Tag: Christian

Christian usually refers to: Christians, adherents of Christianity. Anything associated withChristianity.

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From Outreach Ideas to Action in Three Easy Steps

From Outreach Ideas to Action in Three Easy Steps

A good idea is great. A good idea that’s executed perfectly can change the world. But a simple idea alone is useless.

A Good Idea That’s Executed Perfectly Can Change the World

There’s an idea that flops and an idea that becomes the next biggest thing. It’s all about how it’s executed. If it doesn’t come with a plan, or if it appears too difficult to introduce, someone else will do it, leaving you with a has-been idea that can no longer be implemented. This is why every ‘brainwave’ ‘eureka’ moment idea needs to be teamed together with a worthy execution”¦if not, don’t expect much.

Pushing an innovative idea forward into something else remains one of our biggest challenges. Admittedly, it can be a super exhausting process, which is why it’s always a great idea to invite the crowd to not only come up with the wonderful ideas, but to also help develop them as well.

There are a few key stages that need to be followed when it comes to getting your crowd in on the idea decision-making and development game.

1. Create a Unique Team

Almost anyone can research and refine new innovative ideas. However, you can take it a step further and invite the crowd to join in the fun and be a part of your team. This will give your idea more validation. It will also decrease any potential risk, and at the same time it could be a huge timesaver when it comes to marketing and finances.

In short, each and every idea should be unique enough to sway people to join a team that supports the idea.

2. Fine Tune that Idea

They say that behind every great idea catapulted onto the market, there was an equally great plan. Every idea requires some sort of plan. It could be just a basic one that briefly outlines the various possibilities connected to it, or it could be a more complex plan that delves into the intricacies of it.

A good plan should include a business plan. This might seem like a given, but you’d be surprised as to how many people don’t have a good business plan to back up their ideas. Plans should also include target audiences, marketing ideas and much more.

You need to approach every idea in a methodical way. You’ll need a unique set of criteria that pertains to one idea – it’s not a case of one-size fits all. You’ll need to answer any question that arises, and until this is done, you can’t move forward and successfully turn your idea into reality.

Use and involve your crowd. Ask them to research various aspects of the idea, and then have them report back and share their ideas and findings with the rest of the group.

3. Don’t Stand for Mediocre

There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of okay ideas. There are even hundreds of great ideas. But, an average or good idea is not enough, which is why it’s absolutely essential to select only the best of the best ideas. It doesn’t matter if it’s only one mind-blowing idea because as the old adage goes, quality is better than quantity.

Quality Is Better than Quantity

The good and even the great ideas might struggle. Such ideas are difficult to get funding for, and it’s more challenging to prototype and deliver them. If you want to make your idea come alive, you need to have defined criteria, which allows for choosing the best idea to follow up on. After the criteria has been established, it’s time to use the crowd again aka Christian community. Ask them to respond accordingly and honestly – does the idea meet all the listed criteria?

If yes, that’s great, you’re moving towards success. If not, it’s back to the drawing board to get it right.

You need to act now and remember this: it’s okay to simply start by putting just one outreach idea into action.

What kinds of challenges do you and your team face when trying to develop your ideas further?

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Godinterest: Pinterest Meets … God?

Prayer at the Closing of Another Year

This month our staff got the chance to catch up with  Dean Jones, creator of  Godinterest. We got to sit down and discuss what it meant to run your own community and gained some  great community management insight!

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What is Godinterest?
Godinterest  is a Christian social media site created in June 2014. Its purpose is to promote Christian values and facilitate spiritual inspiration through the sharing of photographs and other media in the style of Pinterest. Its content includes media about Christian history, personal family-oriented stories and various content from a Christian viewpoint. According to Quantcast, Godinterest received more than seven thousand visits in its first month of activity and reached more than six thousand users monthly. Furthermore, its users tend to be young adults from the middle class. Females outnumber males, (55% to 45%).

How long have you been running it?
Just over 1 year now. We stumbled across the SocialEngine CMS in 2012 when working on a couple of social networks for clients and really liked it, however, we had already committed to other CMS’s. After building three large successful social networks between 2010 – 2014 (using phpfox, pligg and boonex with social apps), we were utterly fed up with all the bugs we encountered. We’ve been in the web development business for over 20 years, so we know a thing or two about developing websites using almost every CMS available on the market today. Back then, we already had the idea of creating a photo-sharing site, but were still developing the concept; and were not satisfied with what the other popular CMS providers were offering. We then re-visited the SocialEngine in January 2014 and were overly impressed with the new cloud product offering and decide to visualize and conceptualize  Godinterest.com  using SocialEngine.

