Texas Megachurch to Pay PC(USA) $1.525 Million to Leave Denomination

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Texas Megachurch to Pay PC(USA) $1.525 Million to Leave Denomination

First Presbyterian Church (Photo: FPC San Antonio)

Christian Post Report – First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio, Texas.

A Texas megachurch that recently voted to leave Presbyterian Church (USA) over theological differences agreed to pay its former regional body approximately $1.5 million to maintain control of its church property.

First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio announced Sunday that it reached a settlement with Mission Presbytery over retaining ownership of its name and property.

“Under the terms of the settlement, FPC will provide $1,525,000 to the denomination. Mission Presbytery will contribute $125,000 of this amount to the John Knox Ranch Summer Camp,” read the announcement.

“The contribution to the camp provides one quarter of the $1 million being raised for the hall’s reconstruction. Anyone interested in helping can visit www.johnknoxranch.com.”

Mission Presbytery(Photo: Ruben P. Armendariz/Mission Presbytery Associate Presbyter)The office building for Presbyterian Church (USA) Mission Presbytery, located in San Antonio, Texas.

In an interview with The Christian Post, FPC San Antonio spokesman Hank Cherry explained that the settlement was viewed by the church as preferable to a lengthy legal battle with the presbytery over property rights.

“We believe it was in the church’s best interest to resolve an issue that has been hanging over this church for over 30 years, which is whether or not FPC owns its property free and clear of any claim by the PCUSA,” said Cherry.

“While we believe we had a good legal position, the time to get a court resolution, the cost of the litigation, the uncertainty to the congregation, and the cost to the church in time and distraction from its real mission, all warranted in favor of a resolution of the dispute.”

Last November, FPC San Antonio voted overwhelmingly to leave PCUSA and join the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians, a smaller, more conservative reformed body.

In a letter sent out last October, FPC Clerk of Session N. A. Stuart, III, MD argued that “our denomination is not what it once was, and it has wandered from its biblical and confessional moorings.”

“Ultimately, after years of prayer, discussion, and input from our members, on Oct. 12, 2015, the Session of FPC voted to recommend to the congregation that we leave the PC(USA) and join the ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians — a rapidly growing Reformed Presbyterian denomination,” wrote Stuart.

“In contrast to the theological concerns and membership declines within the PC(USA), we find ECO to be a vibrant, growing Presbyterian denomination which shares this church’s historical vision for teaching, evangelism and mission.”

However, there were certain procedural issues with the congregational vote that made the regional body declare it invalid, according to Mission Presbytery Interim Stated Clerk William C. Poe.

“I communicated with the Session, or local council, of the church on more than one occasion prior to the day of the vote to inform the church’s officers of this constitutional difficulty, but they chose to continue with the meeting anyway,” explained Poe to CP last November.

“Presbyterian Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders take vows at their ordination to ‘be governed by our church’s polity,’ and to ‘abide by its discipline.’ That was not done in this case.”

Another point of contention centered on PC(USA)’s “trust clause,” which is found in the PCUSA Book of Order G-4.0203 and states that “All property held by or for a particular church … is held in trust nevertheless for the use and benefit of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).”

The provision notes that this property includes not only for “a particular church” but also “a presbytery, a synod, the General Assembly, or the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).”

The trust clause is connected to the dismissal process and involves a departing congregation paying a certain sum to its former presbytery to keep their property.

When asked by CP about how the two parties came to the amount of $1.525 million, Cherry of FPC San Antonio explained that the amount “was simply the result of negotiation, and was not tied to any kind of formula or policy.”

“Furthermore, we wanted to have some of the settlement going to a mission project that both the church and presbytery had historically supported,” added Cherry.

“With the loss of the dining hall in the 2015 Memorial Day floods, we all thought John Knox Ranch Camp was a good choice.”

The date for the settlement payment is on or before March 21. Once paid, FPC San Antonio and Mission presbytery will issue a joint statement.

Source : Christian Post

Mark Driscoll Will Launch New Church in Phoenix This Year

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Mark Driscoll Will Launch New Church in Phoenix This Year

Mark and Grace Driscoll (Photo: Screen Grab via markdriscoll.org)

Christian Post Report – Pastor Mark Driscoll (R) and his wife Grace (L).

It’s official. Former Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll will make his comeback this year at a new church plant in Phoenix, Arizona, called The Trinity Church.

