UPDATE: A Victory for the Florida College Student Who Stood Up for His Faith - CBN News Gary Lane,Aisha Bascom

UPDATE: A Victory for the Florida College Student Who Stood Up for His Faith

March 29, 2017 CBN News Gary Lane, Aisha Bascom

CBN News has received word that Rollins College has reinstated conservative Christian student Marshall Polston. Polston was suspended from all classes and college activities after he challenged a Muslim professor's anti-Christian statements.

Maeghan Rempala, Rollins College Director of Community Standards and Responsibility sent Polston a letter today (March 31, 2017) notifying him of his reinstatement saying that " Responsibility has found" that he had not crossed the threshold of violating the college's Code of Community Standards. The letter said evidence presented did show that Polston had been "aggressive, disrespectful and at times vulgar in multiple verbal and electronic communications with faculty, staff and students."

Watch to see this update from Polston and hear what he says about his reinstatement:

Polston made one fatal mistake, challenging his Muslim professor who argued that the disciples didn't believe Jesus was God and that the crucifixion was a hoax. That's when the 21-year-old sophomore at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida said his professor started gunning for him and his troubles began.

"It was very off-putting and flat out odd. I've traveled the Middle East, lectured at the Salahaddin University, and immersed myself in Muslim culture for many years. Honestly, it reminded me of some of the more radical groups I researched when abroad," Marshall Polston told Central Florida Post.

Polston said up till that point he was a straight-A student, but that all changed when his professor retaliated and gave him a 52% on an essay.

"I was upset, understandably. I've never gotten anything less than straight A's," Polston explained. "So, I was really interested in figuring out how to possibly improve or at least understand the grade."

Shortly after, Muslim Humanities professor Areeje Zufari reported Rollins to the "Dean of Safety" claiming she felt unsafe to even conduct class. But The CF Post reports that Zufari gave conflicting statements to the school and police as to why she felt threatened by Polston.

When Zufari resumed classes Polston said he was challenged a second time by a radical Muslim student who suggested a "good punishment for gays, adulterers, and thieves was the removal of a certain body part, as determined by Sharia law."

"It took a few seconds for me to realize that he actually said that, especially after what this community has faced with the tragic loss of life at Pulse," Polston recalled.

The conservative Christian student said the radical statement unnerved him and several other classmates, but it was only his responses that were reported to school authorities, leading to a meeting with the Dean where he was informed that his behavior was making the campus "unsafe."

In an interview with our Gary Lane, Polston provided details of his disciplinary hearing.

"It's really amazing when I got to the school they had five police officers there, they had two investigators, or two detectives and they had campus security everywhere and nothing for the young man who said that it was okay to chop off a hand,"  he explained.

"They made it clear that they had not gotten a report about what the student said, and were more concerned about the danger I was causing to the campus," Polston said. "What danger? A difference of opinion in a college classroom is nothing out of the ordinary and certainly not dangerous. It was surreal and degrading. The bad grade was upsetting, but they were literally refusing to acknowledge the dangers posed by someone who advocated chopping off body parts on campus."

Last Friday, Polston was alerted in a letter from the school administration that his actions "constituted a threat of disruption," and resulted in a "summary suspension."

"It was really reprehensible that I was shut down for voicing my opinion," he told CBN News.

The private liberal college was in the media in 2013 after kicking the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship off campus for not allowing non-Christian students to hold leadership positons, a violation of the college's anti-discrimination policy.  In that same year students were banned from having Bible studies in the common areas of their dorm suites.

Polston told CBN News he thinks Rollins College should have done a more thurough background check on Professor Zufari.

"Her connections to these organizations, her history this was all something they should have known before and I guess they just didn't do due diligence."

Court documents show Professor Zufari was one of three defendants named in a 2007 lawsuit filed by Rosine Collin Ghawji.

In the complaint, Mrs. Ghawji alleged that her estranged husband, Dr. Maher Ghawji and Ms. Zufari "conspired to in effect terrorize"  her and their two children.

