The large congregation of Light Korean Presbyterian Church in Toronto, Canada was ecstatic on Sunday (13 August) in welcoming home their Senior Pastor, Hyeon Soo Lim, held for more than two years of a life sentence in a North Korean labor camp. The church was also crowded with media personnel recording the significant and almost unexpected return. Sam Shim, operations manager at Lim’s church said, “Everyone was excited when we heard the news that he was freed… There was crying, joyful crying.” Looking happy and healthy, Lim told his congregation about his experiences in the labor camp. Overwhelming
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Several years ago, my husband and I began attending a local Evangelical, non-denominational church, and we loved it. We cherished the sense of community we found among the loving and authentic people we met there, and the intelligent, “outside the box” pastor who led our flock with thought-provoking and insightful sermons. Sadly, the church started going off the rails theologically, and after about a year and a half, we made the difficult decision to leave. Today that church is a self-titled “Progressive Christian Community.” Back then I had never heard of “Progressive Christianity,” and even now it is difficult to
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n December 11, 2016, a suicide bomber linked to an Islamic extremist organization entered Saint Peter and Saint Paul’s church in Cairo and killed 25 people. The father of 15-year-old Marian was one of the victims. He died in her arms. But even through this tragic loss, she hasn’t doubted God’s love. We meet Marian in the family house they share with her uncle’s family on the church premises. It’s located in a busy district near the city center of Cairo. Her uncle is a guard in the church, just as her father used to be. The house is
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There was a day when not long ago when Christian farming communities in northeastern Nigeria were self-reliant. But the violent rise of Boko Haram has changed all that. One local family’s farm was big and productive enough to provide for all their needs and even give work to others. When Boko Haram attacked the village, militants set the property and family home on fire. Sadly, the father was still inside and he eventually died from the injuries he suffered. As the oldest of seven, responsibility for providing for the family fell to their daughter, Rhoda. “Life has not
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If the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has its way, India will soon be unified under one religion, one culture, and one language. Non-Hindu People Are Being Targeted. Of course, in order for this to happen, all other religious communities–including Christians–would have to be eliminated. According to the RSS organization’s founder, M.S. Golwalker, that is exactly the plan. “The non-Hindu people in Hindustan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and revere Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but the glorification of the Hindu religion, that is they must not only give up their attitude of
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Around the world, hailed by the global elite, a symbol of a false god is rising. It has risen in London and New York City, the latter only a few steps away from Ground Zero. It was placed outside a global summit in Dubai. Most recently, it was even constructed for the G7 Summit in Florence,…
Fascinating presentation given on Apr. 10, 2017 by Reese Morris regarding the shroud of Turin. He was the legal counsel to the team of scientists who examined the shroud in 1978. He discusses in detail the findings of their research plus later research by others. His presentation starts around the 1:30 mark. You can watch the video here: https://shroudofturin.wistia.com/medias/abgqxnw6a7 Is this the burial cloth of Jesus, you decide.
