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Christian leaders express outrage over George Floyd’s death, call police actions ‘evil’
In the bystander video that has been watched by millions around the world, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, begged for his life and cried for his mother before he visibly stopped breathing with the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer still pinned to his neck on Monday.
Many people, including several prominent Christian leaders across racial and denominational lines, are now speaking out and urging others to take a stand against racial injustice.
Miles McPherson, senior pastor of the popular Rock Church in California, noted on Twitter: “Another black man was killed on camera, this time as four police officers held him down.
“This breaks my heart! Holding a hand-cuffed man down with your knee on his neck as he shouts he can’t breathe. What will it take for this to be unacceptable to all of us.
Floyd begged as the officer kept him pinned to the pavement resting firmly on his neck minutes before he would lay motionless.
“Please! Please! Please!” Floyd said as he moaned in pain with what sounds like labored breathing. A voice from a bystander in the video could be heard begging the officer to “let him breathe, at least.”
“I’m about to die,” Floyd pleaded again.
“Relax,” the officer told him.
“I can’t breathe. My face,” he responded as the officer kept pressing into his neck and asked him, “What do you want?”
“I can’t breathe. Your knee’s in my neck. I can’t breathe, sh*t,” he said.
Floyd cried for his mother in desperation as his pleas to the officer went unheeded.
“Mama! Mama!” he cried.
Floyd then tells the officer pinning him down that he was feeling pain everywhere.
“My stomach hurt. My neck hurt. Everything hurts,” he said.
Floyd was soon begging for water.
“Water or something. Please. Please,” he said.
About a minute-and-a-half into the video, a female bystander remarked that Floyd’s nose is bleeding. A male onlooker begged the officer to remove his knee from Floyd’s neck and tries to reason with him.
“He’s human bro,” he said.
Floyd continued to scream, “I cannot breathe.”
About four minutes into the video, Floyd’s cries began to taper off. His movement on the ground became mild twitches. He gasps for air. He eventually stopped twitching. His body is motionless after just over four minutes.
Bystanders who watched this happen screamed at the officer to remove his leg from Floyd’s neck. But he refused and threatened him with mace. They demanded that Floyd’s pulse be checked.
An Asian officer, who had been keeping the bystanders at bay, told them during a back-and-forth that Floyd is “off crack right now. He probably [overdosed].”
Floyd’s limp body was eventually removed by paramedics in the video, which is about 10 minutes in length. Floyd was later pronounced dead.
The Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement that officers had responded to a call about a man suspected of forgery. According to the Star Tribune, police had been called after someone tried to pay with a fake $20 bill at Cup Foods.
The man was found sitting on top of a blue car and “appeared to be under the influence.”
“He was ordered to step from his car,” according to the department’s statement. “After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress.”
On Tuesday morning, without referring to the bystander video, the police updated the statement, titled “Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction.” The police said that additional information had “been made available” and that the FBI was joining the investigation.
Leaders like popular contemporary Christian musician Matthew West, who watched a part of the video, said what he witnessed was “wrong and evil on every level.”
“Sick to my stomach after watching video of police taking the life of #GeorgeFloyd I’m sure some say ‘well, you need to see the whole video,’” he wrote on Twitter Tuesday. “But context won’t change what I feel deep in my spirit right now. What I just saw is WRONG and EVIL on every level.”
Pastor Sheryl Brady of the Potter’s House of North Dallas agreed that now is a good time from all Christians to speak out against injustice and urged the faith community in a Facebook Live broadcast to take a stand.
“I know I am appalled at this. I’m tired of this and it needs to change. And I think we all need to speak up and speak out. What we saw was the actual life squeezed out of this man who was laying on the ground by an officer who put his knee and his body weight in the neck of a man who was pleading for mercy,” she said.
“Somebody says maybe we should wait until the facts come out Pastor Brady. You know what, I don’t want to wait until the facts come out. I just saw ten minutes worth and I am just so over this. It’s not fair. It’s not right. And somebody’s gotta speak up. We gotta speak up because this should not be happening.”
In a series of tweets Tuesday, international evangelist Christine Caine suggested that after watching the video of Floyd’s death, she is also beginning to change her perspective about the experience of people of color and the realities they live.
“I used to see videos like this and think to myself, ‘Let’s wait for all the details to come out.’ Now after seeing too many videos like this to name I’m beginning to wonder if my response should have been, ‘Maybe I should try to understand their pain,’” she wrote. “Sometimes we can be so blinded by our experience & reality that we invalidate someone else’s. Today our black brothers & sisters are experiencing another trauma that communicates to them that their lives aren’t valuable.”
“Centuries of reoccurring trauma takes its toll on a people group. Today I choose to lay down my truth to learn from my friends of color. If we are truly the body of Christ one pain affects us all. We aren’t just the body when it’s convenient,” Caine argued. “We are the body when it’s hurting and broken. No more than the leg can disconnect from the arm can I disconnect my pain from that of my brethren. I’d like to share what I’m learning with you. This has to change.”
The four officers involved in the incident that led to Floyd’s death were fired on Tuesday, according to an Associated Press report. Floyd’s family is calling for the officers’ arrest.
