CentrePoint News News That Matters

By Compass Direct

ISTANBUL July 31 (Compass Direct News) – The recent eruption of sectarian violence in Egypt’s Minya province continued last week as local Christians again faced harsh reprisals from Muslims for trying to convert a building into a worship facility.

On July 24 security forces in the village of Hawasliya were able to prevent a crowd of Muslims, which numbered in the hundreds according to some reports, from torching the building. But the mob succeeded in setting fire to four neighboring stables, killing sheep and cows belonging to Copts.

During the melee two Copts, including an elderly woman, were wounded. Both received hospital treatment.

“When Muslims see that Christians are making a church, they get upset about it,” said Teresa Kamal, a local journalist. “Why are people full of hate like this? Something has happened to radicalize the people.”

For more, click here…

http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=lead&lang           =en&length=long&idelement=&backpage= &critere=&countryname=&rowcur=

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By Andrew Strom

As many of you know, we have been in Wales these past months
on a 6-month visa. Our excursion here began with a “Revival and
Prayer” Gathering at Moriah Chapel, and it looks like it will end
with the Sermonindex Revival Conference at Moriah in November -
where we join Paul Washer, Carter Conlon and others. It has been
a blessed time – and we are very glad that God led us to come.
But we always knew that without a miracle we would be having to
leave before long. The visa situation can be quite difficult here.

Interestingly, my wife has felt for many months that God may have 
us visit the USA once again. It has been a long time since we were 
last there, and much has happened while we have been away. We 
would love to come and minister amongst the remnant in North 
America once again. This is quite a critical hour.

If you have a group in the USA or Canada – and would like us to 
come minister while we are in that part of the world – then please 
reply to this email. We plan to arrive in late November – and hope 
to spend at least 3 months there.

We would greatly appreciate your prayers, my friends – even to
stay in Wales until Nov. (-ie. for our UK visa to last until then). 
November looks like a very busy month, as I am due in Uganda 
for 11 days, as well as Gatherings in England and Wales. And 
then there is the question of our long-term future also. Your prayers 
are hugely appreciated. Thankyou so much.

I look forward to your replies if you have a group in the USA or
Canada that wants to invite us, my friends.

For more from Andrew Strom, click here…

http://www.revivalschool.com/

For more on a new work of the Lord, click here…

http://www.ChristtheKingMinistryInternational.org

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By Peter Hansen

The world is in deep trouble!

Billions of people are living in poverty around the world. About 2.8
billion people are living on less than two dollars a day. Millions are
dying from starvation and diseases in the Third World. The global
financial crisis has caused millions to lose their home and the
world has probably just seen the beginning of a major global crisis
that not even the financial experts could have foretold. The threat
of nuclear war is hanging in the air and the most powerful nations
of the globe are fighting for the last reserves of oil.

While some families can’t even afford a single meal on the table
each day, others are addicted to drugs, gambling and alcohol.
Millions in the west are so mentally depressed that they try to
escape this world of loneliness in alcohol, drugs, perversions and
suicide. The world is screaming for help and solutions for a messed
up society that has nothing to offer but endless talk shows and
online entertainment.

People are seriously desperate for finding a deeper meaning, hope
and inner peace.  This world seems to have everything to offer, but
in reality is more out of  control morally and spiritually than ever. I
can boldly say that this world needs the full gospel message of
Jesus Christ. Not another sermon or conference about self
happiness, but the pure full gospel of salvation. That is the one
and only thing that can bring peace to the mind and restore the
soul.

But how sad it is that the preaching of the full gospel has been
downgraded to some cultural light gospel show with fancy stage
performance and blinking lights! Where are the full gospel preachers
who dare to stand up for the truth, who dare to preach salvation,
hope, hell, holiness and grace. Where are those who proclaim that
Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven?

The problem is that millions of people have been deceived and
blinded with a feel good gospel, a light lukewarm message that
only talks about happiness, prosperity, self-development and “me,
me and me” instead of “Him, Him and Him!”

Where did the gospel go?

