Honorary NBA Draft Pick Isaiah Austin: ‘God Wants Me To Share His Word With Everybody in the World’ (Interview)

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Honorary NBA Draft Pick Isaiah Austin: ‘God Wants Me To Share His Word With Everybody in the World’ (Interview)

Isaiah Austin (Photo: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

Christian Post Report – Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Isaiah Austin (Baylor) hugs NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as an honorary draft pick by the NBA during the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Austin was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome ending his career.

Despite being unable to fulfill his dream of playing basketball in the NBA, former Baylor University star Isaiah Austin says God has blessed him with an opportunity for something greater — sharing His Word.

Isaiah Austin is the author of the new book, Dream Again: A Story of Faith, Courage, and the Tenacity to Overcome. Isaiah has an incredible story. He played basketball at Baylor University and was considered a first-round prospect in the 2014 NBA draft until diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome (a rare genetic disorder) just five days before the draft. This meant he could no longer play basketball at a competitive level because of major heart concerns. During the 2014 draft, Commissioner Adam Silver made Austin a ceremonial pick, which fulfilled his dream of getting drafted. Isaiah recently joined Christian Post contributor Bryce Johnson on the syndicated UNPACKIN’ it radio show to talk about his faith and his inspiring story.

  • Isaiah Austin
    Cover art for “Dream Again: A Story of Faith, Courage, and the Tenacity to Overcome,” by Isaiah Austin, 2015.

Bryce: What was your life like growing up and how important was basketball to you when you were young?

Isaiah: I was just a young kid with a dream. I grew up in a privileged household. My mom and my dad professed to keep a strong faith in my life and that’s what I grew up knowing. I grew up going to church, studying my Bible, and learning to trust God’s plan for my life. As I was growing up, my parents surrounded me with basketball and let me have the privilege of being able to play, and I started getting good. I wanted my dream to become an NBA player to come true, so I worked day in and day out for it.

Bryce: So you always worked very hard. Even before being diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome you played basketball, despite being blind in your right eye from an injury you sustained in Middle School. How did dealing with the blindness in your right eye affect your faith?

Isaiah: It affected my faith a lot. I really questioned God at times and I didn’t understand what His plan for me was exactly. The whole time I thought He wanted me to be this huge basketball star, and to not go through any problems, and basically have an easy walk in the NBA…be rich and famous. But it really wasn’t what His plan for me. It’s one thing to have faith in God, but it’s another thing to really sit back and trust His plan for your life.

Bryce: So you trust His plan and that leads you to receiving a college scholarship from Baylor University. The first two years you play great, and then you get the opportunity to leave college, turn pro, things are going well, teams are giving you positive feedback, you’re expected to be a first-round draft pick, and then you get the devastating news that you have Marfan Syndrome. In this moment of realization, what did that do to your faith?

Isaiah: It definitely made me stronger in my faith because I know that God wants me to share His Word with everybody in the world. He wants me to share my testimony and to be able to bring people closer to Him. Going through all of this made me realize all of the lives I can touch. I can’t tell you how many people have sent me emails or tweeted at me or commented on my Instagram pictures telling me that they’ve prayed for me and telling me how much I’ve inspired them to change their lives in a positive direction. So God has really blessed me with that ability to be able to connect with people around the world. That is the main thing that has brought me so much closer to Him. I feel like I’m doing the work that He wants me to do.

Bryce: You talk about growing and understanding God’s bigger picture in this whole situation, and your willingness to inspire other people. What are some additional messages you are trying to encourage others with?

Isaiah: I know that a lot of sports people are going to look up to me because I played basketball, and because I had a tough story, but I’ve been through the days like everybody who wakes up thinking they just want to give up and don’t want to get out of bed. They just want to quit, and it feels like the weight of the world is beating down their shoulders and people are all in their ears telling them this and telling them that. I’ve been through all of that, so I feel like I have that connection with each and every person on this earth, and can tell them that there is a way out and there is always a light at the end of the tunnel…no matter how dark it seems. It’s just a matter of whether you’re going to keep walking forward and trusting in God’s plan…that He’s going to clear the pathway for you. That’s really what it all boils down to.