Attorney Tom Kelly told USA Today that he is representing former officer Derek Chauvin, who was said to be the officer filmed pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey apologized to the black community.
“For five minutes, we watched as a white officer pressed his knee into the neck of a black man. For five minutes,” Frey said. “When you hear someone calling for help, you are supposed to help. This officer failed in the most basic human sense. What happened on Chicago and 38th this last night is simply awful. It was traumatic, and it serves as a clear reminder of just how far we have to go. To the black community, to the family, I’m so sorry.”
Sources: Christian Post
httpss://youtu.be/KwITYR8Ijuo?t=409
ലണ്ടന്: ഓസ്ട്രേലിയക്ക് പിന്നാലെ 16 വയസിന് താഴെയുള്ള കുട്ടികളില് സോഷ്യല് മീഡിയ നിരോധനം കൊണ്ടുവരാന് യുകെയും. ഓണ്ലൈന് സുരക്ഷ ഉറപ്പാക്കാന് തനിക്കാവുന്നത് ചെയ്യുമെന്ന് യുകെ സാങ്കേതിക വിദ്യ സെക്രട്ടറി പീറ്റര് കൈലേയെ ഉദ്ധരിച്ച് ബിബിസി റിപ്പോര്ട്ട് ചെയ്യുന്നു. എല്ലാത്തിന്റെയും രേഖകള് കയ്യിലുണ്ടെന്നും തനിക്ക് ആദ്യം കൂടുതല് തെളിവുകള് ലഭിക്കണമെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം വ്യക്തമാക്കി. യുവാക്കളിലെ സോഷ്യല് മീഡിയകളുടെയും സ്മാര്ട്ട്ഫോണുകളുടെയും സ്വാധീനത്തെക്കുറിച്ച് കൂടുതല് ഗവേഷണം നടത്തുമെന്നും കൈലേ പറഞ്ഞു.
16 വയസുവരെയുള്ള കുട്ടികളില് സോഷ്യല് മീഡിയ ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നത് നിരോധിക്കുന്നതിനുള്ള നിയമം ലോകത്തിലാദ്യമായി ഓസ്ട്രേലിയ അവതരിപ്പിച്ചിരുന്നു. ഓസ്ട്രേലിയയിലെ കമ്മ്യൂണിക്കേഷന് മന്ത്രി മിഷേല് റോളണ്ട് അവതരിപ്പിച്ച ബില്ല് ഓണ്ലൈന് സുരക്ഷയുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ടുള്ള രക്ഷിതാക്കളുടെ ആശങ്കയ്ക്ക് പ്രാധാന്യം നല്കുന്നു. ബില്ല് പാസായാല് നിയന്ത്രണമേര്പ്പെടുത്താന് ഒരു വര്ഷം വരെയെങ്കിലും സമയമെടുക്കും.
കുട്ടികള് അക്കൗണ്ട് എടുക്കുന്നത് തടഞ്ഞില്ലെങ്കില് സാമൂഹ്യ മാധ്യമങ്ങള് നഷ്ടപരിഹാരം നല്കേണ്ടി വരുമെന്നും ബില്ലില് പറയുന്നുണ്ട്. ഇങ്ങനെ സംഭവിച്ചാല് ടിക് ടോക്, ഫേസ്ബുക്ക്, സ്നാപ്ചാറ്റ്, റെഡ്ഡിറ്റ്, എക്സ്, ഇന്സ്റ്റാഗ്രാം തുടങ്ങിയ പ്ലാറ്റ്ഫോമുകള് 3.3 കോടി ഡോളര് പിഴ നല്കേണ്ടി വരും. സോഷ്യമീഡിയ പ്ലാറ്റ്ഫോമുകളില് സംരക്ഷണം ഒരുക്കേണ്ട ചുമതല കുട്ടികള്ക്കോ മാതാപിതാക്കള്ക്കോ അല്ലെന്നും മൈക്കിള് റോളണ്ട് പറഞ്ഞു. 18 വയസിന് താഴെയുള്ളവർക്ക് ഓണ്ലൈന് പോണോഗ്രഫി നിരോധിക്കാനുള്ള നിയമവും ഓസ്ട്രേലിയ ആലോചിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്.
Sources:azchavattomonline.com
LONDON – An ex-Muslim turned Christian evangelist has been beaten, chased by angry mobs, unlawfully jailed and even stabbed, all for the sake of the Gospel.
This is not in Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia. It is officially happening in Christian Britain.
Her name is Hatun Tash, and what has been done to her has even caught the attention of the British media.
Tash grew up in Turkey as a Muslim and became a Christian after moving to England. And being an ex-Muslim speaking out against Islam has made her a target.
She told us she has changed residences more than 50 times in the past four years because she knows Muslims are looking for her in order to kill her. One man has already been sentenced to 24 years in prison for trying.
Because of this ongoing danger, she asked that we interview her from a secret location.
Tash told us her conversion to Christ began when she learned the truth about Islam and Mohammed.
