Northland’s connection to Houma is a virtual one. The church is partnering with one of its online congregants, [...]]]> LONGWOOD, Fla. /PRNewswire/ — This weekend, Northland, A Church Distributed will host a backpack drive to collect school supplies for families in need in Central Florida, as well as those affected by the oil spill in Houma, La.

Northland’s connection to Houma is a virtual one. The church is partnering with one of its online congregants, Terri Goulette, who worships with 2,000 others from around the world each weekend via interactive webstream.

Goulette, who lives in an area that has been severely affected by the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, wanted to do something to help the families who lost their livelihood as a result of the spill. One morning she awoke with an idea: backpack drive. Remembering Northland’s annual school drive, she invited her church family in Florida to join her in gathering 1,000 backpacks and school supplies for the children of commercial fishermen, shrimpers, oystermen, truck drivers, ice factory workers and others.

“They were expecting a plentiful season this year, but just two weeks before the fishing season opened, the oil spill happened,” Goulette explains. “It has been very hard riding down the bayous and seeing all the shrimp boats and oyster boats just lined up when they should be harvesting seafood.”

While there is a great need for back-to-school supplies in Houma, there are thousands of homeless children in Central Florida who cannot afford back-to-school supplies. To help meet this need, Northland’s backpack drive will also benefit several local organizations:

– A Gift for Teaching, an organization that works within Seminole County
Public Schools to provide kids and teachers with supplies throughout
the entire year
– Christian HELP, which provides for the vocational, material and
spiritual needs of those who are unemployed
– Harvest Time, a hunger and disaster relief organization meeting the
needs of families

Backpacks are needed for grade school, middle school and high school students. Individuals may choose to fill a backpack with supplies, or just donate supplies or backpacks. Donations can be dropped off at Northland’s Welcome Center in Longwood through Aug. 2.

ABOUT NORTHLAND

Northland, A Church Distributed (http://www.northlandchurch.net/) is a pioneering congregation of 12,000 led by senior pastor Dr. Joel C. Hunter. Focused on building an international community of worshipers, the church connects thousands of believers worldwide, using live, interactive weekly worship streaming through the Web, Facebook, iPhone and other environments. Northland has several sites throughout Central Florida, as well many house churches and partner ministries around the globe.

Falahow refused to surrender the book and reminded them that they were living in Addis Ababa and not in Mogadishu, and [...]]]> Washington, D.C., International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned on July 16 five Somali Muslim men assaulted and seriously injured a Christian man in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for reading a book critical of the Prophet Muhammad.

Falahow refused to surrender the book and reminded them that they were living in Addis Ababa and not in Mogadishu, and therefore had religious freedom.

One of the Muslim men attempted to seize the book from Falahow’s grasp, but when he failed, he proceeded to punch and kick Falahow. Fourother Muslim men joined in, ganging up on Falahow and beating him mercilessly.

Falahow suffered injuries that included a broken leg and cuts to his face. Currently, he is recovering in a safe house provided by the Somali Christian community in Addis Ababa. The incident has been reported to the police.

A Somali church leader in Addis Ababa spoke to ICC, describing the attacks as ‘a brutal attempt to subdue the growing Somali Christian community in Addis Ababa’

This is not the first time that Somali Muslims have attacked Somalis who converted to Christianity in Addis Ababa. However, this is the first time that such an attack took place in a crowded public place.

Jonathan Racho, ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, said “Several Somali Christians have been killed by Islamic radicals in Somalia and many have left their country due to the persecution they face. Sadly, they don’t escape from persecution even after they leave their country. We urge Ethiopian authorities to stop the attempt by Islamists to import their violent ideologies from Somalia. The mistreatment of Christian converts will get worse unless the authorities take action against the individuals responsible for attacking Falahow.”

Faith Comes By Hearing, a non-profit Audio Bible organization, recently released this free Bible app to the App Store.

The Bible.is for iPhone app’s major features include: – Listening and reading together – Dramatized audio with [...]]]> ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Read, listen to and share the Bible with your friends and family through the Bible.is iPhone app.

Faith Comes By Hearing, a non-profit Audio Bible organization, recently released this free Bible app to the App Store.

