Not just ‘Sunday Jesus’

Laurie23October, 2010 WorldNetDaily by Greg Laurie

Deep down inside, I think we all want a fresh start in life. We all want to change. Most of us are not happy with the way we are. So we think, Well, maybe it’s my environment. If I just lived in a different place or had different clothes or had different a different home. …

I remember years ago when my son Christopher came home with a rat for a pet. We went out and got a cage for it, and then he decided to build a little house for the rat to live in inside the cage. With some popsicle sticks and bits of wood, he built a little house with a little roof. He even put a nameplate above the doorway. We all thought it was so cute. We went to bed that night, thinking the little rat would go into his little house and sleep. But the next morning, the house was gone and the rat was fatter. What we thought would be a nice place for the rat to live basically looked like lunch to him, because a rat is a rat.

The same is true of us. The only way we can experience lasting change is if we change on the inside, because the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.

The Bible tells us about someone whose life was radically changed after a short moment of contact with Jesus. Matthew left his career, left his wealth and left his powerful position to simply become a follower of Jesus. Two words from Jesus forever changed his life: “Follow Me.”

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‘Don’t blame racism for your problems’: Archbishop John Sentamu urges young black men to work hard for success

Archbishop of YorkBy Steve Doughty on 19th October 2010

The Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu has urged young black men to avoid the trappings of crime

The Archbishop of York has urged young black people to stop blaming racism for their problems.

Dr John Sentamu warned that prisons, mental health units and young offender institutions held too many black people.

He told a new generation: ‘Your future success does not lie in guns, gangs and knives or in the worship of celebrities.’

Instead, they should ‘work hard’ and ‘stay focused’, he said. (more…)

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Missionaries: Church Failing to Reach One-Fourth of the World

Lausanne World Evangelism Conference 2010 - Unreached People GroupsBy Michelle A. Vu – Christian Post Reporter

Missions – Fri, Oct. 22 2010 
 
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – More than 25 percent of the ethnic groups (unreached people groups) in the world, or about two billion people, are not represented at the Lausanne Conference.

An unreached people group means that cross-cultural mission is necessary for a person in the group to hear the Gospel because they cannot find people within their ethnic group to share with them the good news.
Mission leaders on Wednesday said the hardest obstacle to overcome in reaching unreached people groups is the obedience of the church. They spoke at the Lausanne multiplex session titled “M*ss*ng People: The Unserved One-Fourth World.”A video shown at the beginning of the session highlighted that despite the fact that 86 percent of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists do not personally know a Christ follower, 90 percent of missionaries go to “Christianized” regions, according to the World Christian Database.

“In my 14 years working with Muslims, mobilizing churches in Korea, I came to realized that Muslims haven’t been missing people to God, but to God’s people,” said Henry Lee, a mission leader based in Seoul, South Korea, and part of Ethne to Ethne (Greek for people to people), a global mission network focused on getting the gospel to unreached people groups.

Kent Park, president of U.S.-based Mission to Unreached Peoples, explained why churches do not share the Gospel with people groups that need to hear it.

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Africa is the Church of the Future, Says Lausanne Officer

Lausanne World Evangelism 2010 in Cape TownBy Michelle A. Vu – Christian Post Reporter

World – Sat, Oct. 23 2010 09:35

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – There is hope in Africa – a continent ravaged by conflicts, poverty and HIV/AIDS – because God is at work in this land, said African Christian leaders Friday at the Lausanne conference.

In the last century, the African church has grown 3,000 percent, said Daniel Bourdanne, general secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students and international deputy director for the Lausanne movement, during the evening plenary focused on Africa. Even though Africa does not have money or technology, Bourdanne said, Africans can celebrate because God’s grace has been poured out on the continent.

“This (church growth through the Holy Spirit) is more than technology, more than money, more than anything that we can have,” declared the African leader from Chad, drawing loud applause from the 4,000 attendees of Lausanne III.

Christian leaders from over 190 nations are gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, for The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. While all three Lausanne conferences have focused on sharing the Gospel worldwide, this conference is also addressing a wide range of global problems facing the Church, such as pluralism, globalization, HIV/AIDS, and prosperity gospel.

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Former Muslim: Mullahs, Imams Coming to Christ in West Africa

Lausanne World Evangelism Conference 2010 in Cape TownBy Michelle A. Vu – Christian Post Reporter

Missions – Fri, Oct. 22 2010

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Hundreds of imams and mullahs from West Africa have been coming to Christ in the past decade and in turn sharing the Gospel with their peers, said a former Muslim who witnesses to Muslim scholars and clerics.

