Joyce Meyer Makes Big Change In Teaching Ministry!

CM Editor
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Joyce Meyer Makes Big Change In Teaching Ministry!
Joyce Meyer Ministries is pleased to announce an official re-launch of its weekly program under the new name: ‘Everyday Answers with Joyce Meyer’. The program will broadcast nationwide starting the week of February 14, 2016.

“Our weekly program will continue to feature Joyce’s practical Bible teaching, but with the addition of targeted answers to specific life questions and stories of real-life application,” says Ginger Stache, Chief Media Officer for Joyce Meyer Ministries.

On this weekly program, Meyer will focus on a specific question each time and dig out the answer for you from God’s Word. Viewers even hear encouraging stories from people who are applying those answers to their lives.

“We’ve also added a dynamic social media component to provide a relevant way to interact with our audience while discussing the practical, life-applications for each teaching,” Stache says.

It’s this social media engagement that enhances the revamped weekly program. Viewers are encouraged to submit questions to the program by using the hashtag #askjoyce or through the website www.joycemeyer.org/ea.

The Ministry’s daily program, Joyce Meyer’s Enjoying Everyday Life, will continue as always in its same format.

Through the teachings and calling God has given to Joyce as well as through the support of our friends and partners, Joyce Meyer Ministries has been able to share God’s love and the life-changing message of the Bible with the world through TV, radio, the web, various media productions, live conferences and missions outreaches around the world.

Source : Praise World Radio / Chrisma News

Former Saddleback Pastor Carries on Legacy of Late Young Daughter by Bringing Joy to Cancer Patients

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Former Saddleback Pastor Carries on Legacy of Late Young Daughter by Bringing Joy to Cancer Patients

Christian Post Report – Jessie Rees poses with her father, Erik, after he baptized her at Saddleback Church.

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. (Christian Examiner) — Erik Rees couldn’t stop helping pediatric cancer patients find joy if he wanted to — which of course he doesn’t.

“I’m addicted to seeing kids fighting cancer smile,” Rees said, echoing the words of his former boss, Rick Warren, who likes to say he’s addicted to changed lives.

Erik’s five-year journey from a staff pastor at one of the United States’ largest churches to leading a foundation designed to help children suffering from cancer began with the news no parent ever wants to get.

His soon-to-be 12-year-old girl, Jessie, had brain cancer

At the time, Rees served as Saddleback Church’s pastor of ministry and was quickly becoming one of the evangelical world’s most sought after voices in ministry leadership and ministry development. But the news in March of 2011 that his daughter had brain cancer forever changed the trajectory of his life.

For the next ten months and two days, Erik and Stacey Rees — along with their two other children — helped Jessie through the fight of her young life.

They quickly got Jessie involved in a clinical trial that consisted of 30 rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. Because her therapy was outpatient in nature, they took her each week to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County [CHOC].

As the family left CHOC following Jessie’s third week of treatment, Jessie asked her parents when the other kids get to come home.

“We had to educate her that there are kids fighting cancer that have different diagnoses than hers and some of them stay days, some stay weeks, some stay months and, unfortunately, some of the Leukemia kids can stay over a year,” Erik said.

Jessie’s question from the backseat of their car has changed the life of the whole family.

“How can we help?” Jessie asked.

Still reeling from the revelation of their daughter’s cancer, the couple said little at first. When the family arrived at home, Jessie had gotten out some of her paper lunch bags and started decorating them with stickers and writing encouraging phrases on them such as, “Get Well” and “Believe.”

When Erik asked Jessie what she was doing, she told him she wanted to put her Beanie Babies into the bags and deliver them to patients at CHOC. That weekend JoyJars© were born. Jessie’s middle name was Joy, and the jars provided a sturdier container than the paper bags. Brightly colored and stuffed with little toys, Jessie’s jars weren’t designed to cure cancer—but to cure cancer’s most devastating ailment, hopelessness.

The family went to the Internet to buy the toys and put together the jars in their garage, which they dubbed as “The Joy Factory.”

“To be honest, whatever she wanted to do, I was going to make it happen because I knew there was a clock ticking,” Rees said. “If she wanted to take toys to other kids, I was going to find a way to do it, like any parent would.”

When one of her friends urged her to “Never ever give up,” Jessie had a slogan that would not only characterize her battle against cancer, it was a phrase she’d pass on to countless other kids as she passed out the JoyJars.

