Imprisoned Christian Mother Asia Bibi Is ‘So Weak She Can Hardly Walk,’ and ‘Vomiting Blood’ Inside ‘Dingy’ Pakistani Prison Cell as Court Delays ‘Blasphemy’ Hearing

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Imprisoned Christian Mother Asia Bibi Is ‘So Weak She Can Hardly Walk,’ and ‘Vomiting Blood’ Inside ‘Dingy’ Pakistani Prison Cell as Court Delays ‘Blasphemy’ Hearing

Asia Bibi (Courtesy: British Pakistani Christian Association)

Christian Post Report – Imprisoned Christian mother of of five, Asia Bibi, is facing the death penalty after being accused of blasphemy in 2009 by angry Muslim women, who were upset that she drank from the same drinking water as them.

The health of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian mother who was jailed and sentenced to the death penalty in 2010 after being accused of blasphemy, is dwindling, as she now has trouble walking and is also throwing up blood inside of her prison cell, her family has said.

According to a report by The Global Dispatch, the 50-year-old Bibi’s family was allowed to visit with her in May, after not being allowed to see her for over a month and noticed that Bibi is “so weak that she can hardly walk.”

For Bibi, who is suffering from intestinal bleeding, her health problems are only getting worse and she’s in dire need of medical attention, a family source said.

The source added that Bibi’s lawyers have taken the legal action necessary for her to get the medical treatment she needs and to have her transferred from the prison in Multan to a prison in Lahore, which is closer to her family and provides better healthcare.

“When vomiting there is also shown traces of blood. Asia has difficulty feeding properly, while constant pain in the chest,” The Global Dispatch quoted the unnamed family source as saying. “Therefore it is necessary that Asia Bibi be submitted as soon as possible [for] a full medical checkup, including blood work.”

Sardar Mushtaq Gill, a leading Pakistani Christian human rights lawyer, told The Christian Post that he also has heard concerns from his colleagues about Bibi vomiting up blood.

“I heard from my colleagues about the dwindling health of Asia Bibi and blood vomitting,” Gill said.

Bibi was initially accused of blasphemy in 2009 by a group of Muslim women who were upset that the Christian woman drank from the same water supply as them. Bibi has vehemently denied that she committed any act of blasphemy.

Since then, the mother of five has had to survive the terrible conditions inside of a “dingy” cell for the last five years, where she has had to cook her own food after attempts to poison her failed, Wilson Chowdhry, president of the British Pakistani Christian Association, told CP.

“Asia Bibi has been facing rapidly declining health for some time and we call on Christians to uphold her in their regular prayers,” Chowdhry said in a statement. “Asia continues to believe that God will release her from her captivity, however, the Supreme Court hearing date is proving hard to achieve. Many believe the delay is instigated by Pakistani authorities in an attempt to subvert justice through her early demise.”

The daughters of Asia Bibi with an image of their mother, standing outside their residence in Sheikhupura on November 13, 2010. (Photo: REUTERS)

The daughters of Asia Bibi with an image of their mother, standing outside their residence in Sheikhupura on November 13, 2010.

Chowdhry asserted that concerned Christians in the West need to help Bibi by contacting their own government officials and urging them to pressure the Pakistani government to either move up Bibi’s Supreme Court hearing or, better yet, release her.

“If Asia Bibi is prevented her opportunity to exonerate her name, it will be viewed as a great travesty of justice and a blight on the reputation of the supposedly democratic nation of Pakistan,” Chowdhy continued. “I urge people in the west to challenge their country’s leaders to intervene on behalf of Asia and directly email the Prime Minister President of Pakistan, calling for them to expedite her Supreme Court hearing and to ensure she gets adequate treatment for her current poor health.”

The BPCA has also started a petition calling for Bibi’s release.

In April Bibi’s family met with Pope Francis in the Vatican, where he prayed with them and they urged him to lobby the Pakistani government for her release.