What did we like about SocialEngine?
A match made in heaven we like to say. SocialEngine offered us what none of the other CMS’s could in that it enabled us to setup a high quality website quickly and efficiently, with minimal technical knowledge and a fit-for-purpose template, enabling us then to concentrate on one of the most important aspects of building a successful social network; namely concept, promotion and marketing. We have seen so many failed social networking websites. This happened because the community manager did not consider target audience and promotion. If you’re running a niche website then it may not appeal to everyone so you need to target a certain audience.

Setting up a successful website?
Setting up  Godinterest.com  was a breeze. Because of the concept, it didn’t take long before we started to attract a lot of media attention. To date,  Godinterest.com  has been featured in the Huffington Post (USA), Evening Standard (UK), The Washington Post (USA), The Birmingham News and over twenty other notable news sources. Apart from social marketing, our blog is one of the best things we ever started, where we have a following of over 15,000 people. On the day we were featured on Huffington Post, our website received over 100,000 page views and over 2,000 users in 2 days and stayed online. So if you’re a community manager wondering if SocialEngine cloud is built to scale, we have just answered your question.

A community manager’s job is”¦ never done
Before you attempt to start a community, know that it’s going to be hard work and that your work is never done. We’ll say this again, a website is never finished. If it is to be successful, you will need to update it frequently. The community will need to be monitored daily. It may be quiet at times, and you may need to get involved in community discussions and debates in order to get the community buzzing. We spend considerable time monitoring the website, moderating posts etc. You may need to monitor content if you have certain topic restrictions. If not, just let the discussions run themselves. Our website has categories and we continually review these to ensure members are posting in the right place. As not everyone in this day-and-age is tech-savvy, you will need to be on hand so your users can reach out to you directly for help.

Favorite moment when setting up the community?
This had to be when we started to attract real media attention. It was exciting, but not all media attention is positive. You have to learn to take the good with the ugly. A good media expert told us: “There’s no such thing as bad media.”

What inspired us to setup the website?
Well we have a deep belief in God and wanted to create a central resource for all. A friend of ours, who happens to be an atheist, asked me where he could purchase a Bible. We stated that Amazon or eBay might be a good starting place. However, wouldn’t it be great if everybody could go to one location and find and create lists of what they wanted? The idea grow from there.

What are your future plans?
We plan to continue to grow the network and add more features. We’re really looking forward to launching both iPhone and Android apps once the SocialEngine API has been upgraded.

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Godnterest Becomes Interesting

5 Indicators You've Hired the Right Project Manager
Let’s face it: Godinterest is  basically one giant Christian photo fest. Whether you’re posting inspirational Christian quotes or prayers, or finding places you want to visit, Godinterest is home to all.

As an entrepreneur, Dean Jones the creator of Godinterest always admired the world of photography for its immense innovative and creative power. It is an art-form that demands tremendous skill and profound discipline. It necessitates deep foresight and the ability to envision something beyond the evident.

This saying  a picture is worth more than a thousand words  was invented by an advertising executive, Fred R. Barnard. To  promote his agency’s ads he took out an ad in Printer’s Ink in 1921 with  the headline

“One Look Is Worth a Thousand Words”

and attributed it to  an ancient Japanese philosopher. Six years later he changed it to

“ChineseProverb: One Picture Is Worth Ten Thousand Words,” illustrated with someChinese characters.  

If a picture is indeed worth a thousand words, why not use photographs to prompt poetry as pictures have the ability to make us feel happy, excited, and curious.

At Godinterest we really like  pictures, and these are the pictures  we really, really like. All of these pictures  have been hand picked from a list of most viewed pictures on Godinterest in 2015. We hope you enjoy them!

Pray

 

The wondrous majesty of imagery knows no bounds. Indeed, as the saying goes  “A picture says a thousand words”.

