Pope on Paris Attacks: ‘Jesus Weeps for a World at War’

CM Editor
-
0
Pope on Paris Attacks: ‘Jesus Weeps for a World at War’

Pope Francis has said that “Jesus weeps for a world at war” in his homily following the Paris terrorist attacks that took the lives of 129 people.

“Today, Jesus weeps…because we have chosen the way of war, the way of hatred, the way of enmities,” said the Pope, according to Christian Today.

“There are wars today everywhere, and hate…We should ask for the grace to weep for this world, which does not recognise the path to peace. To weep for those who live for war and have the cynicism to deny it.”

The Pope also said that the festivities of Christmas are only a facade when we are not pursuing peace.

All the “lights, parties, Christmas trees and nativity scenes…it’s all a charade,” Francis said. “The world continues to wage war. The world has not understood the way of peace.”

Francis said that those “who make war are damned” and that “when the world is at war, as it is today. . .there is no justification.”

After last Friday’s deadly attacks in Paris, the Pope condemned “this new manifestation of maddening, terrorist violence and hatred”.

But although he has condemned the “useless slaughter” of the terrorists, Francis said that the response to these attacks should not be fear and that they should not prevent Christians from reaching out to help refugees.
“May the doors of our Christian homes be signs and symbols of the door of God’s mercy, a door ever open to all who knock and desire to meet Jesus,” he said.

ISIS Attacks in Paris: The West’s Failure to Comprehend Evil

CM Editor
-
0
ISIS Attacks in Paris: The West’s Failure to Comprehend Evil
Friday’s attack in Paris, when ISIS terrorists attacked a concert hall, a soccer stadium, and a neighborhood known for its cafes, killing at least 129 people and wounding another 350, was the second wave of terror launched against the City of Light just this year. Back in January, terrorists attacked the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket, killing a dozen people.
According to French president Francois Hollande, ISIS has “declared war” on France and that France’s response will be “pitiless.”
And the most common reaction here in the States, besides pity for the victims, is fear… that what happened there could happen here, wherever “here” might be for you. So let’s start by making one thing clear: for the Christian, the fear of God casts out all other fear. Yes, it’s reasonable to be concerned about personal and public safety, but we’re commanded throughout scripture to not be afraid. That’s because in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has definitively dealt with evil.
Now it may not look that way after Friday. But as the author of Hebrews wrote, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him,” that is, Jesus Christ. Christianity acknowledges the fact of evil and suffering. A Christian worldview isn’t about sticking our heads in the sand and seeing the world in a Pollyannaish sort of way.
But other worldviews aren’t able to call evil, “evil.” In an article in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, residents of the neighborhood that was attacked on Friday described the perpetrators as “victims.” One person said that the terrorists were “victims of a system that excluded them from society . . . who live here in alienation, and we are all to blame for this alienation.”
Another added that “These are people the government gave up on, and you have to ask why.” AsHaaretz put it, “No one wanted to talk about Islamists or the Islamic State, even after it took responsibility for the attacks and French President Francois Hollande announced that the group was behind them.”
Secular liberalism simply can’t wrap its mind around the kind of unadulterated evil that ISIS represents, in large part because it can’t understand what motivates ISIS and its supporters.
That motivation, as the March 2015 issue of The Atlantic told readers, is a sincere, carefully considered commitment to returning civilization to a seventh-century legal environment, and ultimately bringing about the apocalypse.
Actually, a better word than “apocalypse” would be “eschaton,” the end of the present age and the ushering in of what they consider to be the reign of Allah.
Since it no longer believes in the Christian eschaton, the West cannot even begin to understand an Islamic one. So it treats ISIS like it does the rest of our broken world: something that we can master, provided we bring the correct tools, politically correct language, public policy, and techniques to bear.



Never mind that this kind of utopian approach has a lousy track record even when dealing with much smaller evils than ISIS. Never mind that it’s absurd to “declare war” on an evil when many of your people can’t bring themselves to call it “evil.”
That’s sticking your head in the sand.
But there’s more to that verse from Hebrews. The author goes on to write, “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
Christ has triumphed! And while events might tempt us to fear and even doubt, like the original recipients of the letter to the Hebrews, we are called to look past events and see what is ultimately true and real.
So as Christians our work is to continue to participate in God’s work to restore all things under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And neither ISIS nor any event in Paris should change that.

 

BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun byChuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us atBreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions.

