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A United Nations of Religious Groups / One World Interfaith

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March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
December 31, 2022, 10:08:58 am NilsFor1611 says: blessings
August 08, 2018, 02:38:10 am suzytr says: Hello, any good churches in the Sacto, CA area, also looking in Reno NV, thanks in advance and God Bless you Smiley
January 29, 2018, 01:21:57 am Christian40 says: It will be interesting to see what happens this year Israel being 70 years as a modern nation may 14 2018
October 17, 2017, 01:25:20 am Christian40 says: It is good to type Mark is here again!  Smiley
October 16, 2017, 03:28:18 am Christian40 says: anyone else thinking that time is accelerating now? it seems im doing days in shorter time now is time being affected in some way?
September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
September 14, 2017, 08:06:04 am Psalm 51:17 says: bro Mark Hunter on YT has some good, edifying stuff too.
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Author Topic: A United Nations of Religious Groups / One World Interfaith  (Read 26975 times)
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« Reply #210 on: June 07, 2015, 07:01:49 pm »

The first one had a bad sound, so they uploaded a better one today.

« Last Edit: June 09, 2015, 01:47:09 pm by 1st Timothy 6:13-14 » Report Spam   Logged
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« Reply #211 on: June 10, 2015, 11:26:15 pm »

Religious leaders at forefront of fight against intolerance, says UN chief
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51111#.VXkma47F9GY

10 June 2015 – Religious leaders have a pivotal role to play in times of turmoil, during which they can provide a values-based glue to hold communities together and provide common ground for peace-making and problem solving, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today at a conference in Kazakhstan.

“You can do so by fostering dialogue; by using spiritual authority to encourage individuals to act humanely; and by promoting shared values – as enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – and as reflected in the teachings of all world religions,” Mr. Ban said in his remarks to the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, held in Astana.

In his opening remarks to a dialogue to promote peace and prosperity in turbulent times – which echoed the UN General Assembly thematic debate on “Promoting Tolerance and Reconciliation” held in April – the Secretary-General reminded religious leaders, both traditional and non-traditional, of their obligation to speak out when “so-called adherents of their faith” commit crimes in its name.

“[They] must teach their followers the true meaning of reconciliation, understanding and mutual respect,” Mr. Ban emphasized. “All…crimes committed in the name of religion are crimes against religion,” he stressed, condemning the atrocities committed by Da’esh, Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, Al Qaeda and “other sectarian and terrorist groups.”

Convinced that the scourge of violence in the name of religion calls for concerted action by governments, religious communities, civil society and the media, Mr. Ban highlighted the upcoming launch, during the 70th session of the General Assembly, of a plan of action on the prevention of violent extremism.

Often bearing “the brunt of violent ideologies,” women and young girls must be provided with a stronger, more equal platform, as a “means of advancing respect, changing mindsets and shifting global consciousness,” he said.

Youth must also be a priority, as the age profile of some countries is sometimes cited as a reason to issue warnings that a “surging” population of young men inevitably drives increased violence and insecurity.

Noting that many countries with a high proportion of young people have not suffered violence though, the UN chief pointed to factors such as long-term economic decline, limited educational and employment opportunities, as well as exclusion from social, cultural and political participation.

But in all the international community does against radicalization, the respect of international law always must prevail and leaders and policy-makers must recognize a powerful truth –“the larger the spaces for democracy and fundamental freedoms, the smaller the chances for extremism and violence.”

There is no greater cause today than building bridges of understanding and cooperation among communities, Mr. Ban stated. “Our challenge is to go beyond the notion of tolerance or simply acknowledging or abiding the existence of the other. No one wants to be merely tolerated, as if there is something wrong with them. Tolerance must be more active and dynamic.”

The importance of human rights in fostering development and peace remained a constant theme during the Secretary-General’s visit to Kazakhstan and reverberated widely during his remarks to the press with the country’s Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov later in the day.

Once again drawing from the Universal Declaration on Human Rights’ entreaty for the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion across the world, Mr. Ban explained that in Kazakhstan, as anywhere else, “all religious and minority groups should be guaranteed this right on an equal footing.”

“Governments around the world should recognize the decisive role of this and other fundamental freedoms in fostering pluralism, understanding and democracy,” he told reporters, adding that Kazakhstan should also continue to make progress on human rights, including the development of “a comprehensive National Human Rights Action Plan.”

“Let us work together to help people everywhere around the world so that they can achieve their dreams,” Mr. Ban concluded. “Dreams – everybody should be able to live in peace, harmony and friendship and well-being and dignity.”
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« Reply #212 on: July 07, 2015, 06:46:47 am »

Holy Spirit Sparks Council's Efforts to Reconnect Jews and Gentiles

Dont think that is the Holy Spirit

Last month I attended the first formal conference for the Toward Jerusalem 2 Council in Dallas, Texas. I had heard about this council several years ago when I was writing my first book, The New Covenant Prophecy and visiting my old friend and elder Don Finto, who also serves on its board.

The Lord had encouraged me to reconnect with Don as He was deepening this new reconnection ministry focus within me, and Don subsequently introduced me to Dan Juster of Tikkun Ministries, of which I am now an associate member. I must say at the time I was quite intrigued by the idea of this new council and its vision and I also immediately understood the need for it in the body of Messiah/Christ. The prospect excited me.

As you may know, I now write and preach frequently on The Reconnection and the great need for us in the church to reconnect spiritually with Israel during these days. It makes total sense to me that amidst this restoration in God's family, the Lord would begin to raise up a body of elders between Jew and Gentile that could act more formally as an ambassadorship for this reconnection to take place between the church and Israel and all that goes along with it.

What impresses me the most about this council of elders is that their work and formation appears to have been sparked by the Holy Spirit. There is also an visible atmosphere of humility and servitude from within its leadership, like this is not their agenda, but rather the Lord's (you can read more about their beginnings on their website.

Behind the scenes, this leadership group has already been meeting for several years and God has had the opportunity to knit their hearts together to help them establish a firm foundation for the council in numerous countries around the world. In addition, with a good amount of opposition, they have begun to make inroads with the Roman Catholic Church, which has expressed an interest in working with them to improve relationships between their church and the Messianic community.

I have listed the vision of TJC2 below:

TJCII is a reconciliation initiative that addresses the original schism between Jews and Gentile in the Body of Messiah.  We anticipate healing, restoration and unity for Christians and Messianic Jews through a second Jerusalem council that reflects the first council in Acts 15.  By addressing the desired plan of God to break down the wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles we hope to see shalom restored in anticipation of Messiah's return.

Charisma.png

The conference lasted a day and a half and brought hundreds of church and Messianic leaders together from all over the U.S. and Canada and a number of other countries oversees. At that time, the vision for the council and its objectives were laid. I had the opportunity to connect personally with a variety of church leaders who are sensing the same call. It appeared to me that this conference was acting more like an unveiling of the vision to begin to broaden its scope and horizon to the larger body of the Church and many of us were truly excited by what God is about to do as He reconnects His family spiritually.

As I have often written, while this reconnection movement grows in the church, it is much like the busting of a damn. Very few actually hear or see the tiny explosives that may be used to initiate the damn's destruction and opening and even the smaller cracks. But this is what I believe it will be like as the church at-large begins to recognize the significance of this Reconnection between Jew and Gentile in The One New Man. All of this is to properly prepare us for His return. How important at that time this council could be in helping to facilitate this move of the Holy Spirit in His kingdom and His church.

Here's what a few of the TJC2 leaders had to say:

Dr. Daniel Juster, Founder and member of Council of Elders for Toward Jerusalem Council II: "The Toward Jerusalem Council II convocation in Dallas last month was a wonderful boost to an important movement that seeks to see the Church that affirms broad orthodoxy aligned with and joined to the Messianic Jewish Community.  This year we had key leaders of denominations including the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, the Four Square Church, the American Anglican Church, and the new Apostolic Churches.  It was an amazing time."

Marty Waldman: "The TJCII North American consultation brought Christian and Messianic Jewish leaders to Dallas from across North America.  The anointed teachings and testimonies produced a clear presentation of the TJCII vision, which resulted in an overwhelming response from various leaders who were present.  These leaders now desire to see the TJCII vision expand throughout N.A ... especially in their spheres of influence." 

Don Finto: "How the Church stands with Israel and the Jewish people may be the last great deception of which Jesus, Paul and the others speak as we approach the Lord's return. The TJC2 meeting in Dallas was another step forward in challenging the entire body of Jesus believers from the Nations to know and unite as "One New Man" with the resurrected "Jewish community of Yeshua-followers, known to believe and to stand strong with God's firstborn son."

I have also listed 2 below video links that are quite brief, but very informative on the TJC2 vision. Both of these video messages were presented at the conference. The first was given by Rabbi Marty Waldman the Senior Rabbi from Baruch HaShem Ministries in Dallas, Texas who's Congregation hosted the conference, and the second message was from Robert Morris who is the Senior Pastor at Gateway Church, one of the largest mega churches in the United States and how God has blessed them in their giving of funds, "to the Jew first....."

Now, I can't wait till the next conference!  Grant Berry Reconnecting Ministries

"What is TJCII?" with Rabbi Marty Waldman

 "Why to the Jew First," with Robert Morris.

Grant Berry is a Jewish believer in Jesus and author of The New Covenant Prophecy and The Ezekiel Generation. He has founded Reconnecting Ministries with the specific focus to help the church reconnect spiritually to Israel and considers it vital to the kingdom of God in the last days.

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/standing-with-israel/50412-holy-spirit-sparks-council-s-efforts-to-reconnect-jews-and-gentiles
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« Reply #213 on: July 23, 2015, 09:20:17 pm »

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER SPOKESMAN FOR CRUSADE COMBINING THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
7/23/15
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=34278

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been chosen by the French government to join Nobel prizewinners, philosophers, UN secretary generals, spiritual leaders and theologians to make the moral case for the world to act urgently on climate change.

