Christian Widow Killed in Bomb Blast in Nigeria

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Christian Widow Killed in Bomb Blast in Nigeria

For Jummai Sunday, 63, Thursday (Dec. 11) began like any other for the Christian widow. After a morning devotional, she visited sick or bereaved families, and then returned home to gather items for sale at her market spot near the bus terminal area in Jos, Nigeria.

She survived the twin bomb blasts that the Boko Haram jihadist group is suspected of setting off that evening, but gunmen who swooped in on survivors killed her with shots to her head, leg and hand, relatives said. At least 31 other people in the predominantly Christian area were killed and 45 wounded by the Islamic extremist group that has created violent chaos for five years in its bid to turn Nigeria into a sharia (Islamic law) state.

Her body was taken to a hospital in Yan Shanu, a Muslim quarter of the city where her son went to retrieve her corpse – taking with him a small contingent of police and soldiers, as he had learned that Muslims were shooting Christians in the area.

Another Christian woman selling her wares beside Sunday was shot but survived to tell relatives how the widow died…Read More

Source and Original Content by CNN

Three More Pakistani Christians Accused of Blasphemy

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Three More Pakistani Christians Accused of Blasphemy

Three more cases of blasphemy accusations have emerged in Pakistan, even after a Christian couple’s beating to death and burning in a brick kiln after allegations of blasphemy horrified the world, including the metropolitan elite in the country.

The Christian couple were killed over suspicions of desecrating the Qur’an on November 4. The Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed the resolve to bring the perpetrators “to justice” and appointed Senator Kamran Michael to be the focal person in the case.

Condemnation from top religious clerics gave some hope to human rights defenders for some positive change. The Pakistani police arrested dozens of suspects in connection with the lynching of the couple but all these measures have failed to curb the rising levels of discrimination against Christians…Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian News Network

Exodus: Gods And Kings tops Box Office with $24.5m

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Exodus: Gods And Kings tops Box Office with $24.5m

“Exodus: Gods and Kings” toppled “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″ from its perch atop the box office, but its opening weekend results fell short of heavenly status.

The biblical epic picked up $24.5 million from 3,503 locations. That was in line with projections, but bringing the story of Moses to life carried a hefty $140 million pricetag. The 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment production will need to perform well overseas and will have to build an audience Stateside if it’s going to be profitable.

The debut audience was 54% male and 65% over the age of 25, and the film played particularly well to Hispanic and African-American moviegoers, who made up 18% and 20% of the crowd, respectively.

“We got the religious audience, but the opening audience was much more diverse than just that,” said Spencer Klein, executive vice president of theatrical distribution at Fox.

Its opening also fell short of the launches of other religious-themed films such as “Noah” ($43.7 million), “Son of God” ($25.6 million) and “The Passion of the Christ”($83.8 million). Working in “Exodus’” favor is that films that open in December have a longer runway. The Christmas holidays means many moviegoers are on vacation, allowing films that debut softly to stick around longer than they might at other times of the year.

“This is a great start for us leading into the holiday stretch,” said Klein, adding, “In this play period you get such a big multiple [on a film’s opening weekend].”

Parting the Red Sea and unleashing plagues of frogs played well in premium formats. “Exodus” generated 11% of its opening from premium large screen formats and 44% of its receipts from 3D showings.

The weekend’s other major new entry, “Top Five,” picked up $7.2 million across 979 locations, good enough for a fourth place finish. Chris Rock wrote, directed and stars in the film about a comedian at a professional and personal crossroads, earning some of the strongest notices of his career.

“We got the launch we wanted and the reaction we had hoped for,” said Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures. “We do feel that word of mouth is going to continue to build as we keep expanding.”