John Stonestreet, the host of The Point, a daily national radio program, provides thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

Evangelicals Ponder Christian Response to Paris Attacks

CM Editor
-
0
Evangelicals Ponder Christian Response to Paris Attacks

American evangelical leaders are at odds over whether the best response to the bloody terrorist attacks in Paris is a war on terrorism and militant Islamic ideology, or Christian reconciliation and pacifism.

French President Francois Hollande’s description of the attacks Friday (Nov. 13) that killed 129 people and injured 415 as “an act of war” resonated among some evangelicals.

“We are in a war. An unconventional war, of course, but a war nonetheless,” Trevin Wax of The Gospel Project wrote in an online commentary. “When future generations look back in time, let us hope they will see that we met these challenges with courage, not fear.”

Franklin Graham, head of Samaritan’s Purse and son of the famed preacher Billy Graham, wrote on Twitter: “Islam is at war with us – we’ve witnessed its evil face firsthand over and over.”

But some evangelicals rejected the “war against Islam” paradigm.

“I want to see Muslims come to Christ (as, yes, they want to win me to Islam). And, we can’t do that by going to war with a billion people,” researcher Ed Stetzer wrote in Christianity Today.




Some evangelicals engaged in ministry in the Middle East called for a different emphasis.

“We need to be more radical than ever fighting for peace,” said Andrew White, author of “The Vicar of Baghdad” and president of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East. His goddaughter was in Paris for the weekend, staying not far from one of the attack sites. (She was uninjured.)

White, who is meeting with evangelical leaders on the West Coast, said the Paris attacks should not distract attention from the tragedy occurring in the Middle East. White was pastor of St. George’s, Baghdad, a post he left in November 2014 due to security concerns. His foundation is based in the U.K.

“We obviously heard about the terrible attacks in Lebanon and Paris, but the huge attack on Baghdad never even got mentioned and over 20 people were killed,” he said.

Chris Seiple of the Institute for Global Engagement, who has been in northern Iraq multiple times this year, said thousands of American military personnel should be part of a Sunni-led rapid reaction force that would help to establish a safe haven in the Nineveh Plains, northwestern Iraq, for Christians and other beleaguered religious groups.

“Such a safe haven would not only protect minorities (among which are Sunni), stemming the refugee flow, the safe haven would (also) delegitimize the (theological) identity of ISIS, which attracts global wannabes through its military success pursuant a territory-based caliphate,” he said.

Seiple said bombing militant strongholds is not a solution in itself.

“The role for Christians is pray for and insist on shrewd and judicial and discreet use of military force, whose action must lead toward a post-conflict situation where the mutually reinforcing elements of soft power — return of refugees, internally displaced people, trauma care and education — can take place.”

Other evangelicals oppose military action in favor of reconciliation.

“The allied bombing campaigns have had devastating effects on civilian populations, who are viewed as collateral damage, while only further motivating ISIS and terrorist recruitment,” said Mae Elise Cannon, an author and former Willow Creek Church staff member who recently completed a Pilgrimage to Peace with Israeli and Palestinian peace activists. ….Read more

Courtesy: Christian Headlines

The Proposed RCCG Trinity Towers

CM Editor
-
0
The Proposed RCCG Trinity Towers

The Proposed RCCG Trinity Towers is now under construction. The Pastor of the City of David parish of the RCCG,  Pastor Idowu Iluyomade writes about the project

Dearly Beloved,
It gives me so much pleasure to inform you that work on the Trinity Towers project has begun. It is exciting because we are building an edifice for our LORD and Master, Jesus Christ.

The RCCG, Trinity Towers is a unique and innovative masterpiece located in the heart of the fast developing commercial centre of Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos. With 3 towers of 14 floors each, the Trinity Towers is a 21st Century style structure. The Trinity Towers project will have special features such as; a helipad, world class auditorium and conference centre, elevator, a medical centre and facilities, a shopping centre, banking halls amongst other features and facilities which will improve the social, health and economic activities within Oniru and its environs.

RCCG Builds Trinity Towers
RCCG COD Pastors with Pastor Idowu Iluyomade in the Middle

RCCG, City of David is focused on impacting lives spiritually and socially, and till date has set up 

1. A fully fledged hospital with cancer, dental, dialysis and diagnostic centres, and mobile clinics to improve health care services in the community and Lagos State.

2. Building of Primary and Secondary Schools, including providing scholarships to support students with superior academic results but faced financial challenges.

3. A CAN CAN Make A Difference (ACCMAD) Ministry providing free packed meals to over 60,000 people (in prisons and general welfare centres) every week in Lagos State.

