Franklin Graham defends Christian University labelled as ‘anti-intellectual’

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Franklin Graham defends Christian University labelled as ‘anti-intellectual’

MSNBC presenter Rachael Maddow said in a podcast interview with colleague Chris Hayes: “This anti-intellectual, anti-elite line of argument we’ve seen from right-wing populists since the beginning of time.

“We’ve got a new Justice Department spokesperson who’s from Liberty University, and Liberty University was founded by a televangelist so that your Christian child wouldn’t be corrupted by actual higher education.

 

“And now that’s the spokesperson for the Justice Department.”

They were referring to Kerri Kupec, the Justice Department’s new director of its Office of Public Affairs. Kupec received a Doctor of Law degree from Liberty in 2011.

The son of Billy Graham acknowledged in a tweet that “no university is perfect” but described it as a “great institution”.

In a series of three tweets on Maddow’s criticism, he added: “@LibertyU has enrolment exceeding 100K students – 15.5K on campus & 94k+ online. Less than 50-yrs-old, LU has $1.3 billion in endowment & beautiful, new, cutting-edge campus.

“Ranked as one of the top universities in the country, they have 17 schools including medicine & law.

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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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Biohacker injects himself with DNA sequence based on Bible passage in risky experiment

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Biohacker injects himself with DNA sequence based on Bible passage in risky experiment

Ignoring official guidance, Adrien Locatelli used the first eleven chapters of Genesis when creating unknown proteins which he then injected into his legs.

DNA consists of chemicals represented by the letters ACGT. Different combinations of these letters form the coding of all genes.

 

Mr Locatelli, who comes from Grenoble in eastern France, assigned one of the four letters to every character in the Hebrew Alphabet, in the order of GACT.

He translated Genesis 1:1 to 11:9 but omitted certain verses he felt were “controversial”, such as the first five verses of chapter seven when God instructs Noah to build an ark.

 

In a study posted online, Mr Locatelli said: “Recent studies have reported that it is possible to convert any type of information into DNA for the purpose of storage.

“Since it is possible to convert digital information into DNA, I wondered whether it would be possible to convert a religious text into DNA and to inject it in a living being.’

“It is the first time that someone injects himself [with] macromolecules developed from a text.

 

“It is very symbolic even if it does not have much interest.”

It is understood Mr Locatelli experienced no side-effects other than temporary swelling in his…

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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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Disney Chooses Former Worship Leader to Play Princess Jasmine

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Disney Chooses Former Worship Leader to Play Princess Jasmine


Disney Chooses Former Worship Leader to Play Princess Jasmine


This week’s Entertainment Weekly featured the cast of the new live-action remake of Disney’s Aladdin and gave fans their first look at stars Will Smith, Mena Massoud, and Naomi Scott. 


Scott, who will play the role of Princess Jasmine, is the daughter of two pastors and is a former worship leader herself. Scott’s parents, Chris and Usha, are pastors at the Bridge Church, which is affiliated with the Assemblies of God in Great Britain. The Bridge Church describes itself as “a community of ordinary people who have found peace, joy and purpose in an extraordinary God.”


In an interview earlier this year, Scott spoke to Hypebaeand testified to the formative role church played in her development as an artist. She said, “God is the ultimate creative force. Growing up in the Church fostered an inner spirituality that also introduced me to the concept of music having a deeper meaning. There has always been a connection between my faith and realizing that music can have a soul and purpose, which has ultimately affected the way I approach the art. Listening to soulful vocalists like Mary Mary and Kim Burrell; playing the piano, and leading worship has directly shaping my artistry.” 


Scott, who is also a recording artist, got her start singing in church and began songwriting when she was a teenager. She told the Huffington Post that, “I grew up singing in church…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Preaching that ‘Jesus died for your sins’ is not the gospel, says Jackie Pullinger

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Preaching that ‘Jesus died for your sins’ is not the gospel, says Jackie Pullinger

That’s according to the veteran British evangelist Jackie Pullinger.

The author of Chasing the Dragon has spent most of her life serving the poor in Hong Kong. But speaking during an exclusive interview with Premier Christianity, Pullinger explained when she first arrived in the city, she believed preaching the gospel meant “explaining how Jesus came to die for your sins,” adding, “of course, that’s not preaching the gospel”.

 

When asked why, the 74-year-old replied: “Because that’s not necessarily good news to anyone who doesn’t know love, who doesn’t understand your language, who doesn’t follow your logic…The people there were not listening anyway, they were watching to see how I acted, whether I really did love them. And if I really did love them, maybe God really did love them.”

