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A third venue in the United Kingdom has canceled an appearance by evangelist Franklin Graham, bowing to pressure from LGBTQ activists and their allies. 

Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus (SEC) Hydro dropped Graham’s booking at the order of its principal shareholder, the Glasgow City Council, according to the Glasgow Times.

Susan Aitken, Scottish National Party councilwoman, and the local leader told the newspaper that allowing Graham to speak might break the UK’s hate speech laws.

“The reporting of the ways in which Mr. Graham expresses his views makes clear that this is not simply about offense or disagreement. Neither is it a debate about free speech,” Aiken said. 

“How he expresses his views could, I believe, fundamentally breach the council’s statutory equalities duties,” she continued. 

The newspaper reported much of the anger directed at Graham from those in the UK comes from his past comments about gay rights, Islam and his support for President Donald Trump. 

As CBN News reported, earlier this week the UK cities of Sheffield and Liverpool canceled their contracts with Graham, 67, the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization. 

While one venue Liverpool has denied Franklin Graham access, the BGEA tells CBN News a Liverpool outreach will still take place at a different venue that’s still to be determined.

Graham’s eight-day tour of the UK was scheduled to start in Glasgow in May.

Pauline Gallagher of Catholic Family Voice told LifeSiteNews that she was “saddened” that the Protestant evangelical had been barred from her city.

“I am saddened beyond words that Billy Graham’s son has been banned from speaking in Glasgow,” Gallagher said. “The dividing line is not between religious and LGBT. It is between reasonable and unreasonable people.”

Graham has responded to what he considers is the continued effort to bar him from preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the UK.

“For some time I have been planning to come and preach the Gospel in eight cities across the UK in 2020,” he told Newsweek magazine. “Hundreds of churches are working with the Graham Tour UK and praying for these events.”

“Some people have said I am going to bring hateful speech to the UK, but this couldn’t be further from the truth,” he asserted. “I’m coming to the UK to speak about God’s love through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world – He came to save it. The Gospel is timeless, and Bible-believing Christians in the UK have proclaimed it for centuries.”

Graham said he believed that he and other evangelicals were being “discriminated against because of our religious beliefs.”

“Cancelling venue contracts based on the demands of one very vocal group, without consideration for the views and rights of the Christians who contracted for the venue, including the views of thousands of other Christians who support it and who would be negatively impacted, does far more to harm and divide society than simply letting the events go on as planned,” he said.

“It should be noted that Christians are protected under the Equality Act of 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998 against unlawful discrimination and have the right to freely exercise and manifest our religious beliefs,” he said. “It is our hope that venues will allow contracts to remain unchanged.”

The evangelist said he wanted to “invite everyone to come and hear for themselves the Gospel message that I will share from God’s Word. All are absolutely welcome, regardless of their beliefs or background.”

CBN News has reached out to the BGEA for comment on the latest cancellation and Graham’s UK tour.  We will update this story with their comments as soon as we hear back.

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President Trump on Friday signed the authorization for an expanded travel ban against six countries who have failed to comply with a minimum standard of travel security protocols since 2017.

The countries mentioned in the ban are: Burma, Eritrea, Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan.  Sudan and Tanzania are also included, though at a lower level of sanctions.

The move came after years of negotiations with countries around the world to try and raise the standards for international travel, said Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) who serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security. 

“The Department of State and Department of Homeland Security have been working closely with international partners that have flights originating out of many countries with their final destination in the United States,” Higgins said. “There is a minimum standard of security based on three phases of compliance.” 

The three requirements are:

The move is borne out of the Trump administration’s original travel restrictions, which were incorrectly referred to as a “Muslim ban” by many on the left. But Higgins clarified the new restrictions have nothing to do with the religious beliefs of the countries in question.

“The goal of US policy,” he said, “And the president’s true wish is that nobody would be added to the travel ban list. They’ve been trying to get everyone up to the standard for almost 3 years. Every nation knows this is coming. They’ve had ample opportunity to comply.”

There will reportedly be a six-week grace period before the new ban will go into full effect, in order to give travelers time to work out necessary arrangements.

“The goal is to get people off the list by getting them to comply,” Higgins noted. “There is an “offramp” process to get removed from the list. But we must ensure there is a minimum level of security procedures in place because it is our main obligation to protect the homeland and the people of America.”

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Christians are not fully engaging God’s power unless they discover the “truth of His word” by studying directly from the Greek and Hebrew texts, TV host Kathie Lee Gifford said Friday on the red carpet at the 28th annual Movieguide Awards.

“We have not been taught the truth. And we wonder why we have no power in our lives. We’re quoting Scripture that isn’t true,” she declared in a video interview embedded on The Christian Post.

“If we’re not quoting what it actually says in the Greek, actually says in the Hebrew, then we’re not speaking the word and the word is everything.”