EDITOR’S NOTE: With Pope Francis leading the way, calls for a crusade to combine the world’s religions with the Climate Change movement are intensifying. Paris was host this week for a Summit of world leaders to make this a reality. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been selected as their spokesman and appears in a video calling for the “gospel of Climate Change to be preached” in every “church, mosque and temple” across the world.

Talking at the world’s first summit of conscience for the climate on Tuesday – ahead of the crucial UN climate change meeting in the city in December – the Terminator star and former California governor declared the science debate over, saying planetary catastrophe could only be avoided with ethical action:



“I believe the science is in. The debate is over and the time for action is now,” he told an invited audience of intellectuals and spiritual leaders from all faiths. “This is bigger than any movie, this is the challenge of our time. And it is our responsibility to leave this world a better place than we found it, but right now we are failing future generations.”

Cardinal Peter Turkson, Ghanaian president of the Vatican’s Pontifical council for justice and peace, who helped Pope Francis write the encyclical on human ecology published last month, said that the climate is a common good. “It is a global common meant for all but the costs are being borne by those who have least contributed to it.

“At stake now is the wellbeing of the earth, our common hope. What we need is care. When we care for something it is with passion and commitment of the heart. That’s why Pope Francis called for care of the earth. A sense of passion is needed.”

Muslim theologians, Christians and Hindus said they saw climate change both as an existential threat and as an opportunity for renewal. Sheikh Bentounes, leader of the Sufi brotherhood Alawiya, urged mankind to carry “a hope of a future”.

“The prophet Mohammed called on man to plant and sow seeds. He said ‘Even at the end of times continue to plant and sow.’ We have responsibility to carry this hope to the end. This tiny vessel in infinite space that we call earth is unique.”

Daoists, Confucians, shamans, Jesuits, Bhuddists and others called for politicians to act on behalf of humankind at Paris. Patriarch Bartholomew, leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians, despaired at humanity’s blindness, but quoted writer Fyodor Dostoevsky saying that “beauty would save the earth”.

“Scientists and theologians agree that humanity depends on nature. We must accept the moral imperative for action. Religion must also be involved in the crucial question of climate change”, said Bartholomew. source
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« Reply #214 on: July 29, 2015, 06:12:48 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/moving-beyond-suspicion-muslims-evangelicals-seek-common-ground-122900933.html
Moving beyond suspicion, Muslims and Evangelicals seek common ground

Across the country, a number of evangelical congregations have been engaging Muslim neighbors in new ways, while Muslim charities have reached out to Christian churches during their time of need.

7/29/15

Pastor Bob Roberts is a committed evangelical Christian, a barbeque-loving Texan, and head of a large conservative congregation just outside Dallas with an essential mission to plant new churches around the world.

So he’s the first to say that it’s sort of odd that his 30-year journey as an evangelical minister would lead him to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the most prominent Muslim clerics in the world. He prays with them in their mosques, “breaks bread” with them, Texas-style, at his home, and has become one of the leading Christian ministers of any persuasion in what he calls the fight against Islamophobia.

“I never dreamed I’d ever do anything like that – I had no desire to,” says Pastor Roberts, head of the 3,000-member NorthWood Church in Keller. On Monday, he traveled to the White House with other religious leaders to be briefed on the situation of Christians in Iran and the recent nuclear deal. “You have to understand my background and how we view things like that... But right now the biggest challenge in fighting Islamophobia is my tribe – the Evangelicals.”

Recommended: Take Action:Learn who's working on problems like bullying, gangs, congressional gridlock, refugees, wars, and violent conflicts.

Indeed, most American Evangelicals, like many others in the country, view the religion of Islam with deep suspicion, if not fear. From the attacks of 9/11 to the bombings at the Boston Marathon and shooting in Chattanooga, Tenn., to the barbarous actions of the Islamic State, such violence has led many Americans to view the nation’s Muslim communities with wariness and even outright hostility. And no group is cooler toward Muslims than white evangelical Protestants, a Pew survey this year found.

But this doesn’t tell the whole story, many leaders say. Across the country, a number of influential evangelical congregations have been engaging their Muslim neighbors in new ways, and some local mosques, too, have been trying to help Evangelicals and others during their times of need.

This month, a coalition of three Muslim charities raised more than $100,000 in a “Respond with Love” crowdfunding campaign that sought to help at least eight black Evangelical congregations rebuild after a series of fires throughout the South destroyed their churches. Some of these were ruled acts of arson in the 10-day aftermath of the Charleston shootings, in which a young white supremacist shot and killed nine members of the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church last month.

And in Sacramento, Calif., members of First Covenant Church, an evangelical congregation with around 1,000 members, joined with the local SALAM Center mosque this month to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr, or celebration of the breaking of the fast of Ramadan. Church members provided the food for the celebration of one of the most important religious holidays on the Muslim calendar.

“After we broke fast with dates and milk, we then went up to their prayer room,” says Patricia Mason, a resident of Elk Grove, Calif., and long-time member of First Covenant, which received a community service award from SALAM during the event. “Obviously, I’m not going to pray as they are praying, so I just prayed to Jesus as we were there. But we do respect their customs, we do cover our heads and wear conservative clothing, and we share a beautiful meal with them.”

Recommended: Take Action:Learn who's working on problems like bullying, gangs, congressional gridlock, refugees, wars, and violent conflicts.

She got to know a number of Muslim immigrants from Iraq the past few years, as part of her church’s efforts to help new arrivals from the Middle East. Many have come to the US for political asylum. Ms. Mason has been helping families adjust to their new lives – getting them settled in their new apartments, helping them negotiate public services, and enrolling their children in public schools.

“I realized, I have a heart for these people,” says Mason, a widowed bookkeeper. “They come with nothing, they’ve given up everything, and I just know that my job is to love them to Jesus. Not hit them over the head, but love them to Jesus.”

As both Evangelicals and Muslims are quick to point out, the theological and cultural issues dividing them remain profound. Both often take a very conservative understanding of the exclusive truths of their faiths and sacred texts, emphasize proselytizing, and are each well aware of the sometimes violent histories that have built centuries of enmity and mutual distrust.

“But I think that is slowly changing, to be honest,” says Nadia Hassan, government relations and program coordinator at the Washington-based Islamic Society of North America. “I understand that fear plays a big role here, and when you don’t know something, you fear it, so I think with these exchanges, and just getting to know one another, I think a lot of that fear is being alleviated.”

“Personally, I don’t see differences as a reason for us to remain separated – to not like or love one another,” says Ms. Hassan, who wears a hijab and admits that her interactions with Evangelicals have often been less than positive. “I think it’s a beautiful thing. God says, I have created you all different so that you can know one another and befriend one another and not despise one another,” she says, alluding to a sura, or verse, in the Quran.

Pastor Mark Shetler, head of First Covenant, has a similar understanding of his own conservative faith.

“As a church, we just really felt that we are trying to answer the call of Jesus to first love God and secondly to love our neighbors as ourselves,” he says. “And Jesus does not seem to differentiate what type of neighbor that is, so in trying to be obedient, we just wanted to engage our Muslim neighbors in conversation and build relationships.”

Both Roberts and Pastor Shetler, who do not work together, talk about the unlikely, “organic” way their conservative congregations have evolved. Neither knew much at all about Muslims, but after their ministries brought them in contact with these communities, they began to change their approach to the foreign faith while trying to maintain the integrity of their beliefs.

“I’ve moved from a concept of head, heart, hands, to a concept of hands, heart, head,” says Roberts, who has helped plant around 200 churches in the US. Now, he often mentors young pastors on how to work with Muslims and other religions, holding training sessions in mosques and synagogues, so they won’t be so isolationist in their views, he says.

“And then they would see me disagree with imams and rabbis, but in a respectful way,” Roberts says. “It isn’t in your face.”

But last week, Roberts joined Hassan’s organization and other Muslim advocacy groups to speak out sharply against the recent words of Franklin Graham, son of the evangelistic icon Billy Graham. On his Facebook page, the second-generation evangelist responded to the attacks on the nation’s military in Chattanooga, writing: “We are under attack by Muslims at home and abroad. We should stop all immigration of Muslims to the U.S. until this threat with Islam has been settled.”

At a press conference on July 23, Roberts expressed “disappointment” with Reverend Graham’s words, saying that religious freedom should be a value Americans fight for both locally and globally. “Standing up for the rights for Muslims to Worship impacts the rights of Christian to worship around the world, as well,” he said.

But Roberts had another reason to speak out. Three weeks ago, he traveled to Doha, Qatar, after helping to organize a meeting between Christian pastors and Muslim clerics. At the meeting, five American imams and five American pastors joined together with local Muslim clerics and seven Pakistani Christian ministers. They discussed the enmity that often exists between their faiths, and what they could do.

At the end of the meeting, these ministers made a pact: “We agreed that we would watch out for the Muslim minority here and deal with Islamophobia, and they said they would watch out for the Christian minority there. And so, that’s where the Franklin Graham statement came from. We had to respond to it.”

For Roberts, one reason the words of Graham were so destructive is because it only feeds into the ideas now being spread by Islamic State, now on a campaign to cleanse the region of all religions except Islam. The group has terrorized and sometimes beheaded minority Yazidis and Christians – ancient communities who have resided in the region for more than a millennium. Last week, The New York Times Magazine even asked, "Is This the End of Christianity in the Middle East?"

“ISIS is promoting the narrative that the West represents Christianity and Judaism, and is fighting Islam,” says Salam Al Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington, D.C., using an acronym for the Islamic State. "And if we can counter that by demonstrating how Christians – not just on the liberal and progressive side, but also on the conservative side – and Muslims … are working together and doing the work of the Lord, this is in itself is peacemaking."

Indeed, Roberts's unlikely pastoral journey sprung out of his deep concern for Christians in the Middle East – a concern shared by Evangelical leaders across the country. In the years after 9/11, he traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq, helping to set up clinics, orphanages, and schools during a time of profound turmoil. But during the course of these mission trips, he encountered and befriended a number of local Muslim clerics, and began to work them.