Bryce: Right before the draft you went through all the combines and workouts, and that’s where they recognized that you needed to be tested for Marfan Syndrome. Being diagnosed with it saved your life. What was the amazing aspect of that part of the story?

Isaiah: It definitely did save my life. I will have to have open heart surgery in a couple of years because my heart is enlarged. I’m glad I was diagnosed. If I had to go back and change anything about it, I definitely would not.

Bryce: What an amazing story of faith and determination. It’s sad and disappointing, but the way you have responded is truly inspiring! Isaiah, thanks so much for joining us and I encourage everyone to check out your new book, Dream Again: A Story of Faith, Courage, and the Tenacity to Overcome.

You can listen to the podcast of the full UNPACKIN’ it interview here: Isaiah Austin.

Bryce Johnson is the host of the nationally syndicated sports and faith radio show UNPACKIN’ it and is the president of UNPACKIN’ it Ministries. Their mission is to challenge, inspire, and encourage sports fans to follow Jesus and become more like Him.

Source : Christian Post

Senior Catholic Official Praises Immigrants for Reviving Christianity in the UK

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Senior Catholic Official Praises Immigrants for Reviving Christianity in the UK

Cardinal Vincent Gerald Nichols (Photo: Reuters/Max Rossi)

Christian Post Report – Newly elected cardinal Vincent Gerald Nichols of Britain talks during a news conference at the British college in downtown Rome, February 24, 2014.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the senior Roman Catholic official in the U.K., is praising immigration for reviving the Christian faith in a “weary, western secularized culture.”

According to The Telegraph, the loss of citizens who identified as Christian is being bolstered by 1.2 million foreign-born Christians living in the U.K., including many Evangelicals who hail from Africa and Polish-born Roman Catholics.

Nichols believes the wave of immigration is not only providing vigor to fledgling churches but helping native-born Brits to reclaim their own “wellsprings of faith.”

“I think there are particular challenges with a weary secularized western culture,” he added.

“But I think what is happening is that the energy of Christians in particular coming to a wearied, western secularized culture is giving new hope and, certainly in the life of the Christian faith, new resilience and enthusiasm.”

The Catholic Church is currently implementing new strategies to spread the Christian message in England and Wales.

  • Immigrants
    (Photo: Reuters/MOAS/Darrin Zammit Lupi/Handout)
    A rubber dinghy with 104 sub-Saharan Africans on board waiting to be rescued by the NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station is seen some 25 miles off the Libyan coast in this handout photo provided by MOAS October 4, 2014. MOAS, a privately-funded humanitarian initiative, began operating at the end of August and has assisted in the rescue of some 2,200 migrants crossing from Libyan shores towards Europe.

The English Cardinal, born in Crosby, Lancashire, says it is wrong to discount non-native born English when it comes to the health and growth of Christianity in the region. To some degree, the Roman Catholic Church in England has always experienced rejuvenation during various eras in England due to an influx of immigrants.

“If you ‘strip out’ immigration you are talking about a place that doesn’t exist,” Cardinal Nichols declared.

“We are a mixed race, we are an island and people arrive here from all over the world and they bring different talents and readiness … you can’t separate them, you have to take the reality of Catholic life today,” he proclaimed.

The Catholic Church has been especially sustained in England by immigrants from Africa, the Philippines, and Eastern Europe.

Last month, The Christian Post reported on remarks made by Mark Gonzalez at the Future Conference at Skyline Church in Southern California, where he declared that God is providing revival for America by “wrapping it up in immigration.”

Gonzalez stated that “the enemy” is trying to divide us on immigration because “if we get this right the revival will sweep through this nation.” Gonzalez, a supporter of immigration reform, added that he is not an advocate of illegal immigration.

The United States Conference on Catholic Bishops, however, has stated that it supports “comprehensive immigration reform.”

“Our strength as a nation (U.S.) is drawn from our diversity and the unique talents of persons from around the world. Under our current immigration system, we weaken our country, not strengthen it,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, who is part of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, said last year.

According to some experts, the influx of immigrants into the U.K. will slow down the decline in church attendance within five years. The decline in church membership across all British Christian churches anticipated for 2020 will now not be evident until 2025.

