God The Father: Ex-Mafia Boss Witnesses To Mob Members

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God The Father: Ex-Mafia Boss Witnesses To Mob Members

Ex-Colombo Crime family captain and Christian motivational speaker Michael Franzese recently spoke with CP Voice regarding his new autobiographical film “God the Father,” and the possibility of preaching the Gospel to mobsters he had worked with.

“God the Father” represents a play on words from the American mafia classic “The Godfather.” During the film, Franzese tells his life story growing up in the mob which eventually lead to a top position in the organization’s Colombo family. It also discusses the turning point in his life when he accepted Jesus Christ and turned away from his old ways.

During the CP Voice segment, Franzese talked about what it was like when he made that decision to commit his life to Jesus, and if he ever tried to witness to other mob members

“I’ve been asked many times have I ever been able to witness to any of my former associates and on occasion I do. The opportunity is not always there and you’ve got to be careful in those circumstances,” said Franzese to CP. “It wouldn’t be wise for me to go to the social clubs that I used to live in and say, ‘hey guys, I want to share the gospel with you.’ I probably wouldn’t last 24 hours.”

He addressed what it was like to walk away from the mob life in more detail.

“There’s no blueprint for walking away from my life publicly like I did,” said Franzese. “For me, if you know the course that God navigated for me throughout these past 20 years, you would know that this had to be a God thing. I had no plan. I didn’t know how I was going to do it. Nobody said to me, ‘OK Mike, these are the steps you’ve got to follow.’ It was just my instinct, knowing my former life and working step-by-step with what God wanted me to do.”

His new film “God the Father” will be released in select theaters on Oct. 31, which ironically is the same day Franzese was initiated into La Cosa Nostra as a made man in 1975. The movie uses animation, re-enactments and actual news clips to illustrate Franzese’s ascent to the top of the mob ranks, his fall and his conversion to Christ.

During the 1980s he was considered one of the most powerful and richest gangsters throughout all of America. According to the federal report, Franzese made more money for a crime family than anyone since the infamous Al Capone.

Franzese elaborated a bit more about the film and during the CP Voice interview.

“I’m excited about [the film] because I’ve done a number of things on television, a lot of interviews [that are] mob related and I always speak about my faith but unfortunately that’s not what the producers want to communicate. But with this movie I consider it an extension of my ministry because I’ve been able to tell [my] whole story, from start to finish.”

“Everything is factual, and we’ve got different elements of this film to tell the story. Very, very powerfully, I uphold Jesus in this film. We don’t compromise in any way.”

Source and Original Content by Christian Post

Boko Haram Breaches Cease Fire Agreement

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Boko Haram Breaches Cease Fire Agreement

A wave of violence hours after Nigeria’s government announced a truce with Boko Haram raised doubt on Sunday about whether more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist militants will really be released, deflating the new hopes of their parents.

Nigeria’s armed forces chief Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh announced the ceasefire on Friday to enable the release of the girls, who were abducted from the remote northeastern village of Chibok in April.

But Boko Haram has not confirmed the truce and there have been at least five attacks since – blamed by security sources on the insurgents – that have killed dozens. Talks were scheduled to continue in neighboring Chad on Monday.

“We were jubilating. We had every reason to be happy … but since then the ceasefire has been broken in quite a number of places already,” Lawan Abana, a parent of the one of the missing girls, told Reuters by telephone.

He added that there were doubts about the credentials of the reported Boko Haram negotiator Danladi Ahmadu, who was unheard of before. “Can we trust him that he can deliver on this promise of releasing the girls when he has not delivered on the promise of the ceasefire?” Abana said.

The government says the attacks may not have been Boko Haram but one of several criminal groups exploiting the chaos of its insurgency. Analysts point out that Boko Haram is anyway heavily factionalized, so what matters is whether the faction the government is talking to has control over the girls’ fate.

“Boko Haram is deeply fractured. The Nigerian government has had a … difficult time identifying a Boko Haram representative who could make compromises and guarantee the entire group will observe them,” risk consultancy Stratfor said in a note.

“It is quite possible that Abuja has reached an agreement with a legitimate representative of a specific cell … that holds the kidnapped schoolgirls captive,” it said on Saturday.

