by Maria MackayPosted: Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 10:25 (BST)
For Imad Dabour, persecution is part and parcel of being a Christian in predominantly Muslim North Africa.
It is a region that has had next to no church for eight centuries, but now the church is rising again in spite of daily challenges, the pastor told delegates at Cape Town 2010 last night.
Although there are no exact figures, the number of Christians in North Africa is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.
In the likes of majority-Muslim Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria most of the Christians are converts from Islam.
In such a hostile environment, growing in their new identity as a Christian is not easy and many new converts face losing their friends and family, Dabour explained.
With persecution occurring daily across the region, becoming a Christian is a “serious decision”.
“There are two things about Christianity that we teach people. That it gives you salvation and a lot of joy with it - and persecution.
“Persecution is a basic teaching in our church, he said.
Despite the difficulties, the church continues to teach converts the truth that Jesus is the only way.
“It is a hostile environment [and] a daily challenge for Christians with a new identity from a Muslim background,” he said.
More than 4,000 Christian leaders are in Cape Town this week for the Third Lausanne Congress on world evangelisation.
Last night’s session addressed the challenges faced by believers living in regions where conflict or persecution is a part of everyday life.
Also addressing the Congress was Rajael Achi, who serves in children’s ministry in Lebanon.
He said children were exposed to violence and fear in the face of ongoing unrest in the country and entire Middle East region.
“Many people have lost hope in a good future in the country and want to leave. The children dream of leaving as they grow up.”
Although many families and children are choosing to leave Lebanon and the church, Achi is desperate to see those who remain in the country come to know Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
The conditions for evangelism are favourable but he believes Christians must make the most of the opportunities.
He said: “The Lord has given us freedom of worship and of ministry outreach and evangelism that we need to make use of.
“If we want a better future for Lebanon, if we want better leaders for Lebanon we need to start now in reaching out to children.”
He continued: “There are no unreached children in Lebanon. Every child is reached. But if they are not reached by the Gospel something else will reach them.”
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/persecution.is.a.basic.teaching.in.our.church.says.north.african.pastor/26931.htm
Showing posts with label christians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christians. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Christians bolster Jews as settlement freeze ends
Monday, September 27, 2010 Ryan Jones
Hundreds of Christians from a dozen nations joined together with 3,000 Israelis on Sunday evening in the small Samarian Jewish community of Revava to mark the end of the self-imposed Jewish building freeze in the so-called West Bank.
The Christians were in Israel to participate in the annual International Christian Zionist Center (ICZC) Feast of Tabernacles celebration. The theme of this year’s feast was Genesis 22:17, where God promises Abraham that his “seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.”
ICZC Director Jan Willem van der Hoeven thought it fitting that his group demonstrate their belief in that passage by physically standing with the people of Israel as they reversed that fateful decision to suspend Jewish building in Judea and Samaria in accordance with US and Arab demands.
“We as Gentiles tell you, be strong and of courage to possess the land,” van der Hoeven stated in the central Samaria town of Ariel, just prior to the rally in nearby Revava.
In Revava, the Christians with their bright banners and national flags were swarmed by the Israeli and international media before mingling in amongst the thousands of faithful Israelis from around the country who had come to strengthen the Jews of Judea and Samaria.
The Israelis seemed surprised, though very grateful, to see these foreigners in this isolated place and for this occasion. Most greeted the Christians warmly and many applauded loudly as the flags of various nations were marched in.
Likud MK and deputy minister for development in the Negev and Galilee, Ayoub Kara, who is an Israeli Druze, addressed the crowd in a fiery Zionist speech before turning to the Christians and saying:
“I say to all the non-Jews who are here, I too am not a Jew, but in spirit I am most Jewish, I am most Zionist, and so are you! Good for you that you are here to support Israel.”
Rising Likud star MK Danny Danon, who organized the rally, also took time during his speech to directly address the Christians (in English), saying:
“We salute you. We know that you love Israel unconditionally.”
Danon asked the foreigners to take the message back to their countries that Israel respects them, but insists that its own democracy and historical rights must also be respected. He then apologized to the Jews of Judea and Samaria that they had been treated like “second class citizens” when they were told they could no longer build homes, schools or synagogues.
