|
WORLD ANTI-CHRIST. British minister offered to remove the word "Christians" of the European Parliament resolution against the oppression of Christians
|
|
|
UK Minister for European Affairs, David Lidington opposed the use of the word "Christians" in the European Parliament resolution concerning the harassment of Christians.
"It's a sad day for our country when a minister from the Conservatives, David Lidington opposed any mention of Christians in the text of an international resolution, designed to protect and support the persecuted and exterminated the Christian minority", - writes the Internet-portal «Protect the Pope» citing the Catholic newspaper «The Tablet».
The authors urge their readers to write D. Lidingtonu and demand from him an explanation on the matter.
Resolution on the situation of Christians in the light of the protection of freedom of religion ", condemning the killings and discrimination against Christians in different countries, was adopted on 20 January. Data, widely publicized MEPs suggest that Christians are brutally persecuted in Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, the Philippines.
The resolution, addressed to governments and parliaments of those countries, was adopted by majority vote. She voted for the representatives of all political parties present in the European Parliament.
|
|
|
Baptists asked to Lebanese Christians around the world for prayer support
|
|
|
Lebanese Baptists appealed to Christians around the world asking for prayers for their country.
Appointment billionaire Nadshiba Mikati new head of government has provoked in many cities across the country rally supporters of his predecessor, Saad Hariri.
Mikati's candidacy was put forward by pro-Iranian movement Hezbollah. In Parliament he has received the most votes: 68 MPs voted for him, 60 for Hariri's Western-backed. January 12, after the opposition has put its powers, the government collapsed Hariri. Cause of the crisis became the UN tribunal investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. In addition to Saad Hariri's father, were also killed another 21 people. According to reports, the murder charge be brought against the leading members of Hezbollah.
Nabil Costa (Nabil Costa / Beirut) - Director of the Lebanese Baptist Society asked for prayer support: "Pray for our youth. How can we convince them that they have a future in Lebanon, if our country got into a vicious circle, returning us to a time where we desperately are trying to say goodbye? ".
Fearing that from time to time repeating the tensions in the country have a negative impact on their future, more and more, mostly well-educated Christians are leaving Lebanon every year - about 150 thousand.
In his letter, Costa thanks, above all, the Lebanese army, which ensures peace and order in the country. Despite the chaos in the country, he believes that God is at the helm. Need to believe His promises and His word. Costa points to a place in the New Testament: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). "Our country needs a responsible leader in the heart of God. God is not difficult to achieve this goal. We are praying and waiting for his intervention. "
In recent years, the number of Christians in Lebanon is much reduced. In 1975, Christians accounted for roughly 60% of the population today - just over 30%. Of the four million inhabitants of the country's majority - the Muslims. Baptist Union in Lebanon has 27 communities with approximately two thousand members.
|
|
|
In Britain, published a practical guide to converting Muslims to Christianity
|
|
|
In the UK, have unusual handbook, which clearly shows Christians how to step by step should be to evangelize Muslims.
The author - Nick Chetret, English Orientalist and simultaneously one of the leaders of Evangelical Christian community in Oxford.
Although there are many similar publications that explain how to convert to Islam, Christians, a book that tells about the treatment in the opposite direction, appears in Britain for the first time: the subject of converting Muslims to Christ for some reason considered more delicate than the Islamic proselytizing among Christians, and even dangerous .
Therefore, Nick Chetret approaches the question very carefully. The title made no mention of any appeal to Christianity, but he speaks only about how to reach out to Muslims. Chetret, above all, trying to show how you can tie the friendly relations with Muslims, so be open their eyes to Christ, whom, in his opinion, they already know and love.
English evangelists warned about having to start building a relationship with the Muslims by talking about issues such as sharia law, or "holy war". So we just create a wall of distrust and fear, says Nick Chetret. Instead, he proposes to focus on the person of Jesus Christ to our Muslim interlocutors may know Him in a new capacity.
Chetret also claims that would be a great naivety to repeat that both Muslims and Christians believe in one and the same God. We do agree on the question of monotheism, but do not question our vision of God, which is entirely different from the Christians and Muslims. An example would be central to the concept of faith for salvation. From the perspective of Christians, it is through repentance and faith in Christ. In Islam, the same person is saved, when God decides that his good deeds outweighed the bad, the author notes.