The comments were made when the reporter asked Gifford about her 2018 book, The Rock, The Road, and The Rabbi, which chronicles the intersection of Gifford’s desire to delve deeper into the Scriptures with her “life-changing” visits to the Holy Land.

“I believe that when we start actually quoting the Scripture, properly, learning it properly, then we can apply it properly,” the Emmy Award-winning TV host said. “Imagine the power that’s going to erupt in our lives because we’re doing what God said to do. Speak the truth in a spirit of love.”

While on the carpet at Avalon Theater in Hollywood, Gifford also talked about a “modern oratorio” she recently directed, and her plans for three more.

The God Who Sees was shot in Israel and is based on a song Gifford co-wrote with Grammy-nominated artist Nicole C. Mullen, who is featured in short film. It recounts the “stories of Hagar, Ruth and David during their wilderness experiences, and ending with Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem at the tomb of the Risen Savior, Jesus.”

Upcoming oratorios include The God of the How and When and The God of His Word, which will star Christian recording artist Danny Gokey. The fourth offering, slated to be 30 minutes long, will be called The God of the Other Side. All of them will be filmed in Israel, where Gifford is headed in March.

Source: Christian Headlines

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A nearly 3,000-year-old jar bearing the name of an Israelite man might help confirm that a city mentioned in the Old Testament was indeed an Israelite city.

Archaeologists with Azusa Pacific University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem unearthed a jar with the inscription “lbnayo,” meaning “belonging to Benaiyo.” The latter means “Yahweh has built” and is the equivalent of a biblical name, “Benaiah,” that is found a dozen times in the Old Testament. The man referenced on the jar lived around the 9th century B.C., which would have been around the time of King Ahab.

Significantly the inscription was found in Tel Abel Beth Maacah, an archaeological site in northern Israel that has been the source of debate over whether the location mentioned in the Bible was an Israelite city or an Aramaean city, according to the Biblical Archaeology Society’s website.

But the jar’s inscription with an Israelite name “indicates that the site may have indeed been an Israelite city at this time,” according to an Azusa Pacific news release.

Abel Beth Maacah (alternative spelling: Maakah) is mentioned in 2 Samuel 20. When the city was under siege, a “wise woman” came out of the city and told the commander of the army, “We are the peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?”

Source: Christian Headlines

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Shane Idleman is the founder and lead pastor of Westside Christian Fellowship in Southern California and the WCF Radio Network. More can be found at ShaneIdleman.com, including free downloads of his eBooks. Visit him on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to his new podcast, Idleman Unplugged. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

This, of course, is in response to what is “perceived” to be happening at the border. I assume that Mr. Deitrich is sincere, and his heart truly wants to help people, but we must get our facts from reputable sources or first-hand experience. God willing, I’m touring the border with other California pastors very soon and hope to gain that perspective personally (look for that op-ed in mid-February).

Some say, “How can you follow Jesus and Donald Trump?” We are not following a man, we are shaping a movement. A better question to be asking, though, is What direction is the country heading? If a leader lacks Christian character but is pointing the nation back to God, is that a bad thing? If they are minimizing murdering babies and maximizing godly values, is that a bad thing? If they are being a terror to terrorists and making America secure, is that a bad thing? If they are honoring hard work and minimizing free handouts, is that a bad thing? God doesn’t judge a nation based on the character of one man; He judges it based on the spiritual health of her people. Never forget that.

I regularly say that we Christians love refugees and immigrants and are eager to help with food, lodging, and jobs. But at the national level, the president is to put the safety and provision of the American people first. When an airplane loses cabin pressure, parents put on their oxygen masks first to better assist their child. This isn’t selfishness; it’s wisdom. Opening the borders parallels cabin pressure falling and a limited supply of masks. Our law enforcement officers could not sustain the load, nor could our nation. Let’s streamline the process and welcome God-fearing immigrants and have them contribute to society so everyone benefits. The truth is, kids are not being put in cages and ripped from their mothers, as the song accuses.

The majority of news outlets spin everything (yes, everything) to put President Trump in a bad light. Their hatred for him trumps the truth. Their agenda is simple and clear: remove him from office at any cost! And I hope you realize this: they are really coming after you, me, and our Christian values.

The push toward open borders is more about votes than truly helping people. Open borders would be like me telling my kids to leave their windows open in case a stranger needs a warm night’s sleep. That would be severe parental neglect because many harmful things could also enter through those open windows. Open borders would parallel that type of irresponsibility. Additionally, our financial system cannot support people flooding in who need assistance. How is that using wisdom? It’s not a matter of if this type of financial irresponsibility causes damage but when and how much. Our California representatives in Sacramento need to wake up to this fact—and wake up quickly. There is a better way, but our leaders must repent and seek God for wisdom.

Source: Christian Headlines

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