A scientist and doctor by training, Collins started out in his career deeply sceptical about religious faith. He went on to embrace an atheistic worldview before an encounter with one of his patients set him on a new course of spiritual discovery. 

“Challenged by one of my patients to describe what I believed about God…I realised my atheism was dangerously thin,” Collins recalled. “I began a journey to try to understand why intellectually sophisticated people could actually believe in God. To my dismay, I found that atheism turned out to be the least rational of all the choices. To quote [G.K.] Chesterton, ‘Atheism is the most daring of all dogmas, for it is the assertion of a universal negative.'”

“Scientists aren’t supposed to do that,” he quipped.

Collins said that over a two-year period, “with much help from wise mentors and the writings of C.S. Lewis” he “slowly and rather reluctantly came to the conclusion that belief in God, while not possible to prove, was the most rational choice available”.

“I saw in the very science that I so loved something that I had missed,” Collins went on. “The evidence that seemed to cry out for a creator…there is something instead of nothing. The universe had a beginning; it follows elegant mathematical laws. Those laws include a half dozen constants that have to have the exact value they do or there would be no possibility of anything interesting or complex in nature.”

“God must be an amazing physicist and mathematician,” Collins thought. “But does he or she actually care about me?” 

As he continued to search for answers, Collins said he met a person who “not only claimed to know those answers and to know God, but to be God”.

“That was Jesus Christ,” he said. 

“I thought he was a myth. But the historical evidence for his real existence was utterly compelling – including his life, his death, and yes, his resurrection.

“As the truth of the New Testament sank in, I realised I was called to make a decision. In my 27th year, I simply could not resist any longer. With some trepidation, I knelt in the dewy grass on an October morning somewhere in the cascades, and I became a Christian.” 

Collins said his close friends predicted his faith would be “short-lived.”

“After all, I was by then a physician who was interested in studying genetics. Genetics means DNA. DNA means evolution. And by then I was convinced that evolution was not just a theory, it was supported by evidence that made it about as compelling as gravity. Surely, they said, my head would explode when the conflicts emerged.” 

“But that never happened,” Collins explained. “It is one of the great tragedies of the last 150 years, in the United States, that an ultra-literal reading of the first chapters of the Book of Genesis has been taken as a litmus test for serious Christian faith.” 

Collins argued that the “powerful, mystical” words in Genesis “tell us about who we are, and who God is, but were never intended to be a scientific textbook”. 

The geneticist went on to urge a new level of understanding between “voice at the two extremes” from atheist Richard Dawkins who he said “uses evolution as a club over the head of anyone stupid enough to accept the possibility of belief in God” to organisations of fundamentalist perspectives like “Answers in Genesis” who argue that “any scientific conclusions that disagree with their interpretation of the Bible must be considered at least wrong and, probably evil”. 

In a bid to bring the two sides together, Collins went on to argue that “the God of the Bible is also the God of the genome”. 

“God’s creation is majestic, awesome, intricate and beautiful.. and it cannot be at war with itself. Only we as imperfect humans can start such battles, and only we can end them.

“So the science/faith debate is a cardinal example of the opportunity for harmony, contrasted with the tendencies of us humans to focus instead on conflict, and to choose sides and to become polarised.”

Watch Collins’ full speech below:

Source: premierchristian.news

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The event, which is being organised in conjunction with Chrife.com.gh, MyKNest Research, Oblie Creative Consult and TKFW International, is to bring cheer to the less fortunate and enable them experience the love of God in this festive season.

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The ‘Holy’ singer went on to say that “believing and receiving this reality changes everything”.

“The way you live, the way you love! Accepting his free gift of forgiveness allows you to live a life FREE from guilt and shame! A life not based on your performance. This is good news,” he wrote.

The singe went on: “I follow Jesus. Following Jesus doesn’t make me better than anyone else although I know a lot of Christians have made people feel that way.

