Two Christian pastors and a deacon will be spending the next six years in some of Iran’s most desolate prisons because of their Christian faith.
Pastors Benham Irani and Matthias Haghnejad along with deacon Silas Rabbani will be taken to prisons as far away from family and friends as the Iranian government can take them after convictions on trumped-up charges to justify the government’s campaign of hate against Christians.
“We are deeply concerned by the six-year sentences given to pastors [Benham] Irani and [Matthias] Haghnejad and deacon Silas Rabbani, and the fact that they will serve these sentences so far from their families and home towns,” said Christian Solidarity Worldwide Chief Operating Officer Andy Dipper.
“We are particularly appalled by the extra six years given to pastor Irani, who has already endured ill-treatment whilst in prison and now faces nearly a decade in prison on trumped-up charges. We urge the Iranian government to release without delay every person who is imprisoned for their faith. Their incarceration contravenes international covenants guaranteeing freedom of religion or belief, to which Iran is party.”
The government claims the Christian men were taking “action against the state” and “action against the order” along with Pastor Irani being accused of “spreading corruption on Earth.” He could have received the death penalty on the last charge.
A new study from Barna Group says that unchurched Americans are more hostile toward evangelism than ever in the country’s history.
The survey says that since 1993, the number of unchurched Americans who would be open to attending church if invited by a friend was down from 65 percent to 47 percent.
The study showed that most people open to visiting church did so because of personal invitations from friends they knew well. Advertising and impersonal contacts such as cold phone calls were shown to have more negative than positive impact on those who do not attend church.
“The gap between the churched and the churchless is growing, and it appears that Christian communities of faith will struggle more than ever to engage church outsiders in their neighborhood, town or city,” Barna Group President David Kinnaman told the Christian Post.
He said that secular society has taken aggressive steps to make Christians seem “increasingly alien and difficult to understand.”
Young Christians across the nation participated in the outreach called “Bring Your Bible To School Day.”
The event, sponsored by Focus on the Family and Day of Dialogue, is “designed to empower Christian students who have a heart for sharing Christ’s love and express a Biblical perspective on current-day issues with peers.”
Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family, said the event was aimed to encourage students to engage their peers on matters of faith.
“We believe truth rises to the surface when honest conversations and a free exchange of ideas are allowed to happen,” Cushman told The Christian Post.“It equips the next generation of Christian leaders with confidence that the Gospel of Christ speaks into even the most sensitive cultural issues.”
The event is also designed to show teachers and other staff at the schools that students do not leave their religious freedom at the school house door.
“Federal courts have repeatedly upheld the rights of students to bring their Bibles to school, to distribute Bibles at school, and to discuss the Bible at school during non-instructional time,” the legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) explained in a legal memo surrounding today’s observance.
“Christian students don’t abandon their constitutionally protected freedoms at the schoolhouse gate,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco told Christian Post. “Their freedom to express their beliefs includes the right to bring their Bible to school, to read it during their free time, and to engage in other activities as part of ‘Bring Your Bible to School Day.’”
Hannah Welton is the drummer for the band 3RDEYEGIRL and is touring the world with Prince, one of the biggest musicians in history.
She’s also a very devout, open Christian in an industry where Christians are not usually made welcome.
“I’m never scared to talk about my Jesus, I will say though that there is a time and a place,” Welton told The Christian Post. “And you kind of have to be sensitive about faith and religion and how often you bring it up because you never want to come across like you’re trying to shove it down people’s throats.”
“Everything I do, whether it’s music or dance or writing poetry, I do for God and for His purpose and for His will in my life,” she said. “Same as [my husband] Joshua. Literally every decision is made with prayerful consideration. God impacts everything in my life.”
Welton received negative reaction from the social media world last week when she said that scantily clad pop stars are sending the wrong message to the young women who follow them.
“I do really want to clarify that I am never bashing or slamming other artists. My problem with what is being seen and what is happening in the industry goes far beyond the individual people,” she explained. “I’m thinking about the message being received from the little kids that are idolizing these people. I’m thinking more about the spiritual aspect of it rather than the people. My intention is never to degrade people. Everybody has a hustle. Everybody works hard and I would never bash another artist for doing what they love.”
She says the time on the road has given her multiple opportunities to share the gospel with her bandmates and with Prince himself.
We’ve had some amazing guests these last couple of years, and without fail, they are all telling us that prophetic events are leading us rapidly into the Times of Trouble. Jim and I know this by the Spirit, but we always look for a consensus from those we trust. We are not lone rangers, although sometimes we feel like we’re not getting through to as many as we want to.
