… Read More

Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

قالب وردپرس

Dan Wooding, the former British tabloid writer who became a groundbreaking missionary journalist and advocate for the suffering church, has passed to his reward on March 18^th. He was 79.

The founder of ASSIST News Service graduated to Heaven following a two-year battle with cancer. A back injury in the last several months left him bedridden and in a state of decline that hastened his homecoming with the Lord.

Once a correspondent for the National Enquirer and a staffer on two of Britain’s sensational tabloids, a powerful encounter with God caused him to devote his writing skills to reporting about the plight of persecuted Christians in restricted countries.

Dan gave me a start as a Christian journalist in 1999 and I will always be grateful for his encouragements. We also recorded a radio program together for many years, “Window on the World,” broadcast over Calvary Chapel’s radio network and through Dan’s personal network of broadcasters in countries around the world.

We met for the first time at his modest office in Garden Grove, California, which he shared with his devoted and saintly wife, Norma, who handled their books. I could immediately tell there was nothing improper going on financially with their ministry because of their humble lifestyles. Dan probably found the least expensive office in the county and Norma counted every penny to make sure it was handled properly.

I also visited their home in Lake Forest, a doublewide trailer that was furnished unassumingly — with Norma’s delicate and refined touch.

Born to missionary parents in Plateau State, Nigeria, in 1940, Dan liked to joke that he was African-American. His bubbly personality and ever-present, infectious humor was endearing to so many who were privileged to call him a friend. Also a gifted raconteur, he could regale his listeners with stories behind the headlines, which often could not be shared publicly.

His parents, Alfred and Anne, met at the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) language school, fell in love, and were married at the SIM church in the walled city of Kano.

They began to serve as missionaries in a small mud-hut village called Izom.

SOURCE: Assist News, Mark Ellis

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

The Rev. Merle Dry, a beloved grounds manager at Oral Roberts University and Pentecostal minister, became the first casualty of the deadly coronavirus in Oklahoma last Wednesday. He was 55.

Dry’s death was announced Wednesday night by Metro Pentecostal Church, led by Don Martin, in Tulsa where he served.

“It is with great sadness that I have to announce our dear Bro Merle Dry made his journey from earth to glory at 8:01pm. Sis Dry and family are under quarantine and cannot receive guests. Please text her instead of calling. Thanks to everyone for your prayers. We need the hand of God to guide us. He was so loved by the Metro Pentecostal Church. Details of his funeral will be forthcoming,” a statement on the church’s Facebook page said.

The statement also sought to clarify what it termed “misinformation” regarding Dry’s health explaining that as far as the church knew, Dry had no underlying illness prior to his death from the coronavirus.

“Merle Dry was in good health as far as we all knew. He was fighting a cold and then he contracted the coronavirus. He was diagnosed on Tuesday and passed away on Wednesday. He was unable to breathe,” the church continued, noting that the pastor was a member of the Cherokee Nation.

Because of his cold, Dry had not been attending church and leaders are “taking all precautions to allow the virus to die out in the area he would have been in,” the church added.

Dry was described as an “authentic” person who “loved people.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

Christian parents in China are paying close attention to a lawsuit filed by China’s communist government against a Christian mother who chose to homeschool her child instead of sending him to a public school.

The mother, identified as Fan Ruzhen, appeared in the Yintai District Court in Beihai on China’s southwest coast last week, according to the U.S.-based group China Aid.

After summoning her several times and threatening to revoke her government-provided subsistence paycheck to punish her for homeschooling or providing a Christian education to her child, the Chinese government filed a lawsuit against her last September.

In the first court session last December, Fan recited her rights and defended her competence to educate her child, the group said.

In a December hearing, the judge suggested the two parties reach a settlement, but the government wasn’t willing.

Her lawyer said the government violated the Compulsory Education Law of China by accusing her. And five teachers came out to support Christian education as a “solid alternative to public school,” but the government has refused to budge from its opposition.

Under Chinese law, all children must attend nine years of compulsory education from elementary school to the end of middle school. But homeschooling is now popularly seen as an alternative among parents opposed to the government curriculum or the country’s exam-oriented education system, according to the online magazine Sixth Tone.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Anugrah Kumar

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

If you’ve been on social media lately and you run in any sort of Christian circles, you’ve likely come across these words that C.S. Lewis wrote in 1948:

“This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things — praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts — not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.”

