York Rangers try to go 2-0 up on the Pittsburgh Penguins as they meet at Madison Square Garden in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference in the NHL playoffs on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET. The game can be watched on TV on the NBC network, or online through live stream (details below).

In the first game, New York took the first game after a 2-1 win thanks to early goals.

Derick Brassard scored in one of the fastest goals in NHL playoff history after only converting in 28 seconds of the first period.

It set-up the momentum of the game as New York continued to press on with the early lead.

They were able to find the second goal while in a power play as Ryan McDonagh scored on a slap shot assisted by Keith Yandle and Mats Zuccarello.

Pittsburgh had to wait for the 27th minute before scoring their opener as Blake Comeau beat the Rangers’ defense to cut the lead down to one goal.

Unfortunately, they could not add to their goal tally as they were blanked in the final period for New York to come away with the win.

New York dominated most of the match, eventually finishing the game with 38 total shots on goal, while Pittsburgh only had 25.

Henrik Lundqvist was also impressive, as he stopped 24 attempts from the Penguins as they proved that they were still a force in the conference.

Marc-Andre Fleury started off shaky in the first period but eventually got his bearings back to finish off the game strong. His 36 saves were good enough for a 95% save rate and hopefully he can bring it over to the second game as they try to get one in New York.

Another win for the Rangers will give them a big advantage as the third game is at Pittsburgh, meanwhile, if the Penguins get to steal a game in New York, then home advantage goes their way as the next two games will be played in front of their home crowd.

To get updates and highlights on this game, go to NHL.com. For live streaming, click here.

Source : Christian Post

Iraqi Archbishop Appear in ‘We Are One’ Pop MV Urging ISIS Victims to Keep Faith in God

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Iraqi Archbishop Appear in ‘We Are One’ Pop MV Urging ISIS Victims to Keep Faith in God
Archbishop Bashar Warda (Screengrab: YouTube / Ooberfuse)

The British pop-electronica band Ooberfuse recently teamed up with the Archbishop of Erbil to release a music video for its new song, “We Are One,” which was written to let the thousands of refugees displaced by the Islamic State know that they are not alone in their suffering.

Christian Post Report – “We Are One” features very strong Christian overtones and reiterates the fact that although many of these refugees have lost their homes and lives they once knew in Iraq, they will never be without the love and hope of God.

“In our home, in our faith, in our love, we are one,” Ooberfuse female singer Cherrie Anderson sings in the song. “You aren’t alone in this dream. We are one.”

The song’s music video was filmed during the band’s visit to various refugee camps in Erbil, and features many of the various refugees at the camps.

The video, which was posted by the band to YouTube earlier this week, starts off by explaining the dire crisis that the refugees are in following the Islamic State’s takeover of Northern Iraq last year, which has caused the majority of the region’s Christian population to flee their homes or risk being killed.

“There is no humanitarian solution for this tragedy,” the video shows United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, saying before the song is played.

“These people can receive tents, can receive food, can receive water, but that is not what they want,” Guterres continued. “What they want is to be able to go back home and to restart their lives.”

According to the Catholic Herald, before the music begins, the video features Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil reciting the Lord’s Prayer in Jesus’ native language of Aramaic.

“For me, [ISIS] is a cancer,” the Herald quoted Warda as saying in regards to the unlikely partnership of a highly respected clergyman and a modern pop band. “Sometimes you take hard measures, unfortunate measures to deal with and treat this cancer.”

Ooberfuse singer and guitarist Hal St. John commended Warda for reaching into the realm of pop culture to help spread a Christian message.

“I think this is the first time in history a leading Middle Eastern religious leader has embraced the forms of popular culture to advance the Christian message of love and hope,” St. John said.

As the song plays in the video, Anderson and St. John are shown singing the song with various refugees in the background, with some scenes showing the the quantity of tents housed in the refugee camp. One scene even shows a stoic mother holding her young child in her arms.

“As I journey through this wilderness, will the madness ever, ever end?” the song asks. “I pray that they’ll see in Your hope, in Your faith, in Your love. We are one. You are never alone in this dream, we are one.”

