Showing posts with label Christian Post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian Post. Show all posts

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Pro-Life Group Releases Scathing 6-Year Investigative Report on Planned Parenthood

Pro-Life Group Releases Scathing 6-Year Investigative Report on Planned Parenthood

Live Action Asks Americans to Sign Petition Demanding Congress Stop Giving $500 Million to Nation's Largest

BY MELISSA BARNHART , CP REPORTER
May 29, 2014
Lila Rose, president of the pro-life youth led organization Live Action, distributed a 60-page six-year investigative report on Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, to members of Congress Wednesday, asking them to defund the organization.
Lila Rose(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST/SONNY HONG)
Lisa Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, speaks outside the Russell Senate Office Building about the release of a 60-page multi-state investigative report, "Lies, Corruption, and Scandal: Six Years of Exposing Planned Parenthood," on the nation's largest abortion provider, Washington, D.C. on May 28, 2014.
According to Live Action's multi-state investigative report, "Lies, Corruption, and Scandal: Six Years of Exposing Planned Parenthood," which was distributed to members of Congress and is available online here, Rose and her investigative team have documented the abortion provider covering up the sexual abuse of children; aiding the sexual exploitation of girls; accepting donations to abort black babies and girls; and not informing women about post-abortion PTSD, among other illicit and illegal activities.
To launch their new national campaign, Rose, along with volunteers and interns, walked the halls of Congress to deliver their findings to Republican and Democratic Senate and House members, asking them to review the report and pass legislation to stop using taxpayers' dollars to fund the abortion provider.
"Over the last six years, Planned Parenthood has been investigated by our organization and others, and exposed for rampant lawlessness, abuses, and many other illicit activities," Rose told The Christian Post during an interview at the Russell Senate Office Building on Wednesday.
Rose continued, "We are going through the halls of Congress and dropping off this six-year report, along with a letter to each member whether they're in the Senate or the House, explaining what this report is, and the importance of reviewing the fact that $500 million every year is going to fund the biggest abortion chain in the country, Planned Parenthood."
"We're calling on Congress to immediately review, investigate and stop taxpayer funding of this abortion giant, especially in light of the 320,000 children who are killed every year in their facilities, and the many abusive and illegal activities taking place," Rose told CP, noting that the Planned Parenthood is a billion dollar organization.
Along with the 60-page investigative report, Live Action has simultaneously launched a video campaign atwwwPlannedParenthoodExposed.com and a petition for people to sign asking lawmakers to defund Planned Parenthood.
The petition highlights that the organization's surgical abortion centers have quotas to meet, and states that Planned Parenthood's staff "routinely puts women's lives at risk."
"Planned Parenthood staffers, nurses, and managers have been documented coaching and covering for sex-traffickers, ignoring the sexual abuse of young girls, and putting women's lives at risk. The corporation is awash in deaths, injuries, and allegations of and settlements paid for massive fraud," the petition reads, in part.
According to Rose, Planned Parenthood's latest annual report reveals that the organization received $540.7 million in taxpayer funding in 2011-2012, and the corporation performed 327,166 abortions during that time.
"When I first began to go undercover in these facilities in 2007, I thought I would find illegal and harmful activity," she said. "But even I had no idea of the huge, company-wide commitment to abortion at any cost — the fraud, the lies, the cover-ups."
"It's a grave injustice that our government and president actively promote this extreme form of violence. It's a disgrace that we are all forced to fund it. … These facilities need to be investigated, inspected, and shut down," Rose asserted, adding that a majority of abortionists regularly skirt or violate state statutes on abortion and patient consent.
WATCH THE CHRISTIAN POST'S INTERVIEW WITH LILA ROSE BELOW:
CP Insider: Lila Rose on Planned Parenthood Exposed
CP Insider: Lila Rose on Planned Parenthood Exposed

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Franklin Graham Calls on Pastors to Speak Out on Abortion, Homosexuality; Says 'God Hates Cowards'

Franklin Graham Calls on Pastors to Speak Out on Abortion, Homosexuality; Says 'God Hates Cowards'

