YouVersion Studies Show Romans 12:2 Was Most Popular Bible Verse of 2014

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YouVersion Studies Show Romans 12:2 Was Most Popular Bible Verse of 2014

YouVersion studies which scriptures 164 million users shared and remembered most this year.

Philippians made out well this year. The New Testament letter authored by the Apostle Paul contained 3 of the top 10 Bible verses that were most bookmarked, highlighted, and shared with YouVersion’s Bible app in 2014, according to an end-of-year analysis released today.

The No. 1 spot went to Romans 12:2 [“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind….” (NIV)]. But the fourth chapter of Philippians took No. 2 with verse 8, No. 3 with verse 6, and No. 6 with verse 7.

In order, the verses read:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

The entire Top 10:

1. Romans 12:2

2. Philippians 4:8

3. Philippians 4:6

4. Jeremiah 29:11

5. Matthew 6:33

6. Philippians 4:7

7. Proverbs 3:5

8. Isaiah 41:10

9. Matthew 6:34

10. Proverbs 3:6

These verses, and others, were shared nearly 69 million times this year. In fact, every second sees two verses shared through Twitter, Facebook, text messages, and email around the world, YouVersion said…Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN1

Priest Apologises to Pupils for Inciting Disbelief in Santa

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Priest Apologises to Pupils for Inciting Disbelief in Santa

A priest from Norfolk has said sorry after telling children Father Christmas was not real.

Revd Margaret McPhee made the announcement during a choir concert for primary school children from Stalham Academy in the county on Monday.

Whilst preaching at St Mary’s Church she asked children what they thought the real meaning of Christmas was.

When one replied Santa she told him he was make believe.

Parents expressed their anger on social media with one saying: “Sorry my child will not attend any more church services again, she would not like it if we said there was no ‘God’.”

Another posted: “Absolutely disgusted, luckily we managed to come up with a round-about explanation so Santa remains real.”

In a statement Stalham Academy said it had received an apology from Revd McPhee for “what she claims was an ‘insensitive, off-the-cuff remark’, which may have caused upset to the pupils of our academy”.

It added: “As I am sure you will appreciate, the academy has no control over what the Revd McPhee has said or may say in the future.

“However, she has given us assurances that she will not be making any such comments in the future.”

The vicar told the Eastern Daily Press: “As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew I had made a huge mistake.”

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian News

Megachurch Gives Over 7,000 Shoes and GIfts to Underprivileged Students

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Megachurch Gives Over 7,000 Shoes and GIfts to Underprivileged Students

South Carolina megachurch NewSpring gave away over $215,000 worth of shoes and gift cards to students and teachers in underprivileged schools earlier this month. NewSpring Public Relations Director Suzanne Swift said the donations are a no-strings-attached way to show the community they care.

“Our church believes you can’t do life alone and as families are buying gifts for Christmas and other necessities, this is just a small way we can come alongside them, be generous and help these families in our community,” Swift told The Christian Post.

More than 350 volunteers from Pastor Perry Noble’s multi-site church traveled to 12 elementary schools, giving away 7,265 pairs of colorful New Balance shoes fresh out of the boxes to every single student. Teachers and staff also received $25 restaurant gift cards as well.

Swift said, “We understand working in elementary schools can be challenging and we are so thankful for all the hard work teachers and staff put in each year.”

According to Swift, the church started this effort in 2008, giving backpacks, coats and shoes to three to four schools, targeting at least one school near each of its NewSpring campuses. As NewSpring grew to 10 campuses, the church grew its giveaway. Through last year’s efforts, students at 11 elementary schools received 5,250 pairs of shoes.

She explained, “We work with our district offices and just ask the district office workers there … which schools would benefit the most and what was their greatest need and so from there the conversations just continue to be shoes and coats and backpacks. Over the years we’ve done a different grouping of all of those things…Read More

Source and Original Content by CT

Christians Condemn ‘Three Parent Family’ Proposal

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Christians Condemn ‘Three Parent Family’ Proposal

Proposals to make the UK the first country in the world to allow three-parent babies to be born have been strongly criticised by a Christian charity.

Nola Leach, the Chief Executive of CARE, said draft legislation introduced in parliament yesterday raises “profound ethical and identity questions” as well as “huge, unanswered safety concerns”.