She claimed that Maher Ghawji told the children "he would be proud if they blew themselves up for Allah because it would be glorification of their lives." The complaint also states that Mr. Ghawji told Mrs. Ghawji that "he would rather see the children dead than them not being fundamentalist Muslims."

The Orlando Sentinel quotes Zufari telling a school administrator, "You know I would almost be laughing if I could summon the humor.  In my real life, I'm actually a pretty boring person."

But Zufari's reported ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and radical Wahhabi Islam are no laughing matter.

The 2007 Orange County court complaint includes allegations that Professor Zufari was secretly married to Mrs. Ghawji's husband Maher. Together they traveled to Seattle, Washington to conduct "targeting and surveillance" of American interests.  

The Central Florida Post reports Mrs. Ghawji worked for the FBI as "a source for years to inform on her husband's email activity and conversations with contacts in the Middle East."

The CFP says Maher Ghawji "had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and donated thousands of dollars to charities that funneled money to Al-Qaeda."

The Post also reported that Zufari once defended the anti-Semitic statements of  Sheik Abdur-Rahman Al-Sudai who appeared on Saudi television saying that "Jews needed to be 'annihilated" and that he referred to Jews as "the scum of the human race, rats of the world, the killers of prophets, and the grandsons of monkeys and pigs."

According to the CFP, Zufari led the effort to bring the Sheikh to speak at a conference in Kissimmee and was also involved in promoting an event with Brooklyn Imam Siraj Wihaj, one of the named co-conspirators in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

CBN News was unable to contact Professor Zufari for comment. She has refused to respond to other media requests.

Rollins College President Grant Cornwell released a statement to the campus community saying, "As an institution of higher learning we value the exploratiion of a broad diversity of beliefs, identities, backgrounds and faith traditions, and welcome those who manifest them in our community."

So, what would Polston like to see happen?

He says the college should reinstate him and Professor Zufari should be dismissed from her duties.

"I think that they realized that they maybe had made a mistake… there are certainly groups I think within every organization in academia today in America that are out on a witch hunt—in my opinion against Christian students like me. "

He still believes that "Rollins is a great school," he" loves it" and would like to continue his studies there.

Watch the video to hear Polston talk about the ordeal and how it has affected his faith.

Obama's Foreign Policy Legacy: Peace or Danger Ahead? - CBN News Gary Lane

Obama's Foreign Policy Legacy: Peace or Danger Ahead?

10-25-2016

CBN News Gary Lane

WASHINGTON -- As Barack Obama prepares to leave the White House, how will his foreign policy efforts be judged by history?

Will he be seen as a presidential peacemaker or a feckless leader who created a more dangerous world?

On January 20, 2009, Obama unveiled his foreign policy vision within moments of his swearing in as the nation's 44th president.

"Our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint," he said. "America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

Nine months later, the Nobel Committee awarded him the peace prize, not for his accomplishments, but for what he intended to do on the world stage.

Now as Obama prepares to leave the White House, some security experts are questioning his foreign policy accomplishments and the consequences of his actions.

Foreign Policy an 'Utter Failure'

Supporters of the president's policies say he's leaving behind a more peaceful world and eventually the Middle East will be a safer place. But his critics on Capitol Hill say nothing could be further from the truth: he's created a big mess for the next president.

"He received a prize for a naive worldview that we know in 2016 has been an utter failure," former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz said.

During his first inaugural address, the president said he'd take steps to end America’s wars.

"We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan," Obama said.

Despite that promise, peace didn't come to Afghanistan. The president wanted to withdraw all U.S. forces by late 2014. But instead a resurgent Taliban wreaked havoc on the country, so Obama reversed course. Today, more than 8,000 Americans still remain there.

In Iraq, the president withdrew all American troops by the end of 2011, despite being warned repeatedly by top government officials and military advisors – including his own Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta – about the potential consequences.

But Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine says the president had no choice.

"Iraq didn't want our troops to stay and they wouldn't give us the protection for our troops," Kaine insisted.

Panetta has since written in his book that although an agreement was difficult, it could have been done.

