Christians face the most severe religious persecution in North Korea and nine Islamic states, according to Open Doors USA’s annual World Watch List.
North Korea heads the list, released Wednesday, for the 10th consecutive year. This is the first time that the other nine are all Islamist nations, according to the Santa Ana, Calif.-based organization, which counts 38 Islamist nations on its list of 50.
Afghanistan moved to its highest ranking in the list’s history at No. 2. Rounding out the top 10 are Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Iran, Maldives, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Iraq, and Pakistan.
“Christians often face persecution from extremists, the government, their community and even their own families,” said Carl Moeller, president and CEO of Open Doors USA. “While many thought the Arab Spring would bring increased freedom, including religious freedom for minorities, that certainly has not been the case so far.”
North Korea deserves the dubious top spot on the list, Open Doors said. With a quasi religion built around Kim Il Sung, who founded the country, individuals with another god are persecuted. An estimated 200,000 to 400,000 Christians in North Korea remain underground, and around 50,000 to 70,000 Christians in the country are confined to prison camps, the organization reported.
Even after feared dictator Kim Jong Il’s recent death, Christians in North Korea still face danger, Moeller said.
“Certainly the situation for believers remains perilous,” Moeller said. “Please pray with me that the Lord will open up North Korea and there will be religious freedom to worship the one, true God, not the gods of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung.”
North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Uzbekistan are the only representatives on the list from the eight nations that the State Department designates as “countries of particular concern” for violations of religious freedoms. Others are Eritrea at 11th; Sudan at 16; China, 21; and Burma, 33.
The Open Doors rankings are compiled from questionnaires that members of Christian ministries answer and experts evaluate.
Source - Newsmax.com
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Shock: 40% of New York pregnancies aborted
With the highest abortion rate in the nation, nearly double the 23% national average, New York continues to be a place that babies in the womb cannot love.
New York City Department of Health released data that shows that 83,750 abortions were performed in New York City in 2010, which translated to 40% of all pregnancies, down from 41% in 2009.
The Bronx saw a staggering 48% of pregnancies end in abortion. The city lost 38,574 African-Americans babies to abortion, a dumbfounding 60% of the city’s African-American pregnancies.
“In parts of the city more than half of all pregnancies end in abortion - this is very, very disturbing,” said Greg Pfundstein, Executive Director of the Chiaroscuro Foundation, a pro-life organization that says it was instrumental in the city’s decision to itemize the abortion and pregnancy statistics and release them in a more timely manner.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
New York City Department of Health released data that shows that 83,750 abortions were performed in New York City in 2010, which translated to 40% of all pregnancies, down from 41% in 2009.
The Bronx saw a staggering 48% of pregnancies end in abortion. The city lost 38,574 African-Americans babies to abortion, a dumbfounding 60% of the city’s African-American pregnancies.
“In parts of the city more than half of all pregnancies end in abortion - this is very, very disturbing,” said Greg Pfundstein, Executive Director of the Chiaroscuro Foundation, a pro-life organization that says it was instrumental in the city’s decision to itemize the abortion and pregnancy statistics and release them in a more timely manner.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
Michigan Minister Opens Tattoo Parlor in His Church
A Michigan pastor who says he's doing everything he can to reach out to people who don't feel comfortable at a traditional house of worship has opened a tattoo parlor inside his church.
Rev. Steve Bentley of The Bridge, a church located inside a Flint Township shopping center, said his ministry is built on the belief that mainstream religion has become ineffective and irrelevant to most people. To that end, he opened Serenity Tattoo.
Tattoo artists Ryan Brown and Drew Blaisdell work by appointment or from noon until 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday, at the county-licensed tattoo shop that sits not far from Bentley's office as well as the watering trough that he uses for baptisms.
Bentley, who has two tattoos, said he understands some don't like the idea of Serenity Tattoo inside the church, but the pastor considers tattooing a "morally neutral" practice that he likens to getting one's ears pierced.
"We are about doing church in a different way and being relevant to people," Bentley told The Flint Journal. "You can get a tattoo in a clean environment. You can do it while still sticking to your moral code."
Brown is a recovering alcoholic who said the atmosphere inside the church building has helped to keep him focused and on the right path.
"I was running my own studio. I was just working. There wasn't much purpose in it," he said. "I was struggling with whether I could keep my studio" and stay sober.
"I prayed a lot and decided the best thing was to close it and come to the church. I figured I could have a lot more positive impact" here, Brown said.
The church owns 30,000 square feet inside the Flint-area shopping center.