Chowdhry encouraged Westerners to email Pakistani President, Mamnoon Hussain, at [email protected], and email Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, [email protected]. to advocate for Bibi’s release.

Source : Christian Post

‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Pastor Alan Robertson Prays That Nephew John Luke’s Upcoming Wedding ‘Will Be Protected From Attack of the Evil One’

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‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Pastor Alan Robertson Prays That Nephew John Luke’s Upcoming Wedding ‘Will Be Protected From Attack of the Evil One’

Phil Robertson and Son Alan (Photo: Twitter/Alan Robertson)

Christian Post Report – Alan Robertson shared a photo with his father Phil on Twitter.

Star of A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” reality TV show, Alan Robertson, says he’s praying that the impending wedding of his nephew John Luke to Mary Kate McEacharn this summer “will be protected from [the] attack of the evil one.”

“I pray that they will be protected from [the] attack of the evil one on their marriage vows and that they will enjoy the experience of growing together as they carve out the path of their future as a family,” said Robertson in a recent email on the upcoming nuptials to The Christian Post.

John Luke proposed to McEacharn on his 19th birthday back in October, and just last month the young reality star graduated from high school. With so much to celebrate this summer, Alan shared his admiration for John Luke while speaking to CP.

“First of all, I am very proud of John Luke and the man he is becoming,” gushed Robertson. “He has a tender heart toward helping people and enough of the entrepreneurial spirit from both of his parents that I feel he will make a big impact on our culture. His fiancée is a very spiritual-minded and gentle soul that will complement him perfectly.”

Robertson, who is known as the “beardless older brother” to fellow “Duck Dynasty” stars Willie, Jase and Jep, went on to share his prayers for John Luke as the teenager also prepares for college.

“My prayer for John Luke is similar to the one I had last year for Reed — Jase and Missy’s oldest [daughter] who graduated,” said Robertson. “I pray for wisdom and openness as [John Luke and Mary Kate] approach their adulthood and college experiences. Wisdom for moments when they face decisions which could affect their futures and openness to learning and growing as a more mature son of God. I pray that they will allow God to develop their own faith and own pathways and that they will endure hardship and difficulties as a blessing to their growth.”

John Luke, who previously hinted that he and Mary Kate’s wedding will be “sometime in June,” also defended his decision against critics who suggest that he’s too young to marry.

“Our relationship is focused on God,” said the groom-to-be, according to “Entertainment Tonight.”

“The divorce rate is 50 percent for everyone. But, for Christians who are active in their faith, it is 35 percent less than that.”

“Eighty-seven percent of people who have not had sex before they are married have successful marriages. … So, for a Christian couple whose God is at the center of our lives — and who also haven’t had sex — our percentages are like, 90 something. We’re gonna make it!” added Robertson.

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Source : Christian Post

Pope Francis Says Vatican to Make a Ruling on Apparitions of the Madonna Soon

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Pope Francis Says Vatican to Make a Ruling on Apparitions of the Madonna Soon

Virgin Mary Apparition Site (Photo: Reuters/ Damir Sagolj)

Christian Post Report – A reported apparition site of the Virgin Mary in the Bosnian town of Medjugorge.

The Vatican is expected to make a ruling on the highly controversial apparitions of the Madonna which allegedly first began in the Bosnian town of Medjugorje in 1981.

Six children in the obscure town first reported seeing Jesus’ mother Mary in a vision and since then the town has become a major pilgrimage site. Many critics however have dismissed the apparitions as a hoax.

Pope Francis commented on the Vatican deliberations on the apparitions while flying back to Rome from a recent visit to Sarajevo, according to Reuters and he says a ruling is expected soon.

“We are about to make decisions and then they will be communicated,” he said after being asked about the Vatican investigation into the alleged apparitions.