“All heaven and hell will see in our hope, in our faith, in our love, we are one,” the song continued.

The Catholic Herald also reported that the members of Ooberfuse first met Warda when the archbishop made a trip to London and invited the band to come and witness the “roots of our Christian heritage.”

“We have one of the oldest forms of Christian worship still practiced today that has remained unchanged since the first century,” Warda was quoted as saying.

Ooberfuse has also written other songs about persecuted Christians in other areas of the world.

In 2012, the band wrote the song “Blood Cries Out” to pay respects to Pakistani National Assembly member Shahbaz Bhatti, who was assassinated in 2011 because of his desire to reform the nation’s corrupt blasphemy law.

“It was a deep and solemn undertaking to musically capture the sense of anger caused by the shedding of innocent blood,” Anderson told Vatican Insider in 2012. “We had to balance these feelings with the cry that comes from the heart, in response to those forces in the world which feed on violence.”

Ooberfuse also supplied the soundtrack for Pope Francis’ “Mercy and Compassion” address to the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines on Jan. 17, 2015, Patheos reported.

Source : Christian Post

Pursuing God

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Psalms 63:1-8

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

Christian Post Report – Deepening our relationship with God—through discovering His character and His will for our lives—is achieved in several ways. Each one, while familiar, represents an important discipline in pursuing the Lord.

Meditation is an excellent way to build our relationship with God. It involves reading a Bible passage several times with the express purpose of hearing from the Lord. Then, as we keep up diligent, sustained concentration, the Holy Spirit will communicate to us through the verses. Studying the Scriptures allows us to draw from many passages to gain a broader, deeper understanding of God’s character, plans, and promises. We benefit by asking ourselves questions such as, What does this study reveal about His nature? Is there a divine promise to remember? A command to obey? An example to follow?

Another key spiritual discipline—prayer—must undergird our meditation and study. Encountering God requires both a listening ear and receptive heart.

Recognizing how God operates in our lives and in others’ circumstances will help us desire to pursue Him. My granddad told me how the Lord had worked in his life, and his testimony created in me a deep, abiding hunger to seek after God. I wanted the Lord to work in my life the way He had in my grandfather’s.

We are seeking God when 1) we spend time discovering who He is and what pleases Him; 2) our day is not complete without fellowship with Him; and 3) we find ourselves trusting Him more and leaving behind ungodly habits.

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

Source : Christian Post

Pastor Judah Smith: You Can Practice God’s Love by Relying, Not Trying

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Pastor Judah Smith: You Can Practice God’s Love by Relying, Not Trying
JudahSmith Screenshot

Pastor Judah Smith speaking at the Catalyst West Coast conference

Christian Post Report – Pastor Judah Smith, who is known for ministering to mega-pop star Justin Bieber and football star Russell Wilson, spoke at a conference in California Thursday evening, preaching about God’s kind of love, which, he said, can never be practiced by trying, no matter how hard we try.

Most Christians would know that the “agape” love, as described in 1 Corinthians 13, is “unconditional, relentless love,” Pastor Smith said. And many might just get excited about it and resolve to try their best to practice it, but they will only end up telling God it is impossible, he added.

The 36-year-old pastor of The City Church in Seattle, Washington, was among main speakers at the Catalyst West Coast conference in Orange County, California, which was attended by about 3,000 people, Thursday evening.

Smith read a few verses from the well-known chapter in the New Testament: “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”

Pastor Smith continued, reading from verses 4 to 7: “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

These traits seem humanly impossible to show consistently, the pastor told the congregations.

The Christians in the Corinthian church were perhaps not even good at “phileo,” or human, emotional love, the pastor pointed out. Then why did Paul urge them to practice love that is found only in God?

Paul intended to create a “mirror effect,” Smith said. The list of love traits was “not a random collection,” he added. Paul wanted to show them a “mirror” to tell them they don’t look like Jesus but they needed to.

But how? Do not “try,” he said, but just “rely.”

Paul did not suggest some “tweaks,” but he proposed “a radical reordering of their souls,” Smith explained. It is a “supernatural love being proposed here,” which is possible by “transformation of the deepest core of your being.” And that is the only way, he said.