4. Free legal rehabilitation for inmates, donation and bursary awards to inmates in various prisons all over Lagos State, and renovation of Multipurpose Hall at Kirikiri.

5. God’s Children Great Talent showcasing the God-given talents of children in singing, dancing, painting, drumming, sports, drama, piano, trumpet.

To mention but a few.

The actualization of the Trinity Towers Project will increasingly advance the social intervention programmes of The Redeemed Christian Church Of God. It will also enable the church continue in its initiatives, support and funding of education, donation of facilities, provision of services, and much more, thereby making a greater impact in the lives of more people in the community, state, nation and beyond.

Trinity Towers Animation

Kindly support this project generously. Be rest assured that you are investing in the advancement of God’s Kingdom and God will surely reward your labour of love.

God bless you.

Pastor Idowu Iluyomade,
Pastor, RCCG City of David

 You can now register to become a Trinity Towers partner!!!

 

You can now register to become a Trinity Towers partner!!!

If you are not on this page please go to www.rccg.org, then click on TRINITY TOWERS and register normally and from the registration page you can make your first payment ONLINE. Payment shall be for 18months.

Though the amount you choose during registration will be displayed anytime you want to pay online, you can choose to pay above what you have pledged to pay on a monthly basis during registration, as the system allows that.

Once you have registered on the system, the system will display your ONLINE TRINITY TOWER’S CODE starting with “RCCGTT” for example RCCGTT10324 & this code will be sent to your email address and to your mobile phone as a text message. When next you want to make your payment you don’t need to register again just go to www.rccg.org then click on TRINITY TOWERS, then click on SIGN IN, then enter your membership code, your mobile phone number as password, and the system will bring you to your membership page where you can then make payment ONLINE.

You can click on HISTORICAL PAYMENT DETAILS to see all the contributions you have made from the day this 2015 Trinity Towers programme started till date. For those who want to pay cash, you have to register first, and then obtain your TRINITY TOWERS code. You will then take this code to any branch of Zenith Bank and pay cash. Please note that you must go there with your TRINITY TOWERS CODE for the payment to appear under your name.

For each payment you make you will receive either a confirmation email and/or SMS from RCCG server and you can login to view such payments. You can also download RCCG MOBILE PAYMENT app fromwww.rccg.org to make payment using your mobile phones.

U.S, Other Nations Show Support for France

CM Editor
-
0
U.S, Other Nations Show Support for France

Christian Headlines report – Landmarks across the United States were lit to look like France’s flag on Friday night after terrorist attacks in Paris took the lives of 127 people and injured many others.

The Blaze reports that people across social media in the U.S. took and posted photos of various buildings across the country which stood in solidarity with the people of France by being lit to represent France’s flag in blue, white, and red.

City Hall in San Francisco, the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Washington D.C., and the Omni Hotel in Dallas were a few of the buildings that were lit to represent the French flag last night.

In addition, the Eiffel Tower replica in Las Vegas was kept dark in honor of those who were killed in the attacks.

World leaders have condemned the attacks which were reportedly carried out by the Islamic State, and France’s president, Francois Hollande, has called the attacks “an act of war.”

World Religious Leaders Condemn Paris Attack

CM Editor
-
0
World Religious Leaders Condemn Paris Attack
Religion News Service report – World religious leaders and institutions – from Pope Francis to the leaders of Al Azhar University in Egypt – condemned the series of attacks overnight in Paris which left more than 120 people dead.
“We are shocked by this new manifestation of maddening, terrorist violence and hatred which we condemn in the most radical way together with the pope and all those who love peace,” Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican’s chief spokesman said in a statement on Saturday (Nov. 14).
“We pray for the victims and the wounded, and for all the French people,” Lombardi said. “This is an attack on peace for all humanity, and it requires a decisive, supportive response on the part of all of us as we counter the spread the homicidal hatred in all of its forms.”
In Cairo, Al-Azhar University, the preeminent, thousand-year-old seat of Sunni Muslim scholarship, called the attacks a criminal act, and said that “Islam denounces any violence,” the Arabic news site Al Arabiya reported, quoting Egypt’s state news agency MENA.
Reports said the cry “Allahu Akbar” was heard from the gunman, and ISIS supporters praised the violence on social media while many other Muslims condemned the bloodshed.
On Saturday morning, French President Francois Hollande said the attacks were an “act of war” carried out by ISIS militants.
In Ireland, the imam of the Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre in Dublin said his thoughts and prayers are with the people of Paris “and every other place on earth plagued by sick men with weapons and bombs.
“Terrorists have no religion whatsoever,” said the Muslim leader, Umar Al-Qadri. “Their religion is intolerance hatred for peace.”
In the United States, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, called upon “all Episcopalians and people of good will and faith to pray for those who have died.”
Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani cancelled a meeting with the pope at the Holy See, as well as the rest of his European trip which included a visit to Paris.
Rouhani had been due to arrive in Rome on Saturday for meetings with the pontiff and the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi.
Multiple terrorist attacks in the French capital targeted civilians at a concert hall, restaurants and a sports stadium where President Francois Hollande was present. At least eight attackers also died, seven reportedly blowing themselves up while one was shot by police.
Courtesy: Religion News Service

