Robert Jeffress Accuses Liberal Churches of Harboring Illegal Immigrants; Dr. Richard Land Says Churches Should Welcome Needy People

-
0
Robert Jeffress Accuses Liberal Churches of Harboring Illegal Immigrants; Dr. Richard Land Says Churches Should Welcome Needy People

Pastor Robert Jeffress (Photo: Courtesy of First Baptist Dallas)

Christian Post Report – Pastor Robert Jeffress inside the sanctuary at First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas.

Dallas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress said in a recent interview that liberal churches sometimes harbor illegal immigrants who might be a danger to society, but added that his First Baptist church does not check the immigration status of people who come visit. Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, said that churches should offer needy people food and shelter and show them mercy.

Jeffress said on “Fox and Friends Weekend” this Sunday that liberal churches that harbor illegal immigrants claim to be following the example of Jesus, but are making a mistake.

“The only problem is they are following the Jesus of their imagination, rather than the Jesus of the Bible,” Jeffress asserted.

“Jesus was not this wimpy little guy who walked around munching sunflower seeds and saying nice things to people. The real Jesus of the Bible said: ‘Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.’ That is — obey the government,” the pastor added.

“And I believe that the real Jesus is just as concerned about the horrific death of Kate Steinle and now this 3 year old that was burned alive by an illegal immigrant. He is just as concerned about them as he is about the poverty and plight of immigrants.”

Steinle, 32, was shot dead by an illegal immigrant on June 30 in San Fransisco, with the suspect being deported five times and holding seven felony convictions prior to the murder.

In a separate incident last week, another illegal immigrant was accused of killing his teen girlfriend and their 3-year-old son in Washington state, Tri-City Herald reported.

Jeffress was speaking about statistics which show that churches in 23 states and Washington D.C. offer sanctuary for illegal immigrants.

“We’re not going to check the immigration status of people who attend our church, but we’re also not going to harbor illegal immigrants who are criminals like some of these churches are doing,” the pastor said.

Dr. Land, who is also the executive editor of The Christian Post, was asked by Fox if churches have a responsibility to turn over illegal immigrants.

“If someone kills my wife, I have an obligation as a Christian to forgive that person. I have a right to expect the civil magistrate to execute that person when they are found guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt,” he responded.

“I don’t think we should be aiding and abetting criminals, of course not, but when people show up and they’re hungry, and they’re thirsty, and they need shelter, the cross of Christ says ‘this is a place where you’re going to get a cup of cold water, where you’re going to get some shelter, where you’re going to get some hot food,” Land continued.

“And it’s not our job to be asking for green cards before we extend the mercy of Christ.”

The illegal immigration debate is set to be one of the major issues on the table in the upcoming 2016 presidential elections.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton recently changed her position and said that she will back a path to “full and equal citizenship” for illegal immigrants, and accused Republicans of treating illegals as “second class.”

“This is where I differ with everybody on the Republican side. Make no mistake, not a single Republican … is clearly and consistently supporting a path to citizenship. Not one,” Clinton said during a campaign stop in Nevada in May. “When they talk about legal status, that is code for second-class status.”

Source : Christian Post

Pastor Tony Clark Says God Sends ‘Storms of Correction’ in Believers’ Lives as He Preaches at Harvest Church

-
0
Pastor Tony Clark Says God Sends ‘Storms of Correction’ in Believers’ Lives as He Preaches at Harvest Church

TonyClark Screenshot

Christian Post Report – Pastor Tony Clark preaching at Harvest Church

Pastor Tony Clark from Virginia delivered a sermon at California’s Harvest megachurch on Sunday, sharing two reasons why Jesus allows storms in believers’ lives. How Christians come through those storms determines how they worship God, he said.

There are two main reasons why God allows storms in believers’ lives, Clark, pastor of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia, told the congregation after Harvest pastor Greg Laurie introduced him to his congregation.

There are “storms of correction,” Clark shared, using the example of Jonah from the Old Testament.

Jonah knows this storm, the pastor said. God asked him to go and preach to the Ninevites, who were known to be cruel people, he added, explaining that Jonah perhaps didn’t want God to forgive such people.