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Pullinger also spoke of the need for the UK Church to get on with “the job” of mission: “We’d better get equipped to do it, instead of living this life as if this life is it. It’s not, this is a very short life. And eternal life is forever.”

“We’re going to feel stupid for eternity if we wasted this life”.

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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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Cornwall church listed as one of ‘Remarkable Places’ of 2018

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Cornwall church listed as one of ‘Remarkable Places’ of 2018

In a list that includes an Old Lifeboat House in Essex and a cattle drinking trough from 1916 in Hampstead, a church in Cornwall has made it onto the ‘Remarkable Places’ list for this year. 

St John the Baptist Church in Pendeen, along with its walls, vicarage and school has been listed as a Grade II building. 

It was once described by poet John Betjeman as being “like a toy fort” and has been recognised because of it architectural interest; using local rock, representing the 19th Century Christian faith in it’s ‘Cruciform plan’ (floor plan shaped like a cross) and for its historic significance to the Christian history of the region as the original church leader tried to bring Anglicanism to a non-conformist community. 

The parish of Pendeen was established in 1846 and its first vicar, Rev Robert Aitken was known for his evangelistic and revivalist preaching style – something that was deemed well-suited at the time to pull people away from the dominance of Methodism in the county’s mining communities.

Aitken designed the church, the neighbouring vicarage and school using local materials made by local craftspeople.

From 1850-52, the predominantly-mining community worked to quarry stone from Carn Earnes, the hill above the church, in order to build the church and its boundary walls.

Further fittings were added to the…

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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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Christian baker being sued again

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Christian baker being sued again

Jack Phillips made headlines in 2012 when he refused to make a cake celebrating a same-sex wedding. The suit against him went to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor.

Now Phillips is in court again, this time for refusing to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission claims that he discriminated against Autumn Scardina, who transitioned from male to female and wanted him to make a cake that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside to celebrate.

Phillips’s attorneys call the complaint an “obvious setup.” They say their client “believes as a matter of religious conviction that sex–the status of being male or female–is given by God, is biologically determined, is not determined by perceptions or feelings, and cannot be chosen or changed.”

So do millions of evangelical Christians, including me.

“If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.”

I expect to see more such lawsuits in the coming years as our post-Christian culture collides with Christian morality. When so-called civil rights compete with religious rights, civil rights usually win.

As believers navigate the legal and social implications of our faith in this challenging day, there is an imperative we need to remember: our lives must bear the scrutiny our beliefs are sure to provoke.

Two related facts follow.

One: People deserve to know what we believe and why we believe it.

Peter called his readers to be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15a). God’s word speaks with powerful relevance to every issue we face today. It is vital that we speak his truth to our times.

You’ve probably heard the Francis of Assisi quotation, “Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.” As researcher Ed Stetzer notes, there are two problems with this quote. First, Francis never said it. Second, it’s incomplete theology.

Stetzer: “Using…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.

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Archbishop of York sends invite to ‘follow the star’ this Christmas

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Archbishop of York sends invite to ‘follow the star’ this Christmas

All Anglican churches are being encouraged to become ‘star churches’ by displaying stars to inspire people to follow in the footsteps of the wise men by finding a church near them.

The Archbishop of York said: “Christmas is a wonderful time in the church’s calendar where we share the Good News of the birth of Jesus.

 

“Like the wise men who followed the star in search of the new-born king, we too are invited on the journey to encounter not only the baby in the stable, but the risen Lord Jesus who died for us so that we might experience life in all its fullness.

“At the first Christmas God came to earth in Jesus – fantastic! I would encourage everyone to follow the star to their local church and hear again the greatest story ever told.”

 

From carol services to midnight mass, nativities to Christingles, the #FollowTheStar website campaign shares events and services taking place across 16,500 Church of England buildings.

Dr John Sentamu, clergy and church members from the Deanery of York have also shared beer mats in pubs, bars, cafés and church halls across the City, inscribed with the message ‘Why not make my local your local this Christmas? Follow the Star to your local church to encounter Jesus Christ, God’s Son: my Friend and Lord’.”

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to…

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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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6 Keys for Revitalization in the Shadow of a Megachurch

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Revitalization in the shadow of a megachurch can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Today, we discuss six reasons why.