Paramount Pictures picked up worldwide rights to the film from the Toronto Film Festival for $12.5 million and, as part of the pact, the studio agreed to pay at least $20 million in promotion and marketing. It will be on roughly 2,000 screens by the end of 2014 and will begin its overseas launch next year…Read More

Source and Original Content by Variety

Activist Group Threatens School with Lawsuit Over Bible Distribution

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Activist Group Threatens School with Lawsuit Over Bible Distribution

A prominent atheist activist organization has threatened to file a lawsuit against a Georgia school district if it allows a well-known Bible distribution ministry to continue to offer Bibles to public school students.

The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter on Friday to the superintendent of the Bartow County School System after Gideon International reportedly distributed Bibles at Cloverleaf Elementary School earlier this month. The organization asserts that the distribution is unconstitutional.

“We understand that teachers announced the Bible distribution and sorted their students into those wanting Bibles and others,” the letter, written by staff attorney Andrew Seidel, outlined. “In our complainant’s class, only one child (not our complainant’s) refused to take a Bible. … The teacher then walked the students to the library, and, leading by example, took a bible from the adult male that set up shop in the public elementary school library.”

FFRF then asserted that the distribution was unlawful because it took place while school was in session, and because a teacher was involved. It stated that the practice makes students who do not want a copy of the Bible to feel ostracized and claimed that the sole student who declined was “teased…Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian News Network

Church Posts “Santa Is Satan” on Sign

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Church Posts “Santa Is Satan” on Sign

During the holiday season most churches will put out signs about, ‘the season for giving’ or ‘the reason for the season’, but one Harlem Church is saying something completely different.

‘Santa is Satan’, according to people of Harlem Born Again Baptist Church. The big, bold sign is posted right outside of the Church’s doors. Neighbors around the area say Pastor Edward Carothers does this every year for different holidays.

News Channel 6 reached out to Pastor Carothers several times, but have no received a response.

Other Pastors in the area don’t want to be associated with any sign that has a negative impact.

“I don’t know the church in itself, but just as far as a church putting that on the sign I think that tends to create a bigger wedge between the church and the community,” Carrel Davis said…Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN1

Jesus Selfie Ad: Advertising Campaign aims at Drawing Young Adults back to Church.

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Jesus Selfie Ad: Advertising Campaign aims at Drawing Young Adults back to Church.

The Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn is trying to remind young adults who have strayed from the church or are seeking a place of worship that God is ever-present with a new advertising campaign portraying a woman taking a selfie with Jesus.
The daring ad shows a lone young woman taking a selfie. However in the snapped picture, she is not alone; an image of Jesus is just behind her. Emblazoned at the top of the ad are the words, “It’s Never Just a Selfie”; at the bottom, the diocese bids viewers, “Join us for Christmas.”

Monsignor Kieran Harrington, the vicar for Communications for the Diocese of Brooklyn, explained the ad stating, “New York is an exciting place to live. Yet for some it can also be lonely. We launched this campaign to remind our neighbors that they are not alone, that we are family.”

Brooklyn Bishop Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio said the ad is also a creative response to “Pope Francis’ call for a church of mercy and hope ‘where everyone is welcomed, loved and forgiven.”

The Diocese hopes the message behind the ad will drive young adults in its 187 parishes to attend Christmas mass.

The Christmas “Selfie” ad is one of 11 clever ads translated in English, Spanish and Mandarin. One urges the unchurched to “party like it’s 1 AD” while another proclaims Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and the three wise men as “the original friends and family plan.”

A similar ad campaign last year proclaimed Jesus the orginial hipster.

The “Selfie” ad became more well known after National Public Radio’s Peter Sagal mocked the ad during the “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” weekend game show. Last weekend he joked “The Catholic Church preaches that Jesus is always with us. In fact, He’s right behind you.” He then quipped, “For starters, why didn’t Jesus just offer to take the picture Himself? His hands were occupied.”

First Baptist Church in Dallas Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress said of the jokes on FOX News, “When it comes to Christianity, it’s open season.”

NPR President and CEO Jarl Mohn told FOX News Host Bill O’Reilly that the show’s goal is to poke fun at the news and make people laugh, and he “regrets that we didn’t succeed in this case.”