In today’s context, it could be something like God asking a Christian to go to the Islamic State terror group in Syria and Iraq to preach the Gospel, Clark said.

Jonah got into a boat and started in a different direction, and “God sent a storm of correction,” he told the congregation.

A good thing about a storm of correction is that God creates a “fish” to swallow us and then spit us out on the land where we were supposed to go from the start, the pastor explained.

There are also “storms of protection,” the pastor said, defining it as a storm that God allows “to blow into our lives to protect us from something that would harm us spiritually.”

Clark read Matthew 14:22, 23: “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone.”

He asked why did God urge His disciples to get into a boat and go away immediately after feeding 5,000 men? “What was so urgent?”

He read John 6:14-15, which states, “After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, ‘Surely, this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”

While the people who were fed were trying to give Jesus a position by force that He already had, His disciples were arguing who is the greatest among them, Clark pointed out. This is why Jesus thought they must go away immediately, he explained.

Sometimes the Lord has to make us do something we should do, the pastor said. The fact that Jesus had to urge them strongly implies they were not willing to go. Perhaps they didn’t want to go without Jesus. But Jesus was trying to teach them that He is there with them even when physically absent.

“Jesus made time to pray, to commune with the Father,” Clark said.

When the evening came, Jesus prayed alone, he added. “Can you pray when it’s the evening time in your life?” the pastor asked the congregation, and said we don’t have to pray only when the sun shines.

“Storms can occur in our lives suddenly, especially at a time of success and victory,” he warned. The storm came after Jesus fed multitudes and the disciples argued over who is the greatest among them, he pointed out.

The disciples were in the storm for about nine hours, which must have felt like eternity to them, Clark said, adding that Jesus finally came. “Remember that Jesus is going to come to you in your storm.”

Clark read verse 26: “When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.”

Tears and fears can cause us to miss seeing Jesus come, the pastor reminded the congregation. We should also understand that God uses people to comfort us, the pastor said, explaining that sometimes we dismiss the people He sends, failing to recognize that God has sent them.

During the storm, Peter asked Jesus to command him to walk on the water. Peter believed that God enables when He asks us to do something, Clark said. But when he took his eyes off Jesus, looking at the waves, he started to sink. We also sink in hopelessness, desperation and sorrow when we take our eyes off Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the pastor told the listeners.

When Peter said, “Lord, save me,” Jesus immediately caught him and rebuked him lovingly.

Sometimes, we doubt if God can do it for us, Clark said. That’s doubting His willingness and not His ability, he explained. But Jesus would say to us, “I’m willing; be clean.” He is able to make you clean, the pastor stated.

Clark then read verse 33: “Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.'”

This should be our attitude also as we come out of a storm, the pastor said. How we come though a storm determines how we worship Him, he added.

God allows storms to correct us, perfect us and protect us, Clark said, adding that God does it not because He is angry, but “because He loves you.”

Source : Christian Post

Iraqi Christians Join Muslim Forces in Last Stand Against ISIS to Liberate Iraq

-
0
Iraqi Christians Join Muslim Forces in Last Stand Against ISIS to Liberate Iraq

Iraqi Christians (Photo: Reuters/Stringer)

Christian Post Report – Iraqi Christians volunteers, who have joined Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization), allied with Iraqi forces against the Islamic State, take part in a training at a military camp in Baghdad, July 1, 2015.

Close to a thousand Iraqi Christians who say they have been abandoned by their government have formed a militia to avenge ISIS taking their land and slaughtering their families. The Christians have said they will fight alongside their “Muslim brothers” who have also suffered at the hands of the terror group.

Rayan Al-Kildani of the Babylonian Brigades, the Christian militia group part of the Shiite-dominated militias organization known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, told NBC News that ISIS “displaced us from our houses, they took our money, killed our young men and women and they took our properties.”

“By the will of God we will avenge what happened to our community,” Al-Kildani vowed, and said that the Christian fighters will help Muslims who are also standing up to ISIS.

“ISIS terrorists do not differentiate among Christians, Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites — they kill everyone,” he added. “We have to help our Muslim brothers liberate Iraq.”

