US Episcopal Church Approves Same-Sex Marriage; Replaces Terms ‘Man and Woman’ With ‘Couples’

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US Episcopal Church Approves Same-Sex Marriage; Replaces Terms ‘Man and Woman’ With ‘Couples’

episcopal church (Photo: Reuters/Jim Urquhart)

Christian Post Report – A group of deacons arrive for a church service during the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City, Utah June 28, 2015. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church is held every three years in different cities around the country.

The U.S. Episcopal Church has voted to change the church’s rules governing marriage and to authorize their clergy to perform same-sex weddings, days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to legalize gay marriage for all Americans.

In two of the resolutions adopted at the General Convention meeting in Salt Lake City this week, the denomination made a canonical change eliminating language defining marriage as between a man and a woman as well as authorized two new marriage rites with language allowing them to be used by same-sex or opposite-sex couples.

The terms “man and woman” have been replaced with “couple.”

However, both resolutions say that clergy retain the canonical right to refuse to officiate at any wedding.

The resolutions marked the culmination of a conversation launched when the 1976 General Convention said that “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,” said Brian Baker, deputy chair of the Special Legislative Committee on Marriage, according to Episcopal News Service.

“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,” Baker added.

“The compromise means that same-sex weddings may occur after Nov. 1, 2015, with the full blessing of the church in places like Washington, Los Angeles and New York, but likely won’t take place in more conservative parts of the church, like Dallas, Albany and Orlando,” writes George Conger, an Episcopal priest in a parish in Florida, in an article in The Washington Post.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has expressed concern saying the decision will cause distress for some and have ramifications for the Anglican Communion as a whole, as well as for its ecumenical and interfaith relationships.

After the passing of the resolutions, 20 bishops signed a “minority report” that was appended to the text of one of the resolutions.

“The nature, purpose, and meaning of marriage are linked to the relationship of man and woman,” the report said. “The promises and vows of marriage presuppose husband and wife as the partners who are made one flesh in marriage. This understanding is a reasonable one, as well as in accord with Holy Scripture and Christian tradition in their teaching about marriage.”

The bishops said they disagree “openly and transparently and – with the Spirit’s help – charitably,” adding, “We are grateful that Resolution A054 includes provision for bishops and priests to exercise their conscience.”

However, they went on to state, “We realize at the same time that we have entered a season in which the tensions over these difficult matters may grow. We pray for the grace to be clear about our convictions and, at the same time, to love brothers and sisters with whom we disagree.”

The denomination, which is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, approved a provisional rite for the blessing of a same-sex relationship in 2012. Several congregations have pulled out of the denomination then.

Source : Christian Post

Syrian Rebel, in Orange Jumpsuits, Execute ISIS Militants as ‘Remedy’ for Islamic State ‘Disease’

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Syrian Rebel, in Orange Jumpsuits, Execute ISIS Militants as ‘Remedy’ for Islamic State ‘Disease’

Jaysh Al-Islam Screenshot

Christian Post Report – Jaysh Al-Islam militants executing ISIS terrorists

A Syrian rebel group, which calls itself the “Army of Islam,” has released a video showing its militants, all dressed in orange jumpsuits, executing dozens of Islamic State terrorists wearing black clothes. “Allah did not make a disease without appointing a remedy to it,” the rival group proclaims.

The 19-minute propaganda video, mimicking the Islamic State’s own execution style and released by the Jaysh Al-Islam group, shows the killing of 18 shackled Islamic State militants, according to reports.

The captured militants, forced to kneel, were shot in the back of their heads at point blank range with shotguns.

Jaysh al-Islam, which operates around Damascus and is fighting against the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, said militants of Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, were being executed in part as revenge for the killing of at least three of the rebel group’s members, Agence France Presse reported.

Before the execution, a Jaysh al-Islam militant addresses the viewers, according to Daily Mail.

“The most serious calamity for our jihad today is a group of people who grow at a time of division among Muslims. This group claimed to be the mother state and made Takfir [accused of apostasy] on other Muslims, shed their blood and looted their properties and dignities,” he is quoted as saying.

He adds: “They worsened… the ordeal of Muslims by corrupting their religion and livelihood and killing the jihadi leaders who did their best to help our stricken nation. They wreaked havoc on our people in liberated areas and cut the supply route of jihadis. They left… Tehran intact and instead they attacked our mosques. This is the penalty for what they have committed. We also call on their fellows to repent.”