His work helping Muslims got noticed by important leaders, including Prince Turki Al Faisal, the former Saudi ambassador to the United States.

“Prince Turki said to me one day, it’s great what you do with Muslims around the world, Bob, but what about Dallas?” Roberts says. “I told him, that would be like starting a Baptist Church in Mecca. That would be a really hard thing to do.”

But when he returned to Texas, he tried. His congregation invited members of local mosques to join them in events – community projects, and even barbeques with halal beef ribs. (Pork is forbidden in Islam.) He got to know Dallas-area imams well, and eventually he and Imam Mohamed Magid, head of All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), in northern Virginia, came up with idea to bring imams and pastors together “just to hang out.”

Indeed, the prototype for the meeting three weeks ago in Doha, Qatar, was an event they had organized in Texas. They brought 12 imams and 12 pastors to a dude ranch outside Dallas, where for three days they hunted, fished, and of course feasted on Texas barbequed halal beef ribs.

“What’s interesting is that, when we talk about conservative Muslims and Christians, they have the same social values,” says Mr. Al Marayati, a policy expert who also organizes interfaith outreach efforts. “In fact, their social values are identical. It’s mainly a theological difference that separates them.

“But the idea of having a traditional family, a very God-centered life, attending houses of worship on a regular basis – they’re almost identical,” Al Marayati continues. He notes that like Evangelicals, many Muslims are very concerned with the issue of religious freedom – as well as some of the cultural issues surrounding same-sex marriage and abortion.

Both Shetler and Roberts say their congregations have experienced controversy and push back due to their friendly engagement with Muslims and participation in each other’s traditions. NorthWood lost hundreds of its members, Roberts says. And some evangelicals have called him a closet Muslim who is betraying his faith.

“We just want to say that, hey, we might disagree with Muslims on theology, but we can still respect one another, love one another, work together on creating an environment in which people can actually feel comfortable getting to know somebody that is different from what their own background is,” says Shetler.

For its part, the SALAM Center has donated toys to First Covenant for their Easter drive. Some of its Muslim members have attended the church’s men’s retreat and a few couples have attended the congregation’s pre-marriage seminars.

“People are coming to realize that, hey, conflict will not pay off – my way or no way will not work,” says Dr. Metwalli Amer, founder and director of the mosque. “And the only way to work with each other, to make our society safer to live in, is to cooperate with other.”

“This is really the principle of SALAM, and I believe of First Covenant, too,” he continues, “and that, really – it’s very rewarding.”
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« Reply #215 on: August 11, 2015, 01:02:21 pm »

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« Reply #216 on: September 28, 2015, 06:48:02 am »

In New York, Pope Francis Embraced Chrislam And Laid A Foundation For A One World Religion

Remarks made by Pope Francis at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan have sparked a firestorm of criticism from those that do not believe that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.  Many have taken the Pope’s remarks as a major step in the direction of a one world religion, and the truth is that the Pope has made other such statements in the past.  In recent years, the theory that Christianity and Islam are just two distinct paths to God among many others has rapidly gained traction all over the planet.  Some religious leaders have even gone so far as to try to merge Islamic and Christian practices, and the term “Chrislam” is now often used to describe this ecumenical movement.  If all this sounds incredibly strange to you, just keep reading, because this is just the tip of the iceberg.

What Pope Francis had to say at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan has received very little coverage by the mainstream media, but it was exceedingly significant.  The following is how he began his address…

    I would like to express two sentiments for my Muslim brothers and sisters: Firstly, my greetings as they celebrate the feast of sacrifice. I would have wished my greeting to be warmer. My sentiments of closeness, my sentiments of closeness in the face of tragedy. The tragedy that they suffered in Mecca.

    In this moment, I give assurances of my prayers. I unite myself with you all. A prayer to almighty god, all merciful.

He did not choose those words by accident.  In Islam, Allah is known as “the all-merciful one”.  If you doubt this, just do a Google search.

And this is not the first time Pope Francis has used such language.  For instance, the following comes from remarks that he made during his very first ecumenical meeting as Pope…

    I then greet and cordially thank you all, dear friends belonging to other religious traditions; first of all the Muslims, who worship the one God, living and merciful, and call upon Him in prayer, and all of you. I really appreciate your presence: in it I see a tangible sign of the will to grow in mutual esteem and cooperation for the common good of humanity.

    The Catholic Church is aware of the importance of promoting friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions – I wish to repeat this: promoting friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions – it also attests the valuable work that the Pontifical Council for interreligious dialogue performs.

Pope Francis clearly believes that Christians and Muslims worship the exact same God.  And so that helps to explain why he authorized “Islamic prayers and readings from the Quran” at the Vatican for the first time ever back in 2014.

Catholicism and Islam are the two largest religions on the entire planet, and so any one world religion would need to incorporate both of those belief systems.  Sadly, this Pope seems to be quite eager to lay the groundwork for such a one world religion.

Pope Francis made another statement at St. Patrick’s Cathedral that has shocked believers all over the planet.  Apparently this Pope seems to think that the cross was a “failure”…

    The cross shows us a different way of measuring success. Ours is to plant the seeds. God sees to the fruits of our labors. And if at times our efforts and works seem to fail and not produce fruit, we need to remember that we are followers of Jesus Christ and his life, humanly speaking, ended in failure, the failure of the cross.

After he made that statement, he didn’t continue to go on and explain that the cross was ultimately a great victory.  He just ended his thought and moved on to other topics.

Needless to say, many are extremely upset by this.  The following comes from Leo Zagami of Infowars.com…

    These words have of course outraged most true Christians around the world who cannot imagine Christianity without the value of the cross, which symbolizes the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus for mankind. It’s impossible for a Christian of any denomination to imagine the very essence of their faith being discussed in this way, let alone by the Pope. The fact that blood was shed on the cross by Jesus for the ultimate self-sacrifice that could help rid mankind of all sins is one of those essentials of the Faith that should never be questioned.

    The mainstream media persists with their undying affection for Pope Francis, never commenting on this outrageous statement.

But even though the Pope is saying things like this, his legend just seems to grow by the day.  Even in the United States, throngs of faithful devotees are treating him like he is some sort of supernatural being…

    Everywhere he goes, Pope Francis attracts worshipful crowds of people, straining and reaching to touch any part of him as if something spiritual and holy could be imparted to them by doing so. People weep, they cry, they hold up their sick children and beg him to touch them in the hopes they will be healed.

And this is even true of members of Congress.  Just check out the disgraceful behavior that some of them have displayed…

    Representative Bob Brady, a devout Catholic and Democrat from Pennsylvania immediately made his way to the podium after Pope Francis finished speaking and grabbed the glass that was still filled with water. He then drank the water, gave some of the water to his wife Debra, and saved the rest for his grandchildren. Representative Brady took photos as well, and had his staff send them out to the press. He also shared some of the water with members of his staff and assistant, also a devout Catholic. As for the saved water, he plans to sprinkle it on his grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

I don’t know about you, but major alarm bells start going off for me when I read stuff like this.

We are witnessing the initial stages of the rise of a one world religion, and much of the planet is ultimately going to embrace it.

So what do you think about these recent comments by the Pope?

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/in-new-york-pope-francis-embraced-chrislam-and-laid-a-foundation-for-a-one-world-religion
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« Reply #217 on: September 28, 2015, 09:02:06 am »

The month of Sept didn't exactly set off fireworks like the "pundits" predicted - however, this Pope DID leave his marks(and curses) on America during his 6 day trip here.

Buckle up, everyone...
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« Reply #218 on: September 28, 2015, 10:52:23 am »

FYI - I don't know if this is going on in your communities, but in churches in my DFW metroplex here, they are running an "Explore God" campaign, which my parents' church is doing.(and it's being advertised on billboards)

Pretty much, I read the question seminars they're doing - and it's pretty obvious they are craftily trying to get people to DOUBT the word of God. For example, one question seminar is "Is Christianity too narrow?". You see what they're doing? They're trying to get the flock to blend into the current pop culture.

It's all coming to a close, folks - they can have their NWO...but it won't be 1000 years of "peace", but 7 very, very painful years like never seen in the history of this world.

Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
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« Reply #219 on: October 24, 2015, 02:20:05 pm »

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« Reply #220 on: October 25, 2015, 06:58:35 am »

I probably shouldn`t want it but I can`t wait to see the fruit that the WCC an the Catholics will produce. I expect apostate Christianity to be betrayed by the anti christ and destroyed. But have to see how it all plays out. The Bible warns not to wish for the Day of the Lord to come but I still want it. Maybe its just the weakness of the flesh to want it but I dunno.
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« Reply #221 on: November 07, 2015, 08:02:35 pm »

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« Reply #222 on: December 08, 2015, 06:30:31 pm »

‘Mother Earth’: UN Draft Global Warming Treaty Promotes Gaia Worship

The United Nations draft global warming treaty calls for countries to protect “the integrity of ecosystems and of Mother Earth” while cutting carbon dioxide emissions to fight global warming.

The draft U.N. treaty also emphasizes “promoting, protecting and respecting all human rights, the right to development, the right to health, and the rights of indigenous peoples, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable climate situations … as well as promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

All “while taking into account the needs of local communities, intergenerational equity concerns, and the integrity of ecosystems and of Mother Earth, when taking action to address climate change,” according to the treaty.

U.N. delegates are in Paris trying to hash out a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol — the last legally-binding climate agreement that failed to stem the rise in global CO2 emissions. Delegates are hoping Paris will yield a legally-binding agreement, but it’s not clear if developing nations will agree to cut emissions.

Environmentalists and scientists have increasingly turned to religion to gain support for regulations aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions. Activists hope support for a treaty from prominent religious figures, like Pope Francis, will add moral weight to their call to fight global warming.