ISIS has driven out hundreds of thousands of Christians from their ancient homes across Iraq and Syria, including almost 200,000 Assyrian Christians from the Nineveh plans, the NGO Reach Initiative said.

Iraqi Christians have said they feel abandoned by the central government, and argued that the treatment they are suffering now is a culmination of over a decade of violent persecution of Christians in Iraq.

“We don’t want to leave the country that we lived in all our lives, where we enjoyed life and our religion. But we need a secure place to live,” explained Batool Airyagoos, a refugee who fled Qaraqosh, the largest Christian town in Nineveh.

Government forces have clashed with ISIS fighters on a number of occasions, but entire cities with formerly large Christian communities, such as Mosul, have been captured. There, ISIS has been forcing Christians to choose between converting to their version of Islam, paying a tax, or being killed.

Athra Kado, an Assyrian Christian fighting in the militia, noted that the volunteer fighters have received little help from the government, with military training coming to a halt after the first 500 volunteers. The fighters haven’t received weapons or financial assistance from Baghdad, instead all of their funding comes from within the community or Christian groups abroad.

Back in September 2014, a Catholic priest said that Iraqi Christians were left helpless and angry at government soldiers who fled when ISIS took Mosul.

“The people are angry because the government just gave up on them. They told us that, in Mosul, where there had normally been a presence of 60,000 soldiers, after the onslaught of ISIS, in only a matter of hours, these soldiers abandoned them, laying down their weapons,” said Fr. Rami Wakim, the secretary to Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregoire III Laham.

Abu Yasser, a 53-year-old former Iraqi Army officer now fighting in the militias, said that it is not unusual for Christians and Muslims to fight side by side, noting that they did so in the army of former leader Saddam Hussein.

Christians have “lived for years side-by-side with our Muslim brothers,” Yasser said. “We drink from the same river and eat the same food; this goes back hundreds and thousands of years.”

He added: “In battlefield you forget who you are, to which religion you belong. … The only thing that you think of is how to defeat your enemy.”

Source : Christian Post

Tina Campbell Says the Gospel Gave Her Strength to Forgive Husband’s Infidelity

-
0
Tina Campbell Says the Gospel Gave Her Strength to Forgive Husband’s Infidelity

Tina Campbel (Photo: AMC Networks)

Christian Post Report – Mary Mary’s Tina Campbell

Gospel music star Tina Campbell and her husband, Teddy, recently appeared on “The Boris and Nicole Show” where the Christian couple, who publicly overcame infidelity, gave marital advice to parents in their 20s who are struggling to make time for each other.

Campbell, a mother of five, told the 21 and 23 years old couple — who’ve been married for two years and have two children — that it’s equally important for them to make time for sex.

“You do what you want to do. I know when we started having children I made my children more important than my husband,” Tina shared on “The Boris and Nicole Show.” “I think it’s healthy for your children [for you] to say, ‘You sit over there and play together, eat food, make a mess. But mommy and daddy are going to go love on each other for a little while.’ You find the time and you make each other important.”

Campbell, the 41-year-old Mary Mary singer who ventured into solo territory with a new book, I Need a Day to Pray, and album It’s Personal, did more than dish marital advice on the new talk show, she also revealed how the Gospel enabled her to forgive her husband after he had an affiar.

The singer admitted she almost walked away from her Christian faith as she struggled to overcome Teddy’s infidelities.

“Initially, I lost my way, and I said ‘forget this faith thing it doesn’t work,'” Tina revealed on the Fox talk show. “I pursued vengeance and I was going to get him back and everybody back and make the world understand they should have never hurt me.”

“I crashed, I cursed, I attacked, I drank myself to sleep,” she admitted. “I was miserable.”

Her husband, however, said he made the decision to fight for their marriage

“In the moment where I did all of this to her, I was like, ‘OK, either I’m going to run, like I normally did, or I’m gonna rise up and I’m gonna stand up and be the man that I know that she needs,'” Teddy said.

Tina has been candid about her personal struggles for some time and previously said she’s willing to share her testimony, no matter how difficult, to help encourage others.