QUEST TO CARVE OUT ISLAMIC STATE

Boko Haram, whose name translates roughly as “Western education is sinful”, has massacred thousands in a battle to carve an Islamic state out of religiously mixed Nigeria.

Its only known method of conveying messages is via videotaped speeches by a man claiming to be Abubakar Shekau, its leader whom the military last year said it had killed.

Ahmed Salkida, a Nigerian journalist who was once close to Boko Haram and shared a jail cell with its founder Mohammed Yusuf in 2009, tweeted that whoever Ahmadu is, he is not a member of Boko Haram’s senior “Shura council” nor does “he speak for them, as far as I know”.

A swift release of the girls would bode well for the campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan for Feb. 2015 elections. Jonathan has faced relentless criticism for failing to protect civilians in the northeast or resolve the Chibok girls crisis.

Boko Haram is regarded as the worst threat to the future of Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and oil producer.

Jonathan is expected to declare he is running for a second elected term soon, and the opposition is keen not to allow him to capitalize on efforts to free the girls.

“It’s interesting the timing comes as Jonathan is about to announce he wants to run for a second term. Is it by sheer coincidence?” the spokesman for the main All Progressives Congress, Lai Mohammed, said by telephone.

But Nigeria’s military has scored some successes against Boko Haram over the past two weeks, wresting back some territory near the northeast border with Cameroon.

Oby Ezekwesil, whose “Bring back our girls” campaign has highlighted daily protests in Abuja, told Reuters she was “cautiously optimistic” but “extremely anxious, not knowing what the details of this ceasefire really are.

“If it happens, it would be the best news in decades.”

Source and Original Content by BCNN1

Catholic Bishops Reject Welcome Of Homosexuals To The Church

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Catholic Bishops Reject Welcome Of Homosexuals To The Church

Catholic bishops rejected a landmark change Saturday in the rigid stance on gays and divorcees, revealing enormous gaps within the church at the end of a two-week meeting.

The synod’s final statement failed to include remarkably conciliatory language revealed a week ago that would have welcomed the “gifts and qualities” of gay Catholics and called on pastors to “avoid any language or behavior” that could discriminate against divorced Catholics.

While the language on gays had been softened during discussion in the meeting’s last days, the final document failed to receive the two-thirds majority vote it needed. The bishops did, however, praise conjugal love — love within the bounds of traditional marriage — calling it “one of the most beautiful of all miracles and the most common.”

Still, the failure to reach a consensus on broader-reaching language, is a failure for the more tolerant tone Pope Francis has struck since taking the role of pontiff more than a year ago. Last year, the pope made waves when, in response to a question about whether gays could be good Christians, he asked, “Who am I to judge?”

After the vote Saturday, Francis warned bishops against what he called “hostile rigidity” in their thinking on these topics, his remarks earning a five-minute standing ovation.

The Vatican downplayed Saturday’s developments, with Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi stressing at a briefing that the document — which sets guidelines for pastors to follow in their ministries — was a work in progress that could be tweaked and discussed over the next year.

“It is important not to over-analyze,” Lombardi said. “The fathers of the synod never saw themselves as reaching a final conclusion with this document.”

The dramatic shift in tone comes after a week of hot debate over the more-accepting language among conservative and liberal groups alike.

American Cardinal Raymond Burke said the conciliatory language revealed last week was forced and did not represent the majority view, adding homosexuals were “intrinsically confused.”

Burke, prefect of the Vatican’s court on canon law, revealed Saturday he is being reassigned to a lower-profile role in the coming days, a move the Italian media attributed to his recent criticisms.

Even the Italian government got involved, with Minister of the Interior Angelino Alfano sending a notice to local prefects that registrations of same sex marriages would be voided. The move came after several officials — including those in Rome, Milan, and Bologna — started preparing to register marriages between gay couples.

Italian activists, meanwhile, are disappointed in the outcome of the synod, but said they still hold out hope.

“It’s disappointing that the recognition of gays in the church took two steps forward and one step back,” said Nello Salvai, a local activist. “But it’s clearly a different church under Pope Francis and I have faith it will move forward.”

Rank-and-file Catholics who expressed surprise when the mid-synod document was released took the change in stride.

