ISIS Kills 10, Injures 15 in Istanbul Suicide Bombing, Turkish Gov’t Confirms

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ISIS Kills 10, Injures 15 in Istanbul Suicide Bombing, Turkish Gov’t Confirms
Christian Post Report – 10 killed in the Tuesday morning attack, nine have been identified as German tourists. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu contacted German Chancellor Angela Merkel to give his sympathies for the German lives lost.

Other international tourists were also injured in the attack, including 59-year-old Norwegian tourist Jostein Nielsen, who is being treated after shrapnel from the explosion became lodged in his knee.

“I first heard a bang that I think is what detonated the bomb,” he recalled to Norway’s TV2, adding, “After that came the real bang. I felt that my knee stopped working. It was a great shock. The doctors believe that I will be able to walk again. I appreciate that.”

President Erdogan said in a statement to BBC News that the city of Istanbul has been a “top target for all terrorist groups in the region.”

Erdogan added that Turkey is “fighting against all of them equally.”

Although IS has yet to claim responsibility for the attack, Turkish government leaders are maintaining that the man responsible has ties to the radical jihadi group.

According to CNN, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said in a statement that the terrorist is not one of the thousands being tracked by the Turkish government for extremist behavior, adding that the suspect recently entered Turkey from Syria and therefore had not been vetted.

Prime Minister Davutoglu added in a public statement that such attacks will not deter Turkey’s intent in defeating the terrorist organization.

“We will continue our fight against terror (with) the same firm attitude,” Davutoglu said, adding that the country “will never compromise, even one single inch.”

Davutoglu also called on the international community to stand in solidarity against the IS following the attack, pointing to the solidarity shown by the international community following the Paris terror attack in November that claimed Christian Post Report – 130 lives.

“We should display the same solidarity, stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder, in the aftermath of the Istanbul attacks as well,” the prime minister said.

Source : Christian Post

Hundreds Arrested in Germany in Anti-Islamisation Clashes Over Refugee Sex Assaults

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Hundreds Arrested in Germany in Anti-Islamisation Clashes Over Refugee Sex Assaults
Christian Post Report – Members of LEGIDA, the Leipzig arm of the anti-Islam movement Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA), hold a placard showing German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) as they take part in a rally in Leipzig, Germany, January 11, 2016.

Over 200 people were arrested on Monday at a large anti-Islamisation protest in the German city of Leipzig, clashing with police over the mass sex assault attacks carried out by suspected refugees on New Year’s Eve.

BBC News reported that close to 2,000 supporters of the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West movement (Pegida) marched through Legida in protest against Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door refugee policy, which saw Germany welcome in close to 1.1 million asylum seekers in 2015.

The nation was rocked by news of mass sexual assaults in Cologne and other cities over New Year’s Eve when thousands of suspects believed to be from Arab and North African backgrounds groped, assaulted, and in some cases raped women out on the streets. Well over 500 cases of assault were reported in Cologne, sparking protest marches in several cities.

Police in Leipzig said that 211 Pegida followers were arrested on Monday for vandalism, smashing windows and burning vehicles. Tensions also rose due to counter protests by left-wing activists, who themselves vandalized a bus that had been hired by Pegida supporters.

The Pegida movement rose up in the late stages of 2014, aimed at countering what it sees as Islam’s growing influence on Western culture.

CNN noted that 40 percent of the 553 criminal complaints reported in Cologne were of sexual assault, and so far at least 31 people, most from North African or Middle Eastern countries, have been charged with the crimes.

Cologne police Chief Wolfgang Albers was fired in the aftermath of the attacks following public criticism against the city’s handling of the assaults, admitting that his department failed to report on the incidents in a timely manner.

Mayor Henriette Reker has also been criticized for advising women to keep “more than an arm’s length” away from unknown men on the streets, though later claimed that her remarks were taken out of context.

German politicians have urged for calm, and promised that those responsible for the Cologne attacks will be brought to justice.

The government has announced that changes will be made to allow for an easier process when it comes to deporting foreign criminals and sex attackers of refugee status, with Justice Minister Heiko Maas declaring that no one is above the law.

“We will tighten criminal law to make deportation easier,” Maas said, but insisted that should not mean that asylum-seekers are to be held under extra scrutiny.

Merkel has insisted that Germany will not start closing off its borders to refugees, but also promised tough action for those responsible for such attacks on women.

“The right to asylum can be lost if someone is convicted, on probation or jailed,” the German Chancellor said earlier this week.