Pope Francis also stated that he recently received a long study by a Vatican commission and that the case was now before the Holy See’s doctrinal department, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

An international commission of Catholic cardinals, bishops, theologians and other experts were set up in 2010 to investigate the claims of the six young people who claim that Mary appeared to them daily starting in 1981.

The commission has completed its study and Pope Francis said the members “did a beautiful job.”

Medjugorje is home to around 4000 people and has become a place of spiritual pilgrimage since the sightings began. The town’s local Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno said he believes nothing supernatural is happening there.

The Vatican has said individual diocese should not organize official pilgrimages to Medjugorje. Catholics are free to visit the town and pray there and the Diocese of Mostor-Duvno normally organizes pastoral care for them.

Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed that the Church never requires Catholics to believe in apparitions, even those that are officially recognized by the Vatican.

The Christian Post contacted the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for comment on the ruling but the organization did not respond in time for this story.

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

Source : Christian Post

Cardinal Burke Defends Christian Marriage as ‘Foundation of Human Culture;’ Calls Out Secular Forces Pushing ‘Unnatural Sexual Activity’

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Cardinal Burke Defends Christian Marriage as ‘Foundation of Human Culture;’ Calls Out Secular Forces Pushing ‘Unnatural Sexual Activity’

Burke (Photo: Cardinal Burke/Facebook)

Christian Post Report – Cardinal Raymond Burke at the Shrine Church St. Peter and Paul and Philomena.

Roman Catholic Raymond Burke spoke in Ottawa, Canada, in defense of a Christian view of marriage, declaring there is no “true form of human sexuality other than that intended by God.”

The Catholic Cardinal, who serves as the patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, spoke to NET Canada, an evangelistic organization of young Catholics, last Thursday.

“The defense and promotion of human life and of marriage and the family is at the foundation of a Christian culture, and indeed, of any viable human culture,” he said.

Burke, an American, called the current culture a “disordered moral state” and told the Catholic audience that a holy life in North America demands a martyrdom of “public witness to the faith.” Burke pointed to a myriad of secular forces attacking marriage.

“One necessarily thinks of the ever advancing agenda of those who want to redefine marriage and family life to include the unnatural sexual activity of two persons of the same sex, which is justified as tolerance of so-called ‘alternative forms’ of human sexuality — as if there were a true form of human sexuality other than that intended by God, our Creator and Redeemer, as he has written it in our body and soul,” Burke asserted.

In his remarks, Burke called the culture “thourougly secularized,” and said those in power are ever advancing an “anti-life” and “anti-family” agenda.

Burke called the sexual act between a married man and woman “fundamental to Western culture” and added a caveat against misinformed “contraceptive thinking which fears life, which fears procreation.”

Unlike Roman Catholicism, most Protestant denominations do not take an official moral position against certain forms of contraceptives.

Burke quoted Pope Benedict in denouncing selfish forms of sexual liberation and freedom calling it “signs of the tyranny which perverts mankind that result in a fatal misunderstanding of freedom which actually undermines freedom and destroys.

“The pride of man fails to recognize that all he is and has comes from the end of God who has created and redeemed us after the sin of our first barons,” he added.

Much of Burke’s remarks turned back to martyrdom, which he said is faithful to the teaching of Christ. He called the culture “hostile and more pervasively,” one of “indifference” toward Christian beliefs on human sexuality and that “tempts us toward discouragement.”

“Given the breakdown in family life and the wholesale attack on innocent and defenseless human lives, and the violation of the integrity of the union of marriage in our society, the call to the martyrdom of witness is even more urgent,” stressed Burke.

Burke is viewed by many Catholics as a voice of cultural and theological conservatism within the Roman Catholic Church. He denounced the recent vote for same-sex marriage in Ireland with strong language, declaring even pagans “never dared to say this was marriage.” He has publicly stated that the Catholic Church can never talk enough about abortion and “the integrity of marriage as between one man and one woman.”

Burke concluded his remarks by saying, no doctrine “can make man truly happy, only the Cross and the glory of the risen Christ” can grant peace to the “conscience of believers” and “salvation to his life.”