Jaysh al-Islam, a coalition of Islamist and Salafist groups involved in the Syrian civil war, claims it has about 25,000 fighters. The group, reportedly formed in September 2013, has rejected membership of the Free Syrian Army, which is also seeking to overthrow President al-Bashar, who belongs to a Shiite sect.

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. Its main civilian targets include Christians.

ISIS recently vowed to kill Christian Arabs in Jerusalem. It threatened it will “clean this country and the Muslim Quarter from these Christians during this holy Ramadan.”

In June, the terror group kidnapped 88 Eritrean Christians in Libya. In May, it executed Ethiopian Christians, and beheaded 21 Egyptian Copts in February.

ISIS has executed more than 2,618 people, including 1,511 civilians, since last June, when it declared its “Caliphate,” according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The overall executions included those of 23 children and 32 women. The executions were carried out mostly by beheading, shooting or stoning. ISIS has also executed 139 of its own members for “exceeding the limits in religion and spying for foreign countries,” mostly after they were trying to go back to their homes.

Source : Christian Post

For more than a century – the Gospel for Europe

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For more than a century – the Gospel for Europe

ECM has been involved for more than a hundred years in spreading the Gospel in Europe. What began with one man’s call received at an all night prayer meeting in Estonia has now become a mission involving hundreds of people. All over Europe.

 

The origins of European Christian Mission stretch back to the year 1904. A young man named Ganz Raud was called by God during an all night prayer meeting to reach Europe once more with the Gospel. He began by travelling to Britain where he spoke everywhere about the need in the continent of Europe.

The 1905 Russian Revolution and the First World War forced Raud to leave for the United States. There he slowly built up a network of people who shared his vision and in 1920 the first office was opened, in New York. Offices in Toronto and London were also established in the years that followed.

By 1923 there were 55 missionaries working for ECM in Europe. In 1927 that number had grown to 81 with 250 volunteers. After the Second World War an ECM office was opened in Paris. Raud died in 1953, but the organisation still continued to grow after his death.

Today ECM has 160 missionaries active in 17 different countries. From indigenous communities in Northern Sweden to the sunny beaches of the Algarve. From developing Albania to the developed West. From big cities to rural communities. From centres of tourism to forgotten villages. ECM is involved everywhere in the mission which God began through Ganz Raud more than a hundred years ago.

Europe is not a God-forsaken continent. The light of Jesus Christ is still shining.

For more than a century – the Gospel for Europe

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ECM has been involved for more than a hundred years in spreading the Gospel in Europe. What began with one man’s call received at an all night prayer meeting in Estonia has now become a mission involving hundreds of people. All over Europe.

The origins of European Christian Mission stretch back to the year 1904. A young man named Ganz Raud was called by God during an all night prayer meeting to reach Europe once more with the Gospel. He began by travelling to Britain where he spoke everywhere about the need in the continent of Europe.

The 1905 Russian Revolution and the First World War forced Raud to leave for the United States. There he slowly built up a network of people who shared his vision and in 1920 the first office was opened, in New York. Offices in Toronto and London were also established in the years that followed.

By 1923 there were 55 missionaries working for ECM in Europe. In 1927 that number had grown to 81 with 250 volunteers. After the Second World War an ECM office was opened in Paris. Raud died in 1953, but the organisation still continued to grow after his death.

Today ECM has 160 missionaries active in 17 different countries. From indigenous communities in Northern Sweden to the sunny beaches of the Algarve. From developing Albania to the developed West. From big cities to rural communities. From centres of tourism to forgotten villages. ECM is involved everywhere in the mission which God began through Ganz Raud more than a hundred years ago.

Europe is not a God-forsaken continent. The light of Jesus Christ is still shining.

Because He Said So

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Because He Said So

Christian Post Report – “I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior.”
— Isaiah 43:11

  • 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.

As children are growing up, they will hear their parents say things they don’t like, such as when Mom or Dad says, “Do you think that I have a money tree somewhere?” or “You don’t know the sacrifices I had to make when I was your age!” Then there is my favorite parental saying: “Because I said so!”

Kids today may vow to never say that to their children, but when they’re adults and their children keep pressing them, they may find themselves blurting out, “Because I said so!” (Then they’ll think, I can’t believe I just said that!)