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The Perfect Mission Field

If we were going to design the perfect mission field at Godinterest, here is what it might look like:
  1. It would be filled with millions of unsaved and accessible youth and young adults.
  2. It would be a place where people openly, regularly, and publicly share their opinions, thoughts, feelings, concerns, fears, and needs.
  3. It would be a place where people connect with other people in community, and people like and expect to meet new people.
  4. It would be a place where many people provide a picture and a little information about themselves so you can know a little about them before you communicate with them. It would be a place where it is okay to be creative, different, and to just be you.
  5. It would be a place where people openly debate, discuss, and exchange ideas on spiritual matters.
  6. It would be a place where people like to go and hang out.
  7. It would be fun and people would smile and laugh.
  8. It would be a place that is very close to home so we could get there quickly and getting there would not require immunizations, or passports, or plane trips and it would all be free.

The Truth Is, We Are Not Called to the Perfect Church; We Are Called to the Mission Field.

As we seek God’s will, it is helpful to analyze who we are: our abilities, our interests, our opportunities, the counsel of wise friends we respect, what gives us the greatest joy, and also the tug of our hearts.

This perfect mission field exists right now, down to the last detail. It exists on the Internet in a public online service that connects people in community: blogs, personal webpages, and discussion groups on Godinterest.

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Kingdom of God

Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the #kingdom-of-God  was a saying given by Jesus in the New Testament. From Matthew 18:1-6 (KJV)

We Care for Children Because, Whether We Are Aware of It or Not, There Is in All of Us God-Given Knowledge That Little Ones Are So Precious.

They deserve  more  care because they are defenceless. They are a gift. They demand a great deal of attention, oh yes; children are  costly, but there are supposed to be. They teach us that life isn’t just  about us,  but  about others and that we  will be more  fulfilled  and  more happy when we sacrifice our own comforts in order to love our neighbour.

Below are some inspirational  photos about #kingdom-of-God  we found  on  Godinterest

This Life Isn’t Easy; Most of the Stages of Our Lives Are About Sacrifice and Suffering.

The world is surrounded by wars, hunger and poverty. And sometimes it gets hard to find goodness above it all, but we  don’t know if you see this, but this is the exact temptation that we face. Our sin naturally inclines us to see kids not as a blessing but as a distraction, not a joy but a  drain.  How wrong we are, and how rebuked by #Jesus’ example.

A Magic Moment from The #City-Of-God.  

Have you seen the film? Well we truly believe “a child is like a blank canvas On which we  may create a  painting so beautiful. But let me tell you – and make no mistake Whatever the colours are, that we  decide to choose Will make this child a winner or one that may just loose So as you take that paint brush, to leave your lasting mark Remember that your actions, determine this child’s spark Every stroke upon that canvas can never be undone.”  (Deborah Chaplin)…

The Tells Us That Children Are a Reward from (Psalm 127:3). According to the Promise of Proverbs, a Child Who Is Diligently Trained in The “Way He Should Go” Will  Remain True to That.

Unfortunately,  Children Are the Real Victims of World Hunger: At Least 70% of the Malnourished People in  the World Are Children and Around Forty Thousand Children a Day Die of Starvation. Many People Are Already Motivated to Help Children in Need , However, What Are You Doing to Help?

Jesus Said, “Suffer Little Children, and Forbid Them Not, to Come unto Me: For of Such Is the Kingdom of Heaven”. This Is So Like Jesus. In One Sentence, He Gives Us a Whole Theology of Children, One That Blows  Us Away and Dramatically Redefines  Our Thinking.

Chidren from Afghanistan Grown in Pakistan Refugees Camp by Muhammed Muheisen.

This is who we at Godinterest aspire to help. We  think of there  future all the time. We  write so that someday, she, and others like her, will have an equal chance to succeed and to live a happy and productive live.  Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,  the fruit of the womb a reward Psalm 127:3.…

For of Such Is the #kingdom-of-God.

Children  just keep on giving. However, the world has  declared war on our children. They have wiggled and moved and jumped at their parents’ voices, and then they have suffered violence, and writhed in death. This is not sensationalist. It is cold, hard fact.  The gospels leave us with many important clues, none more important than this. How did the Lord Jesus treat children?

And Finally, as a Christian Parent, You Have the Wonderful Privilege, and Responsibility, to Claim the LORD’s Word, His Promises, for the Conversion of Your Children…  Behold, Children Are a Heritage from the LORD,  the Fruit of the Womb a Reward  Psalm 127:3…

What Do You Love Most About Children?

