Erica Campbell Says Mary Mary Song Inspired Atheist Fan to Find Jesus

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(Photo: Reuters/Mike Blake)

Christian Post Report – Erica Campbell holds the award for Best Gospel Album for “Help” backstage during the awards pre-telecast at the 57th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, February 8, 2015.

Erica Campbell, one half of Grammy award-winning gospel duo Mary Mary, recently opened up about faith and purpose while recalling how an atheist fan once got saved after listening to her music.

In an interview with Rollingout magazine, Campbell, who graces the latest cover, said that propelling people closer to faith through her music is validation from God that she’s on the right track in fulfilling her purpose.

The “I Luh God” singer recalled a time that she and her sister, Tina, met an atheist woman who shared with them that she had found Jesus after hearing their “God in Me” song from Mary Mary’s fourth studio album The Sound.

“Tina and I were doing an event called Women of Faith … this girl came running up to us really frantic. She said that she was an atheist, but she heard “God in Me” in the club, and loved the song,” Campbell told Rollingout. “She said that she went and bought the record, but when she listened to the first song she thought, ‘I don’t want no gospel record — what is this?’ But because she loved “God in Me” so much, she listened to it and at first she thought that maybe she’ll just go to church once.”

She continued: “She ended up going to church and giving her life to God. It changed her whole life. … To me, that’s better than any award, a Grammy, or even a million albums sold. It’s better than the most famous person in the world talking about how much they love my music. To change someone’s life in that way is priceless. I think that’s the kind of stuff that makes God happy. That’s the only reason I do this.”

Despite her continued success, the married mother of three has never forgotten her humble beginnings and she makes a conscious effort to use her celebrity platform to give back to the community as often as possible because she understands what it’s like to have nothing.

“I remember being in college with absolutely no money,” Campbell told The Christian Post last year.

“I was in hair school even though I knew I was supposed to sing. I was like, ‘well, you know you’ve got to finance the dream’ [so] I’m in hair school, I have no money. I have no gas in my car. Im scraping around my car to see if I have 35 cents for a 35 cent hamburger from McDonald’s that was across the street from my college, and I would listen to ‘Stand’ by Donnie McClurkin. And so when people share with me that something that I sang was able to help them through that point … oh God it’s just so beautiful it makes it worth it.”

Last year, the gospel music powerhouse, who first hit the music scene alongside Tina in 1998, debuted her first-ever solo album Help, which peaked at number one on the Billboard Gospel charts. In March of this year, she released her second studio album, Help 2.0, which features her latest single “I Luh God.”

The track, produced by LaShawn Daniels, is among the first-ever to infuse gospel lyrics against a trap beat, and it made headlines back in March after it garnered mixed reactions. While some fans praised its unique Christian hip-hop sound, others struggled to grasp the concept, and the WE tv star said that ultimately she was “unbothered” by the criticism.

While the song initially sparked some criticism and minor ridicule, it appears as though Campbell is having the last laugh because in April, it peaked at No. 1 on the digital gospel song charts, shortly after its release.

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Source : Christian Post

10-Year-Old Girl Kills 12 in Nigerian Suicide Bombing; Christian Persecution Watchdog Calls Boko Haram a ‘Death Cult’

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(Photo: Reuters/Stringer)

Christian Post Report – A security operative blocks a road leading to a prayer ground during Eid-al-Fitr prayers, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, at Sheikh Ahamdu Tijjani Mosque at Kofar Mata in Kano, Nigeria, July 17, 2015.

A 10-year-old girl and an elderly woman carried out a suicide bombing in Nigeria on Friday at prayer grounds in Damaturu, killing 12 people. At least 64 people in total are dead following a series of attacks in Nigeria during the Muslim Eid al-Fitr celebration, marking the end of Ramadan.

The Associated Press reported that blasts took place at a market in Gombe as well, where 50 people were killed, and another 75 injured.

Officials are blaming terror group Boko Haram, which has been carrying out shootings and bombings in Nigeria since 2009, and has killed hundreds during this year’s Ramadan alone.

The terror group has massacred both Christians and Muslims, targeting all that it deems opposed to its extremist ideology.

