Bible Project – Watch their overview of the letters of John, which breaks down the literary design of the books and their flow of thought. John calls followers of Jesus to share in God’s own life and love by devoting themselves to loving one another.
Credit : Youtube/BibleProject
Jonathan Osteen says in Scripture, Jesus told us to address God as “Father.” As believers, being children of God is one of our greatest privileges. As children of God, we can be confident when we approach Him, knowing that we are fully loved and accepted by Him.
TB Joshua, a Nigerian Influential Preacher, has died at 57
On his Facebook page, which has almost five million followers, reads “God has taken His servant”.
The preacher was said to have died on Saturday shortly after an online service, but the cause of his death has not been made known to the public.
The preacher is known for his controversial teachings and practices
… this post is been updated
Pope Francis continues his catechesis on Christian prayer at the Wednesday General Audience, and explains that prayer was fundamental in Jesus’ relationship with His disciples.
Pope Francis picked out a few examples from the Gospel to explain that prayer was fundamental in Jesus’ relationship with His disciples.
Before choosing His disciples, Luke says, Jesus went up the mountain to pray and spent the whole night praying to God. At daylight, He chose His disciples naming them apostles. Prayer, which is dialogue with the Father, the Pope said, is the criterion of this choice, which many not appear to be the best ones, especially with regard to Judas, the future traitor. But the Pope said that the names of the disciples were written in God’s plan.
The Pope pointed out that the apostles are at times a cause of concern for Jesus, but He carries them in His heart even in their errors and when they fall because He receives them from the Father. Hence, prayer for them continually reappears in Jesus’ life.
As a teacher and friend, the Holy Father continued, Jesus waits patiently for the conversion of the disciple, as is evident with Peter at the Last Supper. Jesus tells Peter He has prayed that his faith may not fail and when he is converted, he should confirm his brothers. “Jesus’ love during the time of the weakness of His disciple does not cease, but rather becomes more intense, and we are at the centre of His prayer.”
Pope Francis assured Christians that Jesus continues to love and pray even for those in mortal sin and the ugliest of sins. His love and prayer for each one of us never cease, rather it becomes even more intense. He assured Christians that at this very moment He is praying for us showing the Father his wounds, the price of our salvation.
Again, Jesus was in a solitary place praying, when He wanted to verify the faith of His disciples. When He asked them who they thought He was, Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
“The great turning points of Jesus’ mission,” the Pope said, “are always preceded by intense, prolonged prayer.” This test of faith is “a renewed starting point for the disciples”, because from then on, the Holy Father said, Jesus took on a new tone in His mission, speaking openly to them of His passion, death and resurrection.
At this moment of the announcement of His end, which instinctively arouses repulsion in His disciples and in us, the Pope said, “prayer is the only source of light and strength”.
“It is necessary to pray more intensely every time the road takes a turn uphill.”
Soon after speaking about His lot in Jerusalem, the episode of the Transfiguration takes place.
Luke says that Jesus took Peter, John and James up the mountain to pray, when His face changed in appearance and His garment became white and radiant. Moses and Elijah in their glory were conversing with Jesus about His departure which was to accomplish in Jerusalem.
“Therefore,” the Pope explained, “this anticipated manifestation of the glory of Jesus took place in prayer, while the Son was immersed in communion with the Father and fully consented to His will of love, to His plan of salvation.”
And out of that prayer came a clear word for the three disciples involved: “This is my Son, the chosen one; listen to Him”.
Thus, the Pope said, Jesus not only wants us to pray as He prays, but assures us that, even if our attempts at prayer are completely vain and ineffective, we can always count on His prayer.
He urged Christians to repeat and memorize that Jesus always prays for us. “When there is some difficulty, when you are in the orbit of distractions: Jesus is praying for me,” he said adding, Jesus Himself has said it. “Let us not forget that what sustains each one of us in life is Jesus’ prayer for each one of us, with name, surname, before the Father, showing Him the wounds that are the price of our salvation.
In conclusion, Pope Francis said that “even if our prayers were only stutterings, if they were compromised by a wavering faith, we must never cease to trust in Him”.
“Supported by the prayer of Jesus, our timid prayers rest on eagle wings and soar to Heaven,” concluded the Pope.
Sr. Norma Pimentel sent a letter to the Pope on 3 May, describing the work of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, which lies on the southern US border with Mexico.
In response, Pope Francis sent a video message to the Mexican-American religious sister, praising her work.
“Thank you for what you and your entire team are doing,” he said. “Thank you for welcoming and receiving these migrants who come in search of a better life. Some come to advance, while others are fleeing from true social hells.”
“Thank you, Sister,” repeated the Pope. “Thanks to your team.”
He went on to affirm that migrants “must be welcomed, that is, they must be protected, accompanied, and integrated.”
“These four things,” said the Pope. “welcomed, protected, accompanied, and integrated.”
He added that the team of Catholic Charities on the southern border of Texas are helping people who are “asking for assistance to live with more dignity.”
