Mississippi Students Protest Classes after School Moves Prayer Group to after School Hours

Mississippi Students Protest Classes after School Moves Prayer Group to after School Hours



Some Mississippi students in Walthall County are sitting out of classes in protest this week to send a message to their school, according to Faithwire.


According to a new district rule, student-led groups are no longer allowed to meet during instruction time, including a prayer group called First Priority.


Walthall County Schools Superintendent Wade Carney said the policy applies to all student-led organizations and First Priority is not being targeted. The organization can still meet before or after school.


But some high school students believe the new rule strips them of their freedom. The First Priority leaders started the protest earlier last week, shouting “No First Priority or no peace.”


“This will be my sixth year going to the high school,” Tylertown High senior Kaitlynn Brown told WLBT. “Well, we’ve had First Priority every year, and I just love seeing all of us come together and basically share the gospel with each other.”


The faith-based organization met once a month during school to pray, encourage one another, and sing.


Another senior, Aaliyah Lewis, agreed: “When I got to school, I just went there and protested because I feel like we deserve to have First Priority in school because children these days need God.”


Many students feel that the move also hurts their school.


“Our school spirit is really…

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Archbishop urges inmates to show kindness as relics taken to prison

The remains of the saint were taken to HMP Barlinnie as part of a tour of the country.

 

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia travelled with the relics to celebrate Mass for staff and inmates on Monday.

In his homily, the Archbishop urged inmates to follow the example of St Therese and to “do little things, little acts of goodness here and there throughout the day that in the end make a big difference.”

He suggested prisoners could “offer a kindly word to a fellow inmate who is struggling with prison life. You could cooperate more readily with prison staff. You could perform your duties more perfectly for the sake of all.”

Sympathising with inmates, he said: “Prison life is not easy” but suggested they could “offer up to God your hardships and sufferings for the sake of your fellow prisoners. You could say a kind word rather than a harsh one. You could make more of the opportunities that you are given to prepare for life on the outside.”

The relics of Saint Therese of Lisieux have been in Scotland since Thursday 29th of August, as part of a three-week tour of Scotland’s eight Catholic dioceses.

They’ve been shown to school children and toured numerous churches.

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Hundreds Gather in Orlando to Celebrate Jesus Delivering Them from LGBT Lifestyle

Hundreds Gather in Orlando to Celebrate Jesus Delivering Them from LGBT Lifestyle



Hundreds of people gathered in Orlando over the weekend for the Freedom March, an event featuring men and women who say Jesus delivered them from the LGBT lifestyle.


According to the Christian Post, the men and women call themselves “overcomers.”


More than 400 people marched at the event, shouting as they walked, “Freedom in Christ. It’s so nice” and “When I say Jesus, you say freedom.”


Churches and local ministries also set up booths and tents at the Lake Eola Park event to support the Freedom March.


The march was organized by Angel Colon and Luis Javier Ruiz, both men who survived the shooting at the Orlando nightclub, Pulse, in 2016. Since the shooting, both men abandoned homosexuality and started a ministry called Fearless Identity.


Fearless Identity helps churches as they try to share God’s word with the LGBT community.


“It’s not a gay to straight thing, it’s a lost to saved thing,” Ruiz said.


Many of the event’s leaders had abandoned an LGBT lifestyle. The event’s worship leader, Edward Byrd, shared that he formerly identified as androgynous before he became a Christian. The Freedom March’s founder, Jeffrey Mccall, said he was a former transgender prostitute. The Uprooted Heart founder, MJ Nixon, who baptized people at the event, said she was a former lesbian.


The event also included a moment of silence for…

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Christian man dies after alleged police torture in Pakistan

Amir Masih, a gardener from Lahore’s PAF colony was summoned to the North Cantonment police station after being accused of theft by his employer, according to religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

Masih’s family reported that Amir was taken to an undisclosed location where he was beaten and tortured by several police officers.

Three days after Amir was summoned by police, the family filed a case of forced disappearance.