First, let me say that I dare not speak a word against C.S. Lewis. It is impossible to imagine how much good he has done illuminating and clarifying Christian concepts to millions of people — myself included. And these words, like nearly everything he ever wrote, are stirring. They move us and call us to action.

But they have nothing to do with the coronavirus.

More than that, because of the differences between World War II England and coronavirus planet Earth, this quotation actually works against the incredibly important work of social distancing and self-quarantine. Let’s quickly consider three ways this message — as beautiful and motivating as it is! — misses the mark:

1. The absence of an enemy
Look at the final sentence of Lewis’s quote: “They may break our bodies… but they need not dominate our minds.” One reason it was important for his audience to go on living normal life is that it represented a triumph over an enemy. It amounted to a refusal to allow terrorists to rob them of their quality of life. But this weaponization of playfulness and normalcy has no place when we battle a contagious disease. This is a minor point, but it sets the stage for our most important observation next.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Jon Mathieu

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

Talk about a perverse response. Talk about the exact opposite of what we need to be doing during a pandemic. Talk about feeding the flesh when we should be nurturing our spirits. Talk about giving ourselves to carnality when we should crying out for mercy.

As things stand today, normal life has been totally upended. Families are suffering. Companies are going out of business. Health care systems are being stretched beyond the limit. Italy cannot bury its dead. Yet it is a pornography website that comes to the rescue. I kid you not.

As the headline on PC Mag announced, “Pornhub Premium to the Rescue: France, Spain to Get Free Access, Too.”

Yes, “Italy won’t be the only country to get free access to Pornhub’s premium service in the wake of the coronavirus.

“The adult website is now expanding the same offer to users in France and Spain, which have also been experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases. Residents in both countries are now facing lockdowns, forcing them to stay at home.  In response, Pornhub will give the country’s users free access to the premium service for the next month.”

Thanks, but no thanks, Pornhub.

The last thing we need is more porn.

Of course, we can readily question the altruism of Pornhub. This is just another cynical attempt to get more people hooked on porn, leading to more subscriptions.

Yet even without this ploy, more people are accessing porn. As reported by Adweek on March 13, “Pornhub Reports an Increase in Traffic as More People Self-Quarantine. The adult site believes this spike is from users working from home.”

Such is the way of the human race.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Brown

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

… Read More

Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

قالب وردپرس

There is a concern of more considerable significance than any of those commonly gleaned from the current coronavirus crisis. It is the possibility that a spiritual message from God could go overlooked.

As a whole, people have tremendous faith in medical science to cure any illness. Wisdom would readily acknowledge that the advances made in healthcare are astonishing, but it remains something of an art. It still requires imagination, guesswork, trial and error methods. Medical experts aren’t always confident about what they’re doing. Though most people are never involved in the esoteric aspects of medical research, even the layman can see it’s a risky business, and there are no guarantees it can always help us.

Yet because we have such high expectations, we tend to overuse it. Physicians say large portions of the people they see do not actually need a doctor. They suffer from an ailment that could just as easily be served with a little rest and self-tender love and care, and not a prescription. So much medicine is dispensed for psychological reasons rather than an actual physical sickness. Millions and millions of dollars are spent by people who have come to believe that a pill can relieve almost anything.

Our oft unquestioning faith in medical science and use of its facilities is driven by latent anxieties of suffering, aging, pain, and disability. Worst of all, death terrifies us. These fears are met with an unfounded faith in the perceived absolute power and sagacity of the medical profession. Some physicians will even encourage this dependency.

Is it any wonder healthcare costs have astronomically risen? Is it any wonder so many people are willing to risk their freedom for a socialistic healthcare system?

My point is this. We should affirm the value of the healing arts as a gift from God. Indeed, there is much that medicine can do for us. Still, it has its limits. Its practitioners are not gods. They possess no sacral mystique, but are fallible human beings like the rest of us. People with faith in the Lord of creation; know it is only God who is never in error. Only God is ever in complete control. And although we would not readily dismiss the blessings of medical research and practice, only God truly has the power to heal.

So, how is this related to the current coronavirus pandemic? There are several ways, but for now, let’s stick to the spiritual. Health experts are working around the clock to contain the virus and to find a vaccine. Things appear promising. Yet everything could turn on a dime. The virus could mutate into something more infectious and lethal. Infections could spread beyond the capacity to handle despite the medical community’s best efforts. The death toll could escalate into thousands upon thousands.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Rev. Mark H. Creech

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source