On Monday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stuck to his promise to allow the building freeze to expire on time, despite heavy American pressure to extend it. However, building permits are expected to be issued much more sparingly so as not to rock the diplomatic boat too much.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been saying every day for the past month that if any Jewish building resumes in the areas he claims for a future state, then the current US-brokered peace negotiations will be over. Washington has been pressing Netanyahu hard to not let that happen, and both US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have hinted in no uncertain terms that if the peace talks break down, Netanyahu will be blamed.
Danon sought to remind Netanyahu that similar threats were made more than 15 years ago by former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. They insisted that if Jewish “settlement activity” continued after the signing of the so-called “Oslo Accords,” it would cause an international crisis for which Israel would be blamed.
But, Danon noted, Israel went on building, and Washington and the nations made some noise, but there was no crisis, there was no regional war.
Van der Hoeven and the ICZC are urging the Israelis to at the very least return to a situation where Judea and Samaria are actually disputed territories. By implementing building freezes and signaling constantly that Judea and Samaria are, as the Arabs claim, occupied, Israel can only blame itself when the world refuses to accept that these are ancient Jewish lands, said van der Hoeven.
The ICZC’s short term solution is for Israel to insist, constantly and adamantly, that Judea and Samaria are Jewish lands, and if there needs to be a Jewish building freeze while the issue is hashed out, then the Arabs must also stop building.
To learn more about the ICZC, visit: www.israelmybeloved.com
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21941
The Christians were in Israel to participate in the annual International Christian Zionist Center (ICZC) Feast of Tabernacles celebration. The theme of this year’s feast was Genesis 22:17, where God promises Abraham that his “seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.”
ICZC Director Jan Willem van der Hoeven thought it fitting that his group demonstrate their belief in that passage by physically standing with the people of Israel as they reversed that fateful decision to suspend Jewish building in Judea and Samaria in accordance with US and Arab demands.
“We as Gentiles tell you, be strong and of courage to possess the land,” van der Hoeven stated in the central Samaria town of Ariel, just prior to the rally in nearby Revava.
In Revava, the Christians with their bright banners and national flags were swarmed by the Israeli and international media before mingling in amongst the thousands of faithful Israelis from around the country who had come to strengthen the Jews of Judea and Samaria.
The Israelis seemed surprised, though very grateful, to see these foreigners in this isolated place and for this occasion. Most greeted the Christians warmly and many applauded loudly as the flags of various nations were marched in.
Likud MK and deputy minister for development in the Negev and Galilee, Ayoub Kara, who is an Israeli Druze, addressed the crowd in a fiery Zionist speech before turning to the Christians and saying:
“I say to all the non-Jews who are here, I too am not a Jew, but in spirit I am most Jewish, I am most Zionist, and so are you! Good for you that you are here to support Israel.”
Rising Likud star MK Danny Danon, who organized the rally, also took time during his speech to directly address the Christians (in English), saying:
“We salute you. We know that you love Israel unconditionally.”
Danon asked the foreigners to take the message back to their countries that Israel respects them, but insists that its own democracy and historical rights must also be respected. He then apologized to the Jews of Judea and Samaria that they had been treated like “second class citizens” when they were told they could no longer build homes, schools or synagogues.
On Monday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stuck to his promise to allow the building freeze to expire on time, despite heavy American pressure to extend it. However, building permits are expected to be issued much more sparingly so as not to rock the diplomatic boat too much.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been saying every day for the past month that if any Jewish building resumes in the areas he claims for a future state, then the current US-brokered peace negotiations will be over. Washington has been pressing Netanyahu hard to not let that happen, and both US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have hinted in no uncertain terms that if the peace talks break down, Netanyahu will be blamed.
Danon sought to remind Netanyahu that similar threats were made more than 15 years ago by former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. They insisted that if Jewish “settlement activity” continued after the signing of the so-called “Oslo Accords,” it would cause an international crisis for which Israel would be blamed.
But, Danon noted, Israel went on building, and Washington and the nations made some noise, but there was no crisis, there was no regional war.
Van der Hoeven and the ICZC are urging the Israelis to at the very least return to a situation where Judea and Samaria are actually disputed territories. By implementing building freezes and signaling constantly that Judea and Samaria are, as the Arabs claim, occupied, Israel can only blame itself when the world refuses to accept that these are ancient Jewish lands, said van der Hoeven.