Bibliography Information
The heart of Jesus’ teachings centers around the theme of the kingdom of God. This expression is found in sixty-one separate sayings in the Synoptic Gospels. Counting parallels to these passages, the expression occurs over eighty-five times. It also occurs twice in John (3:3, 5). It is found in such key places as the preaching of John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (  Matt 3:2  ); Jesus’ earliest announcement, “The time has come”¦ The kingdom of God is near. Repentand believe the good news!” (  Mark 1:15  ; cf.  Matt 4:17  ;  Luke 4:42-43  ); the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, “your kingdom come” (  Matt 6:10  ); in the Beatitudes, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (  Matthew 5:3  Matthew 5:10  ); at the Last Supper, “I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it a new in the kingdom of God” (  Mark 14:25  ); and in many of Jesus’ parables (  Matthew 13:24  Matthew 13:44  Matthew 13:45  Matthew 13:47  ;  Mark 4:26  Mark 4:30  ;  Luke19:11  ).

 

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In God We Trust

Often the biggest issue with a person moving forward in their Christian lives is his or her ability to trust God.

We’re no strangers to the phrase, “In God We Trust” was adopted as the official motto of the United States in 1956 as an alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum, which was adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782.

We find the phrase  on bumper stickers and t-shirts, in songs and poems on Godinterest, and even on currency. It’s not without controversy either. Debates continually rage over whether such a motto is even constitutional, with Christians often  at the forefront seeking to preserve it. But in the midst of all the noise, have we forgotten what it really means to trust in God?

Below are some inspirational  photos about #In-God-We-Trust  we found  on  Godinterest

…take a look at this man,  he looks tougher than steel, and he probably is. Meet Navy Captain Conrad Targonski, the assistant chief of staff for religious ministries…

…To men in combat, the Lord seems always nearby.  A Marine at Con Thien, Vietnam wears his faith, alongside earthly goods, on his helmet…

…water is life. Photo taken in Hoi An (Vietnam).  First and foremost, trusting God means placing our faith in Jesus alone for salvation. Nothing we do can earn our salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9)…

…being unwanted  and  unloved and forgotten by everybody, can be  a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than a  person who has nothing to eat.  Philippians 2:4  says, let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Sure, people who trust in God and  follow Jesus do these things all the time, but do  you? …

…this also means we don’t have to worry about anything. In fact, we’re commanded, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).  Are you ready to become a “Ballerina” for Christ?…

…Soldier Praying…  So much can be written about prayer, but the key point is that it is not optional. Prayer is essential to the Christian life; as Christians, we are even commanded to pray. As a Christian, you can no longer stop praying than you can stop breathing…

…communities need God’s guidance.  Rochester, New York police sergeant Clifton Manns, Sr., left raises his hand in prayer with other police officers at the New Life Fellowship on June 21, 2008. More than 200 police officers, church pastors and community members gathered to ask God’s help in ending community violence…

…the Pentagon has released a statement confirming that soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their faith.  Discipleship demands sacrifice, and Jesus never hid thatcost… Would you still follow Jesus if it meant losing your job?…

…trust your gut”¦ That’s God speaking through you.  God speaks to us through dreams and visions. How often have you felt an impulse of the Spirit touch your heart and direct you towards Himself? God is constantly speaking to us, revealing His heart. So do you truly trust God?…

 

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Lecrae: “Jesus Muzik”

“Jesus Muzik” is the second single from  Lecrae’s second studio album,  After the Music Stops. It is critically acclaimed and was nominated for two GMA Dove Awards.  The song also features fellow  Christian hip hop  artist  Trip Lee. The lyrics discuss the problems with the content of secular  hip hop, and the importance for  Christians  of listening to  Christian music  to glorify God.

Christian Hip Hop (Originally Gospel Rap, Also Known as Rap, Gospel Hip Hop, or Holy Hip Hop) Is Hip Hop Music Characterized by a Christian Worldview.

One thing that is clear, is that for as long as we can remember  Christian flavored Hip Hop was looked upon as a step child of the genre.

Most Would Agree That the Extent to Which Christian Hip Hop Lyrics Are Explicitly Christian Seems to Vary Between Bands.

