“Life Has No Meaning”, Nigerian Bishop Facing Boko Haram

-
0
“Life Has No Meaning”, Nigerian Bishop Facing Boko Haram

Bishop Oliver Doeme, who heads the Nigerian diocese which has suffered the most from Boko Haram, has lamented his government’s failure to effectively counter the militants, saying human life is being devalued.

“We use to think that salt is the cheapest commodity in the market, well, life is cheaper now especially in the Northeastern part of Nigeria,” Bishop Doeme of Maiduguri wrote in a report delivered recently to his fellow bishops and to Aid to the Church in Need, which is helping him to rebuild Church infrastructure and to care for the thousands of displaced persons in his diocese.

Maiduguri is the capital of Borno State, which is the center of activity for the radical Islamist group whos name means “Western education is sinful.” It launched an uprising in 2009, the same year Bishop Doeme was transferred to Maiduguri.

Bishop Doeme’s diocese covers much of the territory of Borno State, as well as the states of Adamawa and Yobe. In May 2013, Nigeria’s president declared a state of emergency in those three states because of Boko Haram’s violence… Read More

Source and Original Content by CNA

Mars Hill Pastor Confesses Sinful Behaviour, Asks Forgiveness

-
0
Mars Hill Pastor Confesses Sinful Behaviour, Asks Forgiveness

The former pastor of Mars Hill Church’s Shoreline congregation has issued a heartfelt apology for his conduct over several years.Now Mars Hill’s director of schools, Steve Tompkins has written an open letter saying: “I am deeply sorry that so many people have experienced profound hurt over the years at Mars Hill. It breaks my heart that many continue to live with deep emotional and spiritual wounds, even long after leaving the church.

“I also realise that in my role as an elder, including as Lead Pastor at Shoreline, I share responsibility and complicity in some of the ways you have been hurt, disappointed, and sinned against at Mars Hill.”

Mars Hill has been in turmoil during the last few months as revelations emerged about the behaviour of its founding pastor, Mark Driscoll, eventually leading to his resignation.

Tompkins wrote that “what has been happening at Mars Hill is the work of Jesus in our midst”, adding that “the root of the problem is not satanic opposition or attack, nor is it social media or vocal online critics, nor is it the members or attenders of the church (past or present). Nor is it elders, deacons, staff and leaders who have called for change from within.”

In fact, he said, “the root of the problem has been the leadership of the church who have been blindly committed to maintaining the status quo as if we simply need to push through what has so frequently been referred to as a ‘difficult season…Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian Post

Pastor Files $4 Million Slander Lawsuit Against Talk Show Host

-
0
Pastor Files $4 Million Slander Lawsuit Against Talk Show Host

A Memphis pastor says it may take more than prayer to silence controversial talk show host Thaddeus Matthews.

He’s now filed a lawsuit over what he calls slanderous allegations involving sex and corruption.

Talk show host Matthews has made a career of stirring things up on radio and now cable access T. V.

So he says a new legal issue is no surprise.

“I got my legal problems, and those things are what they are,” Matthews said.

The latest comes courtesy of New Life Holiness Church pastor Frederick Smith. He claims in a newly filed suit that Matthews defamed him.

The lawsuit says false statements by Matthews include that Smith “had sex with his adult nephew,” “is HIV positive,” and that he maintains “female concubine in a home in East Memphis.”

“The end goal would be–these people, he’s poisoned their mind with the negative things–that they will receive the positive things of the gospel and live a more productive life,” Smith said…Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN 1

Judge Denies Request of Christian Man Who Needed Namelist of Strip Club Dancers For Prayers

-
0
Judge Denies Request of Christian Man Who Needed Namelist of Strip Club Dancers For Prayers

A federal judge in Tacoma on Thursday blocked the release of business licenses for dancers and managers at a Parkland strip club, saying the workers would “likely suffer irreparable harm” if the information is disclosed.

A Pierce County man who requested the licenses under the state’s Public Records Act said he requested the information because he was curious and he wants to pray for the strippers.

“I would pray for those dancers by name,” David Van Vleet said after the hearing. “I’m a Christian. … We have a right to pray for people.”

Van Vleet said he also was trying to protect the public’s rights.

“I was trying to do something for the public good because that’s why we have the record law,” Van Vleet said.

