Thursday 31 March 2016

5 Ways Your Pornography Use Affects Your Wife


I wonder what he was thinking on the ride home that night. Earlier in the day, he received a call from his wife.

She was doing some work on the computer and found a bunch of porn sites in the Internet history. "Have you been looking at porn?" she said as her voice cracked. His silence said it all. As she started to cry, she hung up the phone. He tried calling her back, but she texted him saying she was too upset to talk and that they would talk about when he got home.

Hundreds of UK churches switch to green energy in boost for climate change campaign


More than 400 UK churches are planning to switch to renewable energy providers in a move which will see more than £1 million shifted to clean power.

Launched at the beginning of Lent by charities Christian Aid and Tearfund, The Big Church Switch invited churches and individuals in the UK to switch energy companies, to demonstrate the need for a transition from fossil fuels.

Why Atheists Are Raging Mad Over This Harmless Water Tower


The city council in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was in a bit of a pickle.

The city was in the middle of a growth spurt and needed high ground to build a one-million-gallon water tower.

But the property they needed was owned by the First Baptist Church. So they made a deal with Pastor Nick Garland and the congregation.

"We donated the land and the easements for the tower," Pastor Garland told me. "In kind, they said they would paint our name on the water tower."

Wednesday 30 March 2016

Christian businesses unite to support TWU Law against major corporations


A Christian group of small business owners are looking for others to join them in lobbying an association of major corporations which have publicly opposed Trinity Western University’s project to start a law school that follows Christian principles.

It started with a trio of Dunnville, Ontario horticulturalists, all Christians, who were also all appalled to learn their banks had condemned Trinity Western University’s law school project through their legal counsels’ membership in a group called “Legal Leaders in Diversity.”

5 Reasons You Shouldn't Make Fun of Worship


The videos probably pop up in your Facebook timeline every now and then.

You know the ones I'm talking about. Making fun of how people raise their hands in church. Cracking jokes at the simple worship songs of the '80s. Poking fun at how repetitive worship songs are today.

Christians are easy targets it seems, even among their peers because even Christians take cheap shots at Christians. And while it's perhaps harmless to tell a "how many pastors does it take to change a light bulb" joke, there is a point where it all goes too far.

There are some things that should be off limits.

Health Insurance Lawsuit Has Obama Administration 'Grasping at Straws'


Last week, attorneys for the United States Department of Health and Human Services filed a document in a civil lawsuit by a Missouri legislator to support the Department's motion for summary judgment that reiterated the same arguments previously rejected by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

The Thomas More Society is representing Missouri State Senator Paul Wieland and his wife, Teresa Wieland, in Wieland v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, defending the Wieland family against the Affordable Care Act's controversial contraceptive mandate and the substantial religious burden it places on them.

Iran missile tests were 'in defiance of' UN resolution say US and Europeans


Iran has defied a United Nations Security Council resolution endorsing last year's historic nuclear deal by launching nuclear-capable missiles, according to a joint letter from the US and its European allies seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Iran's recent ballistic tests involved missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and were "inconsistent with" and "in defiance of" council resolution 2231, adopted last July, said the joint US, British, French, German letter to Spain's UN Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi and UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

Vatican diplomacy zeros-in on human rights in Africa


In a region fraught with political, ethnic and religious divisions, the Central African Republic's motto of “Unity, Dignity, and Work” can serve as a foundation for healing and progress in Africa's Great Lakes Region, a Vatican representative told the United Nations.

“No solutions to the Region's many problems would be possible if there are divisions instead of unity, grave violations of human rights instead of respecting the dignity of all, and extreme poverty instead of dignified work for all,” Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said March 21.

‘This Intifada is worse than the last’


Six months into a wave of stabbings, shootings and car ramming attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, the strain is showing. A survey conducted by the Smith Polling Institute found that the majority of those asked said that they felt “the security situation is more serious today compared to the Second Intifada.”

Since mid-September, 34 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians. In this time period there have been 211 stabbings, 83 shootings and 42 vehicular attacks, according to information on the Foreign Ministry's website. Approximately 200 Palestinians were killed by Israelis over the same period, 130 of whom were said by Israel to have been conducting an attack at the time of their death. The remaining 70 people died in clashes with Israeli security forces or with Jewish residents living in the West Bank.

Woman saves abandoned newborn from gruesome dumpster death on Good Friday



On the day Christians commemorate Jesus’ death that saved sinners, a woman heroically saved a newly born baby from certain death by diving into a dumpster wearing her high heels and Easter dress after hearing faint cries that sounded like a baby.

