Iran Admits To Facilitating 9/11 Terror Attacks – Urban Christian News

Iranian officials, in a first, have admitted to facilitating the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. by secretly aiding the free travel of al Qaeda operatives who eventually went on to fly commercial airliners into the Twin Towers in New York City, according to new remarks from a senior Iranian official.

Mohammad-Javad Larijani, an international affairs assistant in the Iran’s judiciary, disclosed in Farsi-language remarks broadcast on Iran’s state-controlled television that Iranian intelligence officials secretly helped provide the al Qaeda attackers with passage and gave them refuge in the Islamic Republic, according to an English translation published by Al Arabiya.

“Our government agreed not to stamp the passports of some of them because they were on transit flights for two hours, and they were resuming their flights without having their passports stamped. However their movements were under the complete supervision of the Iranian intelligence,” Larijani was quoted as saying.

The remarks represent the first time senior Iranian officials have publicly admitted to aiding al Qaeda and playing a direct role in facilitating the 9/11 attacks.

Click here to read more.
Source: Free Beacon

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News

قالب وردپرس

Speakers Say US Must Have Stake in Nigerian Peace at Capitol Hill Briefing – Urban Christian News

The United States has a responsibility to act to curtail extremist violence in Nigeria, religious freedom and human rights advocates from both countries said in a Capitol Hill briefing.

The June 5 event, sponsored by International Christian Concern (ICC), focused on a West African country that is by far the largest population-wise on the continent and is plagued by religious- and ethnic-based violence especially from Islamic forces. Among the 25 most populous countries in the world, Nigeria has the highest level of social hostilities, according to a 2017 study by the Pew Research Center. Nigeria ranks behind only Iraq and Afghanistan on the 2017 Global Terrorism Index produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

ICC’s Capitol Hill Policy Day followed by a week the release of the State Department’s annual report on global religious liberty. Sam Brownback, ambassador at large for international religious freedom, said in a May 29 news briefing significant progress has been made, “but for far too many, the state of religious freedom is dire. We have to work together to accomplish change.”

The world and the United States have a “moral obligation” regarding Nigeria, but it is also in their self-interest to alleviate the conflict, said Frank Wolf, a longtime advocate for international religious freedom as a congressman and now a distinguished senior fellow with the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative. “This is doable. This is the moment. There is the interest.

“I think this issue can be solved as long as we’re not dictating to Nigeria” what it must do, Wolf…

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News

قالب وردپرس

300 Groups Urge Kim Jong Un to Take These 6 Steps to Improve Human Rights in N. Korea – Urban Christian News

In a letter to Kim Jong Un, more than 300 human rights organizations, including top Christian persecution watchdogs, have listed the top six things the North Korean leader must do to improve his country.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, International Christian Concerned, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch are among those who are urging Kim to address the “dire human rights situation” in an open letter signed by 52 organizations, representing more than 300 nongovernmental organizations from around the world.

The letter mentions North Korea’s “new efforts to increase its engagement with the rest of the world,” such as Kim’s upcoming meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, but says that major reforms are needed in the Pacific nation if it is to truly make progress.

At the top of the list, the groups call on North Korea to act on the United Nations’ human rights recommendations.

“The DPRK has signed and ratified several human rights treaties in addition to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the United Nations Charter itself, all of which obligate your country to cooperate with a variety of UN institutions and treaty bodies and require much more engagement from your government.”

Second, the groups urge Kim to increase intentional human rights engagement.

“End the use of forced labor in infrastructure and other…

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News

قالب وردپرس

Undercover Planned Parenthood Videos Appear to Show Employees Ignoring Rape and Abuse

Undercover Planned Parenthood Videos Appear to Show Employees Ignoring Rape and Abuse



Two new undercover videos seem to show Planned Parenthood employees at clinics ignoring claims of statutory rape and advising pimps on how to get an unreported abortion for underage prostitutes.


