Kim Jong-nam the North Korea Leader half-brother and rival is dead after being ‘poisoned by two women

The SUN UK report that the playboy half-brother of tyrant leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly been killed after being “poisoned by two women at an airport in Malaysia”.

The Yonhap News Agency claims that Kim Jong-nam, the North Korean leader’s elder sibling, was killed on Monday morning in Malaysia.

No further details were given but TV Chosun, a cable television network, said separately that Kim was poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport by two women believed to be North Korean operatives, who were at large, citing multiple South Korean government sources.

Malaysian police said an unidentified North Korean man died en route to hospital from a Kuala Lumpur airport.

The police said the man’s identity had not been verified.

He went into hiding in Malaysia after the execution of his uncle Jang Song-thaek in 2014. … read more

Source :  The SUN UK

Muslim Radicals Who Subjected Teen to Female Genital Mutilation Ask for Forgiveness, Embrace Christianity

Muslims radicals responsible for performing the female genital mutilation (FGM) of a 14-year-old Christian girl have asked for forgiveness and embraced the faith they once hated, a new report has revealed. Bibles for Mideast is a ministry that operates in the Middle East, Asia and Africa by giving away Bibles, evangelizing the lost and planting churches. AP Photo

Muslims radicals responsible for performing the female genital mutilation (FGM) of a 14-year-old Christian girl have asked for forgiveness and embraced the faith they once hated, a new report has revealed.

Over the weekend, Muslims in West Africa arrived at the house of Yoonus, a missionary with Bibles for Mideast, and explained that since they kidnapped and mutilated his teenage daughter, Lydia, they had experienced a series of bizarre incidents.

They revealed that all the women who had been involved in the procedure seemed to have gone mad, shrieking and seeing blood everywhere. In turn, the men who took part in the incident suffered nightmares, lack of sleep and extreme anxiety.

Convinced that God’s anger was at the source of the trouble in their homes, the Muslims invited the imam of the local mosque to come to their houses and pray for healing (shifa). However, nothing worked.

When they finally decided they must visit Lydia and Yoonus to ask their forgiveness, the imam and community leaders advised against it. In desperation, the men went anyway, and begged Yoonus to pray over them and give them peace of mind.

The missionary explained that forgiveness from God alone would heal their hearts and homes, and urged the Muslims to confess their sins before Him.

“You will be saved and you will also be healed if you accept Him as your savior and Lord,” Yoonus said.

The Muslims listened quietly and intently as he told his own story of coming to Christ, and then confessed their sins before Jesus and accepted Him as saviour and Lord.

Lydia also shared her remarkable experience of healing with her persecutors and prayed over them, allowing them to leave in peace. The report notes that the imam and the community aren’t pleased with the conversions and asks believers worldwide to pray for the Lord’s mighty protection over the new believers.  … read more

Source : Gospel Herald

Jesus is Black. Get over it

We discovered this article on Premier Christianity, and we thought you might want to read it – Mark Wayne presents the case for why Jesus might have been black, and explains why it matters 

When is the last time you saw a picture or painting of Jesus? What did he look like? What kind of hair did he have and how long was it? What was the color of his skin?

For too many centuries Christianity has held tightly to the Euro-Jesus. The white skinned, blonde haired, blues eyes Jesus.

Where Christianity has spread throughout the world, racism has all too often followed closely behind. Few ethnic groups can claim foul from this cultural aftershock more than our black brethren.

We may say “Well they’re just paintings, it’s not a big deal. It doesn’t matter what colour he was.” But paintings and images have a powerful impact on our perception of reality. What message does it send and what impression does it give children around the world about their messiah when they see him being “owned” by a certain race and bound to a strictly-enforced racial profile?

The white God

This is not an unexplained phenomenon. Since the days of the Roman Empire, Christianity has changed from a humble Jewish following of a man preaching loving foreigners and people of all backgrounds into an ethnocentric pyramid, where white men sit at the top holding an icon of a white God.

Christianity has even at times become less of a religion and more of a political statement which says, “God is white! So accept our dominance on earth as well…”

Now, in our modern world, reality has finally caught up and overtaken antiquated deception. While it is impossible to prove what colour Jesus was (unless we unearthed a 2000 year old Polaroid photograph of the famous rabbi) we have to be open to the possibility that he may have not only have been a man of color. He may have been a black man.

The evidence

As our Aryan portrayal of the Messiah comes to a screeching halt, I often hear an emotional response from white Christians. When presented with the theory that their saviour was black white Christians often say, “He may not have been white, but he definitely wasn’t black!”

