Study: Obama Helped Sway Americans in Favor of Gay Marriage; Used LGBT Terms More Than Any Other President

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses his year-end news conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, December 20, 2013.By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter – January 25, 2014

President Barack Obama has helped sway Americans in support of same-sex marriage, according to a newly released study by the Human Rights Campaign, which notes that he used the word “gay” 272 times in public speeches, more than any of his predecessors.

“Words matter an enormous amount, and when President Obama uses his platform to declare that LGBT people are just as American as anyone else, it has a huge and historic effect. President Obama has helped the American people get to know LGBT people on a personal level, and evidence suggests that when people know us, they don’t want to discriminate against us,” said HRC President Chad Griffin.

“President Obama has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of LGBT people, and the power of his rhetoric has been an essential part of that legacy.”

The report noted that American support for gay marriage has risen from 40 percent in 2008, when Obama took office, to 53 percent in 2013, pointing to Gallup poll statistics. It added that Obama used words like “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual” and “transgender” in his public statements more than former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan did.

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Confirmed: The United States Is the Chief Facilitator of Christian Persecution

Raymond Ibrahim is author of Crucified Again Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians.The Christian Post – By Raymond Ibrahim, CP Op-Ed Contributor – January 21, 2014|

Prominent indicators confirm that the U.S. is the chief facilitator of the persecution of Christians around the world today.

According to the recently released 2014 World Watch List, which ranks the 50 nations where Christians are most persecuted, Syria is the third worst nation in the world in which to be Christian, Iraq is fourth, Afghanistan fifth, and Libya 13th. All four countries receive the strongest designation, “extreme persecution” (other designations are “severe,” “moderate,” and “sparse” persecution).

Aside from being so closely and harshly ranked, these four nations have something else in common: heavy U.S. involvement. Three-Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya-were “liberated” thanks to U.S. forces, while in the fourth, Syria, the U.S. is actively sponsoring “freedom fighters” against the regime, many of whom would be better labeled “terrorists.”

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Great weekend in Gold Coast & Melbourne / Pr Daniel ministering in Toowoomba this Fri 21st – Sun 23rd Feb

Praying for people in the Gold CoastDear family & friends in Christ,Praying for people on the Gold Coast

We thank and praise God for a wonderful weekend in the Gold Coast on the 8th & 9th Feb as Pastor Daniel ministered at Reach Out For Christ Church and New Life Worship Centre.

The presence of God was so wonderful at every meeting as many responded to the altar call and were blessed.

Many also attended the Rise Up Australia Party meeting and were greatly encouraged to hear all the good news of RUAP influence in making changes to government policy, particularly on Multiculturalism.

Last weekend in MSpeaking at RUAP meeting on the Gold Coastelbourne Pastor Asoka Perera from Sri Lanka ministered the powerful Word of God at Catch The Fire in Hallam.RUAP meeting on the Gold Coast

He spoke on the importance of the Kingdom of God, challenging and encouraging all Christians to rise up, to take a stand for Jesus and to possess the land, this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit!

2) Please pray for Pr Daniel who will be ministering at an Apostolic & Prophetic Conference in Toowoomba, QLD from Fri 21st – Sun 23rd February.

For those of you in the Toowoomba area, attached is the brochure for your distribution among your family, friends, etc.

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Continue ReadingGreat weekend in Gold Coast & Melbourne / Pr Daniel ministering in Toowoomba this Fri 21st – Sun 23rd Feb

Spanish Cardinal-elect: ‘not an insult’ to call homosexuality a psychological disorder

Cardinal-elect Fernando Sebastián Aguilar with Pope Francisby Hilary White, Rome Correspondent ROME, January 21, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) 

The secular media is abuzz with comments from Archbishop Fernando Sebastián Aguilar, recently named as a cardinal-elect by Pope Francis, that homosexuality is a mental disorder that can be treated.

Sebastián told the Spanish newspaper Diario Sur on Monday that: “Homosexuality is a defective manner of expressing sexuality, because [sex] has a structure and a purpose, which is procreation.”

“A homosexual who can’t achieve procreation is failing,” he said. “Our bodies have many defects. I have high blood pressure, a defect I have to try and correct in whatever way I can.”

“To say that homosexuality is a defect is not an insult,” he added. “It helps because in many cases of homosexuality it is possible to recover and become normal with the right treatment.”

Unsurprisingly, the comments have aroused the ire of both the homosexualist lobby and their supporters in politics and the mainstream secular media. The Spanish homosexualist lobby group Colegas accused Sebastián of “homophobia” saying that homosexuality is not a “curable illness”.

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This Viral Video Will Blow You Away: Former Atheist Woman Proclaims “Jesus is Lord” in German Church during Muslim Call to Prayer

Brave German womanTeresa Neumann (Feb 10, 2014) – Dale Hurd – CBN News

(Speyer, Germany)—At a musical interfaith event held in the magnificent Memorial Church of the Reformation on November 10 of last year, a bold German woman was videotaped standing up and shouting a proclamation of the supremacy of Jesus.

