Thousands Turn to Christ in Burkina Faso

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Thousands Turn to Christ in Burkina Faso

Evangelist Andrew Palau joins 800 churches for Christmas outreach, the first major gathering in the nation since civil uprising last month.

Just weeks after a period of widespread political unrest due to the Burkinabe uprising, tens of thousands of people gathered in the heart of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou for Love Burkina Faso, a collaborative effort between international evangelist Andrew Palau and hundreds of Christian churches to foster hope in the African nation.

Events took place throughout the city Dec. 15-21, and included 28 outreaches for business and government leaders, women, students, and prisoners. The culmination, a two-day evangelistic festival in the heart of the city, included activities for children with evangelist Doug Horley, demonstrations from professional BMX and FMX athletes Vic Murphy and John Andrus, performances from regional, West African artists—including Simon Kologo, Ella Kinda, and Emmanuel Bouaffo—and a clear evangelistic message from Palau.

Throughout both days of the festival, people could be seen marveling at the BMX and FMX athletes as they performed high-flying stunts, and leaning over the railing to get a better view of the various festival performers. After Palau’s message each night, thousands of hands were raised into the air across the crowd indicating thousands of people making decisions for Christ. One thousand five hundred trained counselors were available to help each decision maker further understand the decision they were making.

By the time the festival was over, more than 14,522 decisions for Christ were reported. Some 6,838 of those decisions were recorded during the two-day festival, with an additional 7,684 reported through the 28 other outreach events during the week. Each decision maker, as well as thousands more, received a free copy of the gospel of John, provided by ministry partner Bibles for the World.

“This really is a great victory and one that will remain a special legacy,” Luis Palau Association Director of Festivals Tim Innes said. “For Burkina Faso, the best days are ahead. It’s been an honor for us to serve with the leaders in this season…Read More

Source and Original Content by Charisma News

U.S. Calls for Release of Pastor Saeed Abedini

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U.S. Calls for Release of Pastor Saeed Abedini

The United States called on Tuesday for the release of U.S. citizens held in Iran, but denied a report that Washington had proposed a prisoner exchange for a former U.S. Marine.

A lawyer for Amir Hekmati, an Iranian-American former U.S. Marine jailed in Tehran, was quoted in a report earlier on Tuesday on Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency as saying that the United States had sought his release through a prisoner swap.

“Those reports are not accurate,” State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke told a regular news briefing in Washington.

“The U.S. government has not proposed a prisoner exchange for Mr. Hekmati. It’s not true. We do, however, call on the Iranian government to release Amir Hekmati immediately, as well as detained U.S. citizens Saeed Abedini and Jason Rezaian, and to assist us in locating Robert Levinson.”

Hekmati was arrested in August 2011, his family says, and convicted of spying for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, a charge his relatives and the U.S. government deny.

Iranian-American Christian pastor Saeed Abedini was sentenced to eight years in prison last year for undermining national security by setting up home-based Christian churches in his native country from 2000 to 2005.

Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American who holds dual citizenship and had been the Washington Post’s bureau chief in Tehran, was charged this month after being detained for more than four months.

Robert Levinson, a private detective and ex-FBI agent, disappeared during a trip to an Iranian island in 2007. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in December last year that there were no traces of Levinson in Iran and that he was not being imprisoned in the country.

Source and Original Content by Charisma News

Cardinal Criticises Forced Conversions to Hinduism

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Cardinal Criticises Forced Conversions to Hinduism

The president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has criticised forced conversions of Christians to Hinduism.

Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, major archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, said that he was gravely concerned that “conversion events are being held under the label of ‘homecoming’”.

He urged Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to intervene to address concerns surrounding “forcible conversions” across India, citing reports of such actions in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala states.

Some Hindu leaders have said that India is a Hindu nation and the “reconversions” are simply reclaiming people who originally were Hindu. Some have called for a ban on conversions, since they say Indians should be Hindus.

Mohan Bhagwat, head of the National Volunteer Corps, known as the ideological fountainhead of Hindu nationalism, said: “Those who strayed were lured away. They were looted from us. When the thief is being caught and my property has been recovered, when I am taking back my own property, what is new in it?”

Reports surfaced on December 9 that 57 migrant Muslim families were “reconverted” under the watchful eyes of members of a Hindu fundamentalist group in Uttar Pradesh. Other reports referred to ghar vapasi, or reconversion, of Christians by Hindu fundamentalist groups in December.