“Part of my testimony, my willingness to speak about the difficult times, comes from the joy I have in the knowledge that it was God who saved me,” she previously wrote on the Yahoo! Music Instagram page.  “I want to let those feeling as low as I once did know that if He brought me through, He will bring you through! #OnlyJesusDidIt.”

Source : Christian Post

The Living Word

-
0
The Living Word

Christian Post Report – Hebrews 4:12-13

The Bible is the most amazing book ever written. God used human beings to record His thoughts and words in writing so that others could know Him (2 Peter 1:20-21). The One who spoke the universe into existence still speaks just as powerfully through the pages of the Bible that you hold in your hands.

  • Dr. Charles F. Stanley
    (Photo: In Touch Ministries)
    Dr. Charles F. Stanley (File).

At the moment of salvation, believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the lines of communication with the Lord are established. Then, whenever the Scriptures are read, children of God can hear His voice, and the Spirit enables them to understand and put into practice what they have heard.

The Bible is not just a good book with comforting verses but is effective, always accomplishing the purpose for which God sends it (Isaiah 55:10-11). Scripture is active and alive and “performs its work in [those] who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The Word of God has the power to change our lives if we will believe Him and do what He says.

God uses Scripture to transform us from the inside out. His Word has the quality of a sword that cuts through our hearts and judges thoughts and intentions, delivering light to the darkness hiding in our souls. This Book tells us not only who God is, but also who we are.

Sometimes life’s concerns can deafen our “spiritual ears.” Before reading Scripture, ask God to help you hear and understand what He’s saying. As you believe and obey, your spiritual hearing will become more acute, and your time in the Word will be an intimate conversation with the Lord.

Used with permission from In Touch Ministries, Inc. © 2015
All Rights Reserved.

Source : Christian Post

US Drone Strike Kills Top ISIS Leader in Afghanistan; Islamic State Bombs Italian Consulate in Cairo

-
0
US Drone Strike Kills Top ISIS Leader in Afghanistan; Islamic State Bombs Italian Consulate in Cairo

ISIS (Photo: Reuters/Social Media Website via Reuters TV)

Christian Post Report – An Islamic State militant holds a gun while standing behind what are said to be Ethiopian Christians in Wilayat Fazzan, in this still image from an undated video made available on a social media website on April 19, 2015. The video purportedly made by Islamic State and posted on social media sites on Sunday appeared to show militants shooting and beheading about 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya. Reuters was not able to verify the authenticity of the video but the killings resemble past violence carried out by Islamic State, an ultra-hardline group which has expanded its reach from strongholds in Iraq and Syria to conflict-ridden Libya. Libyan officials were not immediately available for comment. Ethiopia said it had not been able to verify whether the people shown in the video were its citizens.

While the Islamic State terror group claimed Saturday it was behind a powerful blast outside the Italian Consulate’s compound in downtown Cairo earlier during the day, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency said a top regional leader of ISIS was killed in a U.S. drone strike.

At least one person was dead and several others were wounded after a bomb exploded in front of the Italian consulate in Cairo Saturday morning, Reuters reported.

The bomb had been placed underneath a car and was detonated remotely, according to local media. Due to the ongoing Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, there was little traffic in the area.

A few hours later, Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, circulated a statement on jihadist Twitter accounts, claiming responsibility for the explosion, according to The New York Times.

ISIS claimed “soldiers” of its Egyptian branch attacked the consulate, using with a 450-kilogram car bomb, and warned Muslims to stay away from “legitimate targets,” including “security dens.”

The explosion occurred as the Egyptian government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi struggles to deal with a growing insurgency. An Egyptian terror group based in the Sinai Peninsula, which has allegedly carried out many deadly attacks in the country, announced its affiliation with ISIS last year.

Meanwhile, Afghan intelligence officials said a U.S. drone strike killed a top leader of a local ISIS affiliate, Hafeez Sayeed, along with more than 30 other terrorists in Nangarhar province near the country’s eastern border with Pakistan, according to The Associated Press.

U.S. Army Col. Brian Tribus, a spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, confirmed an airstrike was carried out in the area, but refused to confirm the death of the ISIS leader.