Source : Christian Post

‘Bringing Up Bates’ Stars ‘Praying for Dear Friends’ the Duggars as Molestation Scandal Snowballs

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‘Bringing Up Bates’ Stars ‘Praying for Dear Friends’ the Duggars as Molestation Scandal Snowballs

Bates (Photo: Courtesy of UP)

Christian Post Report – The large Bates family, focus of the reality television series “Bringing Up Bates.” The program is scheduled to debut on UP TV on New Year’s Day 2015.

The Bates family of UPtv’s “Bringing Up Bates” reality series say they are praying for fellow reality television stars the Duggars of “19 Kids and Counting” as the molestation scandal surrounding Josh Duggar continues to make headlines across the nation.

“We are praying for our dear friends,” Gil and Kelly Jo Bates Bates said in a statement, according to Access Hollywood. “We respect their privacy and have no further comment at this time.”

The Bates’ statement comes after Josh, the eldest child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar who also stars on the popular TLC reality series featuring his family, was named in a recently-leaked police report alleging that he had molested five girls when he was 14. It was later revealed that four of Josh’s victims were his sisters, one of which was believed to have been five years old at the time.

Since the news broke of the molestation allegations, the Duggars have come under heavy scrutiny from critics who label the Christian family as hypocrites for keeping the incident under wraps. Jill Duggar, however, recently defended her family during an interview with Fox News.

“Some people, I’ve heard them say, you know, ‘You’re hypocrites.’ Well, if you go back and look at everything people have seen in our lives. … We’ve never claimed to be a perfect family,” said the 24-year-old, who was “improperly touched” by her brother years ago.

She added: “My parents have always actually stated … we are not a perfect family. We are just a family.”

In addition to the media backlash against the Duggars, several companies have distanced themselves from TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” including Walgreens, Choice Hotels and Payless.

The future of “19 Kids and Counting” remains in limbo. Despite being one of TLC’s top-rated programs, several reports suggest that the network has canceled “19 Kids and Counting” and pulled the show from its summer lineup. TLC however has not commented on this.

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Source : Christian Post

Our Gifts for His Kingdom

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Our Gifts for His Kingdom

Christian Post Report – 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

  • Dr. Charles F. Stanley
    (Photo: In Touch Ministries)
    Dr. Charles F. Stanley (File).

Many people hear the word serve and feel that they do not have the necessary qualities to make a difference in others’ lives. This is true—apart from God. But He has gifted each of us in unique ways with a purpose in mind. His plan for us involves using these talents to serve Him for the good of others.

Satan would like us to believe otherwise. Our enemy wants us to notice what others are doing and then to feel inferior. For instance, I have heard women say, “I am just a homemaker.” They see people preaching and singing in the choir and wish they could accomplish something so great for God. Friends, nothing could be further from the truth. An enormous responsibility rests with those who train their children in righteousness.

In fact, the Holy Spirit has gifted each believer for specific work in God’s kingdom. Scripture explains this idea by a comparison with a human body: Each person has gifts and purposes that make the entire system function well. But if the heel wants the eye’s role, the whole being will lose balance.

Each part is crucial, even though some aren’t as noticeable as others. Truthfully, those with less apparent talents have an advantage because pride and self-sufficiency may not be so great a temptation.

Notice how Peter defined himself: “a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1). He was no longer a man motivated by self-interest. Once He began to follow Jesus, he saw himself as a servant of God. We, too, are called to serve the King of Kings with whatever abilities we are given.

Used with permission from In Touch Ministries, Inc. © 2015
All Rights Reserved.

Source : Christian Post

Presbyterian Minister Sues PCUSA for Defamation Over Unauthorized Missions Body

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Presbyterian Minister Sues PCUSA for Defamation Over Unauthorized Missions Body
  • pcusa

Christian Post Report – A minister who works as an executive at Presbyterian Church (USA) has filed a defamation lawsuit against the denomination over recently publishing claims that he acted unethically.