The Rise of ISIS

Critics, including GOP vice presidential candidate Mike Pence, say Obama’s premature withdrawal from Iraq helped lead to the rise of the deadly Islamic terrorist group ISIS.

"The sacrifices the American soldier made were squandered in Iraq because this administration created a vacuum in which ISIS was able to grow," Pence said.

Once ISIS was on the scene after Obama's withdrawal from Iraq, it carried out a horrible genocide against Christians, Yazidis and others in Iraq and Syria, causing a humanitarian crisis in the Middle East and Europe.

"You don't walk away from a war when the other team is bringing it to you," Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, explained. "That is, I've heard this president say he wants to get out of these wars, but when they bring it to you have no choice but to lead and to protect the American people."

Pompeo is a member of the House Intelligence Committee. He says Obama and members of his administration refuse to take seriously the Islamic terror threat.

"He told us that al Qaeda was on the run, he has since told us that ISIS was the JV," Pompeo said. 

Failures at Home

The failures are also right here at home, Pompeo and others say. When Omar Mateen murdered 49 Americans in Orlando earlier this year, Obama refused to call it an act of Islamic terror. 

"There is no magic to the phrase 'radical Islam.' It is a political talking point. it is not a strategy," the president said.

The Center for Security Policy's Fred Fleitz disagrees.

"When we have a president who will not admit that we are at war with radical Islam, who won't even use the term, when we portray this threat as some threat from an isolated terrorist group and not a global ideology at war with modern society and Western civilization, we are never going to beat it," Fleitz insists. 

Weak American Leadership

In Syria, critics say feckless U.S. support of moderate rebel groups caused al Qaeda, al Nusra, and the Islamic State to grow in power and influence.

President Obama said he would draw a red line in the sand if Syrian President Assad used chemical weapons against his own people. Assad turned over 1,300 tons of the weapons, but later used a chemical weapon -- chlorine gas -- against the rebels. Obama took no military action.

As a result, Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped up his country's involvement, sending aircraft and troops to help Assad.

Pence says weak American leadership in the Middle East led to Russia's return to the region.
 
"There's an old proverb that says the Russian bear never dies, it just hibernates," he explained.

That bear came out of hibernation seven years after the Obama administration promised a "re-set" of relations with Russia. Putin moved not only in Syria, but also in Georgia, Crimea, and Ukraine. 

"We watched the Russians take one-fifth of a sovereign nation and America's response was almost nothing," Pompeo said. "That tells Vladimir Putin he has a green light and you've seen him use that power."

In Egypt, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood took office as president in the summer of 2012. But within months, he had issued a decree that basically gave him unlimited powers.

His opponents called it an "Islamist coup." Egyptians took to the streets to protest and President Obama demanded the Egyptian army restore Morsi and the Brotherhood to power.

Some Egyptians claimed Brotherhood agents and sympathizers in the U.S. government influenced policy.

Mohammed Elibiary served on the president's Department of Homeland Security advisor council. Elibiary had praised a Muslim Brotherhood leader and spoke at a 2004 event honoring Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini.

And the president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a group with suspected ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, advised President Obama on immigration and counterterrorism policy. 

Parts of Iran Deal Kept Secret

Barack Obama would likely say his greatest foreign policy achievement was the nuclear deal with Iran, but many critics say the administration only accomplished the deal by keeping key parts of it secret.

"In the fall of 2016 we have a nuclear deal that can only be described as an enormous fraud," Fleitz said. "The only way that this deal got through is because the details of it were concealed from Congress."

Pompeo exposed several secret side deals in the agreement.

"This president struck a secret deal with the ayatollah that's really between him and the ayatollah. It's not even signed by either party and that will almost always end in a way that does not serve the American people's interest," Pompeo said. 

In the recent vice presidential debate, Kaine said the Iran deal eliminated Iran's nuclear weapons program.

Former President Bill Clinton's CIA director James Woolsey disagrees. He calls it "worse than worthless."

"I think it may be the worst international agreement the United States has ever signed. I think it will enhance Iran's ability to move quickly to have a nuclear weapon to not slow it down," Woolsey insists.