“Another thing to know about following Jesus is that a lot of the time it doesn’t change our circumstances. What it does do is give us an ETERNAL JOY that lasts through trials and painful seasons. Although people have failed me, Jesus never has.” 

The post has received just under a million likes in one day, with many posting replies of encouragement and support for the 26-year-old pop star’s willingness to speak out about his faith.

“Thank you for using your platform,” one person replied. “Love to see Justin in this new phase” another added. 

You can see this post by clicking here.

Source: premierchristian.news

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Judah 1, currently based out of Shreveport Regional Airport in Shreveport, Louisiana, has already carried small groups of missionaries to disaster areas and mission fields in its capacity as a private airline. 

But starting next year, Judah 1 will “go from being private, which is what we are now, to an actual airline standard,” Judah 1 President and CEO Everett Aaron told The Christian Post in an interview. 

When this happens, Judah 1 will have a Federal Aviation Administration certification, putting it in the same league as well-known airlines such as Delta. While the ministry currently deploys smaller aircraft for small teams of missionaries, the airline is planning to acquire larger planes that can fly hundreds of people by the end of 2021. 

“By the end of next year, we would like to have three to four large planes,” he stated. “As of yesterday, we now have being added to our fleet a Boeing 767-200ER. … It seats 238 people and can go anywhere in the world with one-stop. It carries 30 tons of cargo.”

In spite of its new status, there will still be differences between Judah 1 and the other airlines that have become household names in the U.S. and around the world.

“We will be non-scheduled and we do not have to have approved routes,” Aaron said. “So, that means we can go where we want when we want, unlike most airlines … that have to have certain schedules that they fly, have to have certain routes. We don’t have to do that.” 

While missionaries will have to pay airfare, Judah 1 has “no baggage fees and no cargo fees.”

“So all of the missionaries’ cargo goes for free,” Aaron explained.

Since it’s likely that Judah 1’s imminent launch as the first-ever Christian airline will take place in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, Aaron says there will be extra precautions in place just as the non-profit ministry has already done with flights that have taken off during the pandemic. 

“Our airplanes are sanitized,” he assured. “We have a machine that literally kills 99.9% of the germs in the aircraft. After every flight, we do that.”

According to Aaron, the airline is presented with an “advantage” because of its humanitarian nature. 

“We are allowed to go into countries that are locked down, whereas normal airlines cannot,” he said. 

One example of Judah 1’s work is last year when it transported Operation Blessing, a humanitarian group associated with the Christian Broadcasting Network, to the Bahamas to bring relief to the victims of Hurricane Dorian.

Aaron said Judah 1 plans on working with Operation Blessing again in the coming weeks to provide relief to Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras — countries that have been hit hard by hurricanes in recent weeks. 

Judah 1 has several other partners that it works with in addition to Operation Blessing, including Samaritan’s Purse and Eagle Mountain Church.

Aaron told CP that Judah 1’s fleet currently consists of about five planes. 

The fleet includes the Westwind, which can “take doctors or small teams to the mission field” and has the capability to land on “short runways sometimes found in third-world countries.”

The Westwind, which has a low deck that “makes boarding easier for Wounded Warrior and Make-a-Wish children,” can carry eight passengers and 1,200 pounds of cargo. 

The Cessna 414, which is used for Wounded Warrior, Make-a-Wish and disaster relief scouting, can carry up to six passengers.

The largest aircraft in the fleet, the MD83, can carry up to 120 people and 17,000 pounds of cargo.  

But there are plans to expand the fleet to include airplanes with even larger capacities in the near future.

In addition to expanding the fleet, Aaron is also open to the possibility of establishing operations at other hubs in the U.S. besides Shreveport.

“If we have people on the East Coast that want to fly, we will look at establishing hubs for Judah 1 in other states,” he said. 

In a YouTube video published in 2015, Aaron recalled how Judah 1’s story dates all the way back to 1994 when the Lord gave him a vision of “airline aircrafts lined up as far as you could see.