“I accompany you from here,” concluded Pope Francis. “I pray for you and for all those whom you are accompanying through your work.”
While blessing Sr. Norma and her team the Pope asked them to pray for him.
Sr. Norma is a Missionary of Jesus nun and the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.
The Caritas Internationalis partner runs several programs near the US/Mexico border, including a Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas.
According to the organization’s website, the center “provides a place for the countless men, women, children, and infant refugees to rest, have a warm meal, a shower, and change into clean clothing, as well as receive medicine and other supplies, before continuing their journey.”
Over 23,000 people have been assisted since 2015, when the center opened up at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Read more …
BCN report – “All too often this violence is attributed to mere ‘bandits’ or explained away as hostility between farmers and herdsmen. While there is some truth in these assertions, they ignore the main truth: radical Islamists are committing violence inspired by what they believe is a religious imperative to ‘cleanse’ Nigeria of its Christians. They must be stopped.” -Gary L. Bauer, Commissioner, USCIRF
[CBN News] Eight Christians were killed and a church was burned down on May 19 during an attack by gunmen in the Chikun area of Kaduna State of Nigeria. (Image credit: CBN News)
International Christian Concern (ICC), a persecution watchdog, reports Samuel Aruwan, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, confirmed the report in a statement to the media.
Aruwan said “bandits” also burned down several homes during the attack, which consisted of unknown gunmen shooting sporadically at civilians.
As CBN News has reported, these “bandits” or “unknown gunmen” are often radical Muslims who target Christians in their relentless attacks on villages across the West African country.
In another unrelated incident, The Premium Times newspaper reports Nigerian Navy troops stationed in the Kujama General Area killed three bandits and arrested two accomplices after repelling an attack on Wakwodna community, near Kasso village, Chikun Local Government Area.
According to the Kaduna state government, the naval troops responded to reports of an attack on the village. The gunmen fled into the surrounding jungle when confronted by the troops, abandoning several rustled cattle. The cattle were rounded up by the troopers and returned to their owners.
“Two locals who were injured in the exchange were evacuated for medical attention,” Aruwan said.
Nasiru el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, was informed about the attack on the village and expressed his sympathies to the families of the victims, according to the newspaper. The governor also condemned the attack on the church building and directed the State Emergency Management Agency to respond to the needs of the villagers. He also commended the Nigerian Naval troops for their swift response against the gunmen.
Recently, in The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) 2021 annual report, Commissioner Gary L. Bauer described Nigeria as a “killing field” of Christians, and warns that the nation is moving toward a Christian genocide.
“All too often this violence is attributed to mere ‘bandits’ or explained away as hostility between farmers and herdsmen,” Bauer wrote. “While there is some truth in these assertions, they ignore the main truth: radical Islamists are committing violence inspired by what they believe is a religious imperative to ‘cleanse’ Nigeria of its Christians. They must be stopped.”
More Than 1,400 Christians Killed in Nigeria So Far This Year
According to the rights group Intersociety Rule of Law, 1,470 Christians were murdered and over 2,200 were abducted by radical Islamists in Nigeria during the first four months of 2021.
Of the 1,470 Christians murdered, 800 of those were killed by the Muslim Fulani Herdsmen, according to the group’s report.
The rights group included a 26-page reference in their report citing backup statistics which aided their findings, along with eyewitness testimonies and survivor stories.
The report also says that despite the Nigerian government’s insistence that violence in the country is due to “herder-farmer clashes” and has no real religious motives, an extensive investigation concludes otherwise.
Source : BCN News
Watch Jodi’s Muppet friends as they perform his latest Praise and Worship reggae tune titled “Lift Him Up“.
Written and Produced by Jodi Hood featuring Stephon Gabriel.
Click here to also listen on Spotify
Arkansas has a law that makes it a crime to do an abortion for an invidiously discriminatory reason, namely, because the child in the womb has Down syndrome. At the request of abortion providers, lower federal courts declared the Arkansas law unconstitutional, and the state has requested the US Supreme Court to hear the case. (Image: Unsplash-Oleg Sergeichik)
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the state and urging the Supreme Court to review this abortion case, Rutledge v. Little Rock Family Planning Services.
The ACLJ previously supported a request for Supreme Court review in a different eugenic abortion case, that one from Indiana. (The Court declined to review that law.) As in that Indiana case, the ACLJ urges the high Court in the new Arkansas case to consider that bans on eugenic abortions further.
the important state interest in protecting expectant parents from the pressure caused by overly gloomy prenatal diagnoses – diagnoses that all too often prove inaccurate (the baby turns out healthy or only mildly disabled) or excessively pessimistic (the parents deeply love the child regardless of any disability).