But would Pope Francis support protecting “Mother Earth”? — a phrase explicitly referring to Greek pagan mythology in which Earth was personified as the mother of all things. The phrase also harkens to the Gaia hypothesis, which essentially postulates that all living things are interconnected with Earth’s biosphere and other climatic systems.

Anglican and some Islamic religious leaders have also called for countries to fight global warming. A group of influential Islamic leaders called for a jihad against global warming earlier this year, and Church of England officials have been pushing for more people of faith to take global warming seriously.

One Texas Tech University climatologist has been quoting the Bible to convince evangelical Christians to be concerned about global warming. Katharine Hayhoe even tailors her presentations to cater to Christian beliefs, including showing temperature graphs only going back 6,000 years — she’s trying to cater to creationists.


“How loving is it to ignore when developed countries do things that actively harm developing nations?” Hayhoe told a group of Christians. “When people who have resources do things that harm people who do not, right here in our country?”

“That’s why our Christian values are integral to how we treat this issue,” Hayhoe said. “Far from holding us back, or making us doubt, or saying there’s nothing we can do, our values demand we be on the forefront of this issue. That’s what we as Christians are called to do.”

Pope Francis supported a climate treaty in his encyclical “Laudato Si,” and has praised President Barack Obama’s domestic agenda to limit CO2 emissions.

“It seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem that can no longer be left to a future generation,” Francis said on his U.S. visit in September. “When it comes to the care of our common home, we are living at a critical moment in history.”

Francis’ June encyclical does refer to Earth as our “mother”, including taking quotes from Saint Francis of Assisi, but he clearly does so to highlight the importance of God’s creation and the alleged interconnectedness of all things.

“Everything is related,” Francis wrote, “and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth.”



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/07/mother-earth-un-draft-global-warming-treaty-promotes-gaia-worship/#ixzz3tmMX4sLZ
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« Reply #223 on: December 26, 2015, 02:11:52 pm »

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/26/the-religious-right-is-right-to-be-scared-christianity-is-dying-in-america.html
12/26/15

The Religious Right Is Right to Be Scared: Christianity Is Dying in America

Why try to understand complicated things like demographics for the decline of your faith when you can blame gays and liberals for waging a “war on religion?”

Among the Christian Right, and most Republican presidential candidates, it’s now an article of faith that the United States is persecuting Christians and Christian-owned businesses—that religion itself is under attack.

“We have seen a war on faith,” Ted Cruz has said to pick one example. “His policies and this administration’s animosity to religious liberty and, in fact, antagonism to Christians, has been one of the most troubling aspects of the Obama administration,” he said.

Why has this bizarre myth that Christianity is under assault in the most religious developed country on Earth been so successful? Because, in a way, it’s true. American Christianity is in decline—not because of a “war on faith” but because of a host of demographic and social trends. The gays and liberals are just scapegoats.

The idea that Christians are being persecuted resonates with millennia-old self-conceptions of Christian martyrdom. Even when the church controlled half the wealth in Europe, it styled itself as the flock of the poor and the marginalized. Whether true or not as a matter of fact, it is absolutely true as a matter of myth. Christ himself was persecuted and even crucified, after all. So it’s natural that Christianity losing ground in America would be seen by many Christians as the result of persecution.

According to a Pew Research Report released earlier this year, the percentage of the U.S. population that identifies as Christian has dropped from 78.4 percent in 2007 to 70.6 percent in 2014. Evangelical, Catholic, and mainline Protestant affiliations have all declined.

Meanwhile, 30 percent of Americans ages 18-29 list “none” as their religious affiliation (the figure for all ages is about 23 percent). Nearly 40 percent of Americans who have married since 2010 report that they are in “religiously mixed” marriages, which means that many individuals who profess Christianity are in families where not everyone does.

These changes are taking place for a constellation of reasons: greater secular education (college degrees), multiculturalism, shifting social mores, the secular space of consumer capitalism and celebrity culture, the sexual revolution (including feminism and LGBT equality), legal and constitutional changes (like the banning of prayer in public school, and the finding of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage), the breakdown of the nuclear family, the decline of certain forms of family and group identification, and the association of religion in general with nonsensical and outdated dogmas. The Pew report noted Americans are also changing religions more than in the past, and when they do so, they are more likely to move away from Christianity than toward it.

So while changes in public morals regarding women and LGBT people (and how the law treats them) are part of the overall shift, they are only one part of an immensely complicated set of factors—and I’m quite sure I’ve left out some of the most important ones. Probably the never-ending stream of sex scandals, from the Catholic clergy to the Duggar mess, haven’t helped either.

But no one likes a “constellation of reasons” to explain why the world they grew up in, and the values they cherish, seem to be slipping away. Enter the scapegoat: the war on religion, and the persecution of Christianity.

It’s much easier to explain changes by referring to a single, malevolent cause than by having to understand a dozen complex demographic trends. Plus, if Christianity is declining because it’s being attacked, then that decline could be reversed if the attack were successfully repelled. Unlike what is actually happening—a slow, seemingly irrevocable decline in American Christianity—the right’s argument that “religious liberty” is under assault mixes truth and fantasy to provide a simpler, and more palatable, explanation for believers.

Take, as an example, Christmas. The weird idea that there is a “War on Christmas” orchestrated by liberal elites—Starbucks cups in hand—is, on its face, ridiculous, even if it is widely held on the right. Shop clerks saying “Happy Holidays” aren’t causing the de-Christianization of Christmas—they’re effects of it. Roughly half of Americans celebrate Christmas as a cultural, not a religious, holiday: Santa Claus and Christmas trees, not baby Jesus in a manger. So that’s what businesses celebrate. It’s capitalism, not conspiracy.

Unfortunately, even if the war on religion is fictive, the “defense” against it is very real and very harmful. This year alone, 17 states introduced legislation to protect “religious freedom” by exempting not just churches and religious organizations (including bogus ones set up to evade the law) from civil rights laws, domestic violence laws, even the Hippocratic Oath, but also but private individuals and for-profit businesses. Already, we’ve seen pediatricians turn children away because their parents are gay, and wife-abusers argue that it’s their religious duty to beat their spouses, and most notoriously that multimillion-dollar corporations like Hobby Lobby can have religious beliefs that permit them to refuse to provide health insurance to their employees on that basis.

We shouldn’t think of Kim Davis and her ilk as motivated by hate. Actually, they are motivated by fear.
Meanwhile, the “war on religion” narrative appears to be gaining ground. According to data from the Public Religion Research Institute, 61 percent of white evangelicals believe that religious liberty is being threatened today. (Only 37 percent of non-white Christians believe this, suggesting that what’s really happening is an erosion of white Christian hegemony; the “browning of America” goes hand in hand with the de-Christianizing of America.) They believe they have lost the culture war, and even that LGBT people should now pity them.

In other words, “religious liberty” is not merely a tactic: it is a sincerely held belief among the religious right, which, not coincidentally, feeds into the belief that we are living in the End Times—something an astonishing 77 percent of American evangelicals believe.

We shouldn’t think of Kim Davis and her ilk as motivated by hate. Actually, they are motivated by fear, which is based in reality but expressed in fantasy. Christianity is, in a sense, losing the war—but the fighters on the other side aren’t gay activists or ACLU liberals but faceless social forces of secularization, urbanization, and diversification.

There’s not really a villain pulling the strings of social change, but like the God concept itself, mythic thinking creates a personification of evil who is fighting the war on religious liberty, the war on Christmas, the war on Christianity. These malevolent evildoers are like a contemporary Satan: a fictive embodiment of all of the chaotic, complex forces that threaten the stability of religious order.
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« Reply #224 on: April 07, 2016, 08:34:14 pm »

‘Sacred assembly’ to gather at Lincoln Memorial

The ancient Israelites knew what to do when a nation was in crisis, and, now, the nation’s top Christian leaders are taking a cue from them, following the prescription in Joel 2: “Call a sacred assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders …”

And what an assembly it promises to be. The call has gone out for 30,000 pastors and Christian leaders to gather at the hallowed ground of the Lincoln Memorial this Saturday, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. EDT.

They will be led by some of the biggest names in modern Christendom, including:

    Messianic Rabbbi Jonathan Cahn, author of the New York Times best-seller “The Harbinger”

    Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council

    Anne Graham Lotz, “the best preacher in the family,” according to her father, Billy Graham

    Robert Vernon “Bobby” Schuller, lead pastor on the “Hour of Power” worship broadcasts

    Alveda King, niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

    Pastor Jim Garlow, author of the New York Times best-seller, “Cracking DaVinci’s Code”

    Pastor Harry Jackson Jr., conservative activist and commentator

    Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership

    Lewis and Rachel Hogan, founders of United Cry

The event is organized by the group United Cry, and they are calling it “DC 16.”

Read the books transforming hearts around the world. “The Harbinger,” “The Mystery of the Shemitah” and more now available at the WND Superstore.

Perhaps the Almighty is already calling attention to the event by providing some freakish spring weather, with the possibility of snow in the forecast. But hardy souls will brave the elements because they consider the gathering a divine calling.

Organizers say the nation is in crisis and has arrived at a pivotal moment, but that every time Christians have gathered to pray and repent for America, God has intervened and significant events have followed.

According to the United Cry website:

“Throughout our American history, pastors have also always played a significant role in bringing about spiritual and social transformation in our nation. We need our pastors to rise up, teach us how to pray, and lead all of us within the Body of Christ back to a relationship with the Lord! Strong times call for strong measures – It’s time to gather again and pray!”

Lewis and Rachel Hogan founded United Cry in 2014, and call it “a national movement of pastors and Christian leaders dedicated to reclaiming America’s future.” They believe “the core issues of America are not political but spiritual.”

The Hogans described United Cry DC16 as “the first national event focused on unified prayer and civic action with pastors and Christian leaders for the purpose of spiritual awakening.”

The United Cry DC 16 event seems particularly suited to Cahn, who rose to fame with a best-selling book that brought to light of an obscure Bible passage that, he believes, contains a prophetic warning that America is courting disaster by turning its back on God.