“It doesn’t seem realistic to change the direction of the church in a two-week meeting,” said Francesco Napolitano, a 39-year-old bus driver who was in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday evening. “For good or bad, the church is slow to change.”

Source and Original Content by BCNN1

Arcbishop,Religious Faithfuls Interceed For Abducted Nigerian Schoolgirls

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Arcbishop,Religious Faithfuls Interceed For Abducted Nigerian Schoolgirls

Tens of thousands of Christians joined together on Saturday evening to pray for Nigeria and for more than 200 schoolgirls abducted in April.

The event followed news on Friday that a truce had been agreed between the Nigerian military and Boko Haram, the terrorist group responsible for the girls’ abduction.

Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh said in a statement that all 219 of the girls still in captivity are “alive and well” and will be released in due course.

It is not the first time a deal to bring the girls to safety has been made and then broken, however. On Saturday, those gathered prayed that this time they would be released without harm.

“We hear that part of the benefits of the truce will be the release of the girls,” said Pastor Agu Irukwu, the leader of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the UK.

“We don’t know whether it is authentic – but we have been praying for these girls; we must never forget them.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has been vocal in his condemnation of Boko Haram. He has branded the girls’ abduction “an atrocious and inexcusable act” and on Saturday highlighted the importance of prayer in the “renewal” of communities around the world.

He said his first priority as Archbishop was for “a renewal of prayer and of communities that pray”.

“There has never been a renewal of Christian life in this country without there being a renewal of prayer,” he added.

Under the banner ‘The Festival of Life’, the event launched three months of prayer across the UK, supported by Hope Together.

Churches working together is essential to seeing transformation, the Archbishop said. “You keep finding them popping up here and there making things happen, bringing people together and doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time.”

“When Christians pray, things change,” Director of HOPE Together, Roy Crowne, said.

“We hope that thousands of people will join us over the next three months as we pray for the UK.”

Source and Original Content by Christian Today

Traditional Marriage Faces Another Hit In Several US States

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Traditional Marriage Faces Another Hit In Several US States

Gay marriage is now legal in Arizona. The state’s conservative attorney general Tom Horne said he won’t fight the federal court decision striking a state ban on same-sex unions any longer.

“The probability of the 9th Circuit reversing today’s District Court decision is zero. The probability of the United States Supreme Court accepting review of the 9th Circuit decision is also zero,” Horne said.

Following the announcement, gay couples lined up at the courthouse in downtown Phoenix to apply for licenses and get married.

David Larance and Kevin Patterson were among those suing to overturn the same-sex marriage ban.

“The best way I can describe it, is that it gives me such peace of mind,” Patterson told reporters.

Just a year ago things were very different in Arizona where residents and a majority of lawmakers passed laws that would have allowed businesses to deny services to gays and lesbians based on their religious beliefs.

Arizona governor Jan Brewer said that federal courts have thwarted the will of voters and eroded the state’s power to regulate laws.

“Simply put, courts should not be in the business of making and changing laws based on their personal agendas,” Brewer said. “It is not the role of the judiciary to determine that same-sex marriages should be allowed.”

The decision concludes two weeks of multiple court rulings across the nation with judges ruling in favor of same-sex marriage while conservative leaders, voters and traditional marriage advocates have continued to stand for the one-man, one-woman, biblical definition of marriage.

Recently the U.S. Supreme court refused to hear several cases and let stand rulings from three appeals courts that favor gay marriage – allowing it in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho and Nevada. Friday, in another lawsuit, a federal judge ordered Wyoming to allow same-sex marriage but stays the case until next Thursday in case the state wants to appeal.

Montana is the only state under the reach of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where same-sex couples cannot legally wed.

Friday morning the federal government announced it is recognizing gay-marriage in seven new states and is extending federal benefits to spouses of LGBT employees – bringing federal recognition of gay and lesbian unions to 26 plus the District of Columbia. Overall, 30 states allow gay marriage with cases still pending in other parts of the nation.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge John Sedwick bars Arizona officials from enforcing a 1996 state law and a 2008 voter-approved constitutional amendment that outlawed gay marriage.

