Willow Creek Church is Sending Christmas Gifts to Every Inmate in Illinois

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Willow Creek Church is Sending Christmas Gifts to Every Inmate in Illinois


Willow Creek Church is Sending Christmas Gifts to Every Inmate in Illinois


Willow Creek Community Church, a megachurch in the Chicago suburbs, will be distributing Christmas gifts to every inmate in the state of Illinois this Christmas season.


Willow Creek pastor Bill Hybels has said that church volunteers are ensuring that every inmate in the entire state will be receiving a Christmas gift bag. According to RelevantMagazine.com, Hybels started the effort as part of a larger effort to reach out to those who are spending Christmas in prison.


“I follow God’s son, Jesus Christ, who was blindingly clear about how I should engage with prisoners,” Hybels told his congregation. “If I had passed away at 55 despite all that clear training and additionally because I’m a pastor, I would’ve had to explain to God that I didn’t pray for prisoners, that I had never visited one, I had never lifted a finger to help prisoners in any way.”


Willow Creek is not reaching out to prisoners only during the holidays, however. The church regularly sends volunteers to local prisons to conduct Bible studies and minister to inmates.


One inmate who received one of Willow Creek’s gifts stated, “Those bags are phenomenal … It gives us a sense of love, … of joy. We get a sense that somebody out there that love us that don’t even know us. That love is very strong and profound.”


 


Photo courtesy: ©Thinkstock/sackhorn38


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1 in 5 Brit’s don’t know Jesus birth marked on Christmas day

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1 in 5 Brit’s don’t know Jesus birth marked on Christmas day

The History Channel survey found 20 per cent didn’t know Jesus birth was remembered on Christmas Day and one in 20 thought Jesus was born over Easter.

Around one in 10 were unable to name Bethlehem as Jesus’ place of birth while another 10 per cent were unaware he was born in a stable, despite the prevalence of nativity plays and Christian teaching in schools.

A spokesman for the History Channel, which commissioned the research to mark the launch of its new show Robert Powell on The Real Jesus of Nazareth, told the Independent: “For many of us, Christmas is a festivity we all look forward to celebrating with our loved ones.

“But over time, it seems people are becoming more and more unaware about the real reason we mark the day and the story of Jesus.”

Despite the confusion over why we celebrate Christmas, the researchers found more than seven in 10 believed they had a good knowledge of the story of Jesus.

The study of 2,000 adults revealed one in 20 couldn’t name Mary and Joseph as Jesus’ parents while 16 per cent didn’t know Jesus’ occupation was a carpenter and thought he was jobless.

The research, carried out via OnePoll.com, also revealed only three in ten learned their knowledge of Jesus and his story from The Bible itself.

Most people’s knowledge of Jesus came from what they were taught in school and one in ten picked up their knowledge by watching TV shows.

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5 Sources of the Scandal Behind Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ .

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Most Brits don’t know Jesus was born on Christmas day, study finds

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Most Brits don’t know Jesus was born on Christmas day, study finds

The History Channel survey found just 20 per cent knew that Jesus was born on Christmas Day and one in 20 also thought Jesus was born over Easter.

Around one in 10 were unable to name Bethlehem as Jesus’ place of birth while another 10 per cent were unaware he was born in a stable, despite the prevalence of nativity plays and Christian teaching in schools.

A spokesman for the History Channel, which commissioned the research to mark the launch of its new show Robert Powell on The Real Jesus of Nazareth, told the Independent: “For many of us, Christmas is a festivity we all look forward to celebrating with our loved ones.

“But over time, it seems people are becoming more and more unaware about the real reason we mark the day and the story of Jesus.”

Despite the confusion over why we celebrate Christmas, the researchers found more than seven in 10 believed they had a good knowledge of the story of Jesus.

The study of 2,000 adults revealed one in 20 couldn’t name Mary and Joseph as Jesus’ parents while 16 per cent didn’t know Jesus’ occupation was a carpenter and thought he was jobless.

The research, carried out via OnePoll.com, also revealed only three in ten learned their knowledge of Jesus and his story from The Bible itself.

Most people’s knowledge of Jesus came from what they were taught in school and one in ten picked up their knowledge by watching TV shows.

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Mom Wants ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Banned in Schools for Sexual Harassment Content

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By Rachel Cruz , Christian Post Contributor |

A mother of a 6-year-old boy in Newcastle, England wants schools to ban the children’s book “Sleeping Beauty.” Sarah Hall insists that the fairy tale’s context promote sexual harassment and its content isn’t fit for kids.

Facebook/DisneySleepingBeautyDisney’s “Sleeping Beauty” is the fairytale version of a story that’s about the rape of the princess.

Hall expressed her concern after seeing that her son borrowed the book from his school. The mother has issues with the prince kissing an unaware Sleeping Beauty and she’s worried about the message this sends to children.

“I think it’s a specific issue in the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ story about sexual behavior and consent,” the mom told Newcastle Chronicle. “In today’s society, it isn’t appropriate – my son is only six, he absorbs everything he sees.”

The recent #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment also prompted her to ask the school to ban the book. Hall, however, isn’t calling for pulling the book out of circulation completely. She still thinks older children will still benefit from the story if parents or teachers also discuss the character’s feelings.