Is today’s modern church really afraid of teaching the full living
gospel? Is it afraid of being politically incorrect and offending the
masses? Many churches are on a very dangerous path. A path
that will only lead to possible destruction. Let me point out, that if
there is no gospel message of sin, grace, repentance and salvation
there is zero!

And while thousands of churches are playing “seeker sensitive
churches” and being politically correct, millions of non-believers
are screaming for spiritual truth that can give them real hope and
reality based on the word of God. The truth of the gospel will set
them free, but if there is no one preaching the truth of the gospel,
many will go to hell, believing in a different gospel (2 Corinthians
11:3-4) (Galatians 1:6-7) . That is the hard facts.  A very good
place to read and study what Jesus is saying is in Matthew
chapter 24. Jesus mentions here in chapter 24 that many will be
deceived by false prophets and teachers.

It is so easy for self-proclaimed prophets to make up weird crazy
doctrines and get thousands of followers, because in many
churches there is a great lack of Christian discipleship based on
the word of God. The focus on Jesus and his teaching and
discipleship has been replaced with “feel-good teachings” that
totally lacks the important teachings about repentance, sin, hell,
grace and holiness.

On a five week mission trip to Ethiopia recently I was scheduled to
speak in different churches. In my sermon preparation I felt a deep
conviction to preach and focus more on the gospel that Jesus
taught and His life, more than I had ever done before. And the
pastors and local evangelists were amazed and almost shocked by
the clear gospel teaching, because they were not used to that!

We have to remember that the gospel is what sets us free. We
need to bring the full gospel back in our churches, mission fields
and to a desperate seeking world. There is only one hope and that
is Jesus Christ. We have to renew our passion for being in the
presence of Jesus. We must take up our cross and lay down our
lives and follow Christ and be filled with the Holy Spirit. We must
renew our minds daily in God’s presence. We must study the life
of Jesus and the Word of God and let it become part of us, inside
out.

The living word of God will change your life and you will see its
powerful effects, and not only will you be empowered by his Word,
the world around you will experience the saving and healing power
of Jesus Christ. Make the gospel the focus of your life and ministry
and tell others as well.

For more from Peter Hansen, go to…

http://www.GospelMiracle.org

For a church faithful to the Gospel, go to…

http://www.ChristtheKingMinistryInternational.org

Or go to our Facebook page at…

http://www.Facebook.com/ChristtheKingMinistries

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By Hilary White

July 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At least 13 million Chinese children lose their lives to abortion every year, compared with 20 million live births, an English language Chinese news service reports. Chinese officials, however, admitted that this number takes into account only surgical abortions committed in hospitals, not those in unregistered rural facilities. In addition, 10 million abortifacients are sold every year. China became the first country in the world to approve the deadly RU 486 abortion pill in 1988 to assist with its One Child “family planning” programs.

The number of Chinese children killed by abortion per year is roughly the equivalent to the entire population of Guatemala, and to more than twice the population of Denmark, Slovakia and Finland. 13 million deaths a year would, within one year, entirely depopulate Greece, Portugal, Belgium, Hungary or Sweden.

For more, click here…

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09073002.html

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By Nathan Black

The Internal Revenue Service closed its investigation of a Minnesota pastor who advised congregants in a sermon last year not to vote for Barack Obama.

The examination was closed due to a procedural problem.

Pastor Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church was among dozens of pastors across the country who boldly preached on social and political issues and endorsed presidential candidates from the pulpit last September.

“Pastors have a right to speak freely from their pulpits. Something is very wrong in America when free speech is held hostage by bungling bureaucracies,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which led the September initiative.

“This latest action from the IRS continues to leave churches in limbo when it comes to speaking freely from their pulpits,” Stanley added in a statement Tuesday. “It illustrates everything that is wrong with the current enforcement of the Johnson Amendment. After an 11-month audit, it is disingenuous for the IRS to simply close the file and walk away as if nothing happened.”

For more, click here…

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090729/irs-withdraws-audit-                                                                        on-pastor-who-preached-politics/index.html

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By BBC

Members of a Nigerian Islamist radical sect have fled the northern city of Maiduguri after the military overran their enclave, reports say.

