Joel Osteen’s Mother Says Miracle Healing Is Real, Shares Family Stories in New Book, ‘If My Heart Could Talk’

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Joel Osteen’s Mother Says Miracle Healing Is Real, Shares Family Stories in New Book, ‘If My Heart Could Talk’

Joel and Victoria Osteen (Photo: Courtesy of Joel Osteen Ministries)

Christian Post Report – Joel and Victoria Osteen at the Night of Hope Event in Brooklyn, New York City on Oct. 16, 2015.

Dolores “Dodie” Osteen, widow of Lakewood church founder John Osteen, and mother of famous megachurch Pastor Joel Osteen, said during an interview that healing miracles are real, pointing to her own miraculous recovery from cancer.

“I could have died when I was 48,” Osteen said in an interview with the Houston Chronicle, referring to her metastatic liver cancer.

“Now I’m 82, and I’m working for Him. I want people to know that God is a good god. He does want to answer prayers. All we have to do is have faith and hope. Sometimes life is hard, but God helps us get through,” she added.

Osteen shared in her new autobiography If My Heart Could Talk several similar miracles that she says her family has received, with her child, Lisa, somehow keeping from serious injury when a package bomb sent to the church exploded in her lap, and when Joel almost had a serious car accident on a Houston freeway.

The matriarch explained that she felt God speak to her and encourage her to turn to her faith when she was diagnosed with cancer.

“From that day on I did my best to build my faith every single day. … I did my best to live my life as if God had already healed me. I did all of the normal household chores I could, and I never stopped envisioning myself healed and whole,” Osteen said.

Osteen has opened up about her cancer experience in the past, including at a 2012 “Night of Hope” event in Washington. D.C.

She explained that before she started feeling heeled, she weighed only 89 pounds and her skin was “yellow” as could be. Another thing that helped her cope, however, was her dedication to write letters asking for forgiveness from anyone she might have offended, including her children.

“I think unforgiveness in your heart is like poison in your body,” she said back in 2012. “You might say ‘I can’t forgive,’ you can with God’s help.”

At the time she couldn’t even receive chemo treatment because doctors did not know where the primary tumor was.

“But I found the place where it was written, and I read all those Scriptures and I still read them because they are like my medication every day I take,” she said.

Pastor Joel Osteen continues holding “Night of Hope” events across America, focusing on a message of positivity. Last week, he argued that he isn’t cheating anyone by not talking about hell and repentance, insisting that people have enough things to feel guilty about.

“You know, it’s not hellfire and brimstone. But I say most people are beaten down enough by life. They already feel guilty enough. They’re not doing what they should, raising their kids — we can all find reasons,” the pastor said during an interview with CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” program. So I want them to come to Lakewood or our meetings and be lifted up, to say, ‘You know what? I may not be perfect, but I’m moving forward. I’m doing better.’ And I think that motivates you to do better.”

Source : Christian Post

Catholic Church Defends Poland Law to Ban Abortion Except in Extreme Cases

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Catholic Church Defends Poland Law to Ban Abortion Except in Extreme Cases

Abortion protest (Photo: Reuters/Kuba Atys/Agencja Gazeta)

Christian Post Report – People demonstrate against the Polish government’s plan of tightening the abortion law in front of the Parliament in Warsaw, Poland April 3, 2016. Banner reads: ‘Hell of women continues’.

The Roman Catholic Church in Poland is coming out in support of a proposed law that would increase regulations on abortion in the European country to protect life from conception to death.

As Reuters reports, Poland’s abortion laws allow the termination of a pregnancy if the mother’s life is in danger, in cases of rape or incest, or if the baby would be severely deformed.

The legislation, which is being proposed by the conservative Law and Justice Party, will make unborn life protection laws even stronger, allowing termination of pregnancy only in cases where mothers face a medical emergency.

Poland’s Catholic Church, which has the most adherents in the country, has backed the proposed law, stating in an open letter read across churches Sunday that it protects human life “from conception to natural death.”

The letter reads in part: “When it comes to the life of the unborn, we can’t remain at the current compromise set out in the law,” which was adopted in 1993. The bishops added: “We call on people of goodwill, believers and nonbelievers, to act so as to fully protect the life of the unborn from a legal point of view.”

The bishops also argued that God calls for the protection of all life, pointing to one of the Ten Commandments in the Bible, which states “Thou shalt not kill.”