“It is quite extraordinary that the Government should contemplate asking MPs to vote on this hugely controversial legislation just before a General Election,” she added.

Under the rules introduced by Public Health Minister Jane Ellison, IVF clinics will legally be able to replace defective mitochondrial DNA from an egg with healthy DNA given by a donor. This process – known as “mitochondrial replacement therapy” – would reduce the number of children born with serious inherited diseases such as muscular dystrophy, but would also mean those children would technically have two mothers, or three parents in all.

Ellison said in a written statement: “The Government has run a comprehensive and transparent process over the lifetime of this Parliament to review the public acceptability of mitochondrial donation and the ongoing evidence of safety and efficacy of the new techniques involved.

“The time is now right to give Parliament the opportunity to consider and vote on these regulations.”

Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies has said that if approved, the process will “keep the UK at the forefront of scientific development,” but critics have denounced it as a form of genetic modification. The Government, however, has been keen to emphasise that no nuclear DNA, which provides physical and other traits that children inherit from their parents, would be contributed from the donor.

According to CARE, however, the process could have a devastating impact on sense of identity, particularly as the legislation stipulates that the donor parent would remain anonymous…Read More

Source and Original Content by CT

Car Hits Churchgoers; 3 Dead, Several Injured

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Car Hits Churchgoers; 3 Dead, Several Injured

Three people have been killed and several others injured after a car crashed into a group of Christians leaving a church service in California.

Police suspect the driver could have been drunk when she hit the people, including a number of children, outside St James Catholic church, Redondo Beach, Wednesday night.

Witness Marc Zonno told KNBC: “The crosswalk was full, and the light was red. Someone ran a red light and… bodies started flying…It was pretty horrible.”

The people were leaving a Christmas pageant at the church when the incident happened.

A woman is being charged with manslaughter.

Police have only identified two victims – 81-year-old Mary Anne Wilson and 87-year-old Saeko Matsumura.

The church stayed open through the night to let people pray for the dead and injured.

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian Radio

Bible Christmas Knowledge Lacking in Christian Brits

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Bible Christmas Knowledge Lacking in Christian Brits

Only one percent of the UK population knows that the Bible doesn’t say Jesus was born in a stable, according to a new poll carried out on behalf of the Bible Society.

Ninety percent of people also said that there were three ‘Wise Men’ who visited Jesus after his birth, with just 3% of adults who correctly identified the Bible also doesn’t state how many there were.

Just 20% of adults knew that it was the actually Shepherds who first visited Jesus after his birth, with almost double that number under the impression that it was the Wise Men (36%) and the same proportion (36%) believing the Shepherds and Wise Men arrived together.

Just under one third, only 30% of adults, correctly identified that Mary and Joseph were betrothed when she found out she would give birth to Jesus, with a higher proportion (35%) stating that they were married. A further 6% thought they were either on their first date or had never met.

Just under two thirds of those questioned (60%) of adults couldn’t identify what the angels said to the Shepherds while tending to their flock.

Just 40% correctly stated that it was “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to all men”, with other responses including “Go to Nazareth now” (40%) and “Be very afraid” (4%).

Ben Whitnall, Bible Society spokesman urged people to read the Bible to find out what really happened when Jesus was born, speaking to Premier, he said: “If they’re looking in a Bible on their shelf, maybe they’ve got one in the attic; it’s in the first couple of chapters of Matthew and Luke.

“So right at the start of the New Testament, two of the four gospels and the very first couple of chapters of those. But if you stick Matthew 1 or Luck 1 into a search engine, you’ll find it there as well.”

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian Radio

RCCG Reacts To Celebrating the Emergence of Prof. Osinbajo As Buhari’s Runing Mate

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RCCG Reacts To Celebrating the Emergence of Prof. Osinbajo As Buhari’s Runing Mate

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has said it does not dabble into politics in any shade or colouration.

Apparently reacting to rumours making round that the General Overseer of the Church Pastor Enoch Adeboye gave his blessings to the vice-presidential ambition of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the RCCG dissociated itself from the report.

Osinbajo, a former Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, who is said to be Adeboye’s close ally, had been chosen as the running mate of the APC presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on December 17, 2014, Wednesday.

