It’s easy to think that Jesus had a big advantage—being the incarnate Son of God, as He was—in praying and getting His prayers answered. But He did tell His followers, “You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it” (Matthew 21:22, NLT). The first generation of Jesus’ followers apparently took his promises seriously. They prayed for boldness, and received it (Acts 4:29). They prayed for prisoners to be released, and it happened (Acts 12:5). They prayed for the sick to be healed, and they were healed (Acts 28:8). They even prayed for the dead
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07/24/18 When Esther was rescued from Boko Haraman extremist group that is located primarily in Northern Nigeria captivity, she thought her living nightmare of almost a year was over. But it had only just begun. Though the young Nigerian woman carried a child she thought she could never love, she was at least free from the violence, the constant rape, the incessant torment from her captors that she had endured ever since the day Boko Haram guerilla fighters attacked her village, killing her father and forcing her and other young Christian girls into waiting vehicles. They were
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07/24/18 What would cause most Americans to switch churches? It’s not the music, youth programs or even a change in preacher. Instead it is a shift in the church’s beliefs. A new study has found that for the great majority of Americans, the number one reason they go to church is to hear sermons that teach about the Bible and how to apply God’s word to their lives. It should come as a breath of fresh air for those worried about the over-the-top nature of some of today’s church services that 83% of Protestants say that sermons
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07/15/18 The Czech aid worker who spent 14 ½ months behind bars in Sudan has said he counted his experience a “privilege” because it enabled him to share his Christian faith with Sudanese prisoners, and praised the country’s “very courageous” Christian minority. Petr Jašek also told World Watch Monitor that two Sudanese Christians who were arrested days after he was have been resettled in the U.S., along with their families, since their release in May 2017. A third has been released and remains in Sudan. Jašek added that, of those with whom he shared a cell during
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06/25/18 “Someone to put on your prayer list for sure.” Admin When a bomb exploded right next to Samiha Tawfiq at St. Peter’s Church in Cairo on December 11, 2016, everyone thought she was dead. But church bombing survivor Samiha miraculously survived the explosion that claimed 27 lives and injured 49. The explosion also took away one side of Samiha’s face. Since the attack, it has been an uphill climb for 55-year-old Samiha and her husband Koleny Farag, 79. She can neither hear, smell, nor see on the right side of her face and can barely lift her badly
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06/25/18 Throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, persecution is coming at believers in West Africa, East Africa and Central Africa in full force. In the Horn of Africa (East Africa), the Muslim country of Eritrea is notorious for its intricate and inhuman prison system that often uses small shipping containers to hold prisoners. The country is estimated to be holding between 1,200 and 3,000 Eritreans on religious grounds. For 11 years, Pastor Ogbamichael Teklheimanot spent his days imprisoned in Eritrea’s Mitire Camp infamously known as a military concentration camp. And because he refused to renounce his faith in Christ, Ogbamichael was subjected to
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06/08/18 On Monday, Gallup published their annual Values and Beliefs survey, which details the beliefs of American’s on 21 specific issues. The organization started their annual Values and Beliefs survey in 2001 and has helped detail American’s beliefs ever since. As expected, the year’s study revealed that Americans believe that gay and lesbian relations are morally acceptable. However, an unexpected study showed that pornography and polygamy are also morally acceptable. Gallup Just Ranked 22 Professions on Levels of Honesty and Ethics — and There’s Some Troubling News for Pastors The study revealed that America is split on whether
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05/16/18 “Interesting article, also contains surprising information on those converting to Islam.” Admin Many in the media, theologians and pollsters seem to be in a consensus that data shows American Christianity is in a steep decline. A series of polls from the last few years have revealed that the Church is hemorrhaging members at an alarming rate — particularly millennials. But, while analysts will continue to assess and contest the validity of such studies, one thing is clear — there is another faith community experiencing and even steeper decline, and very few are talking about it. That religion is Islam.