“We have some exciting news to share from Mark Driscoll Ministries. Lord willing, in 2016 we’ll be launching The Trinity Church in Phoenix,” wrote Driscoll in a blog post publicized through his social media pages.

He also directed those interested in his ministry to a video where he and his wife, Grace, talked more about the new chapter in their life.

“We have a big announcement. At least it’s big for us and our family,” said Driscoll. “We have moved to Phoenix, love it here, healing up, making new friends and excited about this city and the future that God would have us to play in serving the people here along with some other great churches in the valley. And so Lord willing, we are hoping, trusting, praying, planning, and also a little bit worrying about planting a church here in early 2016,” Driscoll said, looking at his wife.

Driscoll didn’t give an exact date on when he intends to start services but he asked supporters to join him and his wife in prayer for the new ministry.

He called his wife the “founding and first” church member who said she loved living in Phoenix.
“We felt very supported by the community and leaders and fellow Christians,” said Grace.

Mark and Grace Driscoll, The Trinity Church (Photo: screen grab via TheTrinityChurch.com)

A screen shot of The Trinity Church

Grace added that she was excited about the new church plant and explained that they had “healthy fear” taking on a new project with her husband who is not as “young as he used to be.”

“I’m excited. I’m excited to see people get saved, whoever God saves in this process. I’m excited to be in community with the people of Phoenix,” she continued. “I’m just excited to hear you preach. I think the kids are too.”

Driscoll, who made a controversial exit from the now defunct Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, in 2014 thanked his wife for her warm words and said she was making him cry.

In a tearful video interview with Hillsong Church’s Brian Houston last summer, Driscoll explained that even though he had not planned to resign from his church, God told him and his wife to resign because a trap had been set. Driscoll was embroiled in a controversy concerning issues including his domineering leadership style, his views on the role of women in the church and longtime online comments.

“Our plan was to come back as volunteers. On that Monday night, I was in the bedroom, Grace was in the living room. He (God) spoke to me and He spoke to her in a supernatural way that neither of us anticipated or expected,” Driscoll explained last summer.

“So Grace walked in and said, ‘I feel like the Lord just said what we are supposed to do.’ And I said, ‘I feel like the Lord just spoke to me and said we’… it’s not what we wanted,” Driscoll noted, prefacing his comments with a hint of pain.

“It’s not what we agreed to and it’s not what we planned for, and so I asked her ‘What did the Lord say to you?’ Because I didn’t want to influence her and she said …”

Grace interjected, saying at the time: “We’re released from Mars Hill.”

“She said, ‘Well, what did He say to you?’ I said ‘the Lord revealed to me a trap has been set, there’s no way for us to return to leadership.’ And I didn’t know what that meant or what was going on at the time. He said we’re released and we need to resign.”

Contact: [email protected]; follow me on Twitter @leoblair

Source : Christian Post

Christian Leaders Who Oppose Spanking Say Norway Not in Violation of Christian Parents’ Rights

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Christian Leaders Who Oppose Spanking Say Norway Not in Violation of Christian Parents’ Rights

The Bodnariu family (Photo: Facebook/Norway, Return the children to Bodnariu Family)

Christian Post Report – The Bodnariu family.

As the removal of five Romanian Pentecostal kids from their parents’ custody over spanking allegations has enraged thousands of global supporters, some Christian leaders in Norway are combating the notion that parental and religious freedoms are being violated by the Norwegian government.

As The Christian Post has extensively reported, the five children of Ruth and Marius Bodnariu were removed from their parents custody on Nov. 16. after a school principal told Norwegian authorities about their oldest daughter’s allegation that her parents spanked her and her siblings as a form of discipline.

As spanking and other forms of physical punishment are considered illegal under Norwegian law, the Barnevernet (Norway’s child services agency) placed the five children of the Romanian Pentecostal migrant couple in three separate foster homes while their parents have been granted limited visitation rights.

While the Bodnariu parents wait until at least March for their next court hearing to determine whether they are found to be competent enough to regain custody of their children, a number of human rights activists, lawyers and pastors have argued that the Bodnariu case is essentially a part of a larger pattern displayed by the Barnevernet of targeting Migrant families.

In an interview last Monday with The Christian Post, Texas-based lawyer Peter Costea, the president of the Alliance for Romania’s Families, explained that many migrant families feel that the Barnevernet is targeting them and removing their children to ensure that the children “grow up Norwegian.”

