A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The United States on Wednesday reportedly blocked an attempt to get the UN Security Council to issue a formal condemnation of Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes on the edge of Jerusalem earlier this week.

The draft statement, circulated to the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday by Kuwait, Indonesia and South Africa, expressed “grave concern” and warned that the demolition “undermines the viability of the two-state solution and the prospect for just and lasting peace,” Reuters quoted diplomats as saying. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Another African country is falling prey to jihadism, as Muslim extremist ideologies sweep across Burkina Faso, targeting Christians.

On June 27th armed militants entered the village of Bani with one specific aim: Find and eradicate the followers of Jesus.

Eventually, four men, David Zoungrana, Philippe Zoungrana, Theophile Ouedraogo, and Ernest Kassoaga were found wearing cross necklaces around their neck and executed.

“They weren’t afraid to make a public statement of their belief in an area known internationally for its display of seven adobe mosques–six of which are built at the top of Bani’s main hill,” said Lindy Lowry of Open Doors USA.

In May a team from the persecution watchdog group arrived in the predominantly Muslim country—of which 35%, however, is Christian—to assess the situation and gather prayer requests from the beleaguered church.

They learned that 27 believers were killed since February, with 158 jihadist attacks committed in 2018—up from 33 in 2017 and 12 in 2016—in a nation where Christians said they used to coexist peacefully with their Muslim neighbors.

Of 19 prayer requests the Open Doors team received, one stands out as an illustration of the herculean struggle faced by African Christians.

“Pray that Christians would not be tempted to give in to tribalism and anger towards Muslims, but would continue to trust the Lord to fight for them,” the believers asked the Open Doors team.

100,000 people have been displaced in the West African country by roving mobs of jihadists in the last few months alone, according to Open Doors.

The post 'Pray that Christians Would Not Be Tempted,' Believers Ask As Burkina Faso Becomes Most Recent Victim of Muslim Extremism in Africa appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – David Curry, CEO of persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA, was recently interviewed by Pure Flix to talk about the plight of Nigeria’s more than 90 million Christians.

Citing statistics that 10 Christians are dying per day in Nigeria, and Christian villages, churches, or groups attacked once every 2 weeks, Curry said that the Christians in Africa’s most populous nation are nevertheless undeterred.

“You can find these folks that are held captive for a long time and you see their faith walk grow despite [the fact that] they have been stripped of every comfort,” Curry explained in the podcast. “As such, I think they treasure scripture more.”

The Christians of Nigeria’s Northern region are often the object of a dual-pronged attack by Boko Haram, the West African ISIS, and Muslim Fulani Herdsmen militias, who seek to reappropriate the lands of Christian farmers.

A delegation of Nigerian Christians arrived in Washington last month to plea with the US government to appoint a special envoy to Nigeria to address Nigerian government inaction in the crisis, which has seen 6,000 Christians killed in the first half of 2019 alone, according to Save the Persecuted Christians.

The post 'One of the Most Dangerous Places for Christians': Open Doors CEO David Curry Interviewed About Plight of Nigeria's Christians appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A handful of new house churches have become casualties of the Chinese government’s “sinicization” campaign since April, as the communist regime seeks to stamp out all remnants of unofficial Christianity.

Xunsiding Church, an independent Protestant church founded in 1950, Enzhu Church, Ronggui Lane Church, House of David Church, and an unnamed Sole Fide Church—a house church movement in China based in the doctrine of justification by faith—were declared illegal and shut down for not belonging to the Communist-sponsored Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

Chinese President Xi Jingping’s campaign of “sinicization,” or tailoring Christianity to socialist values, began in earnest in February 2018, when 10,000 Protestant Churches—even many registered with the TSPM—were shut down, 1 million believers harassed or persecuted in some measure, and 5,000 Christians arrested, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Some of these violent actions are unprecedented since the end of the Cultural Revolution,” a group of prominent Chinese pastors wrote in an open letter to the Chinese government released in September, among them Yang Xibo, whose almost 70-year-old Xunsiding Church was shut down on May 31st.

“If the will of any political party, the laws of any government, or the commands of any man directly violate the teachings of the Bible, harming men’s souls and opposing the gospel proclaimed by the church, we are obligated to obey God rather than men, and we are obligated to teach all members of the church to do the same,” the pastors wrote.

It is estimated that 64 million Chinese Christians practice some form of unofficial Christianity, with projections that nearly 250 million believers could populate the communist superpower by 2030, outstripping a communist party of 90 million people, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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(Worthy News) – Boris Johnson officially became Britain’s Prime Minister after meeting Queen Elizabeth II and will form a “cabinet for modern Britain” with the primary task of finally delivering Brexit.

In his first speech as Britain’s Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street, Johnson offered an optimistic vision of Britain and his administration that will “crack” the Brexit conundrum and unleash the full potential of the country.

“The British people have had enough of waiting and the time has come to act to give strong leadership. My job is to serve you the people,” he said. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Top U.S. and Chinese negotiators will meet face-to-face next week for the first time since Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to revive talks to end their year-long trade war.

The governments of the world’s largest economies have levied billions of dollars of tariffs on each other’s imports, disrupted global supply chains and shaken financial markets in their dispute over how China does business with the rest of the world.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He for talks in Shanghai starting on July 30, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – An Arkansas federal judge blocked three state abortion restrictions that would have gone into effect Wednesday, one of which requires abortion providers to be board-certified gynecologists, which would have closed the state’s last remaining surgical abortion clinics.

Supported by ACLU Arkansas and Planned Parenthood, the Arkansas clinic in question, Little Rock Family Planning Services, challenged three restrictions, on of which is a ban on abortions after 18 weeks of pregnancy. The third provision would prohibit abortions based on diagnoses of Down syndrome. The provisions were signed into law in March by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

District Court Judge Kristine Baker, an Obama appointee, issued a temporary injunction late Tuesday night concluding that the laws “cause ongoing and imminent irreparable harm” to patients. Baker issued a two-week restraining order to keep the laws from taking effect while arguments play out in the court. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Iranian President Hassan Rohani has hinted that Tehran is open to a possible tanker swap with Britain and indirect talks with the United States over its nuclear program and sanctions.

“We don’t want tensions with some European countries,” Rohani said in comments posted on the official government website on July 24.

Rohani said if Britain were to “cease the incorrect acts that they have done, including that of Gibraltar, Iran’s response would be” appropriate to their actions. [ Source: Radio Free Europe (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Russian opposition leader Alekei Navalny said he was arrested Wednesday, days before he was to hold a massive anti-government protest.

Navalny, 43, was to hold a protest in Moscow on Saturday against the government’s decision to prohibit opposition candidates from running for election in the 45-seat Moscow City Duma parliament slated for September. The protest was to follow three weeks of demonstrations with the largest yet held July 20 in the capital that was attended by some 20,000 people, Bloomberg reported. [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Wednesday testimony “the crossing of a threshold” but made no call for the impeachment inquiry that proponents were hoping his appearance would trigger.

Pelosi briefed reporters about the hearings that many critics say fizzled for Democrats, thanks to Mueller’s halting and sometimes uncertain testimony about his 448-page report about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Pelosi made no mention of impeachment or Mueller’s performance, but instead promoted the House oversight investigations into President Trump’s finances, much of which has been moved to the courts. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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