13 Christians Who Risked Everything to Defend Biblical Truth

CM Editor
-
0
13 Christians Who Risked Everything to Defend Biblical Truth

As America continues to grow more hostile toward public prayer and conservative religious viewpoints, younger generations of courageous Christians will be faced with the challenge of defying the norm of secular culture to defend prayer and biblical truth.

In his book No Fear: Real Stories of a Courageous New Generation Standing for Truth, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins highlights 11 instances when young men and women risked everything to defend biblical truth and their religious beliefs from intense societal, political, cultural and spiritual opposition.

Perkins hopes readers, especially younger Christians, will be inspired to live out their faith with the same courage displayed in the real-life stories exhibited in his book, No Fear, which was praised by leading evangelist Franklin Graham, who believes the book will “help raise up a new generation of world changers.”

Chad Farnan

In 2008, 16-year-old Chad Farnan of Mission Viejo, California, filed a federal lawsuit against his history teacher and charged that the Capistrano Valley High School teacher made a habit of mocking Christianity by saying things like “Jesus glasses” obscure truth.

The lawsuit states that the teacher violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by promoting irreligion over religion.

Although a federal court ruled in 2009 that the teacher did violate the First Amendment, the ruling was overturned by a federal appeals court in 2011. The Supreme Court declined to review Farnan’s case in 2012.

“Increasingly, more and more ordinary people like Chad will be faced with the same decision,” Perkins wrote. “Do I stand on the sidelines as my faith and values are threatened?”

Lila Rose
(Photo: Courtesy of LiveAction.org)Lila Rose, founder of Live Action, a pro-life nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Va.

Lila Rose

Rose, who at the age of 15 began pro-life activism by founding the organization Live Action, made a name for herself during her college days at UCLA by continuously standing up to many of America’s largest abortion providers.

Rose produced several undercover videos that targeted Planned Parenthood to prove that, in many cities across the U.S., abortion provider were covering up abuse and prostitution of underage children, and performing sex-selective abortions.

Considering that Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry had much to lose from the Live Action videos, Rose was faced with death threats and lawsuits. Despite the threats, she continues her pro-life activism and her role as president of Live Action.

“The threat from a billion-dollar abortion giant was more real to this young woman with only two hundred dollars in her bank account; It was overwhelming,” Perkins wrote. “But Lila refused to yield to fear, no matter how strong the attacks against her.”

 

moriah peters
(Photo: Facebook/Moriah Peters)Christian recording artist and former American Idol hopeful, Moriah Peters.

Moriah Peters

Peters, a Texas girl who always dreamed of a career in show business, moved to Los Angeles in 2001. Being a devout Christian, she had her own policy of waiting until marriage to kiss.

Peters, 23, auditioned for American Idol in 2010 but was turned away by the reality show’s judges — Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Avril Lavigne. She was told that her image was too wholesome.

Lavigne told Peters that she should go experience the world, “feel sexy” and “kiss a guy” in order to make it in the music business.

“God opened doors for me to get this far and then closed them, and I am not going to question it because I know He has bigger things for me,” Peters said in an interview during the show. …. Read more

Willing Movie – Official Trailer

CM Editor
-
0
Willing Movie – Official Trailer

Willing – Official Trailer

SYNOPSIS OF THE MOVIE:

Shade, Joy & Margaret are in the phase of choosing life partners. Despite their social status and financial stability, luck seems to be running against them when it comes to getting a suitable suitor. They finally get seemingly suitable suitors then reality sets in.

—————————————-­—————————————-­——————-

This movie is educative, inspirational, and entertaining.