The ICZC’s short term solution is for Israel to insist, constantly and adamantly, that Judea and Samaria are Jewish lands, and if there needs to be a Jewish building freeze while the issue is hashed out, then the Arabs must also stop building.
To learn more about the ICZC, visit: www.israelmybeloved.com
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21941
Friday, September 10, 2010
Burning the Quran? Leaders Speak Out
ChurchWatch
Join Craig von Buseck weekdays as he shares his perspective on the major trends and news affecting the Body of Christ today.
Craig von Buseck
By now, most people have heard the reports that a virtually unknown minister, Pastor Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, plans to mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington by burning copies of the Quran.
The QuranJones said he will still go ahead with the event despite U.S. official warnings it will endanger American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. "We are still determined to do it, yes," Jones told the CBS "Early Morning" show.
Earlier this week, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, issued a statement criticizing the plan to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, warning the demonstration "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas.
"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," General Petraeus said.
Petraeus warned that burning Qurans "is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems -- not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."
Jones insists the event is "neither an act of love nor of hate," but a warning against what he calls the threats posed by Islam.
But other Christian leaders disagree and have been vocal in their opposition to what is being called a dangerous publicity stunt.
On The 700 Club, Pat Robertson asked the question, "Can you imagine a pastor that is so egotistical that he would sacrifice the lives of missionaries and soldiers to go forward with it? … This guy is looking for attention. He's looking for publicity. … I think it's horrible what this guy is doing."
Open Doors USA President, Carl Moeller reacted with a strong warning. “The planned burning of the Quran is a disaster on two fronts: It violates the command of Jesus to love our neighbor and it would likely cause Christians worldwide to be more vilified and persecuted.”
Moeller says a possible Muslim backlash would probably focus on Christians living in predominately Muslim countries who already are caught in the crossfire, including those who have converted from Islam to Christianity.
“The burning of Qurans will only confirm what many Muslims believe – that Christians hate Muslims. That is exactly the opposite message we as Christians want to send."
“I urge the Dove World Outreach Center and its senior pastor, Terry Jones, to cancel the event," Moeller pleaded. "Hate is not biblical; it is not the message of Jesus.”
J. Lee Grady of Charisma Magazine declared, "Rev. Terry Jones does not speak for charismatic Christians, and his brand of fire-breathing judgmentalism doesn't even remotely resemble the message of Jesus Christ. I am praying that he will repent and renounce his outrageous intentions before the time arrives to strike the first match."
Grady points out that the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), which represents numerous Pentecostal denominations and charismatic fellowships, denounced Jones' actions in a recent statement. "The NAE calls on its members to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbours of other faiths. God created human beings in His image, and therefore all should be treated with dignity and respect," the statement said.
Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition wrote, "I heard someone call the Dove World Outreach Center’s 'Burn a Koran Day' a 'stunt' earlier today and I thought that captured it pretty well. Burning books takes on a very ominous tone because it is so closely associated with the Nazis. It is being done for one purpose – publicity. Like that Kansas pastor who shows up at military funerals with his crude signs, the Florida pastor is anxious for his 15 minutes of fame and he’ll do anything to get it."
Charles Colson of Prison Fellowship explains that this act is not only un-Christian, but it is also un-American. "The unique thing about the United States is that we are prepared to fight for and defend every single individual’s right to his or her choice to practice the religion of their choice. We learn to respect our differences in a free, pluralistic society."
"I find Jones’s plan to burn the Koran foolish and contemptible," Colson declared. "It poses dangers Jones has either overlooked or chooses to ignore.
Dr. John Rankin, president of the Theological Education Institute warns, if Jones burns the Qur’an, “the images will reverberate on the Internet internationally, and this could lead to unparalleled fury in the Muslim world.”
Colson agrees and points out that most of that fury will be directed into violence against Christians in Muslim areas throughout the world. "If Jones goes through with this horrid plan, people—Christian people—will suffer and some will die."
Secretary of State Clinton has condemned the church's plans during her remarks at a State Department dinner she hosted in observance of Iftar, the breaking of the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. "I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths," Clinton said.