Persecution watchdog group Christian Solidarity Worldwide said in a statement:

“Despite its pseudo-religious pronouncements, with every atrocity Boko Haram illustrates it is no more than a death cult that indoctrinates members to kill without conscience, regardless of the creed espoused by its victims.”

As for the 10-year-old girl and elderly woman who carried out the suicide blasts in Damaturu, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman explained that they detonated their devices at screening areas set up by security forces to protect the Muslim prayer sites.

Security forces added: “The Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Geidam and the Chief of Army Staff Major General Tukur Yusuf Buratai have (sympathized) with the victims and the people of the state and urged residents to stay calm and be security conscious at all times.”

While Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office on May, has said that his administration will lead the charge in driving out the terror group from the country, so far the attacks have only intensified since he took power.

The U.N. has documented on a number of occasions instances where Boko Haram has been found to have used women and girls as suicide bombers.

“Children are not instigating these suicide attacks; they are used intentionally by adults in the most horrific way; they are, first and foremost, victims not perpetrators,” UNICEF representative Jean Gough said in May.

Women and children have made up as many as three-quarters of all Boko Haram-led suicide bombings since last year, the U.N. added, with girls between 7 and 17 years old used in at least nine confirmed bombings before Friday’s attacks.

Source : Christian Post

In Rhythm with God

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Christian Post Report – But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
— Genesis 6:8

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  (Photo: rever Hoehne for Harvest Ministries)
  Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, California, shares the Gospel with a sold-out crowd of 19,000 for Harvest America at the American Airlines Center and Victory Park in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 5, 2014.

A jeweler will display a ring or a fine piece of jewelry against a dark backdrop so that our eyes are automatically drawn to it. And that is what Noah was like against the dark backdrop of wickedness in his day. He was a rare jewel, a radiant light in a very dark place. The Bible tells us that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8), which means that God extended grace toward him.

The Bible also tells us that “Noah walked with God.” (verse 9). That is said of only two people in the Scriptures: Enoch and Noah. So what does it mean to walk with God? Amos 3:3 gives us insight into this: “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” The idea is to move in rhythm with someone. If you take a walk with someone, you have to keep pace with that person. When I walk with my grandchildren, for example, I can’t walk at my normal speed. I slow down.

The idea of walking with God is that we are not running and dragging God along, and neither is God running and dragging us along. Rather, we are to get in rhythm with God. The objective is to get in synch with Him, not try to get Him in synch with us.

I remember a time when I went scuba diving and ended up using too much of my air. So I had to use the extra regulator hanging from the instructor’s tank, and from that point on, I had to go wherever he went. I could either stay in rhythm with my instructor and live, or break free and die. So I stayed in rhythm with him.

That is the idea of walking with God. And Noah walked with God.

Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000

Used with Permission

Source : Christian Post

Karen Clark Sheard Talks Being More Than a Singer; Reaching Club Culture With New Album (Interview)

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  (Photo:eOne Nashville)
  Karen Clark Sheard is a Detroit, Michigan based gospel music singer whose album “Destined To Win” is being released Friday July 17,2015 on Karew Records/Entertainment One Music.

Beyoncé Knowles and Mariah Carey are two of the many powerhouse singers who’ve named gospel legend Karen Clark Sheard as a vocal influence. But the the veteran gospel songstress says she hopes to be remembered for more than what she has done on stage.

Clark Sheard, 54, has been in the gospel music industry for over 40 years and is showing no signs of slowing down with her sixth album, Destined to Win.

While she says she’s on a mission with her latest musical offering, Clark Sheard also values her role as a wife, mother and first lady of the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in Detroit, Michigan.

“I want people to know I’m more than just a singer. I’m there to assist, I’m there to serve, and that’s most important in how I want people to see me,” Clark Sheard told The Christian Post. “I want to hear people’s testimonies in how I have helped them be where they are today.”

Outside of the church where her husband, John Drew Sheard, is the senior pastor, the gospel sinsation says her mission is to encourage people through the Destined to Win album, which was recorded live at the House of Hope performance arena in Chicago, Illinois.