They were informed by police that Amir had fallen ill and needed immediate medical attention.

 

CCTV footage has since emerged reportedly showing two police officers dressed in civilian clothing transporting Masih to Service Hospital in Lahore, where he was kicked several times by the officers before being taken inside.

He was later pronounced dead.

A post mortem has since revealed that there were torture marks all over Masih’s body.

Amir is the third person to die in police custody in Pakistan’s Punjab province this month.

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Amir Masih. His treatment while in custody of the Punjab police is deplorable and the officers responsible for his death must be held accountable.

“This case again highlights the vulnerability and marginalisation of Christians who suffer abusive treatment and discrimination at the hands of law enforcement…

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Creator of VeggieTales Launches Interactive Bible for Kids and Adults

Creator of VeggieTales Launches Interactive Bible for Kids and Adults



Phil Vischer, the creator of the popular Christian cartoon VeggieTales, has released an interactive Bible to keep the attention of both kids and adults.


“After VeggieTales, I wanted to take kids deeper into the Bible,” Vischer told Fox News.


“The Laugh and Learn Bible for Kids” contains 52 five-minute stories from Genesis to Revelation. Each story captures a “big-picture view of the entire Bible” and includes a summary page at the end encouraging discussion between adults and their kids.


Vischer shared that the Bible also helps parents, who might not be as familiar with biblical stories, learn right along with the kids and “not feel embarrassed.”


“The Bible has such a reputation for being daunting and boring, but it actually surprises people to say you’re going to have fun reading this with your kids,” he said.


In a post announcing the launch, Vischer shared that so many kids are trying to find themselves in fiction, such as Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. This interactive Bible will help kids find their place in the important story of the Bible.


“[Kids] want to be a part of a big story and the way that we tell the Bible often, we cut it up into little pieces and they can never find themselves in the macro story, the big story, of the Bible,” he said.


The Bible came after Vischer sold his business, Big Idea Productions, in…

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Churches can prepare students for uni life

It comes after new research has revealed more students are taking out payday loans to fund their lifestyles.

The study by Moneysupermarket found a 136 per cent rise in the number of students taking out the costly, short-term loans.

According to the survey, one-in-four current students borrowed from a payday lender compared to 11 per cent 10 years ago.

 

The loans are being used for social activities like clubbing and holidays as well as gym memberships and healthy food.

Christian financial planner Ron Mbakwe told Premier the loans’ high interest rates can have long term implications for students.

“They could end up paying back significantly more than they borrowed. And in a worst case scenario, if they default on payments, this could leave a black mark on their credit file making it much more difficult to obtain credit in the future.

“They need to consider what they really need to spend this money and to think carefully about the consequences of getting into debt at such an early stage of their life.”

Ron said that peer pressure can lead many students “living outside of their means” and suggested budgeting, avoiding impulse purchases and opting for low cost activities such as university provided interest groups to stay out of debt.

He went on to say that the Christian community has a role to play in preparing soon-to-be students to be ‘good stewards’ of their money.

“The…

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Duke University’s Student Government Rejects Young Life over LGBTQ Policies

Duke University’s Student Government Rejects Young Life over LGBTQ Policies



(RNS) — Duke University’s student government has denied the Christian organization Young Life official status as a student group on campus, citing its policy on sexuality.


The decision by the Duke Student Government Senate on Wednesday (Sept. 11) comes amid ongoing clashes nationwide between religious student groups and colleges and universities that have added more robust nondiscrimination policies.


Young Life, like many evangelical groups, regards same-sex relations as sinful. Its policy forbids LGBTQ staff and volunteers from holding positions in the organization.


The student newspaper the Duke Chronicle reported Thursday that the student government senate unanimously turned down official recognition for the Young Life chapter, because it appeared to violate a guideline that every Duke student group include a nondiscrimination statement in its constitution. 