Lawyers challenged it saying it violated equal protection and due process rights of their clients thus wrongfully denying their clients marriage benefits like spousal pension benefits, spousal survivorship rights and the ability to make medical decisions for each other.

Arizona attorneys urged the 9th Circuit’s Sedwick to uphold the traditional definition of marriage as a union between a man and woman only. They argued voters and lawmakers enacted the ban to protect their right to define marriage for their community as well as to protect parents and children.

Source and Original Content by CBN News

Is Ebola God’s Judgment for Dividing Jerusalem?

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Is Ebola God’s Judgment for Dividing Jerusalem?

A few weeks ago, I asked this question: Is the deadly Ebola outbreak the first bowl of ‘Revelation’ judgment?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa an international public-health emergency.

Liberia’s church leaders are claiming the deadly outbreak is a plague God has sent to punish the nation for “immoral acts” such as homosexuality. Liberia’s Daily Observer reported that more than 100 bishops, pastors, general overseers, prophets, evangelists and other ministers of the gospel who are part of the Liberia Council of Churches have resolved that God is angry with Liberia and that Ebola is a plague.

Now, we are seeing cases in Europe and America—and a new theory from Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel. Hagee’s discernment tells him that Ebola may be part of God’s judgment for President Obama’s attempts to divide Jerusalem.

“I want every American to hear this very clearly,” Hagee said on a Tuesday broadcast of Hagee Hotline. “The prophet Joel says in the third chapter, ‘I God will bring all nations’ and hear that phrase—’all nations’ includes America, ‘into judgment for they have divided up My land, the land of Israel.’ God says when any nation divides up the land of Israel, they are subject to judgment, and dividing Jerusalem is dividing the land.

“Our president is dead set on dividing Jerusalem. God is watching, and He will bring America into judgment. There are grounds to say judgment has already begun because he, the president, has been fighting to divide Jerusalem for years now. We are now experiencing the crisis of Ebola.

“We have a crisis in our economy. We are worried on every hand that we are going to be attacked by radical Islam, and there are some very rational voices saying we are their next target. We are a nation that has a crisis of leadership. We are in chaos, in crisis. Anarchy is running our nation in Ferguson, Missouri.”

What does it matter if Obama divides the land? Scripture commands us to stand with Israel. Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22). The Jewish people have given Christianity the Scriptures, the prophets, the patriarchs, the apostles and Jesus Himself. God commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps. 122:6). Our Christian roots are in Judaism!

So, what would happen if America—if Christians—turned against Israel? In Genesis 12:3, God told Abraham, the first Hebrew, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you.” History has shown that nations that have blessed the Jewish people have received God’s blessing, while nations that have cursed the Jewish people have met with trials and tribulation.

Is Ebola God’s judgment on America? I honestly don’t know.

I do believe God has lifted His hedge of protection, in part, over this nation. Some call that discipline. Some call it judgment. Some don’t believe God is involved in it at all. But I am praying about what Hagee said and what could happen next.

And I know this: I want to be on the right side of the Bible in the end times—and that means standing with Israel. Of course, standing with Israel does not mean sanctioning everything Israel does, but it does mean recognizing God’s hand in the restoration of His people to the land and showing solidarity with them whenever we can. Whether or not Ebola is judgment on America for dividing Jerusalem, Jerusalem must not be divided.

Source and Original Content by Charisma News

Asia Bibi: Chances That Death Sentence May Be Lifted

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Asia Bibi: Chances That Death Sentence May Be Lifted

sia Bibi could still walk free, despite her death sentence being upheld by the Pakistani courts, campaigners say.

However, even if the charges are dismissed, there is a danger that she may be made a target for Muslim extremists and be assassinated.

According to a Pakistan Analyst at Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), it is “highly unlikely” that Bibi’s death sentence, which was appealed and upheld yesterday, will be carried out.

“She is the first Christian woman to ever be handed the death sentence, and Pakistan haven’t carried out any executions in six years,” the source, who could not be named for security reasons, told Christian Today.

“No one has ever been upheld on a blasphemy charge in the Supreme Court.”

Found guilty of blasphemy in November 2010, Bibi has been on death row for almost four years. Yesterday’s appeal was delayed five times this year.