In two new videos from Live Action, “Aiding Abusers: Planned Parenthood’s Cover-Up of Child Sex Abuse,” the pro-life group shows undercover investigators talking with clinic employees.


Live Action claims that its undercover sex trafficking investigation found eight different Planned Parenthood employees at seven different facilities in different states “showed a willingness to aid and abet sex traffickers.”


“Rather than reporting suspected abuse to authorities, Planned Parenthood has repeatedly looked the other way,” Live Action President Lila Rose said in a statement. “Because of Planned Parenthood’s atrocious record of returning victims to their abusers to suffer yet more abuse, Live Action has worked for a decade to expose the systemic abuse cover-up.”


Planned Parenthood officials have not responded to the investigations.


In the video investigation of sex trafficking, undercover investigators posed as pimps and prostitutes to ask employees how they could get an abortion for underage girls.


Undercover investigators said they were involved in “sex work” and worked with young girls about 14 to 15 years old.


However, in one instance, a clinic…

… Read More

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

قالب وردپرس

Former IMB Chairman Says Paige Patterson Should Be Reinstated, Calls Firing Improper

(Photos: Facebook; FBC)Kevin Ueckert (L), chairman of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s board of trustees, Paige Patterson (C), the seminary’s former president, and Thomas Hatley (R) former chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board.

Thomas Hatley, a former chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, has called for the resignation of Kevin Ueckert, chairman of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s board of trustees, as well as the executive board members for firing the seminary’s former president Paige Patterson.

Hatley, who served as IMB chairman for eight years and has been a pastor in the SBC for more than 40 years, also called for the reinstatement of Patterson as president of the Texas seminary and an independent investigation of the claims that led to his firing.

“I recommend that the SWBTS board chairman and executive committee resign as board members for the following reasons,” Hatley wrote in an open letter to Southern Baptists after noting that conflicts should be handled biblically with both love and grace.

Among the reasons he listed as warranting the resignation of Ueckert and the seminary’s executive board is the lack of understanding of the need for decorum, process and…

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

Pornography deemed ‘morally acceptable’ by record numbers

A new Gallup poll saw 43 per cent make the claim. That’s up seven per cent from last year and is the highest level ever for that question.

The number rises to two thirds when only 18 to 49 years olds are quizzed.

 

For those who claim that “religion is very important” to them, 22 percent said pornography is morally acceptable

KingdomWorks Studios, which has produced a series of sexual purity, labelled the results a “wake up for the church”.

Dr Richard D Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary, is calling on faith groups to take the issue seriously.

He said: “Every church, temple, mosque, and synagogue in America should consciously seek to be part of a pornography-free counter culture which attempts to inoculate its membership in age-applicable ways against pornography’s seductive blandishments.

“With 68% of men in the church viewing porn on a regular basis, it is hard for the church to take the moral high ground. Healing must start from within.”

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

… Read More



Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

قالب وردپرس

Burkina Faso: Kidnappers Release Pastor and His family after Four Days

Burkina Faso: Kidnappers Release Pastor and His family after Four Days



The Christian pastor who was abducted on Sunday with his family in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum has been released.


Local sources told national broadcaster Omega Radio that Pastor Pierre Boena, his son David and his daughter-in-law, Ami Sawadogo were released yesterday (7 June).


The report does not specifically mention the two granddaughters, Fasne-wendé Ouédraogo and Pélagie Sawadogo, who were also abducted during the raid on Sunday, but does state that the pastor was released “with all the other members of his family in Malian territory”.


The reason for their release is not known, nor is it known whether a ransom was paid.


Pierre Boena, a pastor with an Assembly of God church, was kidnapped on Sunday evening in his village of Bilhore, near the border with Mali.


At the time of the attack he was at home with four family members and a church member, Pauline Sawadogo, who was visiting with her two daughters, Sanata and Zoenabou, local sources told World Watch Monitor.