That is  until artists such as #Lacrae  Moore emerged a  Grammy Award–winning rapper who now, like it or not, represents the face of the gospel hip-hop movement  with hit  songs like “#Jesus Muzik,” “Don’t Waste Your Life” (based on the sermon by John Piper), and “Black Rose. Hashtag #Lacrae  has also been trending on Godinterest since Godinterest  introduced YouTube, Vimeo, Sound Cloud and various other social media post embedding.

Another thing that is clear is that Bible Christianity, if practiced properly, will make you extremely UNPOPULAR with the world, just as it did John the Baptist, and the early Christians in the Book of Acts.

And so we seem to have two main groups:

  1. A  large proportion of Christians that  say you can’t repackage secular  music and label it as being “Christian”  (it  maybe  “religious hip-hop”; but it  certainly  isn’t  Christian like), and
  2. A group  who  firmly believe that  it all depends on who your singing too?

So which group  are you and why?

 

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Mom This Is How Godinterest, The Christian Social Network Works

Godinterest  is an online photo-driven Christian social networking tool in which users re-post  images  of whats happening on the web and in their lives along with links to things they think are simply #Godinteresting, funny, or useful to their followers (“following” being essentially what “friending” is on other sites). People use #Godinterest  in many ways, some as a newsfeed by following prominent people or networks, some as a pseudo-chatroom by limiting their followers and whom they follow to close friends and family, and some as a microblog for updating people about the work they are doing and their personal lives using photos.

“GODINTEREST USERS”

Godinterest  users choose who they do and do not follow. They have total control of what news they receive on their ‘following’ page. When I refer to your “homepage”, I’m referring to the feed that you see when signed into Godinterest  containing your and your followers posts. This is different from your personal Godinterest  page (Godinterest.com/yourusername) which contains all of your posts  including your replies to other users. You can have an unlimited amount of followers, but only follow a select few people if you want, making it easy to stay in touch with the people you care to stay in touch with.

WHO SEES WHAT

Anyone that follows @you will see your posts  on their homepage.    By putting another person’s @username at the start of a statement, it will  show up in  their notifications.

DIRECT MESSAGING

Direct Messages are private messengers  (to other Godinterest  users / the general public) that are exchanged between two users that follow each other. You cannot direct message someone that does not follow you and vice versa. Direct messages are the only private way to converse on Godinterest. “DM’s” are basically like emails. They are unsearchable on Godinterest.

HASHTAGS

Hashtags # are a way to label posts  so that other users can see posts  on the same topic. Hashtags contain no spaces or punctuation and begin with a “#” symbol.

Godinterest  users create trending topics by using hash tags. For instance, a user might create a hashtag as a fun way to start a conversation like #God #Bless #Christian #ChristianSocialNetwork
Lastly, hashtags are used to punctuate statements or jokes on Godinterest. Some Godinterest  users make sentence-long hashtags for comic effect.

Check out some of the most touching images posted to Godinterest today.

….#Christmas Angels By David Brandt Berg For the Christian, every day can be Christmas! #Jesus showers His love down on us every day of the year. But sad to say, it’s not that way for so many poor folk…

 

…“I’ve Got Some Scars, But I’m Still Alive.” | The Prude Girl’s Blog

…The Destiny of the Unevangelized: Universal Opportunity | #Liberty Community Online

 

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What Would Jesus Pin?

The phrase “What would Jesus do?” (often abbreviated to WWJD) became popular in the United States in the 1990s and as a personal motto for adherents of Evangelical Christianity who used the phrase as a reminder of their belief in a moral imperative to act in a manner that would demonstrate the love of Jesus through the actions of the adherents.  This saying has become a guiding principle for many Christians.

As simple as it seems, the question—What would Jesus Do?—still leaves us  wondering.

However, we’re flipping that around and asking you the question, WWJP—Would #Jesus Pin? or Post?  Do You Really Want to Know?

First Peter 2:21 says that Jesus left us “an example, that we should follow in his steps.” So, it’s admirable and biblical to ask “WWJP  —What would Jesus Pin?”  

Everyone who knows anything about the gospels—and even those who don’t—knows at a basic level that Jesus was a friend of #sinners.  Yet we  find ourselves constantly challenged by Jesus’s example to make sure we do not turn away outsiders in a way that Jesus never would.

If the truth be told Jesus was a friend of sinners not because he winked at sin, ignored sin, or enjoyed light-hearted revelry with those engaged in immorality. Jesus was a friend of sinners in that he came to save sinners.