Costea, who sent a letter to the Norwegian ambassador to Romania in December and also has access to court records, argued that the Norwegian government does not have the right to remove children from their parents simply on the allegation of spanking. He added that spanking is not listed as a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

At a protest held outside the Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. in January, Norwegian human rights lawyer Marius Reikeras and other supporters of the Bodnariu family claimed that there are thousands of families just like the Bodnariu’s — normal, well-educated families that get in trouble with the Barnevernet over disciplinary issues.

Despite the claims that the Barnevernet is targeting migrant families from eastern European countries and other nations, Andreas Nordli, Norway’s national director for Youth With a Mission, told CP that such a claim is not true and feels that the tendency for migrant and ethnic families to get in trouble with Barnevernet is simply because they are unaware of Norway’s child abuse laws.

Nordli, who collaborated with the Barnevernet when he was a pastor of a church that had a number of migrant families, said his own experiences with the Barnevernet have been very good.

“I hear both in this specific case with the Romanian family and cases with Russian [families,] Lithuanian [families,] and [families] from Czech Republic that there have been accusations toward child protective services in Norway, but I haven’t [seen] it myself,” Nordli said. “Because we have strict laws against physically disciplining your kids, I think a lot of non-Norwegians coming here, they are not aware of the law. Because of that, that creates the problems, I think. Maybe even the child protection [agencies] in Norway are not good enough in explaining to non-Norwegians how our laws are set up.”

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Contact: [email protected], @IamSamSmith (Twitter)

Source : Christian Post

Tyra Banks ‘Prayed Hard’ for Newborn Son, York

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Tyra Banks ‘Prayed Hard’ for Newborn Son, York

Tyra Banks (Photo: Reuters/Mike Blake)

Christian Post Report – Tyra Banks, chairman and CEO of the Tyra Banks company and founder of Fierce Capital speaks during the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference at the Montage hotel in Laguna Beach, California, October 20, 2015.

Some Tyra Banks fans might be wondering where the former Victoria’s Secret model hid her baby bump for nine months, following the birth of her son, York, last week. That’s because she and her boyfriend of two years, Erik Asla, found a surrogate to birth their new born son, York Banks Asla, who was introduced to the world last week in an Instagram post.

“The best present we worked and prayed so hard for is finally here,” the former TV host captioned a photo showing a baby’s traditional hospital hat. “He’s got my fingers and big eyes and his daddy’s mouth and chin.”

baby hat(Photo: Instagram/ TyraBanks)Tyra Banks post her new born son’s hospital hat, January 28th.

Banks, 42, and her boyfriend, 50, owe it all to someone they pegged an angel, a gestational surrogate who birthed their child. “As we thank the angel of a woman that carried our miracle baby boy for us, we pray for everyone who struggles to reach this joyous milestone,” she added.

Banks has been vocal about her fertility struggles in the past. During an interview with People magazine last week she teared up while revealing her efforts to try and conceive. “You’re like, ‘OK, I’m just going to do it,’ then it’s not so easy as you get older.” The America’s Next Top Model creator confessed that she had undergone IVF procedures in hopes of conceiving but they did not work.

“I’ve had some not happy moments with that, very traumatic moments,” she added. “It’s difficult as you get older. It’s not something that can just happen.”

Banks now joins the ranks of celebrities who have used a surrogate to have a baby. Some of her peers include Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jimmy Fallon. The stylish business woman does not want to stop at one child, however.

“I don’t just want one child. I want a litter! And I want to be the kind of mom where my child can come to me for anything,” she continued.

Banks has been hard at work on her new daytime talk show, “FABLife” in which she’s joined by co-hosts Leah Ashley, Joe Zee, Chrissy Teigen and Lauren Makk. Each co-host brings something different to the table, in the feilds of fashion expertise and cooking. The new series will be Banks’ second attempt at a daytime talk show and is said to be ranking No. 1 in it’s time slot on ABC.

Source : Christian Post

Best-Selling Author Mandy Hale Talks ‘Beautiful Uncertainty’ of Being Single (Interview)

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Best-Selling Author Mandy Hale Talks ‘Beautiful Uncertainty’ of Being Single (Interview)

Mandy Hale (Photo: Courtesy of Mandy Hale)

Christian Post Report – Mandy Hale, known as “The Single Woman,” released “Beautiful Uncertainty: Singleness, Surrender and Stepping Out on Faith” on February 2, 2016.