Her lawyers will now take her case to the upper echelons of the Pakistani legal system. The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) has been supporting Bibi throughout her trial, and will submit a final appeal to the Supreme Court.

CSW’s representative said that yesterday’s verdict was “inevitable because of the way the court system is run”. Extremist groups were present in the court room, which is a common occurrence in the lower courts as a way of intimidating the judge.

However, this is not possible in the Supreme Court, where security is much higher. There are high hopes that her final appeal will be successful.

“If there is any hope of Asia getting justice it’s through the Supreme Court, so we’re happy the case has moved on, though we are still concerned for her safety,” he added.

“The current chief justice is a very moderate man, very cultured, and the Supreme Court holds a key role in Pakistani society. It is one of the three main power brokers in Pakistan, along with the military and civilian government. If the Supreme Court says Asia Bibi’s case is important, then the rest of Pakistan will follow.”

While Bibi may walk free from her death sentence, there remain concerns that she will be a target for Muslim extremists… Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian Today

Central African Republic Military Abduct Missionary Priest

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Central African Republic Military Abduct Missionary Priest

A Polish Catholic missionary has been kidnapped by armed men in the Central African Republic. The captors are asking for the release of their leader, who was abducted in 2013, in exchange for the priest’s freedom.

Mateusz Dziedzic, a CAR missionary, was taken by a rebel group on Oct. 12.

“They said they wanted to exchange the kidnapped missionary for their leader, who is currently imprisoned in Cameroon,” said Tomasz Atlas, head of Poland’s Pontifical Mission Societies.

The leader is Abdoulaye Miskine, who was arrested in Cameroon in September 2013.

The rebel group has taken about a dozen Central African Republic citizens. They also tried to take another priest with Dziedzic but failed.

Polish foreign ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski said Dziedzic is being treated well.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up an emergency team, which is in ongoing contact with the Polish Episcopal Conference’s Commission for Missions,” a ministry statement said.

Source and Original Content by Christian Headlines

Houston Pastor Refiles Subpoenas

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Houston Pastor Refiles Subpoenas

The following is a response from Tony Perkins after Houston Mayor Annise Parker agreed to revise subpoenas against pastors that drop the word “sermons” but retain the demand for 17 different categories of information—including speeches by the pastors, emails, text messages and other private communications within the church.

This head-fake might fool some, but the reality is, Mayor Parker didn’t need a subpoena to access those sermons in the first place. They were already public. In this “new” filing, the mayor still insists on seeing private emails, texts and other communications related to the mayor’s office and the city’s “bathroom bill.” While two words—”or sermons”—are dropped from the “revised” subpoena, the government intrusion into private religious affairs remains. The “revised” subpoena is a difference without a distinction.

Obviously, Houston’s leadership has one goal—and information gathering isn’t it. This is about political intimidation. But if the Mayor was hoping to scare off these churches, she’ll have to try harder. Every pastor I’ve spoken to would go to jail before surrendering their God-given rights to preach the Truth free from government harassment and intimidation.

Houston has become a rallying cry for freedom-loving Americans tired of seeing their laws and liberties casually tossed aside in a stampede. This is why more than 38,000 people have signed our petition in the last two days, standing with the Houston pastors and calling on Mayor Parker to immediately retract these unconstitutional and unconscionable demands.

Source and Original Content by Charisma News

Ceasefire Agreement Established Between Boko Haram And Nigerian Government

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Ceasefire Agreement Established Between Boko Haram And Nigerian Government

The Nigerian government has ordered its troops to halt fighting against Boko Haram militants. According to Nigerian authorities, the Muslim extremist organization has agreed to a ceasefire.

Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff Alex Badeh ordered his troops “to comply with the cease-fire agreement between Nigeria and Boko Haram in all theaters of operations.”

VOA News reports that leaders from the Nigerian government and Boko Haram are now engaging in talks in Saudi Arabia; Chadian President Idriss Deby and leaders from Cameroon are moderating the talks.

Nigerian presidential aid Hassan Tukur said that the talks are focusing on the release of nearly 200 girls who were kidnapped from a school in Borno state on April 14.

“They’ve assured us they have the girls and they will release them,” Tukur said.
“I am cautiously optimistic.”

Source and Original Content by Christian Headlines

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