Over the next few months, Jessie and her friends made and distributed 3,000 JoyJars. In the book Never Ever Give Up that Erik wrote chronicling Jessie’s story, he admitted that the JoyJars effort was first a way to take Jessie’s mind off of cancer and give her something positive to focus upon, but he soon realized that the whole family benefited from the effort.

 To read the full article, click here.

 

Source : Christian Post

Joseph Fiennes on ‘Risen’ Movie, ‘I Think We Got it Right’ (Interview)

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Joseph Fiennes on ‘Risen’ Movie, ‘I Think We Got it Right’ (Interview)

Christian Post Report – Joseph Fiennes (L) and Tom Felton as Roman soldiers Clavius and Lucius in a scene from “Risen.”

CHICAGO (Christian Examiner) – The New Testament doesn’t reveal Pilate’s reaction when he learned of Jesus’ resurrection, although Christians throughout the centuries have wondered what he would have done.

A new movie that hits theaters Feb. 19 surmises that Pilate likely would have ordered a region-wide search for the body of Christ, dismissing claims of the resurrection and fearing an uprising against his leadership.

The film is “Risen” (PG-13), and it follows a Roman military officer by the name of Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), an unbeliever who is tasked by Pilate to find the body before Christ’s followers exploit what Pilate thinks is a hoax.

“You will track down each and every one of these disciples,” Pilate orders him.

Clavius, though, finds not a lifeless body but the living Christ, forcing him to re-examine his entire worldview.

“Risen,” of course, is biblical fiction, but it’s a story its creators hope will encourage and inspire Christians in their faith, a mere five weeks prior to Easter.

Fiennes has more than 25 films to his credit but may be most well-known among the Christian audience for his portrayal of Martin Luther in the 2003 film “Luther.”

The Christian Examiner spoke recently with Fiennes about “Risen.” The following is a transcript, edited for clarity:

Christian Examiner: How did you get involved in this project?

Joseph Fiennes: I got a phone call saying (director) Kevin Reynolds was in Spain and would like to meet me; I was in Spain at the same time. I flew over and met him in an airport lounge, and we had at least a two-hour chat. In the end, he very kindly offered me the part. We hit it off. We spoke at length about the balance between Scripture and the fictionalized character of Clavius, which you could say is derived from certain historical characters. I think we got it right, and it seems there’s an overwhelmingly positive reaction from theologians and Christian ministers from whom we sought council during filming and the editing process. I’m just a small component in that. It’s like a detective story. Clavius goes on this mission, and on that mission, his conditioning and his understanding of the world as he knows it is undone, irrevocably. That was a big challenge, really, to get that believability to the character and also to remain true to Scripture and also to make it a great cinematic event.

CE: So how many years did it take to make this film?

Fiennes: I believe the actual writing process took several years, in terms of the idea and then developing the idea. For my part, the filming itself was three and a half months between Malta and Spain. With the cinematography and the locations and the casting, you really feel as you’ve been picked up and dropped off in this very authentic landscape. That’s a huge success with the film.

CE: This is at least your second film about the history of Christianity. What attracts you to these types of faith-based films?

Fiennes: I never really look at them as faith-based. I just look at them as films which speak to me, and somehow it strikes a chord. I don’t know why I gravitate toward them or them to me – if it’s coincidence or if it’s conscience. …

To read the full interview, click here

Source : Christian Post

Church of England: Our Prayers for Richard Dawkins Are Sincere, Not ‘Trolling’

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Church of England: Our Prayers for Richard Dawkins Are Sincere, Not ‘Trolling’

Christian Post Report – Well-known atheist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins speaks to the crowd during the “Rock Beyond Belief” festival at Fort Bragg army base in North Carolina, March 31, 2012.

The Church of England says there was nothing insincere about sending prayers for Richard Dawkins, who recently suffered a stroke, and argued that the famed atheist professor has more “nuanced” views than some would suspect.

The official CofE twitter account sent a message on Friday stating “Prayers for Prof Dawkins and his family,” in reference to the evolutionary biologist suffering a minor stroke on Saturday, which forced him to cancel a planned tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The tweet apparently stirred a great deal of discussion and debate on social media, and in a blog post over the weekend the Rev. Arun Arora, director of communications for the Archbishops’ Council, even acknowledged that some accused the Church of “trolling” and being insincere in its prayers.

“What is clear in some of the responses is a misunderstanding of what prayer is, who does it and who it is for,” Arora wrote, before explaining the CofE’s long history of praying for society and for people in the public sphere.