CNN is reporting that religious leaders in Gainesville have planned an event billed as a "Gathering for Peace, Understanding and Hope" on September 10, in response to the Jones' Quran burning plan.
Carl Moeller stated the case in plain language. "We will most likely see Christians killed around the world because of these Quran burnings."
So here's my take on this issue: I think we need to go back to the words of Jesus when confronted with these kinds of inflammatory and antagonistic actions.
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44, ESV)
Nothing more needs to be said.
Join Craig von Buseck weekdays as he shares his perspective on the major trends and news affecting the Body of Christ today.
Craig von Buseck
By now, most people have heard the reports that a virtually unknown minister, Pastor Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, plans to mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington by burning copies of the Quran.
The QuranJones said he will still go ahead with the event despite U.S. official warnings it will endanger American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. "We are still determined to do it, yes," Jones told the CBS "Early Morning" show.
Earlier this week, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, issued a statement criticizing the plan to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, warning the demonstration "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas.
"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," General Petraeus said.
Petraeus warned that burning Qurans "is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems -- not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."
Jones insists the event is "neither an act of love nor of hate," but a warning against what he calls the threats posed by Islam.
But other Christian leaders disagree and have been vocal in their opposition to what is being called a dangerous publicity stunt.
On The 700 Club, Pat Robertson asked the question, "Can you imagine a pastor that is so egotistical that he would sacrifice the lives of missionaries and soldiers to go forward with it? … This guy is looking for attention. He's looking for publicity. … I think it's horrible what this guy is doing."
Open Doors USA President, Carl Moeller reacted with a strong warning. “The planned burning of the Quran is a disaster on two fronts: It violates the command of Jesus to love our neighbor and it would likely cause Christians worldwide to be more vilified and persecuted.”
Moeller says a possible Muslim backlash would probably focus on Christians living in predominately Muslim countries who already are caught in the crossfire, including those who have converted from Islam to Christianity.
“The burning of Qurans will only confirm what many Muslims believe – that Christians hate Muslims. That is exactly the opposite message we as Christians want to send."
“I urge the Dove World Outreach Center and its senior pastor, Terry Jones, to cancel the event," Moeller pleaded. "Hate is not biblical; it is not the message of Jesus.”
J. Lee Grady of Charisma Magazine declared, "Rev. Terry Jones does not speak for charismatic Christians, and his brand of fire-breathing judgmentalism doesn't even remotely resemble the message of Jesus Christ. I am praying that he will repent and renounce his outrageous intentions before the time arrives to strike the first match."
Grady points out that the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), which represents numerous Pentecostal denominations and charismatic fellowships, denounced Jones' actions in a recent statement. "The NAE calls on its members to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbours of other faiths. God created human beings in His image, and therefore all should be treated with dignity and respect," the statement said.
Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition wrote, "I heard someone call the Dove World Outreach Center’s 'Burn a Koran Day' a 'stunt' earlier today and I thought that captured it pretty well. Burning books takes on a very ominous tone because it is so closely associated with the Nazis. It is being done for one purpose – publicity. Like that Kansas pastor who shows up at military funerals with his crude signs, the Florida pastor is anxious for his 15 minutes of fame and he’ll do anything to get it."
Charles Colson of Prison Fellowship explains that this act is not only un-Christian, but it is also un-American. "The unique thing about the United States is that we are prepared to fight for and defend every single individual’s right to his or her choice to practice the religion of their choice. We learn to respect our differences in a free, pluralistic society."
"I find Jones’s plan to burn the Koran foolish and contemptible," Colson declared. "It poses dangers Jones has either overlooked or chooses to ignore.
Dr. John Rankin, president of the Theological Education Institute warns, if Jones burns the Qur’an, “the images will reverberate on the Internet internationally, and this could lead to unparalleled fury in the Muslim world.”
Colson agrees and points out that most of that fury will be directed into violence against Christians in Muslim areas throughout the world. "If Jones goes through with this horrid plan, people—Christian people—will suffer and some will die."
Secretary of State Clinton has condemned the church's plans during her remarks at a State Department dinner she hosted in observance of Iftar, the breaking of the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. "I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths," Clinton said.
