The eight searches in Ukraine’s capital and the nearby Zhytomyr region were part of a criminal investigation into inciting hatred and violence, according to a police statement on Monday.

The Russian Orthodox Church said on Sunday that more than 20 Orthodox priests had been summoned for questioning by Ukraine’s SBU security service.

One priest who has drawn particular attention is the head of Kiev’s Pechersk Monastery.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Istanbul-based institution that serves as a centre of the global Eastern Orthodox faith, has drafted a charter for an independent Ukrainian church, a move Moscow fiercely opposes.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Sunday that Orthodox Christians would be free to remain part of the Russian branch of the church following the establishment of an autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Ties between Ukraine and Russia have been damaged by Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for armed rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The church dispute and a November 25 naval clash in the Black Sea have caused them to deteriorate further. 

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Pastors speaking out against criminal activities such as trafficking and extortion are sometimes paying with their lives, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said.

The organisation, which advocates for religious freedoms around the world, claimed human rights violations have continued and, in some cases worsened, since the signing of a historic peace deal (pictured above).

Spokesperson, Kiri Kankhwende told Premier: “Please pray for the [Colombian] government.

“They signed this peace agreement but they obviously need to do more to make it a real peace across the country; it’s not about just an absence of conflict but the presence of justice.”

Colombia: Report warns of ongoing and worsening human rights violations. #Colombia #HumanRightshttps://t.co/PukE2SiVnY

— CSW_UK (@CSW_UK) December 3, 2018

The Colombian government signed a pact with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, pictured below) in June, in a bid to draw a 50-year conflict with rebels to an end.

Having recently returned from a fact-finding mission to the South American country, CSW warned that other rebel groups have appeared in “hotspot” areas where groups which signed the peace deal have vacated.

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

Mervyn Thomas, CSW’s chief executive, said: “The fact that human rights…

Experts at Chiswick Auctions said it was an “exceptional result” that the 16th century artefact – produced by a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation, William Tyndale – far exceeded its £8,000-£10,000 estimate.

Head of the company’s book department, Clive Moss said: “The Tyndale Bible has been described as the most important book in the English language.

“William Tyndale contributed to the rise of the view that the Bible is a historical document and should be read with ‘historical faith’.

“He made political use of his vernacular translations of the Bible to win the common people to the Protestant cause, but most importantly, shaped the grammar and vocabulary of the English language, at the dawn of the sixteenth century when it was crude and unrefined.

“It is, therefore, unmistakably of huge national and historical importance to Britain.”

Prior to William Tyndale, the Bible was primarily spoken and read in Latin by scholars and clergy, severely limiting its accessibility among the masses.

His version printed in 1534 outraged the church established of the day.

Tyndale was branded a heretic by Cardinal Wolsey, one year later his English translation of the Bible first emerged, he was imprisoned and later executed.

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Twitter Banned Her for Writing, ‘Women Aren’t Men’

• Church and Ministry

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Twitter Banned Her for Writing, ‘Women Aren’t Men’

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Twitter has suspended the account of a Canadian feminist after she criticized a transgender activist and posted comments such as “Women aren’t men.” 

The woman, Meghan Murphy, says she does not identify politically with either the Left or the Right, although she says the Right is more open to a free exchange of ideas. 

“I think it is …. very important that we engage with those we may disagree with on various issues, and don’t think it serves us to ignore, mock, or dismiss people because they don’t share our exact political ideology,” Murphy wrote in a column for FeministCurrent. 

But Murphy apparently won’t be engaging in an exchange of ideas on Twitter, which initially locked her out of her account in August for criticizing a man who identifies as a woman. She was told she had violated Twitter’s “rules against hateful conduct.”

She was allowed back into her account after deleting the Tweets but then was locked out for 12 hours after posting this Tweet: “Hi @Twitter, I’m a journalist. Am I no longer permitted to report facts on your platform?” She deleted it. 

In mid-November, she again was locked out due to Tweets from October. One said, “Women aren’t men,” and another asked, “How are transwomen not men? What is the difference between a man and a transwoman?”

She deleted the Tweet but then ranted on Twitter, “This is f—ing…

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Billy Graham Devotional 5 December 2018 – A Thousand Anxieties

• Devotionals

CM Editor

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Topic: A Thousand Anxieties [Billy Graham Devotional 5 December 2018]

I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. — Psalm 34:4

Man has always been beset by worry, and the pressures of modern life have aggravated the problem. To men of all time Jesus said, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow . . . but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33-34). Many of you are filled with a thousand anxieties. Bring them to Jesus Christ by faith. He will bring peace to your soul and your mind.