But why couldn’t it be possible? The Bible says that black people lived among the Israelite ranks. We know this because an entire book – The Song of Solomon – was essentially love poetry about the beauty of King Solomon’s black wife! As I meticulously explain in my book, this same black bride could have been Jesus’ ancestral grandmother.

This detail alone leaves open the possibility that Jesus may have been black. Yet for over one thousand years of Christian history we almost never see black people portrayed in the biblical narrative (in literature or theatrically) despite how prominent they were in the Bible. Just one example of this is the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt: “The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about 600,000 soldiers on foot, besides their families. An ethnically diverse crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds.” Exodus 12:38 (HCSB)

The Hebrews weren’t the only slaves that left Egypt for the Promised Land. You can bet that former black slaves intermingled with the Israelites at some point in this epic journey.

The blunt truth

But that’s really not the point, is it? The point is that this racially dogmatic culture within Christianity should not exist. Neither should it encourage scepticism towards the idea that Jesus was black.

The white-centric view is historically flawed. The assumption that Jesus was white deserves far more scepticism than the proposal that he was black.

It is far more likely, both geographically and genetically, that he was black rather than white. That is the blunt scientific truth.

But why do science and reason have to jolt us into this reality? Shouldn’t our religion’s thirst for truth and love for all people naturally guide us away from these flawed Caucasian-centric assumptions of our messiah? Shouldn’t we be the ones fighting racism?

Have we forgotten that we were once victims of racism when the Romans threw us into coliseums to be eaten by lions because we claimed that our Jewish Messiah was the true Lord above the Roman Empire’s mythical Caucasian gods? We have forgotten that. We were once victims. Now we are the oppressors. It’s spiritual Stockholm syndrome.

Our religion is finally on trial for crimes against humanity, hypocrisy, racism, and yes, even mass homicide. God is the judge, the world is the prosecution, atheists are the jury, and we are the defendant.

… read more

Source : Premier Christianity

How to Become a Christian

Steps to becoming a Christian

1. God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you

2. The problem is; we’ve all made mistakes and separated ourselves from God

3. But don’t worry – God love’s you enough that He sent His son Jesus to die for you

4. Jesus lived a perfect life and never did anything that separated Him from His Father. He was killed on a cross for you – to take away your mistakes and the things that you do wrong

5. The Bible teaches that anyone who commits their lives to God and accepts Jesus shall be saved and can have the relationship with God that was always intended

6. If you want this relationship with God, then you need to speak to Him now in prayer

Below you can find a prayer to have your relationship with God restored and become a Christian

“Dear God,

I am sorry for the mistakes I have made.

Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to die for me and allowing me back into relationship with you.

Please come into my life and send your spirit to be with me giving me new life.

Amen”

Becoming a Christian: video

                              Caleb Meakins | Gospel Message from CVUK on Vimeo.

Did you put your trust in Jesus today?

If you prayed the prayer or if you have some questions, we would really like to talk to you.

Click here to send us a message on our Facebook and Twitter Page and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can or contact CVUK 

Marriage is being marginalised. Christians need to defend it

Premier Christianity reports – We are currently in National Marriage Week – the seven days running up to Valentine’s Day. Although sometimes one wonders at the purpose of these special weeks and days – I hope you are rejoicing in the fact that February is both Canned Food Month and National Grapefruit Month – there should be no denying the value of celebrating marriage. Every line of evidence, whether it be from the Bible, history, psychology, sociology or just common experience, tells us that successful marriages are truly good things.

Thriving marriages don’t just simply bring blessing for the husband and wife involved, they bring a blessing that is contagious and which spreads to others, whether family, neighbours or work colleagues. That effect, of course, is not simply confined to the present. Children who grow up in happy marriages are likely to seek the same for themselves. It’s a sobering thought that by impacting today’s children, the effects of a good marriage are likely to persist well into the next century. Unfortunately the opposite is true. Unless healed by the grace of God – and such healing does happen – the fallout from a failing marriage can linger on for decades and be transmitted on to successive generations.

The problem is we live at a time where for many reasons marriage is being increasingly pushed to the edges of our culture. Let me briefly suggest three subtle contemporary trends that contribute to this marginalisation.

First, there is a devaluation of marriage. Whether it be by learned attacks on the ‘outmoded social structure’ of marriage, another depressing TV drama depicting marital breakdown or the drip-drip effect of a thousand cynical jokes and comments, the value of marriage is constantly cheapened. Those of us who believe in marriage need to affirm it constantly. Even if we may struggle in our own marriages we need to speak up for it. It’s worth it!