As the ACLJ brief notes:
Physicians face financial incentives to err on the side of doom and gloom. If they predict the worst, but things turn out well, everyone is relieved and there is no lawsuit. But if physicians don’t foretell adverse consequences, and such consequences materialize, the physicians may face legal liability for failure to warn. This is particularly true in the context of pregnancy, since some jurisdictions recognize “wrongful birth” suits predicated upon the parents’ having missed the chance to abort a child who is then born with disabilities. [Thus,] a physician worried about potential legal liability will be sure to note everything that might be wrong with the baby … As a consequence, prenatal diagnoses will tend to skew toward pessimism and put pressure on parents to go the abortion route.
Moreover, a prenatal diagnosis of a disability, like other diagnoses, is not infallible. As we note:
[T]here are countless instances in which parents were told a child would be born with severe or fatal disabilities, when in fact the child turned out to be either perfectly healthy or had manageable, or even only minor, conditions. This has specifically happened regarding a false diagnosis of Down syndrome or related maladies.
In short, even aside from the compelling reasons for halting the injustice of abortion in general, there are separate, strong reasons for stopping eugenic abortions—those which target children deemed “imperfect.”
As we argue:
The Constitution does not compel states to allow abortions done for perniciously discriminatory reasons. In particular, states may prevent physicians from doing abortions that target Down syndrome children with the message, “We’d rather you were dead than born alive.”
We recently told you about another court of appeals, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc (the full court), which held that a similar law in Ohio was in fact constitutional. We also filed an amicus brief in that case, and the court there agreed with our arguments. This has created what is known as a circuit split, where two or more federal circuit courts rule in different ways on the same issue, and this makes it more likely for the Supreme Court to hear the case.
The Supreme Court currently has several pending petitions requesting review of abortion cases. Should the Court grant any of these, we will be sure to file again in defense of innocent human life. Read more …
When we pray, is an EXCLUSIVE Christian singles event for mature singles. To pray, reflect, and worship in God’s presence.
Sat, 29 May 2021, 17:00 BST
Online event
An array of senior Church leaders from Britain and Ireland will call for justice at a Church service marking the first anniversary of the killing of George Floyd on 25 May 2021.
Titled Doing Justice: A Service of Reflection on the Anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, the service will host senior Church leaders and local Christians at the NTCG Brixton Community Church in south London. They will remember the tragic death of Mr Floyd, as well as challenge churches and communities in Britain and Ireland to stand up for justice, and against racism, ignorance, and hatred.
Due to the existing COVID-19 restrictions, the socially-distanced service will be recorded on 18 May 2021, but broadcast at 7pm on 25 May 2021, via YouTube and other social media platforms. BBC Radio 4 will subsequently broadcast the service at 8:10 am on Sunday 30 May for its Sunday Worship programme.
This ecumenical service service features contributions from the Archbishop of York – the Right Revd Stephen Cotterill; Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo from Kingsway International Christian Centre; Pastor Agu Irukwu of RCCG’s Jesus House; the Bishop of London – the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally; the Bishop of Dover – Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin; Revd Les Isaac from the Ascension Trust and Street Pastors Network; Lynn Green from the Baptist Union of Great Britain; Bishop Paul Hendricks, the Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark; and His Eminence Archbishop Angaelos, Archbishop of London, Coptic Orthodox Church, among others.
The service was initiated by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), an ecumenical organisation that encourages Christian unity, and includes churches of all traditions and denominations. One of the organisers, Richard Reddie, Director for Justice and Inclusion at CTBI said: ‘Last year, George Floyd’s killing and the Black Lives Matters protests that followed, showed that many were saying “enough is enough” when it comes to racism, especially the form experienced by Black people on both sides of the Atlantic. This anniversary is a timely reminder that we need to continue the work started last year, if we are really committed to ending injustice in church and society.’
The Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett, Archdeacon of Croydon, who, alongside being one of the organisers, is also participating in the service itself, pointed out: ‘There was a clear international dimension to the killing of George Floyd. We saw demonstrations right across the globe. We want our service to reflect that global outpouring for justice, so the service will be a truly inclusive gathering. We want to send a strong message that racism has no place in church or society.’
The service will be complemented by the music of the awarding-winning IDMC choir, one of the leading Gospel choirs in Britain. It will also feature poetry, prayers and a symbolic action that sees local schoolchildren laying candles at the foot of a cross to remember all those who have lost their lives to intolerance. This activity will be followed by a minute’s silence to remember them, including, of course, George Floyd.
Revd Wale Hudson-Roberts, a Justice Enabler for the Baptist Union of Great Britain and another of the organisers added: ‘Despite what some may suggest, inequality and racism sadly remain detrimental factors in our society. If the Church is to speak prophetically to society on these issues, it must first get its own house in order because we still have a lot of work to do ourselves to truly become the types of organisations that are committed to doing justice.’
Doing Justice: A Service of Reflection on the Anniversary of the murder of George Floyd will be recorded on 18 May 2021 at 1pm and broadcast on 25 May 2021 at 7pm via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ctbimedia.
NTCG Brixton Community Church is the name of Brixton New Testament Church of God, located in Lambert Road, Brixton, London SW2 5BB
The list of churches and organisations participating include:
Please contact Romina Infantino, +44 (0) 20 3794 2288.
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