The army has stormed the base of Boko Haram’s leader and militants were fleeing the city, according to journalists and the army.

It came after the military drafted in 1,000 extra soldiers.

Earlier reports said the army had lost ground to militants who were using civilians as human shields.

At one point the local authorities said sect members had taken over six districts of the city.

For more, click here…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8175627.stm

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By BBC

Nigerian troops have been shelling the home of a radical Islamist leader in the northern city of Maiduguri after at least 140 deaths in three days.

Followers of Mohammed Yusuf barricaded themselves in and around the house after heavy fighting with security forces sent to contain rioting.

President Umaru Yar’Adua said the army had acted to nip a potentially dangerous problem in the bud.

A BBC correspondent says gunfire can be heard across Maiduguri.

Nigeria’s security services have been flooding Maiduguri, the city worst affected by the violence, the BBC’s Caroline Duffield reports.

They surrounded the area housing the headquarters of Mohammed Yusuf’s group, known as Boko Haram. 

For more, click here…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8172437.stm

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By Worthy News

BEIJING, CHINA (Worthy News) — Uyghur Christian prisoner Alimujiang Yimiti was to appear in front of a Chinese court Tuesday, July 28, on what human rights groups have described as “false charges” of  “revealing state secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations,” but his wife and children are not allowed to monitor the hearing, Christians said.

Yimiti has been detained at Kashi Municipal Detention center since January 12, 2008, despite international protests, trial observers said. Chinese Christians said the real reason for his imprisonment is his Christian faith and evangelizing among the Uyghur population.

The European Union, the United States and the United Nations have reportedly expressed concerns about the case. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which investigated Alimujiang’s case,  described Yimiti’s detention for more than one year as “arbitrary” and urged China to “correct” the situation.

Chinese Christians said Alimujiang’s wife Guli Nuer was notified on July 14 by the court in the city of
Kashgar in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that the trial for her husband would be held on the morning of July 28.

For more, click here…

http://www.worthynews.com/6343-news-alert-trial-of-detained-chinese-                                                           uyghur-christian-to-start-tuesda

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By Audrey Barrick

Blacks remain the most religious ethnic group in America, a new study shows.

And over the last 15 years, African Americans have grown even more religious and orthodox in their Christian beliefs, according to The Barna Group.

Findings from surveys that included 1,272 African American respondents reveal that blacks today are more likely than they were in the early 1990s to believe that the principles taught in the Bible are totally accurate; to say that their religious faith is very important in their life; to have a biblically orthodox understanding of the nature of God; and to be born again.

African Americans were found to be the most likely ethnic group to consider themselves Christian with 92 percent saying so. Nationally, 85 percent of Americans in general consider themselves Christian. Blacks were also the most likely to be born again Christians (59 percent vs. 46 percent nationally).

Moreover, blacks had the lowest population of unchurched adults and were least likely to be Catholic.

For more, click here…

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090725/survey-faith-of-blacks-                                                              grows-stronger-more-orthodox/index.html

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Editor’s Note:  Nigeria has frequently experienced Muslim violence.  Nigeria also has a healthy evangelical Christian movement.  Please make reaching Nigerians with the Gospel a prayer concern. 

By AKI

Potisk, 27 July (AKI) – Islamist militants have attacked Nigerian police in two northern states, the Nigerian daily Tribune newspaper reported on Monday. So-called “Taliban” militants clashed with police in Nigeria’s Borno state after at least 200 people were killed in clashes between Islamic militants and police on Sunday in neighbouring Bauchi state. 

Many other people were seriously injured in the Bauchi clashes.

The self-styled Taliban group clashed on Monday with security forces in Maiduguri, capital of neighbouring Borno State. People were also reported to be fleeing central Maiduguri.

Islamist militants in Maiduguri reportedly destroyed everything they could lay their hands on and the police station and neighbouring buildings in Maiduguri were razed to the ground, according to eyewitnesses.

Borno state government did not immediately release any casualty figures. 

A curfew has been imposed in Bauchi city after Sunday’s violence. 

For more, click here…

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=3.0.3587220717

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