“Therefore, the position of Catholics in this regard is clear and unchanging,” the Catholic leaders added, noting that Pope Francis also frequently speaks out on the need to support families and protect unborn life.

Thousands of pro-choicers rallied outside parliament in Warsaw Sunday, however, chanting phrases such as “keep your hands off the uterus” and “my body, my business,” Reuters noted.

The protest was reportedly organized by the left-wing Together Party, which has slammed the proposed law by the conservative government.

Unborn life protection laws in Poland have limited abortions to around 700 to 1,800 per year in the nation of 38 million people, though feminist groups claim that between 100,000 to 150,000 women undergo illegal abortions, or terminate their pregnancy at clinics abroad.

Prime Minister Beata Szydło has backed the Catholic bishops in the national debate, advocating for a “complete ban on abortion.”

She has also said that her standpoint on abortion is her “personal opinion and not necessarily that of all members” in her party, and said they will not be required to vote on the law.

The legislation is expected to be taken up by parliament soon, as a pro-life petition is approaching the 100,000 signatures needed in order to force a vote on the issue.

Source : Christian Post

Megachurch Pastor: Why Did God Invent Tithe? Answer Is Not What You Think

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Megachurch Pastor: Why Did God Invent Tithe? Answer Is Not What You Think

RobertMoriss Screenshot

Christian Post Report – Pastor Robert Morris speaking to his congregation about tithes.

In his message, Pastor Robert Morris, senior pastor at Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas, told his congregation that God has asked us to give our tithes and offerings not because He needs money to support His work, but because it gives Him an opportunity to bless us.

Malachi 3 has been misunderstood for years, “even by me,” Morris said in a recent message, titled “Don’t Rob God.”

We don’t need to read it in the “old, legalistic way,” he told the congregation, clarifying that he is not saying we rob God of money when we don’t give the tithe to God, to whom it belongs.

“I personally don’t think God needs our money,” he explained, adding, that the passage means, “Don’t rob God of an opportunity to bless you.”

He then read verse 8: “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and offerings.”

The reason God came up with the idea of tithing is not to support the work for His kingdom, “He invented tithing for our benefit, as an opportunity to bless us,” Morris stressed.

Then he read verses 9 and 10, which state, “‘You are under a curse — your whole nation — because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.'”

The pastor said the reason why the Gateway church is fed with good spiritual food is because the congregation gives their tithes.

Morris then read verses 11 and 12: “‘I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

In the passage, God doesn’t say, “for Kingdom’s sake,” but “for your sake,” he pointed out.

There are three categories of blessings in the Bible, he shared.

One, tithe.

The pastor read Joshua 6:18, “And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.”

Tithing is the principle of putting God first because it is the first 10 percent of your income, Morris explained, saying that bringing the first part of the income gives God an opportunity to bless us.

The tithe is consecrated when it comes to the local church, but a curse when it remain with us, the pastor stated.

Two, offerings.

The pastor quoted verse 8 again, as it mentions “tithes and offerings.”

The tithe belongs to God, but offerings do not “belong” to Him in one sense, though everything is His, Morris said, adding that the words “free will” are often used before “offerings.”

So how do we rob God by not giving offerings? That’s because we rob Him of an opportunity to bless us, he said. “That’s the only way this passage makes sense.”

Three, sacrificial offerings.

There are many examples of people giving sacrificial offerings in the Bible, including that of King David in the Old Testament and the woman who anointed Jesus with perfume in the New Testament, the pastor said.

The biggest sacrificial offering was God giving His Son Jesus for us, he added.

In conclusion, Pastor Morris read Mark 12:41-44, “Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.'”

The pastor also shared, for the first time with his congregation, that he has long been giving $100 bills to people in church and outside who might need money. Recently, when he told the congregation in a message that a “man in the church” gives money this way, without telling them that it was he himself, his daughter asked him later at the dinner table if he’s the man. Then she said she wanted to be like her dad.

That means a lot to a dad, Pastor Morris said, suggesting that that’s how God has blessed him in return.

Source : Christian Post

Muslim Man Who Died After Shielding Christians From Al-Shabab Jihadis Given Prestigious Honor in Kenya

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Muslim Man Who Died After Shielding Christians From Al-Shabab Jihadis Given Prestigious Honor in Kenya

Kenya (Photo: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

Christian Post Report – Kenyans attend a memorial vigil for the victims of an attack by gunmen at the Garissa University College, at the “Freedom Corner” in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, April 7, 2015. Kenyan university students marched in the capital on Tuesday to demand more security from the government after gunmen killed nearly 150 people at a campus in the eastern town of Garissa last week. A citizens group planned to hold a vigil in Nairobi’s main park later in the evening, tapping growing public frustration over security in the wake of the attack claimed by al-Shabaab radical Islamists based in neighboring Somalia.