Earlier during the week, Afghan officials said another U.S. airstrike in the same province killed the second-highest leader of the local ISIS affiliate, identified as Gul Zaman, and six others, including a former Pakistani Taliban spokesman.

ISIS is an offshoot of al-Qaeda and wants to establish a caliphate in the Levant region and beyond. It has gained control over large swathes of territories in Syria and Iraq, and is now seeking to expand its territory.

Christians are among the top civilian targets of ISIS, which has beheaded several Christians.

In January, ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani officially recognized the wilayah (territory) of Khurasan, which is a region that includes Afghanistan, most of Pakistan and parts of neighboring countries.

In April, ISIS claimed its suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the Kabul Bank in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 35 people and wounding more than 100.

However, the terror group controls little terrain in the region, and its territory is more notional than physical.

Source : Christian Post

After Apology for Church’s ‘Grave Sins,’ Pope Francis Dedicates Mass to Women in Paraguay

-
0
After Apology for Church’s ‘Grave Sins,’ Pope Francis Dedicates Mass to Women in Paraguay

Pope Francis (Photo: Reuters/David Mercado)

Christian Post Report – Pope Francis looks to the side as he attends a World Meeting of Popular Movements with Bolivia’s President Evo Morales (not pictured) in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, July 9, 2015. Pope Francis on Thursday urged the downtrodden to change the world economic order, denouncing a “new colonialism” by agencies that impose austerity programs and calling for the poor to have the “sacred rights” of labor, lodging and land. In one of the longest, most passionate and sweeping speeches of his pontificate, the Argentine-born pope also asked forgiveness for the sins committed by the Roman Catholic Church in its treatment of native Americans during what he called the “so-called conquest of America.”

Pope Francis, who was in Paraguay Saturday for the last leg of his three-nation tour of Latin America, dedicated his trip’s first mass to the women of that country, days after he apologized for the “many grave sins” committed by the Catholic Church against indigenous peoples in both North and South America.

“Here I would like especially to mention you, the women, wives and mothers of Paraguay, who at great cost and sacrifice were able to lift up a country defeated, devastated and laid low by war,” the pope said as he celebrated Mass at Paraguay’s most popular shrine of Our Lady of Miracles of Caacupe on Saturday.

“You are keepers of the memory, the lifeblood of those who rebuilt the life, faith and dignity of your people,” said Francis in front of tens of thousands of people, according to Vatican Radio.

The pontiff was referring to the 19th century war against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, which killed almost the entire male Paraguayan population.

The shrine, where the mass was held, is just 25 miles from the Argentinian border. Tens of thousands of Argentinians crossed the border and gathered for the mass, waving Argentina’s flag and cheering out loud.

“Thanks for making me feel at home,” the pope responded.

In Bolivia on Thursday, Pope Francis apologized to the native peoples of the Americas for the Catholic Church’s sins during the conquest of the continents.

“I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offenses of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America,” he said, speaking to a group of around 5,000 social workers of the church.

“I also want for us to remember the thousands and thousands of priests who strongly opposed the logic of the sword with the power of the cross. There was sin, and it was plentiful,” he continued in his off-script remarks, according to the Independent newspaper. “But we never apologized, so I now ask for forgiveness. But where there was sin, and there was plenty of sin, there was also an abundant grace increased by the men who defended indigenous peoples.”

It was a clear departure from his predecessor Benedict XVI, who during his 2007 visited to the continent said the natives of Latin America had been “silently longing” to become Catholics before they were forcefully converted.

Pope Francis has focused on poverty and inequality during his Latin America tour.

Francis has said he wants a “Poor Church for the Poor.” And this is reflected also in his choice of countries he has visited. For example, he visited Albania and Bosnia in Europe before going to wealthier countries in the region.

Francis did not include Argentina in his South American tour, perhaps due to the forthcoming presidential election there. But he plans to travel to his native country next year.

In September, the pope will visit the United States.