But U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting disclosure of licenses for about 70 dancers and managers at DreamGirls at Fox’s in Parkland.

Jenn Kaplan, an attorney for Fox’s, argued release of the licenses would violate the workers’ First Amendment and privacy rights. The licenses include stage and legal names, dates of birth, signatures, photos, height, weight and eye color.

Kaplan reiterated the concerns of a female manager and dancer — identified as plaintiffs Jane Roe 1 and 2 in the complaint — that their safety would be jeopardized if their licenses were released. Their concerns included harassment by Van Vleet or others.

The case pits Washington state’s Public Records Act against free speech and privacy protections laid out in the U.S. Constitution.

Van Vleet said he is a civil engineer, a parent and a Pierce County citizen who frequently files public records requests. He lists an Auburn post office box as his address.

Standing at a lectern, he argued his case to Leighton for 20 minutes.

The judge asked him if he understood why the women didn’t want him to have their license information.

Van Vleet said he did, but that he is protected by the same Constitution they are.

Leighton also asked Van Vleet why he wanted the information.

Besides being curious and praying for the workers, Van Vleet said he was entitled to the licenses under the state’s Public Records Act.

“I’m not going to harm them,” Van Vleet said.

Leighton countered: “You could leave their files at a coffee shop inadvertently… Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN1

SCOAN Nigeria Update : Pathologists Conclude DNA Tests in Two Weeks

-
0
SCOAN Nigeria Update : Pathologists Conclude DNA Tests in Two Weeks

The Lagos State Chief Forensic Pathologist, Prof. John Obafunwa, has said that his team would conclude the DNA analysis of the 116 persons that died in the September 12 Synagogue building collapse in “two weeks time.”

Obafunwa stated this on Tuesday while presenting his team’s preliminary report to the coroner probing the cause of the collapse of a guest house within the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos.

The pathologist, who put the mortality figure at 116, said his team was still awaiting the fingerprint reports and lodgers’ list to conclude their job.

He reported that the autopsy, conducted by a team of pathologists and dental surgeons, revealed that the victims died of crush injuries called “traumatic rhabdomyolysis”.

Obafunwa said, “The bodies were not charred but were compromised by heat. In the case of a building collapse, the temperature would naturally rise, thereby causing decomposition to set in.

“Most of the 116 bodies that were received by our team of pathologists were already decomposing, considering the amount of time spent in confinement, due to the heat and tropical nature of the environment.

“The bodies had to be embalmed immediately to arrest any further decomposition. The bodies were mutilated, some had head injuries, fractured bones and ribs and some even had dangling limbs that were attached to the body by thin strips of skin.”

Meanwhile, a South African citizen and a member of the SCOAN, Mr. Anthony Vanderbyl, who lost his wife to the Synagogue building collapse, has pleaded for the timely release of the body.

Vanderbyl told the coroner on Tuesday that his entire family had been further anguished due to the delay in the release of the corpse. He therefore asked for the specific date when the corpse would be released.

He said, “My entire family is in anguish because the body of my wife, the mother of my children, lies in the mortuary. We need to see her, to feel a certain amount of closure.

“We are asking for a specific day when her body can be released to us, so that we can take her back to South Africa. Please remove whatever obstacles preventing us, we can’t take it anymore.”

In response, the Coroner, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, assured Vanderbyl that the body would be released but that there was “need to follow the international standard best practices in the collection and analysis of DNA samples in order not to be misinformed.”

Obafunwa also told the coroner that his team was close to the end of their work.

“We are working closely with the South African Department of Health. They are assisting us with reference samples and I know that we are moving closer to the end of the process,” he said.

The South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Louis Mnguni, said samples were still being analysed at the laboratory in Cape Town, South Africa.

The matter has been adjourned till Wednesday (today).

Source and Original Content by GlideGlobal tv

Things To Do That Will Bless Your Kids

-
0
Things To Do That Will Bless Your Kids

As parents, we all want to do the best we can. Knowing we have limited time with them, we strive to ensure that we bring them up on love, in God, and set them up for life.