The controversy hasn’t seemed to put a damper on the Diocese’s efforts. It is featuring the ads in print as well as making them the inspiration for 30-second radio messages inviting the borough of Queens to join its 213 churches for Christmas.

Source and Original Content by CP

Laws to Fast Track Woman Bishops into Lords Set to be Unveilled

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Laws to Fast Track Woman Bishops into Lords Set to be Unveilled

New laws due to be unveiled this week will mean woman bishops will be fast tracked into the House of Lords.

There had been fears it could be at least a decade before a female member of the clergy was given a place in the Lords after the Church of England’s General Synod voted in favour of woman bishops last month.

The Sunday Times reports that Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has ordered the law to be re-written to allow woman to jump the queue of bishops waiting for a seat.

It means the first female bishop would take the next place in the ‘Lords Spiritual’ when it becomes free.

The first could be in place by the middle of next year.

Twenty six bishops have a place in the House of Lords but only five, Canterbury, York, Winchester, Durham and London, have a permanent seat.

The rest of the Church of England’s seats are given on the basis of service length, with the average wait around ten years.

Reports suggest the law will last a decade to create equal representation before being changed back.

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian News

New Jersey Church Raises $25,000 to Aid Christians Persecuted by ISIS

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New Jersey Church Raises $25,000 to Aid Christians Persecuted by ISIS

As religious and ethnic violence spreads across portions of Syria and Iraq, one Wall church worked to raise more than $25,000 for Christians persecuted by extremists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

Pastors of Grace Bible Church handed over a check for $25,752 Sunday morning to an organization that will purchase supplies for the Christians fleeing from or living within areas threatened or controlled by ISIL.

Half of the money will be used to purchase 400 to 500 plastic emergency packs stuffed with blankets, clothing, hats, gloves and soap, and the other half of the donation will purchase mattresses and heaters.

Christians have been fleeing cities under ISIL’s control, and though estimating refugee and population numbers in war zones is difficult, various news agencies estimate that tens of thousands of Christians have fled portions of Syria and Iraq. Nearly 2 million people from various minority groups have fled the region, according to a United Nations undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief…Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN1

Ebola Leads to Ban on Christmas Events in Sierra Leone

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Ebola Leads to Ban on Christmas Events in Sierra Leone

Christians in Sierra Leone have been told they cannot celebrate Christmas in public in an attempt to halt the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

The country has the highest number of cases of the disease that has left at least five thousand dead in West Africa.

In a bid to stop the illness spreading any further the National Ebola Response Committee has said Christians must celebrate the birth of Christ at home.

More than a quarter of the country is Christian and public gatherings are common during Advent but this will now be banned.

It’s still unclear if the restrictions will extend to church but in previous measures people were allowed out to ‘worship’.

Reports suggest events like carol services will come under the new curfew.

There will be no ban on going outdoors or to work.

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian News

Carol Singers Attacked in India

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Carol Singers Attacked in India

A group of Christians have been attacked in India as they sung Christmas carols.

It’s claimed Hindu radicals assaulted the believers after saying they were trying to convert people to Christianity.

The incident happened on December 13 in Singareny Colony of Sarurnagar in India’s southern city of Hyderabad.

Pastor Bhim Nayak, head pastor of Banjara Baptist Church, and fifteen of his church members were singing Christmas carols and visiting with other Christian families when they were attacked.

International Christian Concern says the group of extremist Hindus surrounded their vehicle and claimed the Christians were attempting to forcefully convert people to Christianity by singing Christmas carols.

The van’s windows were smashed and the attackers dragged the Christians out into the street where they were badly beaten.

Pastor Nayak and four other were severely injured as the radicals used sticks and clubs during the attack.

The pastor is now in a critical condition in hospital.

International Christian Concern (ICC) said: “Pray for Pastor Nayak who remains in critical condition. Also pray for the ten other Christians injured in this attack.

“Remember India’s Christians this Christmas, as this is likely not the only attack they will be forced to endure this holiday season.

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian News

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