A Muslim teacher who died from injuries sustained while defending Christians from al-Shabaab militants during a terrorist attack last December in Kenya has been honored posthumously with one of the country’s most prestigious awards.

Kenya(Photo: Reuters/Thomas Mukoya)Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (L), flanked by his Deputy William Ruto, addresses a news conference at the State House in the capital Nairobi, April 4, 2015. Kenyatta said on Saturday that those behind an attack in which al-Shabaab Islamist militants killed 148 people at a university were “deeply embedded” in Kenya, and called on Kenyan Muslims to help prevent radicalization.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta awarded Salah Farah the Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya honor after Falah was ultimately killed for standing with Christians when jihadis from the Somalia-based al Shabaab Islamic radical group stormed a bus headed for the border town of Mandera on Dec. 21, 2015.

The president announced the award during a State of the Nation address to the Kenyan parliament last week.

“He died defending people who he did not know,” Kenyatta told the lawmakers. “This is because he believed in their right to freedom of worship and he knew that every single life — irrespective of faith — is sacred.”

As the bus full of 60-plus passengers was headed from the nation’s capital of Nairobi to Mandera, militants began firing shots at the bus and forced the driver to stop the bus, which allowed the militants board the bus.

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militants, who are known for separating non-Muslims and Muslims during their attacks so they can kill the non-Muslims, ordered the Christians and Muslims on the bus to segregate.

Salah and a group of other Muslims refused to separate and stood in solidarity with the Christians when faced by the deadly extremists.

Farah, a father of five who was the deputy head of the Mandera township primary school, told BBC before he died that the militants told the Muslim passengers that if they were Muslims that they would be safe.

“We asked them to kill us or leave us all alone,” Farah explained.

Farah was shot during the exchange and died in January during surgery to treat his bullet wound. At least two other people are known to have died in the attack.

Before his passing, Farah told Voice of America that he thinks “people should live peacefully together.

“We are brothers,” Farah asserted. “It’s only the religion that is the difference, so I ask my brother Muslims to take care of the Christians so that the Christians also take care of us … and let us help one another and let us live together peacefully.”

During his speech to parliament, Kenyatta wanted to assure Farah’s children that their father did not die in vain.

“He is a powerful symbol of our country’s ambition to attain the full expression of secure and cohesive nationhood, and he is a costly reminder that we all have a role to play in protecting our freedoms,” Kenyatta was quoted by The Independent as saying. “I want to tell his children that their father’s sacrifice will never be forgotten — and will be long admired.”

Last April, al-Shabaab carried out one of their deadliest attacks on Kenyan soil when they stormed Garissa University College and again separated Christians from Muslims. They killed at least 148 people during that attack.

In July, the extremist group killed at least 14 quarry workers in Mandera. In 2014, al-Shabab massacred 36 non-Muslim quarry workers in Mandera.

Follow Samuel Smith on Twitter: @IamSamSmith

Source : Christian Post

Syrian Girls Sexually Exploited at Turkish Refugee Camps by Muslim Men Buying ‘Cheap Sex Slaves’

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Syrian Girls Sexually Exploited at Turkish Refugee Camps by Muslim Men Buying ‘Cheap Sex Slaves’

Syrian refugees (Photo: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach)

Christian Post Report – A Syrian woman cries as she sits on a folding bed in a former newspaper printing house used as a refugee registration centre for the German state of Hesse in Neu-Isenburg, on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany, September 11, 2015.

The Gatestone Institute, a think tank based in New York, has published a report claiming that Syrian women and girls are being trafficked at refugee camps in Turkey, where they are sometimes sold to wealthy Muslim men from other nations as sex slaves.

“Although the desperate victims are their Muslim sisters and brothers, wealthy Arab states do not take in refugees. The people in this area know too well that asylum seekers would bring with them problems, both social and economic,” Gatestone said in a report, published Sunday.

“For many Muslim men such as wealthy, aging Saudis, it is easier to buy Syrian children from Turkey, Syria or Jordan as cheap sex slaves.”