Here are 51 things you can do to bless your kids:

1. Let them try.
2. Let them make mistakes.
3. Tell them you love them every single day.
4. Tell them you love them no matter the circumstance.
5. Tell them you are proud of them.
6. Fight for them.
7. Let them learn to fight for themselves.
8. Do not let fear dictate.
9. Goal set with them.
10. Hold them accountable.
11. Give them grace.
12. Emphasize the beauty in rest.
13. Make a schedule.
14. Schedule fun.
15. Schedule work.
16. Let them earn money.
17. Volunteer.
18. Teach about giving back.
19. Spend time together.
20. Play games.
21. Listen, listen, listen to them.
22. Teach them how to cook.
23. Teach them how to do laundry.
24. Model intentionality.
25. Model grace.
26. Model love.
27. Teach them about joy.
28. Teach them about gratitude.
29. Establish media boundaries.
30. Establish boundaries.
31. Get to know their friends.
32. Let their friends come over.
33. Let them see you dream.
34. Take breaks.
35. Learn to adapt.
36. Let them end the hug.
37. Care more about their hearts.
38. Forgive.
39. Learn from the past, but move forward.
40. Laugh.
41. Teach them to manage stress.
42. Look them in the eye when they talk.
43. Put your phone down at dinner.
44. Let them dream.
45. Let them create.
46. Let them imagine.
47. Embrace who they are.
48. Go to bed thankful for them.
49. Be thankful for time together.
50. Remember the blessings.

and
51. Enjoy this day, live it fully, and look for joy.

Court Rejects Request for Injunction Against Harassment of Christians By Police

-
0
Court Rejects Request for Injunction Against Harassment of Christians By Police

A federal judge in Mississippi has denied a request for a preliminary injunction against a local police department accused of harassing and intimidating Christians who conduct pro-life outreach outside of the state’s last remaining abortion facility.

“[Our] request that pro-life advocates receive injunctive relief from harassment by the City of Jackson, Mississippi Police Department was denied by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Jackson Division,” wrote Tom Ciesielka of the Life Legal Defense Foundation in an update yesterday. “Despite hours of supportive testimony and a long and well documented history of police misconduct, Judge Carlton Reeves denied a preliminary injunction prohibiting the city police from further persecution of peaceful pro-life protesters.”

As previously reported, the Foundation filed suit in July against the Jackson Police Department on behalf of the organization Pro-Life Mississippi and eight Christians for what has been described as a “blatant and ongoing violation of free speech rights of pro-life advocates.”

The civil rights action “challenges specific police misconduct as well as policies, customs and practices of the City of Jackson, whereby it continually infringed, and continues to infringe, upon the free speech rights of citizens by unlawfully arresting, citing and threatening to arrest such citizens for conduct that is protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, as well as the Constitution of the State of Mississipi… Read More

Source and Original Content By Christiannews

Human Rights Watch: Boko Haram Militants Are Targeting Christians and Students In Nigeria

-
0
Human Rights Watch: Boko Haram Militants Are Targeting Christians and Students In Nigeria

A new report by Human Rights Watch has painted a nightmare picture of the abuse suffered by victims of abduction at the hands of Boko Haram.

Human Rights Watch said in a 63-page report out on Monday that women and girls abducted by the Nigerian militants were forced to marry, convert, and endure physical and psychological abuse, as well as forced labour and rape while in captivity.

The report, “Those Terrible Weeks in Their Camp”, draws on interviews with over 40 witnesses and victims of Boko Haram abductions in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.

They include some of the 276 girls snatched by the militants from a secondary school in Chibok in 2014.

“The Chibok tragedy and #Bring Back Our Girls campaign focused much-needed global attention to the horrific vulnerability of girls in northeastern Nigeria,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

“Now the Nigerian government and its allies need to step up their efforts to put an end to these brutal abductions and provide for the medical, psychological, and social needs of the women and girls who have managed to escape.”

Human Rights Watch said the group appeared to be targeting students and Christians in particular, with victims forced into converting to Islam by threats of whipping, beatings or death… Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian Today

Ebola: What the Church in West Africa faces

-
0
Ebola: What the Church in West Africa faces

A health adviser for a top global Catholic relief agency stressed the Church’s key efforts on the Ebola front in West Africa: helping people overcome panic and avert devastating social stigmas by providing accurate information.