Taking to its official twitter handle, the RCCG denied celebrating the emergence of Buhari’s running mate, who pastors its Olive Parish located on Banana Island, Lagos.

The church however warned Nigerians to disregard such report and be wary of fictitious social media accounts.

The church wrote on its Facebook page:
“On behalf of The Governing Council of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, we would like to inform the public that RCCG is not affiliated nor represented by @rccgworldwide. The church’s official twitter page is @rccghq. The church cherishes the right of all citizens to participate in the democratic process to vote.”

Not long after Buhari announced Osinbajo as his running mate for the 2015 presidential elections, he was said to have called Pastor Adeboye, for blessings.

Question later emerged over whose side Adeboye might take ahead of the 2015 polls being that Osinbajo is a pastor at his church and one of his close confidants. On the other hand, Adeboye has been associated with President Goodluck Jonathan, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Osinbajo is a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State. He has a beautiful wife, Mrs Oludolapo Osinbajo, who is a grandchild of the late Obafemi Awolowo.

Source and Original Content by Naij

Church Uses Movie Tech to Bring Prayer to Life

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Church Uses Movie Tech to Bring Prayer to Life

Many churches have got used to PowerPoint projection in their services. But the church of St Peter’s in Hackney, London has taken its engagement with technology to a whole new level this Advent and Christmas.

In partnership with Project CEDE (‘Creating and Exploring Digital Empathy’) the church is hosting an experimental installation which lets people interact with different parts of the building digitally, in a prayerful and profoundly spiritual way.

A digital votive candle stand is positioned next to the church’s traditional candle stand. Visitors can type prayers and prayer requests which are then projected in a prayer corner in the south aisle, once used as a Lady Chapel, where for many years daily prayers and weekday masses were offered.

Another element is a projection of prayers from inside the building through a window at night, so that words and images could be seen from the street.

There is also a ‘Font of Consolation’ which has echoes of the famous ‘Pensieve’ in the Harry Potter films – a magical water-filled bowl in which words and images appeared to the user. CEDE has designed a lining for the font, on to which text and images can be projected. In the plinth next to it there is a tablet on which messages can be written. They appear in the water and seem to dissolve. CEDE’s Dr Andrew Hudson-Smith told the BBC: “You can hand-write your worries, your concerns, your sins perhaps, and you can put your hands into the holy water…you see your worries and your sins floating away, almost in a Harry Potter-esque way.”

He said: “We chose a church because it’s the perfect place where you share the deepest bits of your soul. The missing thing in our lives at the moment is a sharing of our empathetic thoughts.”

The church’s minister, Rev Julia Porter-Pryce, told Christian Today that her involvement had come about because she was researching the use of church spaces. She had provided the theological and liturgical input to the project, while CEDE had provided the technical assistance.

The installation has been open for two hours a day during Advent. “People like to come in and sit quietly,” she said. “I have had more conversations about prayer during the last three weeks than in the last 12 years.”

She explained: “When you light an ordinary votive candle you don’t usually articulate a prayer, you tend to communicate a feeling or a thought. Using a tablet to type a message makes you articulate a prayer in a particular way. It’s as though you can see what’s in another person’s head, and there’s something quite holy about that.”

Porter-Pryce said that she had been concerned that the installation would be seen simply as entertainment, but that it had been a very helpful way of encouraging people to explore prayer. She suggested that there was potential for its wider use, saying: “I can see the same devices being used in a cathedral or a country church and they would work in the same way.”

CEDE’s mission is “to unlock the digital communication of empathy as we believe it is a major emission from online communication and digital personhood as a whole”. It is a cross-disciplinary project involving the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at University College London, Lancaster Imagination Lab and the Institute for Economic Analysis of Decision-making at the University of Sheffield.

Source and Original Content by Christian Today

RCCG’s Prof. Yemi Osinbajo Emerges Buhari’s Running Mate for 2015 Elections

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RCCG’s Prof. Yemi Osinbajo Emerges Buhari’s Running Mate for 2015 Elections

Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Wednesday, emerged the running mate to the All Progressives Congress Presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.Osinbajo’s emergence is seen by APC as a means to influence Christian voters during the election.