“They were filled with food, medical supplies, Bibles,” Aaron recalled. “The engines were fired up and they were ready to go. And there were people … lined up in front of these planes ready to get on them. But they wouldn’t get on the planes.”

When he asked God why the people would not get on the plane, he said God responded by saying: “They can’t go into the mission field until you get the airplanes. This is what I’m calling you to do.”  

While Aaron first had a vision of Judah 1 nearly three decades ago, the ministry did not become a reality until 2011.

Source: christianpost.com, Author: Ryan Foley

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The actor, who will reprise his role as Jesus, told Marlow that director Mel Gibson “just sent me the third picture, the third draft. It’s coming. It’s called “The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection.”

The interview also gave insight into the blacklisting that Caviezel has taken for his outspoken faith and since appearing as Jesus in the 2004 Christian blockbuster that brought in over 610 million dollars worldwide. When he was asked how his career was affected after the portrayal of Christ, he responded,

I had no choice. I had to defend it. I had to fight to survive. The film exploded. It was off the charts. You’d think, “Oh, you’re going to work a lot.” No, I didn’t. I was no longer on the studio list. That was gone…Because of what I do as an actor—that’s my skill—it was given to me from God. I didn’t give it to myself, but it’s something in which I have a great range…I really felt that faith was much bigger than the industry and Hollywood, and bigger than the Republican or Democratic Party or any of that.

Mel Gibson was interviewed by Stephen Colbert in 2016 and elaborated on some of what The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection may focus on. Colbert asked, “How do you tell the story of the resurrection; it’s a single event and then a revelation to the people in the upper room?”

Gibson responded, “It’s more than a single event. It’s an amazing event and to underpin that with the things around it is really the story. To enlighten what that means. It’s not just about the event. It’s not just some kind of chronological event.”

Source: churchleaders.com, Author: Jesse T. Jackson

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• No believer is immune to the threat of relapse

From the Scriptures, one can safely deduce that these two men were once devoted Christians, but somehow allowed themselves to slip, become reckless and eventually lose all form of spiritually. The fact that they once were ardent followers of the Master but ended up as heretics is proof enough that the same fate can befall any believer if care is not taken. The Scriptures let us know that the devil is constantly prowling about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), and this same Scripture enjoins us to be sober and vigilant. There would be no need for such admonition if it were not possible for a follower of Jesus Christ to fall prey to the schemes of the enemy. The Apostle Paul further drives the need for Christians to be wary when he councils against a false sense of security thus “let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). In 1 Corinthians 9:27 (KJV), the Apostle reveals truths regarding his attitude toward the danger of falling away: “but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway”. He actively ensured that he put his flesh under check, bringing it into continuous obedience to the Word of God. Despite the reality of the threat of falling away, it is worthy of note that as believers, we do not need to fall away. God is able to keep us. See Jude 24.

• One disobedient Christian has the power to negatively influence other Christians

One main lesson we can glean from Hymenaeus and Alexander is that they were not only heretics, but that they were leaders who had the power to deceive others and in fact did mislead other Christians. As believers, we need to come to understand that we do not live in isolation, but are connected to others, whether we realise it or not. The trajectory our lives take has a profound influence on those around us. If we fail to be on guard and fall prey to the evil one’s schemes, we stand the chance of causing those around us to also fall prey by our promulgation of false doctrines. Hymenaeus and Alexander were judged for their sin because the position they were responsible for destroying the faith of some believers (2 Timothy 2:17-18). We owe it to ourselves and certainly to those around us to be circumspect in our doctrine and manner of living so we are not responsible for the fall others. As 1 John 4:1 commands, we need to test the spirits, in effect all that we hear. Not every nice-sounding teaching is from God. Neither is it the case that a doctrine with God in it is endorsed by Heaven. Note also how stern the measures taken to rid the church of their falsehood were.