"The reason is Iran can continue to enrich uranium, develop advanced centrifuges, and will have a reactor that produces plutonium that is being redesigned by the Chinese and will not be monitored by a process set up by this treaty," Fleitz explained.

Woolsey is concerned about the cash payments the Obama administration delivered to Iran the same day American prisoners were released in Tehran, ultimately amounting to $150 billion.

"We are turning over tens of billions of dollars to them saying that we are getting away from sanctions, and in part it seems it is more likely what that is, is bribery substantially to the Iranians to release some of our people they have grabbed," Woolsey said.

Pompeo and others believe the money provided by the United States may be used by Iran to spread terrorism and further develop its nuclear weapons program.

Obama Vision Falls Short

So, nearly eight years after his swearing in, America's Nobel Peace Prize winning president has fallen short of his goal of ushering in a new era of peace with many analysts warning that the world is now a more dangerous place than when he entered the White House.

"The president thought when he came to office his magnificence and his aura would solve all the world's problems. The fact is, these enemies of the United States hate us regardless of who is in the White House," Fleitz explained.

"They hate our way of life, they hate our country, and they didn't change their way of thought because Barack Obama became president," he said.

And they're likely to pose greater danger for the world and the next American president.

Christians Need Not Apply: Few Syrian Christian Refugees Allowed into US - CBN News Gary Lane

Christians Need Not Apply: Few Syrian Christian Refugees Allowed into US

08-30-2016

CBN News Gary Lane

The Obama administration has surpassed its goal of receiving 10,000 Syrian refugees by Oct. 1, but very few of the new arrivals are Christian.

The official count for the fiscal year reached 10,126 resettled Syrians when 224 refugees arrived Monday. They are among 12,000 Syrian refugees interviewed earlier this year in Jordan by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Although 1 million Christians have fled Syria, Christians comprise only 0.51 percent of the refugee total.  More than 98 percent of those allowed into the United States this fiscal year are Sunni Muslims, the largest Islamic sect in Syria comprising 74 percent of that population.

Some Christians believe the Syrian Christian immigration numbers should be much higher; the percentage of those allowed into the United States should reflect their percentage of the population in Syria.

Last September, President Obama pledged to increase the number of Syrian refugees allowed to enter the United States. He set a goal of 10,000, six times the number of those allowed to enter the U.S. in FY 2015 when a total of 1682 were admitted - that compared to only 105 Syrian refugees admitted in FY 2014.

Although Christians are 10 percent of the Syrian population, only 100 Syrian Christian refugees have been allowed to enter the United States since the start of the civil war more than five years ago. 

Why so few Christians?

Earlier this year some of the Republican presidential candidates--Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump said greater immigration priority should be given to Syrian Christians over Muslims.

President Obama has argued there should be no religious litmus test for admitting Syrian refugees. He said such a policy would be un-American.

"When individuals say we should have a religious test and that only Christians, proven Christians, should be admitted, that's offensive and contrary to American values," the president said.

Last March, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that atrocities committed by the Islamic State against Yazidis, Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria constituted genocide.

But so far, the genocide declaration has not changed the number of affected minorities allowed into the United States. In addition to receiving only 52 Christians this fiscal year, the government has only admitted 14 Yazidis and 20 Shi'a Muslims into the country (official figures released before the Monday arrivals).  

The Obama administration has yet to announce its goal for next year, but immigration observers expect the number to be set at 20,000. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says she'd like to see the number increased to 65,000.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says that would amount to a 500 percent increase in Syrian refugees admitted into the country. He has called it a "bigger version of the legendary Trojan Horse."

He and other Republicans say the government lacks a thorough vetting program for the refugees and the current process exposes the people of the U.S. to the possibility of more Islamic terror attacks like those that occurred in San Bernardino and Orlando.

Kerry Declares ISIS Committing Genocide against Christians, Others - CBN News

CBN News' Efrem Graham with Gary Lane

Kerry Declares ISIS Committing Genocide against Christians, Others

03-17-2016

CBN News

Secretary of State John Kerry has determined that ISIS is indeed committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria.

