Hong Kong Christians Rise Up in Worship, Joining Protests against China
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Thursday, August 29, 2019
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Will Maule (Aug 29, 2019)
"The unofficial anthem of Hong Kong's anti-extradition movement is 'Sing Hallelujah to the Lord.' The underground Church is coming out of hiding in China. It's truly amazing. We are watching history in the making. The below video is very special to me. It gives me chills every time I watch it. Thousands of Hong Kong citizens are singing their Hallelujah anthem in defiance of Communist China. It's truly a Great Awakening happening in China. It's exciting!" -Melissa Strzala-Facebook
 (Hong Kong) — [Faithwire.com] As pro-democracy demonstrators continue to mount a mass resistance against China's communist rule in Hong Kong, the region's Christian community has started to rise up.(Screengrab image: via Facebook-Melissa Strzala video)
Amongst the throes of tear gas, rubber bullets, and riot shields, a sweet melody of worship can be heard echoing through the city's central district. Gathering in peace and prayer, thousands of Christian protestors can often be heard belting out the 1974 hymn, "Sing Hallelujah to the Lord."
Not only is this a show of devotion to Jesus in the midst of tumult and political tyranny, but the singing of this worship song also offers the community a level of immunity, thanks to a Hong Kong law of public assembly that makes exceptions for religious gatherings... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
Click here to continue reading and watch the beautiful videos of Hong Kong Christians singing.
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Heather Sells (Aug 29, 2019)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says residents should prepare their homes for the storm, make sure they have seven days worth of supplies and follow the storm's movements closely.
 [CBN News] As the holiday weekend approaches, Hurricane Dorian is getting stronger and moving towards the US mainland. (Screengrab image: via CBN News)
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects Dorian to grow into a dangerous Category 3 hurricane during the next two days as it passes near the Bahamas.
Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist at the NHC, says it could hit anywhere from Florida to South Carolina.
"This will be a large storm approaching the Southeast," he said.
Dorian will likely close in on Florida by Sunday afternoon.
On Wednesday, Dorian's high winds ripped the Virgin Islands, knocking out power in some areas.
But it largely spared Puerto Rico, centering about 90 miles north of San Juan. It's a huge relief for the US territory, still struggling to rebuild homes and its power grid in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which struck the island in September of 2017.
In the US, Florida residents are already stockpiling water and other essential supplies.
County governments on the state's east-central coast are distributing sandbags.
Gov. Ron DeSantis says residents should prepare their homes for the storm, make sure they have seven days worth of supplies and follow the storm's movements closely.
He has declared a state of emergency for the counties in the storm's path. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
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Kelli (Aug 29, 2019)
"OCR... found that UVMMC has discriminatory policies that assign or require employees to assist abortion procedures even after they have recorded their religious or moral objections to assisting in the performance of such abortions"... -statement in press release
 [LiveAction.org] In a press release today, the Trump administration's Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it is sending a Notice of Violation letter to the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC), a hospital which received $1.6M in federal funds over three years, for forcing objecting employees to assist with elective abortions against their will. This violates the Church Amendments protecting the conscience rights of healthcare workers. The amendments, passed in the 1970s, protect workers from participating in abortion or sterilization procedures " if doing so would be contrary to the provider's religious beliefs or moral convictions." (Image: Pixabay)
According to the Office of Civil Rights, a nurse was forced to participate in an elective abortion—having to choose between keeping her job or following her conscience. She is said to have been "haunted ever since" this incident, in which she showed up to assist with what she believed was a post-miscarriage D&C procedure, only to find that the doctor in the room was an abortionist. Upon the nurse entering the room, the abortionist allegedly remarked, "Don't hate me." The nurse's objection to participate in anything abortion-related had long been known. The Office of Civil Rights noted in a conference call that the D&C was not an emergency situation, and "other staff was available." Yet, the nurse was forced to participate or lose her job.
UVMMC had, apparently unbeknownst to many of its staff, begun offering elective abortions on site in 2017.
According to the press release, "OCR... found that UVMMC has discriminatory policies that assign or require employees to assist abortion procedures even after they have recorded their religious or moral objections to assisting in the performance of such abortions." These policies are not in compliance with federal statutes, and the OCR says its main goal is to bring UVMMC into compliance. "... Part of compliance is to make sure the injury is remediated...Nobody should be put in that position," OCR's Roger Severino stated in a conference call.
The press release also notes that UVMMC, located in Burlington, Vermont, "refused to conform its policies to federal conscience laws, provide all the documents requested by OCR, or produce witnesses for OCR interviews. Nevertheless, OCR interviewed multiple witnesses and gathered evidence concerning the allegations."