Sometimes we may look at God’s laws, standards, and absolutes and say, “I struggle with that. I don’t know about that. How can I know it’s true?”

Meanwhile God is saying to us, “Because I said so. Really, you know it is true because I said so.”

God is the source of truth. God is truth. So if God says it is true, then it is true. You may or may not agree with it. You may not fully understand it. But that doesn’t change what it is.

I have seen a lot of drama played out in real time in many lives. I have seen what happens to men and women who get married, work on having a strong marriage, stay married, and raise their children in the way of the Lord. Of course every family has its challenges. And every family has its tragedies. But I’ve seen in the long run how it works when we pass on these biblical truths from generation to generation.

I have also seen what happens when couples get divorced, get remarried, and get divorced again. I’ve seen how problems get passed from generation to generation.

So let’s just take God at His Word.

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

A Fourth of July Meditation on Religious Freedom

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A Fourth of July Meditation on Religious Freedom

A Fourth of July Meditation on Religious Freedom

Christian Post Report – Raised to love my country and our flag, and because it’s reserved for time with my family, the Fourth of July is a day that I look forward to from the very first signs of summer. For me, at least, I sense that this year will somewhat bittersweet. When we celebrate America’s independence, we necessarily celebrate freedom —unprecedented and unmatched by any other nation. For the first time in my life, I fear that my own freedom might actually be at stake.

As the left tirelessly labels as hateful anyone expressing the slightest disappointment over the Court’s ruling on marriage, any objective constitutional scholar has to admit that this decision goes well beyond the simple act of requiring that marriage licenses be issued to any couple who seeks them. Rather, it tips the scales of justice against one of our nation’s foremost freedoms: the free exercise of religion.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/reflections-on-freedom-as-independence-day-approaches-141087/

Source : Christian Post

Protestant Radio Program ‘Day1’ Celebrates 70 Years of ‘Preaching the Word of God’ on Stations Across the World

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Protestant Radio Program ‘Day1’ Celebrates 70 Years of ‘Preaching the Word of God’ on Stations Across the World

Peter Wallace (Photo: Screengrab/YouTube/Day1.org)

Christian Post Report – The Rev. Peter M. Wallace, president and executive producer of the radio program “Day 1,” as seen in this 2009 interview.

A Georgia-based radio program centered on promoting the perspectives of mainline Protestant denominations has turned 70 this year.

“Day1,” a program headquartered in Atlanta originally named “The Protestant Hour,” has been on the air for seven decades and since 2004 has been overseen by the Alliance for Christian Media.

The Rev. Peter M. Wallace, president and executive producer of “Day1” and the Alliance, told The Christian Post that he was “very thankful for the opportunity to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ over the radio for so many years.”

“While the program has changed in its format somewhat over the years, its heart is still a sermon by an outstanding minister based on the lectionary Bible texts most of our participating denominations use each Sunday,” said Wallace.

“We look forward to continuing to preach the Word of God for the people of God for many years to come, God willing.”

“The Protestant Hour” was first heard on the radio airwaves in the spring of 1945, being launched by a coalition of Protestant Christian schools and churches.

Entities involved in the station’s creation included the National Council of Churches, the Protestant Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church, and the United Lutheran Church.

“Ground was broken in 1953 for the studio and office facilities, and the Martha and Arthur J. Moore chapel studio was dedicated,” notes the “Day1” website.

“In August 2013, the organization moved once again to a new office suite and recording studio on the campus of Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta.”

According to Wallace, “Day1” is broadcast on 207 radio stations across the United States as well as eight other nations, with News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB in Atlanta being their flagship station.

Despite the impressive reach, this represents a severe decline from their peak reach, wrote Sam Hodges of the United Methodist News Service.

“At its height, more than 600 stations carried ‘The Protestant Hour,’ as did the Armed Forces Network,” reported Hodges on Monday.

“That’s a much diminished reach. But ‘Day1’ leaders give thanks for a rich history; for the continuing voice of preachers from The United Methodist Church — successor to The Methodist Church — and other mainline Protestants on radio; and for the options that the Internet presents for sharing sermons old and new.”

When asked by CP as to how “Day1” intends to stay on the air for another 70 years, Wallace replied that they hope to take advantage of both traditional media like radio and newer media.