This Week’s Question:

FROM JOE — I am the Associate Pastor at an above average size church (180 in average attendance), but not a mega church. I have a number of request about what we need to do. Many of those request come from ideas members get when they travel and visit mega churches. I came to this church from a mega church. While I like the way the church I was at before functions, our town is not even as big as that church. We don’t have the technology, money, or staff that a mega church has. The church was once triple the size that it is currently, and most of us desire renewal. Can you offer some advice on how to keep our expectations real, and how to achieve those realistic expectations based on who we are?

Episode Highlights:

  • A consumer mindset by churchgoers is a major issue in churches today.
  • Often, what attracts people to a church is what keeps people at a church.
  • Make decisions in the church that are grounded in reaching people, not in keeping people.
  • “Pastors, your job isn’t to attract a crowd—it’s to make disciples.”

The six keys that we cover are:

  1. The issue is the consumer mindset versus the servant mindset
  2. The more people are involved in ministry, the less likely they will expect the church to serve them
  3. Your church has all the resources it…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Thom Rainer.

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Kenneth Copeland Devotional 20 December 20 2018 – A Little Bit of Heaven on Earth

CM Editor
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Topic: A Little Bit of Heaven on Earth [Kenneth Copeland Devotional 20 December 20 2018]

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another…even as Christ forgave you. – Colossians 3:12-13

Living in a home filled with the love and the peace of God Himself is almost like living in heaven right here on earth. We all know that’s true. And we long to live in such a home. Yet, time and time again, we shortchange our families. We spend our kindest words and our most winning smiles on those beyond our front door.

Have you ever wondered why?

The answer is simpler than you might suspect. Spiritually speaking, your family is under attack. You see, it is not only one of your most precious gifts, when it’s operating in harmony, it’s one of your most powerful resources. Satan knows that even if you don’t—and he’s out to destroy it.

His battle plan is simple. He will do everything he can to create strife in your home. He’ll stir up feelings of self-pity and jealousy. He’ll encourage you to nurse resentments and harbor bitterness. And through it all, his purpose remains the same: to divide and destroy your home.

When God’s people get in harmony with each other, miracles start to happen. Their agreement creates an atmosphere in which God’s supernatural, miracle-working power is free to flow! So Satan is constantly tempting us to spoil that atmosphere, to foul things up by being at odds with each other. All too often we fall prey to his tactics simply because we don’t realize just how dangerous strife really is. One close look at the Word of God will solve that problem, however. James 3:16 says, “Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”

Don’t open the door of your home to Satan by allowing your family the “luxury” of a few quarrels.

Stop the destruction before it starts. Anchor yourself to God’s Word. Find out what He has to say about the power of agreement. Stop looking at your family from your own limited perspective and start seeing it as God sees it—as a powerhouse! That way you won’t drift helplessly into an argument every time a gust of emotion blows through your home.

Determine right now not to let the devil have your family. Instead, pray for them, support them and love them. Bring them together, so you can all enjoy a little bit of heaven on earth.

Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:12-25

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Kenneth and Gloria Copeland’s Daily Devotional Here’’

This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.

The post Kenneth Copeland Devotional 20 December 20 2018 – A Little Bit of Heaven on Earth appeared first on Flatimes.

Andrew Wommack Devotional 20 December 2018 – Be Filled With The Holy Ghost

CM Editor
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Topic: Be Filled With The Holy Ghost [Andrew Wommack Devotional 20 December 2018]

Luke 24:49 “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

This filling of the Holy Ghost is subsequent to the born-again experience.

Paul reveals in Rom. 10:9, that a person has to confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in his heart that Jesus was raised from the dead, before he can be saved.

It is possible to be saved, yet not have what Jesus said was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is now given freely and we don’t have to tarry for His coming, we can receive salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the same time. However, it is not automatic. We must ask and believe for the baptism of the Holy Ghost, just as we believed for salvation.

Speaking in tongues is unique to the Church Age. This is because when a person speaks in tongues, his new born-again spirit is speaking (1 Cor. 14:14), not his mind. Before salvation, our spirit was the part of us that was, “dead in trespasses and sins.” Until we received a new spirit (2 Cor. 5:17), the Holy Ghost could not give us this supernatural communication with the Father.

There are two kinds of speaking in tongues which are clearly spoken of in 1 Corinthians 13:1. They are called “the tongues of men and of angels.” The tongues of men are the known languages in which the disciples spoke. The tongues of angels, or heavenly languages, are the tongues that all Spirit-filled believers can speak, and are what Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth and teach us all things. Receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost is the single most important key to receiving revelation knowledge from God.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Andrew Wommack Daily Devotional

This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net).

The post Andrew Wommack Devotional 20 December 2018 – Be Filled With The Holy Ghost appeared first on Flatimes.

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