God doesn’t “do” agape, but agape “is” embodied in Him, Smith went on to say.

Only when you accept and receive God’s love can you dispense it to others, he concluded.

Pastor Smith spoke to The Christian Post last month, and discussed one of the main points made in his new book, Life Is ____, which talks about God’s love defying all logic.

“We see in Scripture that God is love personified. He doesn’t do love, doesn’t just feel love,” he told CP. “How we see that played out in the story of Jesus the son of the living God, He comes with this unconditional love for humanity, and I think that’s the part that is illogical in nature.”

Source : Christian Post

Pope Meets, Prays for Family of Pakistani Christian Woman Asia Bibi Who Is Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy

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Pope Meets, Prays for Family of Pakistani Christian Woman Asia Bibi Who Is Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy
The daughters of Asia Bibi with an image of their mother, standing outside their residence in Sheikhupura on November 13, 2010. (Photo: REUTERS)

The daughters of Asia Bibi with an image of their mother, standing outside their residence in Sheikhupura on November 13, 2010.

Christian Post Report – Pope Francis met with and prayed for the family of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, in the Vatican, and was urged to speak to Pakistan’s government for her release.

“We are here in Italy to make sure we can be the voice of an innocent woman who has been suffering in jail for six years,” Catholic News Agency quoted the woman’s husband, Ashiq Masih, as saying after the brief meeting with the pontiff.

“Since the day Asia Bibi was arrested, our family is totally destroyed. The children cannot survive without their mother. Asia Bibi misses her children, the children miss her,” Masih added.

The family met the pope after his Wednesday General Audience.

Last October, the Lahore High Court upheld the death penalty of Bibi.

She was sentenced in 2010 following an incident in 2009 where she was harvesting berries with a group of Muslim women and accused by them of drinking from the same water bowl as them. An argument followed, and those women went to a local cleric and told him that Bibi had blasphemed against Islam.

Allegations of blasphemy often “stem from the Muslim accuser’s desire to take revenge” and to “settle petty, personal disputes,” according to Pakistan’s Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement, or CLAAS.

“Asia’s faith is very strong, but she cries. All of our family is praying to God to help her, and so we appeal to international community,” Masih was quoted as saying. “The life of Christians in Pakistan is very difficult … every Christian is in danger in Pakistan.”

The majority of Pakistan’s population is Muslim, and Masih said, “most of them are against Asia Bibi, they don’t want her to be set free… If Asia Bibi will be free, she cannot stay in Pakistan, she should move abroad very quickly.”

“The accusations against her are false,” Bibi’s 14-year-old daughter, Isham, was quoted as saying at a press conference in Italy least week. “My mother was working when two women asked her for water to drink. When my mother gave them the water, they began saying their hands were impure, that Christians are not dignified to eat and drink with Muslims, who are clean. On this basis, the accusation of blasphemy was built.”

The family has requested the pope to encourage the Pakistani government to release her.

Her lawyer, Joseph Nadeem, is hopeful.

“We still have the hope of a presidential pardon,” he was quoted as saying.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which are embedded in Sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code, carry death penalty, and yet there is no provision to punish a false accuser or a false witness of blasphemy.

Source : Christian Post

The State of the Bible in America

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The State of the Bible in America
The State of the Bible in America

 More Americans see the Bible as the infallible and inspired word of God with some symbolism, which should not be taken literally, according to the American Bible Society’s State of the Bible 2015 report.

Christian Post Report – The report, which was produced by Barna Group for the American Bible Society in New York, examines issues such as: perceptions of the Bible; its penetration; Bible engagement; Bible literacy; moral decline and social impact; and level of giving to nonprofit organizations.

According to the report, in a nationwide telephone and online survey of American adults, some five different descriptions of the Bible were presented and “more adults believe it to be inspired (with some symbolism) than literal.”