“Serial offenders who repeatedly rob or repeatedly affront women must feel the full force of the law,” she added.

“The events of New Year’s Eve have dramatically exposed the challenge we’re facing, revealing a new facet that we haven’t yet seen.”

Source : Christian Post

PC(USA) Event Claims John 3:16 Verse ‘Used for Hate, Intimidation and Fear’

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PC(USA) Event Claims John 3:16 Verse ‘Used for Hate, Intimidation and Fear’

Christian Post Report – The national office for the mainline denomination Presbyterian Church (USA), located in Louisville, Kentucky.

An organizer for the PC(USA)’s annual Montreat College Conference in North Carolina has claimed that the Bible verse John 3:16 has been “used for hate, intimidation and fear.”

Montreat Director of Programs, the Rev. Katie Cashwell, told Presbyterian News Service in an interview last week that the theme for the four-day event, “Reclaim John 3:16,” focused on her belief that the verse has been misused in the recent past.

“Our focus was to reclaim the well-known Bible verse in John 3:16 as a message of love and welcome,” said Cashwell, according to the Presbyterian News Service. “Too often it’s been used for hate, intimidation and fear.”

When The Christian Post contacted PC(USA) and Montreat for clarification about the John 3:16 declaration and information regarding incidents in which the verse had been used for hate, PC(USA) directed this reporter to Montreat, which declined to comment.

Similarly, in a promotional video posted to YouTube months before the conference was held last week, organizers did not specify incidents in which the verse was used for hateful purposes.

Instead, the 67-second ad for the youth event showed specific examples of how ubiquoutious the verse is in popular culture, including a brief showing of the verse citation painted under Tim Tebow’s eyes.

“It seems to be the verse that is quoted a lot. We see it everywhere —T-shirts, billboards, homemade roadside signs, jewelry, tattoos. … It’s also a verse that has been used in damaging ways and ways of exclusion,” according to the conference website, which states the purpose of centering the event around John 3:16 was to look at efforts to evangelize in a diverse religious environment, such as a college campus. But again, no examples were povided to show hateful use of the verse.

“So how can we take it back?” the site continues. “Or start thinking about what it means for our lives? What did Jesus really mean when he said that? It is actually a text about a God that loves and gives. It is a text that invites us to life.”

Ginna Bairby, managing editor of Unbound and associate for Young Adult Social Witness at PC(USA), was a featured speaker at one of the event’s workshops, titled: “A Gospel of Dirt,” and asked the question: “What if we really acted like we believed that God loves the world? That God became flesh and dwelt among us? What might we approach — differently?”

The conference has been held annually since 2007, and this year’s event at the Montreat Conference Center broke an attendance record with approximately 1,100 attendees.

YouTube/Montreat Conference Center
An ad for the 2016 College Conference, which brought 1,100+ youth to the Presbyterian Church (USA) event.

Source : Christian Post

Russian Airstrike Kills 12 Children at School in Syria, Watchdog Group Says

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Russian Airstrike Kills 12 Children at School in Syria, Watchdog Group Says
Christian Post Report – 12,000 sorties the Russian air force has so far flown in Syria targeted civilians and the Free Syrian Army,” the Syrian National Coalition said in a recent statement, as reported by Al Jazeera News.

Russia has denied such claims that its airstrikes target civilians, with Russia’s defense ministry calling the claims “absurd.”

“All of these anonymous and unsubstantiated statements about the alleged use of Russian aircraft on civilian targets in Syria is increasingly reminiscent of hypnotists’ acts in traveling circuses,” the defense ministry shot back last December.

The U.S. has also criticized Russia, arguing that its airstrikes in the Middle Eastern country have killed “hundreds.”

Russia continues to maintain that its airstrikes are targeting members of the Islamic State terror group, but an anonymous U.S. official told The Guardian that the U.S. is “not convinced of what the Russian intentions are.”

The official went on to add that following public condemnation, Russia seems to have ramped up its efforts to target IS strongholds.

“For a while, very few strikes were going against [IS] and after a lot of public condemnation they turned a number of strikes against [IS],” the official said.

Source : Christian Post

Protestant Church, Bibles Burned by Islamic Radicals in Pakistan; Police Refuse to Act

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Protestant Church, Bibles Burned by Islamic Radicals in Pakistan; Police Refuse to Act
Christian Post Report – Members of the Pakistani Christian community hold crosses in front of a fire during a protest rally to condemn Sunday’s suicide attack in Peshawar on a church, with others in Lahore September 23, 2013. A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the 130-year-old Anglican church in Pakistan after Sunday mass, killing at least 78 people in the deadliest attack on Christians in the predominantly Muslim country.