“I don’t know where he came from, but I’m so glad that God sent me there to find that baby,” Paula Andrews told the Washington Post. “I just had this motherly instinct. I just think that God was just telling me something: Don’t stop. Keep digging. Find out [if this is a real baby]. Make sure,” she added.

Closing of Canada’s Religious Freedom Office Could Spell Trouble For Human Rights


Canada's decision to defund its Office of Religious Freedom will harm the country's ability to defend religious minorities and human rights in general, said religious freedom advocates and other supporters of the office.

"If Canada shuts down its Office of Religious Freedom, it will not just harm religious freedom, but Canada's ability to promote all other human rights," attorney Gerald Chipeur told CNA March 21. Chipeur is an allied attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom legal group and partner with the Miller Thomson law firm in Calgary.

He responded to the government's decision to end funding for Canada's Office of Religious Freedom, which ends on March 31.

Tuesday 29 March 2016

Hope for Palmyra after ISIS occupation: Large parts of ancient city survived

As the first pictures of the ancient city of Palmyra appear afters its liberation from ISIS occupation, more of the ancient citadel seems to have survived than previously thought.


Islamic State militants blew up several monuments from the historic desert citadel during its 10-month occupation of the city, including the Temple of Bel and Arch of Triumph.

EgyptAir Cyprus drama is over as hijacker surrenders and hostages are freed


The hijacker who forced an EgyptAir flight to divert to Larnaca airport in Cyprus has surrendered and all his hostages have been released.

The man was seen walking down the aircraft steps with his hands raised.

EgyptAir Flight MS181 was taken over after a passenger said he was wearing a suicide belt.

It was later claimed that Seif Eldin Mustafa had demanded the plane land at Cyprus because he wanted to talk to his estranged wife. He released all the people on board except four foreign passengers and the crew following negotiations, according to EgyptAir.

Why You Need Light to Shine in Your Darkness


A woman in her late 50s sat before me ready to tell her story. Her hands shook as she spoke. "My mother was bi-polar and an alcoholic. If I didn't do something she asked right away, she'd hold my hands over the stove and when I screamed in pain, she'd jerk me by the hair and make me kneel on rice."

Her eyes took on a far away look. "I always thought it was normal. That most parents punished kids this way." She took a tissue and wiped the tears as they fell. "Until I was in high school and snuck to a friend's house. We were never allowed over to spend time at our friend's homes. Maybe she didn't want me to see the real love between a parent and child."

There is no confirmation that Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil was crucified on Good Friday

Reports claiming that a kidnapped priest in Yemen was crucified over the weekend are likely false and irresponsible, the local bishop told CNA Monday.

Several blogs and media outlets are reporting that Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil was crucified by ISIS on Good Friday. However, there has been no confirmation of the event by friends, family or Fr. Uzhunnalil’s community.

The original reports were based on a statement Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna allegedly made during Easter vigil services.

Survivor of Brussels terror attack writes letter of hope to unborn baby


“...I just want to tell you that life is a wonderful thing, and the world is really full of remarkable people.”

So starts a letter written by one of the survivors of the bomb attacks at the Brussels Zaventem international airport last week, according to CNN. The author of the letter, Sneha Mehta, penned those words to her child, who was only 16 weeks old in utero.

When Sneha and her husband Sameep Mehta arrived in Brussels from Abu Dhabi last Tuesday, they were abruptly greeted with screams and chaos as the ceiling of the airport started to collapse.

Bangladesh retains Islam as state religion


Bangladesh has rejected an attempt to drop Islam as its state religion.

The country's High Court dismissed the case on Monday after secular activists filed the bid to amend the religion's position as a state religion.

Senior bishop warns against fixed date for Easter


A senior bishop has spoken out against fixing the date of Easter.

In a Maundy Thursday sermon, Bishop of Salisbury Nicholas Holtam said that Easter was linked to the Jewish Passover festival. Fixing one date for Easter would separate Christians from their Jewish roots, he warned.

World’s Largest Psychiatrist Org Condemns Treatment For Unwanted Gay Attractions


The World Psychiatric Association has joined many national psychotherapy bodies in Europe and North America in condemning any psychotherapies claiming to reduce or eliminate homosexual attraction in clients.

But prominent Canadian psychiatrist Joseph Berger says the WPA statement represents a political position unsupported by science and groups such as the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity argue that people who want to reduce their homosexual attraction should be allowed to get help.