The Reverend Roger Dermody, deputy executive director for Mission at the Presbyterian Mission Agency, filed the suit last week in Jefferson Circuit Court in Kentucky.

“Dermody alleges that PCUSA, by itself or through its directors, officers, and/or employees, acting within the scope of their employment, repeatedly and falsely published that Dermody had engaged in ‘unethical’ conduct as an employee of PCUSA,” reads the suit.

“To the contrary, all that can reasonably be said of Dermody’s alleged conduct is that he failed to perceive or comprehend … that certain other PCUSA employees had improperly created, incorporated, and funded a separate nonprofit corporation to perform PCUSA-approved ministry work, rather than to perform that work through authorized PCUSA corporations and bank accounts.”

Steve Pence, attorney with Pence & Ogburn, PLLC who is representing Dermody, told The Christian Post that as of Friday morning “PCUSA has not yet responded.”

“The PCUSA made an error in stating that Dr. Dermody engaged in unethical conduct while an employee of PCUSA. That statement is clearly false,” said Pence.

“The PCUSA now refuses to do what they demanded that Dr. Dermody and the three other employees do – that is, admit their error. Even now, the PCUSA will not acknowledge that Dr. Dermody never acted unethically.”

In April of 2010, Dermody accepted the position of deputy executive director for mission with the Presbyterian Mission Agency of PCUSA.

Dermody had previously served as executive pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, a 3,000-member congregation with an annual budget in 2010 of about $9.8 million.

In November of 2014, the publication Presbyterian Outlook reported that a Presbyterian Mission Agency Board internal investigation found four PCUSA employees including Dermody had participated in the creation of an unauthorized plan that was part of mission work.

“The internal investigation determined that, on Dec. 3, 2013, PC(USA) employees formed an independent corporation in California, without authorization from the Presbyterian Mission Agency, under the name Presbyterian Centers for New Church Development Inc,” wrote Leslie Scanlon of Presbyterian Outlook.

“The audit committee report says there were unauthorized plans to transfer PC(USA) employees as well as more grant funding to the independent corporation. It said that, if carried out, these plans would have removed a major mission agency program from denominational oversight.”

On the first day of June, PMA Board Chair the Reverend Marilyn S. Gamm released a statement noting that the “four employees are no longer with the Presbyterian Mission Agency.”

“Because this is a private personnel matter, we cannot provide any other details,” stated Rev. Gamm on Monday.

“These four individuals have made significant contributions to the Presbyterian Mission Agency and to the wider denomination over the years. They have been and continue to be faithful servants of the church.”

Presbyterian Church (USA) did not return comment to The Christian Post by press time.

Source : Christian Post

Pastor and Singer Marvin Sapp Reveals How Greatest Gift From Late Wife Inspired New Transparent Record

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Pastor and Singer Marvin Sapp Reveals How Greatest Gift From Late Wife Inspired New Transparent Record
  • Christian minister and recording artist Marvin Sapp.
    (Photo: Marvin Sapp)
    Christian minister and recording artist Marvin Sapp.

Christian Post Report – When gospel singer and pastor Marvin Sapp’s late wife, MaLinda, knew she was going to draw her last breath on Earth after a battle with colon cancer five years ago, she made sure to leave her adoring husband with some powerful last words that would eventually help inspire his 10th album.

“The greatest gift my wife gave me was a statement before she passed,” Sapp, 48, told The Christian Post. “She knew that there was nothing else that they could do, she literally said to me, ‘honey if you want me to be happy in my transition, promise me after I transition that you will live.'”

MaLinda’s last words have seemingly transformed into Sapp’s latest album titled, “You Shall Live,” his 10th offering to the body of Christ through music that seems to be his most transparent work to date. Sapp is a decorated gospel musician who has been recognized with numerous accolades like 22 Stellar Awards and 10 Grammy Award nominations after 25 years in the business.

