A New Perspective on Constantine

by Jordan Hilger

(Worthy News) – In China, Rongguilli Church, Early Rain Covenant Church, and Zion Church have all been victims in recent months of President Xi Jinping’s attempts to control the spread of underground Christianity.

On December 16th, Rongguilli Church was raided by 60 government officials and shut down. Officials posted a message on social media telling believers to switch to 1 of 15 other “registered” churches.

“As the secular government continues to persecute the church and harm the human conscience that belongs to God alone, I will continue to resist [in] the faith,” said Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, who was taken into custody on December 9th for “inciting subversion of state power.”

The Communist Party organs Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and China Christian Council are the Chinese government’s main instruments for controlling the dissemination of biblical Christianity. While TSPM forbids the preaching of the resurrection and second coming, the founding member of the China Christian Council, Bishop Kuang-hsun, was an avowed atheist.

“The construction of Chinese Christian theology should adapt to China’s national condition and integrate with Chinese culture,” China’s Director of State Administration for Religious Affairs, Wang Zuoan, was quoted as saying in 2014.

After experiencing a relative lull in persecution during Hu Jintao’s rule (2003-2013), Chinese Christians have faced renewed efforts by the government to derail the practice of biblical faith since Xi Jinping’s election in 2013.

Zion Church, the biggest house church in Beijing, was the first to be hit by the recent wave of persecution in September after rejecting requests by government officials to install surveillance cameras on its campus.

“Under Xi, the government has shifted its approach from allowing churches like Zion to operate as long as they don’t get political to now seeking to actively control them or shut them down,” said Brent Fulton, former managing director of the institute for Chinese Studies at Wheaton College.

“More persecution, more growth” was the phrase Samuel Lamb, Rongguilli Church’s founding Pastor, liked to use when referring to China’s ever-increasing house church movement.

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(Worthy News) – Israel will study the US decision to pull its forces from Syria and will ensure its own security, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

Netanyahu in a statement said he had spoken over the past two days with US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about their intention to withdraw troops from Syria.

“They made clear they have other ways to have influence in the area,” Netanyahu said. [ Source: Ynet News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Health authorities in England are investigating an increase in cases of a rare polio-like illness in children, an outbreak of which has been puzzling doctors in the United States.

So far in 2018, there have been 28 cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in England, the majority of which have been reported since September.

AFP affects the nervous system, causing one or more of the limbs to become weak or floppy – and may look similar to polio. It mainly affects children. [ Source: UK Telegraph (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday that her cabinet’s focus was on building support for her Brexit deal after different ministers floated contrasting back-up plans should her Brexit deal fail to pass in parliament next month.

“Cabinet ministers (and) I have all been very clear that we are working and focusing on ensuring that we can get the deal that we have agreed with the European Union through parliament in the meaningful vote,” May said at a news conference. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – France will keep troops in northern Syria for now because Islamic State militants have not been wiped out, contrary to the U.S. view, and has started talks with the United States on the conditions and calendar of its withdrawal, officials said.

France is a leading member of the U.S.-led coalition fighting militants in Syria and Iraq and has around 1,000 troops including special forces based in the north of the country, deployed alongside local Kurdish and Arab forces. [ Source (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – France and allies fighting Islamic State are discussing with the United States the timeframe and conditions for the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, but Washington must consider the stability of the region to avoid a new humanitarian crisis.

“We and the partner states of the international coalition are in talks with Washington on the timing and conditions of the implementation of the U.S. decision to withdraw,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

“In the coming weeks, France will be careful to ensure the security of all the U.S. partners, including the Syrian Democratic Forces. The protection of the populations of the northeastern Syria and the stability of this zone must be taken into account by the United States to avoid any new humanitarian drama and any return of the terrorists,” it added. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The UN peacekeeping force on the Israel-Lebanon border said Monday that two of four tunnels allegedly dug by Hezbollah crossed the demarcation line between the two countries in violation of a UN resolution that ended the 2006 war.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said it had confirmed the existence of four tunnels found by Israel earlier this month, two of which crossed the Blue Line border demarcation between the two countries.

“UNIFIL at this stage can confirm that two of the tunnels cross the Blue Line. These constitute violations of UN Security Council resolution 1701,” it said in a statement. [ Source: Deutche Welle (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Federal Reserve officials voted Wednesday to raise the central bank’s interest rate target, the fourth such rate increase of the year, but also signaled that they will slow the pace of rate hikes in 2019.

The central bank also lowered initial estimates for economic growth in 2018, and tempered its outlook for U.S. economic growth in 2019.

“Over the past year the economy has been growing at a strong pace, the unemployment rate has been near record lows, and inflation has been low and stable,” Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said at a press conference. “All of those things remain true today.” [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Treasury Department imposed fresh sanctions Wednesday against 15 Russian agents and companies for interfering in the U.S. presidential election in 2016 and carrying out a nerve-agent attack in England.

The sanctions focus on current and former members of Russian intelligence services, including a former officer Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) who worked closely with sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Many of the individuals sanctioned were part of a second round of indictments by the U.S. special prosecutor earlier this year, or were implicated in the March nerve-agent attack against a former Russian spy in the United Kingdom. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Republicans backed down in their border security fight Wednesday and settled instead for a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government running through early February, avoiding a government shutdown and leaving the big fights for the new Congress.

The Senate passed the bill by voice vote Wednesday evening, and the House is expected to follow suit ahead of a Friday night funding deadline — though the White House would not commit to signing it.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, also said the Senate would still be in session Thursday. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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