We  looked at the four gospels with the  above  question in mind and discovered seven priorities that guided Jesus.  He would seek the Father for the strength and wisdom to embrace, restore, confront, teach, serve, and equip the people around him.

These seven priorities should drive us back to the gospels to take a fresh look at how Jesus lived. As users of the social networking websites  we need to keep asking ourselves—#What Would Jesus Pin?  or Post. It’s a great question. But remember: If you’re not sure what Jesus actually did in his life, then you’re just guessing at what he might do in yours.

We’ve included some of the most compelling photos posted to Godinterest this week.

I love doing these portraits, and our friend suits them perfectly!

Lucky enough to go into the enclosure with Mia, this gorgeous female #cheetah at the WHF Centre in Smarden, Kent

A  Chinese paramilitary police recruit being shipped to start his service in the Zhejiang province began to tear up in this photo, taken on Dec. 12, 2010.

Kevin Berthia was talked out of jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge by this police officer in 2005. He has since become an advocate for suicide prevention and has started a family.

Starving boy and #missionary

True  #love

We  want to hear  from you, when you write a message, share a photo, or a video online, do you stop and think about what it says about you as a  believer?  

 

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13 Powerful Photo Stories That Captured Our Attention This Year

Another year over, a new one about to begin. What better time to remember the visual stories from 2014 that reminded us humanity is a beautiful, complicated mess?

We cannot be everywhere, yet photographs take us nearly everywhere. Our vision is formed by what we see from those images. For example their  was a  recent trending discussion on how terrible it was that young children, as young as two, were smoking in parts of Indonesia. Why? Because visuals of children smoking were posted on Godinterest. Such images hit us right in the gut.

Every week 100s  of pictures are shared on Godinterest. In this post we are going to show you some of the images that caught our attention this week. Powerful pictures that everybody in the world should see. Photographs that will make you think, will make you stare  and feel the emotions of that moment and perhaps will make you weep.

Some of them are popular photos that you probably have seen before, and others are pictures telling stories of ordinary people.

You will see desperate people facing the end, photos of unexpected events  and photos about affection, stories of war and stories of love.

Islamist War on Christians is extending into Turkey.  Turkey’s President Erdogan is already facing international calls to respect human rights in Turkey following last weekend’s failed coup. Now he’s also being encouraged to champion the rights of Christians living in the country as well. The call is coming from the Anglican Church’s venerable man in Istanbul, Canon Ian Sherwood, who for 28 years has been chaplain of the British consulate there and priest of the Crimean Memorial Church in the city. ‘As long-centuries established Christians in Turkey we are alarmed at how life is evolving in Turkey,’ says Sherwood, who warns that the climate of tolerance has changed in the country, which is more than 99 per cent Muslim, mainly Sunni. ‘We wish Turkey peace and tolerance – the same tolerance that most societies west of Turkey enjoy.’

If you like this post, don’t be selfish, share it with your friends via Facebook or Twitter. Sharing is caring.

Bruno Morandi captures a tribal Chhetri woman in Nepal. [2009]

Survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left 1.9 million homeless, take part in a #religious procession in Tolosa on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte.

Reflections of a Hurting #Missionary

Fatherless | #God Loving Woman

The Cost of Routine Booze Madness | Walking Is Still Honest –  One Dollar by Ryan Hardgrove

3 weeks old infant with albinism snuggles up to his cousin for a snooze.

Giving Freely of Your Resources as Unto the #Lord.  Keep in mind how little you know about people, situations and circumstances in life.

Daddy’s Slippers – #God  is Good Thank you Abba for your Love❤️ ❤️ #God  the Father God the Son God the Sprit ❤️ Thank You ❤️

A Rwandan boy left scarred after being liberated from a death camp.

Hhaing The Yu, 29, holds his face in his hand as rain falls on the decimated remains of his home near Myanmar’s capital of Yangon (Rangoon). In May 2008, cyclone Nargis struck southern Myanmar, leaving millions homeless and claiming more than 100,000 lives

Latest in the  children of war series. A young african boy is not even given a glance as a soldier walks by. children are discarded and tossed away…

Thanks for visiting us today! Check back at #Godinterest  for more original breathtaking photo-stories every week

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Christian Man Sentenced to Death for Blasphemous WhatsApp Message

A Pakistani Christian man has been sentenced to death for blasphemy after he sent a Muslim friend a poem on WhatsApp that insulted Islam, a lawyer said on Friday.

