Increased Faith

Indian Christians: \"Attacks have increase our faith\"Indian Christian: Attacks have increased our faith

By Dibin Samuel

Indian Christians in Orissa state were attacked by Hindu radicals in the wake of their leader’s death in August 2008.
(AP)

The wave of attacks on churches in Karnataka, India, have only “increased our faith and brought us together,” says Archbishop Bernard Moras, whose initiative has united churches of many denominations.

On June 19, over 200 Christians from various denominations gathered at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Bangalore. They came together under the banner of Karnataka United Christians Forum for Human Rights (KUCFHR).

Addressing the gathering, Archbishop of Bangalore Bernard Moras said, “God has the power to bring good even from evil. The formation of this forum is a testimony to that.” (more…)

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Reached Out To Gospel Star

Andrae CrouchDid Michael Jackson repent, accept Christ?
Pop idol reached out to Gospel star Andrae Crouch before death

Gospel superstar Andrae Crouch and his twin sister, Sandra, confirm meeting with Michael Jackson and praying and singing with him weeks before his death.

Jackson, raised as a member of the Jehovah’s Witness sect Michael Jacksonand reportedly a convert to Islam last year, sought out the Crouches for inspiration for his upcoming tour, for which he was unprepared, according to a report in Assist News Service.

But while some blogs have reported that meeting led to a spiritual conversion by Jackson, the Crouches say they are not certain.

“Not sure where that came from,” said Sandra Crouch on her Facebook page. “We loved and respected Michael and will continue to pray for his family. All the extra is not from us.” (more…)

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Praying For Iran And North Korea Situations

Iranians protestBy Aimee Herd – CBN News

“Freedom for the people. The right to vote. The right to have a fair election. Things that we sometimes take for granted in this country, they’re dying for. People my age, 24 years old, losing their lives.” -Iranian protestor in America

With the ongoing protests by the people of Iran against their country’s disputed election results, a cry for freedom from tyranny has been heard throughout that land. (Photo: CBN News)

As we watch the news reports on our TVs, let’s keep Iran’s situation in prayer; that the people there will not only come to know freedom within their society, but also the true freedom which is only found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. (more…)

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Marching For Jesus In Secular France

At The MarchIn France, a country known for its secularization and growing Islamic population, tens of thousands of Christians will take to the streets for a March for Jesus on Saturday, which is being held at the same time as the nation’s annual gay pride parade.

An estimated 30,000 Christians will parade through the streets of Bordeaux, Lille, Nantes and Paris, France, distributing 100,000 Bibles and 20,000 gospel tracts. Representing at least 70 different churches, marchers will carry signs proclaiming Jesus as Lord as they sing worship songs.

Parade participants also hope to be able to share their faith with the estimated 800,000 people who will gather for the nation’s annual gay pride parade, whose route will intersect with the March for Jesus. Christian marchers have been prepped to pray and witness to the homosexuals without fear.

“It would be such a great privilege to be praying for all of the thousands of homosexuals that will be marching on the streets,” said Christine Thabot, an event organizer and co-pastor of Temple de Paris with her husband, David. “We’re not afraid. They need love, and we are there to bring them the love of Christ.” (more…)

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Pentecostal Church Buildings Burned Down In Tanzania

Burning BuildingTwo church buildings were razed June 28 on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar after Sunday worship services.

Suspected radical Muslims set the church buildings on fire on the outskirts of Unguja Township, on the island off the coast of East Africa, in what church leaders called the latest incidents of a rising tide of religious intolerance.

“We don’t want churches on our street,” read a flier dropped at the door of Charles Odilo, who had donated the plot on which the Evangelical Assemblies of God in Tanzania (EAGT) building stood. “Today we are going to burn the church, and if you continue we are going to burn your house  also.”

With Christian movements making inroads in the Muslim-dominated area, the EAGT church and a Pentecostal Evangelical Fellowship in Africa (PEFA) church building a few miles away were burned down as a fierce warning, church leaders said.

The PEFA church building was located in the Kibondeni area eight miles from Unguja, and the EAGT structure was in the Fuoni area six miles from Unguja. Samuel Salehe Malanda, pastor of the 30-member PEFA church, said their building doubled as a nursery school on weekdays. (more…)

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Will Peter Rise Again?

Peter Costello

Article from: Andrew Bolt of Herald Sun on July 01, 2009

PETER Costello was in Jerusalem last week, just a few metres from where Christ rose from the dead, when he heard a voice.

“Mate,” it said.

“Mate, ya gotta take over the leadership.”