It was a message that reverberated across America.

“The Harbinger” vaulted onto the New York Times best-seller list in 2012 and stayed there for more than 100 weeks.

Cahn wrote that the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in particular, were a warning that America may come under judgment for turning away from God as ancient Israel did.

He said the key to avoiding a repeat of the disaster that befell ancient Israel was to be found in decoding the seemingly innocuous words of Isaiah 9:10, which served as a harbinger of what would happen to America, unless it repents.

The book lists the ways in which Cahn said the prophecies in Isaiah 9:10 have uncannily come true.

“Before its destruction as a nation, ancient Israel received nine harbingers, prophetic omens of warning,” he said. “The same nine harbingers are now manifesting in America with immediate ramifications for end-time prophecy.”

Cahn was raised an observant Jew who attended initially synagogue frequently, but he became an atheist when he was eight years old. At age 20, Cahn became a Messianic Jew, accepting Jesus as the Messiah after narrowly escaping death twice in separate car wrecks. In the first one, he just avoided a collision. In the second, he barely escaped from his car before it was crushed by a train at a railway crossing.

Cahn is also the head of a messianic congregation, the Beth Israel Worship Center.

A note from Harry Jackson was designed to capture the spirit of the event:

    “All across America, I am hearing the sound of angry voices. I am hearing the sound of accusation, contention, and aggravation. Like Cain and Abel, we are jealous and attacking one another. For the most part, we are no longer even attempting to be civil and accommodating. Instead, we have terrorism, urban rioting and economic stagnation staring us in the face. At the same time, we have one of the most contentious presidential campaigns, in recent history, ramping up before our eyes. God’s protective shield over this nation is crumbling because of our disobedience to the Lord and His principles. Creative slogans, clever phrases, and human ingenuity cannot defeat the giants we face today. We must have help from heaven. We literally need Jesus to come walking upon the waters of life to us like He did in Matthew 14:22-33! We need Jesus to reach out his hand and save us from sinking into the waves of confusion and fear.

    “On April 9, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, we believe that prayer will untie God’s hands – so He can help us. And as thousands of pastors and leaders pray as one, it will allow our hearts to be open to respond to His love. I am coming to United Cry16 because our nation is in this critical place. At the same time that I am concerned for our nation, there is the sound of a spiritual drum beating in the distance. It’s the sound of repentance, humility, and revival. Jesus is standing at our door – asking us to let Him in. United Cry DC16 may be our last chance to avert natural calamities and turn to The Lord and His destiny for our nation. Perhaps the Lord will allow a critical mass of strategic leaders to turn toward Him in DC, just like the hearts of the people did in the great city of Nineveh in Bible Days. The prayer gathering occurs on April 9, which is a very strategic and historic day in American history for racial reconciliation and healing. April 9 was also the day the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church was established. On April 9, 1968 a crowd of 300,000 attended the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. One of the major themes of the day of prayer will be the Cry for the Church to lead the way in healing the racial divide in the U.S. We will pray that grace will come upon the Christian community to unite, to build bridges, and to fulfill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s dream.

    “I hope that you will consider praying with us at United Cry.”

http://www.wnd.com/2016/04/sacred-assembly-to-gather-at-lincoln-memorial/
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« Reply #225 on: May 19, 2016, 02:19:24 pm »

'Its a synagogue, church, and mosque all in one'

An interfaith group is laying the groundwork for what will likely be the world’s first ever joint house of prayer.

The center of worship, which will be called the “House of One," will combine simultaneous Jewish, Muslim, and Christian prayer services.

The House of One is planned to be built on the site of Berlin’s first church, the Petrikirche.

One of the organizers of the interfaith group behind the planned church/mosque/synagogue, Rabbi Tovia Ben Chorin, said that the House of One is a reminder that despite the dark history of Berlin in the 20th century it is now a center of tolerance.

“For me as a Jew, this city is the ‘city of wounds’ and the ‘city of miracles.' In this place our systematic extermination was planned. And it is from this city that an answer has emerged,” said Ben Chorin.

He also suggested that Berlin could become a model for cultural integration and religious tolerance. “t is a multicultural city, the idea will spread to different countries all over the world.”

Construction of the building is slated to begin next year.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/212512#.Vz4RO77uqis
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« Reply #226 on: May 27, 2016, 06:49:43 pm »

The One World Religion Cometh: Pope Francis Warmly Welcomes Top Islamic Cleric To The Vatican

When Pope Francis met with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb on Monday, he told him that “our meeting is the message“.  So precisely what kind of “message” was Pope Francis attempting to convey?  Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb is the Grand Imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque, and some have described him as “the highest figure in Sunni Islam“.  The Daily Mail said that the meeting between these two men was a “historic bid to reopen dialogue between the two churches”, and as you will see below this is yet another in a long series of attempts by Pope Francis to build bridges between Catholicism and various other faiths.  In the end, what are we to make of all of this?  Could it be possible that Pope Francis is laying the groundwork for the “super world church” and the coming one world religion that David Wilkerson and so many others have warned about?

Pope Francis made sure that when he embraced Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb there would be plenty of reporters there to document the moment.  The following is an excerpt from a Daily Mail article entitled “Pope embraces grand imam at historic Vatican meeting in a bid to bring the Catholic and Muslim churches together“…

Pope Francis today embraced the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the prestigious Sunni Muslim center of learning, in an historic bid to reopen dialogue between the two churches.

At a time of increased Islamic extremist attacks on Christians, Sheik Ahmed el-Tayyib was photographed hugging Francis during a visit to the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican.

This meeting comes in the context of some very curious statements that the Pope have been making about Islam and Christianity lately.  If you don’t know what I am talking about, here is one example…

“Today, I don’t think that there is a fear of Islam as such but of ISIS and its war of conquest, which is partly drawn from Islam,” he told French newspaper La Croix. “It is true that the idea of conquest is inherent in the soul of Islam, however, it is also possible to interpret the objective in Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus sends his disciples to all nations, in terms of the same idea of conquest.”

The Pope also said he “dreaded” hearing about the “Christian roots of Europe” because, to him, they take on “colonialist overtones” and he called on European nations to “integrate” Muslim migrants into the continent.

“This integration is all the more necessary today since, as a result of a selfish search for well-being, Europe is experiencing the grave problem of a declining birth rate,” he stated. “A demographic emptiness is developing.”

On another occasion, the Pope declared that “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters“.  Pope Francis seems to have a strong desire to paint Christianity and Islam as two sides of the same coin, and he has taken steps to reach out to Muslims that no other Pope in history has done.  To illustrate this point, I want to share an extended excerpt from one of my previous articles…

—–

Very early in his papacy, he authorized “Islamic prayers and readings from the Quran” at the Vatican for the first time ever. And as I documented in a previous article entitled “In New York, Pope Francis Embraced Chrislam And Laid A Foundation For A One World Religion“, during his visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan he made it very clear that he believes that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. The following is how he began his address…

I would like to express two sentiments for my Muslim brothers and sisters: Firstly, my greetings as they celebrate the feast of sacrifice. I would have wished my greeting to be warmer. My sentiments of closeness, my sentiments of closeness in the face of tragedy. The tragedy that they suffered in Mecca.

In this moment, I give assurances of my prayers. I unite myself with you all. A prayer to almighty god, all merciful.

In Islam, one of Allah’s primary titles is “the all-merciful one”. If you doubt this, just do a Google search. And this certainly was not the first time that Pope Francis has used such language. For example, check out the following excerpt from remarks that he made during his very first ecumenical meeting as Pope…

I then greet and cordially thank you all, dear friends belonging to other religious traditions; first of all the Muslims, who worship the one God, living and merciful, and call upon Him in prayer, and all of you. I really appreciate your presence: in it I see a tangible sign of the will to grow in mutual esteem and cooperation for the common good of humanity.

The Catholic Church is aware of the importance of promoting friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions – I wish to repeat this: promoting friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions – it also attests the valuable work that the Pontifical Council for interreligious dialogue performs.

—–

Are you starting to see what I am talking about?

There is a very clear pattern developing here.  Pope Francis believes that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and he wants us to know that he considers Islam to be a perfectly acceptable way to seek God.

If you doubt this in any way, I want you to watch this video which was released by the Vatican in January 2016...



In this video, Pope Francis explains that people all over the world are “seeking God or meeting God in different ways” and that “there is only one certainty that we have for all: we are all children of God”.  At about the 20 second mark, leaders from various major religions are shown declaring what they believe.  First, a female Buddhist announces “I have confidence in the Buddha“.  Secondly, a Jewish rabbi declares “I believe in God“.  Thirdly, a Catholic priest tells us that “I believe in Jesus Christ“, and lastly an Islamic leader is shown saying “I believe in God, Allah“.

If you have not see this video, it is one of the creepiest things that I have ever seen on YouTube.  It has become exceedingly clear that Pope Francis believes that all major religions are completely valid paths to the same God, and there is virtually no uproar over this.

This just shows how late in the game we really are.  The one world religion that was prophesied nearly 2000 years ago in the Book of Revelation is starting to come to life, and we are witnessing the events of the last days begin to unfold right in front of our eyes.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-one-world-religion-cometh-pope-francis-warmly-welcomes-top-islamic-cleric-to-the-vatican
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« Reply #227 on: July 05, 2016, 01:40:02 pm »

Jews, Muslims and Christians to build a joint house of worship in Jerusalem

In theory,it shouldn't be a big deal; men and women of faith, who share a belief in one God and a love for the city of Jerusalem, coming together to pray, study and sing. In practice, it is about as plausible as a snowball’s chance in the desert.

But, for one week in September, a small structure of four walls and a bit of balcony, called the Alpert Youth Music Center, will become AMEN, a home for something that has never before been attempted in the Holy City—a place of worship for the three great monotheistic religions “who share a passion for Jerusalem in which they will co-exist temporarily under the wings of the Almighty.” Under the radar, away from the public eye, a small clutch of religious leaders have been gathering for years to believe, to hope and to reconnect via the atavistic language of faith. The experiment, of which the public will see merely the tip of the iceberg in the weeklong joint house of worship, is no less a turning inwards towards an ancestral form of communion than it is an explicit turning away from the polarization and vulgarity of contemporary political discourse.

