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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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Source : Christian Post

Is There Someone You Need to Forgive?

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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

Christian Rapper Trip Lee on Porn: Shocking to Find Young Christian Men Who Don’t Struggle With This Sin

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Christian Rapper Trip Lee on Porn: Shocking to Find Young Christian Men Who Don’t Struggle With This Sin

Trip Lee (Photo: Nathan Mitchell)

Christian Post Report – Trip Lee.

Reach Records rapper and pastor Trip Lee discussed pornography in a recent interview and said that he’d be surprised to meet a young Christian man who hasn’t had to struggle with it because of how easy it is to access in today’s technology-driven world.

While speaking with the Desiring God ministry, Trip Lee addressed the effects of porn on today’s Christian men.

“It’s come to the point where if I talk to a young man about his life, whether it’s somebody my age or a little bit younger, I’m not at all surprised to hear that there’s some kind of struggle with porn. And I would be shocked if I met a young man who hasn’t had a struggle with it at some point because it’s so easily accessible,” said Lee in a video posted on the Desiring God site on June 30.

The rapper explained that Christians who struggle with pornography but look to honor Jesus are often in “deep despair” over it due to the nature of the sin.

“It’s a unique sin. Because at this point you don’t have to go anywhere to indulge in it. You don’t have to make a long series of bad decisions to fall into it. There’s often this kind of despair feeling they’re imprisoned by their sin,” said Lee.

Lee said the struggle with porn is a constant battle for Christian men since it can be accessed so easily from the smartphone in their pocket. He also offered young men who struggle with this sin some encouraging words.

“One of the first things I want to do is remind them of the gracious Gospel of Jesus. [They] could have looked at porn every day for the last five hundred days and Jesus has not run out of grace. That same cross that you heard about the first time is the same cross than can forgive you now,” said Lee.

Lee said he’d also stress the seriousness of that sin to a person struggling with it and how it not only affects them, but offends God and creates a demand for more of this explicit content to be created.

Bringing the sin out into the open is also necessary in order to deal with it efficiently, according to the rapper.

“If we want to kill that sin we have to expose it. We have to bring other people in and confess that sin very regularly,” said Lee.

As a pastor and a rapper, Lee frequently speaks about current issues in both the secular and Christian community, and has penned books about living as a believer including The Good Life and Rise: Get Up and Live in God’s Great Story.

Back in March, Trip Lee spoke at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s Leadership Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, and addressed the topic of pop culture, the violent and sexually explicit content sometimes found in rap music, and how it can reinforce negative stereotypes in the black community.

“Pop culture mirrors culture and I think as a rapper, hip-hop in a lot of ways mirrors the things that are happening in urban neighborhoods,” said Lee. “This is what rappers say all the time to defend the misogyny, glorifying drug dealing and gangster life in their music. [They say,] I’m just telling stories about what’s happening in my neighborhood.”

Lee went on to explain that hip-hop music sometimes glorifies promiscuity and criminal activity, and instead of simply talking about it, rappers encourage their listeners to continue in it. This can sometimes reinforce negative stereotypes for the black community, according to Lee.

“If you look at pop culture as the main picture you see of black men, all these kind of threatening pictures and I think those of us who are artists and who are in media have to think carefully about what those pictures are. And so there are realities that are mirrored, but there’s also the case that its reinforced and glorified and furthered through the way that people approach their art,” said Lee.

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

Source : Christian Post

Jennifer Garner Begins Filming Christian Movie ‘Miracles From Heaven’ About Girl Who Met Jesus

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Jennifer Garner Begins Filming Christian Movie ‘Miracles From Heaven’ About Girl Who Met Jesus

jennifer garner (Photo: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)

Christian Post Report – Actress Jennifer Garner poses at the 28th American Cinematheque Award ceremony in Beverly Hills, California October 21, 2014. The award is given to an artist currently making a significant contribution to motion pictures, according to the American Cinematheque website.

Golden Globe Award-winning actress, Jennifer Garner, is set to star in the forthcoming Sony Pictures Christian drama, “Miracles From Heaven,” based on a book with a similar name.

On Wednesday, Garner was photographed filming scenes as part of her leading role while on the set in Atlanta, Georgia. The film is scheduled for release on March 18, 2016, a week before the Easter holiday.

The Hollywood actress is believed to be a practicing Christian as she has been spotted leaving church services in the past and also had her children baptized at her family’s parish, Christ Church United Methodist in Charleston, West Virginia.