Italian poet Giambattista Basil originally wrote the story of “Sleeping Beauty” in the 16th century. It featured a princess named Talia who was raped in her sleep and bore twins while comatose.

The married king who raped her eventually tried to win her heart when Talia woke up. She earned the wrath of his wife who planned on murdering Talia and her twins but Disney created a sanitized version of the story in its 1959 animated…

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Three Reported Dead in School Shooting in New Mexico .

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Aztec High School (Facebook )

We have an interesting story, well told, from .. . charismapodcastnetwork.com.

The Associated Press has reported that at least three people are dead and several others injured in yet another school shooting, this one Thursday morning at Aztec High School in Aztec, New Mexico at approximately 9 a.m. local time.

Fox News reported just after noon ET Thursday that authorities from the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said…

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Planned Parenthood Uses Birth Control Containers as Christmas Ornaments

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Planned Parenthood Uses Birth Control Containers as Christmas Ornaments


Planned Parenthood Uses Birth Control Containers as Christmas Ornaments


One might think that Planned Parenthood wouldn’t even make a point of celebrating Christmas, but one Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado is taking the Christian holiday and giving it their own spin.


LifeNews.com reports that the Salida, Colorado Planned Parenthood is selling ornaments made from birth control cases as well as wreaths made from condoms in order to raise money for their cause.


Salida Planned Parenthood manager Shelley Schreiner said the fundraiser is called the “Giving Tree,” and is a way for the clinic to recycle unused birth control cases and condoms while also raising funds.


Local artists and members of the community came out for the clinic’s third annual craft night to create the items for the clinic to sell.


“For every box of six packs of birth control pills we get, we get six plastic compacts. But most people reuse their compact month to month, so we had literally hundreds of them sitting around the clinic,” Schreiner explained.


“We couldn’t just throw them away, so we decided to paint a few to look like Christmas tree ornaments and put them in the lobby for donation. We ended up raising over $3,000, so in 2016 we decided to have a reception and invite the community,” she continued.


Schreiner also said that the funds raised in the past have gone to pay for low-cost IUDs for women.


 


Photo courtesy:…

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Senior Jerusalem church leader says Trump has ‘added fuel to the fire’

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Senior Jerusalem church leader says Trump has ‘added fuel to the fire’

On Thursday clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops erupted across the West Bank while demonstrators in Gaza burned Israeli and US flags after Donald Trump moved to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The leader of the Hamas militant group, which runs Gaza, called for a new armed uprising in a widespread show of anger over the US president’s move.

In the West Bank, crowds of protesters set tyres on fire and threw stones at anti-riot troops. 

In the biblical town of Bethlehem, troops fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse a crowd in clashes that could cloud the upcoming Christmas celebrations in the town of Jesus’s birth. 

Bishop Munib Younan from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land was one of 13 Christian leaders in Israel who wrote an open letter to President Trump asking him to promote peace instead of destruction.

He told Premier: “The atmosphere is tense. There is anger.

“What our message was that Jerusalem cannot be exclusively for one nation.

“It’s the right of the people to decide what the capital is, not a power from outside.

“The Middle East does not need more violence, extremism, division. We need only justice.”

In the letter, the church leaders asked Donald Trump to: “help us all walk towards more love and a definitive peace, which cannot be reached without Jerusalem being for all”.

 

Meanwhile, the International Christian Embassy…

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Church Throws Double Birthday Party for Jesus, Muhammad .

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A Church of England church in London has come under fire for holding a joint birthday celebration for Jesus and Muhammad.
A Church of England church in London has come under fire for holding a joint birthday celebration for Jesus and Muhammed. (cbaquiran/Pixabay/Public Domain)

We have an interesting story, well told, from .. . charismapodcastnetwork.com.

A Church of England church in London has come under fire for holding a joint birthday celebration for Jesus and Muhammad.

The “Milad, Advent and Christmas Celebration” took place on Sunday at All Saints Church in…

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British Missionary Kidnapped in Nigeria has been Killed

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British Missionary Kidnapped in Nigeria has been Killed


British Missionary Kidnapped in Nigeria has been Killed


A British missionary who was abducted in October by a Nigerian cult has reportedly been killed.


According to Open Doors USA, Ian Squires was shot after leading a group in singing “Amazing Grace.”


“This missionary, Ian Squire, he was a real person,” said David Curry, of Open Doors USA. “He’s a real human being who was giving his life to try to help these folks in the south of Nigeria, and he was kidnapped and killed for his faith.


“And there are many people like him in Nigeria who have names and faces and families. They’re not all British, most of them are Nigerian themselves but they love Jesus and they’re dying for their faith.”


Squires was one of four British missionaries who were abducted by the Nigerian cult in the country. He was working to help provide eye care for people in the country.


“It’s just another example of what’s happening in Nigeria, although in a different vein,” Curry said. “Nigeria is a country that’s divided into—you’ve got the southern portion that’s largely Christian, but you have tribal factions in the north. You have these extremists from Boko Haram. It’s a country that is being pulled in a lot of directions.”


In November, a child suicide bombing killed more than 50 people in a mosque attack and another conflict between herders and farmers killed at least 30 people.


Nigeria is ranked number 12 on the Open…

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