Now that she has the attention of millions of singles worldwide, author Mandy Hale isn’t using her platform to guarantee anyone a husband or wife.

“I wish I had 140 characters of brilliance to share that ‘your man is on his way, or your wife is on her way.’ But I don’t,” Hale admitted to The Christian Post ahead of her third book release Beautiful Uncertainty:Singleness, Surrender and Stepping Out on Faith.

“When I was in prayer one day God was asking me: ‘If it’s only you and me one day, is that going to be enough?’ I had to reach the point where I said, you know what God, it is going to be enough.'”

The 37-year-old author is seeking to help others realize God is more than enough when struggling with waiting for their prayers to be answered. Known as “The Single Woman” on social media, Hale wrote Beautiful Uncertainty after she made a vow to seek God first in 2014.

While that promise has yet to result in Hale’s single status changing, it did help her live what she calls the best year of her life. The blogger-turned-New York Times best-selling author likens her latest book to a recipe that outlines how she waited on God with purpose by taking chances, getting uncomfortable, being bold and saying “yes” to her dreams and faith.

Since much of life involves some type of waiting process, the Tennessee native believes more than just single women can glean from the lessons, prayers and entertaining stories sprawled throughout the pages of her book.

“Of course if you’re single you’re waiting for love, a relationship, marriage, children, etc. If you’re not single, we’re always waiting for something whether it be a better job, a raise, diploma, answer, miracle or whatever it may be,” she told CP. “The thing that I learned over the process of living the events that inspired the book is waiting definitely serves a purpose, but at the same time you don’t have to just sit around and wait. You can live and wait at the same time.”

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Source : Christian Post

Pakistani Police Tortured Naked, Hanging Christian Man to Death by Beating Him With Logs, Son Recounts

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Pakistani Police Tortured Naked, Hanging Christian Man to Death by Beating Him With Logs, Son Recounts

Christian Post Report – Members of the Pakistani Christian community carry wooden crosses and a casket during a demonstration to condemn the death of a Christian couple in a village in Punjab province on Tuesday, in Lahore, November 5, 2014. Police in Pakistan arrested dozens of people on Wednesday after a mob beat a Christian couple to death and burned their bodies for allegedly desecrating a Quran.

The son of a Pakistani Christian servant who was tortured by police in an attempt to get him to confess to stealing from his Muslim employer has revealed his horrifying eyewitness testimony of the brutal beating that his father endured earlier this month that ultimately led to his father’s death.

On Jan. 14, the slain body of 47-year-old Liaqat Masih was handed over by authorities to his family in the town of Gujranwala in the Punjab province. Masih and his son were arrested by local police officers based on the accusation of theft from the home of his Muslim employer, Mohammad Raza Hameed, whom employed Masih as his driver for over 15 years.

Hameed and his father S.A. Hameed are wealthy Muslim businessmen and leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf political party in the community. When Hameed and his family went out of town, their home got robbed and Hameed notified the police about the robbery and initially lodged a complaint against unknown perpetrators.

According to the Pakistani Christian Post, Hameed later accused his own servant of stealing from him and then pressured police to arrest and force a confession out of Masih and his son, Khurram.

As the Masih family is now being legally represented by the European Center for Law and Justice’s Pakistani affiliate, the Organization for Legal Aid (OLA), Khurram provided in-depth detail about how the local police officers barbarically tortured him and his father as they refused to confess to a crime they did not commit.

After police officers questioned Khurram and he refused to confess, Khurram recalled that four police officers forced him to strip naked, then tied him up and then beat him. When Khurram again refused to confess to the crime, he said the officers brought in his father and also ordered his father to take off his clothes.

The officers then made Liaqat stand on a chair so they could tie his hands behind his back and hang him from the ceiling, which caused Liaqat’s shoulders to become dislocated.

Khurram explained that each time his father’s feet would hit the floor, a police officer would pull the rope to again to lift him up and continue applying tension to his arms and dislocated shoulders.

As both Khurram and Liaqat were adamantly standing behind their innocence and refused to confess to the crime, Khurram stated that the officers continued to beat his tied-up father with wood logs until he eventually died.

About an hour into the beating, the guards noticed that Liaqat was no longer breathing. The officers then released the tension on the rope and laid the father’s beaten body down in a pool of his own urine, Khurram said.