A Protestant Christian church was burned by suspected Islamic radicals in the village of Bath in Pakistani Punjab, leaving Christians in the community fearful and asking for protection.

Fides News Agency reported that the Protestant Christian congregation called “Apostolic Church” was set on fire last week following a dispute between Christians and Muslims in the village. The attack occurred the day after a prayer vigil for Epiphany on Jan. 6, when an arson destroyed the church building.

Pastor Zulfiqar of the Apostolic Church revealed that Bibles and sacred vessels were burned in the fire, and suggested that the earlier dispute between Muslims and Christians might have had something to do with the attack.

The British Pakistani Christian Association also reported the attack in Bath village, noting that it created “great suspicion and fear” among Christians in the community who believe it was a religiously motivated attack.

The fire was reported to the police, though authorities initially claimed that it could have been caused by a short circuit, and refused to file a report.

Dildar Bhatti, a local resident who lives close to the church, said police refused to cooperate with villagers.

“I showed police officials suspicious marks on the wall of the church that illustrated someone had climbed the church wall to gain entry to our church, but the police officers just ignored my evidence and did not add the detail to their reports,” Bhatti said.

Karamat Masih, another local resident, added: “All the local Christians are now in great fear, the fire illustrates that Christians are not wanted in the local area.”

Church officials believe that the damage, which includes lost furniture and upholstery, could be close to $1,000 USD, which is a lot for the community.

Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the BPCA, said that the minority Christian population in Pakistan continues to face persecution.

“Inculcation of hatred toward minorities in national curriculum textbooks that demonize and caricature people outside of Islam, have only served to polarise society, creating great schism. There are protections for minorities in both the constitution and legal frameworks yet these are often obviated by officials seeped in the same hatred,” Chowdhry said in a statement.

“Failure by the west to improve this situation for minorities through accountable use of foreign aid budget, has only exacerbated the situation. This has culminated in the quality of life for Christians in Pakistan reaching a nadir.”

In a separate attack, churchgoers at Victory Church in Kasur found a young Muslim man burning copies of the Bible when they arrived to pray during service on the day of Epiphany on Wednesday.

The man was caught burning the Bibles and other Christian worship books, and was held by members of the congregation until local police arrived at the scene.

While the man was taken into custody, police again refused to file a First Incident Report, declaring that the man was mentally unstable and therefore unfit for prosecution.

Christians, including Pastor Nasir of Victory Church, argued that there are double-standards in the way criminals are treated.

“The reticence of the local police constabulary to prosecute Mr. Azhar illustrates their bias. Several mentally ill Christians have been arrested for blasphemy including 11-year-old Rimsha Masih in 2012, who was visibly a minor with a severe condition. Local Police in Kasur have informed the church that due to Azhbar’s mental condition he cannot be held liable for his actions. This is very unfair,” the pastor said.

Source : Christian Post

India Set to Deport Nun Who Has Cared for Lepers in Mumbai for 40 Years

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India Set to Deport Nun Who Has Cared for Lepers in Mumbai for 40 Years
Christian Post Report – A protester holds a placard during a rally by hundreds of Christians against recent attacks on churches nationwide, in Mumbai, February 9, 2015. Five churches in the Indian capital New Delhi have reported incidents of arson, vandalism and burglary. The latest was reported last week when an individual stole ceremonial items.

The Indian government looks set to deport a Roman Catholic nun who has cared for people with leprosy for over 40 years, after denying her a visa.

UCA News reported that Sister Bertilla Capra of the Missionaries of the Immaculate Congregation first arrived in India in 1970, and has since cared for people with leprosy for over four decades in Mumbai. Up until 2010 she had to renew her visa every five years, but new rules since then mandated that she renew every year.

Her latest visa expired in November, and she has been denied a renewal. Sister Capra revealed that she was told to leave the country in December, and if there is no reversal in the decision, she will have to do just that.

“If I do not get the visa, I will have no choice but to leave,” the 77-year-old Italian nun said.

“I am so attached to the place and people here. Also, I do not have the chance to go to any other country and join some other mission. It is not easy for me to move,” she said.

Father Nigel Barret of the Bombay Archdiocese suggested that the move by Indian authorities deliberately targets people of faith.

“This is not a direct deportation but it is being done very indirectly,” he said.