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05/15/18 Two separate but complementary Christian organizations are stepping forward to help parents build character in children despite the confusing, frustrating times we live in. The left-leaning Girl Scouts has been watching its numbers drop for years and now the long-respected Boy Scouts is imploding after first allowing open homosexuals and transgenders, and more recently, allowing girls. Read More: ‘Progress’ keeps killing a wonderful organization
05/15/18 Polls show that over the past 15 years, the proportion of white evangelicals in the United States has steadily been on the decline, while the non-religious sector of the population continues to soar. Even though the Protestant denomination is still America’s most prevalent religious group, a major analysis of ABC News/Washington Post polls conducted over the past decade-and-a-half indicates that the nation’s religious landscape has experienced a major shift during that time. “On average last year, 36 percent of Americans in ABC News/Washington Post polls identified themselves as members of a Protestant faith, extending a gradual
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Archaeologists discovered part of a lost settlement they say may provide further proof of the existence of biblical kings David and Solomon. Historians uncovered a building belonging to an ancient settlement in an area about 30 kilometers from Jerusalem they believe to be associated with King David, according to The Sun. Archaeologists disagree on whether King David and King Solomon existed, but the age and location of the settlement lends greater credence to the Bible’s historical accuracy, professor and archaeological dig co-head Avraham Faust said. Read More: Lost City Unearthed Near Jerusalem, Shakes Secularists Who Deny Bible
It was just after 4:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 15, 2007 when Darryl Perry died. The former University of Florida fullback-turned-financial adviser and his wife, Nicky, had settled down to sleep around midnight after an otherwise normal day. Perry usually worked 16-hour days, Monday through Saturday. The father of three also coached his then-8-year-old son’s baseball team. A deeply spiritual man, Perry usually awoke around 4 a.m. to read the Bible and pray for his wife and children before starting his day. Though the forty-year-old’s sudden cardiac death was a shock to his wife, family and friends, Perry knew it was coming.
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The doc made it sound easy. Just walk. Walk every day. Easy for him to say. I couldn’t even make it to the end of our driveway to pick up the darn mail. A quarter mile there and back. I got winded just shuffling around the house. Our mailbox might as well have been in China. Just walk. Right. Even more pathetic, I was all of 39 years old. I had my own engineering consulting company with employees nationwide. I was always traveling for work or taking care of Cherokee Acres, our 40-acre horse ranch here in Texas.
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The pet shop wasn’t my usual destination on a lunch-hour break, but I was out of food for Izzy and Tobie. I pushed my cart through the aisles, wondering how I’d make ends meet this month. Their food wasn’t cheap. Izzy needed a special brand of dog food because of her skin allergy. Tobie got Science Diet for older cats. I’d settle for a sandwich again for dinner tonight, but I didn’t want the animals I loved to suffer because of my problems. Boy, did I have problems. Money worries whirled around my head as I walked past the
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By Admin By Brian Shilhavy The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. (Acts 11:26) The name “Christian” carries a wide range of meaning and understanding today, as it has throughout history. It is obviously related to “Christ,” which is from the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for “Messiah,” and refers to the person of Jesus Christ. A general definition of “Christian” then would be someone who follows the teachings or doctrine of Jesus Christ. The teachings of Jesus Christ are contained in the Bible, but how they are understood and what kind of …read more Source: Health Impact
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A retail chain commissioned a survey by a team of psychologists to try and crack a key demographic: millennials. Their research revealed something so startling that they tested 800 more people because they thought they had made a mistake. The same answers came back, however, and researchers found an alarming picture of an increasingly lonely and lost generation. The average social media use for millennials is six-and-a half hours a day. The researchers concluded that people in this demographic have a large number of friends but an increasing sense of loneliness. Loneliness can drive you to despondency. When the
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It’s almost inevitable. The more vocal you are about your faith, the more likely you are to find people who are opposed to it. But how you choose to react when people take jabs at Christianity is profoundly important. Your response can set the tone for meaningful conversation and increase your influence—or it can close the door to dialogue about faith. Here are some suggestions for responding when someone criticizes your faith: Read More: How To Handle Criticism Of Your Faith – Faithwire
It’s no secret that America’s colleges and universities are becoming costlier by the minute — but now there’s far more at stake than just a hit to the pocketbook. According to LifeWay, the primary age when youths leave church is between 17-19 years — approximately freshman year of college for most people. As young, impressionable students arrive on campus, many are ill-equipped to handle the onslaught of ideological attacks they will face. Combined with an atmosphere that encourages and fosters lots of free time, partying and hookups, it’s no surprise that large numbers — as high as 70 percent —
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A few years ago my husband James and I worked for a foster care agency as houseparents where we fostered eight to 10 children at a time. These kids were tough and could easily overtake the home creating a chaotic living environment rendering the houseparents helpless. I prayed daily for my kids and over my home. I proclaimed that Christ would fill our home with peace, comfort, and calmness. Staff and state personal would come into our home and comment on how calm and peaceful our house was. It wasn’t because of James and me, it was because
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03/05/18 Chandan Devi lay on the floor, her shoulder bruised from the blow she had just received. The last thing she remembers about that terrible day in her village in India was the loud bang of the door shutting behind her. The 35-year-old and mother of four–and now the widow of Aadarsh-wipes her tears away with the end of her sari. She recounts the story of losing Aadarsh, a pastor in the village, with bursts of short sentences. A group of 30 men forced their way into Aadarsh and Chandan’s home. None of the children were at home.