Monday 28 March 2016

After Brussels Attacks, Christian Persecution 'New Reality'


Belgian authorities continue their search for additional accomplices in last week's terror attacks. Given the scope of the threat, many believe the next attack is not a question of if, but when.

It's become an all too familiar ritual. Just like the Parisians following last year's terror attacks, Belgians set up their own memorial.

The Belgian people and others from around the world gathered at Place de la Bouse to honor the victims of the terror attacks. Surrounded by flowers, candles and flags, they came to reflect and remember. Even days after the attacks, many are still in shock.

The Day After Easter


It took awhile for reality to set in.

News of the resurrection of Jesus came to the disciples from Mary and other women (Luke 24:10).

"But their words seemed like fables to them, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb. Stooping down, he saw the linen clothes lying by themselves. He departed, wondering in himself what had happened" (Luke 24:11-14).

The day after the resurrection life went on among the living. The disciples had a meal with Jesus, and returned from Bethany to Jerusalem and were "continually in the temple" (Luke 24:53).
Many others were busy telling tales that the disciples stole the body from the tomb and hid him.

"So they took the money and did as they were instructed. And the saying has been commonly reported among the Jews to this day" (Matthew 28:15).

Schools have 'moral obligation' to protect students from extremism, says union head.


There is a "moral obligation" on schools to protect children and young people from extremism, according to the head of the UK's largest teaching union.

However, the union has "concerns" about the current strategy, Prevent, used by the Government.

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, speaking after the union at its annual conference supported  backed a call for a review of Prevent and voted for it to be withdrawn from schools and colleges, said:  "Evidence shows that grooming by extremist groups happens mainly on social media sites, not on school premises.

Schedule of events: Mother Angelica's funeral


Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, foundress of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), passed away on March 27 after a lengthy struggle with the aftereffects of a stroke. She was 92 years old.

Below is the schedule of events surrounding Mother Angelica’s funeral: 

Dozens of Christian men, women and children slaughtered in Pakistan bomb blast


More than 65 people have been murdered and about 300 more injured in a bomb blast in a public park in Pakistan.

Most of the dead and injured are believed to be Christian women and children.

The blast took place a few yards from a packed children's playground, in the car parking area of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park in Lahore, Punjab province, where hundreds of Christian families had gathered to celebrate Easter. A Taliban group has claimed responsibility.

Use 'weapons of love' to fight evil of terrorism, Pope says on Easter

Pope Francis urged the world in his Easter message on Sunday to use the "weapons of love" to combat the evil of "blind and brutal violence", following the attacks in Brussels.

After a week of sombre religious events commemorating Jesus' death, Francis said an Easter Sunday Mass under tight security for tens of thousands of people in a sun-drenched St. Peter's Square.

Afterwards, in his traditional, twice-yearly "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message, he spoke of violence, injustice and threats to peace in many parts of the world.

"May he (the risen Jesus) draw us closer on this Easter feast to the victims of terrorism, that blind and brutal form of violence which continues to shed blood in different parts of the world," he said, speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

Monday 21 March 2016

Jahi McMath photo shows ‘beautiful’ girl alive and well, says mother


Three years after Jahi McMath was declared "brain-dead," her mother has posted a photo she says shows "beautiful Jahi, doing very well, hair, skin and all very healthy, growing into a beautiful young lady right in front of her mothers eyes."

Reporters was not able to verify the photo on the family's Facebook page – "Keep Jahi McMath on life support" – but other news outlets had the photo that was attributed to McMath's mother, Nailah Winkfield.

"Jahi Will Rise," said the Facebook post, the first on the page since the new year and the first update on McMath since December. "A recent picture of beautiful Jahi, doing very well, hair, skin and all very healthy, growing into a beautiful young lady right in front of her mother's eyes. God has done and is still doing great things in this young girls life. Jahi's Journey and Miracle is a story and testimony to be told."

How to 'Smash' an Idol

First John 5:21 (MEV) says, "Little children, keep yourself from idols." And what is an idol?

It's anything that captivates your heart, whether it is sexual addiction, drugs, money or anything else. Therefore, Pastor Shane Idleman says, any addiction is idolatry.

"There's always a fight, a struggle," Idleman says. "But the freedom is in Jesus. Spend time with Him; carry His burden; let Him be your priority. When Jesus is the priority, the idol has to take a back seat."

For the entire teaching, watch this video, which includes a powerful poem:

Making (exotic) babies: human life, made to order



Americans have a thing for the exotic, no matter how costly it may prove to other people. For instance, the Florida Everglades are home to, among other species, Nile crocodiles, green anacondas, and most famously, tens of thousands of Burmese pythons.