Even though she has released studio albums in the past, Clark Sheard said creating the album with the help of renowned choir director, songwriter and producer Donald Lawrence in front of a live studio audience left room for the Holy Spirit to take over.

“I just love the live feel because I gel off of the spirit of God and the presence of God that comes in the place. I’m directed by the spirit of God and, of course that’s amazing to me, because what I rehearse is something different than what the presence of God gives me that night,” the singer revealed to CP. “That alone just shows how amazing the presence of God is. To see the response of the people and them not knowing this is not what I rehearsed, it’s just amazing to see the handiwork of God within that moment when it happens.”

One of those moments took place when Clark Sheard was joined on stage by her gospel singing daughter, Kierra Sheard, and three older sisters, Jacky Clark Chisholm, Elbernita “Twinkie” Clark-Terrell and Dorinda Clark-Cole, known collectively as The Clark Sisters. The veteran group was created by their mother, Mattie Moss Clark, who was a pioneering choral director that created a three-part harmony widely used with choirs today.

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Source : Christian Post

Pastor Saeed Abedini Threatened in Jail Following US-Iran Deal; Says God Is in Control

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(Photo: ACLJ)

Christian Post Report – Saeed Abedini.

Pastor Saeed Abedini, one of the four Americans imprisoned in Iran, said in a letter that he feels threatened and targeted following the announcement of the nuclear deal between the United States and the Islamic Republic earlier this week.

“I want you to know that as I wrote the thank you letter to President [Barack] Obama after he had visited my family in January of this year (which he read at the national prayer breakfast), that God is in control of all countries and leadership in the world when the body of Christ comes together in united prayer. He is in control and He is the One who beautifully writes the history over all governments, presidents, and any P5+1 negotiating team,” the pastor said in a letter.

“We are all looking for a safer, more friendly world and because of this desire many of us are happy and others un-happy about the deal. Please join me in using these emotions that have been awakened to give fervor to united prayer for God’s chosen people, America, and for the whole world.”

The American Center for Law and Justice, which represents his wife, Naghmeh, and two children back in the U.S., revealed that Abedini was able to share with a family member who visited him in prison that a number of the other inmates have been expressing anti-American sentiments.

“Tensions are high inside the prison and he told the family member during today’s visit that not only does he feel threatened, but believes he is now a target because he is an American citizen,” the law group said.

Abedini, who is serving an eight years sentence for his faith, has faced a number of beatings while in prison, and at times has been denied much needed medical care.

The ACLJ criticized the deal between Western nations and Iran, which lifts economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for restrictions to its nuclear program, and has called on Congress to block its implementation.

“It is unconscionable that the Obama administration would sign a deal with Iran without securing the freedom of pastor Saeed who has been imprisoned for nearly three years simply because of his Christian faith,” Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ, said on Tuesday when asked to comment on the deal by The Christian Post.

“President Obama told the Abedini family face-to-face that he considered the release of pastor Saeed a ‘top priority.’ How could that be a ‘top priority’ when a deal is reached and pastor Saeed is left behind? What happened today makes a bad deal even worse,” he added.

While Naghmeh Abedini has said that she’s disappointed her husband is still in prison, she also admitted that she did not expect his freedom to be secured by the deal.

“You know, it makes sense. It’s something they have been up front with me and the other families from the beginning — that he (Saeed) would not be part of the deal. They have said that. Every call I’ve had with the State Department and the White House has been that,” Abedini said on Wednesday.

Her comments followed Obama’s explanation that it would not have been wise to include the imprisoned Americans as part of the deal.

“Now, if the question is why we did not tie the negotiations to their release, think about the logic that that creates. Suddenly Iran realizes, ‘You know what? Maybe we can get additional concessions out of the Americans by holding these individuals,'” the president said.

Source : Christian Post

Over 8,000 Starbucks Locations in the US and UK Play Dove Award-Winning Rapper KB’s Latest Hits

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(Photo: Courtesy of Sundari PR)

Christian Post Report – KB releases the cover art for his forthcoming album, “Tomorrow We Live.”