According to Khurram, he was later released by the police while his father’s body was taken to a hospital for an autopsy, where doctors claimed that Liaqat died of a heart attack and failed to record the numerous injuries and bruises suffered during the beating.

As the corrupt legal system in Pakistan is often used by Muslims to settle personal grievances against religious minorities, Liaqat’s brother pointed out in an interview with Morning Star News earlier this month that none of Hameed’s Muslim servants were arrested or accused of the crime.

“Why was only my brother named and handed over to police custody, while the Muslim employees were not interrogated?” Riasat Masih wondered. “My brother had honestly served his employers for 15 years, but they did not even consider this fact before turning him in to police custody and asking them to torture him until he ‘confessed’ to the theft.”

Liaqat leaves behind four children, aged nine to 20. Liaqat was first arrested in mid-November and when the police officers returned his body on Jan. 14, Riasat claims they failed to provide them a copy of his brother’s autopsy.

Following the return of the body, the family and other Christian villagers carried the body in the streets as a way of protesting the unlawful killing.

The OLA has filed a petition with the local court system calling for a second autopsy to be conducted under court supervision, and also plan to file a grievance against the doctor who performed the original autopsy. The Christian family has also been threatened against filing legal action against the police officers involved in the fatal beating.

“We were demanding a fair probe into the killing and for registration of a murder case against those responsible for his death,” Riasat Masih added. “Rather than listening to our grievance, the police attacked us with batons and sticks and threatened to arrest and torture Christian youths if we did not stop demanding registration of a case against the police officials. Several women were also injured in the police baton attack, so we retreated to our homes with Liaqat’s body and have now decided that we won’t bury him until a case is registered against Inspector Sajid Suhal, Investigation Officer Amin Butt and the sons of S.A. Hameed, Raza and Ahsan, on whose orders the police were acting.”

Pakistan is listed as sixth on the 2016 Open Doors World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most persecution. The ministry notes that in 2015, the level of Christian persecution rose to its highest level ever in Pakistan.

Source : Christian Post

China’s Largest Megachurch Asks Believers to Pray for Pastor Jailed for Christian Faith

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China’s Largest Megachurch Asks Believers to Pray for Pastor Jailed for Christian Faith
Christian Post Report – Worshippers pray during a mass at the Liuhe Catholic Church in Liuhe village on the outskirts of Qingxu county, northern China, in this undated photo.

Hangzhou’s Chongyi Church, the largest government-sanctioned church in China, has asked Christians to pray for the Rev. Gu Yuese to keep his faith in jail as he faces government persecution for protesting against the removal of church crosses.

China Christian Daily translated Chongyi’s press release over the weekend that included a prayer list.

The press release “asks its congregation particularly to pray for pastor Gu Yuese: beg the Lord to help Rev. Gu keeping his faith in adversity, standing firmly in the trials of the cross.”

Gu was arrested in January for protesting against the ongoing forced removal of church crosses in China. Late last week, China Aid reported that the pastor has been placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location,” otherwise known as a black jail.

Communist Party officials have ordered the removal of hundreds of church crosses in a massive crackdown throughout several provinces in the country, and with Gu’s arrest they have shown that not even the most prominent church leaders in China will be allowed to stand in the way of their initiative.

The government is claiming that the crosses are being removed over building code violations, but several watchdog groups, including China Aid and International Christian Concern, have said that the crackdown has more to do with the government’s unease with the growing Christian population.

“His arrest marks a major escalation in the crackdown against those who oppose the forced demolition of crosses,” China Aid Founder and President Bob Fu said about the pastor’s arrest. “He will be the highest-ranking national church leader arrested since the Cultural Revolution.”

Fu later told the Christian Science Monitor that there can be no mistaking the message the Chinese government is sending out.

“This is really quite an escalation,” the China Aid founder said. “It sends a signal to silence any potential future dissenting voices from within the Church. It tells everyone to shut up.”

Carsten Vala, an authority on Christianity in China at Loyola University Maryland, told readers that government authorities have also arrested a number of activists in recent months.

“What is most worrying is that the crackdown on lawyers and civil society activists is now even reaching into the circles of officially registered religious and social organizations,” Vala said.

“Not just unregistered groups. After all, Pastor Gu is a leader of the official churches of the Chinese Communist Party-backed Three Self Patriotic Movement association.”

Back in July, Chinese Catholics and Protestants united in a campaign to carry crosses everywhere with them in protest against the crackdown.