It was just another tourist who’d recognised the former treasurer as the Messiah, despite his cunning disguise of T-shirt and daggy shorts.

But what he told Costello close by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was no more than what far better connected Liberals were telling him, too, in calls, emails and text messages to their last hope, over in Israel. Never have I seen a BlackBerry wink so furiously.

The despair of the Liberals is now almost complete. (more…)

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Revival Through Persecution

End Times - Pr DannyDear family & friends in Christ,

I’ve been praying that the church in Australia will be proactive and move into revival through a season of increasing prosperity and favor with God.  However, unfortunately I believe that most part of the church has sadly chosen to be reactive and will now experience revival only through persecution. Why should we the church wait until something goes wrong to wake up and put it right, after having paid a heavy price? Well, the sad truth is that most of the church is not hearing the voice of God, nor willing to obey even if they do hear His voice!

There is a big difference between believing (passive) and obedience (faith in action). Just simply believing will not bring revival. We must ACT on what we believe in faith to see revival. I think we in Australia chose to go with persecution when we made the choice to elect a government in 2007 with more than 80% anti-Christian politicians and dumped a government with more than 70% Christians, including some great morally sound Christians at the top of its leadership.

Before the 2007 election the Lord gave me a clear prophetic word, “If my people UNITE, PRAY & ACT,  John Howard would be re-elected and Peter Costello will take on the leadership.” When John Howard (former Prime Minister) was not re-elected, I was criticized by many Christian leaders who praised Kevin Rudd (current Prime Minister) as the man of God for the hour. In particular one very well known prayer ministry leader even mocked me through his national email database, praising Kevin Rudd as one of the godliest Christian Prime Ministers in Australia’s history. (more…)

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Underground Church Growing In Muslim-Dominated Indonesia

Worshipping GodJulian Lukins – Sumatra, Indonesia

Pentecostals on the tsunami-ravaged coast of Indonesia are experiencing a wave of conversions and healings.

In the strongly Muslim Aceh province of northern Sumatra—where 167,000 people died in the 2004 tsunami—the underground church movement is growing, with Pentecostal congregations thriving.

Indonesia has an official policy of religious tolerance, but in Muslim-dominated areas Christians face open hostility and persecution. In Aceh province, churches must register with the authorities and are not permitted to evangelize. Many Christians choose to meet in unregistered—or underground—churches.

Sumatra is one of the least evangelized places on earth, according to Operation World. But since the tsunami—which wiped out 15 percent of the population of Aceh’s provincial capital Banda Aceh—numerous underground churches have put down roots.

Pastor Nico (full name withheld for security reasons) started an underground Pentecostal church four years ago with only six members. Today 90 people from the neighborhood make up the Spirit-filled congregation. They endure persecution for their faith. One church family had rocks thrown through the windows of their home, and another family was forced to relocate because of threats. (more…)

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U.S. MILITARY BURNS BIBLES

Signs of The TIMES – YOU JUST REALLY DON’T WANT TO READ THIS
By W. D. Clabaugh I

You know – you wake up on a Monday Morning or Whatever morning thinking, “Perhaps today Barack Obama will start getting it right.” “Perhaps our Nation will become a righteous nation once again”. “Perhaps… was that a white bunny I seen running down that hole? Alice? Wonderland?”

The stark REALITY OF IT ALL IS NOTHING HAS CHANGED!!! AT LEAST NOT FOR THE BETTER!!!

Here we go. The Us Military is Burning Bibles in Afghanistan. Why? They don’t want to offend the Muslims there. Okay, I had to do the same thing when I heard that the first time. I even went and got a cup of coffee, walked around a bit and took a deep breath. BUT THERE IT WAS AGAIN! The Us Military is Burning Bibles in Afghanistan. Why? They don’t want to offend the Muslims there.

But WAIT! LISTEN TO THIS!!! This is a lead in from the Washington Post …

Change has certainly come to Baghdad and it involves the U.S. Embassy there. you see, they have decided this year to hold the first-ever “U.S. Embassy Gay Pride Theme Party” next Friday at Baghdaddy’s, which is the embassy employee association’s pub. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? Wait! Let me read on. (more…)

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Casting Crowns Shining The Light Of Jesus In North Korea

Casting Crowns In N. KoreaBy Aimee Herd – CBN News

“I knew I wasn’t going to preach sermons, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to share openly about my faith, but you don’t necessarily preach to empty tummies. You fill tummies, and you show the love of Jesus through what you do. And after that comes those opportunities.”