Nadeem James  was charged in July last year  after his Muslim friend, Yasir Bashir, complained to local police that he received a poem on the messaging app that was derogatory towards the Prophet Mohammed.

“Mr James was handed a death sentence by the court on Thursday on blasphemy charges,” Anjum Wakeel, the lawyer of James  told AFP.

“My client will appeal the sentence in the high court as he has been framed by his friend, who was annoyed over Mr James’ affair with a Muslim girl.” Wakeel added.

He said the trial was held inside a prison due to security reasons after local Muslim clerics had threatened James and his family.

Court officials confirmed the sentence.

A sensitive topic in Pakistan

Source: Wikimedia
Source: Wikimedia

Within the deeply conservative Muslim-majority country, blasphemy is seen as a sensitive issue and legally punishable by death, where often unproven accusations can stir violence.

In 2011, a personal  bodyguard assassinated the provincial governor  of Punjab, Salman Taseer, after he called for the existing blasphemy laws to be reformed.

In 2014, a  Christian couple was lynched  in a kiln in the province of Punjab after being falsely accused of desecrating the Quran.

Several rights groups have said the laws are routinely abused to seek vengeance against ethnic and religious minorities.

Link to Original Post

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When Images Speak Louder than Words

They say, “a picture is worth much more than a thousand words”. When we read a story about the someone’s life experience  — it often has a lot less impact on us than seeing the emotions captured in a photograph.

To illustrate this further, here are some  of the most powerful and captivating photo’s added to Godinterest this week.

Philemon 1:4 I Thank My , Making Mention of You Always in My Prayers  as Our  Praise Is Not Predicated on What  Does, Are Praise Is Contingent on Who  Is and Since He Never Changes Our  Praise Should  Never Change.

Russian Soldier Preparing Himself for the Battle of Kursk, July 1943.  #God  #Jesus

Cardiac Surgeon After an 23 Hour (Successful) Heart Transplant.

Living on a Dollar a Day – Co.Exist

Chile’s Puyehue Volcano Erupts.

Children Crying War

 

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Sin of Presumption

A cat was so faithful that the woman could leave her baby with it and go out to attend other matters.  She always returned to find the child soundly asleep with the cat faithfully watching over him.

One day something tragic happened. The woman as usual, left the baby in the “hands” of this faithful cat and went out shopping.  When she returned, she discovered rather a nasty scene and a total mess.  The baby’s cot was dismantled; his nappies and clothes torn to shreds with blood stains all over the bedroom where she left the child and the cat. Shocked, the woman wailed as she began looking for the baby.

All of a sudden, she saw the faithful cat emerging from under the bed. It was covered with blood and licking its mouth like it had just finished a delicious meal.

The woman went crazy and assumed that the cat had devoured her baby. Without much thought she beat the cat to death. But as she continued searching for the “remains” of her child, she beheld another scene. Close to the bed was the baby, who although lying bare on the floor, was safe and under the bed the body of a snake torn to pieces in what must have been a fierce battle between the snake and the cat, which was now dead.

Then reality dawned on the woman who now began to understand what took place in her absence. The cat fought to protect the baby from the ravenous snake.  It was too late for  her now to make  amends because in  her impatience and  anger, she had killed the faithful cat.

A Little Patience Can  drastically Reduce Major  life Long Mistakes.

How often have we  misjudged people and  torn them to shreds  with harsh words and  deeds before we have  had time to evaluate  the situation?  It is called  SIN OF PRESUMPTION.  Presuming things our  way without taking the  trouble to find out exactly  what the situation really is.

A little patience can  drastically reduce major  life long mistakes.

Who are you misjudging right now? Don’t think, what you think others are thinking. Take time to get to the whole truth. Please be patient with people, lest you live to regret your actions against them.

Be quick to hear, but slow to respond and become angry (James 1:19-27).

Share if you’re touched and use this article as a LESSON.

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11 Ways to Share Your Faith Online with Godinterest

While Godinterest  is often referred to as a “photo sharing website,” in reality it is much more than that. In addition to posting photos, people  also  post funny images, quotes and text. And some people don’t post anything at all, they just “like” and comment on what others post.

