A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The biggest faith-based movie of last year was, without a doubt, the film adaptation of MercyMe’s classic track, “I Can Only Imagine.” The drama, which was based on the life story of Bart Millard, the artist who penned the hit Christian song, took in over $85 million at the box office despite a budget of just $7 million. All in all, it was a roaring success.

However, this movie wasn’t only popular among American evangelicals. Its missional influence continues to expand across the world, as Director Jon Erwin explained at the recent National Religious Broadcasters convention.

Almost unbelievably, Erwin noted that China, which has been home to some of the most fierce Christian persecution in recent years, actually funded the movie’s translation.

“I find it very interesting that in the same year that China actually restricted … Christianity, they paid for ‘I Can Only Imagine,’” he said. “They paid for the right to translate it and distribute it to their people. That’s happened in over 100 countries around the world with our films.” [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Iraq about the “detrimental” effects of having U.S. forces on its territory and urged its neighbor to get the troops to leave as soon as possible.

In a series of tweets after meeting with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi in Tehran on April 6, the Iranian leader questioned the motives of the United States, saying it opposes Iraq’s “current democratic setting.”

“U.S. military presence in Iraq is detrimental to countries and nations of the region. You should take actions to make the U.S. withdraw its troops from Iraq because wherever they have had enduring presence, forcing them out has become problematic,” he said in the first of five tweets. [ Source: Radio Free Europe (Read More…) ]

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by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Twenty Christians, including one Taiwanese-American dual-citizen, were taken into custody in Shanghai yesterday as China continues its crusade against belief.

Michael Yu, a Taiwanese -American Pastor who ministers to Christian business people in China, was among those apprehended and was later released before Chinese authorities prevented him from boarding his plane. He was scheduled to attend a dinner party with former U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.

U.S. Ambassador-At-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback noted last month that “it seems that the Chinese government is at war with faith” amid calls from Western diplomats for China to stay its hand in the illegal roundup of over a million Uighur Muslims.

Yu, who said he had never encountered trouble in the past flying back and forth from China to Taiwan, surmised that the harassment is reflective of shifting political winds in the communist country, and feared harsher treatment from authorities due to his Taiwanese background.

Four major Chinese unregistered churches have been banned since September, a development with which Brownback said: “the Trump administration is deeply concerned.”

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(Worthy News) – The Trump administration is preparing to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a “foreign terrorist organization,” an unprecedented move against a national armed force that could have widespread implications for US personnel and policy in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Officials informed of the step said an announcement was expected Monday, after a monthslong escalation in the administration’s rhetoric against Iran, its support for militia groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, as well as anti-Israel groups in the region and beyond.

It would be the first such designation by any American administration of an entire foreign government entity, although portions of the Guard, notably its elite Quds Force, have been targeted previously by the United States. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening dropped a bombshell with potentially dramatic political, diplomatic and security-related ramifications for Israel and the entire region — or was it just an empty election promise?

“I am going to apply Israeli sovereignty, but I don’t distinguish between settlement blocs and isolated settlements,” he said in an interview with Channel 12, in what cannot be understood as anything but a vow to annex a significant part of the West Bank.

Some have taken Netanyahu at his word, saying he has considered a partial West Bank annexation for some time now and might actually act on it, after the April 9 elections and the subsequent publication of the US administration’s plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party said Sunday it had asked for a recount of all ballots cast in Istanbul, the country’s economic capital, during last week’s mayoral election after an opposition candidate claimed a slender win.

The vice president of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Ali Ihsan Yavuz made the demand for a recount going beyond one already under way.

The AKP won most votes nationwide in last Sunday’s election, but results showed the ruling party lost Ankara and was also narrowly defeated in Istanbul in what would be one of their worst setbacks in a decade and a half in power. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – More than six months after the United States, Mexico and Canada agreed a new deal to govern more than $1 trillion in regional trade, the chances of the countries ratifying the pact this year are receding.

The three countries struck the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA) on Sept. 30, ending a year of difficult negotiations after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded the preceding trade pact be renegotiated or scrapped.

But the deal has not ended trade tensions in North America. If ratification is delayed much longer, it could become hostage to electoral politics. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The United States called on Sunday for an immediate halt to military operations in Libya as the Libyan National Army headed by Khalifa Haftar advanced on the capital, Tripoli.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that Washington was “deeply concerned about fighting near Tripoli” and urged talks to end the fighting.

“We have made clear that we oppose the military offensive by Khalifa Haftar’s forces and urge the immediate halt to these military operations against the Libyan capital,” Pompeo said in urging de-escalation. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – President Donald Trump says Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is leaving her job amid growing frustration by the administration over the number of southern border crossings.

Trump said in a tweet on Sunday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan will become the acting head of the sprawling department of 240,000 people. McAleenan is a longtime border officer, reflecting Trump’s priority for the department initially founded to combat terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Two people familiar with the matter said Nielsen went to the White House to speak with Trump on Sunday following their trip to the border. The people say she has long been frustrated by the difficulty getting other departments to help with the growing number of families coming crossing the border. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Three historic black churches have burned down in a local Louisiana community, and authorities are neither ruling out arson nor that the three fires are related to one another.

“But just as we haven’t connected the three in St. Landry, we haven’t connected the one in Caddo,” said Ashley Rodrigue, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal, on Friday.

Local authorities in St. Landry Parish have been coordinating with the FBI over the fires, which took place over the last few weeks. State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning declined to get into specific details over the ongoing investigation at a press conference on Thursday, but did not rule out the possibility of arson or that the fires are a part of a larger plan to affect the community. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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