Tamar Elad-Appelbaum, the rabba (feminine form of rabbi) and founder of the Zion synagogue community in Jerusalem, told The Media Line “This sort of thing is very natural for an entire sector of the public. You pray together. It goes back to the most ancient ways people here in this city prayed, and prayed communally, so communicated. Today we live in categories that, frankly, we could do without. “When you move beyond certain empty, but limiting, borders in which we are by and large constrained today, you find a yearning for a shared experience that our forefathers invented, that is in no way separate from the distinct heritage each of us carries. There is nothing new age about this. We are not creating anything new. It is very important that it be clear: It is the real Jewish tradition in which others were invited and we were invited; and in our joint work we are very strict about hosting and visiting.” The concept they have created, which the believing public is invited to join between September 5 to 11, is part of a festival known as Mekudeshet ('Blessed'), which is part of Jerusalem’s Season of Culture.

“The reality is based on Isaiah’s prophecy, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.’” It is, the festival organizers say, “an old-new reality that draws its inspiration from the ancient traditions of meeting and cooperation. A reality that turns what is holy for you and me from separate rooms into one open temple that is filled with shared and sacred inspiration and faith.” Said simply, the organizers’ ambition, strategy and hope is that, in fact, religion is the key to a lasting life in the region, and not the source of the strife. “I think many of us who grew up in a very wide spectrum of traditional worlds grew into the Torah concept of "darchei noam" (pleasant ways). Political dialogue has alienated many of these publics that are deeply steeped in traditions, many people who come from Jewish education intuitively find themselves in this place in which the language of invocation is the language of communication between people, because society and politics now speak only in a very polarized way. Nothing else is given expression.” “I was quite astonished,” said Elad Appelbaum, “to find how naturally a very wide range of people were drawn to return to a simple, natural, primal place of fellowship and pleasant ways. As the years passed, I've seen there are hundreds of people who, with proper leadership, can create something entirely new.

Sheikh Ihab Balha, of the Sufi Muslim community in Jaffa, who also teaches and studies at the Islamic College in Baqa al-Gharbiyye, in the lower Galilee, told The Media Line that the leaders of this movement, revolutionary as it is, “did not have difficulty connecting to create this idea, most of us have a great spiritual aspect and an awareness that when you cling to many things like land (it pulls us apart). On the contrary, we cling in to the love of God. So it was not at all difficult to bring us together.”

Yair Harel, the cantor, composer and liturgical leader at the Zion community, who works with Elad Appelbaum, told The Media Line “my role is to find how the religious connection also has an artistic and musical dimension, how the encounter that we live can be opened up to the public as well, to a public that does not live in its daily life with the intensity that we do, but a way that remains organic and holds a space that belongs to any sort of religious people, not just believers.”

“We are a group for whom the pure desire was to create a group for whom this is the daily practice of life, it is our way of encountering ourselves, thought we do not necessarily do it all day. But prayer does not only occur in the world of knowledge or tradition; we listen very much to the learning that has accumulated among us and try to peel back what the differences are without falling back onto a lower common denominator or have anyone of us feel that our work is inauthentic. We are coming from a deeper root, a deep human language. We believe in the power of prayer to influence what is taking place,” concluded Harel.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4821236,00.html
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« Reply #228 on: July 18, 2016, 08:01:35 pm »

‘Pope’-Endorsed Ecumenical ‘Together 2016’ Unites Christians, Catholics in Nation’s Capital

Thousands of youth flocked to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Saturday for the ecumenical gathering “Together 2016,” which sought to unite those of various backgrounds to “stand together for Jesus” and featured a video endorsement from the leader of Roman Catholicism.

The event featured speakers such as Francis Chan, Ravi Zacharias, Lou Engle, Christine Caine and Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd, as well as music from Michael W. Smith, Hillsong United, Lecrae, Jeremy Camp, Lauren Daigle, Casting Crowns and Kirk Franklin, among others.

“Everything now is protests: ‘I’m against this’ or ‘I hate that.’ We really believe there is a longing to come together. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we can come together around the hope of Jesus,” organizer Nick Hall of PULSE told the Washington Post. “There are moments when God’s people come together, and God does something that can heal, change, define generations.”

Worship leader Matt Maher, who identifies as Roman Catholic, also told the outlet, “If we’re singing the same songs together, then we can’t yell at each other.” He has outlined at other ecumenical events that he believes it is his calling to work toward to the unification of Christians and Catholics.

“We’ve never seen a unified church before in the history of the church since the Reformation. We don’t even know what it looks like,” he said at OneThing 2015. “I think what the work of unity starts with [is]: It starts with us praying together. It starts with us fellowshiping together. It starts with us having a common respect for each other, a love for each other.”

A number of those on stage mentioned unity as they addressed the crowd, including Lecrae, who declared in prayer, “When Your word tells us how to pray, it doesn’t say, ‘Go and speak to your Father, go and speak to my Father.’ It says ‘Our Father.’ It’s collective. We are family. Let us pray as family, God. Coming together saying, ‘We care about one another.'”

Lou Engle spoke of racial divides, referencing the cities of Minneapolis, Ferguson and Dallas. Francis Chan asked those gathered if after praying and worshiping together, attendees would be willing to be rejected for Christ together.

Liz Shedden, who serves as the director of Chan’s office, told Christian News Network that Chan “prays through the request” before agreeing to speak at an event, but that “he doesn’t look into many details surrounding the event, so he knows very little of the event itself.”

Casting Crowns frontman Mark Hall told reporters that he thought the gathering was timely considering recent headlines.

“[Our nation] is in a bit of a storm and a lot of people are hurting. It felt like everyone just came together and prayed it together,” he said.

But some had expressed concern prior to the event as organizer Nick Hall (no relation to Mark Hall) had announced that Jorge Bergoglio, also known as Pope Francis, would be delivering a video message to those in attendance.

“We are humbled and honored by his involvement and are eager to share his message with the crowd that gathers at Together 2016,” he told the Christian Post last month. “That His Holiness would choose to speak into this historic day is a testament to the urgency and the need for followers of Jesus to unite in prayer for our nation and our world.”

Hall also traveled to Rome to meet with the Roman Catholic leader and other Vatican officials ahead of the event.

“We’ve been praying for this and God has been answering our prayers,” he said in an online video in speaking of Bergoglio’s support of the gathering, explaining that he and a representative from the Vatican discussed how to unite Christians and Catholics.

An endorsement from Bergoglio, which had been posted online, was also played on the jumbotron for Together 2016 attendees.

“I know there is something in your heart that moves you, and that makes you restless, because a young person who is not restless is an old person. And you have youthfulness and youthfulness breeds restlessness,” the Roman Catholic pontiff stated.

“What is your restlessness?” he asked. “Do you know what it is or do you not know? Do you want to know what your restlessness is? I invite you to a great gathering of youth in Washington, D.C. to find the One who can give you an answer to your restlessness.”

Hall had posted the endorsement on social media on June 21, which sparked much controversy.

“Well, guess I’m not going,” one commenter named Alberto wrote. “Sorry, but this is a bad choice.”

“Christians and false prophets will join hands and become one in this event. The great falling away is happening before our very eyes. We will not be silent!” another named Kenny commented.

Hall, aware of the concerns, told the crowd on Saturday, “We’re not saying it’s time to compromise Scripture. But there is something about reaching across the aisle.”

The event ended five hours earlier than expected due to the heat index, which resulted in a number of attendees suffering heat-related ailments.



http://christiannews.net/2016/07/17/pope-endorsed-ecumenical-together-2016-unites-christians-catholics-in-nations-capital/
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« Reply #229 on: July 18, 2016, 08:14:30 pm »

Together 2016 shut down after massive medical emergency

A massive rally titled "Together 2016" was shut down Saturday after 400 people had to be treated for heat-related illness.

The religious event brought together over 40 faith leaders and recording artists and was organized by Nick Hall, the founder of PULSE, a Twin-Cities based nonprofit organization that focuses on student-led prayer and outreach efforts.

The free event was expected to draw thousands and go until 9 p.m. Saturday, but the U.S. Park Police were forced to shut it down after the influx of emergency medical situations.

Hall issued a statement following the shutdown, saying that it was a disappointment but that "we want to honor the authorities who are trying to keep people safe."

"On July 16, we came to fill the Mall. As we leave, we pray we may we go home to fill them all with the hope of Jesus," he wrote.

http://www.fox5dc.com/news/175202033-story
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« Reply #230 on: July 18, 2016, 08:16:01 pm »

God’s Judgment Falls On Apostate ‘Together 2016’ Event Uniting Catholics And Evangelicals

U.S. Park Police were forced to shut down the ecumenical event 'Together 2016' after the influx of emergency medical situations related to the heat. Funny thing about that. I live in Florida where it gets crazy hot during the summer months. Millions of people come to visit here from areas of the world that don't have such intense heat, yet, you see very little cases of heat stroke and heat-related illnesses on the beaches and streets here.

A massive Laodicean rally titled ‘Together 2016’ was shut down Saturday after 400 people had to be treated for heat-related illness.

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” Romans 16:17,18 (KJV)

The ecumenical religious event ‘Together 2016’ brought together over 40 faith leaders and recording artists and was organized by Nick Hall, the founder of PULSE, a Twin-Cities based nonprofit organization that focuses on student-led prayer and outreach efforts. The free event was expected to draw thousands and go until 9 p.m. Saturday, but the U.S. Park Police were forced to shut it down after the influx of emergency medical situations.

