Category Archives: Snippet

Russell Wolfe, Producer of ‘God’s Not Dead,’ Dies at 50

Gods Not DeadRussell Wolfe, prolific producer of faith-based films such as recent hit “God’s Not Dead” through his Pure Flix studio, died May 27 in Scottsdale, Arizona of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

Russell produced and co-starred in 2014’s “God Not Dead,” which grossed $60 million dollars. He was diagnosed with ALS during the film’s release.

He continued to work during his illness, producing the sequel “God’s Not Dead 2,” planned for a spring 2016 release.

For more on this story see: http://variety.com/2015/film/news/russell-wolfe-dead-dies-gods-not-dead-1201508419/

How to Display Spiritual Maturity as A Servant

MaturityThe opening verse of James (James 1:1) shows the apostle’s penetrating humility. His maturity pops out like a pumped up vein. James knew Jesus. After all, brothers know brothers. The siblings flourished in the home of Joseph and Mary. They played and laughed together. They developed into men of God together. James shared his toothbrush with the Messiah. Except he didn’t know he was the Messiah then. Jesus was just his kid brother. Despite knowing the star maker, James chooses not to reference it. What he does mention is the link that mattered most to him. “James a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Put yourself in his place. How would you write this opening? Would you have written, “James the half-brother of Jesus?” A mature Christian understands the spiritual is higher than the physical. Blood is not thicker than water, in the Spirit realm. The new birth fuses believers together into an everlasting inseparable family. Two blood washed disciples living unknown to each other on separate continents have a greater bond than the closet unsaved relatives living under the same roof. These opening words of James are a sharp picture of what maturity looks like, an image the world knows nothing about. Service is life. Those playing the world’s game would have taken advantage of knowing someone as famous as Jesus. Can’t you hear the worn expression, “it’s not what you know but who you know?” Name-dropping, networking for status and positioning “for self-promotion is the game. Call it Selfishness Inc.; against this, the words of James stand in stark contrast.

Collapsed Teen Says He Saw Jesus

good_friday_1000004528-120613intFORT WORTH(CBSDFW.COM) — Doctors can’t seem to explain it, but one Texas family is sure it was the hand of God that brought their son back to life. 17-year-old Zack Clements is a strong, healthy and outgoing high school athlete. He goes to school and plays football at Victory Life Academy in Brownwood, Texas. It was there last week the teen suddenly collapsed while running in P.E. class. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors worked to revive him. According to Clements, “they said I was without a heart beat for 20 minutes.” When doctors finally got a pulse, Clements was airlifted to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth. He would wake up there in the intensive care unit days later. His recovery has been hard to believe, but even more amazing is the story he tells of what he saw when his heart stopped beating.
“When I was out those 20 minutes, I saw a man who had long ruffled hair and kind of a thick beard, and it didn’t take me long to realize that that was Jesus,” he said.

For more on this story: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/05/14/texas-teen-says-he-saw-jesus-before-being-revived/

Found! Man lost at sea for 66 days in Answer to Prayer

Sea - OceanA South Carolina family’s prayers were answered this week after their loved one was found after being lost at sea for 66 days. “From what he told us on the phone, he was catching fish and collecting rain water and drinking it,” Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Krystyn Pecora told The News & Observer.

Louis Jordan was found around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday about 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. He had gone fishing near Conway, South Carolina on January 23.

Jordan’s family was thrilled he was found alive.

“It’s amazing,” Norma said. “It’s been very difficult not knowing anything and I just feel like all of our prayers have come true. They’ve been answered.”

“We prayed, and prayed, and hoped you were still alive,” Jordan’s father, Frank, added.

For more on this story see:  http://www.christiantoday.com/article/man.lost.at.sea.found.after.66.days.we.prayed.and.prayed.says.family/51393.htm

The Boneless Tongue

smiley-vector-illustration-tongue-out_m1bRTb (1)“The boneless tongue, so small and weak,
Can crush and kill,” declares the Greek.
“The tongue destroys a greater horde,”
The Turk asserts, “than does the sword.”
The Persian proverb wisely saith,
“A lengthy tongue–an early death!”
The English takes this form instead,
“Don’t let your tongue cut off your head.”
“The tongue can speak a word whose speed,”
Say the Chinese, “outstrips the steed.”
The Arab wise men say in part,
“The tongue’s great storehouse is the heart.”
From Hebrew was the maxim sprung,
“Thy foot should slip, but not the tongue.”
The sacred writer – the Bible – crowns the whole,
“Who keeps the tongue doth keep his soul.”
— author unknown

What Happens When An Atheist Goes to Church

HillsongSanderson Jones, a former stand-up comedian who leads the Sunday Assembly – also known as the ‘atheist church’ – spent Sunday attending three London churches and tweeting about his experience.