Starbucks has added hits from Dove award-winning rapper KB’s latest album to its playlist at over 8,000 store locations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

The coffee chain selected two songs from the rapper’s album Tomorrow We Live — “Always and Forever” and “When the Lights Go Out” — which can be heard by patrons throughout the month of July.

KB is the second Reach Records hip-hop artist to be played in Starbucks, following the label’s flagship rapper Lecrae, whose song “All I Need Is You” has also graced the ears of the coffee shop’s customers within the last year.

KB celebrated the opportunity on Twitter and Facebook last week.

“Starbucks is on that #tomorrowwelive! If you hear the music, record it and tag ya’ boy,” wrote KB last Wednesday via Twitter.

Reach Records also took to social media to let fans know about KB’s music being played at Starbucks.

“If you hear KB’s #TomorrowWeLive jams at your local Starbucks be sure to shout him out!” wrote Reach Records on Facebook.

Tomorrow We Live received rave reviews upon its release, and its first single “Sideways” featured a guest spot from Lecrae.

Various outlets praised the album for its crossover appeal.

“KB has further cemented his name as one of the genre’s all-star acts, with a hard-hitting follow-up album that is sure to catch the attention of Christian and secular crowds alike. As a whole, the album is incredibly strong and is sure to be KB’S first classic,” wrote Hollywood Jesus in April.

During an interview with CP Voice in February, KB revealed the inspiration for Tomorrow We Live, saying: “The album was inspired, like all my music is inspired, by my community in Tampa. So I’m in folks’ lives. I’m at the hospital with them. I’m at the nursing home, I’m at their house. I’m there when cancer strikes, adultery strikes — I’m there. So I have a front seat in the afflictions of people around me,” said the St. Petersburg native.

KB’s been on a roll since releasing his EP 100 last year, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Album Chart and scored him a Dove award for Rap/Hip-Hop Song of the Year with the project’s title track.

“For me, I don’t trust myself a whole lot. … I encourage everyone don’t trust yourself too much,” said KB, confessing to CP that his recent success has come with a great deal of temptation. “So I keep [good] folks around me and I have been taught by some good dudes.”

Christian music has played a prominent role in KB’s salvation. After struggling with depression, the rapper came to Christ at a young age when he was given a CD by another artist who was talking “about the God” he “needed.”

KB said he now believes his music is inspired by God, and further elaborated his point during a June interview with hip-hop radio show host Sway Calloway.

“We believe that all creativity, all innovation — it’s God who supplies creativity, because He’s the Creator. Reach Records is for the people. It isn’t for the money, it isn’t for the fame.”

Source : Christian Post

ISIS Releases Execution Video of 1,700 Iraqi Recruits Found in Mass Graves in Tikrit

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Members from the Iraqi forensic team search to extract the remains of the bodies belonging to Shiite soldiers from Camp Speicher who have been killed by Islamic State militants at a mass grave in the presidential compound of the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Tikrit, April 6, 20Christian Post Report – 15. Iraqi forensic teams began on Monday excavating Christian Post Report – 12 suspected mass grave sites thought to hold the corpses of as many as Christian Post Report – 1,700 soldiers massacred last summer by Islamic State militants as they swept across northern Iraq.

(Photo: Reuters/Stringer)

Remnants of a body belonging to Shiite soldiers from Camp Speicher who have been killed by Islamic State militants is seen at a mass grave in the presidential compound of the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Tikrit, April 6, 20Christian Post Report – 15. Iraqi forensic teams began on Monday excavating Christian Post Report – 12 suspected mass grave sites thought to hold the corpses of as many as Christian Post Report – 1,700 soldiers massacred last summer by Islamic State militants as they swept across northern Iraq.

(Photo: Reuters/Stringer)

A member from the Iraqi forensic team writes on the body bag of remains belonging to Shiite soldiers from Camp Speicher who have been killed by Islamic State militants at a mass grave in the presidential compound of the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Tikrit, April 6, 20Christian Post Report – 15. Iraqi forensic teams began on Monday excavating Christian Post Report – 12 suspected mass grave sites thought to hold the corpses of as many as Christian Post Report – 1,700 soldiers massacred last summer by Islamic State militants as they swept across northern Iraq.

