How the meaning of ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ has led to a split among Bible translators in America

March 4, 2016 — ChristianToday.com reports: “Organisations devoted to translating the Bible into new languages have split over how far they should adapt translations to local conditions.

US-based Wycliffe Associates, originally set up to support Wycliffe Bible Translators but now a separate body, has announced it is leaving the Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA), the international network of translation bodies.

Its president Bruce Smith said it was committed to supporting ‘only Bible translations that use literal common language for Father and Son of God’ and that ‘The Wycliffe Global Alliance includes Bible translation agencies that do not include Father and Son of God in some translations of the Scriptures.’

‘For Wycliffe Associates, literal translation of Father and Son of God is not negotiable,’ Smith said in his public statement.

The controversy refers to a small number of translations in which other words for ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ were used to refer to God and Jesus as a way of making them more accessible to readers who would assume the words implied a sexual relationship between God and Mary…”  (Thank God for Bruce Smith who is taking a stand against Apostate Christian Bible translators who have removed Jesus as the Son of God 91 times in a new version of God’s Holy Word and makes this distorted Bible blasphemous as it now backs Islam’s Koran which states eight times that anyone who says that Christ is the Son of God or proclaims a Christian Trinity such as Matthew 28:19 will burn in hell forever.  God’s Holy Word states: “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son” – I John 2:22.  How long will true Christianity allow these false Christs and false prophets to continue massacring God’s Holy Word and blaspheme our precious God and Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ?  Will you begin helping me, Dr. Jack Van Impe in eliminating these religious seducers on the basis of II Peter 2:1: “…there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”  God’s judgment upon such evil men and deceivers is described in II John 1:9 – 11: “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”)

 Christian student expelled from university for quoting Bible on homosexuality

March 2, 2016 — ChristianToday.com reports: “A married Christian student with four children has been expelled from his university because he wrote a post on Facebook opposing gay marriage.

Felix Ngole, aged 38, was asked to leave the University of Sheffield [UK], where he was in the second year of a Masters in social work.

He is to appeal against the decision, which came after members of the faculty decided he might have ‘caused offence’ to some people for expressing support for Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk jailed after refusing to issue same-sex marriage licences.

In the comments on Facebook profile, which were not visible to anyone outside his circle of friends, he quoted Leviticus in support of biblical teaching on marriage and sexual ethics.

The post was brought to the attention of the faculty at Sheffield. Following a Faculty of Social Sciences ‘fitness to practise’ committee hearing, he was advised he has been ‘excluded from further study on a programme leading to a professional qualification’ and is ‘no longer recognised as a University student’.

This was because the committee believed that he ‘may have caused offence to some individuals’ and had ‘transgressed boundaries which are not deemed appropriate for someone entering the social work profession.’ His action would have an effect on his ‘ability to carry out a role as a social worker,’ the committee said…”

 Nigeria’s Anti-Christian Jihad in Numbers: 11,500 Dead, 13,000 Churches Destroyed

February 26, 2016 — Breitbart.com reports: “A new report offers some startling statistics on the devastation wrought by Muslims on the Christian population in Nigeria, with 11,500 Christians killed, a million displaced and 13,000 churches destroyed or shut down in the last 15 years.

The 48-page report titled ‘Crushed but Not Defeated: The Impact of Persistent Violence on the Church in Northern Nigeria,’ documents the extent of Christian persecution in Nigeria due to targeted violence by Islamic extremists as well as other more moderate Muslims. The document was released after extensive on-the-ground research by Open Doors, a non-profit group devoted to assisting persecuted Christians throughout the world.

The comprehensive study reveals that decades of religious violence directed at the Christian community has had an even larger impact on the Church in Northern Nigeria than previously thought…” (Dr. Ben Carson said: “”I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.” Why?  On Fox News Chanel show, The Kelly Files with Megyn Kelly he explained the killing of 1 million apostates in recent days because they called one another not true Muslims, or apostates because the Shiites say that the leadership follows the family of Muhammad, while the Sunnis disagree.  But next they both kill all infidels – Jews, Christians, non-Muslims – since the Crusades 300 million have be slain because the rejected Allah as their god.  Most of these massacres were by beheading, which the Koran demands.  See the next three reports.)