It’s a time to take our heads out of the sand! The bottom line is that it’s time to face everything for what it’s worth – which is reality. We need to be able to say, “This is what’s happening – this is what’s going on. So therefore, we have responsibility for not just ourselves but others as well – to help them during these incredible times of crisis.” We are going to live through some very difficult times, and some of us may die for what we believe in. Some may live through it all and live to tell people that all may come to know the Lord as Savior. Continue reading →
I love the beauty for ashes verses in the Bible. Isaiah 61 reads like my own personal memoirs from God:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me”…oh yes, it is! He has given me His Spirit!
“Because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor” …oh yes, He has! I preach whenever I get a chance that God has a better life for you to live, God has a better plan and He will show you that you don’t have to be poor in spirit; you don’t have to grieve over past sin and past hurts your entire life.
“He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted” …oh yes, He has! I love to tell people that God is not mad at them! He does not hold sin against you when you are brokenhearted over it yourself! He wants to heal your heart, and heal your spirit. He wants you to come full-circle and back around to what He intended for your life from the start. Continue reading →
An Iranian pastor who has been imprisoned for his faith is now facing the death penalty after he’s been charged with “spreading corruption on Earth.” The charge has never been issued in the past and is not on the legal books in Iran.
Pastor Behnam Irani, who had been sentenced to six years in prison for being a Christian in 2011 and for leading a 300 member evangelical congregation in a suburb of the capital Tehran.
The pastor has been held in solitary confinement according to Iranian officials. Somehow, he has been beaten by other prisoners according to jailers and is suffering from internal bleeding and other injuries. Advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide has confirmed the injuries.
“The charges leveled against Pastor Irani and other Christians are tantamount to an indictment of Christianity itself and mark a renewed escalation in Iran’s campaign against Persian Christians under the Rouhani presidency,” CSW Head Mervyn Thomas said in a statement.
CSW reported that five other Christians were arrested last week because of their faith and have been held in secret locations.
The wife of a pastor imprisoned in Iran for being a Christian says her husband’s ordeal has significantly strengthened her faith in Christ.
Naghmeh Abedini wrote for TrueWoman.com that she didn’t realize how selfish she had been with her life and her walk with Christ until her husband was jailed for simply being a follower of Christ.
“I finally learned how to fight my deceptive selfish flesh on a daily basis; every nag, tantrum, despairing thought, and fear,” Naghmeh writes. “Before Saeed was thrown into one of the world’s worst prisons, I struggled with fear and anxiety. More than anything, I was afraid of flying and speaking in front of people.”
Naghmeh says that on the day of her husband’s arrest, she felt the peace of God in a way she had never felt in her life to that point.
“The peace of God that surpasses all understanding covered my whole being, and I was freed of all fear. I no longer feared death of loved ones. I no longer feared the loss of finances or health. I no longer feared the future. I was truly free in Jesus,” said Naghmeh.
A church camp hosted by a South Carolina church ended up with a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit that lead hundreds of youths to be baptized.
The summer camp of NewSpring church, which is called “The Gauntlet”, held baptisms for 733 teenagers in Daytona Beach, Florida. The event is in its 9th year and had over 3,000 middle and high school students for four days of experiencing God and developing fellowship with their peers.
“The thing that sets the Gauntlet apart is relationships,” NewSpring spokeswoman Suzanne Swift told The Christian Post on Monday. “Culture offers a lot, but the hope we have in Jesus coupled with the community that students build at the Gauntlet is what makes it different. Once students experience hope in Jesus they tell everyone about it.”
Pastor Perry Noble said that of the 733 who were baptized, 240 of them were teenagers who accepted Christ for the first time.
The church was quick to note they do not require the teens to be members of their church to be baptized, only to have accepted Christ as their Savior. They encourage all the teens to be involved in a local church in their home communities.
An Alabama megachurch has opened up a facility made of a bowling alley and six giant interconnected domes to the public as a community outreach.
Faith Chapel Christian Center near Birmingham, Alabama has opened the center they call “The Bridge” to the public after opening it last year for the 6,400 members of the church.
The church says the delay came in getting staff in place for the entire facility, which beyond the bowling alley has basketball courts, fitness center, banquet hall and more.
Pastor Michael D. Moore says the goal of “The Bridge” is to “bridge people from the world to the kingdom.”
“People may not want to come to a church, but they’ll come to a bowling alley,” he told the Christian Post. “People have needs other than spiritual needs. There’s a need for safe, clean, uplifting, family-oriented entertainment.”
Moore founded the church with his wife, his mother and a friend in 1981.