"In my judgment Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in territory under its control" Kerry said in a statment Thursday, using the Arabic acronym for the jihadist army.

"Daesh is genocidal by self-acclimation, by ideology and by practice," he added.

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or IS, has slaughtered many Christians, Yazidis and other minorities since launching their jihad ("holy" war).

So, what does Kerry's genocide designation mean? CBN News' Gary Lane explains more on his blog, The Global Lane.

Also, Lane recently shared his thoughts on how labeling ISIS's attacks on religious minorities as "genocide" could affect the political year and beyond. Watch below:

In making his decision, Kerry weighed whether ISIS targeting of Christians and other minorities meets the definition of genocide.

Still, Kerry's announcement will not "obligate" the administration to take further action against ISIS terrorists.

The secretary explained that he was "neither judge nor prosecutor nor jury," and that any criminal charges must come from an independent international investigation.

Several groups had pushed for a declaration of genocide. And the House of Representatives voted this week 393 to nothing to condemn ISIS atrocities as genocide.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., applauded Kerry's announcement.

"The United States has now spoken with clarity and moral authority," he said.

"I sincerely hope that the genocide designation will raise international consciousness, end the scandal of silence, and create the preconditions for the protection and reintegration of these ancient faith communities into their ancestral homelands," he continued.

"Christians, Yazidis, and others remain an essential part of the Middle East's rich tapestry of religious and ethnic diversity," Fortenberry said.

Billy Graham: US Church Should Brace for Persecution - CBN News

Billy Graham: US Church Should Brace for Persecution

CBNNews.com

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

America's best-known evangelist says the American church should prepare for persecution.

In an article in Decision Magazine, Billy Graham warns that the immunity to persecution that Christians in our country have enjoyed over the last few centuries is unusual.

Graham says there is no scriptural foundation for a belief that we can forever escape being persecuted for Christ's sake. In fact, Christ strongly warns his followers that becoming His disciple would not be a popular decision.

CBN Sr. International Correspondent Gary Lane talks about why it is unusual the American Church has not faced persecution.

So how will we respond when Christians here at home are pressured to deny Christ?

Graham list's five ways to fortify yourself so that you are able to stand when that day comes.

1. Make sure of your relationship to God.
Prepare to meet God. Have you been to the cross where Christ shed His blood for your sins? Have you had the past forgiven? Have you come by faith, confessing that you are a sinner and receiving Christ as your Savior?

2. Walk with God in your daily life.
If you are walking with God now, when times of crisis come you will be prepared to meet them head on. God has not promised to deliver us from trouble, but he will walk with us through it.

3. Assimilate Scripture.
Fortify yourself with the Word of God. Begin reading, studying and memorizing Scripture as never before. The Bible says, "Stand therefore, having your waist girded with truth" (Ephesians 6:14).

4. Pray Always.
If Christianity is to survive in a world filled with materialism, the church must have a revival of prayer. As individuals, we must repent of prayerlessness. The prayer meeting must become the vital institution it was when evangelical Christianity was the mightiest force in the world.

5. Meditate on Christ.
We must learn again to practice the presence of God. Christ must be vitally real to us if we are to prove loyal to Him in the hours of crisis.

Graham is still preaching and pointing to Christ through his newest book, Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity and Our Life Beyond. His son, Franklin Graham, recently spoke to CBN News about his father's latest and most likely final book.

Watch CBN News interview: Gary Lane & persecution

Pakistan Court Overturns Asia Bibi's Death Sentence

Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian

Pakistan Court Overturns Asia Bibi's Death Sentence

CBNNews.com

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

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Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian mom sentenced to hang to death for "blasphemy," will not be executed.

The Pakistani Supreme Court's three-judge panel overturned the death sentence, previously issued by two lower courts, on Wednesday.

Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in November 2010 for telling fellow workers on a berry farm, "Our Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for our sins," and "Our Christ is alive."

She has languished in prison for more than six years and is reportedly in ill health.

