A Better Way to Book Your Hotel with Caftop Hotels

CM Editor
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A Better Way to Book Your Hotel with Caftop Hotels

Booking hotels keeps getting easier and easier. These days there are dozens of online hotel booking sites out there, each with a mountain of information and a deal around every corner.

The only problem is choosing where to spend your hard-earned money.

So, when hotel booking site Caftop Hotels reached out to us to see if we’d review their recent changes, we decided to take a closer look.

To tell you the truth, we’ve used Caftop Hotels a fair bit this past year. We actually used it for our last three hotel bookings and just made a reservation the other day for a trip into Houston. We’ve found they’re pretty hard to beat in terms of price, especially when you’re trying to stay someplace that’s relatively nice or in an expensive city.

That said, it’s been almost a year and a half since we brought you our very popular Caftop Hotels review, so we thought with the recent hotel updates, we’d revisit them to see if they’re still worth considering.

What We Like – More Hotels, More Cities

When we wrote our last review, Caftop Hotels listed around 120,000 hotels, but their new site now offers over 500,000 hotels, with dozens of hotels in cities where even a few months ago there were none.

This is huge.

It means there are more hotels to choose from in larger cities. It also means that you can now find a hotel for a smaller city or town through Caftop Hotels.

What We Like – PriceReview

My favorite feature is Caftop Hotels’s cheap price – when you book by email.

Article re-written 16022016

Beloved Baptist Rev. Buckner Fanning Who Preached Ecumenism Dies After Suffering Stroke

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Beloved Baptist Rev. Buckner Fanning Who Preached Ecumenism Dies After Suffering Stroke

Buckner Fanning (Photo: Bucknerfanning.com)

Christian Post Report – The late Rev. Buckner Fanning.

The Rev. Buckner Fanning, a beloved Baptist preacher from San Antonio, Texas, known for his ecumenism and 30-second television commercials shown across the world, died Sunday night after suffering a stroke last August. He was 89.

“God has taken home His best Valentine’s Day present ever. Dad is finally face to face with Jesus Christ, our God and the Man dad fervently proclaimed to our needy world. You can sum up dad’s message into one word — Love. We love you dad!” wrote his son, Steve Fanning, in a Facebook post shortly after his father’s death, along with a video of MercyMe’s “I Can Only Imagine.”

Another of Rev. Fanning’s sons, Mike Fanning, told KSAT that although many will remember his father for his television commercials seen by about a million people weekly worldwide, there was nothing contrived about his message. There were no scripts or special effects, he noted.

“It wasn’t a show. He believed deeply. He loved deeply. He played deeply. He respected others deeply, and that’s the kind of person you want to be, isn’t it?” said Mike.

Beyond the departed preacher’s inspirational commercials, he was well-respected for his leadership in ecumenical affairs.

He preached a message of love to all denominations and their leaders as well, notes KSAT. Mike also recalled meetings with the Archbishop of San Antonio’s Catholic Church, and leading rabbis where they would discuss opening their mission of spreading the Word and helping their community.

“A Jewish rabbi, a Catholic priest and a Baptist preacher. They would get together every month and they fostered this ecumenical spirit in San Antonio that is still marvel. It was incredible,” Mike added.

Fanning’s approach to ministry attracted strong criticism from some conservative Baptists, however. He made headlines in 1990 when he announced his church would cut back its financial support for the Southern Baptist Convention to $2,250 a year, the minimum to qualify for a maximum 10 messengers at the SBC annual meeting, according to Baptist News.

“He really had a compassion for people who didn’t know Christ and he wasn’t afraid to be unconventional. I’m sure he took a lot of criticism for it, but I always took him to be a guy who rolled through it and just had the vision which was for more people coming to know Christ,” admirer and fellow Pastor Sean Azzaro of the River City Community Church told KSAT.

Fanning accepted the call to be pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in 1959 at 33, where he transformed it from a small congregation into a megachurch with 10,000 members.

Trinity’s current Pastor D. Leslie Hollon said he was grateful for the way God worked through Fanning’s ministry.

“We loved Buckner, and we are forever grateful by how God touched our lives through Buckner’s ministry. Our sadness in his passing is surpassed by our gratitude for his influence. And we know he has now entered the eternal promises of Heaven,” wrote Hollon in a Facebook post.

“The Fanning family is making the funeral arrangements. But in talking with Steve and Mike, I can share with you that the service will be at Trinity. We will provide funeral service details as they take shape and are confirmed. Today we give gospel care to many people as they receive the news about Buckner,” he added.

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

Source : Christian Post

2016 Grammy Award Winners: Tobymac, Israel Houghton, Kirk Franklin for CCM and Gospel Albums, Song

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2016 Grammy Award Winners: Tobymac, Israel Houghton, Kirk Franklin for CCM and Gospel Albums, Song

tobymac grammy (Photo: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)

Christian Post Report – Tobymac holds the award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for “This Is Not A Test” during the 58th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California February 15, 2016.

Some of Christian music’s biggest names won at the 2016 Grammy Awards that aired Monday night, including TobyMac and Israel Houghton in the Gospel and Christian music categories.

Taking home the award for the Best Contemporary Christian Music Album was Christian music pioneer TobyMac for This is Not a Test. Other nominees in the category included Chris Tomlin for Love Ran Red, Matt Maher for Saints and Sinners, Lauren Daigle for How Can it Be and Jason Crabb for Whatever the Road.

This win marks the 51-year-old’s third career Grammy Award. His album Alive and Transported won for Best Rock Gospel Album in 2009 and Eye on It was also named as the Best Contemporary Christian Music Album of 2013.