Second, there is a distraction from marriage. The emphasis in society is away from preserving the institution of marriage to developing and improving relationships. Now I’m all in favour of improving relationships – who isn’t? – but this shift is significant. The hallmark of the change is the way in which the National Marriage Guidance Council (founded, incidentally, by a clergyman) has now become Relate. Although today’s world offers many alternatives to marriage, this should not encourage us to marginalise it. No other social arrangement for human beings comes with such a long tradition of providing stability.

… read more

Do You Have a Responsibility to Your Pastor?

As a church member it’s easy to want or even expect the church’s leadership to do all the work. We expect our church to offer the right programs, produce solid sermons, offer enough Bible studies and small groups, put on the right events, do enough outreach, offer mission trips and so on. But have we ever stopped to think about our responsibility as Christians to the church and our pastor? There are burdens that should be shared by church members and their pastor.

Erik Raymond, pastor of Emmaus Bible Church and writer for The Gospel Coalition, has written an article titled “What is a Church Member’s Responsibility to Their Pastor?”  Raymond consulted the writings of Samuel Jones (pastor from 1763-1814) and found 15 responsibilities for the church members and pastors in Jones’ treatise on the church. What Raymond discovered over all was a need for solidarity and support between the congregation and pastor, in terms of prayer, suffering, honor, love, and finances. You can read all 15 points of the treatise here.

Here are 3 things church members need to remember about their responsibility to their pastor.

1. CHURCH MEMBERS ARE CALLED TO OBEY AND RESPECT.

A Christian’s call to obedience is done according to God’s will and for His glory. It may not be something we want to do, but if we are in the church, God has called us to solidarity—to work together, carry each other’s burdens, and respect authority.

Hebrews 13:17 says, “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.”

Along with obedience comes respect. God’s Word tells us that leaders in the church are worthy of honor and should be held in high regard.

Philippians 2:29 says,
“So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him,”

2. CHURCH MEMBERS ARE CALLED TO PRAY.

We pray often for those in the congregation who are suffering, ill, or in need of help. But do we pray just as often for our pastor who leads us? There are so many things we can pray for our pastors and their family. Crosswalk contributor Daniel Darling explains,

“He may not ask you for it. He may seem strong and courageous and “with it” all the time. But underneath that is a fragile, desperate soul often squeezed by the pressures of serving God’s people. So pray for faithfulness, refreshment, wisdom, creativity, humility, people skills. I never fully realized the need to pray for pastors until I actually became one.”

Paul says in Ephesians 6:19,
“Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,”

And in Colossians 4:3,
“And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.”

3.  CHURCH MEMBERS ARE CALLED TO CONTRIBUTE AND SUPPORT.

Church members are not only called to receive, they are also called to give. We are called to give of our time, our obedience, respect, and tithes. Jones writes,

They ought to stand by them in their trials, afflictions, and sufferings…

They ought to contribute towards their maintenance, that they may apply themselves to the extensive duties of their office…

This support of the minister should not be done in the way of charity, or alms, but as a matter of right; and, if the people are able, it ought to exceed his bare necessity, that he may be able to be exemplary in acts of hospitality…

Our pastors need our support through trials they face; pastors are not perfect, they have struggles like everyone else. Pastors need their congregation to step up to the plate and take on responsibilities within the church so they can continue their work; this is part of the shared burden within the church and a sense of solidarity that the work cannot be done if we’re not all working together. Pastors also need to be paid a fair salary so they can support their family.

I once heard a pastor say that approximately 10% of church members do 90% of the work. It’s nice when you see people volunteering at church; it allows programs to continue and outreach to be done. But if it’s always the same people doing all the work, then they’re going to burn out sooner or later. If you’re not currently serving somewhere in your church, and you’re able, start inquiring about where you can step in to help those who serve regularly.

Paul wrote to Timothy saying,
“At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.” (2 Tim. 4:16)

And to the church in Corinth:
“If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.” (1 Cor. 9:12)

All of these duties “are to be performed in love to our Lord Jesus Christ,” says Jones. He references John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commands.”

… read more

Blind Woman Says She Now Can See after Visiting Church

A 31-year-old mother of four says she miraculously received her vision back after visiting a church.