“Miracles From Heaven,” directed by Patricia Riggen, is being produced by Joe Roth, Bishop T.D. Jakes and DeVon Franklin, who are the same people behind the 2014 hit film “Heaven Is for Real,” which grossed more than $101 million at the box office.

It tells the story of Annabel Beam, a little girl from Texas, who claimed she met Jesus after a tragic fall. She was also miraculously cured of a life-threatening digestive disorder after the accident. Her incredible story of faith and overcoming adversity is retold in her mother Christy’s memoir: Miracles from Heaven: A Little Girl, Her Journey to Heaven, and Her Amazing Story of Healing.

Girl Recalls Meeting Jesus Christ After Tragic Fall

Girl Recalls Meeting Jesus Christ After Tragic Fall

During an interview with The Christian Post in April, 12-year-old Annabel recalled falling headfirst 30 feet inside a hollowed-out cottonwood tree while playing with her sisters on the family farm in Texas. Miraculously, she escaped without injury and later told her parents that she went to heaven and sat in Jesus’ lap after the accident.

“I remember it was really bright and I saw my Mimi (grandmother) who had died a couple of years back, and that’s how I knew that I was in heaven,” Annabel told CP. “And I asked Jesus if I could stay and He said: ‘No Annabel, I have plans for you on Earth that you cannot fulfill in heaven.’ Then he said whenever the firefighters get you out there will be nothing wrong with you.”

At age 5, Annabel was diagnosed with pseudo-obstruction motility disorder and antral hypomotility disorder. The life-threatening digestive disorders had her in and out of hospitals for years, but her frightening fall in 2011 would miraculously heal her as she is now asymptomatic.

“… We believe that I was healed in the tree. I’m completely healthy [now] and I can eat whatever I want,” said Annabel, who credits faith for her recovery. “I want people to realize that no matter how bad things get, don’t ever lose that faith because He has a plan … you have to stay faithful and have hope because those are the things that will get you through whatever you’re going through, no matter what it is.”

Source : Christian Post

Tennessee Episcopal Bishop Bars Gay Marriage From Diocese

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Tennessee Episcopal Bishop Bars Gay Marriage From Diocese
  • John C. Bauerscimdt
    (Photo: Dana Thomas)
    The Right Reverend John C. Bauerscimdt, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee.

Christian Post Report – The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee has announced that his regional body will not perform gay marriages.

In response to The Episcopal Church’s recent vote to recognize rites for gay marriages, the Right Reverend John C. Bauerscimdt released a statement stating that his diocese will not perform such unions.

“In 2012 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church authorized provisional rites for the blessing of same sex relationships, which might be used for the blessing of these relationships in churches under the direction and with the permission of the local bishop,” stated Rev. Bauerschimdt.

“Under these provisions I have not given direction or permission for the use of these rites. This policy remains unchanged.”

In his statement, Bauerschmidt also said that while the concept of civil marriage has interplay between church and state, marriage is an institution “that predates any civil code.”

“No court or legislature determines the practice of faith communities in regard to marriage,” continued Bauerschmidt.

Last week, the leadership of the Episcopal Church approved a change in the mainline denomination’s definition of marriage.

At the General Convention held in Salt Lake City, the denomination made a canonical change eliminating language that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

They also authorized two new marriage rites with language allowing them to be used by same-sex or opposite-sex couples, changing the term “man and woman” with “couple.”

These changes for the Episcopal Church will take effect in December. As part of a compromise, bishops opposed to the new marriage rites can refuse to allow them in their dioceses.

A spokesperson with The Episcopal Church directed The Christian Post to a statement by the Very Rev. Brian Baker, deputy chair of the Special Legislative Committee on Marriage, in support of the resolutions.

Rev. Baker considered the resolutions from last week to be the fulfillment of a near four-decade effort to have the Church come to fully homosexual unions, beginning with a 1976 resolution that said “homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance and pastoral concern and care of the church.”

“That resolution began a 39-year conversation about what that full and equal claim would look like. The conversation has been difficult for many and painful for many,” stated Rev. Baker.

Kimberly M. Dougherty, communications assistant for the Diocese of Tennessee, directed The Christian Post to a statement that Bauerschmidt signed along with other bishops dissenting from the passed resolutions.

Known as the “Communion Partners Salt Lake City Statement,” the document argues for an understanding of marriage definition that presently resides in the Book of Common Prayer.

“The 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church, in passing Resolutions A036 and A054, has made a significant change in the Church’s understanding of Christian marriage. As bishops of the Church, we must dissent from these actions,” stated the document in part.

Source : Christian Post

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