Source : Christian Post

ISIS Slaughters Hundreds of Iraqis, So Much Blood It Shows Up on Satellite Imagery

-
0
ISIS Slaughters Hundreds of Iraqis, So Much Blood It Shows Up on Satellite Imagery

ISIS (Photo: Reuters/Stringer)

Christian Post Report – A resident of Tabqa city touring the streets on a motorcycle waves an Islamist flag in celebration after Islamic State militants took over Tabqa air base, in nearby Raqqa city August 24, 2014. Islamic State militants stormed the air base in northeast Syria on Sunday, capturing most of it from government forces after days of fighting over the strategic location, a witness and a monitoring group said. Fighting raged inside the walls of the Tabqa air base, the Syrian army’s last foothold in an area otherwise controlled by IS, which has seized large areas of Syria and Iraq.

ISIS executed over 700 Iraqi soldiers in Tikrit in June of 2014 and the blood soaked ground was visible with satellite imagery.

The amazing photos were published by the Daily Mail on Thursday and shows mass execution sites which tripled the initial death toll estimated by experts. The photos helped build a case to prosecute two dozen ISIS militants implicated in the massacre, while hundreds are still at large.

Those apprehended were sentenced to death by an Iraqi court. 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.

At least one witness who was able to escape confirmed to Human Rights Watch details and location of the massacre and helped provide evidence of a third mass grave.

The man, who goes by the name of Ali, was lined up with a group of ten other men that were shot with pistols. He says that somehow he was not hit, pretended to be killed, and waited for nightfall to sneak out under the cover of darkness.

Another witness told Human Rights Watch he saw the men being lined up and packed in trucks, although he is uncertain of the fate of the men he saw being taken away by ISIS fighters.

After conquering Tikrit in 2014, ISIS claimed to execute 1,700 Shi’ite members of the Army attempting to flee the militants. Soldiers were shot execution style and blood was left visible on the cement, before being tossed into mass graves.

According to an Iraqi official, eleven bodies from the execution have been recovered downstream in the Tigris River.

“Another piece of this gruesome puzzle has come into place, with many more executions now confirmed,” said Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch. “The barbarity of the Islamic State violates the law and grossly offends the conscience.”

Some of the imagery published shows large groups of men in shallow trenches being executed while their hands were tied. Executions took place next to Tikrit’s presidential palace compound, formally a residence of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

ISIS initially told the men, many who had changed into civilian clothes to avoid capture, that they would be returned home safely. Instead, they were marched into lines, robbed of their possessions and executed.

Human Rights Watch expects the full death toll to climb from the massacres as new evidence emerges and is analyzed by experts.

Last week ISIS released a video purportedly showing mass executions of dozens of men in the Roman ruins of Palmyra, Syria, an ancient city they overran in May.

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

On Thursday, Iraqi forces were able to repel attacks from ISIS in Iraq’s Al-Anbar Provence. The Iraqi military has struggled to reclaim lost ground against ISIS.

Previously referring to ISIS as “jayvee,” Obama declared this month that the battle against them “is a long term campaign.”

Source : Christian Post

Argentinian Evangelist Luis Palau Draws Tens of Thousands to NYC’s Central Park

-
0
Argentinian Evangelist Luis Palau Draws Tens of Thousands to NYC’s Central Park

<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Recording artist Matt Redman and evangelist Luis Palau appear on stage on the Great Lawn at Central Park on July 11, 2015, in New York City.” title=”<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Recording artist Matt Redman and evangelist Luis Palau appear on stage on the Great Lawn at Central Park on July 11, 2015, in New York City.” name=”jpg” src=”http://images.christianpost.com/full/84924/recording-artist-matt-redman-and-evangelist-luis-palau-appear-on-stage-on-the-great-lawn-at-central-park-on-july-11-2015-in-new-york-city.jpg” class=”imgPhoto” width=”550″ height=”450″ /> <small class=(Photo: The Luis Palau Association)

Christian Post Report – Recording artist Matt Redman and evangelist Luis Palau appear on stage on the Great Lawn at Central Park on July 11, 2015, in New York City.

NEW YORK — Thousands of people flocked to New York City’s iconic Central Park on Saturday, to sway to the sweet sounds of Matt Redman and Mandisa and to have their hearts pricked by the preaching of Argentinian evangelist Luis Palau.