Prayer for the day: Knowing You hear me, Lord, as I talk with You brings me peace in the midst of any storm.

“If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Billy Graham’s Daily Devotional HERE

Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.

The post Billy Graham Devotional 5 December 2018 – A Thousand Anxieties appeared first on Flatimes.

Bible college reinvents ‘incorrect’ Christmas carols

• Church and Ministry
• Europe

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The Moorlands College version of ‘We Three Kings of Orient Are’ points out that the gospels do not number the magi who visited baby Jesus, while Bethlehem’s landlocked setting means vessels could not have sailed there as the song ‘I Saw Three Ships On Christmas Day’ suggests.

During a tongue-in-cheek introduction to the musical compilation, Principal Dr Steve Brady said: “You will be corrected and immunised against the nonsense that so often flows around at this period in the year…”

 

The video asserts that Jesus was “probably” born during autumn, contrary to what the popular carol ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ suggests – and no one can be sure the cows mentioned in ‘Away in a Manger’ were definitely “lowing”.

In answer to Eric Boswell’s popular ‘Little Donkey’, staff break out into song when they point out “there’s no donkey, there’s no donkey in either Matthew or Luke”.

 

Meanwhile, lyrics to “O Little Town of Bethlehem” would have been more fitting in they had described the settlement as “O mid-sized town of Bethlehem.”

Our Moorlands College staff and media team have produced our Staff Christmas 2018 Video and have re-written some Christmas carols to make them biblically correct. If you’re not feeling festive yet, you will now!

Watch now: https://t.co/pWrwGGYpI3 pic.twitter.com/PPudTgPjz1

— Moorlands College (@MoorlandsColl) December 3, 2018

 

The video was produced…

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Explorer: Ark of the Covenant May Have Been Found

• Church and Ministry

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Explorer: Ark of the Covenant May Have Been Found

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The head of an exploration institute that searches the world for biblical relics says the Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandment tablets may be resting in a church in Ethiopia. 

Bob Cornuke, president of the Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration (BASE) Institute, wrote in a blog post that a recent investigation led him to Ethiopia, where tradition says the Ark of the Covenant — and the Ten Commandments that it housed — were taken following events described in the Old Testament.  

The Ark allegedly is housed at St. Mary’s of Zion Church in Axum, Ethiopia, where a “Guardian of the Ark” spends his entire life protecting it. No one else is allowed to see it. 

“This man, reportedly, lives his entire life inside a fenced-off area surrounding St. Mary’s of Zion,” Cornuke wrote in the blog. “He will not leave this fenced-off compound until he dies — when he will be replaced by the next Guardian of the Ark. In the chapel of the church, 30 robes from 30 previous guardians are on display — and every one of those 30 professed that the object they protected was the true Ark of the Covenant.”

Cornuke isn’t the first person to investigate the church’s claims. Smithsonian Magazine conducted its own investigation more than a decade ago. But Cornuke’s newest blog has been quoted in newspapers and websites worldwide. 

The Ark was the subject of the…

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Bible college rewords ‘incorrect’ Christmas carols

• Church and Ministry
• Europe

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The Moorlands College version of ‘We Three Kings of Orient Are’ points out that the gospels do not number the magi who visited baby Jesus, while Bethlehem’s landlocked setting means vessels could not have sailed there as the song ‘I Saw Three Ships On Christmas Day’ suggests.

During a tongue-in-cheek introduction to the musical compilation, Principal Dr Steve Brady said: “You will be corrected and immunised against the nonsense that so often flows around at this period in the year…”

 

The video asserts that Jesus was “probably” born during autumn, contrary to what the popular carol ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ suggests – and no one can be sure the cows mentioned in ‘Away in a Manager’ were definitely “lowing”.

In answer to Eric Boswell’s popular ‘Little Donkey’, staff break out into song when they point out “there’s no donkey, there’s no donkey in either Matthew or Luke”.

 

Meanwhile, lyrics to “O Little Town of Bethlehem” would have been more fitting in they had described the settlement as “O mid-sized town of Bethlehem.”

Our Moorlands College staff and media team have produced our Staff Christmas 2018 Video and have re-written some Christmas carols to make them biblically correct. If you’re not feeling festive yet, you will now!

Watch now: https://t.co/pWrwGGYpI3 pic.twitter.com/PPudTgPjz1

— Moorlands College (@MoorlandsColl) December 3, 2018

 

The video was…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

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