ETERNAL FLAME NEWS: Jan 2, 2013

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Photo of Baby Reaching Out From Womb During C-Section Goes Viral

A new photo of a baby reaching out of the womb and holding a doctor’s finger during a Caesarian section delivery has gone viral and is being passed around Facebook by tens of thousands of people.
A Phoenix-area couple took the picture during the delivery of Nevaeh — Heaven spelled backward — and a local news report says even the physician and hospital nursing staff were surprised by what unfolded.

“It was such an amazing photo. [Hospital staff] had possibly heard of it happening but they had never seen a photo of it,” said Alicia Atkins, Nevaeh’s mother.

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Piper Denounces Prosperity Preachers, Playful Worship in Last Sermon

By Lillian Kwon , Christian Post Reporter

January 2, 2013|3:49 pm

In his last message as pastor for Preaching and Vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church, John Piper condemned prosperity preachers for enticing worshippers into a faith that's not real Christianity.

"If you entice people with wealth, ... ease, health, chipper, bouncy, light-hearted, playful, superficial banter in your worship service posing as joy in Christ, you will attract people, oh yeah, you can grow a huge church that way. But Christ will not be seen in his glory and the Christian life will not be seen as the calvary road that it is," said Piper on Sunday.
After 32 years of preaching at Bethlehem in Minneapolis, Piper handed the baton to Jason Meyer, who will be installed on Jan. 20.
While Sunday's sermon was not likely Piper's final message, it was his last on an official level as pastor for Preaching and Vision. In his last official message, Piper wanted to convey to the congregation "what the world needs from the church."
What it needs, he preached, is "our indomitable, invincible joy in the midst of suffering and sorrow."
He wasn't speaking of a "chipper" or "bouncy" joy that he sees in many church services but true rejoicing in the face of suffering and sorrow.

Domino's Pizza Founder Gets Injunction Against HHS Mandate

By Michael Gryboski , Christian Post Reporter

January 2, 2013|5:12 pm

A district court judge gave the founder of Domino's Pizza a last minute injunction from having to provide the abortion pill in accordance with the controversial preventive services mandate.

Thomas Monaghan, who presently oversees the Domino's Farms Corporation of Michigan, was granted an injunction on Sunday by Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff of the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division.
"The harm of delaying the implementation of a statute that may later be deemed constitutional is outweighed by the risk of substantially burdening the free exercise of religion," wrote Zatkoff.
"Moreover, the harm of carving out, at least temporarily, an additional exemption for an organization with less than 100 employees can hardly be considered a significant or 'irreparable' harm to the Government."
Monaghan filed suit against the government over the HHS mandate in December. Monaghan and Domino's Farms are represented by the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC).
Erin Mersino, attorney for TMLC, told The Christian Post that her organization was "very pleased" with the injunction decision.

Firefighter discovers faith from ashes, now shares faith in Asia

CENTRAL ASIA (BP) -- His world was going up in flames -- literally. Firefighter Christopher Ryan* was engulfed by pitch-black smoke and scorching heat amid an intense blaze on the second floor of a townhome when he and his partner, a veteran firefighter, realized they couldn't find the way out.

"I heard my partner screaming ... [telling] us to get out as fast as we could," Ryan remembers.

But he couldn't see a thing. Worse, his fire hose was stuck somewhere in the building and couldn't be freed. Still green from firefighters' school, his instructors' words echoed in Ryan's mind: "Never leave the hose. It's your lifeline."

And in that moment, Ryan says, time stood still.

"I had [what seemed] like an hour-long conversation right there with God," he says. "He pretty much affirmed that I wasn't saved and that if He were to allow me to die right then in that fire, I would be burning in hell that instant."

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Passion 2013 Tells 60,000 Students: You Don't Need an Event, You Need Jesus

TLANTA – A strong sense of anticipation, energy and purpose was evident all over downtown Atlanta Tuesday as over 60,000 students and ministry leaders from across the country and around the world descended on the Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center for the Passion 2013 conference.

"Is this not incredible?" Passion founder and visionary architect Louie Giglio said as he surveyed the energized crowd. "It's no longer a dream, but reality. And I can tell you that you are much louder tonight than the crowd watching football here last night!"
Passion staff and volunteer teams had worked tirelessly to set up the Georgia Dome in a matter of hours following the Chick-fil-A Bowl football game which ended late Monday night.

University students from all 50 United States, 55 countries, and 2,200 college campuses are represented at this week's four-day conference, the largest single Passion gathering in North America in the 18-year history of the Passion movement.
"Back in 1996, we knew that God was on the move, that God had a heartbeat for 18-25 year olds, and especially for the 20 million college students, the vast majority of whom do not have a clue as to why they are on this planet," Giglio recalled. "We wanted Passion to be solely focused on the person and fame of Jesus Christ, and for young people to make the focus of their life's goal to make Jesus known in their generation."
He showed a video clip from a 1995 Christian gathering in Seoul, South Korea, where some 60,000 people had gathered for worship and teaching. "We saw what was happening and thought, 'God is building a global movement'" he said. "We had done some things that we thought were big, but God was saying to us, 'I want to do something in this generation that is beyond what you can ask or imagine.' And here we are, so many years later, and I'm looking at another crowd of 60,000 people."

‘Jesus Generation’: See Why 60,000+ Students & Pastors Are Gathering in Atlanta This Week

For all the talk surrounding the alleged death of religion, one would assume that interest in spiritual themes is anemic at best. However, this isn’t necessarily the case. While the proportion of Americans who count themselves as religiously-unaffiliated is on the rise, there’s still a great deal of interest in exploring faith and religion.
Consider the annual “Passion” conference, which is set to break its own attendance record this year. With 60,000 students and preachers slated to head to Atlanta to take part in the four-day Christian-themed event, it’s impossible to dismiss the ever-intense devotion that many still have to faith and religious structures.
As The Christian Post notes, the event’s purpose is focused around “making Jesus famous and fighting modern-day slavery.” Some of the biggest and most popular orators and faith-based musicians will address and perform for the massive audience at the Georgia Dome, as the collective group invokes faith to contend with complex, modern-day issues. The Post has more about the festivities, which began on Tuesday night and will extend through Friday:
In what will be the largest single Passion gathering in North America since the Passion movement began in 1995, attendees will hear from dynamic Christian speakers including Louie Giglio, John Piper, Beth Moore, Francis Chan, Judah Smith, and Gary Haugen. Worship through music will also be an integral component of the conference, and lead musicians include Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Christy Nockels, Kristian Stanfill, Charlie Hall, David Crowder, Lecrae, and Jesus Culture

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