"The Supreme Court of Pakistan has stayed the execution of Asia Bibi on blasphemy charges," Christian Today quoted Naveed Aziz, with the British Pakistani Christian Association.

"I am pleased with this decision," she said. "It is obvious that international pressure led to this amazing decision, and I thank all people who have called for her freedom. Sister Asia will have to spend more time in jail, but her freedom is now a real possibility and only a matter of time."

A new hearing has yet to be scheduled for Bibi's case. In the meantime, she remains incarcerated.

Her family and friends ask for continued prayers for her and Pakistani Christians.

CBN News Chief International Correspondent Gary Lane has followed this story for years and has met with Asia Bibi's husband and children. Click below for his comments on the Pakistan Supreme Court's decision to reverse her death sentence and what it means for her and the church in Pakistan.

Unafraid of ISIS, Iraqi Christian Girl's Faith Beyond Viral

CBNNews.com

Sunday, July 12, 2015

ERBIL, Iraq--  It's now been one year since the Islamic State overran much of northern Iraq. ISIS has brutalized, raped, and murdered thousands.

CBN News shared many of the horror stories, but we also learned of one little Christian overcomer who inspired us. The unshakeable faith of young Maryam Behnam has encouraged Christians in Iraq and around the world.

For Iraq, the summer of 2014 was like no other as a militant Muslim group know as the Islamic State overran the city of Mosul and nearby villages. Thousands were killed, or kidnapped and more than a million people fled into Iraqi Kurdistan.

Over the last year, CBN News brought you many reports from Iraq about Christians who have been forced from their homes because of ISIS. But young Maryam's story went viral, so we thought we'd introduce you to her once again.

Fearless Faith of a Child

Late last year, the world was amazed to hear Maryam tell a Sat 7 reporter she forgives ISIS.

Reporter Essam Nagy asked Maryam, " What are your feelings towards those who drove you out of your home and caused you hardships?

Maryam responded, "I won't do anything to them, I will only ask God to forgive them."

Watch that viral interview below:

Hundreds of thousands of people viewed her comments on the Internet.

CBN's Gary Lane recently caught up with the 11-year-old and her younger sister Zomorod as they returned from school. Their family recently moved into a small, two bedroom trailer in a community of displaced Christians in Erbil.

So, why is Maryam unafraid of ISIS, and why does she forgive the jihadists who drove her from her home in Qaraqoush?

"In the Bible Jesus said to us, 'Don't be afraid, I am with you.' And also, He said forgive others no matter who they are hating you. You have to forgive them," she said. "Jesus is my father, and He is my creator. I have no one else better than him. When ISIS drove us out of our home, His hand was on us and He saved us."

Future Dreams

When Maryam grows up she wants to join Doctors Without Borders.

"There are people everywhere, they need treatment but they cannot get it because they don't have enough money to go to the doctor and the doctors aren't available usually," she said passionately. "So, this is why. As Jesus said, 'You've been given freely, you should give freely.' This is why we should love them and provide treatment."

Maryam said she cherishes the Bible because it is God's love story to humanity.

"The only story in the Bible is the story of the resurrection of Christ Jesus the Lord because through that story, we can have hope. "

The young displaced Christian said when she prays, it isn't for a bigger home or more possessions.

"When I pray, I pray that God might help us to go back home. And also that the peace of God might come all over Iraq and also, may God forgive ISIS."

Source of Wisdom

So, what is the source of Maryam's unshakeable faith and the words of wisdom beyond her years? 

"The words I am speaking to you are not coming from a random place. They come from the Holy Spirit," she insisted. "The Holy Spirit gave me these words to tell you."

Maryam's father Walid is proud his daughter became an Internet sensation.

He thanks God for Maryam, because He "gave me a nice daughter to disseminate the Word of Jesus to all the world through the media, not to famous her, but to give the regard of God to all the people and to the peace."

Maryam and her sister Zomorod love singing hymns. Their mother Alice has taught them the words to many Christian songs.

"It seems like the Holy Spirit put in their hearts to love those songs and dedicate this part of their personality to love God and praise God," she told CBN News. "So they admire this way of worshiping."