“Much of the work has been to educate people about the facts surrounding Ebola, because there’s so much fear and panic and misinformation that goes out among the people,” Monsignor Robert J. Vitillo told CNA on Oct. 20.

A special adviser on health for Caritas Internationalis, the priest observed that in the areas most affected by the disease – namely Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – the Catholic Church has been “a credible witness” where people go to get good information.

Most of the facts are given by churches during Mass, as well as by Caritas and other Catholic organizations who offer special training to priests, religious and lay catechists on how to talk about the virus.

Msgr. Vitillo offered his comments after addressing the United Nations conference in Geneva last week during an Oct. 20 Caritas Internationalis briefing.

The information on how to prevent the spread of Ebola that the Church gives is basic, he said, and involves simple, practical procedures such as hand-washing, keeping three feet away from people, not touching those who already show symptoms of Ebola, and above all avoiding direct contact with the bodies of those who have already died of Ebola.

A lack of knowledge about Ebola has led to numerous social problems, including the ostracization of infected persons – or those suspected of being infected – by their own families, the abandonment of children orphaned as a result of Ebola, as well as pastoral problems for priests who want to visit the sick…Read More

Source and Original Content by CNA

Former Lesbian Testifies On Lifestyle Change Through the Power of God

-
0
Former Lesbian Testifies On Lifestyle Change Through the Power of God

Jackie Hill-Perry considers herself not merely an agent of change, but its embodiment as well.

A Christian spoken-word poet from Chicago, Ms. Hill-Perry professes to be a former lesbian — a change she ascribes to God.

God, she says, “not only changes your affections and your heart, but He gives you new affections that you didn’t have.” Now married to a Christian man, the 25-year-old poet is pregnant with the newlyweds’ first child, which is due Dec. 13.

Her debut spoken-word album “The Art of Joy” will be released for free on Nov. 4 by Humble Beast record label.

Ms. Hill-Perry’s experience runs counter to pronouncements by gay rights groups that exclaim sexuality as an inherent, immutable characteristic. What’s more, her assertions come amid wide-ranging reports about the psychological dangers of so-called “reparative therapy,” which aims to change the orientation of homosexuals.

But she remains steadfast in her belief that anything is possible with God as she meets criticism — and outright contempt — for speaking out about her experience. And thanks to her nearly 65,000 followers on social media, as well as encouragement from famed Baptist theologian John Piper, Ms. Hill-Perry’s story has been far-reaching.

“The word of God itself, apart from Jackie Hill, testifies that people can change,” she said in a July 2013 report on Wade-O Radio, a syndicated Christian hip-hop broadcast based in New Jersey.

She was criticizing a lyric in rapper Macklemore’s Grammy Award-winning song “Same Love” that says “And I can’t change even if I tried, even if I wanted to.”

“I think we’ve made God very little if we believe that He cannot change people,” Ms. Hill-Perry said on Wade-O Radio. “If He can make a moon, stars and a galaxy that we have yet to fully comprehend, how can He not simply change my desires?”

Thousands of people on social media shared her comments — with approving or condemning remarks of their own. She estimates that about 40 percent of the messages she has received have been negative.

“On Twitter, this girl wrote me like 15 different tweets, pretty much saying that I was delusional, in denial and brainwashed,” Ms. Hill-Perry told The Washington Times.

After she married Preston Perry, another Christian spoken-word poet, in March, another Twitter critic accused them both of being gay and marrying to “play God to a bunch of ignorant people.”

Ms. Hill-Perry says she was sexually abused by a family friend when she 5. Around the same time, she experienced gender confusion that had coalesced into an attraction to women when she turned 17. She became sexually active with her first girlfriend, and then another. She became a regular at gay clubs and at gay pride parades in St. Louis.

While lying in bed in October 2008, she reflected on her lifestyle and had an epiphany that she addressed in her spoken-word piece “My Life as a Stud”: “Then, one day, the Lord spoke to me. He said, ‘She will be the death of you.’ In that moment, the scripture for the wages of sin equal death finally clicked.”

“What I had been taught in church until the age of 10 coincided with the truth in my conscious that a holy God and just God would be justified in sending me, an unrepentant sinner to hell,” she said, “but also that this same God sent His son to die on my behalf and forgive me if only I believe… Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN1

1...3,8163,8173,818...3,893Page 3,817 of 3,893