As words like “Nile” and “Burmese” suggest, none of these species are native to Florida or even to this continent. Their presence in the Everglades, and the damage they’re causing to that fragile ecosystem is the result of people indulging their desire for exotic pets and then dumping them when they become inconvenient.

As bad as this sort of self-indulgence is when we’re talking reptiles, it’s infinitely worse when the exotic commodity is people.

How to Break Free From a Critical Spirit


A critical spirit can be easy to see in others, yet operate undetected in ourselves. Everyone has to confront how they will deal with the temptations to live in a critical mindset.

There can be nothing more draining than someone with a critical spirit, but when you're used to feeding it, breaking free can be challenging. So many live in criticism so much, it feels good to them. I have observed that breaking free can be like a drug addict journey; criticism becomes a drug.

In his book, Possessing Joy, Steve Backlund defines a critical spirit as an obsessive attitude of disapproval and finding fault. I find that people who live in a lot of negativity very easily lean into a critical spirit's voice. The temptation becomes strong for those who have not develop a strong compass for hope and goodness. Criticism is actually easy to do, especially because negativity is easy to find. It takes a real overcomer to habitually look beyond criticism and become a hope infuser.

Pope condemns those who fail to act in refugee crisis


Pope Francis has condemned those who are refusing to take responsibility for tackling the refugee crisis.

The Pope, departing from the prepared text for his Palm Sunday Mass homily in St Peter's Square, Rome, blamed the poor response on indifference.

Pope Francis, preaching to many thousands of Christians in St Peter's Square at the Palm Sunday Mass, spoke of how Jesus had suffered after being abandoned to his fate by indifferent crowds in the days before the Crucifixion.

He then made it clear that he views the plight of refugees as comparable suffering.

Obama in Cuba: US President will urge economic, democratic reforms


US President Barack Obama turns from sightseeing to state business on his historic Cuba trip on Monday, pressing President Raul Castro for economic and democratic reforms while hearing complaints about continued US economic sanctions.

Obama and Castro will have their fourth meeting, likely their most substantial, at the Palace of the Revolution, where Castro and his predecessor, older brother Fidel Castro, have led Cuba's resistance to US pressure going back decades.

A US presidential visit to the inner sanctum of Cuban power would have been unthinkable before Obama and Raul Castro's rapprochement 15 months ago, when they agreed to end a Cold War-era dispute that lasted five decades and continued even after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The two leaders have deep differences to discuss as they attempt to rebuild the bilateral relationship.

When Believers Can't Tell the Difference Between Prophets and Psychics


Prophets and psychics can both make accurate predictions. Accuracy is not the only test of a true prophet. Test the spirit behind the word because there are many false prophets making true predictions (1 John 4:1).

I posted that on my Facebook page last week, and it stirred up a hornet's nest I never would have expected. I thought I'd get a few thousand hearty "amens," open the eyes of some people who had not thought to judge prophecy in this crucial hour and stir up a few devils. As it turned out, it stirred up more than a few devils who seem to enjoy swimming in impure prophetic pools.

Several people asked me to give Scripture to back up the comment. Of course, the Scripture was listed in the comment. In 1 John 4:1, John the apostle clearly states by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."

India's refusal to grant religious freedom visas a 'missed opportunity'


India is making a mistake in refusing to issue visas to a U.S. international religious freedom organization, said religious liberty advocates and experts specializing in the South Asian country.

“This is a missed opportunity for India and for religious freedom. We had hoped to travel there for some time because of the growing concerns about religious freedom in India. We wanted to go there and assess the situation and learn the facts on the ground,” said Katrina Lantos Swett, president of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Swett was responding to India’s recent decision to not issue visas to the commission for an upcoming trip.

EU-Turkey deal fails to stem refugee flight to Greece


They waved, cheered and smiled, elated to have made it to Europe at dawn on Sunday in a packed blue rubber motor boat.

The 50 or so refugees and migrants were among the first to arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos on day one after an EU deal with Turkey designed to close the route by which a million people crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece in 2015.

Exhausted but relieved, the new arrivals wrapped their wet feet in thermal blankets as volunteers handed out dry clothes and supplies.

Sunday 20 March 2016

The Ideal Child


You are expected to have understood that no two individual persons on this earth have the same spirit.
Everyone has a peculiar spirit that is meant to experience, develop and mature towards a particular direction, according to purpose and predestination.