Bentley said about 1,000 people call The Bridge their home church, and up to 500 in total attend his three weekend services.
The pastor makes an effort to talk to all who visit Serenity Tattoo, he said, although not all end up checking out the church.
Source - FoxNews
PASTOR’S WIFE & JUMPOFF THROW DOWN IN CHURCH
Shocked church members say a fight broke out at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis last Sunday during the Communion services! The members watched as two women threw down right in the middle of service and the police had to be called.
Since the fight, cops have launched a FULL investigation to get to the bottom of this mess! Even though news reports claim it was three church members, insiders and the church’s message boards are reporting it was the first lady and the pastor’s mistress who got into the fight! DANG! In the church?!
Soon after the fight between the two women kicked off, a brawl between two families sparked near the church’s choir section, reports WMCTV who also reports that Beverly Milam, her nemesis Terry Bell, and Bell’s daughter, Charra Lumpkin, were at the center of the throw down.
Bell and Milam revealed that the fight began over a verbal confrontation during Bible study where Milam told Bell to “stop sleeping with somebody” which led to Bell getting in her face.
At the fight in church on Sunday, both women are claiming the other one started it. Bell claims Milam hit her daughter, while Milam claims Angel, Bell’s friend, hit her in the face with an umbrella and that’s when family ‘jumped in.’ Oh snap!
Later, officers arrived on the church scene and separated the women and others from fighting.
No one was arrested. Milam was treated at the church, for a slightly swollen and bloodshot right eye, while the other two (Bell and Lumpkin, who both suffered from scratch marks to their neck and upper chest) refused medical treatment.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
Since the fight, cops have launched a FULL investigation to get to the bottom of this mess! Even though news reports claim it was three church members, insiders and the church’s message boards are reporting it was the first lady and the pastor’s mistress who got into the fight! DANG! In the church?!
Soon after the fight between the two women kicked off, a brawl between two families sparked near the church’s choir section, reports WMCTV who also reports that Beverly Milam, her nemesis Terry Bell, and Bell’s daughter, Charra Lumpkin, were at the center of the throw down.
Bell and Milam revealed that the fight began over a verbal confrontation during Bible study where Milam told Bell to “stop sleeping with somebody” which led to Bell getting in her face.
At the fight in church on Sunday, both women are claiming the other one started it. Bell claims Milam hit her daughter, while Milam claims Angel, Bell’s friend, hit her in the face with an umbrella and that’s when family ‘jumped in.’ Oh snap!
Later, officers arrived on the church scene and separated the women and others from fighting.
No one was arrested. Milam was treated at the church, for a slightly swollen and bloodshot right eye, while the other two (Bell and Lumpkin, who both suffered from scratch marks to their neck and upper chest) refused medical treatment.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
Monday, January 2, 2012
An Epidemic of Apostasy – Christian Seminaries Must Incorporate “Spiritual Formation” to Become Accredited
Spiritual Formation: A movement that has provided a platform and a channel through which contemplative prayer is entering the church. Find spiritual formation being used, and in nearly every case, you will find contemplative spirituality and its “pioneers” such as Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and Henri Nouwen. Spiritual Formation is based on “spiritual disciplines” that can be practiced by people of any faith to make them more “Christ-like.” Rebirth through Jesus Christ and regeneration through the Holy Spirit are not essential. Rather it is a works-based ”theology” that has strong roots in Roman Catholicism and ancient paganism.
Contemplative Spirituality: A belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness (the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped in Christian terminology. The premise of contemplative spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). Common terms used for this movement are “spiritual formation,” “the silence,” “the stillness,” “ancient-wisdom,” “spiritual disciplines,” and many others.
What do Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Biola Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Urshan Graduate School of Theology, Briercrest College and Seminary, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Moody Theological Seminary & Graduate School and around 240 other seminaries throughout North America all have in common? They are all accredited through the Association of Theological Seminaries (ATS).
What do Cincinnati Christian University, Columbia International University, Eston College, Hope International University, Moody Bible Institute, Multnomah University, Nazarene Bible College, and Prairie Bible College and about 90 other colleges and seminaries throughout North America all have in common? They are all accredited through the Association for Biblical Higher Education.
What do the two accreditation organizations – Association of Theological Seminaries and Association for Biblical Higher Education - have in common? Both associations require schools that wish to be accredited to include Spiritual Formation within the school’s infrastructure. Just what exactly does that mean for these 350 some seminaries and Bible colleges? Well, it means that if they want to receive and maintain their accreditation, they are going to have to incorporate Spiritual Formation (i.e., contemplative spirituality) into the lives of their students.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
Contemplative Spirituality: A belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness (the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped in Christian terminology. The premise of contemplative spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). Common terms used for this movement are “spiritual formation,” “the silence,” “the stillness,” “ancient-wisdom,” “spiritual disciplines,” and many others.