The Pew Research Center’s findings reveal that 66 percent of the world’s Christians lived in Europe in 1910. That number has now to about 25 percent. According to Pew, 40 percent of the world’s Christians will live in sub-Saharan Africa. Muslims are estimated to be over 10 percent of the population in the U.K. by 2050. While Christians will still be the largest faith group, the number of people who identify as Christian will be around 45 percent.

Nichols, formerly the Archbishop of Westminster, was elevated to the office of Cardinal by Pope Benedict in 2010.

The U.K. saw one of the greatest evangelical revivals in the 18th century under the leadership of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement.

Source : Christian Post

The Way of Cain

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The Way of Cain

Christian Post Report – Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
— Jude 1:11

  • Greg Laurie
    (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.

Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. (Jude 1:11)

The Bible warns us about “the way of Cain” (see Jude 1:11). What is the way of Cain? For one thing, it is to worship God with impure motives. Cain brought his offering to the Lord, but he didn’t bring it in faith. No matter how great your gift may be, if your heart is wrong, then it will mean nothing.

The way of Cain is also to have a heart and life that are filled with jealousy, envy, and hatred. There always will be people who will do better than you. There always will be someone who is better looking, more successful or more intelligent than you. So will you go through life frustrated and filled with jealousy and envy? Or, are you going to say, “God, everything I have is a gift from You anyway, and I am going to thank You for it. I don’t want to destroy my life through envy and jealousy”?

Lastly, the way of Cain is to lie to God about what you have done. There is only one way to deal with sin, and that is to tell the truth because God knows anyway. God knew what Cain was about to do, and He warned him. But Cain did what he thought he should do, and sin pounced on him, consumed him, and mastered him just as God said it would.

It is the same for those of us today as well. Don’t walk in the way of Cain. Instead, walk in the way of Abel. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that “by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” The way of Abel leads to blessing.

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

Big Questions for the Big Candidates

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Big Questions for the Big Candidates

Big Questions For The Big Candidates

Christian Post Report – The Christian Post will be sending the following 12 questions to the presidential candidates. The responses will be published as they become available.

1. Why do you want to be president and what does your personal faith have to do with your decision?

2. What is marriage, and what should be the government’s interest and role in marriage?

3. When a U.S. government law or action unintentionally infringes upon the religious freedom of one or some of its citizens, should the government accommodate those beliefs by providing exemptions to that law or action, and, if so, what would be your recommended standard for providing the exemption?

4. What actions should the president take, and should urge the international community to take, to aid and protect those who are persecuted for their faith around the world?

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/12-christian-post-questions-every-presidential-candidate-should-answer-141366/

Source : Christian Post

Should Christians Oppose the War on Drugs?

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Should Christians Oppose the War on Drugs?

Should Christians Oppose the War On Drugs?

Christian Post Report – The New England Conference of United Methodist Churches, a group of 600 churches spanning six states, voted in favor of a resolution Saturday which calls for an end to the war on drugs because it is the Christian thing to do.

“In the love of Christ, who came to save those who are lost and vulnerable, we urge the creation of a genuinely new system for the care and restoration of victims, offenders, criminal justice officials, and the community as a whole,” said the resolution, in part, according to a release from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

“Restorative justice grows out of biblical authority, which emphasizes a right relationship with God, self and community. When such relationships are violated or broken through crime, opportunities are created to make things right,” it continued.

In the resolution, the group highlights a long list of concerns and reasons to end prohibition, including public health, violent trafficking as well as the loss of countless innocent lives in overcrowded prisons — many of them black and Latino.