• False teaching has a damaging effect on the Church

False teaching is blasphemy in its true sense (1 Timothy 1:20). The reason being that it is an attack on the Divine character and revealed truth of God as captured in the Holy Scriptures. As believers we must be on our guard, senses sharp to detect falsehood and immediately snuff out whatever semblance of it we encounter. The reason? Its spread is likened to that of a cancerous tumour, which spreads fast, eating away healthy tissue and eventually leads to death if not dealt with at the early stages of its emergence (2 Timothy 2:17-18). We cannot afford to court false teaching for the simple reason that it is a destroyer.

• There is a link between what we believe and how we behave

It is important for us to note that there is a certain connectedness between faith and morals. In 1 Timothy 1:18-20 there is a striking sequence. First, the Scripture says that the two men “put away a good conscience”; then, they “shipwrecked their faith”; then finally they lived lives that were careless and undisciplined. It therefore goes without saying that ignoring our consciences as Christians has a negative impact on our faith. Once faith is negatively affected, the next inevitable thing to occur is the breakdown of morals. Faith (in God and His Word) is what keeps us moral. Additionally, the breakdown of faith is the result of a conscience that has been dulled. Hence we are admonished by Paul’s example Acts 24:16.

• The judgement of the Lord comes upon Christians who refuse to heed correction and live carelessly

The judgment that came upon these two men is mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20. They were “handed over to Satan”. What do these words mean?

1. They may refer to the Jewish practice of excommunication. According to synagogue practice, if a man was an evildoer he was first rebuked. If that proved ineffective he was banished from the synagogue for thirty days. If that failed to produce repentance he was then put outside for good.
2. Paul may have meant that he had handed them over to Satan’s territory – the world, as distinct from the Church.
3. Perhaps it means that Paul had the power to call down physical chastisement upon these two, as suggested by 1 Corinthians 5:5. Satan was held to be responsible for human suffering – compare 2 Corinthians 12:7.

Does such a thing happen today? Do Christians ever suffer physically because of sin? – look up 1 Corinthians 11:29-30. Christians in the Church at Corinth had been coming to the Lord’s Table with sin in their lives that had not been judged. Because of this some of them had suffered physical sickness and others had died. This was the Lord’s judgment upon them. It was His chastening – look up Hebrews 12:6-11; and why did He chasten them? – the last phrase in 1 Corinthians 5:5 gives us the answer. Hymenaeus and Alexander were chastened of the Lord “to be taught not to blaspheme” (1 Timothy 1:20), and that their spirits might “be saved on the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:5). Paul hoped and prayed that as a result of the severe discipline imposed upon these two men they might both be brought back into full fellowship with the Lord and with His people.

Let us cultivate a tender conscience, test the Spirits, strive for a deep understanding of God’s Word and a daily walk that in all respects is well-pleasing to Him.

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The concert would arguably set the record for the first time the multiple award-winning and Dove-award nominee would be ministering on the same stage with some of the notable gospel artists from different countries in the world.

Having toured over 50 countries across six continents, Sinach says the soon-to-be-featured artists are some of the best on the gospel music scene the world over, many of whom have inspired her growth as a music minister. Nevertheless, for Sinach, it is important that every music artist just starting out should first establish their personality in their song before going out for collaborations.

The track titled ‘Peace in the Storm’, according to Sinach, is “a song for the now. These days you wake up in the morning not knowing what you will hear because there is so much unrest in the countries. Look at the places we thought were the most peaceful and secure, everything is turning upside down. And the people in it don’t even know what is happening” Sinach said in an interview with Business Day.

According to her, the song is reminiscent of Jesus’ response to a stormy situation recorded in Mark 4:37-39. The disciples of Jesus panicked, while He was asleep on the lower deck of the boat. When he was finally woken up, he stretched his hands to the sea and said “Peace be still,’ and there was a great calm.

“In this period (of the pandemic) Jesus is in the boat, so be calm,” Sinach said. “It is a message, a calming our heart song, saying don’t be afraid.”

The song is live on Spotify, Apple Music, deezer, YouTube, Amazon Music, Boomplay and itunes.

Author: Chrife reporter

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