Dafne Gutierrez was told by doctors that she has intracranial hypertension which damages optic nerves and means she will lose her eyesight and never get it back. Gutierrez went blind about a year ago, but that changed after she visited the St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church in Phoenix, Arizona.

While at the church Gutierrez prayed with a priest while she stood over the relics of Saint Charbel, a Lebanese monk.

“I felt different in my body,” she said. “I can’t explain what I was feeling.”

Three days later, Gutierrez had regained her sight. When she went to her doctor, she was told she had 20/20 vision.

“I told my doctor that I knew God had healed me,” she said. “He kept asking me, ‘Where did you go? What did they do to you?’ He told me it was all in my head,” she added. “He told me to come back in 72 hours.”

Although Gutierrez’ doctor remains skeptical, she has faith that God truly has healed her.

… read more

Gospel Sensation Chidi David Ani Releases Debut Album titled ‘AMARA’

This new release is called AMARA which means ‘Grace’ and it’s Chidi’s first Album under Holy Ghost Network Music Group. The song is called Chasing After You featuring Noah Chidyaka.

Chidi says  “The only place we find genuine Peace and Rest is in God.  Born in Nigeria, Chidi David Ani has always longed to worship the LORD on a level that would be pleaing to Him. Signed to HGN,Chidi endeavors to minister to souls all over the world.

Chidi’s ministry is focused on bringing back a revival among the youth of the nations. Just Worship Ministry was born several ago and reaches out to the highs schools and Universities in Enugu, his home town.

He says on his website that he is signing a distribution deal with Honesty Records, who’s roster boasts Don Moen, Frank Edwards and Nathaniel Bassey

Chidi’s Representation : https://mariasibajene2.wixsite.com/mysite

chidi - amara Holy Ghost Network Music Group | Christian Mail

Label:
Holy Ghost Network Music Group

Management:
Prophet Humphrey Mwale
Mwansa Mwewa

Bookings:
Chisha Mwenso  +260962329399  | [email protected]

Logistics:
Kabinga Mtonga +260977847818

Sex Belongs to Believers

In 1 Timothy 4:1–5, Paul confronts certain ascetic false teachers who believed that sex in marriage and eating foods freely were at best for second-class Christianity. Paul called these false teachings demonic.

First, the false teaching, as Paul summarizes it in verses 1–2 and the first part of verse 3:

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods . . .
Then, Paul’s response, starting in the middle of verse 3:

. . . that [that is, the marriage and the food] God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
For those who know the truth of the gospel and who revel in the word of God concerning the all-satisfying glory of God, and who pray (Hallowed be your name!) and dedicate everything to God, the sex of marriage and the pleasures of food are made holy — that is, they are set apart from the sinful use of the world and made pure and precious and beautiful by participation in the goodness of God.

Unembarrassed by the Bible

We are not supposed to be embarrassed by the forthright sensuality of sexual love in marriage as the Bible portrays it — sometimes graphically.

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths. (Proverbs 5:18–21)
It is no shame that “a man’s ways are before the Lord” as her breasts fill him at all times with delight. This is why God made her that way and him that way. In fact, that this delight in her is “before” the Lord — in the presence of the Lord — points to the truth that all our joy in what God has made is meant to be a delight in God. There is something of his glory in all the glories of the world.

We are not meant to revel in his creation instead of him or more than in him but because of him, and because there is something of him in all that is good and beautiful. The heavens are telling the glory of God. We are to see it. And worship him. So it is with the breasts of our wives. The breasts are telling the glory of God, the goodness of God, the beauty of God, and more. We are to see it. And worship him.




Let the Song Stun You

The Song of Solomon is in the Bible, among other reasons, to make sure that we take seriously the exquisite physical pleasures between a bride and a groom as a picture of Christ and his Church. The point is not that we nullify the physical pleasures of this Song by seeing it as a full-color image of Ephesians 5:22–33. The point is that we let the Song stun us that God would design such a relationship between man and woman — from the beginning — as the image of the covenant-keeping pleasures between Christ and his church.

Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. (Song 4:5–7)

Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus. Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses.

How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights! Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine.

It goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth. (Song 7:3–10)
This is part of what Paul had in mind in 1 Timothy 4:3–5, when he said, “God created [food and sex] to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. . . . It is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” Sex is for “those who believe and know the truth.”

The Pleasures of Sex Are for Christians

We might lose sight of this, since Hollywood has ripped the curtains off the sacred marriage bed and turned a luxuriant, holy pleasure into a cheap spectator sport. We might be tempted to think that, since sex is so sinfully misused and is so universally undermining to the all-satisfying beauty of Christ’s holiness, maybe we Christians should have nothing to do with it.