One of the most popular Christian bands today is Casting Crowns. Recently, CBN News caught up with frontman Mark Hall, to talk about his recent trips into North Korea, where the band was invited to perform.

The invitation came through the NGO Global Resource Services (GRS), which works inside the country helping with food distribution, agriculture, children and families.

According to Hall, every other year the Friendship Arts Festival is held in Pyongyang where artists from around the world are invited to perform—not normally from America. But God “opened the doors” for Casting Crowns to not only go, but to perform their songs each containing a strong Christian message.

Hall said, “They had our lyrics, they had our music—if you’ve listened to our songs [the Christianity] is not exactly hidden—and they invited us anyway.” (more…)

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Asia For Jesus Indonesia Baptized Thousands During Recent Crusade

Asia For JesusBy Teresa Neumann

“Two hours prior to the event opening, it was raining cats and dogs. All of the dancers, musicians in the backstage all knelt down to pray and miraculously the rain stopped within ten minutes.”

(Indonesia)—Gospel Herald reports that on May 14-16, when Asia for Jesus Indonesia, a three-day evangelistic crusade, reached out to over 60,000 people with the Gospel, 4,158 came to Christ, and 1,252 were baptized.

The event was hosted by Rev. Jusuf Soetanto, head of Gereja Mawar Sharon denomination and senior pastor of Mawar Sharon Church, and featured praise and worship performances by Taiwanese Christian artists Sien Vanessa, Vanness Wu, and Joshua Band. (more…)

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Primary School Children Given Gay Assembly With Elton John Song

Primary school children in Broadstairs were given an assembly about homosexuality in which they were played an Elton John song, sparking accusations they had been left “confused”.

Children as young as four were among the pupils told about same sex relationships as part of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

During the talk children at Bromstone Primary in Broadstairs, Kent, were played music by Elton John and told he was homosexual. (more…)

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An Open Letter To President Obama

By Brigitte Gabriel

Dear Mr. President,

You face difficult challenges in matters such as achieving peace in the Middle East and protecting America from the threat of radical Islam and terrorism. These are challenges that have vexed past presidents, going as far back as our second president, John Adams. I have no doubt you appreciate both the gravity of these challenges and the enormous obstacles that exist to solving them.

I also have no doubt that you and your staff understood that, no matter what you said in your speech last Thursday in Cairo, there would be those who would take issue with you. That is always the case when attempting to solve problems that are as deep and emotionally-laden as these challenges are.

I am assuming it is your sincere hope that the approach you have chosen to take, as evidenced by what I’m sure was a carefully crafted speech, will ultimately prove successful. However, it pains me to say this sir, but, while you said in your speech that you are a “student of history,” it is abundantly clear that, in these matters, you do not know history and thus, as Santayana noted, you are doomed to repeat it. In doing so your efforts, however well-intentioned they may be, will not produce what you profess to hope they will produce. (more…)

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Ministers Ordered To Fight For Freedom, Against Criminalization Of Christianity

By Chelsea Schilling

Pastor Paul BlairAmerica has become a morally bankrupt society that embraces intolerance against Christians, including a new push for “hate crimes” legislation, according to one pastor who believes it’s all because church leaders have failed to do their jobs.
But this Memorial Day weekend he is calling ministers to fight for those freedoms – from their pulpits.
 
“Pastors, if you wonder who is to blame for America’s slide from the ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ morality of yesteryear to the ‘Brokeback Mountain’ immorality of today, look in the mirror,” said Pastor Paul Blair of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, Okla.
 
Blair is founder of a group called Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, an outreach to pastors that encourages church leaders  to take a stand against the spread of immorality in American culture. He is urging pastors across the nation to stop being silent and muster the courage to speak out against efforts to criminalize Christianity. He said church leaders have abandoned the prophetic call and have chosen instead to be CEOs of competitive church businesses rather than proclaiming “faith in Christ alone and repentance from sin.” (more…)

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Two Important Points To Consider

Dear family & friends in Christ,

Following are 2 very interesting articles from Bill Muehlenberg of Culture Watch. We certainly better wake up Pray and Act.

Dear friends

One. The persecution of Christianity is hotting up, big time. Now even home Bible studies are being shut down: http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2009/05/24/christian-persecution-on-the-rise/

Two. Parachurch groups like Focus on the Family, Teen Challenge, Prison fellowship and CultureWatch may all be declared to be illegal real soon in Australia. See the frightening proof of this here: http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2009/05/25/silencing-parachurch-ministries-and-other-christian-activities/ (more…)

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