That video has now gone viral. (Watch it Here)

Heidi Mund—a former atheist born in communist East Germany, but now an evangelist—interrupted the event, which was meant to bring Christianity and Islam together, just as a Muslim imam began a call of prayer during the concert.

“Jesus Christ alone is Lord of Germany,” she shouted, as she felt something rising up inside her. “I break this curse!”

According to a CBN report, when Mund heard the event was going on she grabbed her German flag emblazoned with the words, “Jesus is Lord” and headed out her door, not sure what she’d do when she got there.

“Until the imam started with his shouting,” she said, “I did not really know what to do. I was just prepared for what God wants me to do.”

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How Can We Know Syrian Conversions to Christ are Real?

(Photo Syrian refugee via Christian Aid Mission)Amie Cotton (Feb 7, 2014)

“When they become followers of Jesus you can see a huge difference in their lives. The way they share their faith sometimes would help us determine how they are thinking. After all, God looks inside the heart and knows all the details. We also can determine [their heart] because last year we had more than 1,200 baptisms. Do you think a Muslim would get baptized just to get a food package?” -Christian Aid Mission worker in Lebanon

(Charlottesville, VA)—Are the conversions real?

That was the question posed by Cynthia Finley, president of Christian Aid Mission, after staff received another round of encouraging, if not glowing, reports from Middle East ministries that stated “thousands” of Syrians have committed their hearts to Jesus Christ.

Christian Aid Mission is a U.S. non-profit organization that assists hundreds of ministries overseas that have tens of thousands of indigenous missionaries in the field. These ministries are currently engaging more than 1,000 unreached people groups in over 100 countries around the world. Christian Aid Mission is a 60-year-old organization and one of the first to support native missionary ministries overseas.

Challenged to dig deeper, Christian Aid Mission staff contacted ministries they assist in the region, ministries that have invested wholeheartedly in outreach to war-weary Syrians through personal interaction.

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Excellent radio interview with Pr Daniel / Live webcast this Sunday 16th Feb on Christians & Politics with Guest Speaker Pr Asoka Perera

Dear friends & family in Christ, 1)  You may click the following links to listen to an excellent radio interview (92.9 Voice FM in Toowoomba, QLD) with Pr Daniel. https://reformationharvestfire.com/events/interview-with-92-9-voice-fm-part-1/…

Continue ReadingExcellent radio interview with Pr Daniel / Live webcast this Sunday 16th Feb on Christians & Politics with Guest Speaker Pr Asoka Perera

This Pastor Made a Box for Unwanted Babies, and You’ll Praise God for What Happened

This Pastor Made a Box for Unwanted BabiesBy Eric Corpus – January 8, 2014

Every year, hundreds of unwanted babies are abandoned on the streets of Seoul, South Korea. To do something about the crisis, Pastor Lee Jong-rak at the Jusarang Orphanage created the Baby Box.

The Baby Box is a drop box on the side of the orphanage where someone can safely leave an unwanted infant. Lined with blankets, the box is heated to keep the baby warm. When an infant is placed in the box, an alarm alerts a staff member to bring the baby inside.

The culture in South Korea places heavy value on physical perfection, so many of the infants left in the Baby Box were born with disabilities, including deafness, blindness, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome.

Since 1998, the orphanage has taken in dozens of children, and raised and loved them. That’s dozens of miraculous stories of faith and love, dozens of tragedies averted.

“One of the mothers told me that she had poison to kill both herself and her baby,” Lee said. “So I told her, ‘Don’t do that. Come here with your baby.'”

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SCOTUS puts the chill on activist judge’s decision to overturn Utah’s marriage amendment

Unanimously, the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices agreed that one person shouldn't have the power to create same-sex marriage in a state that democratically outlawed it.by Tony Perkins  – Jan 08, 2014 18:08 EST

While the country shivered through frigid temperatures Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court put something else on ice: the same-sex “marriages” of Utah couples. After two weeks of chaos, America’s most powerful court put the brakes on one rogue judge’s decision to single-handedly overturn the state’s marriage amendment.

The December 20th ruling took several people by surprise — including Governor Gary Herbert (R), who called out District Court Judge Robert Shelby as an “activist” who jeopardized the state’s right “to define marriage through ordinary democratic channels.” For Utah, it was the second major marriage headline in less than a month — thrusting the state back into the spotlight it left when Judge Clark Waddoups stunned everyone by decriminalizing polygamy.

Unanimously, the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices agreed that one person shouldn’t have the power to create same-sex “marriage” in a state that democratically outlawed it.

Of course, marriage has always been a hot-button issue in Utah, dating back to the state’s earliest days. And that isn’t likely to change now, as Utah becomes the venue for the first challenge to a state marriage law since the Supreme Court struck down part of DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) last June. When Governor Herbert gears up for an appeal to Judge Shelby’s overreach, he’ll have new state attorney general, Sean Reyes, to lead the charge. Picked to take over the post when his predecessor resigned, Reyes promised, “My intention … is to continue to defend the laws that have been passed by the people of Utah.”