BY MICHAEL GRYBOSKI , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
May 23, 2014
Franklin Graham(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST / SONNY HONG)
Rev. Franklin Graham addressing pastors at the Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing, held at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Thursday, May 22, 2014.
WASHINGTON – The Rev. Franklin Graham told a large gathering of pastors on Thursday to address controversial issues from the pulpit, declaring that "God hates cowards."
Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, based his remarks on Revelation 21:8, wherein God lists eight groups of people who will be "in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Of groups like murderers, idolaters, unbelievers, and others, the first group of persons listed were the cowardly. It was this first group that Graham focused on for his speech, titled "Standing Strong on the Controversial Issues," at the Thursday evening session for the 2014 Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing.
"The definition of a coward: a coward will not confront an issue that needs to be confronted due to fear. That is a coward," said Graham.
"God hates cowards. And the cowards that the Lord is referring to are the men and women who know the truth but refuse to speak it."
In his remarks at the dinner session, Graham spoke about the need for churches to speak out against abortion and homosexuality, declaring that "you're not going to shut me up."
"We have a responsibility to speak on the moral issues. Abortion, homosexuality, these are moral issues. This is a free country, you can do what you want to do but I want you to know it's a sin against God. This is a sin," said Graham.
Graham mentioned how he has "friends who are pastors" who say they want to preach the Gospel and not "become targets."
"Well don't you think the Lord Jesus Christ was a target?" asked Graham. "Could we get our heads chopped off? We could, maybe one day. So what? Chop it off!"
Franklin Graham(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST / SONNY HONG)
Rev. Franklin Graham addressing pastors at the Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing, held at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Thursday, May 22, 2014.
Graham's remarks were part of a multiday conference organized by the Family Research Council. Held from Wednesday to Friday, the Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing was geared toward pastors and encouraging churches to become more involved in politics, social issues, and public policy.
Featured speakers included Pastor Rafael Cruz, the father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz; Bishop Harry Jackson, author and senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland; Joyce Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries; U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, and several others.
For the Thursday evening dinner portion, attendees experienced worship led by contemporary Christian singer Charles Billingsley and were present to see awards given to assorted pastors for their actions on religious liberty.
The last honoree for the evening was Graham. FRC President Tony Perkins commended Graham for his actions in the public sphere.
"Franklin is not the pastor of a church, but in a real sense he is a pastor to America's pastors," said Perkins before presenting Graham with the 2014 Watchman Award.
"And in that role, he has sounded the alarm and raised the righteous standard as have few other leaders in our time."
The son of the famous evangelist Billy Graham, Franklin Graham has garnered controversy in recent years for his remarks on same-sex marriage, Islam, and President Barack Obama.
Some have contrasted his public career with that of his father, arguing that Franklin Graham has taken more overtly political positions than Billy Graham has.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

China to Have World's Largest Christian Population by 2025, Religion Expert Says


China to Have World's Largest Christian Population by 2025, Religion Expert Says

CP World

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  • Bibles in China
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April 27, 2014|5:53 am
Although China is officially an atheist country, its Protestant population is likely to swell to 160 million by 2025, according to a religion expert, who says not many are prepared for "this dramatic change."
"By my calculations China is destined to become the largest Christian country in the world very soon," Fenggang Yang, a professor of sociology at Purdue University, told The Telegraph.
"It is going to be less than a generation. Not many people are prepared for this dramatic change," adds Yang, author of Religion in China: Survival and Revival under Communist Rule.
Yang predicts that China, which had over 58 million Protestants in 2010 according to the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life, will have around 160 million by 2025. This would mean China will likely be ahead even of the United States, which had about 159 million Protestants in 2010.
Yang went on to say that China's total Christian population, including Catholics, would be over 247 million by 2030 and thus become the largest Christian congregation in the world. "Mao thought he could eliminate religion. He thought he had accomplished this. It's ironic – they didn't. They actually failed completely," he said.
When China's communists came to power in 1949, they expelled Christian missionaries while allowing churches to function under the government's control. Chinese Christians faced severe persecution during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and the 1970s under Mao, who saw religion as "poison." However, Christianity continued to grow like fire.
Churches are allowed to function since 1979 but only as long as they register with the government and thereby come under its control.
"They want the pastor to preach in a Communist way. They want to train people to practice in a Communist way," a house-church preacher told the British daily. "They do not trust the church, but they have to tolerate or accept it because the growth is there. The number of Christians is growing – they cannot fight it. They do not want the 70 million Christians to be their enemy."
However, hundreds of thousands of unofficial house churches, largely indigenous, exist all across the country. Evangelism is allowed, but only in state-approved religious venues and private settings.
Persecution of Christians continues with unofficial churches facing its brunt. The World Watch List ranks China as the 37th worst country in the world for Christian persecution.
With many Christians still not revealing their religious identity, the exact number of Christians in China is not known.
According to a recent study, online searches for the words "Christian Congregation" and "Jesus" far outnumbered those for "The Communist Party" and "Xi Jinping," China's president.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Evangelist: Church Failing Millennials by Not Giving Them a 'Cause - The Chirstian Post