The think tank compiled several other reports revealing that many of the women and girls coming from Syria to Turkey’s refugee camps, looking for eventual passage into Europe, are being forced into marriages, and are facing things such as polygamy, sexual harassment, human trafficking, prostitution, and rape.

The report noted the dangers are present not only at the Turkish camps, but everywhere the Syrian refugees are setting in, with young girls between the ages of 15 and 20 being prostituted the most.

“Women who have crossed the border illegally and arrive with no passport are at high risk of being kidnapped and sold as prostitutes or sex slaves. Criminal gangs bring refugees to towns along the border or into the local bus terminals where ‘refugee smuggling’ has become a major source of income,” the report added.

What is more, some Syrian parents are tricked into sending their daughters to what they believe is a better life in Turkey for somewhere between $700-$1,700, but as Abdulhalim Yilmaz, head of Mazlumder’s Refugee Commission pointed out, often times the girls are trafficked into polygamous marriages by Turkish men.

“Some men in Turkey take second or third Syrian wives without even officially registering them. These girls therefore have no legal status in Turkey. Economic deprivation is a major factor in this suffering, but it is also a religious and cultural phenomenon, as early marriage is allowed in the religion,” Yilmaz said.

The European Union has meanwhile reached a deal with Turkey where the Muslim majority nation will take back some of the refugees from Greece in exchange for the EU taking refugees out of Turkey and resettling them elsewhere.

Al Jazeera reported on Monday that the deal has already started being implemented, with over 200 people placed on boats by Greek police and sent back to Turkey.

Some human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have criticized the deal, however, warning that it will lead to further human rights abuses.

“This is the first day of a very difficult time for refugee rights,” Giorgos Kosmopoulos, head of Amnesty International in Greece, told The Associated Press.

“Despite the serious legal gaps and lack of adequate protection in Turkey, the EU is forging ahead with a dangerous deal. Turkey is not a safe third country for refugees. The EU and Greek authorities know this and have no excuse,” he added.

Source : Christian Post

Joey+Rory’s Last Album Remains on Top of Charts as Rory Shares Photo of Joey’s Grave for Fans

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Joey+Rory’s Last Album Remains on Top of Charts as Rory Shares Photo of Joey’s Grave for Fans

JoeyFeej Screenshot, Instagram

Christian Post Report – Joey+Rory’s last album, Hymns That Are Important to Us, remains on the top of country music and Christian charts since Joey’s death last month. Rory Feek chose not to attend Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards and posted the first picture of Joey’s grave for their fans.

The album, which Joey called “God’s record,” took the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, as the 51st ACM awards ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas took a moment to honor Joey, who died last month after a nearly two-year battle with cancer, according to USA Today.

“Joey was more than a wonderful singer and an ACM winning artist along with her husband, Rory. She was a beloved mom, daughter, family member and friend,” Martina McBride said, according to Fox59.

“Of all of the different ways we could honor Joey, what would mean the most to Joey and her family is just for one more time, for all of her fans and all of us who love her to give her a big round of applause,” Darius Rucker was quoted as saying.

The crowd also honored Joey with a standing ovation, even as Rory stayed home with their 2-year-old daughter, Indiana.

The couple was nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year, which went to Florida Georgia Line.

On Saturday morning, Rory shared a photo of his wife’s grave on Instagram.

The picture, taken during sunrise, shows light falling on the cross at Joey’s grave on their farm while her horses stand guard at the fence. As the caption, Rory wrote, “…a bright sunrise will contradict the heavy fog that weighs you down,” lyrics from their song, “When I’m Gone.”

Rory also posted a new update on his blog, titled “Less is More.”

“Indy has not asked for her mama. Not one single time since Joey’s been gone,” he wrote. “It’s almost as if she hasn’t noticed that she’s not here. And that is so sad … and oh, so wonderful — all at the same time.”

Announcing his wife’s death last month, Rory wrote on his blog: “My wife’s greatest dream came true today. She is in Heaven. The cancer is gone, the pain has ceased and all her tears are dry. Joey is in the arms of her beloved brother Justin and using her pretty voice to sing for her Savior.”

He added: “At 2:30 this afternoon, as we were gathered around her, holding hands and praying. … My precious bride breathed her last. And a moment later took her first breath on the other side. Though this is, and has been, a time of many tears of sorrow, it has also been a time of countless tears of joy.”

After the diagnosis in 2014, Joey began seeking chemotherapy. However, her cancer returned last October, which was when they found out that the cancer had already spread to her colon. The doctors then told Rory that she only had six more weeks to live.

Source : Christian Post

Pastor Craig Groeschel’s Series on Most Misinterpreted Bible Verses Tackles Money Is Root of Evil

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Pastor Craig Groeschel’s Series on Most Misinterpreted Bible Verses Tackles Money Is Root of Evil

CraigGroeschel Screenshot

Christian Post Report – Pastor Craig Groeschel preaches on money

Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of the multi-site megachurch Life.Church, headquartered in Oklahoma, tackled in a recent sermon the concept that money is the root of all kinds of evil.

Groeschel, preaching on his series “Twisted: Most Misused Verses of the Bible,” examined 1 Timothy 6:10, which reads, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

He asked, is money really the root of all evil? But the verse says, “love of money,” and not just money, he pointed out and asked, so how do we discern if we love money or not?

He read Ecclesiastes 5:10, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”

The pastor explained that satisfaction with what you have is the key to know if you love money.

To understand 1 Timothy 6:10 better, Groeschel said, we need to look at the context.

So he read verses 6 and 7, which say, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”

The big theme here is not money, but godliness, the pastor argued, and also read verse 8: “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”

Food and clothes, and not also an iPhone or Netflix, he added, jokingly.

“The richest are not the ones who have the most, but those who need the least… Discontentment can make a rich person poor, and contentment can make a poor person rich,” Groeschel said.

Explaining why love for money is dangerous, he read verse 9: “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”

We all know many people who chased money and went away from God, Groeschel said, and added, “Having money is not bad… Loving money is more dangerous than we can even get our minds around.”

Jesus said we can’t serve both God and money, as money can distract us from the real riches that God can give us.

There are two extreme views about money in churches in many countries, Groeschel said.

There is prosperity gospel, which suggests that if you’re godly, have faith and give enough, “God has to make me rich.” Then, there is poverty gospel, which proclaims that if you’re really righteous and love Jesus, you’ll be poor, that you won’t have anything, he said.

Contrary to these two extremes, the pastor pointed out that Deuteronomy 8:18 states, “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth…”

“God will not give you the ability to do something wrong,” Groeschel stressed, and said if you have wealth, you can help a lot of people.

“We don’t apologize for the blessings of God, we maximize the blessings of God… It’s not a sin to have something, it’s sin and dangerous to love money,” he told the listeners.

The pastor then read 1 Timothy 6:17, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

He said many in the United States have technology worth thousands of dollars in their pocket. He added that many have their own transport, and that puts them at the top nine percent of the wealthiest people of the world today.

“We are rich; we are blessed. We don’t apologize for it; we maximize it… We didn’t deserve this; we got born into it… Seriously, you could have been born somewhere else,” he said.

You don’t need more to be happy, he added, and read 1 Timothy 6:17 once again. “Those who are rich,” as the verse mentions, is us.

Sometimes, we put our trust in money because “money promises what only God can provide,” Groeschel said, elaborating that it promises happiness, security and significance. But when we think like that, we’re deceived; we are under the influence of money, he said.

In conclusion, Groeschel said, “Money will not meet your deepest needs. Jesus will meet your deepest needs.”

You will never ever have “enough” money, so desire more of Jesus, he added.

Sometimes, when we have more of Jesus, He gives more of everything else, and we realize that it is not just for us, but we need to bless others with our wealth. That’s when we have the attitude that we have money, but we don’t have to have it as we have riches in Jesus.

He also read 1 Timothy 6:18 to conclude the message, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

Source : Christian Post

Father Thomas Uzhunnalil Not Crucified by ISIS but Alive and ‘Safe,’ Indian Minister Says

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Father Thomas Uzhunnalil Not Crucified by ISIS but Alive and ‘Safe,’ Indian Minister Says

<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Father Tom Uzhunnalil” title=”<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Father Tom Uzhunnalil” name=”jpg” src=”http://images.christianpost.com/full/95168/father-tom-uzhunnalil.jpg” class=”imgPhoto” width=”550″ height=”450″ /> <small class=(Photo: Facebook/ Tom Uzhunnalil)

Christian Post Report – Father Tom Uzhunnalil

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said Catholic priest Tom Uzhunnalil, who was previously feared to have been crucified by the Islamic State on Good Friday, is alive, safe, and efforts are being organized for his release.

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India spokesman Father Gyanprakash Topno told the Press Trust of India that Swaraj met with CBCI delegates and told them that reports claiming Uzhunnalil has been killed are not true.

“Father Tom is safe and efforts are on for his release as early as possible,” Topno said, conveying the minister’s words, adding that the “government will facilitate the priest’s safe return to India.”

Uzhunnalil was kidnapped back in March after Islamic extremists raided a Missionaries of Charity-run retirement home in Aden, Yemen, where they killed 16 people, including four nuns.

Initial reports that the Catholic priest had been killed stem from a statement made by the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, but other Church officials, including Bishop Paul Hinder of Southern Arabia, said that there are “strong indications that Fr. Tom is still alive in the hands of the kidnappers.”

“Cardinal Schönborn has already corrected his statement which he had made on the basis of the wrong statement of Archbishop Moras in Bangalore. Certain media in India are too nervous and curious and not aware that they are playing with the life of Fr. Tom. I cannot say more for the reason I gave in my first sentence (to protect the life of Fr. Tom),” Hinder said last week.

IS has kidnapped thousands of men, women and children across Iraq, Syria, and the surrounding regions, including many Christians and other religious minorities.

Back in March, the United States and several other Western countries officially designated IS’ targeting of minorities and its persecution of Christians as “genocide.”

Despite delivering new hopes for Uzhunnalil’s release, Swaraj said that she will be unable to give further details about the situation.

Some Congress members in India have called on the central government to do more to protect Christians.

“So ISIS allegedly crucified Father Thomas Uzhunnali &BJP gov’t did nothing. Why because he was a Christian?Mr. PM he was also a fellow Indian (sic),” Congress member Manish Tewari said, addressing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, while it was still believed that the priest had been executed.

Vatican leader Pope Francis previously said that he had been left “shocked” by the attack on the retirement home in Yemen.

“His Holiness Pope Francis was shocked and profoundly saddened to learn of the killing of four Missionaries of Charity and 12 others at a home for the elderly in Aden,” Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said at the time.

“He sends the assurance of his prayers for the dead and his spiritual closeness to their families and to all affected from this act of senseless and diabolical violence,” Parolin added.

Source : Christian Post

God’s Not Dead 2 Legal Battles a View of What’s to Come?

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God’s Not Dead 2 Legal Battles a View of What’s to Come?

God's Not Dead 2 (Photo: Pure Flix Entertainment)

Christian Post Report – Film still from “God’s Not Dead 2,” 2016.

There are no special effects or bloody battle scenes featured in “God’s Not Dead 2,” but the movie does depict a war.

“Whether we want to admit it or not we’re at war. The war of Ephesians 6,” David A.R. White says in the film, where he reprises the role of the Rev. Dave from the 2014 prequel “God’s Not Dead.” “If we insist on denying that then we’ve already lost.”

Erik Stanley, a senior legal counsel from Alliance Defending Freedom, has defended clients with cases similar to those showcased in the latest Pure Flix Entertainment Film. In fact, at the end of the film, dozens of real life ADF cases are featured.

Stanley can attest to the fact that “God’s Not Dead 2” is more than entertainment and visualizes the battles that Christians are actually facing.

“It certainly does illustrate a lot of the cases that we at ADF see in the real world every day. We’ve represented a number of different students, teachers, and other Christians who have found that their ability to simply live their faith and share their faith is under attack,” Stanley told The Christian Post. “I think the movie portrays what we’ve seen throughout the years that ADF has been in existence.”

The premise of the movie focuses on multiple battles, the most prominent being one fought by teacher Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart). After the 11th grade history teacher answers one student’s question comparing the teachings of Jesus Christ to that of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, her career is put in jeopardy in the court of law.

With the help of firecracker lawyer Tom Endler (Jesse Metcalfe), Wesley is forced to rely on God as she fights against all odds to defend her faith before a jury.

Stanley, however, says he defends cases like these in real life and believes it is only a taste of what’s to come.

“I think we’re only going to see more of these (cases),” he said. “I believe that the next great battle for religious liberties are going to be fought in the courtrooms of this country for the next decade or so.”

The film foreshadows some of these concerns by introducing a relevant subplot featuring David A.R. White reprising his role as the Rev. Dave.

While Rev. Dave provides comedic relief throughout the film, he is also a part of a group of pastors whose sermons are being subpoenaed. Much like the real life case of pastors in Houston, Texas, who were called upon by their local government officials to submit their sermons for review in 2014, pastors in “God’s Not Dead 2” are faced with the same situation.

Stanley served as the legal counsel defending those Texas pastors and sees similarities between his clients and those in the film.

“They found themselves in the crosshairs of an intimidation tactic by the city that was really meant to silence them. It sent a message of punishment that if you stand up and you speak your beliefs then we will intimidate and silence you,” Stanley told CP. “Now these pastors weren’t intimidated and I think that’s the other flip side of this. The teacher in the movie did stand up for her faith and we see that every day with our clients who stand for their faith.”

For Stanley, there is a definite message in the movie for both those who are aware of the threats of their civil liberties and those who are not.

“I hope there are a couple of messages that people walk away with. Of course this is a movie and this is dramatized but there are actually real cases with real people and there are numbers of them where religious freedom is under attack,” he said. “Secondly, when Christians find themselves in the crosshairs…when they do stand, they can and they do win. So there is an attack but when we stand together we can and do win.”

Newsboys drummer Duncan Phillips makes a cameo appearance in the film along with his popular CCM band members. Phillips expressed his excitement for people to witness a Christian movie discussing a subject matter that is so relevant in today’s society.

“It’s very poignant with what’s happening in our country right now and I think people are going to resonate deeply with this one,” the Newsboys drummer told The Christian Post. “I just can’t wait to see what God’s going to do with this thing.”

Source : Christian Post

Funeral of Muslim Shopkeeper Killed for Wishing Christians ‘Happy Easter’ Attended by Hundreds

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Funeral of Muslim Shopkeeper Killed for Wishing Christians ‘Happy Easter’ Attended by Hundreds

<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Asad Shah” title=”<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Asad Shah” name=”jpg” src=”http://images.christianpost.com/full/95380/asad-shah.jpg” class=”imgPhoto” width=”550″ height=”450″ /> <small class=(Photo: Facebook/Christian Post Report – Asad Shah)

Christian Post Report – Asad Shah

Hundreds of mourners paid their last respects at the funeral of Muslim shopkeeper Christian Post Report – Asad Shah at a mosque in Glasgow, Scotland, on Saturday, days after he was stabbed to death by a fellow Muslim for posting a message on Facebook wishing Christians a happy Easter.

“He was a brilliant man, recognizing that the differences between people are vastly outweighed by our similarities,” Shah’s family said in a tribute at the Bait-Ur-Rahman Mosque at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Centre, according to Independent. “And he didn’t just talk about this, he lived it each and every day, in his beloved community of Shawlands and his country of Scotland.”

Shah, 40, a member of the peaceful Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, was stabbed to death outside his store in the Shawlands area of Glasgow on March 24, the night before Good Friday.

“We are sad that a very popular man of our community is not with us any more,” Abdul Abid, president of the Ahmadiyya community in Scotland, said after the service, which was led by Mansoor Shah, vice president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community U.K. “I don’t know how we will survive without him. He was a polite, gentle person. Today’s service is in his memory and we are proud to have had such a wonderful person amongst our community.”

Those who attended the funeral included members of parliament Alison Thewliss and Carol Monaghan, and Sandra White.

After Shah’s murder, a number of local residents who were frequent customers in his store set up an online donations page on GoFundMe.com and raised about $160,000 to help support the family Shah leaves behind.

Police arrested 32-year-old Tanveer Ahmed, a Sunni Muslim from Bradford and a cab driver, and charged him with Shah’s murder. Police have said it was a “religiously prejudiced” killing.

Before his killing, Shah wrote on his Facebook: “Good Friday and very happy Easter, especially to my beloved Christian nation x! … Lets Follow the Real Footstep of Beloved Holy JESUS CHIRST (PBUH) And Get the Real Success in Both Worlds,” the Facebook post also stated.”

A family friend, Mohammad Faisal, who said he witnessed the incident, earlier told Daily Mail that a bearded man wearing a religious robe entered the shop and spoke to Shah in his native language before ultimately stabbing him in the head with a kitchen knife.

Faisal explained that Shah’s brother, who was working next door when the stabbing happened, rushed to see the commotion and when he came out, he saw the suspect laughing while sitting on top of Shah’s chest.

“The brother dragged Mr. Shah away but the guy continued attacking with the blade,” Faisal said. “They struggled up to the bus stop where Asad collapsed.”

Source : Christian Post

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