Source and Original Content by Catholic Herald

Apple Announces 14-Day Refunds on App Store, iTunes in EU

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Apple Announces 14-Day Refunds on App Store, iTunes in EU

It seems Apple has finally introduced a new return policy to tackle App Store and iTunes refunds in at least European countries.
Recent reports claimed that Apple has introduced a new 14-day “no-questions-asked return policy” for purchases through its App Store, iBooks, and iTunes storefronts.

(Also see: How to Get Refunds on iTunes, App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, BlackBerry World)

Notably, Apple is yet to officially announce the new return policy, and it was spotted by a German publication iFun and later picked by 9to5mac. The report claims the new 14-day return policy is now available in several European countries such as Germany, France and the UK among others.

The updated legal terms and conditions page on Apple UK site notes, “Right of cancellation: If you choose to cancel your order, you may do so within 14 days from when you received your receipt without giving any reason, except iTunes Gifts which cannot be refunded once you have redeemed the code.”

“To meet the cancellation deadline, you must send your communication of cancellation before the 14-day period has expired,” it adds.

Earlier, Apple’s terms and conditions for the two stores stated, “Users had the right to withdraw from a transaction without charge and without giving any reason until delivery of the product has started,” according to 9to5mac.

The report points out that previously Apple stressed that “all sales and rentals of products are final”; though some exceptions were handled by Apple support.

The updated terms and conditions page further adds that the users who request for return will be refunded in 14 days via the same payment mode used for the transaction. It writes, “Effects of cancellation: We will reimburse you no later than 14 days from the day on which we receive your cancellation notice. We will use the same means of payment as you used for the transaction, and you will not incur any fees for such reimbursement.”

The current move by the Cupertino-based giant can be seen as an attempt to tackle the issue of adults and children racking up credit card bills by making “in-app” purchases, which the European Commission had raised back in July.

In comparison to Apple, Google, back in September, updated its refund-window for purchased apps on Google Play with a window of just 2 hours. Google’s ‘Return paid apps and games’ support page had noted “After purchasing an app or game on Google Play, you can return it within two hours for a full refund.”

Source and Original Content by Ndtv

‘I don’t think God exists’, says Former Pastor

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‘I don’t think God exists’, says Former Pastor

A former Seventh-day Adventist pastor who chose to give up religion for a year has announced that he no longer believes in God.

“I’ve looked at the majority of the arguments that I’ve been able to find for the existence of God and…I have to say I don’t find there to be a convincing case in my view,” Ryan Bell revealed in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR).

“I don’t think that God exists. I think that makes the most sense of the evidence that I have and my experience. But I don’t think that’s necessarily the most interesting thing about me,” he added.

Raised in a Christian family, Bell studied at Pacific Union College where he was known for his deeply-held conservative views. He went on to become pastor of several churches in Philadelphia, before moving to Hollywood to lead a Seventh-day Adventist church there. However, he was asked to resign in March 2013 after raising theological issues he had with the church’s teaching, and began to struggle with his faith.

Then, in December of last year, Bell wrote a blog post that quickly went viral. He announced that he would be undertaking a “year without God”.

“I’m making it official and embarking on a new journey. I will ‘try on’ atheism for a year. For the next 12 months I will live as if there is no God,” Bell wrote.

“I will not pray, read the Bible for inspiration, refer to God as the cause of things or hope that God might intervene and change my own or someone else’s circumstances. (I trust that if there really is a God that God will not be too flummoxed by my foolish experiment and allow others to suffer as a result).”

Bell also pledged to read “atheist ‘sacred texts'” written by key authors such as Hobbes, Nietzsche, Hitchens and Dawkins.

“I will also attempt to speak to as many actual atheists as possible – scholars, writers and ordinary unbelievers – to learn how they have come to their non-faith and what it means to them. I will visit atheist gatherings and try it on,” he added…Read More

Source and Original Content by CT

Bible App names UK’s Favourite Verses

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Bible App names UK’s Favourite Verses

Jeremiah 29:11 is Britain’s favourite Scripture verse for 2014, according to the Bible App.

It says: “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Across the whole world, Romans 12:12 was the most searched-for verse with the app.

A map is available online showing what the most popular verse is in specific countries.

Since its creation, the Bible App’s been downloaded more than 162 million times. There’s been significant use by people in countries where physical Bibles are hard to get or culturally condemned.

Bobby Gruenewald, the owner of the company which created the Bible App, said: “What’s interesting to me is that several of those countries are definitely not majority Christian.

“And in some cases, the Bible isn’t that accessible or isn’t considered to be acceptable culturally.

“We really believe that this generation could become the most Bible-engaged generation in history.”