(Photo: Reuters/Stringer)

Iraqi soldiers salute as they stand next to a mass grave for Shiite soldiers from Camp Speicher who have been killed by Islamic State militants in the presidential compound of the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Tikrit, April 6, 20Christian Post Report – 15. Iraqi forensic teams began on Monday excavating Christian Post Report – 12 suspected mass grave sites thought to hold the corpses of as many as Christian Post Report – 1,700 soldiers massacred last summer by Islamic State militants as they swept across northern Iraq.

(Photo: Reuters/Stringer)

A soldier prays at a mass grave for Shiite soldiers from Camp Speicher who have been killed by Islamic State militants in the presidential compound of the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Tikrit, April 6, 20Christian Post Report – 15. Iraqi forensic teams began on Monday excavating Christian Post Report – 12 suspected mass grave sites thought to hold the corpses of as many as Christian Post Report – 1,700 soldiers massacred last summer by Islamic State militants as they swept across northern Iraq.

In what is being described as one of ISIS’ most brutal videos, hundreds of young Iraqi military cadets in Tikrit were machine gunned to death while lying face-down in mass graves.

The recently released 22-minute footage from June 20Christian Post Report – 14 shows hundreds of executions in the Iraqi city north of Baghdad. Sunday, The Daily Mail published photos and a portion of the video online. Many of the victims in the full video can be shown pleading for their lives before being executed. Some experts estimate the death toll to be as high as Christian Post Report – 1,700.

Further details of the massacre were reported by The Christian Poston Sunday. The mass graves of around Christian Post Report – 1,700 soldiers were uncovered by forensic teams in Tikrit, Iraq, back in April after the city was liberated from ISIS. A government spokesman said that the soldiers were killed sometime in 20Christian Post Report – 14.

When ISIS descended into Tikrit, they were reported to have immediately rounded up fleeing recruits at Camp Spriecher to be massacred. Camp Spriecher is a former U.S. military base just north of the town of Tikrit.

Other soldiers in the video were paraded while some were shot individually and their bodies dumped into the Tigris River. The new footage from the 20Christian Post Report – 14 Camp Speicher massacre was initially observed primarily via satellite imagery and confirmed by survivor witness testimony.

The Daily Mail reported that an unidentified ISIS leader in uniform declared in the newly released footage:

“This is a message I address to the whole world and especially to the Rafidha dogs, I tell them we are coming,” he said, using the pejorative term that ISIS employs for Shiite Muslims.

Human Rights Watch spoke to one surviving witness from the brutal attack who declared, “I saw them with my own eyes. It was late afternoon. It was a long line.”

“I saw about Christian Post Report – 10 armed gunmen with their guns pointed at a line of men,” he added, “walking them to military trucks. Some of the gunmen had masks and others showed their faces.”

Survivor Ali Hussein Kadhim told his story to The New York Times in 20Christian Post Report – 14 where he survived the incident by pretending to be shot. Kadhim described how blood splattered on his face and a bullet whizzed by his head as men around him were executed. “I just pretended to be shot,” he declared. Kadhim called the incident, “Three days of hell.”

Part of ISIS’ tactics include using mass executions to terrorize the local populace as well as making propaganda videos from them to recruit more fighters, including some from the Western world.

Tikrit was liberated from ISIS control by the Iraqi government on March 3Christian Post Report – 1. Bodies that were discovered after the liberation were decomposed and some have never been recovered of those who were burned, dumped in the river, and buried in the mass graves.

As reported Sunday by CP, the satellite photos helped build a case to prosecute two dozen ISIS militants implicated in the massacre, while hundreds are still believed to be at large.

Those apprehended were sentenced to death by an Iraqi court. Iraq’s President Fuad Masum said that revenge is not the answer to the killings, but vowed that the government would seek justice for the families of the victims.

Human rights experts were also able to identify raised earth, pointing to evidence of mass graves and earth moving equipment. Bulldozers were apparently used to cover the mass graves.

While ISIS aggressively pursues its online propaganda strategy to gain new recruits and intimidate its opponents, the Iraqi government has claimed that the massacre at Camp Speicher has helped recruit new volunteers in its fight against ISIS.