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Worship in California

Several Christian artists lead in worship at the Freedom Experience Concert

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Across southern California, more than 20,000 volunteers were invited to a Christian worship concert which followed in a day of giving back to their neighborhoods.

Justin Bieber was the headline for the Los Angeles Freedom Experience along with Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes her husband. They led many people to lift up their hands to Jesus Christ and for thousands of them, it was for the first time.

Justin and Kari were also joined by many other top Christian worship singers such as Tori Kelly, Chance the Rapper and Jaden Smith as they performed at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Clips from the worship concert were shared by Kari on Instagram. Kari said, "Still so moved about last night." Kari also shared comments made by Justin on stage at the concert. He said, "Many of you may not be used to this kind of atmosphere. But what you are experiencing is the presence of God. Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus."

Justin also joined volunteers who went & served this city. Thank you to the entire crew who made this event possible! Thank you

forces with Tori Kelly. She is featured on a lot of his recent gospel album. Kelly said, "The Freedom Experience, what an incredible night filled with so much love!! Thank you to @1dayLA & the thousands of JESUS."

Justin, Kari and Cody, sang beside each other during their anthem called, "The Blessing." 1DayLA outreach was part of the concert, who brought thousands of volunteers, so they could give back to all their neighbors.

Following the day of community service, all the volunteers were then invited to come to the worship concert that was hosted by Jason Kennedy of E! News.

Billboard said that Justin Bieber was driven to be a part of the 1DayLA movement, "because of his strong and long held belief that giving of ourselves in service to others is one of the most important things we can do."

Bieber is committed to the powerful idea that a movement of change can start with individuals helping one another and their community."

Judah Smith, Justin's pastor with the ChurcHome, led the worship experience.

Members of the Christian community as well as celebrities attended the concert. Also, Conor McGregor, who is a boxer and mix martial fighter, and his family were all seen at the concert praising Jesus Christ.

Eliminating Christians

The Taliban could start to Eliminate the Christian Population of Afghanistan

Well it wasn't very long, within just hours after capturing Herat, that the Taliban jihadist fighters were out patrolling the streets, trying to convince the residents of Afghanistan's third largest city that soon life would be going back to normal. One of the Taliban terrorists, said, "Business will continue as normal and people are happy with us and with our services, they will be happier."

But one of the Christians in the city has some serious doubts of what the Taliban says: "Right now we fear elimination. The Taliban are going to eliminate the Christian population of Afghanistan."

There are thousands of Afghans who have given their lives to Jesus during the past 20 years. He said, "There weren't a lot of Christians twenty years ago during the Taliban time, but today we are talking about 10,000 local Christians and they live all over Afghanistan."

He is very concerned about all the Christians in the Afghan small community. He said, "We know a Christian believer who we've been working with in the north, he's a leader and we've lost contact with him because his city has fallen to the Taliban. There are three other cities where we have lost contact with our Christian believers."

Statistics say that Afghanistan is the second most dangerous country to live in as a Christian. That is just behind North Korea. Christians there mostly changed from the religion of Islam.

The Christian said, "Some of the believers are known in their communities, people know that they converted from Islam to Christianity, and they are considered apostates and the penalty for that is death. The Taliban are famous for carrying out that punishment."

Now the Taliban are going to the doors of all the residents and forcing the families to give them their daughters, some of the girls are only 12 years old, they are all to become sex slaves for the men of the Taliban. The Christian said, "I have four sisters that are single, they are at home and they are worried about this."

A foreign national worked in Afghanistan for thirty years.

He remembered the brutality of the

Taliban up close in

Kabal before the

Americans came and the terror of them returning to the days of regular executions, floggings, stoning to death and hand amputations. He said, "They have a strict interpretation of Islamic law, not only from the Quran, but also from what they call the Hadiths, which are traditions, sayings, and practical applications of Islamic law."

The foreign national said, "Regardless of all the threats, there is such a craving among all many Afghans like never before to know and love Jesus in such a loving way."

The Christian man said, "The Christian community that's in Afghanistan is strong. They are trusting Jesus, they are walking with Jesus, despite the potential of being eliminated by the Taliban."