Azamat became a Christian in the early days of Uzbekistan’s independence, soon after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, when, he says, the country “was a much freer place than it is now”. He embraced his new faith, setting up a network of house churches, and finding teachers for Sunday schools. But the state soon noticed, and its interest led to an abduction that he describes as “the longest seven minutes of my life”. Azamat, now in his 40s with a wife and two children, talks about how the heady days of his new-found faith turned into
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Christians in Iraq. Automatically we tend to think of those tens of thousands of Christians who were living in Mosul and the Nineveh Plain and are now living as displaced persons somewhere in the Kurdish area of Iraq. But how are the Christians doing elsewhere in Iraq? For example, those living in the capital Baghdad? Until 2003, this place was where most of Iraq’s Christians were living. We visited the city and were surprised by the dedication of the small flock that remained: How is the situation now in Baghdad for Christians? All of the pastors and priests
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There are very few countries left in the world that truly capture the concept of “kingdom”—where one person’s rule extends over every aspect of his subject’s lives. Especially in the Western world, kingdoms feel like a relic of a bygone era. For the people of North Korea though, the concept is far too real. They have lived under the brutal totalitarian kingdom of the Kim Dynasty for nearly 70 years, and in that time the Kim family has stretched their power over every aspect of life they can touch. Currently, under the rule of Kim Jong-un, North Korea has
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Results from a nationwide study in the United Kingdom unleashed on Sunday revealed that a whopping 93 percent of British Christians believe that their faith is marginalized. Premier Christian Communications (PCC) surveyed some 12,000 Christians in the U.K. to discover what it is like for believers to live in a post-Christian society – in an island nation where militant Islam is tolerated and Christianity is rejected. Stand up After discovering that more than nine out of 10 Christians feel marginalized, the Christian media group insisted that believers in Christ must boldly stand up for their faith – and not be
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While many would consider their twenties an adventurous stage of life, Viktor’s story takes that theme to new extremes. Like many this age, he moved away from home and began exploring a new trade. Unfortunately, however, Viktor’s trade of choice was smuggling illegal drugs in Central Asia. At first, Viktor’s early adult years were filled with adrenaline and adventure. Viktor led an operation that ran drugs from Tajikstan to the state where he lives in Central Asia. He seemed to have natural abilities to covertly network across communities. Viktor’s success rate, in fact, was so high that he was
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There’s one thing I often forget when it comes to Christian persecution. One thing that can easily slip my mind when I read about the senseless violence on Palm Sunday in Egypt, the calculated murder of Christians in Nigeria by Boko Haram, the kidnapping of Pastor Koh in Malaysia, or the plan of radical Hindus in India to wipe out Christianity by 2021. What is it that I forget? Sometimes in the midst of the news and world events related to the violence or the marginalization against Christians, I forget that ….. Read More: The One Thing All Christian Persecution
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Ting made a living summoning the darkness. As the local Shaman, villagers in her surrounding area of northwest China would seek her out for the wisdom of the spirits. And their requests were many— Who should I marry? What must I do to be successful? What does my future hold? Why am I sick? Have I offended the spirits? Ting delighted in her success. Word of her abilities drove thousands of the curious and desperate to seek her divine counsel, which she was eager to give. But only for a price. And then the spirits demanded
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“Perhaps the picture they included with this article is meant to symbolize the funeral of the church because it’s certainly dying in Scotland.” Admin Fifty-eight per cent of Scots now say they have no religion, a record level, and up from 40 per cent in 1999, the Scottish Attitudes Survey revealed. Amongst major denominations, the Church of Scotland (Kirk) has seen the sharpest decline, with just 18 per cent saying they belong to the Kirk. The Church of Scotland figure for 1999 was 35 per cent. The survey found the proportion of Roman Catholics (10 per cent), other Christian affiliations
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She Reads Truth has grown to become a popular online Christian community, drawing hundreds of thousands of social media followers and bringing women together to read the Bible daily. “Honestly, we don’t feel like we ‘launched’ She Reads Truth. The Holy Spirit did. We’re still just trying to keep up!” Amanda Bible Williams, chief content officer of She Reads Truth whose maiden name really is Bible, told The Christian Post. The online devotional community began in 2012 by a small group of women connected primarily through the internet who sought to create a network to promote regular Bible reading. Williams
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Renovation work has unveiled 1,600-year-old frescoes in Rome’s biggest catacomb, featuring “stunning” depictions of the stories from the Bible, and shedding clues on how Romans moved from paganism to following Jesus Christ. The MailOnline reported that laser technology was used to remove the grime from the frescoes, which had been hidden under centuries of dirt. The renovations at the Domitilla catacombs, which depict both pagan and Christian paintings, reportedly sheds light into how Romans moved away from pagan beliefs and toward Jesus Christ in the fourth century A.D. Read More: 1,600-Y-O Christian Frescoes Unveiled in Roman Catacomb Reveal Move From