Persecution watchdog groups, such as International Christian Concern, pointed out that Christian aid workers and clergy have a difficult time obtaining visas to India, and said that the situation has gotten worse with the level of control the Hindu nationalist party has over the federal government.

AsiaNews noted in a report from December that the nun runs the Vimala Dermatological Centre in Mumbai, which provides care, surgery, and rehabilitation for leprosy patients. It has reportedly helped tens of thousands of people since 1976, and is still home today to 80 patients and 75 children.

Sister Tessie, who works with Sister Capra, said of the visa situation: “Until 2010 her visa was renewed every five years, then annually. This time, last November, her request for renewal was refused. She asked for at least a temporary visa for three months to find a solution, but was denied this.”

Christians have complained of persecution both by Hindu extremists and government authorities in India.

An incident on New Year’s Eve in the state of Karnataka led to the arrest of 15 Christians who had gathered at a parish to pray, after they were surrounded by a mob of Hindu radicals who did not want them worshiping.

Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, said the Christian minority “is vulnerable and subjected to harassment and persecution by both extremists as well as authorities, who are responsible for protecting citizens. Clearly, Christians are considered second-class citizens in secular India.”

Source : Christian Post

ISIS Tells Western Brothers to Pretend to Be Christian and Shave to Avoid Detection

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ISIS Tells Western Brothers to Pretend to Be Christian and Shave to Avoid Detection

ISIS, Westerners (Photo: Screen Grab via Scribd)

Christian Post Report – An ISIS document circulating online has advises their terrorist brothers in the Western world to pretend to be Christian to avoid detection by intelligence agencies.

The document, titled “Safety and Security guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen and small cells,” was translated from Arabic to English from a series released by al-Fajr Media Centre a few years ago in Arabic, according a note from the translator.

“We present you this modest work for lone wolf Mujahideen and small cells of brothers who want to bring victory to this religion. … It was initially meant for Mujahideen groups (organizations) and not lone wolves, but we have tried to adapt it and pick what’s important and leave what’s not relevant for an individual Mujahid and small groups,” explains the note from the translator.

“No doubt that today, at the era of the lone wolves, brothers in the West need to know some important things about safety in order to ensure success in their operations. We have also adapted some parts, taking into account the latest technological advances, for example in the field of encryption and safety of documents. We thought a lot of non-Arabic speaking brothers would find it interesting and may apply it in their blessed operations,” it adds.

The 62-page document provides a number of pointers for the lone wolves such as shaving before traveling and wearing Christian crosses, with some caveats.

“Your beard should be shaved off at least two weeks before your travel so the skin under your beard can be exposed to the sun. If you don’t do that the fact that you removed your beard would be too easy to notice. If you can get a haircut in a professional hairdresser, try to do so,” the document advises.

“If you are wearing a watch, don’t wear it on your right hand, as this is a sign that you are religious. If you have an engagement ring or something like that, it’s better to wear one in gold or better yet, don’t wear any ring at all. A silver ring could tell you are religious, as Islam forbids wearing gold rings for men,” it continues.

The document warns that while wearing a Christian cross might also be a good idea, wearing one with a Muslim name in their passport can also pose problems.

“It is permissible in such cases for you to wear a necklace showing a Christian cross. As you know, Christians (or even atheist Westerners with Christian background) wear crosses on their necklaces. But don’t wear a cross necklace if you have a Muslim name on your passport, as that may look strange,” it notes.

“If you want to use perfurme (sic) during your travel, don’t use the oily, non-alcoholic perfume that Muslims use. Use generic alcoholic perfume as everyone does, and if you are a man, use perfume for men,” the document further warns.

See the complete document below:

Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen by Leonardo Blair

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

Source : Christian Post

New Study Proves Biblical Account of Water Creation

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New Study Proves Biblical Account of Water Creation

For years, science and the Bible have seemed at odds over the source of the Earth’s water. In Genesis 1, the Bible explains that God created Earth as a water-covered sphere, and in Genesis 7 the author explains that “springs of the great deep burst forth” and flooded the Earth.

However, scientists have debated for years over where the planet’s abundance of water originated. Some have believed that the Earth’s water must have come from external sources such as asteroids.

A new study published in the journal “Nature” appears to support the Bible’s account.Christian News reports that the research suggests that water actually originated deep inside the Earth. A summary of the study notes “it is not clear just how much water resides within the solid Earth and where it is to be found.”