“To people of color, the ‘war on drugs’ has arguably been the single most devastating, dysfunctional social policy since slavery,” the resolution asserts.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/600-churches-say-ending-the-war-on-drugs-is-the-christian-thing-to-do-141398/

Source : Christian Post

Bishop T.D. Jakes Adds Comedian Sheryl Underwood of CBS’ ‘The Talk’ to MegaFest Lineup in Dallas

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Bishop T.D. Jakes Adds Comedian Sheryl Underwood of CBS’ ‘The Talk’ to MegaFest Lineup in Dallas

Christian Post Report – 1

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  • Sheryl Underwood(Photo: Instagram/Sheryl Underwood)
Sheryl Underwood, co-host of the daily talk show, “The Talk,” poses in an undated photo.
  • Christine(Photo: Instagram/Christine Caine)
    • Internationally-acclaimed pastor Joyce Meyer and Australian activist Christine Caine will speak at MegaFest held in Dallas, Texas, August 20Christian Post Report – 15.
  • TD Jakes(Photo: Courtesy of T.D. Jakes Ministries)
    • Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potters House preaches about the trauma of making transitions in life at the Woman Thou Art Loosed conference at MegaFest on Aug. 30, 20Christian Post Report – 13, in Dallas, Texas.

    Comedian Sheryl Underwood, who co-hosts the CBS talk show “The Talk,” is set to headline a comedy show at Bishop T.D. Jakes’ MegaFest in Dallas next month.

    “Sheryl represents nearly every facet of MegaFest, not only as an entertainer and strong, empowered woman, but also as a savvy and multi-faceted entrepreneur,” Jakes said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. “She has entertained audiences around the world, and we are excited for her to join us at MegaFest.”

    Underwood’s sketch will include family-friendly content and feature seasoned talent such as Christian comedian Akintunde Warnock, who has worked with the likes of actor Chris Tucker. “Breaking Bad” actor Lavell Crawford and “Yolanda Adams Morning Show” host, Marcus Wiley, will also be featured entertainers during comedy shows held in conjunction with Jakes’ MegaFest on Aug. Christian Post Report – 19-23.

    “[MegaFest] is very, very dear to my heart because I think it creates an atmosphere that people of faith need,” Jakes previously told CP. “To come into an environment that is designed for people of faith that still has church and has worship and all of that, but also has fun — [such as] comedy shows so you can bring your kids or your grandmother too.”

    Internationally-acclaimed pastor Joyce Meyer and Australian activist Christine Caine are among the confirmed speakers that are set to hit the stage at the nation’s largest Christian family festival.

    “… To get Joyce Meyer was not easy, we’ve been working on that for a while to find an open date on her calendar but she agreed to come,” Jakes said. “Christine Caine is absolutely amazing, she’s going to do an incredible job. R.A. Vernon is going to be speaking to the men, Bishop Tudor Bismarck is going to be speaking to the men, and then [there’s] singers from all over the place, it’s going to be incredible.”

    Meyer and Caine, both leading figures in the evangelical world, will join the likes of Bishop Tudor Bismarck, R.A. Vernon, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams and Jakes’ wife, pastor Serita Jakes, at the three-day event.

    Christian Post Report – 13/bishop-t-d-jakes-says-megafest-combines-church-worship-and-fun.jpg?w=640&h=4Christian Post Report – 16 class=”videoIMG” title=”Bishop T.D. Jakes Says MegaFest Combines Church, Worship and Fun!” alt=”Bishop T.D. Jakes Says MegaFest Combines Church, Worship and Fun!” /> Bishop T.D. Jakes Says MegaFest Combines Church, Worship and Fun!

    Since launching in 2004, MegaFest has grown to become one of the largest faith-based multi-day festivals in the United States with organizers saying it has so far reached nearly Christian Post Report – 1 million people worldwide.

    With its focus on family and unity, the event attracts tens of thousands of attendees and offers uplifting seminars, empowering speeches, music and family-oriented entertainment.

    Christian Hollywood film producer Tyler Perry will also join MegaFest when his new stage play, “Madea on the Run,” makes a tour stop in “Big D.”

    “Madea always makes us all laugh while teaching valuable lessons that we remember long afterwards,” said Jakes. “We are excited to welcome Tyler Perry back to MegaFest. Tyler is a friend and constant supporter of ours. We are happy to extend this platform to his fan base knowing that MegaFest attendees will enjoy this hilarious play.”

    In the past, MegaFest, which incorporates Woman Thou Art Loosed, ManPower, FireCode Mega-Youth and Destiny World Mega-Kidz, has drawn big names in entertainment including Oprah Winfrey, Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, actress Kerry Washington and popular televangelist Joel Osteen.

    For more information on MegaFest CLICK HERE.

    Source : Christian Post