Chinese Christians also posted pictures of themselves on social media with crosses erected at their homes, while priests called on believers in the nation to show the government that Christians stand together in protecting the holy symbol of the cross.

Source : Christian Post

Christian Singer Tim Timmons Proclaims True Joy Despite Cancer Battle (Interview)

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Christian Singer Tim Timmons Proclaims True Joy Despite Cancer Battle (Interview)

Christian Post Report – Christian musician Tim Timmons has been living with an incurable form of cancer for 14 years but says he wants fans to know that despite his ongoing battle, he has found an unshakable joy.

The singer-songwriter who released his debut album Cast My Cares in 2013 and sophomore album Awake Our Souls in October was first told he would die from cancer five years ago, but has defied the odds.

Since his freshman album the worship leader has been writing songs based on his personal experiences and shares them with audiences on a national platform. The California native says his music is a reflection of God’s glory as he finds purpose in living each day to its fullest.

Along with leading worship and touring for Awake Our Souls, Timmons has partnered with K-LOVE TV for a new series, “Timmons Pantry Raid,” which showcases his other passion: cooking.

The following is an edited transcript of Timmons’ interview with The Christian Post in which he discusses his 14-year battle with cancer, his latest album and new cooking show, as well as his journey to true joy.

CP: How has your battle with cancer changed your life?

Timmons: Well, I often say my diagnosis with an incurable cancer is not my story, but it’s the perspective through my journey with cancer that is the story. I wrote a blog called “The Gift of Cancer,” which sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but told how Jesus works through sorrow to bring us to surrender; surrendering as if He is God and I am not.

Don’t get me wrong, cancer is stupid, but Jesus is greater! True joy, that is an actual fruit of God’s Spirit, is untouchable by circumstance. Many of us walk around happy as big smiles, but joyless as hell. Jesus says it often how through suffering HIS joy is made complete in us.

Speaking of joy, this newest project of mine has been referred to by many as “joy-filled” and I love that description because it’s true! These days I have more joy than I know what to do with. And no, it’s not because I do 20 quiet times a day or because I’m super awesome, but because I am accessing the fullness that Jesus has for me. He is becoming my hope, not the remedy to what I am hoping for.

Jesus is becoming more [than] enough to me than He was last month, and I think that is coming out in my music and in my life of worship. What’s stealing your joy? Which area do you need to stop playing king or queen over and surrender it to Jesus as if He is the King of the Kingdom and knows what’s best for His Kingdom?

CP: Since the threat of having cancerous tumors in your body has motivated you seek God’s Kingdom every day, what advice do you have for others who are seeking God?

Timmons: Well, I’ll never say to pursue sorrow, because as my dad always says, ‘just wait a week … it’s coming!’

That’s just it, our seeking first the Kingdom is a daily thing that is outside of our circumstance. The gift of sorrow is that it breaks you whether you want it or not. It breaks us of our reign as kings and queens until we surrender it all over to Jesus. When we are in the “good” times, use this as practice for the times that are coming! Look to see where in your life you can rehearse surrendering things over to Him all day long, saying, “This is not my Kingdom. Jesus lead on today.” I write a little black X on my wrist everyday, reminding myself to seek Jesus as King and let Him do His job and I’ll do mine: Just follow Him and look for Him all day long.

CP: What things did you propose yourself to do differently since getting diagnosed 14 years ago?

Timmons: I guess there is a different sense of urgency that I live with today. I wouldn’t trade this journey for anything. I’m ready for Jesus to heal my body, but the way that He has opened my eyes through this diagnosis is amazing! Everyday I wake up saying, ‘Thank you, Jesus for waking me up another day! What do you have me here for today? Open my eyes to see where You’re at work!’

Source : Christian Post

Evangelical Christian Couple Insist They Refused Making Gay Wedding Cake ‘Out of Love for God’

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Evangelical Christian Couple Insist They Refused Making Gay Wedding Cake ‘Out of Love for God’

Christian Post Report – Daniel and Amy McArthur of Ashers Baking Company in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a video posted February 1, 2016.

An evangelical Christian couple from the U.K., who were fined in 2015 for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding, have insisted that they do not hate gay people, and said that they refused to make the cake “out of love for God.”

The Christian Institute, which represents Daniel and Amy McArthur, said that the couple remain firm in their beliefs despite their Ashers Baking Company being found guilty in May 2015 of discrimination for refusing to make a cake featuring the “Sesame Street” characters Bert and Ernie with a pro same-sex marriage slogan, that was to be used for a gay wedding.