Here is a profile of the former Lagos State Attorney General and a Snr. Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God(RCCG).

Yemi Osinbajo, 55, is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Senior Partner in the Law firm of Simmons Cooper Partners.
His tertiary education was at the University of Lagos and the London School of Economics where he obtained the LLB and LLM degrees respectively.

He was appointed the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in 1999 and reappointed for a second term in 2003. During the period of his public service, he commenced the Lagos State justice reform project. A prominent feature of that project was the establishment of the Directorate for Citizens’ Rights (DCR) which provides free legal services and legal representation to indigent citizens of the state. This initiative gave a voice to many who would otherwise not have a way to access their rights.

Prior to that appointment, Osinbajo, a Professor of Law, was the Head of Public Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos.

Between 1988 and 1992, he was the Special Adviser to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He also served as a staff member of the United Nations and Member of the United Nation’s Secretary General’s Committee of Experts on Conduct and Discipline of UN Peacekeeping personnel around the globe.

He is currently an Ethics Advisor to the Ethics Committee of the African Development Bank and is a non-executive Director of Citibank.

Prof. Osinbajo is Co-founder & Board Member Convention on Business Integrity and the Justice Research Institute Ltd. He has also authored several law books.

In 2007, Prof. and his wife Oludolapo founded “The Orderly Society Trust”, a non- governmental organization that is dedicated to the promotion of Christian ethics and orderliness.

He is a resident pastor at the Olive Tree House of Prayer for All Nations, Banana Island, a parish of the RCCG.
He lives in Lagos with his wife,Dolapo Osinbajo, who is a grandchild of Obafemi Awolowo with three children.

Source and Original Content by Vanguard

Prince Charles Speaks of ‘praying fervently’ for persecuted Christians

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Prince Charles Speaks of ‘praying fervently’ for persecuted Christians

The Prince of Wales has said that is “heartbreaking” that so many Christians are being persecuted for their faith.

Prince Charles used a visit to London’s Syriac Orthodox Church in Acton yesterday to restate his concern fo the Christians of the Middle East and to call for peace. He was welcomed by His Eminence Archbishop Athanasius and the congregation, some of whom were refugees who had fled from the Iraqi city of Mosul and others of whom had family members in Iraq and Syria. The National Anthem was sung in Aramaic, the ancient liturgical language of the Church, for what is thought to be the first time.

The Prince said: “This is the third visit that I have paid in recent weeks to churches whose congregations have the soul-destroying experience of inhuman persecution. In this Advent season, a season of celebration, it is the more profoundly heart-breaking that so many Christians are being persecuted for their faith.

“For more than 20 years I have tried to build bridges between people of different faiths and have appealed for greater understanding, for greater tolerance and for harmony between the great religions of the world. At a time when so little is held sacred, it is quite literally diabolical that these symbolic bridges should be so destroyed.”

He reminded the congregation that Muslims in Iraq and Syria had been the victims of persecution as well as Christians and Yazidis. Prince Charles said: “As I have said before, it seems to me that all faiths to some extent shine a light on the divine image in every human life. If that is so, then surely to destroy another human being is to desecrate the image of the Divine. To do so in the name of faith is, surely, nothing less than a sacrilege.”

He said he had been “deeply distressed” at the scenes of violence and brutality coming from the Middle East and praised media reporters for “helping to ensure that the world is not allowed to forget the stark horror of what is happening in Iraq and Syria; not to forget our brothers and sisters whose faith is, quite literally, under fire; not to forget the unimaginable barbarity to which they have been exposed; not to forget the many, many people who have been savagely murdered or who have died fleeing violence; not to forget those who have lost everything, including their houses; not to forget that countless thousands have had to leave the places in which their families have lived for innumerable generations”.

He expressed deep sympathy for the members of the congregation he had met privately before the service, who had told him of their bereavements and other losses. “The anguish of all this does not bear thinking about, and my heart goes out to you all,” he said.

He added that while at present it would be impossible for them to return, “I do pray most fervently that the situation there will change; that peace will return; that the time will come when you feel it is safe to return to your homeland and that, once there, you will be free, together with those of other religions, to celebrate your faith without any fear of persecution.”

The Prince concluded by quoting Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4: 8-12 beginning, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Source and Original Content by Christian Today

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