“Some of the twitter reaction assumed that Christians only pray for other Christians. In fact Christians pray for all kinds of people. They pray for their friends and families. They pray for their community,” he wrote.

“They pray for the government (of whatever persuasion). They pray for terrorists, kidnappers, hostage takers. They pray for criminals as well as giving thanks for saints. Poets write poetry, musicians play music, Christians pray. And they love,” Arora added.

He also said that many other people had indeed recognized the tweet for what it was, namely “a genuine tweet offering prayer for a public person who was unwell.”

As for Dawkins, the CofE spokesman said that it is “hardly surprising” that the two don’t see eye to eye on a number of issues, but said that does not stop the Church from extending prayers for him.

“There is a danger of reducing him to a one trick pony. His views are more nuanced that both supporters and detractors would usually acknowledge,” Arora said, and noted that Dawkins backed the Church of England’s case in November for screening ads advocating for prayer at leading cinemas in the U.K., which were banned out of fear of “offending” people.

He also dismissed the idea that Christians do nothing but hate on Dawkins, and noted that the atheist author has had a number of good-natured meetings and conversations with Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

“I wish professor Dawkins well. I hope he makes swift and full recovery and wish him the best of health. I will pray for him too. It is the very least I can do,” Arora concluded.

Dawkins meanwhile updated his supporters about his condition on Friday, noting that he spent four days in hospital after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke, but is now getting better.

Source : Christian Post

Pope Francis, Patriarch Kirill Say in Historic Meeting in Cuba: ‘We’re Brothers’

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Christian Post Report – Pope Francis prays during his visit to the Lutheran church in Rome, November 15, 2015.

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill met for more than two hours and signed a joint declaration in Havana, Cuba, marking the first meeting between the heads of the Roman Catholic and the Russian Orthodox churches in nearly 1,000 years and declaring they are “brothers.”

“We spoke as brothers. We have the same baptism. We are bishops. We spoke of our Churches,” Pope Francis said after his meeting with the patriarch, according to Catholic News Agency. “We agreed that unity is created by journeying together.”

The two leaders focused on “a series of initiatives that I believe are viable and can be realized,” the pope said after the meeting, which took place Friday during the pontiff’s brief stop in Cuba prior to his five-day visit to Mexico.

The leaders of the largest churches in the West and the East hadn’t spoken since the split in 1054.

The pope told Patriarch Kirill before the meeting “we’re brothers. It’s clear that this is the will of God.”

Patriarch Kirill said the meeting involved an open discussion “with full awareness of the responsibility of our Churches, for the future of Christianity, and for the future of human civilization,” and gave them “the opportunity to understand and hear the positions of the other.”

“The results of this allow me to assure you that the two Churches will continue to work closely together with Christians in all the world, and with full responsibility to work together against war, so that human life can develop in the entire world,” the patriarch was quoted as saying.

“I do not wish to go forth from here without expressing my sense of gratitude for Cuba and for the Cuban people and for their president Raul Castro,” Pope Francis said. “I thank him for his acts of openness and readiness to give space for this, these talks of unity.”

After their meeting, they signed a joint declaration covering several topics, including Christian unity, the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and growing secularism in Europe, according to Vatican Radio.

“Mindful of the permanence of many obstacles, it is our hope that our meeting may contribute to the re–establishment of this unity willed by God, for which Christ prayed. May our meeting inspire Christians throughout the world to pray to the Lord with renewed fervour for the full unity of all His disciples. In a world which yearns not only for our words but also for tangible gestures, may this meeting be a sign of hope for all people of goodwill!” the declaration said.

“We call upon the international community to act urgently in order to prevent the further expulsion of Christians from the Middle East. In raising our voice in defence of persecuted Christians, we wish to express our compassion for the suffering experienced by the faithful of other religious traditions who have also become victims of civil war, chaos and terrorist violence,” it said.

“We are concerned about the situation in many countries in which Christians are increasingly confronted by restrictions to religious freedom, to the right to witness to one’s convictions and to live in conformity with them. In particular, we observe that the transformation of some countries into secularized societies, estranged from all reference to God and to His truth, constitutes a grave threat to religious freedom. It is a source of concern for us that there is a current curtailment of the rights of Christians, if not their outright discrimination, when certain political forces, guided by an often very aggressive secularist ideology, seek to relegate them to the margins of public life.”

Source : Christian Post