Listen to the girls sing below.

For the Glory of God

Maryam advised Christian children in the United States and elsewhere to love God and share their faith with friends.

"They don't need to be frightened and also, things that happen in their lives, they should learn from us and our lives," she said.

"This should not be to get something or to get glory for ourselves," she continued. "It is for the sake of God because God lives and we want to do everything for the glory of God and also for exalting God in our lives."

Widow's Joy: He Didn't Deny Christ When Beheaded

By Gary Lane

CBN News Chief International Correspondent

Sunday, June 14, 2015

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CAIRO, Egypt -- Imagine ISIS kidnapped a relative of yours and then you see their brutal beheading on television. Many different emotions can take over, including anger, grief, and depression.

CBN News found a group of Egyptian Christians, however, who responded much differently. They are happy their family members stood firm in their faith.

Widow Mariam Farhat told us she, "was very proud" that her husband "stood firm in his faith and that he didn't deny Jesus."

That surprising reaction is happening 150 miles south of Cairo, in the village of Al Aour.

Residents there honor the sacrifice of 21 Egyptians brutally murdered last February by ISIS. Their pictures are prominently displayed in the sanctuary of Virgin Mary Church.

Thirteen attended the church. The martyrs left behind family members like 23-year-old Farhat. She became a widow when the militants beheaded her husband Malak Ibrahim in Libya.

She first learned of his murder when she saw the now infamous video on local television.

"We were very sad for the first two days, but we hadn't seen the video," she recalled. "When we saw them in the video calling to Jesus we were very comforted."

And that's why Mariam and other families say they are now joyful, not sad.

Bebawy Al Ham's brother Samuel was among those killed.

"We were always praying that God would make them steadfast in their faith," Bebawy told CBN News. "We were very happy with what they said on the video: 'Jesus Christ have mercy on us.' When we found out they had been killed for being Christian, we were very comforted, because these were God's children and he took them."

Although Samuel's wife and children now live without a husband and father, his family told CBN News their faith is stronger; they forgive the jihadists, and even pray for ISIS.

"I pray for them that God may open their hearts, and they may know the truth and know that what they do is wrong and then do the right thing," Bebawy said.

"Jesus told us to forgive every sin and we forgive them and we hope that they can come to know Jesus," he said.

Egyptian Christians are encouraged to know they are not alone. In the United States there's a growing movement among Christians to demonstrate unity and solidarity with those who are suffering for Christ in the Middle East.

Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, explained.

"What we thought was how could we identify and stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being brutalized around the world for their Christian faith?" he said. "What tangible thing could we do, what practical thing could we do?"

Immediately, orange jumpsuits came to mind. Mahoney and others launched the #orangejumpsuitcampaign. The movement has expanded to orange scarves, sweaters, and ribbons.

"It's to remind our brothers and sisters that we love them, and we're standing with them and to remind decision makers here in America and across the globe--the free nations of the world--we cannot be silent on this issue," Mahoney said.

He said the response has been amazing. Non-Christians have joined in as well.

"A Jewish rabbi, to stand in solidarity with persecuted Christians is dying his beard orange, which I think is incredible and I can't wait to see that," Mahoney said.

Mariam was encouraged after she viewed cell phone photos of Americans wearing orange.

"May the Lord make their love grow and grow. We are very happy with their love and we don't deserve their love," she told CBN News.

Mahoney said every five minutes around the world a Christian is killed for his faith.

"People don't understand the kind of barbarism and brutality they are going through," he said. "And you know when I visit persecuted Christians in the Middle East there is one thing that they always ask--it doesn't matter if it is Iraq, Syria, wherever it might be-- it's this: 'Please remember us!'"

And wearing orange on the job or at church helps people remember them.

"I think people need to understand that if we do not act quickly, the public expression of Christianity may be extinguished in the Middle East. As Elie Weisel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, says, "we must always take sides. Silence only helps the oppressor, never the oppressed,'" Mahoney said.

Mariam also has a message for others who have suffered or still face danger from ISIS.