“We are also expanding our outreach through podcasts on our website, Day1.org, as well as iTunes, Stitcher, and other podcast platforms, through video reflections by our preachers and other suitable audio and video programming,” said Wallace.

“As media technologies change and new ones are introduced in the future, we hope to use whatever channels we can to proclaim the Gospel. While technologies may change, the Word of God remains vitally important for our lives.”

Source : Christian Post

Episcopal Church Passes Resolution Calling for Removal of All Confederate Flags — A Symbol ‘at Odds With Love of Jesus Christ’

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Episcopal Church Passes Resolution Calling for Removal of All Confederate Flags — A Symbol ‘at Odds With Love of Jesus Christ’

confederate flag (Photo: Reuters/Jason Miczek)

Christian Post Report – The U.S. flag and South Carolina state flag flies at half staff to honor the nine people killed in the Charleston murders as the confederate battle flag also flies on the grounds of the South Carolina State House in Columbia, SC June 20, 2015.

The Episcopal Church, a theologically liberal denomination that has strong historic ties to the former Confederacy, voted at their General Convention in favor of a resolution calling for the removal of Confederate battle flags from public display.

“[The] 78th General Convention recognize that icons and symbols are and have always been important to the liturgical life and practice of The Episcopal Church in leading us to Jesus Christ and in inspiring us to share the Good News that is at the heart of our ministry,” read Resolution D044 that was introduced by the Rev. Betsy Baumgarten.

“That as our Baptismal Covenant calls Episcopalians to ‘respect the dignity of every human being’ and as the fourth Mark of Mission calls Episcopalians to ‘transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation,’ we consider the continued display of the Confederate Battle Flag to be at odds with a faithful witness to the reconciling love of Jesus Christ …”

  • episcopal
    (Photo: courtesy the National Cathedral)
    The Very Reverend Gary Hall, Tenth Dean of the Washington National Cathedral, preaching before the Cathedral’s congregation in the District of Columbia.

Confederate imagery in the form of monuments, street names, and Confederate battle flags throughout the South has long garnered controversy.

Debates over the display of the Confederate battle flag reemerged this summer in response to the Charleston church shooting in which a white supremacist, known for his affinity for the flag, killed nine African-Americans attending a Bible study.

The Episcopal Church is not the only religious body calling for the discontinuation of Confederate flag displays on public property.

Conservative evangelical leaders like the Southern Baptist Convention’s Russell Moore and the Rev. Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association have ushered similar calls.

“My great-great-grandfathers fought for the South under the Confederate flag during the civil war — both were wounded at Gettysburg and lost limbs,” stated Rev. Graham last month.

“Growing up, many people in the South flew the Confederate flag; but I believe that it’s time for this flag to be set aside as a part of our history.”

Resolution D044 takes it a step further than some, calling not only for the removal of the flag from public property but also from any churches that may include it in their iconography.

“That The Episcopal Church strongly urges all persons, along with public, governmental, and religious institutions, to discontinue the display of the Confederate Battle Flag,” concluded the resolution.

In keeping with the resolution Washington National Cathedral recently stated their plan to remove two stain glass windows honoring Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.

“We can live with some contradictions until we can’t,” said the Very Rev. Gary Hall in a recent sermon at the prominent Washington, D.C. church.

“… there simply is no excuse for the nation’s most visible church to display a symbol of racism, slavery and oppression. None.”

Source : Christian Post

Embattled Megachurch Pastor Kong Hee Selling $10 Million ‘Lavish and Opulent’ Penthouse; Kong Calls Report ‘Misleading and Exaggerated’

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Embattled Megachurch Pastor Kong Hee Selling $10 Million ‘Lavish and Opulent’ Penthouse; Kong Calls Report ‘Misleading and Exaggerated’

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee (Photo: Reuters/Edgar Su)

Christian Post Report – City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee arrives for his trial at the Subordinate Courts in Singapore, May 15, 2013. Prosecutors for the trial said they had evidence of a “deliberately planned” scheme by church leaders to channel part of the church’s building fund to fund the music career of Kong’s wife, singer Sun Ho, according to local media.