The Bible.is for iPhone app’s major features include:
– Listening and reading together
– Dramatized audio with 180 characters, music and sound effects
– Audio New Testaments with full text in 37 languages and 63 versions
– Simple verse sharing on Facebook
– Complete Bible in English (Old and New Testaments)

“There are many free Bible apps out there, but this is the first that allows you to read and listen to your favorite Scripture together,” said Troy Carl, Faith Comes By Hearing’s national director. “You can also bookmark, highlight, and add notes to verses just like in a print Bible.”

“This app was designed to provide a quality Bible experience,” added Carl. “The Scripture is crisp and clear for easy reading with simple audio controls. There’s also a 40-day listening program that guides you through the entire New Testament in just 28 minutes a day.”

Future updates to these mobile apps will deliver the Bible in audio and text in hundreds of languages. Faith Comes By Hearing currently has the audio New Testament in more than 450 languages with a goal of recording the Bible in 2,000 languages.

The Bible.is suite of applications puts the Bible at your fingertips, anytime, anywhere in the world in audio, text and multiple languages. This free iPhone app is the first in a series of app releases designed through the Digital Bible Project, the world’s largest active collection of digital Scripture made freely available to individuals, organizations, developers and programmers. Free Bible.is apps for Android, Blackberry and iPad are also being developed and tested for future release.

The Bible.is app is available for free from the App Store or at www.itunes.com/appstore. Learn more about the Bible.is suite of applications at www.Bible.is.

About Faith Comes By Hearing

For more than 35 years, Faith Comes By Hearing has been standing with poor and illiterate people of the world to provide them with Audio Scripture in their own language. From mobile and online technologies to solar-powered Audio Bibles, Faith Comes By Hearing continues to innovate and invite people to hear God’s Word for themselves.

Launched in [...]]]> LOS ANGELES /Christian Newswire/ — Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the world’s largest religious broadcaster and America’s most watched and requested faith channel, is pleased to announce that the Church Channel, its 24-hour network featuring church and religious programming from a wide variety of denominations and ministries, is now available on DISH Network, channel 258.

Launched in 2002 in response to viewer demand that has made worship and church services one of the most popular program categories on faith-based television, the Church Channel reaches over 43 million households nationwide.

With its addition to the DISH Network lineup, the Church Channel is now available on many major satellite and cable services, including DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, Verizon Fios, and Sky Angel, as well as in selected markets on Comcast and Charter Cable. In addition, the network is carried internationally via 87 satellite transponders.

Paul Crouch Jr., TBN’s Chief of Staff, recalled that the idea for a network dedicated to church programming was born when TBN executives realized that church services are among the most popular and highly rated programs on television.

Christian researcher George Barna discovered that up to one-third of Americans were not making church attendance a regular priority, and that number was growing each year. His research also found that millions
of Americans were turning to Christian media as their primary source for spiritual input, a statistic that provided momentum for the launch of a network devoted to broadcasting worship services.

“Along with this viewer need, we were also aware that a lot of dynamic churches and ministries were producing top quality programs,” said Crouch. “We launched the Church Channel to tap into those resources and to provide a powerful new avenue to help viewers cultivate a relevant, meaningful worship lifestyle.”

Today the Church Chanel features ministry programs from the nation’s most influential and popular spiritual leaders, along with the best programming from America’s Mainline, Evangelical, Charismatic, and Catholic denominations and churches.

Rod Henke, program director for the Church Channel, noted that no religious network features a wider variety of church service and religious programming than the Church Channel. “We’ve taken care to select the very best of what is being produced in church programming today,” he said, “and we feature prominent and favorite church leaders more often and at more convenient times throughout the week.”

Henke noted that with its launch on DISH Network, the Church Channel takes its place as one of the most popular and uplifting faith channels available on satellite and cable television. “Think about it! Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, viewers in more than 43 million households across America have unlimited access to the very best in church and ministry programming. In today’s market, we think that’s a big plus.”

About Trinity Broadcasting Network
Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is the world’s largest religious network
and America’s most watched and requested faith channel. Each day TBN offers 24 hours of commercial-free inspirational programming that appeals to viewers from a wide variety of denominations and backgrounds. Beginning in 1973 as a single UHF station in southern California, TBN now reaches every major continent via 78 satellites and more than 18,000 television and cable affiliates worldwide. In the United States, TBN is available to 92 percent of the total households. Its website receives millions of visitors monthly. In addition to TBN, the network owns and operates seven networks, including the Church Channel, JCTV youth network, TBN Enlace USA Spanish language network, and Smile of a Child children’s network. For more information on TBN, visit www.tbn.org and www.tbnnetworks.com.