Apparently, this particular nurse is not the only one forced into violating her conscience, according to OCR's press release. Since 2017, other personnel were also reportedly "intentionally, unnecessarily, and knowingly scheduled by UVMMC to assist with elective abortions against their religious or moral objections," and "were often not told in advance that the procedures they were being assigned to assist with were abortions." The result of this was "moral injury... a crisis of conscience, and... significant emotional distress...."
The pro-life group Secular Pro-Life reacted to the news in a Facebook post today, writing, "It shouldn't matter whether [the nurse] was Catholic, or of some other faith, or one of the millions of religiously unaffiliated pro-life Americans. NO ONE should be forced to kill a human being, or forced to be complicit. Conscience for all!"
Severino noted in the press release that OCR "stand[s] ready to assist UVMMC in changing its policies and procedures to respect conscience rights and remedy the effects of its discrimination," noting that "[f]orcing medical staff to assist in the taking of human life inflicts a moral injury on them that is not only unnecessary and wrong, it violates longstanding federal law."
UVMMC has 30 days to work with OCR to come into compliance with the law. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
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Calvin Freiburger (Aug 29, 2019)
"Despite the fact that Missouri's one abortion facility, a Planned Parenthood, has documented issues that cause harm to women, a judge has shamefully allowed it to continue operating without a license." -Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins
 (St. Louis) — [LifeSiteNews.com] Planned Parenthood's last abortion facility in Missouri continues to operate without an abortion license, despite a history of health violations and a deadline that came and went months ago. (Image: Planned Parenthood in St. Louis, Missouri /CBS News-video screengrab /via LifeSiteNews)
Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region has been fighting the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services over its annual license renewal, arguing that the state is trying to "intimidate" abortionists by making renewal contingent on interviewing them about patient complaints.
The abortion giant filed a lawsuit at St. Louis Circuit Court seeking a restraining order to preserve its license, without which it would have had to stop committing abortions after the license expired in June. Health officials want to interview five contract physicians regarding seven incidents flagged by inspectors, which Planned Parenthood opposes on the grounds that their answers could lead to criminal charges... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
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Calvin Freiburger (Aug 29, 2019)
"The Trump Administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all; however, the House-passed bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights." -deputy press secretary Judd Deere
 (Washington, DC) — [LifeSiteNews.com] The Trump administration reiterated its opposition to the so-called "Equality Act" Tuesday, responding to a challenge by pop star Taylor Swift in support of the wide-reaching LGBT measure. (Image: Wikimedia Commons /via LifeSiteNews)
Swift used her Monday performance at the annual MTV Video Music Awards to promote her Change.org petition supporting the Equality Act, which she claimed "basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law." She added that its more-than 500,000 signatures "is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House."
Fox News notes that the administration is only obligated to address petitions if they gather 100,000 signatures within a 30-day window, but the White House chose to answer questions on the matter anyway.
"The Trump Administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all; however, the House-passed bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights," deputy press secretary Judd Deere told CNN in response to an inquiry about Swift's challenge.
The Equality Act would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include "sex," "sexual orientation," and "gender identity" among expressly recognized "non-discrimination" categories in "public accommodations" (the definition of which would be dramatically expanded); and force employers of 15 or more people to recognize their claimed "gender identity," forbid them from "discriminating" based on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity," and mandate transgender "access" to sex-specific facilities... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
Continue reading here.
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Michael Foust (Aug 29, 2019)
"[T]he religiously unaffiliated demographic represents the largest religious group within the Democratic Party, growing from 19% in 2007 to one in three today ... [T]he Democratic Party is an inclusive organization that recognizes that morals, values, and patriotism are not unique to any particular religion, and are not necessarily reliant on having a religious worldview at all." -DNC resolution
 [ChristianHeadlines.com] The Democratic National Committee passed a first-of-its-kind resolution Saturday recognizing the "ethical soundness" and "importance" of religiously unaffiliated Americans while contending such voters "share the Democratic Party's values." (Image: via The Star)
The resolution—passed at the DNC's summer meeting—was championed by the Secular Coalition of America, an organization that lobbies on behalf of atheists, agnostics and humanists in public policy. The coalition said it was the first time the party had "embraced American nonbelievers." It passed unanimously absent one abstention, the coalition said... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
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Rick Moran (Aug 29, 2019)
"I have no interest in allowing the conversation about my personal life to continue and so I have no desire to discuss it." -Rep Omar to CBS Minnesota
 [PJMedia.com] ...Yesterday, PJM's Tyler O'Neil informed us of a divorce filing that named Rep. Ilhan Omar as "the other woman." Today, the Daily Caller reports that the National Legal and Policy Center has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Omar used campaign money to illegally fund the travel of her boyfriend—during her extra-marital affair. (Image credit: Leila Navidi-The Star Tribune via AP /via PJMedia)
Omar's campaign has disbursed $223,000 to Tim Mynett's company, E. Street Group, LLC, from August 2018 through June 2019, mostly for fundraising consulting, FEC records show. But on April 1, her campaign began making payments to E. Street Group for "travel expenses."