"Don't be sad or cry. God will support us all," he said. "And he will fulfill his promise that he is the father of the orphans and the widows."

Watch video: Joy in Jesus

A Year in Prison for Defending the Cross in China

The Global Lane

Gary Lane

CBN News Senior International Reporter

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A Year in Prison for Defending the Cross in China

Defending the Cross in China will get you jail time.

Just ask Pastor Huang Yizi. He spoke out publicly against government removal of crosses from churches in Zhejiang Province. This week a court in Pingyang city sentenced him to one year in prison. He's been jailed since last August.

Huang was found guilty of gathering crowds to disrupt social order.Huang's lawyers say he only encouraged church members to oppose the illegal action of government authorities by restoring church crosses to their rightful places.

The Zhejiang government removed 400 rooftop crosses throughout the province last year, maintaining they had violated building codes. But Christians say in reality, the communists didn't want daily reminders of Christianity's rapid growth throughout China; they detested crosses becoming a regular fixture of Zhejiang's city skylines.

Huang's case will be appealed.

Pray that he will remain strong in his faith and that he will be reunited soon with his family and friends.

Find out more about Huang at the China Aid web site.

And it's not just Christians who have been targeted by government officials. A human rights organization was raided this week because its workers have been speaking out against the groping of women on public transportation.

Read more here: China Human Rights Raid.

CBN News

Joel Rosenberg: 'I Believe It's a Demonic Movement'

1/8/2015 GARY LANE/CBN  charisma news

Joel Rosenberg (Facebook, file)

Author Joel Rosenberg is sounding the alarm that radical Islam is spreading and if world leaders don't deal decisively with it, we're all in danger.

"The Islamic State is not interested in being contained to Syria and Iraq," Rosenberg told CBN News. "(ISIS) sees itself as building a regional caliphate or Islamic kingdom and eventually a global kingdom and it will kill anyone that gets in its way."

Rosenberg believes ISIS is the new radical Islamic brand.

"They have come on so fast, so strong, I believe it's a demonic movement," he said. "They are not just terrorizing people, they are engaged in genocide. In Syria and Iraq, they are trying to eliminate Christianity in those two countries."

Unless otherwise specified, the opinions expressed are solely the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Charisma Media.

#WeAreN: Christians Marked for Modern-Day Holocaust

The Global Lane - CBN News

Gary Lane

CBN News Senior International Reporter

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#WeAreN: Christians Marked for Modern-Day Holocaust

My father--a World War II veteran--often told me that history has a strange way of repeating itself.

Seventy years after the Nazis forced Jews to wear Yellow Star of David patches on their clothing to mark them for persecution and extermination, another holocaust is under way.

This time, it's Middle East Christians instead of European Jews. But the evil tactics are much the same.

Members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)--now known simply as The Islamic State (IS)--have marked Christians for dimmi status and extinction; their goal is to eliminate all Christian presence from their new caliphate.

As their predecessors did 1,400 years ago, Muslims in the IS have given Christians four options:

1. Convert to Islam.

2. Live as dimmis under sharia law and pay the jizya tax.

3. Forfeit their homes, possessions, and flee the IS.

4. Die.

Christian homes and businesses have been marked with the Arabic letter Nun. It stands for "Nazarene," or Christian. This symbol has now gone viral on social media and Christians around the globe are using it as a symbol of solidarity with the Christians of Mosul and Iraq.

They've also started the hashtag #WeAreN.

I too, have adopted the Nun symbol as my Facebook photo 

www.facebook.com/GlobalLane.

But it will take more than just hastags and symbols to stop Caliph Ibrahim (Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi), his cohorts, and other Islamic extremists from committing atrocities in the Middle East.

Sir Edmund Burke said, "Evil prevails when good men do nothing."

Just ask survivors of the Jewish concentration camps.

Hashtags and symbols are excellent tools to raise awareness, but good men--and women--will need to do more to rescue these ancient Christian communities from this modern-day holocaust.

Watch this video of Islamic extremists blowing up the Mosul mosque that housed the tomb of the Biblical prophet, Jonah:

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