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The biblical narrative that the first Egyptian Dynasty descended from the biblical Ham, the son of Noah, as told in the book of Genesis, could well be supported by recent research based on DNA taken from Egyptian mummies, analysts said. According to CNN, researchers from the University of Tuebingen and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, both in Germany, found “unexpected results” when decoding the genome of ancient Egyptians. Their work, published online in Nature Communications, concluded that preserved remains found in Abusir-el Meleq, Middle Egypt, were the closest genetic relatives of Neolithic and
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A Bomb Confirms the Calling of a Pastor in Baghdad The man has just left his home, hopping into his car, turning the keys in the ignition, and pushing the accelerator as he had so many times before. Only this time, as he began the familiar journey toward the church where he worked as a pastor, he immediately sensed something was different. Almost right away, an explosion ripped through the car, violently shaking the vehicle and—at the same time—engulfing it in the flames. “I was totally confused, and I couldn’t see anymore.” The young pastor, named Joseph,
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Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists have unearthed a road running from Jerusalem’s gates and the Pool of Siloam to the Temple. “Jesus would have walked on this newly excavated road to the Temple Mount”, said Moran Hagbi, one of the directors of the excavation. The archaeologists also discovered evidence of the last battle between Roman forces and Jewish rebels which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. Read More: Archaeologists discover road on which Jesus walked from Pool of Siloam to temple
American Bible Society has released its fifth annual study of America’s most Bible-minded cities. Once again, the Southeast dominates the list of cities that show strong engagement with God’s Word and strong belief in the accuracy of the Bible. For the second year in a row and fourth out of the last five, Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the most Bible-minded city, followed by Birmingham, Alabama, and Roanoke/Lynchburg, Virginia. The only top-ten city outside the Southeast was Springfield, Missouri (#7). ABS spokesman Arthur Satterwhite says, “For us as American Bible Society, this survey helps to inform our work in the U.S. as
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The latest census in Australia has shown a dramatic fall in those who identify as Christian, and a significant rise in those with ‘no religion’. For the first time in its history, the proportion of Australians who say they have ‘no religion’ (29.6 per cent) overtook the number who identify as Catholic (22.6 per cent), according to analysis of Australia’s 2016 census by The Guardian. In 1996, just 0.6 per cent of the population marked ‘no religion’ on their census, but has seen a dramatic shift in the following decades. In 2001 the figure was 16 per cent, which nearly
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“It appears, even among those calling themselves Christians, that Britain is now solidly in a post Christian era.” Admin British people, especially Christians, are increasingly more accepting of same-sex marriage, abortion, pornography, and sex before marriage. Conducted in 2016, the latest edition of the British Social Attitudes survey found acceptance of same-sex relationships has increased particularly rapidly in the last four years, especially amongst Christians. A strong majority of the UK public, 64 per cent, now say same-sex relationships are “not wrong at all”, up from 57 per cent in 2013 – the year before gay marriage became legal. On
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Support for same-sex marriage has soared to records levels in the US with all religious groups showing a rise in approval for gay relationships. Latest figures from Pew Research reveal Americans are in favour of same-sex marriage by almost two-to-one with recent shifts meaning even Baby Boomers (aged 53-71) are now in favour of allowing gay and lesbian people to marry. Reuters For the first time as many Republicans support gay marriage as oppose it with more than three-quarters of Democrats in favour, data published on Monday showed. Read More: Evangelicals support for same-sex marriage rises –
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Harvest America 2017 is being held in the University of Phoenix stadium and everywhere else by simulcast, and is intended by Harvest America creator evangelist Greg Laurie to address a country in need of hope. Not only is the event expected to fill the Phoenix stadium, it is being simulcast it thousands of host locations –…
Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church Are Christians betraying the Great Commission? The world is facing a religious revolution. Within the century, if current trends continue, Islam, already the fastest growing religion, will outpace Christianity to become the largest faith in the world. In Europe, once called “Christendom,” Christianity has all but collapsed as Islam continues…
This year marks the 500th anniversary of one of the most important events in history, the Protestant Reformation. The world is converging on Wittenberg in eastern Germany this summer, where 500 years ago a local professor of moral theology is said to have nailed 95 theses to a church door, and by that single act, changed the world. Germany is now in the middle of a yearlong national celebration. But Luther’s time was rarely this colorful and tidy as re-enactments today. The 1500s in Germany were cold, muddy, dreary and rude. Luther’s Time: Back to the Future
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