Forgiving the Arsonists

Church leader has forgiven the people who are involved in burning down his church in Surrey

Another church fire in Canada; this time it's in the city of Surrey, British Columbia. Steven Faltas awoke to the phone ringing; it was from the alarm company and the fire department, as he was told that there was a fire at his church. A neighbor of the church video shot the fire around 4:30 a.m. at the Saint George Coptic Orthodox Church. The video shows the church fully engulfed in flames. Steven Faltas, a board member at the church, said that it was very difficult to watch. He said, "The street was completely closed and there were approximately four or five fire trucks all fighting the blaze. The scene was quite traumatic, surreal to be honest."

This fire in Surrey, is one of the latest fires in a wave of arsons or vandalism against the churches across Canada. Rebel News reported that there has been 43 church fires and ten were set on fire in one day in Calgary, it's terrible to have ten fires in one day.

The ten fires happened in the province of Alberta where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has said that they see the fires as suspicious. Tammy Keibel, spokesperson with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said, "We are actively looking for suspects so that we can hopefully hold those who committed the acts accountable for the damage and the turmoil that they have caused."

There have been several photos released of the suspects that are wanted in the fire investigation. All the arsons and vandalism have followed the findings of hundreds of unmarked graves that were at former boarding schools for Indigenous children, many of which were run by the Catholic church.

After they had discovered all the unmarked graves, people started to set churches on fire right across Canada. Even though most of the churches burned or vandalized have been Catholic, many non- Catholic churches have suffered damages of some sort also. Even though Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called fires and burning of churches 'unacceptable' response to all the unmarked Indigenous graves that have been found, Ezra Levant, a conservative talk show host, has said that any comments from Canadian national leaders to all the church fires have been very lukewarm.

Steven Faltas had a message for those responsible for his churches fire. He said, "The only thing that we can say to those perpetrators is that as Christian believers we forgive you. We obviously would love to have our church still standing but at the same time, we are strong believers, and although today may be a day of mourning, God will provide, and tomorrow will be a day of joy."

Page 16 His Grace Magazine! August 2021

Lionel Messi gives God Glory

Argentina National Soccer team wins the Copa America Championship in Rio de Janeiro

Argentina Soccer star Lionel Messi from Argentina recently won his first soccer title with the Argentina National Team in Rio de Janeiro during the Copa American Championships.

The La Albiceleste from Argentina, the name meaning white and sky blue, managed to beat Brazil 1-0. This win ended a 28-year drought of not lifting up the cup for Argentina.

Lionel Messi celebrated this big win by giving God praise saying, "I thank God for giving me these moments." Lionel also thanked his family and his loved ones: "Many times I dreamed of this. I dedicate it to my family, my wife, my children, my elders, my brothers, who many times had to suffer, just like me or worse. We always had to go on vacation and spend several sad days, without earning anything, and this time it is different."

Lionel Messi has a nickname of "The Flea"; this is because he is

short. He waited a long time in his career just to be able to celebrate a

championship of glory. Lionel put his faith in God and waited for that perfect time. He said, "God had this moment in store for me and I am grateful." Lionel

also added, "I had a lot of confidence in this group, which has been getting very strong since

the last Copa America, where many good things have already been done. A group of very good people who always push forward, who never complained about anything, they were locked up for many days, without being able to see the family, but the objective was clear. It was given to us, we were able to be champions and happiness is immense." Now this team's next big challenge will be to win the World Cup in Qatar next year, which would be Argentina's first since Maradona helped the team win the World Cup in 1986.

Christian Boxer Manny Pacquiao, could be running for President of the Philippines

Manny Pacquiao, the Welterweight boxing star, is now in training for his next fight against Errol Spence Jr. in August. Manny, the champion boxer, is now looking towards a fight in the political ring instead as President of the Philippines.

One of the many reasons for the speculation recently is that he criticized the current President Rodrigo Duterte, a member of his own party. Manny, who is a senator, has accused the President of corruption and of being too soft on China's forwardness on the South China Sea.

Manny said he will not be announcing anything until after his title fight with Errol Spence Jr. in August. Manny is a vocal devout Christian. He said, "If God wills it, I will do my job should I get there."

The presidential election isn't until next May 2022.

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