Over two dozen Christians kidnapped by Islamic State, including two children, have been freed, Christian Today has learned.
The Assyrian Church of the East in Syria today secured the release of 25 Assyrians who have been held hostage since February. A Demand for Action (ADFA), a campaign group for minorities in the Middle East, confirmed the release in an email to Christian Today.
Photos have been posted online showing the group being transported on a bus with a clergyman. The two young boys appear to be aged between 9 and 12 years old, and are the first children to have been released by ISIS.
The hostages were among more than 200 people abducted from villages along the Khabour River in northern Syria. These 25 were from the villages of Tal Jazirah, Tal Shamiran and Qabar Shamia. ... Read More
Reuters : Mourners gather around a makeshift memorial in honour of victims following Wednesday’s attack in San Bernardino, California.
President Barack Obama on Sunday laid out the most sweeping defence yet of his strategy to defeat Islamic State, but he offered no US policy shift to confront what he called a “new phase” in the terrorist threat after a mass shooting in California.
In a rare Oval Office address, Obama sought to calm a US public increasingly jittery about the fight against Islamist militancy that once appeared to be waged overseas. His remarks failed to quiet Republican critics who have long accused him of underestimating the militants’ strength and staying power.
Speaking in a measured tone, Obama used his 14-minute nationally televised appearance to draw a careful line about what he would and would not do. He pledged, for example, to “hunt down terrorist plotters” anywhere they are. But he insisted: “We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq or Syria.”
Obama spoke just four days after US-born Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his Pakistani wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, opened fire on a holiday party for civil servants in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people. The pair were killed hours later in a shootout with police.
Obama condemned the attack as “an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people.” But he also said San Bernardino showed that “the terrorist threat has evolved into a new phase” as Islamic State used the Internet to “poison the minds” of potential assailants.
He also made a connection between national security and the need for gun control following America’s latest mass shooting.
The FBI is investigating the paramilitary-style attack in California as inspired by Islamic State, which controls swaths of Syria and Iraq and has shown an expanded reach beyond its Middle East strongholds, including complicity in the November 13 assaults in Paris that killed 130 people.
But Obama, whose restraint contrasted sharply with French President Francois Hollande’s impassioned words after the Paris attacks when he vowed a “merciless” response, said there was no evidence the California assault was directed by a militant group overseas or part of a broader conspiracy at home. … Read More
Marawi is a white wine produced by Recanati Winery in Israel. According to The New York Times, it is “crisp” and “acidic.” It is also aged 1,800 years, in a manner of speaking.
Israeli researchers are using DNA testing and archaeological research to identify grape seeds indigenous to their region. They found a reference in the Babylonian Talmud that helped them narrow their work further. Now they have created a wine they believe was in use around AD 220. They plan to continue working until they have produced wines that Jesus and King David would have used.
In a season when we justifiably decry the commercialism of Christmas, it is important to show our culture that Jesus is real and relevant today. Rediscovering his first-century world is helpful. Relating him to our world is essential.
Unfortunately, rebuking culture or withdrawing into Christian enclaves seem to be the most popular options today. Let’s consider a third approach.
There was a time when Christians embraced cultural engagement. In Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat reminds us that Roman Catholic bishop Fulton Sheen once hosted a prime-time television show on faith and culture. He was seen by 30 million people and won an Emmy in 1952. Billy Graham’s crusades made national headlines and received prime-time coverage.
Douthat notes that the civil rights movement was birthed in and supported by churches across the land. He cites President Eisenhower’s famous remark that our democracy depends on “a deeply felt religious faith, and I don’t care what it is.” Douthat concludes: “American Christianity at midcentury offered believers a relatively secure position from which to engage with society as a whole.”
That was then, this is now. Postmodernism convinced our culture that all truth is relative and subjective. The sexual revolution convinced society that biblical ethics are outdated and irrelevant. Vietnam and Watergate convinced many that all authority should be challenged, including that of the Church. Our culture began separating religion from the “real world,” and we haven’t stopped.
How should we respond? Let’s take our cue from Christmas.
Jesus left his perfect paradise for our fallen planet. He exchanged his seat at the right hand of the Father for a feed trough in a cow stall. He gave up the worship of heaven for the wonder of field hands. He came to us so we could come to him.
Now he calls us to do the same: “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide” (John 15:16). So seek to “bear fruit” for your Master in all you do this day and this season. Ask God to give you insight for those you influence and wisdom as you share his word in yours. Look for opportunities to make Jesus real through your words and actions. For more, see my Using Christmas for Christ.