Funny thing about that. I live in Florida where it gets crazy hot during the summer months. Millions of people come to visit here from areas of the world that don’t have such intense heat, yet, you see very little cases of heat stroke and heat-related illnesses on the beaches and streets here. So to have hundreds and hundreds of heat stroke cases in a single event like what happened at ‘Together 2016‘ is very unusual to say the least. Perhaps The One that controls things like heat and the weather took issue with the apostate, heretical nature of this event which was designed to lure Bible-deficient Christians into the Catholic church.



The usual suspects included heretics like Hillsong United, Kirk Franklin, Lou Engle, Tony Evans, as well as videotaped messages of support from the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis as you see above. Apostate Christianity has for many years now been being led right back into the darkness of the Vatican **** by people like Kenneth Copeland and others.



The Bible does not prophesy any type of great movement of the Holy Spirit in the end times, in fact, it says the exact opposite. Jesus Himself says in Revelation that the last church on earth in the days before the Rapture will be a lukewarm, spiritually dead corporation focused only on material blessings like wealth, power and influence. He goes on to say that it will be so bad that He will be pushed outside and knocking on the door to be let back in.

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:14-20 (KJV)

The folk over at Pulpit & Pen noted the following:

    The event was replete with appeals to a false Jesus, offered by the biggest names in evangelical Christendom, and thoroughly void of a presentation of the authentic Gospel of Jesus. It was a festival of apostasy. Thankfully, we have the names of those willing to forego obedience to Scripture. They should, indeed, be marked as “together” … united in the ecumenical apostasy they promote. source

These are the last days, the end times, and it will only get worse from here on in. Don’t waste your precious remaining time hooked up in false revivals led by heretics and apostates. Instead, click here to order yourself a box of street preacher approved and tests NTEB GOSPEL TRACTS and go out into the “highway and byways” and invite people to get saved.

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Revelation 18:4 (KJV)

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/gods-judgment-falls-apostate-together-2016-event-uniting-catholics-evangelicals/
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« Reply #231 on: July 22, 2016, 07:25:24 pm »

Ireland: Christians, Muslims, Atheists Unite to Push Alternatives to Religious Education

 In a rather unexpected coalition, Christians have united together with Muslims and atheists In Ireland to promote separation of church and state in education.
 
ChristianToday.com reports that the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland (EAI) has joined with Atheist Ireland and Irish Ahmadiyya Muslims to work for alternatives to religious education in schools.
 
The groups are hoping to do away with the state-sponsored religious education course which is required for students.
 
All three groups believe such a requirement actually harms religion, as well as the secular state, even though about 85 percent of Irish people identify as Catholics.
 
The EAI stated that, in opposing the course, it was seeking to “protect children from coercion and discrimination in the area of religious education.”
 
Michael Nugent, chairman of Atheist Ireland stated, "The minister for education should immediately issue a circular letter informing all schools at second level that the state religious education course is not compulsory and students can choose another subject, and schools should actively inform students and parents about this.”
 
Imam Ibrahim Noonan stressed the importance of not allowing one particular faith to “have the monopoly in the schools.”
 
"The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has always adhered to the fact that religion and state are two different entities," he said. "Therefore it views that secular knowledge should be given eminence within the school curriculum. The state must recognise the importance of the feelings and sentiments of those who practise a particular faith or belief system, whether that be a religious system or non religious system.”

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/ireland-christians-muslims-atheists-unite-to-push-alternatives-to-religious-education.html
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« Reply #232 on: August 25, 2016, 05:17:11 pm »

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« Reply #233 on: September 14, 2016, 05:37:08 pm »

Taoism, Buddhism, Jainism, and More: Eastern Religious Leaders Arrive in Jerusalem

Over 20 religious leaders from east Asia arrived in Israel Monday for a four-day summit in Jerusalem. Participants came from countries such as China, South Korea, India, and Japan, representing spiritual traditions of Taoism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Jainism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism. Throughout the upcoming week, they will come face to face with Arab and Israeli religious leaders of Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

“It is time to expand the Israel-Asia dialogue from only diplomatic and economic spheres to religion, spirituality and faith,” summit coordinator Simona Halperin told Tazpit Press Service (TPS). “This is a first meeting in history between the religious leaders of Judaism and those of the eastern faiths.”

The summit was a joint project between the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the American Jewish Committee and the World Council of Religious Leaders (WCRL). Notable guests included the president of the Buddhist Association of China, Xuecheng, Swami Avdeshanand Giri, spiritual leader of millions of Indian Hindus, and Bawa Jain, Secretary-General of the WCRL.

President Reuven Rivlin greeted summit participants.

“Welcome to Jerusalem, the holy city to the religions of the sons of Abraham,” Rivlin told the guests. “Your arrival is a very special event, for many years the interaction between our religions hardly even existed.

“This is no longer the situation, as your visit today shows,” Rivlin said.

Xuecheng and Swami Giri also addressed the summit, saying religious leaders should take a leading role towards solving worldwide social and environmental challenges.

“I’m very happy to be here,” said the Swami. “We have a saying in our colloquial tongue: ‘When you have dialogues, then the wisdom dawns and knowledge comes.’ Dialogue imparts clarity.”

Xuecheng expressed his hope to make lasting friendships among religious leaders in Israel. “Only if we make true friends we can really set the goal of mutual respect and understanding. the Chinese religions are working very hard to call out other religions to help in the construction of a peaceful world,” he said.

According to Halperin, during the four days of the summit the religious leaders will meet with rabbis from all Jewish streams, as well as with Muslim, Druze and Christian leaders. The group will tour holy sites and discuss current events including global warming, the environment, the status of religion in contemporary society, the role of religion in peacemaking and more.

“Our spiritual worlds are very close to each other in that they are not missionary religions which makes them very open and tolerant,” Rabbi Daniel Sperber, a professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University and Orthodox rabbi.  “I feel a unity and camaraderie between our peoples, more so than with the western world and Christianity.”


Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/75540/far-east-meets-middle-east-summit-religious-leaders/#bALk2IxttcVtTlYz.99
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« Reply #234 on: February 13, 2017, 06:01:23 pm »

Rabbi, Archbishop, Sheikh and President Reopen Church of Loaves and Fishes at Interfaith Event

President Reuven Rivlin attended an interfaith meeting on Sunday morning at the site of the Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes commemorating the completion of the restoration of the building after it was vandalized and set ablaze by arsonists nearly two years ago.

“The last time I was here, we stood together and looked at the burnt walls and the terrible graffiti,” the president said, referring to the June, 2015 attack on the iconic church in Northern Israel.

“Today, I visit here again, and see the renewal of this historic, special, and holy place. I want to thank all the people who worked hard to restore this place, and to say clearly that hate cannot win.”

Also in attendance at the event were President Rivlin’s wife, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Ambassador of Germany Dr. Clemens von Goetze, Sheikh Muwaffak Tarīf, and Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein, as well as the head of the Jordan Valley Local Council, Idan Greenbaum.

Rivlin emphasized that Jews, Christians and people of all faith suffer together when equality and tolerance are compromised, but noted that freedom of religion is a cherished principle in the Jewish state.

“Close to us is the Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee: a source of water and life for the people of the Holy Land for many generations. When it is full of water, we all benefit. When it is empty, we all suffer. We are bound together. We are all equal before God, and equal before the law,” he said.

“Friends, the State of Israel is committed – deeply committed – to the freedom of religion and of worship for all religions and believers. We stand up for religious freedom because, as a people, we know very well what it means to suffer religious persecution. And we stand up for religious freedom because we are a democratic state – who believe in the rights for everyone to worship God according to their belief.”

He referenced the Ten Commandments, a shared foundational religious text for Jews and Christians, as the basis of multifaith understanding.

“The Ten Commandments – that are dear to all of us – appear on two stone tablets, which Moses carried. The first stone has the commandments that talk about our relationship with God. The second stone has the commandments that talk about our relationship with the people around us. This is the balance we all must keep: to be true to our faith and to be true to our beliefs, but never forget our duty to our fellow man. This is the essence of the State of Israel.”

He concluded by saying, “We do not need to look very far to see what the alternative is. People being killed in a terrible war, because of their faith. To those who say that God wants us to kill, I say – we all say together – that God wants us to live. May we all live not just side by side, but together, in mutual respect, and understanding.”

The Archbishop of Cologne Cardinal Rainer Woelki welcomed the president and participants and thanked Rivlin for his office’s work in helping to restore the church. “Today is a time of great joy and friendship,” he said, noting, “Many have contributed in different ways to the renovation of the site here at Tabgha. Mr. President, It is a special honor to welcome you on your second visit here. I know that you and your office have been very important in helping the recovery since the fire.”

He added, “It was very warming to hear from the local people how, after the arson attack, so many people across many religions in the Holy Land came to show their solidarity.”

Sheikh Muwaffak Tarīf, spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, also spoke, declaring, “Our standing here today, together with other faiths and communities, with the President, and this celebratory event – this is the eternal answer to all those who wish to harm the unity of the peoples of faith in the Holy Land and to bring about a rift between the faiths.”

He ended with a strong message of solidarity. “We especially must say in the clearest possible way, that we will not support any who wish to destroy the connection between the faiths. We will be a bridge of peace, unity, and love.”

Germany’s ambassador to Israel, Dr. Clemens von Goetzem, thanked all those who had helped restore the site and recognized Israel’s commitment to ensuring that “the places of worship of all faiths in this country will be protected as will the rights of all the faiths of the Holy Land.”


Read more at https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/83558/president-joins-archbishop-sheikh-reopening-church-loaves-fishes-arson/#ZTSSlD3d1dCMi1k7.99
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« Reply #235 on: February 28, 2017, 07:12:37 pm »

Christian Worship Dropped From London State Schools In 'Ground Breaking' Decision

Compulsory Christian assemblies may soon be dropped from UK state schools and replaced with 'multi-faith' worship after a local council has become the first to make the move.

Brent Council in London made the 'ground breaking' decision to free its state schools from having to provide Christian worship in its assemblies, the Daily Mail reports.

Currently British state schools, funded by the government, are legally obligated to provide daily Christian worship of some kind. This normally takes the form of congregational singing in assemblies, though studies have shown that many schools ignore the rule.