Young Life, which is based in Colorado Springs, is a 78-year-old organization with a mission to introduce adolescents to Christianity and help them grow in their faith. It has chapters in middle schools, high schools and colleges in all 50 states and more than 90 countries around the world.


But the student government objected to a clause in Young Life’s sexuality policy. After the student government was told the organization would not change its sexuality policy, it rejected the group.


The…

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Scottish church offers listening ear to combat ‘hard times’

St John’s Parish Church in Largs has launched The Living Room – a drop in space where people can have someone to talk to.

22 suicides were recorded in the area last year.

 

Rev Jonathan Fleming told Premier’s News Hour the church felt they needed to take action.

He said: “Local services across the United Kingdom are increasingly oversubscribed.

“Lots of money is being provided and services are trying to be enhanced but unfortunately demand continues to grow.”

38 people have now been given training on a range of topics from bereavement to how to spot signs of suicidal thoughts.

Rev Flemming said while this kind of support is the focus – they will when appropriate share the reason for their hope.

“We hope that people know that it is our motivation and our call from Jesus Christ to love our neighbour and that people will hear the good news that he offers,” he said.

“We hope to journey with these people for a long time to come.”

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Why Georgia fans wore pink Saturday: The power of the past to change the future

Georgia fans honor Wendy Anderson on Sept. 14, 2019.

The University of Georgia hosted Arkansas State in a football game on Saturday. Georgia was ranked third in the nation; Arkansas State was not expected to make the score close. In fact, Georgia won 55–0.

However, what mattered most to many watching the game was not the competition on the field but the apparel worn by spectators in the stands. The stadium was filled with Georgia fans wearing not their traditional red and black but bright pink. 

This was in honor of Wendy Anderson, the wife of Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson. Wendy died on August 19 from breast cancer. 

A Georgia alumnus named Dwight Standridge tweeted out a call to his fellow Bulldog fans on Tuesday, asking them to wear pink to the game. He told reporters that he lost his mother to ovarian cancer when she was just thirty-seven years of age. “If you’re not affected by cancer personally, you know somebody who is,” he added. 

Coach Anderson tweeted after the game:

How did David kill Goliath? 

One of the most famous stories in history is the battle between David and Goliath. Most people can tell you how the giant was killed: the shepherd boy hit him in the forehead with a rock from a slingshot. 

Except, that’s not actually how the Philistine died. 

1 Samuel 17 tells us that after David hit Goliath with a stone and the giant “fell on his face to the ground” (v. 49), “David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it” (v. 51). David had no sword of his own (vv. 38–40), so he killed Goliath with the Philistine’s sword. 

Fast-forward four chapters. 

David is on the run from King Saul and needs help. He comes to Nob, a city near Jerusalem where the tabernacle is located. He seeks the aid of a priest named Ahimelech, looking for “a spear or a sword” (1 Samuel 21:8). 

The priest replies,…

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Kanye is ‘born again’ and ‘saved by Christ’

Kardashian-West was asked about Kanye West’s Sunday Service on US talk show The View.

She said people have questioned if the heavily music-focused service has a Christian foundation. She affirmed that it is Christian and described it as a musical ministry.

 

She said: “People always ask, ‘What are you worshiping?’ It is a Christian service, like a musical ministry. They talk about Jesus and God.”

Kardashian-West explained that the services started out as a personal project for Kanye, but they morphed into something that he wanted to share with others.

“Kanye started this to really heal himself and it was a really personal thing, and it was just friends and family,” she said.

“He has had an amazing evolution of being born again and being saved by Christ.”

When asked if ministers were part of the Sunday Services, Kardashian-West said sometimes Kanye’s friends who are pastors preach, but the focus of the service is always on music.

“Sometimes, in the one in Calabasas, he’ll have friends that are pastors that are in town get up and speak. But for the most part, it’s just a musical ministry,” she said.

Kardashian-West, who was on the show to promote the 17th season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, said the Sunday Service isn’t official in terms of it being a registered charity but it is “for God and a Christian church”.

Kanye is expected to release an album this…

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