Evangelist: Church Failing Millennials by Not Giving Them a 'Cause

Stier

  • (Photo: The Christian Post)
    Greg Stier speaks at the Friday evening opening session of Reverse, a youth event organized by Dare 2 Share Ministries on the last weekend of March 2014, held at the Hylton Memorial Chapel in Woodbridge, Virginia.
WOODBRIDGE, Va.— Millennials are leaving the Church because they not being given a "cause," said youth ministry leader Greg Stier.
"I feel like one of the reasons why Millennials are leaving the church is because Millennials are causal. They want a cause," said Stier, who's leading the "Reverse" conference tour. "Generally speaking, the Church has failed to give them a cause. Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 says 'Go and make disciples of all nations;' 'I'll give you a cause.'"
Stier, head of Dare 2 Share Ministries, is currently touring the country to equip thousands of youth to preach the Gospel. His latest stop was in the Washington, D.C. area, where he spoke to The Christian Post about Millennials.
According to a recently released Barna study, only one in five Millennials considered church to have any importance in their lives.
Another recent survey, performed by Pew Research, found that 29 percent of Millennials classify themselves as "religiously unaffiliated."
In both studies, the Millennial generation was found to consider church less important and more likely to identify as "religiously unaffiliated" than older demographics.
Stier told CP that he believed the Church needs to regain "the cause of Christ, to go and make disciples." If they do so, said Stier, then churches "will attract more Millennials and every age demographic."
"The Church has morphed; instead of a mission we've turned into just a series of meetings and I think teenagers are looking for more than that," said the youth ministry head.
The "Reverse" tour kicked off in January. The theme "Reverse" is inspired by Daniel of the Old Testament. Speakers are encouraging youth to "stand when others bow, speak up when others shut up, kneel when others run away . . . to change the world!"
Stier said he felt events like Reverse help to counteract the rising trend among Millennials regarding church and religious affiliation.
"What I see here are students ignited when they start to realize 'man, I have a purpose and I have a mission and that is to share the Good News,'" said Stier.
"Find significance in the mission of Christ, find security in the Person of Christ and when we do that, I think we will reignite this next generation."
An estimated 3,000 people from youth groups across the Washington, D.C. area attended Reverse Friday and Saturday to hear speakers, see drama skits, and participate in contemporary worship. Attendees were encouraged to share thoughts and photos on social media with #D2SReverse and to follow the Twitter handles of the speakers.
For the opening Saturday morning session, attendees heard speaker Zane Black teach about the experiences of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Babylonian captivity.
They also heard Los Angeles based artist and speaker Propaganda talk about the dangers of social media addiction and the need to form relationships with people offline.
Reverse(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST)
Spoken word artist Propaganda speaking at the Saturday morning session of Reverse, a youth event organized by Dare 2 Share Ministries on the last weekend of March 2014, held at the Hylton Memorial Chapel in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Regarding the atmosphere at Hylton Memorial, Stier told CP that the turnout was "great" and that "it feels like a sellout in there."
"What's cool is it's an event that [is], I think, multi-denomination, it's multiracial, it's all about the cause of the Gospel of Christ," said Stier.
Reverse(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST)
Worship at the Saturday morning session of Reverse, a youth event organized by Dare 2 Share Ministries on the last weekend of March 2014, held at the Hylton Memorial Chapel in Woodbridge, Virginia.