 Even in Italy, Christian Converts from Islam Live in Fear of Reprisals

February 9, 2016 — Breitbart.com reports: “Recent reports suggest that over a thousand converts to Christianity from Islam currently live in Italy, but hide their conversions for fear of retaliation from the Muslim community against themselves and their families.

A 55-year-old Egyptian chemical engineer who now works a waiter in a city of central Italy, was a fervent Muslim who converted to Christianity in Italy after the death of his mother and was baptized three years ago.

The man, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid retribution from Muslims, said that the decisive element in his conversion came from seeing Christians with ‘a humanity more complete than mine’ and wanting to find what they had found.

Still, he openly expresses his frustration with having to hide his newfound faith. ‘I cannot openly practice my Christian faith. I am afraid that some fanatical Muslim may do harm not only to me, but especially to relatives who remained in Egypt.’

‘How is it,’ he asks, ‘that Italians who convert to Islam can go on TV and talk about it, and instead I have to hide to avoid retaliation?’

The name Italians are using to refer to the believers who must conceal their religion as ‘ghost Christians.’…”

 As U.S. Hesitates, EU Recognizes Islamic State Christian Genocide

February 13, 2016 — Breitbart.com reports: “The European Union (EU) has recognized the mass slaughter of Christians at the hands of the barbaric Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) as genocide, but the Obama administration has yet to offer the same designation to the religious minority group.

‘It is very important to call it genocide, it’s important because it is the truth,’ said Nina Shea with Freedom House, a group that has been documenting ISIS atrocities.

Shea is urging the Obama administration to follow the EU’s example and label the crimes against Christians in the Middle East as ‘genocide.’

‘There’s a reluctance on the part of the administration to call it genocide against Christians,’ she proclaimed. ‘They have told us privately that they will call it genocide against Yazidis but not Christians.’

‘If we take the solemn vow of ‘never again’ as we have since the Jewish Holocaust under the Nazis, we have to call it as such for the Christians,’ Shea added…”

 Attacks on religious liberty in U.S. doubled in past 3 years, says First Liberty Institute report

February 28, 2016 — ChristianToday.com reports: “Attacks on religious freedom in the United States have doubled in the past three years, according to the latest report by the First Liberty Institute in Texas.

The ‘Undeniable: The Survey to Hostility in America’ documents the rise in attacks on religion. The first edition documented over 600 incidents where religious liberty was threatened or suppressed.

This year, the institute has identified 1,285 attacks on religious liberty in the U.S., doubling the number of cases in the last three years.

‘The religious liberty of Americans is under attack like never before,’ said Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of the First Liberty Institute. ‘These attacks are coming from all directions, against America’s churches, in our school, in the military, and in the public arena.’…”

Only God can save America now, warns Christian evangelist Franklin Graham

March 4, 2016 — ChristianToday.com reports: “Only God can save America from its secular worldview that is hostile to biblical values, according to Franklin Graham.

In his March newsletter, Graham calls on thousands of people across American to pray for the nation, its people and its future to reverse the ‘advance of godlessness’.

‘We have come to a defining moment in this country. A secular worldview hostile to biblical values has overrun our culture and permeated our government,’ he warns.

‘Rather than seeking to stem the tide, our educators, politicians, and judges aid the advance of godlessness. This cannot continue if our children and grandchildren are to live in a country that still recognises God and upholds religious liberty.’

He singles out no particular politician for criticism. ‘No political party or candidate is capable of providing the solution. Only God can turn our nation and the hearts of its people. That is why I am going to every state capital in America this year to call churches and Christians to repentance and prayer for our land, challenge believers to engage in the election process at every level, and proclaim the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.’…”  (Pray for Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son.  His life will be in great danger as he attacks “damnable heresies” of the so-called religion of peace, promoted by President Obama.)