But make sure you spend enough time with the Christ of Christmas to manifest his character to others. Billy Graham observed, “To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees.”
Drink the “new wine” Jesus provides (Matthew 9:17), and share it with all who thirst for God. That’s everyone you know.
Evangelist Billy Graham has answered the timeless question “Where is God when terrorism happens” in a Charisma News article.
The world-renown pastor wrote, “If we only look at the bad things in the world, we might conclude God doesn’t care about us. But what do these wars and other tragedies point to? They point us to another reality: the reality of human sin.”
He continued, “They tell us something is radically wrong with the world and that ‘something’ was caused by our rebellion against God.”
Graham said that God is loving and “all-powerful,” though acts of terrorism would lead us to believe that He is not in control.
“How do I know God loves us? I know it because Jesus Christ demonstrated God’s love by coming down from heaven to defeat sin,” he wrote. “By His death and resurrection, Christ defeated Satan and someday the final battle will be won and sin will be destroyed forever. The Bible says, ‘The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work’ (1 John 3:8).”
He also said that the question has been debated by theologians for years, but we cannot understand God’s plan as humans.
“Remember: God is far greater than we are, and we’ll never fully understand some things about Him until we get to heaven. The apostle Paul said, ‘Now I know in part; then I shall know fully’ (1 Cor. 13:12).”
Christian Headlines report – An ancient seal of the Biblical King Hezekiah has been found at an archaeological site at the foot of the wall that surrounds Jerusalem’s Old City.
Charisma News reports that the clay imprint is known as a bulla and is dated from the period of King Hezekiah around 700 B.C. The area in which it was found is rich in relics from the period of the first two ancient Jewish temples.
However, “This is the first time that a seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king has ever come to light in a scientific archaeological excavation,” said Eilat Mazar of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University who directed the excavation.
The ancient seal is thought to have been discarded into a refuse dump at the time of King Hezekiah. The bulla was initially discovered five years ago, catalogued, and placed in a closet with 33 others.
It was only recently that one of the archaeologists on Mazar’s team realized its true identity after studying it further.
The seal has Hebrew scripts imprinted on it, as well as a symbol of a two-winged sun. The Hebrew script reads, “Belonging to Hezekiah (son of) Ahaz king of Judah.”
The details of Hezekiah’s reign over Judah can be found in the Biblical books of 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Isaiah.
2 Kings 18:5-7 states, “Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.”
Joseph Prince teaches – The Lord Jesus Himself is your righteousness! In this powerful message preached by Joseph Prince at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, see how hearing the now message that says the Lord is your righteousness not only nourishes you, but also causes you to fear no more, nor be discouraged, nor be lacking! Understand why God is so against any other gospel being preached. See also how when you humble yourself and take the Lord as your righteousness, He becomes your vindication in whatever trouble you are facing. And instead of fear, despair, and lack, you will have faith, hope, and divine provision!
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Bishop T.D. Jakes and Mrs. Serita A. Jakes are influential leaders who serve with excellence and integrity. Throughout their nearly 30 years of marriage, Mrs. Jakes has diligently served alongside her husband Bishop Jakes, founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House of Dallas, which has more than 30,000 members and over 50 outreach ministries.
The Potter’s Touch, a weekly program, with Bishop T.D. Jakes, tackles today’s topics and confronts the hidden issues and invisible scars that go untreated. This broadcast carries healing and restoration into homes of hurting people, unearthing taboo topics and offering practical and spiritual solutions to life’s toughest questions.
BBC report – The Archbishop of Canterbury has said the terror attacks in Paris made him “doubt” the presence of God.
The Most Reverend Justin Welby told the BBC’s Songs Of Praise the killings had put a “chink in his armour”.
He said his reaction to the attacks had been “first shock and horror and then a profound sadness”, heightened because he and his wife once lived in Paris.
The gun and suicide bomb attacks on 13 November, carried out by so-called Islamic State, left 130 people dead.
Prime Minister David Cameron will meet French President Francois Hollande in Paris on Monday to discuss the fight against terror.
They will discuss how to co-operate on counter-terrorism and in the fight against IS in Syria and Iraq, UK officials said.
‘Desperate act’
The archbishop said: “Saturday morning, I was out and as I was walking, I was praying and saying: ‘God, why – why is this happening? Where are you in all this?'”
“He said ‘in the middle of it’ and also in answer from Psalm 56 – ‘he stores up our tears in a bottle, none of our sufferings are lost,'” he added.
The archbishop said his shock had been made worse because he and his wife had lived in Paris for five years.
“It was one of the happiest places we have lived and to think of a place of such celebration of life seeing such suffering is utterly heart-breaking.”
