Emanuel AME Church Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

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Emanuel AME Church Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Christian Post Report – A crowd gathers outside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church after a prayer vigil nearby in Charleston, South Carolina, June 19, 2015.

A group of politicians from Illinois have nominated the Emanuel AME Church of Charleston, South Carolina, where nine people were brutally gunned down during a Bible study last June, for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Thornton Township, Illinois, supervisor Frank Zuccarelli noted in a WBBM-TV report Monday that the nomination was inspired by the stunning decision of the church family to forgive the accused killer of the nine and avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof, just days after the attack.

“If anyone was responsible for promoting the peace, it was Mother Emanuel and the church leadership,” said Zuccarelli, who traveled to Charleston with other politicians in the aftermath of the attack, according to The Post and Courier. “They demonstrated more love, peace and forgiveness than we have ever seen before. … They are a great example for us all to follow.”

The church was nominated by four U.S. congressmen from Illinois, a state senator, and U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. An Illinois state senator, two college professors and Clyburn also signed on, explained the Courier report.

Zuccarelli and politicians, including U.S. Reps. Bobby Rush and Robyn Kelly, submitted Emanuel’s nomination Saturday to meet Tuesday’s nomination deadline, according to goupstate.

“In some other city, an incident of such hatred and racist horror might have sparked an outpouring of anger, violence and divisiveness — driving crowds into the streets in clashes with each other and police. Instead, something unexpected happened — an outpouring of unity and forgiveness,” explained the Nobel Peace Prize for Charleston petition on the Thornton Township website.

“The entire community of Charleston — church, ordinary citizens, political leaders, business leaders and law enforcement, came together to support those families who lost loved ones. They came together in a spirit of forgiveness, love and peace — not anger or hatred,” it said.

Liz Alston, the Emanuel historian who contributed to the entry, told The Post and Courier that she and other members of the church were in awe of the nomination’s significance. U.S. President Barack Obama received the Nobel Prize in 2009 during the first year of his presidency, and Al Gore, the former vice president, was honored for his advocacy on climate change.

“The mere fact that the church is in the same realm as Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the highest honors,” Alston said. “That our church contributed to peace in this world is just phenomenal, and it’s unequaled in Charleston history.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which has five members, usually receives more than 200 nominations that are kept secret for 50 years, says the Courier. Lawmakers of national governments and past winners can make nominations.

The first judging meeting for the nominations will be on Feb. 29.

Source : Christian Post

Christians Among Happiest of All Faith Groups, Non-Religious the Least, Survey Reveals

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Christians Among Happiest of All Faith Groups, Non-Religious the Least, Survey Reveals
Christian Post Report – Messengers at the 2015 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting worship together in between small group and corporate prayer time during the June 16 evening session dedicated to prayer at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Statistics from Britain’s national happiness index have suggested that Christians are among the happiest people the nation, while those who don’t identify with any particular religion generally scored the lowest life satisfaction numbers.

The Office for National Statistics posted numbers pertaining to several happiness and life satisfaction questions measured between April 2012 and March 2015.

The study, released Tuesday, found that Christians, with all denominations grouped together, reported an average mean of life satisfaction at 7.60. This was the highest mean in the table, alongside Hindus, who also posted the same number. The groups with the lowest average score were the non-religious at 7.41, and the “any other religion” group, at 7.31.

When it came to the question of whether life is worthwhile, Jews and Christians were on an average most likely to answer yes, at 7.90 and 7.86 mean respectively. The non-religious were at the lowest end of the scale, with a 7.58 mean.

Similar results were also marked in the general happiness question, with Hindus and Christians scoring the highest average means, at 7.57 and 7.47 respectively. Once again the non-religious had the lowest number, at 7.22.

The detailed survey, which had a sample size of 304,740 people, explored the questions in a variety of other categories as well, including geographic locations within the U.K., age groups and health status.

The statistics showed that the 65 to 79 age group was the happiest of all, while those aged 45 to 59 reported the lowest levels of life satisfaction.

As for the religious group results, Dr. Paul McLaren, a consultant psychiatrist at the Priory Hospitals, said that faith can indeed be a protective factor for many people.

“With it usually comes strong social support which is a recognized protective factor against psychological trauma,” McLaren said, according to The Telegraph.

Other studies in the past, such as a December 2014 release by the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture, have also found that there is a strong link between happiness and religion.

The results found that 45 percent of those who attend church weekly would describe themselves as “very happy,” while only 28 percent of those who never attend said the same.

On the other end of the scale, 4 percent of those who never attend church said they were “very unhappy,” compared to 2 percent of those that attend weekly.

“Greater levels of church attendance predict higher life satisfaction even when we account for how important religious faith is in people’s lives,” the study said at the time.

“This result offers tentative evidence that actual integration into a religious support network through attendance at religious services may in part be responsible for the increased happiness observed among religious people.”

Source : Christian Post

LGBT Activist Now Supports Irish Bakery’s Right to Refuse to Make Pro-Gay Marriage ‘Bert and Ernie’ Cake

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LGBT Activist Now Supports Irish Bakery’s Right to Refuse to Make Pro-Gay Marriage ‘Bert and Ernie’ Cake
Christian Post Report – Daniel McArthur (C) general manager of Ashers bakery involved in a “gay cake” legal dispute speaks to the media outside Laganside court in Belfast. March 26, 2015. Ashers refused to make a cake bearing a pro-gay marriage slogan on it which was to be given to Andrew Muir, Northern Ireland’s first openly gay mayor. The bakers refused to make the cake on the grounds that it contradicted their religious beliefs according to local media.