“It was clear we did not hate anyone. We didn’t want to discriminate against anyone. We did what we did because of our Christian beliefs. It’s done out of love for God, to obey Him,” Daniel McArthur said in a video.

The couple was fined U.S. $775 at Belfast County Court for the refusal, however, with District Judge Isobel Brownlie arguing that U.K. law dictated that for-profit businesses must serve everyone.

“The defendants are not a religious organization. They conduct a business for profit. I believe the defendants did have the knowledge that the plaintiff was gay,” Brownlie said at the time.

“As much as I acknowledge their religious beliefs this is a business to provide service to all. The law says they must do that.”

McArthur recently criticized the Equality Commission that went after them, calling it “very one-sided.”

“They wanted to pursue it with everything they had,” he continued. “They wanted to take us to court, maybe teach us a lesson or send out a signal. The signal they were trying to send out was: If you’re a Christian don’t bring it into work.”

He added, however, that the couple have no regrets over their decision:

“And I would say to other Christians facing pressure at work or in public life: don’t be afraid to take your Christian stand because we’ve learned God is with you in all of it and he gives you the grace to stand against these trials and challenges.”

Ashers continues to appeal against the ruling, with its case to be heard on Wednesday.

As for the popular “Sesame Street” characters that were to be featured on the cake, Sesame Workshop clarified in a statement in 2011 that the puppets can not be linked to any kind of sexual orientation.

“Bert and Ernie are best friends,” the statement read. “They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.”

Amy McArthur meanwhile commented that the she sees the case as a “blessing” for their marriage.

“God has used this to strengthen our marriage and our relationship with God. We have to trust in him and we have seen him answer our prayers time and time again,” she said.

Source : Christian Post

Christian ‘Untouchables’ Planning Nationwide Rally for Equal Rights in India

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Christian ‘Untouchables’ Planning Nationwide Rally for Equal Rights in India

Christian Post Report – A member of India’s lowest caste “Dalits” shouts slogans as he is detained by police during a demonstration in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, April 27, 2014. Dozens of the Dalits on Sunday held a protest outside the venue of a yoga camp in the city demanding action against Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev for his recent remarks that Dalits said were disrespectful.

Dalit Christians, members of the lower caste “untouchables” in India, are reportedly planning a nationwide rally in March to demand equal rights and stand up to government discrimination that they say targets them for their beliefs.

The Times of India has reported that dalit Christians are organizing meetings and planning a rally in New Delhi in March in protest against a Caste Order that allows dalits to receive government benefits, but mainly for those who still identify with their Hindu background.

National Council of Dalit Christians advisor E D Charles blamed India’s Congress and the ruling BJP party for failing to take into consideration recommendations to provide Christian dalits with equal rights in the country.

“Neither the Congress government when it was in power nor the present BJP government has taken any initiative toward this and has put the commission report on the shelf,” he said, referring to the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission of 2007.

Charles added that “it is evident that the principle of unity in diversity and minority rights on religious and linguistic are followed only for namesake in our country.”

International Christian Concern noted that both low caste Christians and Muslims have been denied government benefits for years, while Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs receive theirs. Christian activists have said that the government excludes Christian and Muslim believers, because Hindu nationalists see such belief systems as anti-Indian.

Back in December 2014, ICC noted that close to 25 million Christian dalits are being forced to choose between their faith and the government benefits.

“This choice has significantly affected the constitutional right India’s citizens have to freely choose a religion for themselves,” ICC reported at the time.

“It also has left millions of Dalits to have to decide between choosing to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior and receiving government benefits that have the ability to take their families out of poverty. All added up, this discrimination has affected the official appearance of India’s religious landscape.”

Dalits face discrimination and poverty throughout India because of their caste status, and many have seen converting to Christianity as a way to escape the trappings of the caste system.

Caste disputes continue producing tragic stories, however, including an attack in Sunped village in Faridabad back in October 2015, where two dalit children were burned alive.

Father Devasagaya Raj of the Catholic Bishops of India condemned the “inhumant act,” noting that such attacks happen all over India against “the poorest, weakest and most vulnerable of Indians.”

“The Catholic Church in India stands with the weakest people and has raised a voice with the government and in society calling for protection and respect for the dignity of the outcast and the poor,” he added.

Source : Christian Post

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