A bombing campaign against IS, particularly by French air forces, was launched in Syria shortly after the attack, but the archbishop warned against a potentially damaging instant reaction.
“Two injustices do not make justice. If we start randomly killing those who have not done wrong, that is not going to provide solutions. So governments have to be the means of justice,” he said.
Archbishop Welby also said the way IS militants had perverted their faith in order to believe their acts glorified their God, was “one of the most desperate aspects of our world today”.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols said the attacks had shown the goodness of Parisians
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, told the programme it had taken him “quite a while” to come to terms with what had happened in Paris.
He said terrorists wanted to make people live in fear, breed hatred and strike divisions in society – but people had to try to resist this.
The terrorists’ actions, he said, were a blasphemy against God, but had shown “the goodness of people” in Paris, quoting a newspaper which said: “Terrorists came to shed blood; Parisians stood in line to give blood.”
“We really should be solid in our commitment to each other – to stand in the face of this evil,” the cardinal said.
The Church of England has said it is “disappointed and bewildered” by the refusal of leading UK cinemas to show an advert featuring the Lord’s Prayer.
The Church called the decision “plain silly” and warned it could have a “chilling” effect on free speech.
It had hoped the 60-second film would be screened UK-wide before Christmas ahead of the new Star Wars film.
The agency that handles adverts for the cinemas said it could offend those of “differing faiths and no faith”.
The advert features the Christian prayer being recited or sung by a variety of people.
They include refugees, a grieving son, weightlifters at a gym, a sheep farmer, a gospel choir and the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby.
The advert was passed uncut by the British Board of Film Classification and given a “U” certificate, as well as receiving clearance from the Cinema Advertising Authority.
However, the Digital Cinema Media (DCM) agency, which handles British film advertising for the major cinema chains, Odeon, Cineworld and Vue, refused to show the advert because it believed it would risk upsetting or offending audiences.
In a statement, DCM said it had a policy of not accepting political or religious advertising content in its cinemas.
It said that “some advertisements – unintentionally or otherwise – could cause offence to those of differing political persuasions, as well as to those of differing faiths and indeed of no faith,” and that “in this regard, DCM treats all political or religious beliefs equally”.
Image copyrightChurch of EnglandImage captionThe cinema chains affected are Odeon, Cineworld and Vue
The Most Reverend Justin Welby said he found the decision “extraordinary”.
“This advert is about as offensive as a carol service or church service on Christmas Day,” he said.
“Let the public judge for themselves rather than be censored or dictated to.”
The Reverend Arun Arora, director of communications for the Church of England, said: “We find that really astonishing, disappointing and rather bewildering.
“The prospect of many families attending the release of the new Star Wars film had seemed a good opportunity to launch the advert and a new website justpray.uk to promote prayer ahead of Christmas.
“The Lord’s Prayer is prayed by billions of people across the globe every day, and in this country has been part of everyday life for centuries.”
‘Make people think’
He added: “In one way the decision of the cinemas is just plain silly, but the fact that they have insisted upon it, makes it rather chilling in terms of limiting free speech.”
He encouraged people to visit the website, watch the film and make up their own minds “as to whether they are upset or offended by it”.
Stephen Slack, the Church’s chief legal adviser, warned the banning of the advert could “give rise to the possibility of legal proceedings” under the Equality Act, which bans commercial organisations from refusing services on religious grounds.
The refusal to show the advert is likely to reignite a debate about the place of religion and faith in the public arena, especially Christianity, and whether freedom of expression for believers is being stifled.
Image copyrightChurch of EnglandImage captionWeight-lifter Ian McDowall wants people to realise Christians come in all shapes and sizes
One of those who took part in the ad, Ian McDowall, is a former bouncer and a weightlifter who founded a Christian charity, Tough Talk, after finding his faith … Read More
Archbishop Justin Welby commented today on the decision by leading cinemas not to show the Church of England’s ‘Just Pray’ advert.
The Archbishop said:
“I find it extraordinary that cinemas rule that it is inappropriate for an advert on prayer to be shown in the week before Christmas when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
“Billions of people across the world pray this prayer on a daily basis. I think they would be astonished and deeply saddened by this decision, especially in the light of the terrorist attack in Paris where many people have found comfort and solace in prayer.
“This advert is about as “offensive” as a carol service or church service on Christmas Day. As a church we are a Jesus movement and this is the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples.
“I think people need to watch the film and come to their own conclusions as to whether it is offensive or upsetting. Let the public judge for themselves rather than be censored or dictated to.”
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