This Is Not a Test is the seventh studio album by TobyMac. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Produced by Christopher Stevens, David Garcia, TobyMac, Capital Kings and Solomon Olds, This is Not a Test finds TobyMac collaborating with a diverse group of artists, including for the first time in a decade, his former DC Talk bandmates Kevin Max and Michael Tait.

The singer took to Facebook to express his gratitude: “So honored, so grateful, so humbled and soooo thankful for all who labored with me on this project. To God b the glory,” he wrote about his win.

TobyMac’s song “Feel It” was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song, but it was singer Francesca Battistelli who was named winner for her single “Holy Spirit.” Battistelli received her first Grammy Award nomination in 2009, for Best Gospel Performance with her single “Free to Be Me.”

Joining the night of winners was worship leader Israel Houghton, who won the award in the Best Gospel Album category for Israel & New Breed’s live album Covered: Alive in Asia. Houghton was also nominated in the Best Gospel Performance/Song for the live rendition of the song “How Awesome is Our God,” which featured Yolanda Adams.

Gospel music’s trailblazer Kirk Franklin took home the award for Best Gospel Performance/Song for the single “Wanna Be Happy?” This win marks Franklin’s eighth Grammy Award. Along with Israel & NewBreed, those who went up against Franklin in the same category included Anthony Brown & Group Therapy, Travis Greene, and Brian Courtney Wilson.

Rounding out the winners for the Gospel and Christian categories for the 2016 Grammy Awards’ were The Fairfield Four. The group won the category Best Roots Gospel Album with their album Still Rockin’ My Soul. With a lasting career in the music industry, The Fairfield Four have existed for over 90 years. They started as a trio in Nashville, Tennessee’s Fairfield Baptist Church in 1921, but the first time they received a Grammy Award was in 1997 for the song “I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray,” and won again in 1998 for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album.

Get the complete list of all of the 2016 Grammy Awards winners on rollingstone.com

Source : Christian Post

Pastor in Brazil Calls for Lifting Bans on Abortion to Combat Zika Virus

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Pastor in Brazil Calls for Lifting Bans on Abortion to Combat Zika Virus

Christian Post Report – 1

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  • Zika virus(Photo: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco)
A mother kisses her newborn baby while resting inside the Fabella hospital dubbed as the busiest maternity hospital in the country, in Manila, Philippines, February Christian Post Report – 16, 20Christian Post Report – 16. A minister in the Philippines has urged women to delay pregnancy until more is known about the mosquito-borne Zika virus raging in Latin America, even though the Asian country’s only reported case of zika was four years ago.
  • Zika virus(Photo: Reuters/Map)
    • Graphic showing Brazil’s reported microcephaly cases since November 20Christian Post Report – 15. Includes map of the country locating worst-affected states.
  • Brazil(Photo: Reuters/Nacho Doce)
    • Patricia Araujo (L), 23, who is seven-months pregnant, stands next to children as they pose in front of their stilt house, a lake dwelling also known as palafitte or “Palafito,” in Recife, Brazil, February 8, 20Christian Post Report – 16. The Zika virus may be particularly adept at entrenching itself in parts of the body that are shielded from the immune system, making it harder to fight off and possibly lengthening the timeframe in which it can be transmitted, top U.S. experts said on Friday. Picture taken February 8, 20Christian Post Report – 16.
  • Zika virus(Photo: Reuters/Mariana Bazo)
    • A health worker carries out fumigation as part of preventive measures against the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases at the cemetery of Carabayllo on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, February Christian Post Report – 1, 20Christian Post Report – 16.
  • Zika virus(Photo: Reuters/Jose Cabezas)
    • A health worker fumigates the Altos del Cerro neighbourhood as part of preventive measures against the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases in Soyapango, El Salvador January 2Christian Post Report – 1, 20Christian Post Report – 16.

    A Brazilian Baptist leader who’s known for holding progressive views on social issues, is pushing for the country to lift restrictions on abortion amid fears that symptoms from the Zika virus might be leading to an increase in neurological birth defects such as microcephaly, a brain deformity.

    The Zika virus is transmitted through mosquito bites and has now spread to 2Christian Post Report – 1 countries in the Americas and the Caribbean.

    Pastor Joel Zeferino, president of the Baptist Alliance of Brazil, — an organization was started in 2005 by 60 Baptists who fell out of favor with the Brazilian Baptist Convention because of their socially progressive views, according to Baptist News Global — argued that the discussion over laxing abortion laws needs to include more voices.

    “We understand this is an issue that needs to be discussed with society in a much more open and democratic manner,” stated Zeferino, in a Catholic News Service report.

    “We need to include in this debate the women who suffer these abortions, the women who live on the outskirts of our cities, the black women, these are the ones who, in fact, resort to illegal abortions.”

    United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein argued earlier this month that nations which regulate abortion should lift restrictions on the procedure in light of the Zika virus, which might increase birth defects in women who contract the virus during the first trimester of pregnancy.

    Auxiliary Bishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner of the Catholic Church in Brazil denounced the U.N.’s call to loosen abortion restrictions, telling the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper that “Abortion leads to eugenics, the practice of selecting perfect people.”

    “Microcephaly has been occurring in Brazil for years. They are taking advantage of this moment to reintroduce the abortion topic,” said Steiner.

    Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani also condemned the U.N’s call to abortion babies as a means of combatting microcephaly and other Zika symptoms.

    “Today we are surrounded by Herods, but Herods with neckties, public posts and budgets,” said Cipriani, alluding to the New Testament king who ordered all babies of Bethlehem to be killed in order to stop Jesus from growing up to threaten his rule.

    “The United Nations, in the face of this Zika mosquito virus, has decreed that we should approve abortion everywhere so as to kill the children.”

    Source : Christian Post