What do Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Biola Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Urshan Graduate School of Theology, Briercrest College and Seminary, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Moody Theological Seminary & Graduate School and around 240 other seminaries throughout North America all have in common? They are all accredited through the Association of Theological Seminaries (ATS).
What do Cincinnati Christian University, Columbia International University, Eston College, Hope International University, Moody Bible Institute, Multnomah University, Nazarene Bible College, and Prairie Bible College and about 90 other colleges and seminaries throughout North America all have in common? They are all accredited through the Association for Biblical Higher Education.
What do the two accreditation organizations – Association of Theological Seminaries and Association for Biblical Higher Education - have in common? Both associations require schools that wish to be accredited to include Spiritual Formation within the school’s infrastructure. Just what exactly does that mean for these 350 some seminaries and Bible colleges? Well, it means that if they want to receive and maintain their accreditation, they are going to have to incorporate Spiritual Formation (i.e., contemplative spirituality) into the lives of their students.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
African Warlord Who Killed 20,000 People Repents; Now Christian Evangelist
It’s a story of transformation that has surprised thousands and shocked all who have heard: a brutal African warlord with a violent past finds Christ and dramatically turns his life around.
Selected for The Economist Film Project, an initiative by The Economist in partnership with PBS NewsHour, “The Redemption of General Butt Naked” is a chilling documentary about the changed life of Joshua Milton Blahyi, once dubbed to be one of Liberia’s most feared warlords.
Now renouncing his violent past – which includes confessing to killing nearly 20,000 people during Liberia’s 14-year civil war – after converting to Christianity, Blahyi seeks to reinvent himself as an evangelist, traveling the nation as a preacher and asking for forgiveness from those whom he had hurt in the past.
Filmmakers Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion spent five years with Blahyi, closely following his troubled life as he sought forgiveness from his former soldiers and his numerous victims.
Strauss had become interested in Blahyi after he read about him in a book called The World’s Most Dangerous Places.
“It was just a tiny blurb about a notorious warlord who had killed thousands and was now walking the streets preaching truth and reconciliation,” Strauss told The Los Angeles Times. “I wondered, ‘Could someone like this really exist?’”
“Was transformation this extreme even possible?” Anastasion added. “And how would that play out in the real world?”
Offering a glimpse into their questions through their documentary, the filmmakers created “The Redemption of General Butt Naked,” highlighting faith and forgiveness.
“The film forces [viewers] to question the very nature of what true, meaningful reconciliation looks like in a country where justice has not been available,” the film’s website noted.
“It’s only Christianity that can help this nation, because Christianity, it is the only belief, the only faith that tell you to love your enemies, that tell you to accept and forgive the one who hurts you,” Blahyi stated in an excerpt from the movie, according to PBS.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
Selected for The Economist Film Project, an initiative by The Economist in partnership with PBS NewsHour, “The Redemption of General Butt Naked” is a chilling documentary about the changed life of Joshua Milton Blahyi, once dubbed to be one of Liberia’s most feared warlords.
Now renouncing his violent past – which includes confessing to killing nearly 20,000 people during Liberia’s 14-year civil war – after converting to Christianity, Blahyi seeks to reinvent himself as an evangelist, traveling the nation as a preacher and asking for forgiveness from those whom he had hurt in the past.
Filmmakers Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion spent five years with Blahyi, closely following his troubled life as he sought forgiveness from his former soldiers and his numerous victims.
Strauss had become interested in Blahyi after he read about him in a book called The World’s Most Dangerous Places.
“It was just a tiny blurb about a notorious warlord who had killed thousands and was now walking the streets preaching truth and reconciliation,” Strauss told The Los Angeles Times. “I wondered, ‘Could someone like this really exist?’”
“Was transformation this extreme even possible?” Anastasion added. “And how would that play out in the real world?”
Offering a glimpse into their questions through their documentary, the filmmakers created “The Redemption of General Butt Naked,” highlighting faith and forgiveness.
“The film forces [viewers] to question the very nature of what true, meaningful reconciliation looks like in a country where justice has not been available,” the film’s website noted.
“It’s only Christianity that can help this nation, because Christianity, it is the only belief, the only faith that tell you to love your enemies, that tell you to accept and forgive the one who hurts you,” Blahyi stated in an excerpt from the movie, according to PBS.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
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