“As I read biography, it was very disturbing to me. So, the man you grew up to love and honor suddenly turns out to be like, yeah, not good, not good. And I decided, I can’t be Muslim.”
Then she learned about a very different God than the one of Islam, telling us, “As you dig into it, you get to meet with a God who is not silent or far or distant from you, but you meet with a God who loves you, who pours out himself on you. And not only that, He just puts himself on the cross and then says, ‘I love you from everlasting to everlasting, Come to me.'”
Tash began sharing this message to Muslims at Speakers Corner, in London’s Hyde Park, where speakers climb atop stepladders and vigorous debates ensue, often between Muslims and Christians.
Her preaching and criticism of Islam has sometimes enraged Muslims, and three years ago a man slashed her face with a knife. He has never been caught.
She however has been arrested unlawfully more than once. The London Police have twice paid her damages for wrongful arrests, including two years ago when she refused to leave the area where she was preaching. Tash was forcibly marched through Hyde Park, followed by Muslims celebrating her arrest. She was placed in a police van, strip-searched, and jailed.
This has not stopped Tash from going to mosques and sharing the Gospel daily.
“I would simply stand in front of the mosques, and I’d say ‘Muhammad is a false prophet. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Tell me, what is your objections?’ Hundreds of Muslims just stop and then they want to talk to you. Sometimes you get harmed, sometimes it gets dangerous. Sometimes you end up in hospitals, sometimes you end up in people’s homes for a cup of tea,” Tash said.
“I don’t care whether people reject me or not. They need to hear the gospel,” she said.
Christian Concern’s Christian Legal Centre has defended Tash. Christian Concern’s Andrea Williams told us, “The truth is that those that have attempted to kill her have been caught on camera. The police know who they are, but they have not been arrested. She is feared by and targeted by Muslim groups because she is fearless for the gospel. She loves Jesus so much that nothing will halt her.”
Tash says she will continue to preach and continue to challenge Islam.
“Things are dangerous. Should I choose to stay silent? Like when people are spending 5,000 Pounds to buy a gun, to shoot you and shoot your loved ones? The Gospel is so glorious, I cannot be silent. And the Lord is the giver of life. So, when it’s my time, He will take me home. But until He gives me breath, we continue to preach.”
Sources:CBN News
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‘Christ Laid His Life Down for Me’: Greg Laurie Gives Powerful Gospel Presentation to Jordan Peterson
Christian megachurch leader Greg Laurie recently appeared on psychologist Jordan Peterson’s podcast, where he gave the professor-turned-cultural commentator a powerful presentation of the Gospel.
“When everything’s said and done, what’s more important than the afterlife?” the California-based pastor asked Peterson. “What’s more important than where we spend it? According to the Bible, I believe there’s a literal heaven, a literal hell, and I believe we choose in this life where we will spend the afterlife.”
Laurie added he’s going to spend eternity in heaven “not because I’ve lived a good life — because I failed in many ways — but because Christ laid His life down for me on the cross.”
“Coming back to Abraham, and what a picture, the son was willing to go and be sacrificed by the father,” the pastor continued, referring to the Old Testament story of Genesis 22. “[Isaac] knew what was going on: ‘Hey, Dad, where’s the sacrifice?’ ‘My son, God will provide for Himself a sacrifice.’ But Isaac made that sacrifice, too. The Son Jesus made that sacrifice for us, because He knew there was no other way that we could reach God, no other way we could satisfy the righteous demands of God. So Heaven isn’t for good people, as it’s often said; heaven is for forgiven people.”
The conversation between Peterson and Laurie stemmed from the 71-year-old minister opening up about the death of his son, Christopher, who passed away in 2008 as a result of a tragic car accident.
He described that day in July of 2008 as the “worst” day in his life. Nevertheless, Laurie said he is not without hope — because of his faith in the redemptive work of Jesus.
“I believe I’ll see my son again, because he believed in Jesus,” Laurie explained. “He won’t be in heaven because I’m his dad; he’ll be in heaven because he put his faith in Christ and he had that relationship. He’s a part of my future as well, so that gives me hope. But, also, I realize that God can allow these things in our life. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. I don’t even try to explain it.”
Peterson, author of the new book, “We Who Wrestle With God: Perceptions of the Divine,” admitted to Laurie he struggles to intellectually reconcile a desire to perfect the earthly world with the knowledge the Christian life is heavily weighted toward considering eternity.
The famed psychologist and podcast host asked, “How do you reconcile, in your own mind, the insistence that part of the Christian moral pattern is to perfect the world and to raise the material up to the heavenly with the notion of the afterlife and immortality?”
Laurie referenced 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, in which the Apostle Paul wrote about experiencing a “third heaven,” as well as the thief on the cross next to Jesus, Who promised the man, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43, NIV).
The pastor explained he has felt closest to God — and His promises of eternity — through life’s trials.
“God made a lot of promises,” said Laurie. “I’ve put those promises to the test, including the worst thing of all, to lose a child. And I’ve seen how God had come through for me. If He hadn’t come through for me after my son died, I would have given up preaching, for sure. Why carry on? But He came through for me.”
Sources:faithwire
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