City Harvest Church pastor Kong Hee has put up for sale a co-owned $10 million luxury penthouse in Sentosa Cove, Singapore, amid an ongoing trial concerning the possible misuse of over $19 million in church funds to finance his wife’s music career. Kong has hit back against a report describing the penthouse, calling it “misleading and exaggerated.”

Kong explained that his family has sold other properties as well to help pay their attorneys’ fees.

“The property that my family and I have been living in is co-owned with another family. We have been living at this property with the co-owner’s kind permission after we had to sell our properties in order to pay the legal expenses for the ongoing trial,” the pastor said in a Facebook post, responding to a Straits Times article from earlier this week.

He also clarified that the families have been trying to sell the property for some time.

According to the ST report, an anonymous investor who has visited the penthouse described it as “lavish and opulent.”

The investor said: “The home is decorated with quality furniture and top of the range equipment. It gives me the impression that the owner sure knows how to enjoy the high life.”

The 5,242 sqare foot duplex reportedly has ‘giant crystal light fixtures and works of art,’ a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi, a roof terrace with a large pool, and a number of other luxuries.

Kong responded, however, that the investor is using “superlative terms to describe the property,” and is “implying that its furnishings are grand and luxurious.”

“I don’t know the intentions and motives of this ‘investor,’ but my family and I would respectfully disagree with what he is trying to suggest,” Kong asserted.

“There is no denying that we are blessed and privileged to be staying at Sentosa Cove. However, we are under no illusion that this is only our temporary home, until the property is sold. The article has given the impression that this unit was only just put up for sale. In reality, the co-owner and I have been trying to sell this property for some time.”

The CHC pastor also denied suggestions that he and his family are enjoying the “high life,” alluding to what they have been through in the past five years.

Kong and five other CHC members are currently on trial facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted of having misused $19.2 million in church funds on the pop music career of Sun Ho, the pastor’s wife.

Prosecutors are accusing the CHC members of funneling money into Ho’s career through sham bond investing into a management company called Xtron. Kong has denied participating in such a scheme, however, and has said that church support for the Crossover project, which funds Ho’s music tours, is part of its mission to spread the Gospel and increase CHC’s presence.

Source : Christian Post

Christian Artist Jason Crabb Announces Release of New Album ‘Whatever the Road’ Following TBN Concert

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Christian Artist Jason Crabb Announces Release of New Album ‘Whatever the Road’ Following TBN Concert

Jason Crabb (Photo: The Christian Post)

Christian Post Report – Christian singer Jason Crabb attends the 43rd Annual GMA Dove Awards April 19, 2012.

Grammy award-winning gospel singer Jason Crabb announced the release of his fifth solo album, “Whatever the Road,” which will be available on Sept. 18.

The album is Crabb’s first with Reunion Records, a division of Provident Label Group/Sony Music. On Wednesday, the 21-time Dove award-winner promoted “Whatever the Road” during a concert in Hendersonville, Tennessee, that was broadcast on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

“To every person that came, can’t say THANK U enough,” Crabb wrote on Twitter following the event. “To every 1 who prayed, WE FELT THEM! Social fam, I love you so much you are the BEST!!”

The singer later added, “Wonderful night at TBN for the new record, WHATEVER THE ROAD. THANK YOU for coming and for your prayers!”

Produced by Jason Ingram and Paul Mabury, “Whatever the Road” features Crabb’s vocals paired with a fresh adult contemporary and pop sound. The album boasts 10 new songs, including “Never Gonna Let Me Go,” “Chance for a Miracle,” and “He Knows What He’s Doing.” Additionally, the new album takes listeners through themes of God’s love never letting go, of celebrating freedom and redemption, and of resting in the promise that “He [God] is with you in the valley of despair, He won’t leave you there.”

Crabb, who first rose to fame with the Southern gospel group the Crabb Family, is also an author, TV host and actor. The singer recently appeared in the family-friendly film “Welcome to Inspiration,” and he told The Christian Post that faith-based entertainment “that points to Jesus” helps people stay focused on Him.

“Of course, you need to read the Bible and pray for His wisdom and guidance,” said Crabb. “Reading His Word, studying it, praying for God to reveal His will for your life is essential to living a godly life that is pleasing to Him. Also, listen to uplifting music, reading and watching uplifting media that points to Jesus is a good way to stay focused on Him and not the things of this world.”

follow me on Twitter @emmakoonse

Source : Christian Post

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