Less than a week later, on April 7, Tim Mynett confessed to his wife that he was "romantically involved with and in love with" Omar, according to a divorce filing Tuesday by Dr. Beth Jordan Mynett...Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
Continue reading here.
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Will Maule (Aug 29, 2019)
"...Whatever you are going through, put your hand in the hand of the God Who can see over your mountains and past your storms because sometimes, on the other side of the storm, the beauty in His plan is even more evident than before..." -excerpt from a devotion written by Emily Bivens for Baseball Chapel
 [Faithwire.com] Prayers and messages of condolence have been streaming in for a minor league baseball player who lost his wife and young son in a brutal shooting [Tuesday]. (Image: via Facebook-Emily Bivens)
Emily and Cullen Bivens, the wife and son of Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Blake Bivens, were shot dead at their Pittsylvania, Virginia home Tuesday. The prime suspect is Emily's brother, Matthew Bernard, who was found running around Keeling, Virginia, naked just a few hours after the killings, in which he also killed his own mother.
In bizarre footage of his arrest, which was reported by 8 News in Richmond, VA, Bernard could be seen chasing an armed police officer around a church parking lot, before trying to strangle the church's caretaker. Eventually, he was apprehended by a police K9 unit...
Emily and Blake married in 2016, before having Cullen in 2018. On her Instagram, Emily described herself as, a "follower of Jesus" and someone who was "Amazed by His grace." On Facebook, she battled fiercely for pro-life causes... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
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Lisa Bourne (Aug 29, 2019)
"It's still so controversial. I'm not sure what I would add that would be helpful enough in the conversation that it's worth the number of people I could offend." -Phil Vischer
 [LifeSiteNews.com] The co-creator of "Veggie Tales" says that Christian filmmakers will need to start addressing LGBT issues in their work, but from a Biblical perspective, since children are already being exposed to these narratives in secular programming. (Image: via LifeSiteNews)
Phil Vischer said he won't compromise if pressed.
"If I get pressure from Hollywood to show two men getting 'married' because we've all decided it's right and correct, my pushback is: 'No, I won't," he stated. "Because that's not what I believe is best for kids."
"It's more about what we show as normal rather than explicitly showing something and saying, 'that's wrong,'" he said. "I'm portraying the positive rather than the negative."
"At least for now," said Vischer. "I do believe that at some point we'll be forced to figure out how to explicitly address it"... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
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Emily Jones (Aug 29, 2019)
"Sports can bring out the very best. Sadly, it can also remind us how far we have to go. Congrats to Israel's Sagi Muki on becoming the World Judo Champion. Condolences to Mohamed Abdelaal who lost 2x today—once as an athlete and once as a decent person." -Jason Greenblatt, the Trump administration's Special Representative for International Negotiations
 (Jerusalem, Israel) — [CBN News] Israel's Sagi Muki took home the gold medal at the Judo World Championships in Tokyo on Wednesday, making him the first Israeli man to achieve such an honor. (Image: via CBN News)
Muki became the world champion after defeating Belgian fighter Matthias Casse in the men's under 81 kg (178.5 pounds) division.
After his win, an emotional Muki fell to the ground and then stood up with arms wide as the crowd cheered on.
The young fighter stood on the winners' podium and sang along to the Hatikva, Israel's national anthem. Many Israelis in the audience sang along.
Muki had to defeat six opponents to come out on top, including rival Egyptian fighter Mohamed Abdelaal, who refused to shake Muki's hand after losing to him.
Refusing to shake your opponent's hand after a Judo match is a sign of great disrespect. This is not the first time another Middle Eastern competitor has refused to shake an Israeli opponent's hand.
Jason Greenblatt, the Trump administration's Special Representative for International Negotiations, condemned Abdelaal after the incident.
"Sports can bring out the very best. Sadly, it can also remind us how far we have to go. Congrats to Israel's Sagi Muki on becoming the World Judo Champion. Condolences to Mohamed Abdelaal who lost 2x today—once as an athlete and once as a decent person," Greenblatt wrote on Twitter. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
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