In the new move, Brent Council's Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) will now support multi-faith assemblies, which will include those of any faith and none. The council have today received an award from the Accord Coalition, which lobbies for religious education and inclusivity in schools.

Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain MBE, who chairs the award's judging panel, said to the Daily Mirror: 'The current worship laws are unpopular and prevent schools from providing an inspiring programme of assemblies that are truly inclusive of all staff and children.

'Society may be Christian-based but is multi-faith with many also of no belief-system, and so uniform worship should no longer be compulsory for our educational system.

'Brent Council's ground breaking approach rescues an opportunity for pupils to communally explore and forge shared values, in a way that is workable and respectful.'

Romain added: 'We hope all other local authorities will take inspiration from Brent Council's approach, which we highly commend.'

Chief executive of Christian Concern Andrea Williams said the decision was 'a shame'.

The move follows years of ongoing conversation about the role of Christian worship and influence in British state schools, particularly as the prevalence of Christian faith declines among British families.

In 2015 former education secretary Charles Clarke called for the rule on Christian assemblies to be revoked. The Bishop of Oxford John Pritchard said in 2014 that the compulsory collective worship belonged in the 1940s, and suggested instead times of general 'spiritual reflection'.

The Rev Nigel Genders, Church of England chief education officer, said: 'It has long been a legal requirement for schools to provide a daily act of collective worship.

'But schools tell us that, quite apart from any legal obligation, daily collective worship has proved a powerful tool in bringing pupils together, giving them a rare opportunity to pause and reflect in the midst of a busy day.

'The policy in Brent, which is not new, is not the formal removal of that requirement, as has been claimed – far from it.

'It is already open to schools to apply for a determination to lift the requirement that collective worship be "wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character".

'In this case the council simply encourages schools to do that, to ensure that collective worship reflects children's different backgrounds.

'Efforts to encourage schools to take collective worship seriously and make it meaningful to pupils are welcome.

'Indeed, even without applying for a determination, the law already allows schools wide scope for different acts of worship.

'Around one million children in England – a quarter of primary pupils and one in 16 secondary students – attend Church of England schools where worship is and will remain Christian.'

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christian.worship.dropped.from.london.state.schools.in.ground.breaking.decision/105103.htm
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« Reply #236 on: March 27, 2017, 05:59:36 pm »

This is scary and exciting all the same time, just more proof of how close we are to the Lords return

'Religious left' emerging as U.S. political force in Trump era

Since President Donald Trump's election, monthly lectures on social justice at the 600-seat Gothic chapel of New York's Union Theological Seminary have been filled to capacity with crowds three times what they usually draw.

In January, the 181-year-old Upper Manhattan graduate school, whose architecture evokes London's Westminster Abbey, turned away about 1,000 people from a lecture on mass incarceration. In the nine years that Reverend Serene Jones has served as its president, she has never seen such crowds.

"The election of Trump has been a clarion call to progressives in the Protestant and Catholic churches in America to move out of a place of primarily professing progressive policies to really taking action," she said.

Although not as powerful as the religious right, which has been credited with helping elect Republican presidents and boasts well-known leaders such as Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson, the "religious left" is now slowly coming together as a force in U.S. politics.

This disparate group, traditionally seen as lacking clout, has been propelled into political activism by Trump's policies on immigration, healthcare and social welfare, according to clergy members, activists and academics. A key test will be how well it will be able to translate its mobilization into votes in the 2018 midterm congressional elections.

"It's one of the dirty little secrets of American politics that there has been a religious left all along and it just hasn't done a good job of organizing," said J. Patrick Hornbeck II, chairman of the theology department at Fordham University, a Jesuit school in New York.

"It has taken a crisis, or perceived crisis, like Trump's election to cause folks on the religious left to really own their religion in the public square," Hornbeck said.

Religious progressive activism has been part of American history. Religious leaders and their followers played key roles in campaigns to abolish slavery, promote civil rights and end the Vietnam War, among others. The latest upwelling of left-leaning religious activism has accompanied the dawn of the Trump presidency.

Some in the religious left are inspired by Pope Francis, the Roman Catholic leader who has been an outspoken critic of anti-immigrant policies and a champion of helping the needy.

Although support for the religious left is difficult to measure, leaders point to several examples, such as a surge of congregations offering to provide sanctuary to immigrants seeking asylum, churches urging Republicans to reconsider repealing the Obamacare health law and calls to preserve federal spending on foreign aid.

The number of churches volunteering to offer sanctuary to asylum seekers doubled to 800 in 45 of the 50 U.S. states after the election, said the Elkhart, Indiana-based Church World Service, a coalition of Christian denominations which helps refugees settle in the United States - and the number of new churches offering help has grown so quickly that the group has lost count.

"The religious community, the religious left is getting out, hitting the streets, taking action, raising their voices," said Reverend Noel Anderson, its national grassroots coordinator.

In one well-publicized case, a Quaker church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 14 took in a Honduran woman who has been living illegally in the United States for 25 years and feared she would be targeted for deportation.

'NEVER SEEN' THIS

Leaders of Faith in Public Life, a progressive policy group, were astounded when 300 clergy members turned out at a January rally at the U.S. Senate attempting to block confirmation of Trump's attorney general nominee, Jeff Sessions, because of his history of controversial statements on race.

"I've never seen hundreds of clergy turning up like that to oppose a Cabinet nominee," said Reverend Jennifer Butler, the group's chief executive.

The group on Wednesday convened a Capitol Hill rally of hundreds of pastors from as far away as Ohio, North Carolina and Texas to urge Congress to ensure that no people lose their health insurance as a result of a vote to repeal Obamacare.

Financial support is also picking up. Donations to the Christian activist group Sojourners have picked up by 30 percent since Trump's election, the group said.

But some observers were skeptical that the religious left could equal the religious right politically any time soon.

"It really took decades of activism for the religious right to become the force that it is today," said Peter Ubertaccio, chairman of the political science department at Stonehill College, a Catholic school outside Boston.

But the power potential of the "religious left" is not negligible. The "Moral Mondays" movement, launched in 2013 by the North Carolina NAACP's Reverend William Barber, is credited with contributing to last year's election defeat of Republican Governor Pat McCrory by Democrat Roy Cooper.

The new political climate is also spurring new alliances, with churches, synagogues and mosques speaking out against the recent spike in bias incidents, including threats against mosques and Jewish community centers.

The Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, which encourages alliances between Jewish and Muslim women, has tripled its number of U.S. chapters to nearly 170 since November, said founder Sheryl Olitzky.

"This is not about partisanship, but about vulnerable populations who need protection, whether it's the LGBT community, the refugee community, the undocumented community," said Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, using the acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

More than 1,000 people have already signed up for the center's annual Washington meeting on political activism, about three times as many as normal, Pesner said.

Leaders of the religious right who supported Trump say they see him delivering on his promises and welcomed plans to defund Planned Parenthood, whose healthcare services for women include abortion, through the proposed repeal of Obamacare.

"We have not seen any policy proposals that run counter to our faith," said Lance Lemmonds, a spokesman for the Faith & Freedom Coalition, a nonprofit group based in Duluth, Georgia.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/religious-left-emerging-u-political-force-trump-era-105901165.html
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« Reply #237 on: March 27, 2017, 08:43:25 pm »

I was reading last night a newsletter pamphlet on the Texas Southern Baptist Convention, and some young guy in some tiny city of East Texas is building his megachurch now, and all he's obsessing about is blending in with the world's culture.

It seems noone wants to have the KJB has their final authority anymore (much less any bible). When this happens, then that's when society really goes in reversal, and reprobate (as James Knox stressed many times in his Salvation according to Genesis 3 series sermon now).
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« Reply #238 on: April 05, 2017, 05:38:45 pm »

Pope Francis Meets Four British Imams, Urges Need for ‘Listening’ to One Another

Pope Francis met with four British imams in the Vatican Wednesday morning, just two weeks after an Islamic radical drove his car through pedestrians on a crowded London bridge, killing three.
An official press release from the Vatican said that the Pope had received in audience “a delegation of Muslim leaders from Great Britain,” which included the president of Majlis e ulama Europe, the chairman of the British Muslim Forum, a co-chair of the Christian-Muslim Forum and the director general of the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society.

According to a news report from the Associated Press, the pontiff’s meeting with Muslim leaders from Great Britain represents “part of his effort to give prominence and a platform to Muslim leaders who renounce using religion to justify violence.”

In his brief address to the Muslim leaders, however, Pope Francis spoke exclusively of the importance of listening to others, avoiding the question of Islam and religious violence altogether.

In an interview Tuesday, one of the four imams, the vice-president of the Christian Muslim Forum, Ibrahim Mogra, called Pope Francis “a brave man” for his willingness to defend Muslims.

“He is the only one who has had the courage to say that Islam is a religion of peace,” Mogra said. “He is a true Christian, because he looks at the human person apart from religious membership.”

“Every religion is against violence,” Mogra said, “and teaches peaceful living as citizens who respect the law.”

Mogra also said that people in the West are guilty of a “double standard” in dealing with predominantly Muslim nations.

“In Egypt, the United States allowed the army to take power notwithstanding the democratically elected government of the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Westminster who accompanied the imams to see the Pope, said that the Muslim community is slowly gaining the confidence to speak out and condemn Islamic extremism.

“That is the voice that has to be heard to counter the rather more undifferentiating, unappreciative and even hostile voices that view Islamic people in Britain as somehow alien and unwelcome,” he said.

Last August, Pope Francis told journalists aboard the papal plane: “If I speak of Islamic violence, I must speak of Catholic violence… And no, not all Muslims are violent, not all Catholics are violent. It is like a fruit salad; there’s everything.”

Later this month Pope Francis will travel to Cairo and will visit the Al Azhar University, Sunni Islam’s most prestigious academic institution.

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/04/05/pope-francis-meets-four-british-imams-urges-need-listening/
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