As a singer, Sapp has made history, becoming the all-time highest charting gospel artist in Billboard‍ ’s history when he released “Here I Am” in 2010. Yet, despite monumental moments like these, the artist who created songs like “Never Would Have Made It” has proven that even preachers need to be encouraged.

“I found myself going through the last four years of my life literally having to speak and declare and decree things over my life to keep me consistently encouraged. That’s what the record is really about,” Sapp told CP. “It’s really about affirmation, declaration and us as individuals really just reciting that living is the only option and anything else outside of that isn’t an option at all.”

The album is the type of record that was created for a multi-generational family to enjoy with traditional worship songs like “Honor and Glory” and “Holy Spirit Overflow” bringing the elder members of the family together, and the edgier sounds of songs like “Yes You Can,” that will bring the youth to their feet.

Sapp said he wanted to keep the record “churchy but funky,” which is a formula he has mastered throughout the years. While he hopes to minister to people through song and make their lives better with “Yes You Can,” the pastor of Lighthouse Full Life Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, also touches people beyond his church’s walls on social media.

Whether it’s speaking out against injustices or about his own personal insight, Sapp explained why he feels it is important to consistently use platforms like Facebook and Twitter to share his views with millions of people.

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‘X-Men,’ ‘Star Trek’ Actor Defends UK Christian Bakery Fined for Refusing to Make ‘Support Gay Marriage’ Cake

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‘X-Men,’ ‘Star Trek’ Actor Defends UK Christian Bakery Fined for Refusing to Make ‘Support Gay Marriage’ Cake

gay marriage religious freedom (Photo: Reuters/Cathal McNaughton)

Christian Post Report – Daniel McArthur (C) general manager of Ashers bakery involved in a “gay cake” legal dispute speaks to the media outside Laganside court in Belfast. March 26, 2015. Ashers refused to make a cake bearing a pro-gay marriage slogan on it which was to be given to Andrew Muir, Northern Ireland’s first openly gay mayor. The bakers refused to make the cake on the grounds that it contradicted their religious beliefs according to local media.

Actor Patrick Stewart, who starred in “X-Men” and “Star Trek,” says he supports the right of a Christian baker in Northern Ireland who refused to make a cake with a gay marriage slogan on it. The baker was last month convicted of “discrimination,” and fined.

Speaking on BBC’s “Newsnight” show in a video published Thursday, Stewart showed support for Ashers Baking Company – owned by Colin and Karen McArthur, in Belfast – which was fined last month for refusing to make a cake with “support gay marriage” written on it along with a picture of Bert and Ernie from “Sesame Street” in May 2014.

“It was not because it was a gay couple that they objected — it was not because they were celebrating some kind of marriage or an agreement between them,” the 75-year-old actor said. “It was the actual words on the cake that they objected to, because they found the words offensive.”

Stewart added: “And I would support their rights to say, ‘No, this is personally offensive to my beliefs. I will not do it.’ But I feel bad for them that it cost them quid.”

Activist Gareth Lee ordered the cake for a private function to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, and the bakery first agreed to bake it for him, according to news.com.au, which says the bakery cancelled the order two days later.

The McArthurs were asked to pay a fine of £500 ($763) to Lee, who says he will donate it to a charity.

Judge Isobel Brownlie said the refusal amounted to “direct discrimination for which there can be no justification.”

“My finding is that the defendants cancelled this order as they oppose same-sex marriage for the reason that they regard it as sinful and contrary to their genuinely-held religious beliefs,” the judge was quoted as saying. “Same-sex marriage is inextricably linked to sexual relations between same-sex couples, which is a union of persons having a particular sexual orientation. The plaintiff did not share the particular religious and political opinion which confines marriage to heterosexual orientation… The defendants are not a religious organisation. They are conducting a business for profit and, notwithstanding their genuine religious beliefs, there are no exceptions available under the 2006 regulations which apply to this case.”