Because of that we  think it’s more accurate and beneficial to think of Godinterest  as a social network where images are the primary medium.

Let’s talk about ways we can use Godinterest  to share our faith online. Here are 11 we  came up with:

1) Post pics of creation.  Give God all the praise.

2) Post pics of Christian community. Share the fun and love you experience at social events at church and within your small group.

3) Post pics of serving in your community. When you serve the poor, paint a house or join in a community service project or cause, take, upload and share photos.

4) Post pics from missions trips. Missions trips are especially good opportunities for great photos because they often provide the opportunity to mix in beautiful pictures of God’s  creation, culture and people from other  country’s.

5) Post quotes from scripture and Christian authors.

6) Post pics of Christian art.  Godinterest is a visual medium. Sometimes art – whether it’s paintings, stained glass, sculpture or other – speaks louder than words.

7) Post pics of the people you love & things you like.  In other words, be a real, authentic person.

8) Listen and engage with others. Remember Godinterest  is a SOCIAL network. Don’t just broadcast. Follow your friends, family and people in your community who use Godinterest. View their pics, comment  and  encourage them.

9) Mention your faith in your Godinterest  bio.

10) Post your testimony and/or a gospel presentation on the site your profile links toIn your Godinterest  profile, you have the ability to include a link to a website. You can use this to link to your blog or personal website where you can tell the story of how God has transformed your life and can transform others  as well.

11) Create a Godinterest  profile for your church.  If your a pastor or church communications person, you can create an Godinterest  account for your church and do all of the above on behalf of your church.

What do you think of the suggestions above? Any really resonate with you? Got any other ideas for using Godinterest  to share your faith online?  Your comment will post immediately. Comments that are not in keeping with our  comment policies  may be removed by editors.

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Christmas 2014: Jesus Was Not Born in a Stable, Says Theologian?

It’s the story that everyone knows: Jesus was born in a barn, surrounded by farm animals and shepherds, because there was no room at the inn.

But now, a British biblical scholar is challenging the nativity tale, and insists that a closer reading of the Gospel of Luke demonstrates that Mary is more likely to have given birth from the comfort of a family’s upper room.

“I am sorry to spoil your preparations for Christmas,” wrote Reverend Ian Paul on his blog, an evangelical scholar at the University of Nottingham, “but Jesus wasn’t born in a stable, and, curiously, the New Testament hardly even hints that this might have been the case.”

This misconception hinges, he claims, on the mistranslation of the Greek word “kataluma”, which has historically been taken to mean inn.

The word is used elsewhere in the bible as a word to mean “private upper room” where Jesus and his disciples ate the Last Supper in the Gospel of Mark. Meanwhile, Luke uses another word – “pandocheion”, meaning a gathering place for travellers – to refer to an inn.

There’s a social context Rev Paul believes modern readers are missing, too.

He writes: “In the first place, it would be unthinkable that Joseph, returning to his place of ancestral origins, would not have been received by family members, even if they were not close relatives.”

Taking into account the fact that most people’s homes at the time would have had one room for family, and either a second room for guests and animals, or a space on the roof, it seems, he says, much more likely that there would have been no space in the guestroom.

“The family guest room is already full, probably with other relatives who arrived earlier,” he argues. “So Joseph and Mary must stay with the family itself, in the main room of the house, and there Mary gives birth.”

The manger aspect of the story is easily explained too. “The most natural place to lay the baby” would have been “in the straw-filled depressions at the lower end of the house where the animals are fed”, says Rev Paul.

So what does this mean for our religious understanding of the story? Some scholars, including Rev Paul, believe that the story as we have it today promotes the idea that Christ is somehow ostracised from society, rejected by his people and forced into a lowly cattleshed. Instead, he says, we should be seeing the newborn Jesus as arriving in a busy, loving and welcoming family home – and not distanced from humanity.

Original Article:  http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/history/jesus-was-not-born-in-a-stable-says-theologian-9944254.html

With almost 3 billion people online now, we have never been so connected. So as followers of Christ, now is our chance to reach out to the online mission field that is at our finger tips. At Godinterest our desire is that this generation would be bold enough to stand up and make the most of what God has placed in our hands, literally, to make sure that no person journeys through their life without hearing what Jesus has done for them.

 

 

 

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