Paul says the opposite. It is the world that has stolen what belongs to believers. Sex belongs to Christians. Because sex belongs to God. “God created it to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” If it is used by those who do not believe and know the truth, it is prostituted. They have exchanged the glory of God for images. They have torn sex from its God-appointed place in the orbit of marriage. But they do not know what they are doing. And the price they will pay in this life and the next is incalculable.

The pleasures of sex are meant for believers. They are designed for their greatest expression by the children of God. He saves his richest gifts for his children. And as we enjoy his gift of sex, we say, by our covenant faithfulness to our spouse, that God is greater than sex. And the pleasures of sex are themselves an overflow of God’s own goodness. This pleasure is less than what we will know fully in him at his right hand. And in it, we taste something of his very exquisiteness.

When the preciousness and pleasures of Christ are supreme, all dimensions of sex, including experiencing pleasure, seeking pleasure, giving pleasure, and abstinence from pleasure, will all find their biblical and Christ-exalting expression.

Everything God made is good. Everything is for the sake of worship and love. And this is true both in the feasting and the fasting. In the sexual union and in abstinence. Sex is made for the glory of Christ — for the Christ-exalting glory of covenant-keeping faithfulness in marriage, and for the glory of Christ-exalting chastity in singleness. It is always good. Sex is always an occasion to show that the Giver of sex is better than sex.

I wrote two chapters on singleness in This Momentary Marriage in which I try to work out the implications of how the sexuality of a non-married follower of Christ is meant to work out for the glory of God.

Related Resources

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

Severe Drought Brings Starving Kenyans to Church Doorsteps

When her pantry runs dry, Agnes Mwikali walks down a dusty road to the local Roman Catholic Church mission.

There, beyond the metal gate and the church garden where the crops are withering, she steps into the administration building and asks for a 4-pound bag of cornmeal.

In Thatha, her home, about 93 miles northeast of Nairobi, a severe drought has left many families without food, water and pasture for their livestock.

Mwikali, a 40-year-old mother, has watched in consternation, as extreme temperatures have destroyed crops, drained water sources and laid grazing fields to waste.

“We are trying everything,” she said. “There are many of us. Many families don’t have enough food.”

Mwikali has 14 mouths to feed; her children range in age from 23 years old to 3 months. She has supported herself by weeding, herding or fetching water. But that kind of work has become scarce with the advent of the drought.

“The rains are our greatest disappointment,” she said. “Every season, we plant our seeds and watch the crops germinate, only for the rains to leave before they mature.”

At the Thatha Roman Catholic Mission, part of the Machakos Diocese, the Rev. Gerard Matolo increasingly sees more people seeking help.

“You can’t tell them that there is nothing,” Matolo said. “As their shepherd, I have to find a way to ensure they get something to eat. Sometimes I share my own food.”

Matolo estimates that nearly 3,000 people in his parish urgently need food aid. About 30,000 are at risk.

A bag of cornmeal or a bottle of oil would make a difference for a family, but the priest said there is too little to give.

The last time this region received meaningful rainfall was seven years ago. So Matolo has been storing the little food he gets as part of the agricultural tithe that small farmers and others have traditionally given the mission.

But unless things change, Matolo fears, soon cows, goats, sheep and donkeys will start dying.

East Africa is in the grips of yet another severe drought, largely attributed to climate change. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts the continent will be hardest hit by climate change, in part because 1 in 4 people in the region lives in extreme poverty.

The recurrent droughts have taken a heavy toll on religious leaders, as they move to aid communities threatened by starvation. The current drought has hit Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia, disrupting livelihoods for millions of people.

According to religious leaders, the battles against the drought have been fierce and draining and governments are not doing enough.

Agriculture in Africa is underfunded, although several governments in the African Union Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security committed to spending 10 percent of their national budget on agricultural development. Only 13 countries have met that target.

In Kenya the drought stretches across the coastal, north, northeastern and southern lowlands. Even the western region, which has not traditionally experienced severe droughts, is affected. Experts warn that the situation may persist for the next six months.

“The drought is of great concern to us as Muslims,” said Sheikh Hassan Ole Naado, the deputy secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims. “We are praying and we are mobilizing.”

Kenya’s government has been delivering relief food to nearly 1.6 million in arid and semi-arid areas. Officials say the number will surpass 2 million by the end of February … read more 

Source : Christian News Headlines