They stood for hours in defiance of the burdensome heat, leaned against gray metal railings and lay sprawled out on towels on the brilliant green grass. Some watched from yards away, eyeing the giant screens above and on either side of the stage while amplifiers carried melodies from Hezekiah Walker, Marcos Witt and Chris Tomlin through the air.

Others got as close as they could to the stage. Although it was closest to the stage that the sun seemed most brazen and should have been causing the most misery, the people there looked more elated than annoyed — apparently too caught up with the music or the messages for something as trivial as the sun to bother them.

According to Ingrid Ayala, a volunteer who offered to pray with attendees after Palau preached his message, she noticed, “A lot of people were touched. I saw a lot of people crying in the front.”

But before they cried, they danced and leaped in the air, raising their hands and voices while singing along with Israel Hougton’s “You Are Good,” and other popular contemporary Christian and gospel songs.

They came from the Bronx and Brooklyn, Long Island and New Jersey, and there was a couple that even flew in from Panama to volunteer as spiritual counselors for NY CityFest, the name of the gathering on Central Park’s Great Lawn on Saturday. The unusual event was organized in celebration of what 1,700 local churches have been doing over the last year to help meet the needs of their communities through service projects and school partnerships.

The Central Park CityFest, the last of three such major gatherings held this past week, was headlined by Palau, dubbed by some as the “Latino Billy Graham,” and featured remarks by former Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera, whose wife pastors a church in New Rochelle. Other musical guests included Argentinian rock band Rescate and TobyMac.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also appeared on stage, where he was prayed for by Palau and several local pastors who oversee the CityServe “movement,” as organizers prefer to call the $10 million-budgeted, three-year campaign. The 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Central Park event, like the ones at Radio City Music Hall and at Times Square, was free and open to the general public.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stands on stage with several local pastors and evangelist Luis Palau at the Great Lawn at Central Park on July 11, 2015, in New York City. (Photo: The Luis Palau Association)

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stands on stage with several local pastors and evangelist Luis Palau at the Great Lawn at Central Park on July 11, 2015, in New York City.

Several local pastors and evangelist Luis Palau lay hands on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as they pray for him on stage at the Great Lawn at Central Park on July 11, 2015, in New York City. (Photo: The Luis Palau Association)

Several local pastors and evangelist Luis Palau lay hands on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as they pray for him on stage at the Great Lawn at Central Park on July 11, 2015, in New York City.

View article on single page
Next Page
Pages: 123
Email this CP reporter at nicola.menzie(at)christianpost.com | Follow this CP reporter on Twitter.

Source : Christian Post

Is There Someone You Need to Forgive?

-
0
Is There Someone You Need to Forgive?

Christian Post Report – “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another . . .”

— Colossians 3:12-13

  • 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.

The film Les Misérables, adapted from Victor Hugo’s book by the same name, is the story of Jean Valjean, who was sent to prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family.

Upon his release, Valjean goes to a monastery, where he is shown kindness by the bishop. But at night, he runs off with the bishop’s silver and is captured by the police. While being questioned, the bishop tells the police that he gave the silver to Valjean. Once the police leave, the bishop gives Valjean two silver candlesticks and tells him that he has been spared by God and that he must make an honest man of himself.

The bishop says, “Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you and I give it to God.” Valjean, wanting to start a new life, under a new identity, breaks his parole conditions and is then pursued by an officer known as Javert.

Javert hunts Valjean, but Valjean just wants to live in peace. Later in the story, Valjean has an opportunity to kill Javert, but instead sets him free. Valjean also showed many acts of kindness, including adopting Cosette, the daughter of a prostitute named Fantine—a forgiven man, becomes a forgiving man.

We all love stories like that. But what about when we have someone to forgive?

Paul reminds us in the Book of Ephesians, “And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you!” (Ephesians 4:30–32 NLT, emphasis added). Is there someone that you need to forgive?

When you forgive someone, you set a prisoner free: yourself!

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

1...3,3453,3463,347...3,893Page 3,346 of 3,893