What started as a visit to his friend Dave Tomlison’s church became an impromptu tour of London Christianity. The three churches he visited were St Luke’s, Holloway, where Tomlinson (author of ‘How to be a Bad Christian’) is vicar, Hillsong in central London, and St Mary’s Bryanston Square.

Contrary to popular belief, Jones said he found them welcoming places, and said churches should realize that there is much they are doing well…

For more on this article see:  http://www.christiantoday.com/article/a.well.known.atheist.visited.three.churches.in.one.day.this.is.what.he.made.of.it/51034.htm

Is God a Miracle Working God? See This Miracle Pregnancy!

Baseball_diamond_marinesAs baseball season begins this week, a Triple-A pitcher for the Texas Rangers organization has much to celebrate. Jon Edwards underwent surgery to remove testicular cancer in December; one day later, his incredulous doctor had a good report.
Now, defying the odds in a turn the media proclaims a “miracle,” Jon and his wife Katelyn Edwards are expecting their first baby this fall.
Briefly on the mound for the Texas Rangers during pre-season, Edwards was reassigned to the Triple-A team this past weekend – though he’s not one to be down in the count. They share their story in an exclusive Bound4LIFE interview.

For More on this story see: http://www.christianheadlines.com/news/after-cancer-scare-major-league-baseball-pitcher-and-his-wife-experience-miracle-pregnancy.html

7.5 Million Americans Lost Their Religion since 2012

Religion_Philosophy_by_dragontroveA new survey shows in stark relief that what some are calling the Great Decline of religion in America continues: Since 2012, the U.S. has about 7.5 million more Americans who are no longer active in religion.
1. More Americans prefer “no religion.”
When asked their religious preference, nearly 1 in 4 Americans now says “none.” Up until the 1990s, the percentage who were in this group known as “nones” hovered in the single digits.  The 2014 GSS showed that nones are 23 percent of the population, up 3 points from 2012.
How large is this group? There are nearly as many Americans who claim no religion as there are Catholics (24 percent). If this growth continues, in a few years the largest “religion” in the U.S. may be no religion at all.

Watch Out for This Invasion of Privacy

TV in the white roomSamsung gives warning about talking in front of the Smart TV. http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2o6ztk/WXBN1D3F:eSLFK-rK/www.thestar.com/business/tech_news/2015/02/09/samsung-gives-warning-about-talking-in-front-of-the-smart-tv.html

A voice command feature on Samsung’s Smart TV could allow the interception of private living room conversations and their transmission to third parties, the company says in a privacy statement highlighted Monday by online news site the Daily Beast.

Memorizing Entire Books of the Bible

Family-bibleA few years before the war, a humble villager in eastern Poland received a Bible from an evangelist who visited his small hamlet. He read it, was converted, and passed the book on to others. Through that one Bible two hundred more became believers. When the evangelist, Michael Billester, revisited the town in the summer of 1940, the group gathered to worship and listen to his preaching. Billester suggested that instead of giving the customary testimonies they all recite verses of Scripture. Thereupon a man arose and asked, “Perhaps we have misunderstood. Did you mean verses or chapters?” “Do you mean to say there are people here who can recite chapters of the Bible?” asked Mr. Billester in astonishment. That was precisely the case. Those villagers had memorized not only chapters but entire books of the Bible. Thirteen knew Matthew and Luke and half of Genesis. One had committed all the Psalms to memory. Together, the two hundred knew virtually the entire Bible. Passed around from family to family and brought to the gathering on Sundays, the old Book had become so worn with use that its pages were hardly legible.

Stunning! Evangelicals and Catholics Daring Marriage Report

Marriage certificateHere is an excerpt from a joint Evangelical Catholic statement on marriage.

As Christians, it is our responsibility to bear witness to the truth about marriage as taught by both revelation and reason—by the Holy Scriptures and by the truths inscribed on the human heart. These age-old truths explain why Christians celebrate ­marriage—the coming-together of a man and woman in a binding union of mutual support—as one of the glories of the human race. Marriage is the primordial human institution, a reality that existed long before the establishment of what we now know as the state.

Click http://www.firstthings.com/article/2015/03/the-two-shall-become-one-flesh-reclaiming-marriage-2 to view the rest of the statement.