These sources suggested that Pauline and her daughters may have been kidnapped along with Pastor Boena’s family on Sunday. Speaking on Thursday they said the whereabouts of Pauline and her daughters remain unknown.


Meanwhile there has still been no news regarding catechist Basnéré Mathieu Sawadogo, and his wife Alizeta, who were abducted two weeks earlier….

… Read More

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

قالب وردپرس

All-Star Group of Pastors, Singers Honor John Gray at Relentless Church Installation Ceremony

(Screenshot: YouTube)Relentless Church Pastor John Gray gets prayed over during installation service, June 3, 2018.

Pastor John Gray was formally installed on Sunday as senior pastor of Relentless Church in South Carolina and was joined by many big name pastors, including Joel Osteen, and gospel artists who showed up to support him.

The more than 3-hour long service featured tributes and words of blessings from Osteen, Hillsong Church NYC’s Carl Lentz, Kirk Franklin, as well as video messages from Bishop T.D. Jakes, Rich Wilkerson, Brian and Bobby Houston and Pastor Chris Hodges, among others.

“[God has] called John to lay his life down so many people can walk over their lives,” Lentz said. “He’s not a guy that changes because of the platform; he changes any platform he’s on.

“This guy right here (Gray) is prepared to lay his life down. … This church is going to be about the name of Jesus.”

The Hillsong pastor also commended the founder of the megachurch, Ron Carpenter, for passing the baton.

“It’s one thing to give somebody your used car. It’s another thing to give them the best you got,” Lentz said to Carpenter, referring to the megachurch. “This is special. … I can understand someone giving away a church in a barn or something but you walk in and see this.”

Gray took…

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

Queen enjoys double take with Elizabeth I at new Westminster Abbey gallery

A major exhibition area has been built where dusty relics were once stored, housing precious artefacts which reflect the building’s thousand-year history.

The Prince of Wales joined the Queen for a tour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, set more than 16 metres above the abbey’s floor in its 13th century triforium, an arcade above the building’s chapels.

 

The Very Rev Dr John Hall, the Dean of Westminster, took the head of state on a guided tour of the exhibits, which included the realistic bust of Henry VII, modelled from the monarch’s death mask.

Other items on display included the 13th century Westminster Retable, believed to be England’s oldest altarpiece, which has fragments of its lavish decoration still in place and is thought to have been designed for the abbey’s high altar.

PA

 

The dean said of the Queen’s visit: “Like other people who have been up there, she was very impressed I think, and quite surprised by the amount of space and by the particular things she was able to see.”

The new gallery is home to 300 treasures from the abbey’s collection, many on display for the first time, and it uses four themes to tell the story of the place of worship: building Westminster Abbey; worship and daily life; Westminster Abbey and the monarchy; and the abbey and national memory.

Visitors will reach the galleries, which…

… Read More



Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

قالب وردپرس

Paige Patterson Withdraws From Giving Sermon at Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas

(Screenshot: YouTube)Paige Patterson, 75, speaks at the AWAKEN Conference in Las Vegas, NV, in January 2014.

Former Southern Baptist Convention President Paige Patterson, who was recently terminated as president emeritus of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has decided to withdraw from giving the sermon at the denomination’s annual meeting next week in Dallas, Texas.

The news that Patterson was stepping away from the convention’s sermon was announced Friday morning by Scott Colter, his former chief of staff at SWBTS.

“Paige Patterson has announced his kind withdrawal from the convention sermon and evangelism report at #SBC18 in an effort to bring harmony to the Southern Baptist Convention,” tweeted Colter.

In a letter sent to SBC President Steve Gaines, Patterson explained that he was recusing himself from delivering the sermon following a lot of “soul-searching before our God” and to “contribute to harmony within the Southern Baptist Convention.”

“All of this I do with a heart full of confidence in our God and with the hope that He will favor the Convention and her churches with the benediction of heaven,” wrote Patterson, whose full letter was posted by the Baptist Press.

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس