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Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead his weekly general audience in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican March 30, 20Christian Post Report – 16.

(Photo: Reuters/Stefano Rellandini)

Faithfuls are checked with metal detectors by Italian policemen before entering Saint Peter’s square to attend the Angelus prayer led by Pope Francis at the Vatican, March 28, 20Christian Post Report – 16.

(Photo: Reuters/Mohsin Raza)

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Christian Post Report – Pastor Rick Warren on the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission panel on “Hobby Lobby and the Future of Religious Liberty,” at the Southern Baptist Convention, Baltimore, Md., June 9, 2014.

Christians can accomplish more here on Earth when they work together, said Pastor Rick Warren who advises believers to follow God’s plan found in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Warren, who heads Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, wrote in his Daily Hope blog post Tuesday that God intended for Christians to do their work as a team, not alone.

“God put us on Earth to do a certain work that only we can do. Ephesians says that God made us to do good works and that he planned in advance what we would spend our lives doing. However, he didn’t plan for us to do that work alone. We need people to work with us,” Warren explains, citing Ecclesiastes 4:9 that reads: “two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together.”

The megachurch pastor then uses the analogy of a snowflake, explaining that snowflakes can have a larger impact if they all join together.

Warren adds that the work done here on Earth is actually practice for the work Christians will do in eternity.

“Did you know that when we work together here on Earth, we’re actually practicing for eternity? In Heaven, we will all have to work, but each of us will have just a small piece of work, so we’ll never get overloaded or tired. Though no one will carry a heavy burden as each one of us does our small part, all the work will still get done,” Warren writes.

“As you walk through life, remember that you’re not supposed to do everything on your own. You need other people to walk alongside you, but you also need other people to work alongside you. As you share the burden of your work with fellow Christians, you’ll find that you actually accomplish more for the glory of God,” the megachurch pastor adds.

Warren has spoken on the importance of teamwork before, writing in May 2014 that success depends on hardwork and teamwork.

“Success is never a one-man job; it takes teamwork,” Warren wrote. “God wired it this way because the most important lesson he wants you to learn here on Earth is to love people. Not only that, there are some things in your life that you will never be able to change without the support, prayers, and encouragement of other people.”

“The stronger your team is, the more you can fulfill your dream,” the megachurch pastor said.

Warren added in a 2015 post that Christians need the support of others to successfully fulfill God’s call to serve.

“We need each other to serve. Nobody has all the talents. Nobody has all the gifts. God did it that way intentionally so that you would need me and I would need you and we would need each other,” the megachurch pastor wrote, citing Romans 12:5 which reads: “Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of [Christ’s] body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we?”

(Photo: Reuters/Eric Henderson)
Christian Post Report – Tim Tebow arrives at the 48th Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, November 5, 2014.

Christian football star Tim Tebow said he’s leaving open the possibility of holding public office at some point in his life.

Tebow, a 28-year-old former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback who is revered in the Christian community and in the state of Florida, was asked about whether or not he has any political aspirations during an interviewwith Ainsley Earhardt on “Fox and Friends” Tuesday.

As Tebow’s professional football career has struggled to gain traction in recent years, having not played in a regular season NFL game since the 2012, Earhardt asked the college football analyst whether he would eventually step into the political arena.

“What about this election cycle, have you thought about politics?” Earhardt asked. “You would be such a good role model for these kids.”

Tebow replied by thanking Earhardt for implying that he would be a great role model and admitted that he finds the idea “intriguing,” but just not right now.

“[The election cycle] has been crazy hasn’t it? It’s been whirlwind watching everything,” Tebow said. “I don’t know [about running for office] at this time in my life.”

Earhardt interjected by asking Tebow if he’s “saying there’s hope.”

“If there is a chance that you can make a difference someday in something, then that would be intriguing,” Tebow said.

Although it is uncertain as to how much potential Tebow’s career in politics would have, Dan Hanzus, a writer for NFL.com opines that Tebow probably would have a decent shot of winning public office should he decide to run in Florida, where he played for the University of Florida.

“Tebow is still just 28 years old, certainly on the younger side for an elevated seat in public office,” Hanzus admits. “That said, the man remains a legendary figure in his native Florida and with the right campaign manager and the proper grooming, who’s to say Tebowmania couldn’t run wild in the political sector?”

Hanzus points out that lack of political experience might not matter when considering the fact that Donald Trump is the Republican frontrunner in the 2016 presidential election.

“We don’t know Tebow’s political leanings — it’s unclear if he even has political leanings — and it’s certainly possible Tebow hadn’t even considered the possibility of a life in politics before a TV reporter brought it up before the back nine,” Hanzus added.

Tebow has already done much in his life to serve the public good.

In December 2014, the The Tim Tebow Foundation announced the opening of Tebow’s CURE Hospital in Davao City, Philippines, which was built to provide critical orthopedic needs to children who are not able to afford medical treatments and procedures.

Last July, the hospital celebrated the fact that it had conducted over 100 surgeries in less than a year since its opening.

In a recent interview with the Florida Times-Union, Tebow explained that doing charity work and helping others throughout life is more important than playing football will ever be.

“It’s not about football. It’s about what we’re doing, through faith, hope and love and the people we serve all over the world,” Tebow told The Florida Times-Union before his sixth annual Tim Tebow Celebrity Golf Classic that took place March 12. “That’s going to be bigger than football every single day of my life.”

Follow Samuel Smith on Twitter: @IamSamSmith

Christian Post Report – Distrust of atheists is “deeply and culturally ingrained” among people, and even many atheists are not able to trust each other, according to a new study carried out by the psychology department at Nottingham Trent University in England.

Published in the International Journal for The Psychology of Religion, the study, “The Robustness of Anti-Atheist Prejudice as Measured by Way of Cognitive Errors,” was conducted with 100 participants from the U.K.

They completed an online experiment in which the participants were asked to read a vignette describing the actions of an untrustworthy individual. They were then asked to make a judgment with regards to the untrustworthy individual’s identity.

Half of the participants were asked to say whether it was more probable that the man was (a) a teacher or (b) a teacher and religious. The other half were asked to say whether they thought it was more likely that the man was (a) a teacher or (b) a teacher and an atheist, according to Research Digest.

According to the results, 66 percent said the man was likely a teacher and an atheist. The participants were asked the same question again after being informed about the proportions of the population who are religious or atheist, the Digest said, adding that the information made little difference in the participants’ perception.

The study shows that “anti-atheist prejudice is not confined either to dominantly religious countries or to religious individuals, but rather appears to be a robust judgment about atheists.”

A total of 43 percent of the contributors were atheist, 33 percent were Christian and the remainder belonged to other faiths, according to the Independent, which said the findings “suggest anti-atheist distrust is deeply and culturally ingrained regardless of an individual’s group membership,” and added that even many atheists were found to have an instinctual distrust of each other.

About 13 percent of people in Britain identify themselves as atheists.

Professor Leah Giddings and Thomas Dunn, who led the study, were quoted as saying, “Looking to the future, it is also important to explore how these perceptions and attitudes toward atheists manifest behaviourally, whether people act on these prejudices and in what contexts. It is only once the nature and extent of the issue is better understood that we can take measures to address it.”

(Photo: Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri)
Christian Post Report – Activists from a Muslim group pray for the victims of the attacks in Paris, in Kolkata, India, November 18, 2015.

A tutor in northern India allegedly killed his 11-year-old student for refusing to join the Islamic State terror group, according to the victim’s family.

The victim, identified as Ravi Pal, a class 3 student from Kaserua Khurd village in Uttar Pradesh state’s Allahabad district, was choked to death by his tutor, identified only as Irfan, according to Asia News International.

The student’s father said Irfan was pressuring his son to join IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and killed him after the victim refused to do so.

The victim’s sister said Irfan called his brother promising to give a bicycle on March 19, and he went missing ever since.

Police found Ravi’s body lying in a nearby field on Tuesday, and had a medical examiner perform an autopsy on the boy.

Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar was quoted as saying that the family didn’t mention the boy was being pressured to join a terror group.

The victim was Hindu, and his tutor is apparently a Muslim.

IS isn’t known to be active in India. Although home to the third largest Muslim population in the world, the Muslim minority in India is not seen as a fertile ground for recruitment by the terror group.

Muslims and Christians are persecuted in India by extreme Hindu nationalist groups.

Terrorist attacks in India have been blamed mostly on terror groups based in neighboring Pakistan.

However, IS has reportedly been looking to target India.

An internal recruitment document of IS, procured by the American Media Institute, revealed that the terror group is preparing to attack India to provoke an Armageddon-like confrontation with the U.S., USA Today reported last July.

“Even if the U.S. tries to attack with all its allies, which undoubtedly it will, the ummah (Muslims) will be united, resulting in the final battle,” there document said.

Recently, seven Indian companies figured in a list of 51 commercial entities from 20 countries that have supplied, mostly unknowingly, components used by IS to construct improvised explosive devices, according to a study conducted by Conflict Armament Research.

The Indian firms were mostly found to be manufacturing detonators, detonating cords and safety fuses, the study said, noting that the components were all “legally exported” under government-issued licences from India to entities in Lebanon and Turkey, according to The Indian Express.

Christian Post Report – 1

(Photo: Reuters/Mohsin Raza)

Family members touch a coffin of a relative, who was killed in a blast outside a public park on Sunday, during a funeral in Lahore, Pakistan, March 28, 20Christian Post Report – 16.

(Photo: Reuters/Map)

Maps of Pakistan and Lahore locating a suicide bomb attack that killed dozens of people in a park on Sunday.

(Photo: Reuters/Mohsin Raza)

(Photo: Reuters/Francois Lenoir)
Christian Post Report – A man places flowers on a street memorial following Tuesday’s bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2016.

Chaplains and relief workers for the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team have shared the many ways they’re helping victims of terror in Brussels, Belgium, where 32 people were killed in an attack last week, along with conversations they’ve been having about Jesus Christ and eternal life.

Jeff Naber, one of the crisis-trained chaplains with the RRT, talked about the emotional and spiritual care that is being offered to the shaken-up citizens and victims of the bombings at the Brussels airport and metro train, for which the Islamic State terror group has taken responsibility for.

While looking for lighters to give to people lighting candles at a memorial set up for the victims, he met a Spanish man by the name of Jorge, who was walking by with his dog.

“Coming back from the store, and I run across this guy walking this huge dog,” Naber said in a statement. “One thing leads to another, and we start talking about God. He said, ‘I don’t know if you need to know Jesus in order to have eternal life.’ I explained the Gospel message using the Steps to Peace and he accepted Christ about an hour ago.”

Naber reflected that tensions in the Belgium capital are still high a week after the terror attack, noting that locals have an “overwhelming perception that something else is coming.”

He added that the people the RRT chaplains spoke with were “somewhat cautious” when God’s name was brought up, but said they were still able to pray with several people and reach out to support local churches.

Two of the people Naber prayed with were soldiers working 12-hour shifts patrolling the area, with police and security presence remaining high in the city.

“No one expects things to just go away now,” Naber said. “Everyone expects something to happen soon, within days even. I hope that doesn’t happen. Everybody says they hope that doesn’t happen.

“There’s a lot of strife, but if you look at John 16:33 you’ll see where Jesus says, “In this world, you’re going to be faced with trials and troubles, but take heart because I have overcome the world.”

“And that’s our message,” he added.

The RRT has been operating since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the U.S., and sends response teams to offer comfort and relief to victims of natural disasters and tragedies predominately across America, but also other places around the world.

The official Facebook page of the organization has been posting updates and photos of the relief work in Brussels.

In an earlier update, Jack Munday, international director of the RRT, said that all of Brussels had been traumatized by the deadly attack.

“They are suffering grief, and our mission would be to work alongside the churches of Brussels, to follow the model of Christ where He went to the people,” Munday said.

(Photo: Facebook/ Tom Uzhunnalil)
Christian Post Report – Father Tom Uzhunnalil

Conflicting news reports surrounding the fate of Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, a Catholic priest kidnapped by the Islamic State terror group and believed to have been crucified on Good Friday, have given hope that he might still be alive.

Although Austrian news reports said the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, claimed during Easter vigil mass that the 56-year-old priest has been killed, Bishop Paul Hinder of Southern Arabia announced earlier this week that he has “strong indications that Fr. Tom is still alive in the hands of the kidnappers.”

Hinder reportedly told Catholic News Agency that his hopes remain high that Uzhunnalil has not been killed, though could not give any further information in order to protect the life of the priest.

Hinder also claimed that Schönborn had gotten the wrong information, and has since corrected his statement.

“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 added.

Uzhunnalil, a priest from Bangalore, India, was kidnapped earlier in March by IS-linked terrorists who raided a Missionaries of Charity-run retirement home in Aden, Yemen, where they killed 16 people, including four nuns.

The only information about Uzhunnalil came from a witness who said the militants took the priest in a car and drove away.

IS has been carrying out what the U.S. and other major nations have recognized as genocide against Christians, Yazidis, and other minorities in Iraq and Syria, often forcing people to convert to their version of Islam, pay a tax, or face death.

Even as rumors that the priest had been crucified on Good Friday swirled online, Father C.P. Varghese of Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church and Father Mike Pampara of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Gothenburg, Nebraska, expressed hopes that the information is wrong.

“We worked in the same province until I came over to the United States,” Father Varghese said.

Father Pampara added: “We grew up together. We hope the social media that gave the news, we hope it is really wrong. We hope it is not true. We hope and pray that because really it is not confirmed there’s still no body who’s claimed responsibility so we are not sure what is happening.”

On Wednesday, Indian bishops called on the Indian government to verify what has happened to Uzhunnalil, UCA News reported.

The Indian bishop’s conference also noted that confusion surrounding Uzhunnalil’s fate is causing great distress to his family back home.

“We want the government to urgently intervene to find out the real fate” of the priest, said Father Joseph Chinnayan, deputy secretary-general of the national bishops’ conference.

The bishops added in a letter: “This really upsets us, and brings agony to his relatives and concern among us all.”

The letter also claimed that the Vatican have stepped up their diplomatic efforts to try and secure the priest’s freedom, if he is found to still be alive.

(Photo: Reuters/Jay Paul)
Christian Post Report – Colin Ragsdale (standing L) prays with friends during a worship service before U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) delivers an address to Liberty University students in Lynchburg, Virginia, September 14, 2015.

A Pennsylvania pastor and radio host is leading the charge for a National Week of Repentance planned for April 3-10, calling for revival by first asking Americans to admit their personal and collective sins.

“We’ve lost our way,” said Godfactor founder and Grace Fellowship lead pastor Michael Anthony. “Our nation is a collection of broken things — lives, families and houses of worship. It’s time for healing restoration and genuine spiritual awakening.”

The event is being described as the first simultaneous, unified gathering of its kind in American history, enabling people in all 50 states (and territories) to seek God in a manner true to 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 and Joel 2:12-17.

“It’s designed so that everyone, everywhere can participate,” organizers stated. “You don’t have to get in a car or a plane to participate. Wherever you are, no matter what you’re going through, you can join in and truly be part of a historic movement of God and people.”

The national event is scheduled to launch from Anthony’s church in York, where more than 400 people have made decisions to follow Christ as savior in the last three years.

Organizers said that despite the much-debated political platforms of the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, Anthony decided to examine his own life, family, marriage and church to indicate where change should begin in America.

“Real revival starts with each of us,” he said. “2 Chronicles 7:13-14 makes it clear that true revival and spiritual awakening are the greatest need at this key time in America’s history and future. It’s a burden of mine and I feel it’s absolutely urgent.”

Anthony’s discouragement peaked last year with all the complaints about the nation’s moral decline, racial unrest, financial collapse, fear, hatred and void of leadership — mere symptoms he associated with “a larger spiritual problem plaguing our nation’s soul.” Then, in the absence of a clear call to action, he felt burdened to search the Bible for solutions and was led to launch the National Week of Repentance and solemn assemblies, according to Joel 2 in the Old Testament of the Bible.

“A deeper walk with God is always tied to repentance,” he said in a recent interview. “That is why the National Week of Repentance is so significant. We want God’s blessing. We want revival. The way that God says that revival happened is always tied to repentance. If you read about the Azusa Street Revival you’ll see that people were calling out to the Lord in repentance. You read about the Asbury Revival — repentance. There’s no real revival in history, and I’m not talking about a revival the way they do it down South, I’m talking about biblical revival, without repentance.”

He added, “Repentance for the Christ follower is something we have to do initially and then we do perpetually.”

Those wanting to participate can download free action guides and view livestream broadcasts of Anthony teaching in-depth messages and practical application to help people repent wherever they are.

Livestream dates and times are: Sunday morning, April 3, 2016 from 9:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. EST, Sunday evening, April 3, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. EST, and Sunday morning, April 10, 2016 from 9:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. EST.

Alex Murashko is currently working with One Ten Pictures as an associate producer, developing and working on projects that include stories about people and organizations making a difference in this world as ambassadors for Christ. He previously was a Church & Ministry Editor/Reporter for The Christian Post. He also worked at the Los Angeles Times Orange County Edition and at the Press Enterprise in its Southwest Riverside County bureau. Website: AlexMurashko.com.

(Photo: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)
Christian Post Report – Cast member Chris Pratt attends the premiere of “Jurassic World” in Hollywood, California, June 9, 2015.

Actor Chris Pratt spent time working on something larger than life Easter Sunday, and it didn’t involve an action movie superhero.

Pratt celebrated Easter by helping to erect a huge wooden cross atop a hill. The 36-year-old “Jurassic World” actor chronicled the process on Instagram, sharing step-by-step captioned photos that included picking the perfect spot, dragging the cross out to its location, taking a rest, digging a hole, putting the cross in place and leveling it, backfilling the hole with cement, and enjoying the finished product.

The actor, who is currently filming “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” has been consistently vocal about his Christian faith, especially after the premature birth of his son, Jack, who was born nine weeks early and weighed only 3 pounds.

“We were scared for a long time,” Pratt previously told People about him and his wife, actress Anna Farris, regarding the month that their son spent in ICU. “We prayed a lot.”

(Photo: Instagram/Chris Pratt)
Actor Chris Pratt helped to erect a large cross atop a hill on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016.

The actor says the ordeal redefined his faith in God. “It restored my faith in God, not that it needed to be restored, but it really redefined it,” said Pratt. “The baby was so beautiful to us, and I look back at the photos of him and it must have been jarring for other people to come in and see him, but to us he was so beautiful and perfect.” Today baby Jack is 3 years old.

Pratt has said in past interviews that his relationship with Christ began at 19. Back in 2014 he told Esquire magazine that on a night that he had intended to hang out with friends, illegally drink alcohol and probably even do drugs, he encountered a man in a bar who said he was directed by God to intervene.

“He was like, ‘I stopped because Jesus told me to stop and talk to you,'” Pratt told Esquire. “‘He said to tell you you’re destined for great things.’ My friends came out, and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna go with this guy.’ I gave my soul to Jesus within, like, two days. I was stuffing envelopes for his organization, Jews for Jesus. I’m not even sure, at that age — I was 19 years old — I knew what Jewish was.”

The man’s prophecy didn’t take long to unfold. One month later, Pratt was discovered by a film director while he was waiting tables at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant, and he traveled to California to star in the 2000 horror comedy “Cursed Part III.”

While Pratt believes in fate, his rise to stardom wasn’t as easy at it might seem. “I do believe in destiny. I’m lucky,” said Pratt. “But I didn’t walk into 7-Eleven, buy a scratch ticket, scratch it off, and star in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.'”

Follow me on Twitter: @kevindonporter

Pope Calls on Pakistan to Protect Christians in Aftermath of Lahore Terror Attack

Rick Warren: Christians Can Accomplish More for the Glory of God If They Work Together

Tim Tebow Mulling Future Career in Politics

Atheists Widely Distrusted, Even Among Themselves, UK Study Finds

Muslim Man Accused of Killing 11-Y-O Student in India for Refusing to Join ISIS

Pakistan Arrests Over 200 Suspects in Crackdown on Terrorists Amid Easter Bombing Attack

Catholic Priest Father Thomas Uzhunnalil Reportedly ‘Crucified’ by ISIS Still Alive?

Godfactor Founder Plans Nationwide Week of Repentance, Says America Needs Genuine Spiritual Awakening

Actor Chris Pratt Builds Giant Cross to Celebrate Easter

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