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian Radio

US Blacks Compared to Jesus, Iran’s Supreme Leader

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US Blacks Compared to Jesus, Iran’s Supreme Leader

Iran’s Supreme Leader has compared blacks in America’s to the way Jesus was treated in his bid highlight race and police violence, while comparing unrest in states like New York and Missouri to conflicts in the Middle East.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s chief political and religious authority, also acknowledged the role of Jesus in Islamic theology through his unverified but generally accepted official mouthpiece, using the English-language Twitter feed over the Christmas holidays, which has over 91,000 followers.

The tweets started on Christmas eve with the Ayatollah lumping the struggle of Palestinians in the Gaza strip with protests in Ferguson, Missouri, where black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by police, and called on members of all three monotheistic faiths to stand-up against oppression.

It read: “Jesus like all prophets was herald of monotheism& human dignity; nowadays humanity needs this message more than ever.#Ferguson #Gaza.”

On Sunday he tweeted: “#Jesus endured sufferings to oppose tyrants who had put humans in hell in this world& the hereafter while he backed the oppressed. #Ferguson”

Minutes later it was followed up with a second tweet: “It’s expected that followers of #Jesus follow him in his fight against arrogants and in his support for the oppressed. #BlackLivesMatter.”

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian Radio

Cross on Christian Nursing Home Torn down by Chinese Government

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Cross on Christian Nursing Home Torn down by Chinese Government

A Chinese care worker says the Government’s torn down a cross from the top of a church attached to a Christian nursing home where she works.

A Chinese care worker says the government’s torn down a cross from the top of a church attached to a Christian nursing home where she works.

Gao Huifang says men dressed in plain clothes arrived at the nursing home in Hangzhou, Eastern China, a week before Christmas. The men then took the cross down from on top of the church, connected to the nursing home.

She also says three residents fainted on the spot when the men dismantled the cross.

Huifang told Reuters: “Although everyone has recovered, the wound to our hearts will never heal.”

When the men were questioned about their actions, Gao Huifang says their “orders came from high up.”

Another nursing home resident who didn’t want to be named said three people required hospital treatment after clashes with authorities removing the cross.

An ethnic and religious affairs official in the area said the cross was “not removed, but rectified”, to create a “scenic spot”.

The official, who refused to give his name, also said: “According to standards, this Christian nursing home is not a place for religious activities.”

More than 400 churches have received demolition or cross-removal orders since December 12th, according to Christian advocacy group China Aid.

Their founder, Bob Fu, said: “The government is using illegal building regulations to justify this campaign and to stop Protestant Christianity from spreading too quickly in the region.

“By tearing down crosses, they are hoping to minimize the influence that Protestant Christianity has on the local population, and to further reduce its number of followers.”

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian News

Prayers for UK Health Worker with Ebola

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Prayers for UK Health Worker with Ebola

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has urged people to pray for the first health worker to be diagnosed with ebola on British soil.

On Sunday, the British aid worker flew back to Glasgow from Sierra Leone, where she was treating patients with ebola with Save the Children.

She was placed in an isolation unit on the Monday morning when she began showing symptoms.

This morning, she was flown to the Royal Free Hospital in London for specialist treatment in a military plane.

The Royal Free Hospital is the same hospital where British aid worker William Pooley was treated.

Most Rev Welby said via Twitter: “The Ebola of the Glasgow Health worker shows the courage of those serving in S Leone, we owe them thanks and respect, let us pray for her.”

The Scottish government’s confirmed a second person is being tested for the ebola virus. Meanwhile, another person is being tested in Cornwall.

The ebola virus has killed nearly 8000 people in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, according to the World Health Organisation.

Source and Original Content by Premier Radio News

Billy Graham makes ‘Most Admired’ List for the 58th Time

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Billy Graham makes ‘Most Admired’ List for the 58th Time

For a record 58th time, Billy Graham has been named as one of the ten most admired men in the world.

Gallup released its annual list on Monday after surveying 805 people throughout the United States and asking, “What [woman/man] that you have heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, do you admire most?”

Sharing a spot with former President George W. Bush, Mr. Graham tied for fourth place on this year’s list of most admired men.

The 96-year-old evangelist has been among the top 10 every year since 1963 (except 1976, when the survey didn’t happen). He also appeared on the list every year from 1955-1961.

Most Admired Men and Women
This year, President Barack Obama once again took the top spot on the list of most admired men. The sitting president has held the No. 1 position for 58 of the last 68 years.

Pope Francis took the No. 2 spot, followed by former President Bill Clinton.

Author, political commentator and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson holds the No. 5 position on the men’s list.

Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Malala Yousafzai, Condoleeza Rice and Michelle Obama topped the list of most admired women. Also in the top 10: Sarah Palin and Angelina Jolie…Read More

Source and Original Content by billygraham.org

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