“A plurality, one-third, says the Bible is the inspired word of God and has no errors, though some verses are meant to be symbolic (33 percent),” notes the report, which highlights that it is a statistically significant increase over 2014 when only 30 percent of respondents held this view of the Bible.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/bible-society-report-increase-in-americans-who-believe-bible-is-inspired-word-of-god-no-errors-some-symbolism-137312/#6foeIyFyaVmIcwbU.99

Source : Christian Post

Andy Stanley: Churches Should Be ‘Safest Place on the Planet’ for Gay Youth

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Andy Stanley: Churches Should Be ‘Safest Place on the Planet’ for Gay Youth
Andy Stanley (Screengrab: http://catalystconference.com/live/)

Andy Stanley, author and pastor, speaking at Catalyst West event at Mariners Church in Irvine, California on Friday, April 17, 2015.

Christian Post Report – Pastor Andy Stanley has declared that local congregations should be the “safest place on the planet for students to talk about anything, including same-sex attraction.”

At a two-day event centered on cultivating good church leadership held in Southern California, the founder of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, spoke Friday about the things he hoped will change about the modern church.

“We just need to decide from now on in our churches when a Middle School kid comes out to his small group leader or a high school young lady comes out to her parents,” said Stanley. “We just need to decide, regardless of what you think about this topic — no more students are going to feel like they have to leave the local church because they’re same-sex attracted or because they’re gay. That ends with us.”

Stanley acknowledged that there was a diversity of views on homosexuality and gay marriage among his audience, but felt that regardless of these differences churches, as a collective, can create safe space for gay youth.

“There is not consensus in this room when it comes to same-sex attraction. There is not consensus in this room when it comes to gay marriage,” said Stanley.

“We just can’t continue to look into the filter of our politics at our spirituality. Its got to be the other way around … and specifically when it comes to this issue.”

During his remarks, Stanley also introduced a plan for churches to “take a break” from the culture wars for a year and change the nation through internal example.

“If all the Christians for just one year … would quit looking at porn … would quit smoking weed, would quit having premarital sex, would quit committing adultery, would pay their taxes and every church just foster one kid; in one year our nation would feel different,” said Stanley.

“Because there are so many Christians. So basically, if we would just be better Christians, everything we would like to see changed for the most part would change.”

Stanley’s remarks came as he was part of Catalyst West, a conference that seeks to empower and prepare the rising generation of church leaders.

Held at Mariners Church in Irvine in Orange County, Catalyst West focused on the theme of creating “change makers” among church leadership.

“Catalyst unifies change makers — equipping you with impactful content and experiences that transform thinking, provoke action and cultivate community,” reads Catalyst West’s website.

“We’re challenging leaders who love the Church to break the bounds of an ordinary existence and find the courage to embrace and radiate bold change.”

In addition to Stanley, other scheduled speakers included Judah Smith, lead pastor of The City Church in Seattle, Washington; Jacquelline Fuller, director of google.org; Aja Brown, mayor of the city of Compton; and Craig Groeschel, the founding and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv.

YouTube / Catalyst Conference
Promotional video for the Catalyst West Conference, held in Orange County, California on April 16-17, 2015.

Source : Christian Post

Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets Live Stream Free, ESPN TV Start Time: Watch NBA 2015 Playoffs Game 1 Online

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Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets Live Stream Free, ESPN TV Start Time: Watch NBA 2015 Playoffs Game 1 Online

Christian Post Report – The Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets will fight it out in Game 1 of their NBA 2015 Playoffs series on Saturday night. The game has a start time of 9.30 p.m. ET and takes place from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The game can be watched on TV on the ESPN network or online through free live stream (details below).

Rondo USA TODAY Sports

Rajon Rondo of the Dallas Mavericks

The Rockets will be excited and optimistic after securing their first division title since 1994. But the second seeds in the Western Conference will have to start things well in Game 1 against Dallas on Saturday, as the Mavericks would like nothing better than to take down their local rivals in Round 1 of the Playoffs.

MVP player James Harden has been a central player in the Rockets’ success so far this season, and now doubt he will need to play a big part in their postseason efforts if they are to fulfill their potential.

Harden has made it clear that he is not satisfied with what the Rockets have accomplished so far this season, and he wants more. He has of course experienced being knocked out of the Playoffs in the First Round in each of his first two seasons with the Rockets.

Harden has said ahead of the game: “I feel like we’ve got a great opportunity. We’ve got the right guys in this locker room to get it done and go further than that.”