CNN is reporting that religious leaders in Gainesville have planned an event billed as a "Gathering for Peace, Understanding and Hope" on September 10, in response to the Jones' Quran burning plan.
Carl Moeller stated the case in plain language. "We will most likely see Christians killed around the world because of these Quran burnings."
So here's my take on this issue: I think we need to go back to the words of Jesus when confronted with these kinds of inflammatory and antagonistic actions.
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44, ESV)
Nothing more needs to be said.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Jewish Artist Gives Obama Opportunity to Explain His Belief in Jesus
by Staff
August 27, 2010
LOS ANGELES, (christiansunite.com) -- With only one third of Americans believing President Obama is a Christian, a Jewish artist is stepping forward with a chance for the President to offer testimony of his faith in Jesus.
Internationally renowned artist David Ilan (born in Israel; raised in Los Angeles), is creating what many around the world are calling "the ultimate portrait of Christ." It's made using only dots. Each hand-drawn dot represents a Christian. One dot = one believer.
Each participant is asked to attach a message to their dot answering the artist's question: "Why Jesus?" Ilan sees himself as representing all non-Christians who are uninformed about Jesus Christ.
It will take one million Christians to complete this interactive work of art, known as The People's Portrait of Christ. As more people go to the "Dots For Jesus" website ( www.DotsForJesus.com) to get a free dot in their name, they come together to form the image of Christ.
"The project gives President Obama a unique opportunity to set the record straight about his religious beliefs," Ilan said. "One million other Christians are doing the same thing, so the President isn't being singled out because of the controversy."
Today, Ilan issued an open invitation to the White House for Obama to get his dot and share how Jesus has made a positive difference in his life.
Since Ilan is Jewish, he feels he's in an impartial position to jump into the Christian/Muslim debate over Obama's faith.
Jason Schulz, a Hollywood producer who reserved his dot, said, "Although the President has not placed his faith at the forefront of his persona, I feel that he embraces Christianity. Dots for Jesus is a great way for him to express his faith in a nonpolitical setting."
The President's dot will be the same size as the dots representing all the other Christians who are coming together to form the image of Christ. Obama's dot will be right next to the dots of average people from nearly every country on Earth.
"When it comes to religion, the President is on the same level as everyone. He will be sharing his beliefs about Jesus just like the rest of the Christians in the project. The only difference is that President Obama will be proving something about himself at the same time."
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09622.shtml
August 27, 2010
LOS ANGELES, (christiansunite.com) -- With only one third of Americans believing President Obama is a Christian, a Jewish artist is stepping forward with a chance for the President to offer testimony of his faith in Jesus.
Internationally renowned artist David Ilan (born in Israel; raised in Los Angeles), is creating what many around the world are calling "the ultimate portrait of Christ." It's made using only dots. Each hand-drawn dot represents a Christian. One dot = one believer.
Each participant is asked to attach a message to their dot answering the artist's question: "Why Jesus?" Ilan sees himself as representing all non-Christians who are uninformed about Jesus Christ.
It will take one million Christians to complete this interactive work of art, known as The People's Portrait of Christ. As more people go to the "Dots For Jesus" website ( www.DotsForJesus.com) to get a free dot in their name, they come together to form the image of Christ.
"The project gives President Obama a unique opportunity to set the record straight about his religious beliefs," Ilan said. "One million other Christians are doing the same thing, so the President isn't being singled out because of the controversy."
Today, Ilan issued an open invitation to the White House for Obama to get his dot and share how Jesus has made a positive difference in his life.
Since Ilan is Jewish, he feels he's in an impartial position to jump into the Christian/Muslim debate over Obama's faith.
Jason Schulz, a Hollywood producer who reserved his dot, said, "Although the President has not placed his faith at the forefront of his persona, I feel that he embraces Christianity. Dots for Jesus is a great way for him to express his faith in a nonpolitical setting."
The President's dot will be the same size as the dots representing all the other Christians who are coming together to form the image of Christ. Obama's dot will be right next to the dots of average people from nearly every country on Earth.
"When it comes to religion, the President is on the same level as everyone. He will be sharing his beliefs about Jesus just like the rest of the Christians in the project. The only difference is that President Obama will be proving something about himself at the same time."