For that reason, it is spiritually unnecessary for adults (parents and guardians) to expect their children or wards to toe their (parents and guardians) line in order to evade disappointment, or be successful in life.

Saturday 19 March 2016

What Really Happens in an Open Heaven?


While ministering in Long Island, New York, recently, the Holy Spirit asked me a question right in the middle of worship. "What happened in the Bible when an open heaven occurred?"

I thought I knew the answer as I had studied this out a few times before. But instead of thinking I knew it all, I turned to the Holy Spirit and asked Him to show me in the Word of God.

I was quickly thrown in a Bible study that truly had the spirit of revelation on it. The download that came was amazing indeed. The following is what the Holy Spirit revealed to me from the Bible on "What Happens in an Open Heaven."

Brussels raids: Paris attacks prime suspect Abdesalam arrested


The "place where you can disappear", the "Jihadist airbase" -- the crowded Brussels borough of Molenbeek, finally proved not big enough for Europe's most wanted man: Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

And this time his friends couldn't smuggle him out hidden in a wardrobe as some speculate may have been the case in November.

Yet his arrest on Friday, a mix of dogged Belgian sleuthing and a dash of belated good fortune in a four-month manhunt after the November 13 Islamic State attack on the French capital, raises new questions about how Abdeslam eluded capture for so long, apparently in Brussels, until run to ground between his parents' home and the bar he ran with his suicide bomber brother.

9 Signs of a Toxic Friendship


It was inevitable.

I would walk away from a conversation happy and bubbly, but then the moment would hit.

Panic. Disappointment. Self-loathing.

"Why did you say that? What must they think of you! You always say such stupid things. They will probably tell everyone they know what an idiot you are!"

All-star 'Passion' musical aims to tell the Gospel story in a new key



Actor and singer Jencarlos Canela will play the role of Jesus in a live musical dramatization of The Passion on Palm Sunday. Only he’s still not sure how.

“How do I prepare for the role of Jesus Christ? Whoever knows the answer to that question, call me before Sunday,” Canela joked.

Fugitive Behind Paris Attacks Arrested After Shootout


The most-wanted fugitive from November's Paris attacks was arrested after a shootout with police in Brussels on Friday, the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said.

Media reported Salah Abdeslam, the 26-year-old French suspect, was wounded in the operation as EU leaders met on the other side of the city to discuss Europe's migration crisis. "We got him," Belgium's Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Theo Francken, said on Twitter.

Scotland trains 60 policemen to fight LGBT hate crime


Scottish police and homosexual advocacy groups are combining to train 60 officers as LGBT-hate crime specialists in an apparent effort to increase the number of hate crimes reported.

The move has raised concerns over the possible criminalization of any criticism of homosexuality. Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality stated, "Everyone is against hate and violence against homosexuals or anybody else. But are they setting up a politically correct hierarchy of victims with homosexuals at the top?"

According to the Equality Network, which will be training LGBT liaison officers for the Scottish police, there were 841 "sexual orientation aggravate crimes" in 2015 and 21 "transphobic" crimes. The press release adds, "there is said to be evidence of significant under-reporting."

Study: IUD use puts girls at risk for STDs


Proponents of contraception-based sex ed say school-based contraception handouts reduce STDs (also called sexually transmitted infections, or STIs), unwanted pregnancies, and abortions. Wrong in every category.

Studies in England have found a manifold increase in abortions after handing out contraceptives. And research now shows that teenage girls who use intrauterine devices (IUDs) or birth control implants are less likely to also use condoms and therefore more at risk for STDs.

The new study analyzed 2,288 sexually active high school girls and found that IUD and implant users were 60 percent less likely to use condoms.

IUD- and implant-using girls were also more likely to have had multiple sexual partners.

Filipino Catholics invited to turn off lights for Earth Hour


A Filipino cardinal has encouraged Catholics to support this year’s “Earth Hour,” a global environmental campaign that consists of switching off the lights for one hour this Saturday.

Organized by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), Earth Hour 2016 is scheduled for March 19. Participants are asked to switch off non-essential lights from 8:30-9:30 p.m. local time as a gesture of commitment to the environment.

“Let us do away with electrical appliances to give earth a rest,” said Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila in support of the initiative.

These seminarians are being ordained – in a refugee camp


After their seminary in Qaraqosh was dissolved following a brutal ISIS attack in 2014, four Iraqi seminarians chose not to give up after being forced to flee, but to continue their path to the priesthood.