These two teams have not met in the Playoffs since their First Round encounter in the 2005 season.

The Mavericks have good experience in their side, having five players in their roster who have more than 10 years of experience in the NBA. That could give them the edge if things get tight in what is sure to be a tough encounter.

Today’s game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets will start at 9.30 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the ESPN network or online through free live stream by clicking here.

Source : Christian Post

Android 5.0 Lollipop Update for Xperia Z Ultra, Z3 Dual, Z1 and Z1 Compact Confirmed

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Android 5.0 Lollipop Update for Xperia Z Ultra, Z3 Dual, Z1 and Z1 Compact Confirmed

Christian Post Report – After Sony started pushing the Android 5.0 Lollipop updates to the Xperia Z2 and the Xperia Z3 Compact in March, the company recently announced that they will start rolling out the much awaited update to other Z series phones.

Starting April 13, Sony has the following phones lined up for updates: the Xperia Z Ultra, the Xperia Z3 Dual, the Xperia Z1 and the Xperia Z1 Compact.

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact Youtube Screenshot/ file

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact

According to a report in iDigitalTimes, the update will be made available through Over-The-Air or OTA. In order for phone owners to check if they are eligible for an update, they must go to Settings, then About Phone, then System Updates and select Check for Updates. The rollout is likely to happen in phases so users are advised to check for updates once in a while. It is also important that the phone is fully charged as downloading the update may take some time.

After this line up, the next Sony phones that will receive the update are the dual-SIM phones, the Sony Xperia T2 Ultra and the Xperia C3. The rollout for these will start next week.

A report in Tech Times cited that the next in line are the older Xperia Z phone models. This will complete Sony’s promise that the Lollipop update will be provided to its Xperia Z series. The models included are the Xperia Z, the Xperia ZR and the Xperia ZL. The Xperia Tablet Z is also said to receive the update.

The report also said that although Sony has made the update available to the said phones, rollout is still very much dependent on the different mobile carriers in the different countries.

Sony is one of the few mobile phone makers who made it a point to bring the OS update even to older models of its flagship phones, the Z series. Owners of non-Z series phones however are still waiting for news if the update will ever reach their phones.

Source : Christian Post

New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins Live Stream Free: Watch NHL Playoffs 2015 Hockey Online (TV Start Time)

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New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins Live Stream Free: Watch NHL Playoffs 2015 Hockey Online (TV Start Time)

Crosby Ray Stubblebine/Reuters

Christian Post Report – Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins go against the New York Rangers defense.

The New York Rangers try to go 2-0 up on the Pittsburgh Penguins as they meet at Madison Square Garden in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference in the NHL playoffs on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET. The game can be watched on TV on the NBC network, or online through live stream (details below).

In the first game, New York took the first game after a 2-1 win thanks to early goals.

Derick Brassard scored in one of the fastest goals in NHL playoff history after only converting in 28 seconds of the first period.

It set-up the momentum of the game as New York continued to press on with the early lead.

They were able to find the second goal while in a power play as Ryan McDonagh scored on a slap shot assisted by Keith Yandle and Mats Zuccarello.

Pittsburgh had to wait for the 27th minute before scoring their opener as Blake Comeau beat the Rangers’ defense to cut the lead down to one goal.

Unfortunately, they could not add to their goal tally as they were blanked in the final period for New York to come away with the win.

New York dominated most of the match, eventually finishing the game with 38 total shots on goal, while Pittsburgh only had 25.

Henrik Lundqvist was also impressive, as he stopped 24 attempts from the Penguins as they proved that they were still a force in the conference.

Marc-Andre Fleury started off shaky in the first period but eventually got his bearings back to finish off the game strong. His 36 saves were good enough for a 95% save rate and hopefully he can bring it over to the second game as they try to get one in New York.

Another win for the Rangers will give them a big advantage as the third game is at Pittsburgh, meanwhile, if the Penguins get to steal a game in New York, then home advantage goes their way as the next two games will be played in front of their home crowd.

To get updates and highlights on this game, go to NHL.com. For live streaming, click here.

Source : Christian Post

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