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03/05/18 What’s happening to Christians in the South Asia country and why? One of the 64 million Christians in India, Reena* grew up in persecution. “When I was a young child, Hindu children did not want to play with me,” recalls Reena, now age 19. “Later, my parents were banned from using the local water supply. They had to walk many kilometers to draw water from the river.” Over the last three years, the persecution Reena endured as a child has increased and intensified in her home country of 1.3 billion people. The 2018 World Watch
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“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me.” Psalm 23 has brought comfort to millions of people on their deathbeds as they have pondered the words of it. When you get down to it, everything we need in life is found in this profound yet simple psalm. It contains the secret of a happy life, in which every need is supplied: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (verse 1 NKJV). It contains the secret of a happy death, where every fear is
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02/25/18 The Israel Antiquities Authority announced a 2,700-year-old papyrus reference to Jerusalem has been recovered and put on public display – the oldest non-biblical Hebrew document mentioning the city. The papyrus, originally stolen by antiquities thieves, shows two clear lines of writing: “From the king’s maidservant, from Naharta, jars of wine, to Jerusalem.” The scroll was originally plundered from a cave in Nahal Hever in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea by antiquities thieves. Read More: Jerusalem Jewish? Yes, says 2,700-year-old relic
An imprint by the prophet Isaiah himself may have created an 8th century BC seal impression discovered in First Temple remains near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, according to a respected archaeologist at the Hebrew University, Dr Eilat Mazar. ‘We appear to have discovered a seal impression, which may have belonged to the prophet Isaiah, in a scientific, archaeological excavation,’ said Mazar this week in a statement reported by the Times of Israel. Mazar’s team found the minuscule clay bulla, or seal impression, during renewed excavations at the Ophel, which is located at the foot of the southern wall of
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“They threatened to kill me, and had God not protected me, they would have succeeded.” The “they” in *Abdul’s story are not Islamic jihadist group Boko Haram that terrorizes Christians and churches in West Africa, fiercely attempting to eradicate Christianity. “They” are Abdul’s family. When Abdul left his tribal religion of Islam and committed his life to Christ in 2000, his Muslim family felt and acted like he had just pointed a challenging dagger straight at them. Abdul’s family (part of the ethnic Kotoko group spread over Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria) always took pride in the fact that
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I tend to get caught up in the process of life. I’m an analytical sort of person and definitely a planner. With every project, I try to anticipate any possible potholes and pitfalls. I build timelines and set expectations. This was definitely true when our son was in the military and deployed, and I was anxious for his safety. I truly believed that I could figure out solutions—in advance—to every possible scenario that might occur. In a lot of ways, I was packing my parachute for those life-moments when I would have to jump into the unknown. The exhaustive
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Pray with me that one day I’ll be able to go back to my hometown and testify to the people about my faith in the Lord.” This is Vang Atu*’s prayer. Vang Atu, a 28-year-old father to two kids, was the first Christian convert in his village in Vietnam (#18 on the World Watch List). He comes from the Hmong tribe and once worshipped different spirits asking for luck, wealth, good health and food; but when he surrendered his life to Jesus, he completely abandoned his animistic beliefs. As a part of the body of Christ, Vang Atu
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