Brother Daniel (last name withheld for security reasons) said that the initiative he started has exposed over 10,000 scholars, clerics and mullahs to the knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ over the past 10 years. From that number, some 1,000 have come to Christ with 500 of them having completed discipleship training. Currently, 58 former mullahs, imams, and scholars from the initiative are sharing their faith in Christ, exclaimed Daniel to applause from the Lausanne III crowd.

“The Muslims that are around us are good people; they are sincere in their beliefs,” said Daniel Friday morning. “[But] even though they are very sincere, they are sincerely wrong.”

Daniel, who grew up in a Muslim setting in Africa, said Christians are not eager to share their faith with Muslims even though Jesus commanded them to spread the Gospel. Christians are “disobedient and fearful” to share the Gospel even though the Holy Spirit has worked on the hearts of Muslims and they are open and waiting to hear the good news, Daniel remarked.

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Tens of Thousands of Muslims Coming to Christ, Says Iranian Ministry Leader

Muslims coming to ChristBy Michelle A. Vu – Christian Post Reporter

Missions – Wed, Oct. 20 2010

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (JN 8:32)

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – The mood was light Tuesday evening – thanks to leg-swinging praise music – when Lausanne III participants wrestled with the difficult topics of reconciliation in the Middle East, HIV/AIDS, and human trafficking.

Speakers gave hopeful messages of how God is moving and bringing hope despite addressing some of the darkest and seemingly most hopeless situations in the world today.

The Middle East, which has become almost synonymous with violence and Islam, is experiencing an unprecedented level of Muslims becoming followers of Jesus Christ, said Sam Yeghnazar, founder of Iran-focused Elam Ministries. There were only about 500 Iranian Christians from a Muslim background at the time of Lausanne I in 1974, he said. But over the past 30 years, more Muslims have come to Christ than in the past 1,300 years.

“Iran today is a closed land with countless open hearts,” said Yeghnazar. “It is the most open nation to the Gospel in the entire world. Tens of thousands of Iranians are turning to Christ.”

“Betrayed by the government, disillusioned with the religion, depressed by the prospects of the future, Iranians when they come to know the Lord Jesus Christ are completely transformed,” he said. “They proclaim Christ in the marketplace. Entire families, men and women, are coming to Christ.”

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Love and Remarriage

Isaac and DenishaCharisma Magazine Wednesday, 22 September 2010 Felicia Mann   

For years statistics have shown that Christian marriages are just as likely to end in divorce as non-Christian ones. Adding to the bleak snapshot of the American church is the fact that clergy divorce rates are lock step with their congregations. But pastor Isaac Pitre and his wife, Denisha, (pictured above) who helm Christ Nations Church in Texarkana, Texas, say God wants to restore all marriages-even if couples have already divorced.

Charisma recently spoke with the pair, who remarried each other six years after their 2003 divorce. You can hear the entire interview at pitre.charismamag.com.

Charisma: After 10 years of being married, what led to your divorce?

Isaac Pitre: It was basically just not understanding that my ministry was really to be at home and to [Denisha] as much as it was to the church and the world.

Charisma: What caused the two of you to reconcile your relationship?

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Youtube link to Australia Day 2010 United Prayer Gathering

Dear family & friends in Christ in Australia and around the World, If you did not make it to the Australia Day National Prayer Gathering in Melbourne in January 2010,…

Continue ReadingYoutube link to Australia Day 2010 United Prayer Gathering

FAITH UNDER FIRE

Islamic FlagSeptember 27, 2010  By Bob Unruh WorldNetDaily

Jury clears Christians who dared to preach to U.S. Muslims

‘My clients were there to evangelize, change minds and challenge Islam’

Jurors in Michigan have rejected the concept of a “dhimmi” status for Christians, ruling that four evangelists who went to an Arab festival not just to be present but to “change minds” did not commit a breach of peace as police had claimed.

The word comes from the Thomas More Law Center, which defended the four Christians after they were charged for being at an Arab festival June 18 in Dearborn, Mich.

The verdict came from a jury of six Dearborn residents late Friday, who concluded that Nabeel Qureshi, Paul Rezkalla, Negeen Mayel and David Wood were not guilty of breach-of-peace charges.

The issue strikes directly at the heart of what many fear is developing across the nation: Muslims given special treatment that subjects those of other faiths to second-class status.

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Biblical tale of Moses parting the Red Sea ‘may really have happened’

Red Sea PartingBy Tom Kelly 22nd September 2010

The dramatic parting of the Red Sea for the Israelites is perhaps the most spectacular miracle described in the Old Testament.

Now scientists believe it may actually have happened – although it owed more to Mother Nature than to Moses.

A computer simulation suggests that a powerful east wind, blowing for 12 hours overnight, could have driven back shallow waters for four hours allowing a crossing in an area near that depicted in Exodus.