Now, a year and a half after the attack that uprooted them from their homes, the four men will be ordained deacons, and have chosen a church in an Erbil refugee camp for the March 19 ceremony.

Colorado Planned Parenthood shooter says he’s been found mentally incompetent

The man who opened fire at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood location the day after Thanksgiving says he has been found mentally incompetent.

Robert Lewis Dear Jr. told local media on Wednesday that a psychiatric examination found that he is unfit to stand trial due to mental illness.

"My lawyer just came to the jail and said, 'Look, it says there on that page, Dr. Gray from Pueblo says that he's incompetent to stand trial,'" Dear told KKTV during a phone interview from the El Paso County jail.

Judge agrees to falsify Ontario man’s death certificate to streamline his euthanasia


An 81-year-old man has been killed by his doctor within 24 hours of an Ontario judge's ruling yesterday that he could jump the gun on legislation to govern the practice coming out in June. The judge also ruled that instead of stating on the man’s death certificate that he died from a lethal injection by a doctor, it could simply be put that he died from the disease that was ailing him.
 
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, called the man’s death by the hand of a doctor an “abandonment” of someone who needed love and compassion.

Friday 18 March 2016

Michigan Catholic dioceses modify employee benefits to include same-sex partners


In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex “marriage” ruling, Catholic organizations in Michigan at every level will be extending their health plans to any adult who co-habits with an employee, whether a sibling, uncle, mother, best friend or same-sex partner.

Critics say the move means sacrificing Church teachings to appease “radical progressive” forces in American society.

Sign of the Times? Bumble Bee Warns of Life-Threatening Illness in Tuna


Bumble Bee Foods announced a voluntarily recall on three specific UPC codes of canned Chunk Light tuna due to potential health risks. The tuna-maker cited "process deviations" in a co-pack facility that it does not own or operate.

"These deviations were part of the commercial sterilization process and could result in contamination by spoilage organisms or pathogens, which could lead to life-threatening illness if consumed," the company said in a statement. "It is important to note that there have been no reports of illness associated with these products to date. No other production codes or products are affected by this recall."

Prominent Church of God Pastor Assassinated


Church of God Field Director over Latin America David Ramirez received a report from Dr. Otoniel Collins, superintendent for the Church of God over Central America regarding the tragic death of a prominent pastor in Guatemala.

According to Collins, Pastor Juan Saturnino Guachiac was assassinated on March 16 in the Southwest region of Guatemala. He pastored a church, and was planting two new churches. He was also the overseer of the 26 churches and many missions of the Quiché Region. Collins called him, "the most prominent leader of the Quiché Region. He loved his people and dreamed of furthering their development."

Saturnino was also leading a project in education in the region.

"He was an outstanding leader," Collins stated. "We were supporting him for even a greater leadership, but violence took him away from us. We feel helpless and vulnerable in the face of the unstoppable violence that has taken hold of our country. The preparation of a leader like Saturnino takes at least 10 years; but coward assassins ended his life ... we hope this crime won't go unpunished."

Saturnino was a widower who is survived by four adult children.

The Church of God offers its deepest condolences to the family of Pastor Juan Saturnino Guachiac. In the words of Bishop Collins, "We say farewell to one of the most distinguished ethnic pastors of Guatemala."

Osborne faces second defeat as Christian Tories join rebellion on disability cuts

George Osborne risks another parliamentary defeat only a week after the government lost a vote over plans to liberalise Sunday trading laws.

Plans to change payments to disabled people face a growing backlash from some Conservative MPs, including a number of Christians.

David Burrowes, the MP for Enfield Southgate who led the Tory rebellion on Sunday trading, told reporters the government needs to "rethink its plan".

"Conservatives have a good record in supporting the disabled which is at risk if we press ahead with this unfair cut to PIP," he said.

He told reporters the measure was a "quick fix to the gap in public finances" and urged the government to spend more time on "long term reform on disability benefits".


The changes would cut the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for disabled people by £1.3 billion over the next five years. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimated 370,000 people would lose an average of £3,500 a year. The payment reduction would particularly affect those who need aides help to dress and go to the toilet.

ISIS ignored cries of 'Don't kill the sisters' before murdering Yemen nuns


An eyewitness account has emerged describing the terror faced by the four nuns from Mother Teresa's order murdered by Islamic State in Yemen on March 4.

A fifth nun, Sister Sally, who escaped after she hid in a refrigerator, wrote a memo to another member of the order, Sister Rio, about the 90 minutes of terror, in which a further 12 people were also slain.