A gay rights activist who previously favored prosecuting an Irish bakery for refusing to make a pro-gay marriage cake has changed his mind on the matter.

Peter Tatchell, a prominent LGBT activist in the U.K., penned a column for the Guardian that was published Monday in which he took to defending the rights of Ashers Bakery in Belfest, Northern Ireland.

Tatchell stated that while he disagreed with Ashers’ opposition to homosexuality, he nevertheless believed that the business had a right to refuse to make a pro-gay marriage cake.

“Much as I wish to defend the gay community, I also want to defend freedom of conscience, expression and religion,” wrote Tatchell.

“In my view, it is an infringement of freedom to require businesses to aid the promotion of ideas to which they conscientiously object. Discrimination against people should be unlawful, but not against ideas.”

Bert and Ernie (Photo: The Christian Institute Youtube screenshot)Bert and Ernie “support gay marriage” cake turned down by U.K. Christian bakery, facing threat of legal action in June 2014.

Tatchell also argued that the initial ruling against the bakery last year, which included fining them about 500 pounds, “sets a worrying precedent” that may lead to many troubling incidents.

“This raises the question: should Muslim printers be obliged to publish cartoons of Mohammed? Or Jewish ones publish the words of a Holocaust denier? Or gay bakers accept orders for cakes with homophobic slurs?” continued Tatchell.

“If the Ashers verdict stands it could, for example, encourage far-right extremists to demand that bakeries and other service providers facilitate the promotion of anti-migrant and anti-Muslim opinions. It would leave businesses unable to refuse to decorate cakes or print posters with bigoted messages.”

In 2014, Ashers Bakery was taken to court by LGBT activist Gareth Lee for their refusal to bake a pro-gay marriage cake featuring Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie.

Last May a Belfast County Court judge found the owners of Ashers guilty of discrimination, concluding that while the employees had “genuine and deeply held” religious beliefs, as a business they were not exempt from anti-discrimination law.

Ashers’ General Manager Daniel McArthur told BBC News following the May ruling that their refusal had nothing to do with Lee’s sexual orientation, but rather the specific message he wanted on the cake.

“We’ve said from the start that our issue was with the message on the cake, not with the customer and that we didn’t know what the sexual orientation of Mr Lee was, and it wasn’t relevant either,” said McArthur.

“The ruling suggests that all business owners will have to be willing to promote any cause or campaign, no matter how much they disagree with it.”

Tatchell’s column comes the same week that the Ashers Bakery owners have a hearing before an appellate court in Belfast.

Source : Christian Post

Hip-Hop Producer DJ Cooley Shares Testimony on Trading in the Clubs for Christ

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Hip-Hop Producer DJ Cooley Shares Testimony on Trading in the Clubs for Christ

Christian Post Report – New Jersey Rapper Fetty Wap poses with DJ Cooley.

Christian rapper DJ Cooley is sharing his testimony in a 6-minute video on YouTube in which he talks about his experiences in the hip-hop industry since the age of 15, and the moment that led him to fully seek God.

Cooley says that while he was partying and drinking during the week he was still going to church on Sundays but was beginning to feel convicted for the lifestyle he was leading.

“I was doing that stuff all week long and still going to church on Sunday. That’s crazy,” He admits. “You know how that goes, you have flexing Fridays, syrup sippin’ Saturdays, then you trying to be sanctified on Sunday. That was me.”

As he sat in church week after week, listening to sermon after sermon, the Camden, New Jersey-native said it “finally hit him.” A battle raged within him every time the pastor made an altar call and he described feeling nothing at times when everyone else around him basked in the presence of God, but then curiosity set in.

“I said ‘You know what, I’ma give this two months. I’ma seek God with all my heart for two months straight. No social media, no facebook, no instagram, no snapchat, no twitter, none of that,” he continues.

DJ Cooley(Photo: YouTube/DJ Cooley)DJ Cooley sits on a throne throwing money in rap music video, 2016.

Cooley reveals that he cut off his friends, stopped making music, and refrained from drinking and clubbing during that time and devoted himself to prayer, which is something he admits was not easy to do because of temptation.

“When you focus on God, God will put you around the right people,” he adds, acknowledging a crew of people who encouraged him along the way.

“Basically, what I’m trying to say is that God delivered me. God delivered me from that urge of wanting to be in the music industry, that urge for riches and fame. You know, seeking things of this world,” he attested. “Stop seeking the things of this world, start seeking the riches of God, start seeking the Kingdom of God.”

The rapper then urges his fans to earnestly seek God, with the assurance that God will show up and turn lives around.

“God will take you out the wilderness! God will take you out of that depression! God will take those suicidal thoughts out your head! God will remove the enemy out of your life that’s trying to attack you,” he declares. “All you gotta do is just seek Jesus. Just ask Jesus in your life. Just give him your heart.”

The young convert passionately went on to say that salvation is easy because Jesus in return fights all battles on behalf of his children. He quoted the Bible verse found in John 14:6 and gently assured his viewers that Jesus was the only way into the Kingdom of God.

With thousands of views the video testimony is making its rounds on the Internet and many are hoping that Cooley will witness to the rappers in the industry. He has produced for “Trap Queen” rapper Fetty Wap and many others in the industry and is credited as the producer of “Spaceships,” a song featuring Nikosi, Fetty Wap and North Maine.

Source : Christian Post