Nearly 1,000 citizens from all 50 states signed the free petition on [...]]]> RALEIGH, N.C. /Christian Newswire/ — The Pray In Jesus Name Project is faxing more than 140,000 petitions to the North Carolina State-House, demanding legislators reverse Speaker Joe Hackney’s ban against the forbidden word “Jesus” during public prayers spoken by volunteer pastors giving the invocation.

Nearly 1,000 citizens from all 50 states signed the free petition on the first day, which was then faxed to each of 120 North Carolina State Representatives and all 50 Senators.

On May 31, Speaker Hackney verbally banned Jesus’ name as “illegal speech” by disinviting Pastor Ron Baity from praying before the legislature after pre-screening the prayer content and objecting to his closing words, “in Jesus name.” No written policy exists banning prayer content, but the Speaker is now writing one.

“I got fired,” said Ron Baity, pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. He had been invited to lead prayer for an entire week but his tenure was cut short when he refused to remove the name Jesus from his invocation.

“Our petition campaigns have helped reverse Jesus-bans in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, Oregon, California and Virginia, and now we fight for free religious speech in North Carolina,” said former Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt, leader of The Pray in Jesus Name Project. Klingenschmitt himself was punished for praying “in Jesus name” in uniform in 2006, but was later vindicated by the U.S. Congress. “Pastor Baity is a hero for refusing to water-down his prayers,” he said.

Despite deceptive claims by the ACLU’s easily-offended atheist complainers, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals specifically authorized legislatures to allow Jesus-prayers in Turner v. Fredericksburg, when Justice O’Connor wrote: “the Establishment Clause does not absolutely dictate the form of legislative prayer. In March, the legislature employed a single chaplain…the legislature in Simpson allowed a diverse group of church leaders from around the community to give prayers at open meetings. Both varieties of legislative prayer were found constitutional.”

Concerned citizens are encouraged to sign the free petition at prayinjesusname.org and tweet these words on Facebook and Twitter:

Speaker of the House Bans “Jesus” as illegal speech during prayers, fires Pastor. Sign free petition! http://tinyurl.com/illegaljesus

Muhammad Guul Hashim Idiris, a Christian convert from Islam, was traveling by land from Kalafo, an Ethiopian border town, to visit [...]]]> Washington, D.C. — International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that members of the Al-Qaeda linked Somali Islamist group, Al-Shabaab, publicly executed a Christian convert from Islam in the in Hudur district, Somalia on July 1st.

Muhammad Guul Hashim Idiris, a Christian convert from Islam, was traveling by land from Kalafo, an Ethiopian border town, to visit his mother in Mogadishu.

A fellow passenger recognized his Christian background and asked him if he thought the prophet Muhammad was a genuine messenger from God. Idiris responded by saying, “If I thought so, I would have believed in him instead of the Messiah.”

Once they reached the Hudur district, a stronghold of the Al- Shabaab terror network, the Muslim man reported Idiris to Al-Shabaab and had him detained on June 27th. Idiris was accused of insulting the prophet Muhammad. It is a serious sin to consider Muhammad not to be a genuine prophet and it warrants the death penalty.

Sheik Adan Yare, the Al-Shabab governor of the Bakol region, spoke to the press on July 1st and said, “Our holy warriors have today, on July 1st at 11: 45 am, executed in front of angry Muslim witnesses a young man whose name was Muhammad Guul Hashim Idiris who insulted our beloved prophet.”

The execution, which took place at a make-shift soccer stadium, was attended by hundreds of people, including school children who were forced to watch the execution.

The martyr had been married since January 26th and is survived by his pregnant widow.

Idiris’ paternal uncle and a Christian convert from Islam spoke to ICC from Addis Ababa, calling the Al-Shabaab execution “further evidence of Al-Shabaab’s attempt to eliminate Christianity from among Somali people in the Horn of Africa.”

Jonathan Racho, ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, said “We are deeply saddened by yet another execution of a Somali Christian. Al-Shabaab and Islamic extremist groups in Somalia have repeatedly vowed to wipe out Christians from Somalia. Al-Shabaab has murdered several Christians, chopped off the hands of Muslims suspected of crimes and even stoned Muslim women to death for allegedly committing adultery. The cruel and inhumane action of Al-Shabaab shows its complete disregard for human life.