Shot by: OFemi Media
Produced by: KAI Production
Written by: Segun Ajala
Director/DOP: Femi Familoye
Edited by: Femi Familoye

Contact Info :

Like us on FACEBOOK: https://goo.gl/7AgT6W
Follow us on TWITTER: https://goo.gl/mM5yeZ
Follow us on INSTAGRAM: https://goo.gl/SjHktA

Egyptian Christian Imprisoned for Handing Out Bibles in Shopping Mall

CM Editor
-
0
Egyptian Christian Imprisoned for Handing Out Bibles in Shopping Mall
A 35-year-old Egyptian Christian is likely to remain in jail for one to five years for handing out Bibles in a shopping mall.
The Christian Post reports Medhat Ishak was caught handing out Bibles in Oct. 6 last year. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail for “inciting sectarian strife” and “harming national security.” However, a judge has now slapped Ishak with a heftier charge — blasphemy.
The Christian man now faces a sentence between one and five years in prison for “insulting religion,” though his lawyers argue Ishak did not commit the offense.
According to attorney Rafik Rafaat, Ishak did encounter a Muslim man at the mall, though he did not know he was Muslim at first. Ishak offered him a Bible and when the man refused and explained that the was a Muslim, Ishak apologized and left.
Rafaat said, “The word ‘blasphemy’ means that he was insulting the other religion, but he didn’t do that, and he didn’t talk about Islam or prophets or anything like that to be accused of blasphemy. So, now we are surprised that the attorney general accused him of blasphemy when he didn’t commit any act of blasphemy.”

 

China’s Two-child Policy: New Number, Same Disaster

CM Editor
-
0
China’s Two-child Policy: New Number, Same Disaster
BreakPoint report – The story is far more common than many are willing to admit: A married couple was sitting peacefully at home when suddenly, government officials forced their way in, grabbed the wife who was seven-months pregnant, and took her away.
Here are the husband’s own words, as he described to the Washington Post what happened in the hospital, “They grabbed my wife’s body like they were grabbing a pig…and injected a shot into her belly.” The injection caused labor, and a living baby boy was delivered. Doctors shoved the infant into a plastic bag and ordered the couple to pay for burial expenses.
Multiply this scenario thousands of times, and you’ll have an idea of the evil China’s infamous One-Child Policy has wrought.

Now, you may have just heard that China just announced it is lifting the policy and replacing it with a two-child policy. Many media outlets made this sound like a huge improvement, and to a culture than only values children based on whether we want them or not, I guess that makes sense. But don’t be fooled: it’s only a slightly-less terrible policy than before. The Chinese government did not wake up one morning and realize, “Whoa, this one-child policy is immoral.” No, the new policy is based on new economic and practical calculations. Count on it: Children are still not seen as intrinsically valuable. The forced abortions and sterilizations will continue.
The new two-child policy is nothing more than a reaction to the massive gender imbalance created by three-and-a-half decades of the old one-child policy. Baby girls were most commonly aborted, plus there were high suicide rates among women forced to kill their own offspring. This gendercide also led to the trafficking of women as Chinese men struggled to find wives.
Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, notes that the new Two-Child Policy contains the same abuses as the One-Child Policy. The government still forces couples to obtain a “birth permit” before conceiving—or face forced abortion.
As Reggie notes, the core of the One-Child Policy is not about how many children the government allows, but “the fact that the government is setting a limit on children, and enforcing this limit coercively….The One-Child Policy does not need to be modified,” she adds. “It needs to be abolished.”
And it’s all economic calculation which means, as Stephen Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute notes, China’s leaders, facing a shortage of workers and an aging population, may very well one day force couples to have more children.
As Mosher explains, “A government bent on controlling the fertility of its people will do whatever necessary to produce the number of children it thinks necessary . . .” Can you imagine the Chinese government ordering forced inseminations? Mosher can.
And in a culture that values boys, that will only exacerbate the gender imbalance. Which will lead the government to have to intervene even more trying to fix their own problem. What a nightmare.
We say it all the time here: ideas have consequences. Christianity sees children as gifts of God:  the natural, desirable result of the loving, lifelong commitment and physical union of husband and wife. The secular and certainly communist worldviews see children as commodities: subject either to parents’ desires and “lifestyle choices” or to the government’s economic and political goals.
Which is why in the West, our cultural values are leading to our own similar, though personally chosen, “one-child policies” and demographic decline.
It’s just more evidence that when we divorce sex from marriage and marriage from childrearing, bad things happen.
While we must keep pressure on China to end its horrific population policies, we must remind ourselves that a civilization that devalues children devalues its future. Ours included.

 

BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun byChuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us atBreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions.

John Stonestreet, the host of The Point, a daily national radio program, provides thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

———————-

1...3,3293,3303,331...3,893Page 3,330 of 3,893