What is interesting, the book also teaches the art of conspiracy. It explains that in many cases, a Muslim who takes Christianity, must be within a certain time to preserve Muslim traditions, including prayer in the mosque. Sometimes it is really necessary, though of course it would be better if it was only a transitional stage, according to a tutorial on converting Muslims to Christianity.
|
|
|
Churches of Europe calls on EU to take decisive action against the discrimination of Christians in the world
|
|
|
Committee of the Conference of European Churches and the Council of European Bishops' Conferences in the outcome of the Belgrade meeting urged EU countries to take decisive action against the discrimination of Christians in the world.
The document was adopted on February 17-20, held a meeting in Belgrade, the main theme of which was "National identity and European integration: the contribution of Christians." Representatives of European Churches, stressed that "the persecution of Christians should not go unpunished."
Representatives of European Churches emphasize that the religious freedom to speak, not only within the privacy of individuals, but at the state level: "Any democratic society must be prepared to defend the right to religious freedom of its citizens." This call has become one of the main themes of the letter that the meeting participants sent Catherine Ashton.
|
|
|
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has strongly condemned acts of violence against Christians in Egypt
|
|
|
The U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF) insisted on the observance of justice in cases of anti-Christian violence in Egypt, especially with respect to the explosion in Alexandria, which claimed 23 lives.
On Sunday, Egyptian court acquitted two men suspected of killing six Coptic Orthodox Christians and one Muslim, a security guard in January 2010 in Naga Hammadi.
Leonard Leo, head of the USCIRF, noted that this case "was considered an Egyptian court for a year, but there were serious violations of due process and fairness." Last month, Mohammed Hussein Ahmed, one of three men accused of murder, was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty. The court ratified the verdict on Sunday and at the same time, acquitted two accomplices. In the light of political developments in Egypt, Mr. Leo said that: "The new Egyptian government must, by ship, to disclose lawsuits perpetrators of sectarian killings in the country."
He added that "the government must complete a thorough investigation and court proceedings and bring to justice the perpetrators of the explosion of New Year's Eve in Alexandria, which killed 23 people. "Imperfect Justice does not change the situation, not controlled by the government of Egypt", - said Mr. Leo. "The government must ensure that Christian and other non-Muslim places of worship increased security measures, especially in the current context the increasing vulnerability of religious minorities in front of extremist attacks. In particular, there is the threat of extinction of Christians in the region "- summed up Leonard Leo.
In a press release USCIRF, an independent bipartisan federal commission of the Government, said, inter alia, that "for many years the Egyptian government has not taken sufficient steps to stop the repression and discrimination against Christians and other believers, or, in many cases, for punishment of those responsible for violence or other serious violations of religious freedom. " The Commission stressed, echoing the old recommendation to the Egyptian government "to set a single law on the construction and maintenance of places of worship, abolished the ban for religious minorities", and "abolishing the blasphemy law in Egypt."
|
|
|
The Catholic Church has opposed Obama's statements about same-sex "marriages"
|
|
|
President Barack Obama opens the way for same-sex "marriage": a federal law banning them in 1996, called "Marriage Protection Act," according to White House and supported by the Minister of Justice Eric Holder, is unconstitutional because it discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.
That statement, on the one hand, caused a predictable endorsement of gay rights advocates, on the other - the protests and discontent with public opinion and politicians.
Spoke strongly against the Catholic Church.
"Throughout the centuries and across civilizations, marriage was perceived as a union between a man and a woman" - reminiscent of American bishops, expressing their disapproval of President Obama, who on Feb. 23 asked the Justice Department not to defend better in the federal courts' Protection Act of marriage. " Recall that he was adopted by the Republican Congress and signed 15 years ago by the president.
Catholic bishops in his statement emphasized that Obama's decision "constitutes a denial of executive responsibility" in relation to their constitutional duty to ensure full compliance with the laws of the United States. " Opinion polls show that most Americans still believe that the union between same sex persons can not be considered marriage. And only five states out of 50, not counting the District of Columbia (Washington), now recognize same-sex marriages, but in the next seven months, at least seven states intend to take steps to strengthen the traditional institution of marriage.
Thus, Obama runs the risk of "break" the country into pieces, paving the way for gay marriage at the very moment when the wind blows the American public against such marriages.