The McArthurs have said they will appeal the judge’s decision. “We continue to insist that we have done nothing wrong as we have discriminated against no individual but rather acted according to what the Bible teaches regarding marriage,” the family said in a statement earlier.

“As many other people have already noted, Christian beliefs seem to have been trampled over in this judgment and we believe this only has negative effects for our society. Our hope and prayer would be that an appeal will allow us and other Christians to live out their faith.”

Same-sex marriage is not legal in Northern Ireland.

The right of businesses to deny services to customers based on their religious beliefs continues to be debated in the United States as well.

Aaron and Melissa Klein in Oregon were forced to close their bakery in the summer of 2013 after declining to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian marriage ceremony. They were fined over $130,000.

The couple said this week the case against them needs to be removed from the bureaucratic governmental agency that oversees discrimination complaints because of possible new evidence of bias. “I think the case should be pulled out of [the Bureau of Labor and Industries] court and put into a civil court because I cannot get due process here,” Aaron Klein told The Daily Signal.

The new evidence consists largely of emails, texts, and phone conversations between the two parties, prompting lawyers for the Kleins to file another motion to reopen the case.

Earlier this year, Azucar Bakery of Denver, which is pro-gay, was under investigation by the Civil Rights division of the Department of Regulatory Agencies for possibly discriminating against a customer by refusing to make a cake that would include the phrase, “God hates Gays.”

Jeff Johnston, issues analyst with the Colorado Springs-based Christian group Focus on the Family, told The Christian Post earlier that he sided with the pro-gay bakery on the grounds of First Amendment rights. “This is a free speech issue, and we support freedom of speech. It’s also a religious or conscience issue — the government should not force people to violate their core beliefs,” he said.

Source : Christian Post

Megachurch Pastor Greg Laurie Says Rapture Next Event on End Times Prophetic Calendar

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Megachurch Pastor Greg Laurie Says Rapture Next Event on End Times Prophetic Calendar

GregLaurie Screenshot

Christian Post Report – Pastor Greg Laurie speaking to his congregation about future event

Pastor Greg Laurie of California’s Harvest megachurch told the congregation in a special message series on future events that as “foreshocks” of Armageddon are being witnessed, the Rapture of the Church could be the next event on the prophetic calendar.

In the world we are witnessing what can be seen as “foreshocks” of Armageddon, according to Matthew 24, Laurie said in his message last Sunday, part of a series called, “Antichrist, America, and Armageddon.”

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains,” verses 6-8 say.

The Islamic State, or ISIS, terror group is creating chaos in the Middle East and elsewhere, and they only continue to grow, Laurie said, adding, “They’re barbaric; they set people on fire, they crucify people…”

“Iran is even a bigger problem” as its nuclear ability directly threatens Israel and the U.S. Russia is also becoming aggressive. China is also growing, seizing territory in Southeast Asia, he added.

Pastor Laurie said some atomic scientists have prepared a doomsday clock, highlighting the possibility of a potential nuclear war. “It is three minutes to midnight,” they say. “Unchecked climate change, global nuclear weapons modernizations, and outsized nuclear weapons arsenals pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity, and world leaders have failed to act with the speed or on the scale required to protect citizens from potential catastrophe. These failures of political leadership endanger every person on Earth.”

Laurie said, “The world is ripe right now for a charismatic leader, for a man of peace … He’s the antichrist, also called the man of sin … the beast … the wicked one… If Satan ever had a son, it would be like him, the antichrist.”

There are more than 100 passages of scripture describing the origin, nationality, character, career, kingdom and final doom of the antichrist, the pastor told the congregation, adding that many prophecies of the Bible have already come true and the others will come true as well.

“In my opinion, the next event on this prophetic calendar is the Rapture of the Church,” Laurie said, explaining, “That’s when all true believers are caught up to meet the Lord, in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye.”

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