An artist’s impression showing how a strong wind could have pushed back waters from two ancient basins, a lagoon (left) and a river (right), and led to the Biblical account of the parting of the Red Sea. In the biblical account, which was given the Hollywood treatment in Charlton Heston’s epic The Ten Commandments, Moses and the Israelites were trapped between the Pharaoh’s advancing chariots and the sea.

Thanks to divine intervention, a mighty east wind blows all night, splitting the waters to leave a passage of dry land with walls of water on both sides.

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Tumour Shrinks / Former Homosexual Healed of Cancer

Ex-homosexual healed from cancerDear family & friends in Christ,

We thank our glorious Father in heaven once again for the ever increasing anointing of His almighty Holy Spirit on Sunday the 7th of November at the CTFM base in Hallam (Melbourne) where around 300 hundred people gathered in the morning and evening services to soak in the presence of the King of kings and LORD of lords, Christ Jesus! There were people from Sydney, Tongala (NSW) and others had driven more than one hour to be at the services.

We are very excited to see so many people getting healed of Cancer across Australia, as we are receiving testimonies almost every week of the Lord’s delivering victory over the demonic spirit of Cancer!

Last week Pr Daniel received a call from a lady on the Gold Coast who was going in for an operation in order to remove a tumour on her kidneys which was the size of a tennis ball. This woman was very distressed and worried about the operation. So he spoke to her, prayed and then commanded the tumour to shrink in the mighty Name of Jesus. Her Pastor and the congregation were also praying and trusting God for a miracle. Two days later Pr Daniel received a call with the exciting news that the Doctor did a biopsy before operating and to their great surprise the tumour had shrunk to the size of a marble. The Doctor was able to successfully burn the tumour without having to operate her. The woman said, “Right through the whole time the doctors were working on me, I felt someone was feeling my hands, but there was no one there who did that. I know it was Jesus standing by me and comforting me!” All glory to God!

On Sunday night the 7th November there was another amazing testimony shared by a brother called Steve, who is also the RUA coordinator for Tongala, NSW. Several years ago Steve was set free from homosexuality by the mighty power of God. The Lord also saved him miraculously when he wanted to commit suicide. Steve who has been a musician and singer, started singing and giving glory to God ever since he accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour. After, he was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told him there was nothing more they could do for him and there was no hope.

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Alabama Judge – AFTER YOU HAVE DONE ALL – STAND

Roy MooreSome of you may be wondering what Judge Roy Moore has been doing since he was removed from the bench for refusing to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom wall.

The following is a poem written by Judge Roy Moore from Alabama.

Judge Moore was sued by the ACLU for displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom foyer.

He has been stripped of his judgeship and now they are trying to strip his right to practice law in Alabama!
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Pastors taken to task for political apathy – “What we have is a preacher problem”

Pastors taken to task for political apathyWorldnetdaily September 16, 2010 By Drew Zahn
 
MIAMI – America has gone “from one nation under God to a nation at war with God,” said Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America, at WND’s “Taking America Back Conference.” And who’s to blame?

According to a pair of speakers at the Miami confab, one of most significant answers is also one the most uncomfortable for Christians.

“As the church goes, so goes the nation; as the pastor goes, so goes the church.” Scarborough said, “What we have in America is a preacher problem.”

Scarborough, himself a former Southern Baptist minister, told the audience his story of recognizing the need for pastors to snap out of political complacency and get involved in the cultural war for the soul of the nation.

He had attended a sexual education presentation at his daughter’s high school in the 1990s, only to discover a message of sexual license and perversity that shocked him. When he brought a transcript of the presentation to his church, the building was filled with people equally stunned.

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New Initiative Offers Help to Girls Facing Pressure to Abort

Pregnant teenFriday September 24, 2010 By Kathleen Gilbert

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, September 24, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pregnant teens often face pressure to undergo an abortion from parents or others – but a new resource soon to be distributed around the country will offer such young women hope and legal recourse in a seemingly hopeless situation.

While many may think of coerced abortion as a phenomenon found only in countries such as China, pro-life sidewalk counselors across America testify to routinely witnessing young girls being practically dragged into abortion clinics by fathers or mothers unwilling to handle their daughters’ pregnancies.

Eric Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League said that, from his experience as a sidewalk counselor outside abortion clinics, coerced abortion is an all-too-frequent phenomenon.

“From what I’ve seen outside abortion facilities, many women — especially young women — are being coerced into aborting their unborn babies,” Scheidler told LifeSiteNews.com. “Often the young woman will clearly want to come over and talk to a pro-life sidewalk counselor, only to have her boyfriend, husband or parent push her on into the clinic, sometimes forcibly.

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