And the theme of discrimination was the "Trojan horse" gay movement, and not just in the U.S.. Moreover, it is used to obtain any concessions in public life.
Robert Gall, associate professor of fundamental ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross: "Unfortunately, on the horizon visible threat to the right to religious freedom, especially for the Catholic Church. Through this statement Obama said that there was no freedom of recognizing marriage as a union exclusively between a man and a woman. And that could lead to the fact that the Church will be imposed the duty in some way to make marriage between gays. "
Professor Gall added that this could affect the foreign policy. Other countries may also be imposed by such a breach of religious freedom, first and foremost a threat to developing countries.
|
|
|
In China, the Bible became available applications for smartphones
|
|
|
Chinese edition YouVersion helps to distribute the Bible among cell phone users in China.
Last year, sales of smartphones in China reached 30 million. Applications that can be downloaded from the Internet to the phone, have become extremely popular among young people and adults.
YouVersion app allows users to download the entire Bible in a smartphone, theologians see this as an opportunity to distribute the Bible among the younger generation of Chinese.
The effectiveness of the spread of Bibles in China remains hotly debated topic.
The state of the church argue that the issue of Bibles in the country now covers the needs of the Scripture of 16 million Christians in China. Each month, Amity Printing Co., The country's only printing the Bible company produces one million copies of the Scriptures.
However, others believe that the real number of Christians more than 100 million, which means that the Bible is not sufficient. In addition, the information comes from the house churches, it is not enough Bibles available to, especially in poor rural areas.
Many theologians, who live abroad, agree that biblical illiteracy remains a problem among believers and nonbelievers in a country with a population of over 1.3 billion people.
YouVersion - is the idea of LifeChurch.tv, one of the 10 largest American churches. YouVersion has been downloaded more than 11 million times in over 20 languages, in 9 different programs.
In December last year, the creators of YouVersion in partnership with Chinese developers Jidutu-wiki launched a Chinese-language version of the application. And even with this current edition of the Chinese YouVersion on the blog the organization remains in a phase of refinement.
But even in this state, according to the missionaries, the application is a godsend for many people.
|
|
|
In Britain, will soon begin broadcasting a new radio program, Bible
|
|
|
Biblical ministry Whispering Word is preparing a new series of weekly radio programs, life-changing. The first program will air at Easter.
Under the "66 weeks that will change your life" will provide an overview of all the books of the Bible, reports Peter Wooding of ASSIST News Service.
April 24 at 5:45 am on the air located in London, Premier Christian Radio released the first 12-minute program.
"We are confident that this will be one of the major initiatives that have a major impact on the Christian sphere of Britain - said Ven. Victor Farrell, founder of Whispering Word. He added: "The idea arose 66 weeks after writing the review of the books of the Bible for the Christian men's magazine Sorted (poll showed that 50% of readers read these materials in the journal in the first place). This was followed by the development of biblical reviews applications Whispering Word for the iPad or iPhone. People liked them! So, in terms of evangelism, we believe that because we live in a society where the concept of God is negligibly small, we need to acquaint people with the God of the Bible, from Genesis! "
Since this year marks 400 years since the appearance of the King James Bible, Ven. Farrell believes that this is the right time to start this radioseriyu: "I think that God in His providence allowed to broadcast the program at this time. When many of the secular media cover the fact of the 400 th anniversary of the King James Bible, it gives a good opportunity to inform listeners about what the Bible says and who is the God of the Bible, presenting them with this 66-week series of programs that will change their lives. "
Whispering Word also uses many other possibilities, such as daily Bible reading, Bible thematic publications, based on a 66-week series of radio programs, for example, biblical review of the level of four pages in pdf, the book comments, and special training course for Christians and non-Christians in London. All this will also be available on video. Now the ministry agrees with the independent film about a documentary film that reveals the entire 66-week Bible course.
Ven. Farrell also hopes that many other stations have expressed their desire to use most of the 66-week series of programs. "We are negotiating with several other Christian radio stations in the UK, we also have views on China. And also glad to offer our materials in secular radio stations. We make them very professional and we also want to offer their programs in the U.S., where there are great opportunities where there is at least 1,600 Christian radio outlets.
"We hope that our program will have a big impact, as well as a course of spiritual growth will help in the preparation of non-believers to accept God's Bible."
|
|
|
| | | | | | | | |