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Report: 9 out of 10 Top Christian Persecution Countries Due to Islamic Extremism

Photo REUTERS Thaier Al-SudaniBy Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter – January 9, 2014

WASHINGTON – Nine out of the ten countries ranked the most oppressive for Christians to live in were due to Islamic extremism, according to Open Doors’ annual World Watch List, which was released Wednesday.

With the exception of North Korea – ranked No. 1 for the 12th year in a row – every other country on the top 10 list had as its source of persecution, Islamic extremism. North Korea’s persecution of Christians was due to communist oppression and dictatorial paranoia, explained Open Doors in its 2014 World Watch List. According to the report, the countries with the most extreme persecution besides North Korea are: Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Pakistan, Iran, and Yemen, respectively.

Open Doors announced the rankings for its 2014 World Watch List, which documented the 50 nations least tolerant of their Christian population, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The Christian persecution watchdog group’s methodology involved measuring the level of Christian freedom found in five spheres of life: private, family, community, national, and church. A sixth sphere regarding degree of violence also factors in to the rankings.

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Crying wolf? – Is free speech being suppressed in the UK?

Crying wolf – Is free speech being suppressed in the UK3 January 2014  |  David Robertson

It’s happened again. Another high profile case of a street preacher being arrested in the UK simply for seeking to spread the Word of God. As previously reported in Christian Today and numerous Christian websites, podcasts and American Christian radio shows, Tony Miano was arrested in the city of Dundee on 8 of January. (You can read the account here).

Unlike his previous arrest in London, this time he has been charged and the case will go to trial in April. The case is therefore Sub Judice and it would be inappropriate for me to go into detailed comment about what actually happened. But as a pastor based in the City of Dundee it would be wrong to leave this situation alone, especially as it has been reported all over the world as another example of how lunatic and intolerant the UK in general and Scotland in particular has become towards the Gospel.

One commentator declared: “It’s alarming that in a country such as the UK which helped spread Christianity to the world, we’re seeing police oppression of God’s word being preached in the streets of our towns and cities.” Another slightly more extreme Facebook poster excitedly observed “and you wonder why helicopters fall out of the sky in your country?!”

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Adelaide Fringe Festival – blasphemous anti-Christ show / Urgent: Letter to the Board & Complaints Officer of BSA

Dear friends & family in Christ,

For your urgent prayer and action, we’re forwarding the following emails from Salt Shakers regarding the Adelaide Fringe Festival – blasphemous anti-Christ show from 14th Feb – 16th March 2014.

Adelaide Fringe Festival – blasphemous anti-Christ show

A huge furore has erupted in Adelaide, where the Adelaide Fringe Festival includes a show called ‘Come Heckle Christ’. It involves a person playing ‘Christ’ – people are encouraged to heckle and ask questions of the figure. The event is advertised as suitable for a variety of people, including ‘disgruntled Christians’!

Family groups have protested, including Family Voice Australia and the NCC. Rev Fred Nile voiced his concern, as did SA Catholic Archbishop Philip Wilson and Family First MPs Robert Brokenshire and Dennis Hood. The Islamic Society of SA also expressed their opposition to the show.

But the Festival organisers are unmoved and say it will continue (source)!

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Nepal: Christian homes and church in arson attack

A Nepalese man reads a newspaper as a woman walks in an alley of Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013. AP Photo Niranjan ShresthaCHRISTIAN TODAY – 10 January 2014  |  Carey Lodge

A church building and the homes of four Christian converts in a Nepal village were set alight on December 23, according to Barnabas Fund.

It is thought that Hindu extremists, who see the growth of Christianity in Nepal as a threat, carried out the attacks which targeted the homes of Ganga Lama Tamang, Lama Bahadur Tamang, Lama Bokta and Bikram Lama.

Though some residents tried to prevent the violent attack, they were powerless to stop the nine arsonists who then went on to target the local church building.

Though physical attacks on Christians are generally an uncommon occurrence in Nepal, this violence follows the murder of a church leader last October. Debelal was killed by a Hindu man who tricked him into believing he wanted prayer before beating the Christian with an iron rod and slitting his throat.

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US Evangelicals Work to End Prostitution in Thailand

Mint, a former sex worker, now makes jewelry that helps support the work of NightLight International. (RNS photo by Bear Guerra)Charisma News – 1/7/2014 – Ruxandra Guidi/RNS

Mint, a former sex worker, now makes jewelry that helps support the work of NightLight International. (RNS photo by Bear Guerra)

A small delicate silver cross hangs around Mint’s neck, a charm she reaches for nervously from time to time as she speaks.

Mint is her nickname, an Anglicized version of the long Thai name she was given and would rather not make public. As a former prostitute, the 24-year-old is concerned about bringing shame to her family, though she says everyone in her village in the northeastern province of Issan —a poor agricultural region along the border with Cambodia and Laos—would assume, or simply know, she had to be doing sex work to send money back home.

Everyone in Bangkok knows how it works. Many of the countless massage parlors, go-go bars and karaoke joints peppered throughout the city are frequently thinly veiled fronts for prostitution. Heavily made-up girls hang around in the periphery of joints catering to Western tourists. Most of the Asian customers, including Thai men, head to brothels and bars elsewhere, away from the sex tourism districts.

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