CBN News‘ Heather Sells spoke with Regent University’s Dr. Robert S. Stewart, a microbiologist and chair of the Science, Technology and Mathematics Department about the findings and what they mean for understanding the truth of the Bible’s creation account

Watch

Wheaton, Hawkins Makes a Request: Let Us Reason Together

CM Editor
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Wheaton, Hawkins Makes a Request: Let Us Reason Together
The situation at Wheaton College continues to unravel. Political science professor Dr. Larycia Hawkins refuses to meet any longer with the administration, and the college is now initiating the process of firing her—many assume because she said that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. (If you’re not aware of this controversy, check out our news coverage here and here and here.)

Of course, a controversy of this magnitude—it’s been international news for weeks, with stories and comments in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Guardian, and now Time—is never actually “all because” of one thing. The media coverage has often needlessly inflamed the conversation, and yet you could hardly invent a case that would touch on a greater number of fundamental issues in Christian higher education:

1. The theological integrity of a Christian institution. Evangelical Christians want their institutions to have and maintain standards of belief and behavior. We’ve seen too many historical examples of Christian institutions that let their theological guard down, and the result has been the sabotaging of the institutions’ Christian identity.

2. Loving our Muslim neighbors. Islam and Christianity have literally been at each other’s throats for centuries. We need to figure out how not to slander one another, let alone kill one another. We want to encourage fellow believers to take bold steps to foster better relationships with Muslims.

3. Academic freedom. All truth is God’s truth. Professors at Christian colleges need freedom to explore truth wherever they might find it. This includes the right of professors to explore truth in research or activism. They should especially be protected by their administration from ill-informed intervention by donors and other powerful people outside the institution. Both Christian higher education and its faculties lose when academic freedom is thwarted.

4. Maintaining boundaries. Christians generally acknowledge that, as Christians, we voluntarily limit our freedom in order to obey God and flourish in communities. Freedom doesn’t mean that faculty and administrators can say or do whatever they want. That sort of freedom quickly saps the strength of any community.

5. Diversity on Christian campuses. White males no longer reflect the racial and ethnic makeup of contemporary Christianity. It’s a diverse movement, and evangelical institutions will be better for reflecting that. A large subtext of this controversy—to many, the main text—is that Hawkins is not only a woman but also African American. Losing her would diminish the school in many ways, as Wheaton administrators surely know.

6. Tenure. Tenure protects professors from arbitrary actions by the administration and trustees. Tenured professors should not have to live in fear of losing their jobs—or even being called on the carpet—over one or two misstatements.

7. Confidentiality. College administrators, and institutional leaders generally, should be able to have confidential conversations with each other and with faculty with whom they have disagreements. A policy of complete transparency would make it impossible for people to speak frankly for fear that their words would become public.

8. The right to know. Members of any Christian community have the right to know what its leaders are thinking and doing, especially when those leaders’ decisions affect them or the future of the institution.  … Read More

Naghmeh Abedini Warns This Is Lulling the Body of Christ to Sleep

CM Editor
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Naghmeh Abedini Warns This Is Lulling the Body of Christ to Sleep

Chrisma News reports – The wife of imprisoned Pastor Saeed Abedini says many Christians are befriending the world, seeking fame and popularity before all else.

“A main theme during my time of prayer and fasting seems to be becoming aware of our (my) friendship with the world as followers of Christ,” Naghmeh writes on Facebook. “I am being made more and more aware of how we (including me) are allowing its subtle ways get to us and it is putting the body of Christ to sleep.”

Naghmeh is in the midst of a three-week fast to refocus her relationship on God. She’s traveled around the world in recent years, campaigning for the release of her husband, Saeed, who is imprisoned in Iran.

She recently stopped her public support for freeing Saeed, citing his spousal abuse.

However, she says she’s remained focused on God. Now she’s opening up about what she’s seen during her time around the world.

“My travels over the last 3 years have opened my eyes to the condition that the body of Christ is in. Pursuing fame, wealth and ‘followers/numbers’ has become normal in the Christian world. We are becoming like the world and we are totally Ok with that. Yet the scripture has serious warnings even calling us ENEMIES OF GOD.”

Naghmeh now joins those calling out for revival.

“May this time of prayer and fasting bring us to our knees. May it be a time of repentance and being raw before God admitting our adultery and enmity towards God. Revival starts with us admitting our true condition and turning back to God. God is not looking for an army. Revival can be brought to our nation through a faithful few deciding to take their walk with God seriously and step into obedience despite the cost.”  …. Read More

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