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09622.shtml
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Poll: Growing number incorrectly call Obama Muslim
US survey based on interviews conducted before controversy over ground zero mosque shows 18% think their president is Muslim, up from 11% who said so in March 2009
Associated Press
Published: 08.19.10, 08:03 / Israel News
Nearly one in five people, or 18%, said they think Obama is Muslim, up from the 11% who said so in March 2009, according to a poll released Thursday. The proportion who correctly say he is a Christian is down to just 34%.
The largest share of people, 43%, said they don't know his religion, an increase from the 34% who said that in early 2009.
The survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and its affiliated Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, is based on interviews conducted before the controversy over whether Muslims should be permitted to construct a mosque near the World Trade Center site. Obama has said he believes Muslims have the right to build an Islamic center there, though he's also said he won't take a position on whether they should actually build it.
About three in 10 of Obama's fiercest political rivals, Republicans and conservatives, say he is a Muslim. That is up significantly from last year and far higher than the share of Democrats and liberals who say so. But even among his supporters, the number saying he is a Christian has fallen since 2009, with just 43% of blacks and 46% of Democrats saying he is Christian.
Among independents, 18% say Obama is Muslim – up from 10% last year.
Pew analysts attribute the findings to attacks by his opponents and Obama's limited attendance at religious services, particularly in contrast with Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, whose worship was more public.
Andrew Kohut, the Pew Research Center's director, said the confusion partly reflects "the intensification of negative views about Obama among his critics." Alan Cooperman, the Pew Forum's associate director for research, said that with the public hearing little about Obama's religion, "maybe there's more possibility for other people to make suggestions that the president is this or he's really that or he's really a Muslim."
'We got information from media'
Obama is the Christian son of a Kenyan father who was raised Muslim. From age 6 to 10, Obama lived in predominantly Muslim Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather. His full name, Barack Hussein Obama, sounds Muslim to many Americans.
White House officials did not provide on-the-record comments on the survey, but they prompted Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston to call The Associated Press.
Caldwell, who said he has known Obama for years, said the president is a Christian who prays every day. He said he was not sure where the public confusion about the president's religion came from, but he called false media reports about it "a 24-hour noise box committed to presenting the president in a false light."
Six in 10 of those saying Obama is a Muslim said they got the information from the media, with the largest portion – 16% - saying it was on television. Eleven percent said they learned it from Obama's behavior and words.
Despite the confusion about Obama's religion, there is noteworthy support for how he uses it to make decisions. Nearly half, or 48%, said he relies on his religion the right amount when making policy choices, 21% said he uses it too little and 11% too much.
At the same time, the poll provides broad indications that the public feels religion is playing a diminished role in politics today, with fewer people than in 2008 saying the Democratic and Republican parties are friendly toward religion.
With elections for control of Congress just over two months away, the poll contains optimistic news for Republicans. Half of white non-Hispanic Catholics, plus three in 10 unaffiliated with a religion and a third of Jews support the GOP – all an increase since 2008.
The survey also found:
* The Democratic Party is seen as friendly to religion by 26%, while 43% say the same about the Republicans. That's a 9 percentage point drop for Republicans since 2008, and 12 points lower for Democrats.
* Fifty-two percent say churches should stay away from politics, a reversal of the slim majorities that supported churches' political involvement from 1996 to 2006.
The poll, overseen by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, involved landline and cell phone interviews with 3,003 randomly chosen adults. It was conducted July 21-August 5 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3939636,00.html
Associated Press
Published: 08.19.10, 08:03 / Israel News
Nearly one in five people, or 18%, said they think Obama is Muslim, up from the 11% who said so in March 2009, according to a poll released Thursday. The proportion who correctly say he is a Christian is down to just 34%.
The largest share of people, 43%, said they don't know his religion, an increase from the 34% who said that in early 2009.
The survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and its affiliated Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, is based on interviews conducted before the controversy over whether Muslims should be permitted to construct a mosque near the World Trade Center site. Obama has said he believes Muslims have the right to build an Islamic center there, though he's also said he won't take a position on whether they should actually build it.
About three in 10 of Obama's fiercest political rivals, Republicans and conservatives, say he is a Muslim. That is up significantly from last year and far higher than the share of Democrats and liberals who say so. But even among his supporters, the number saying he is a Christian has fallen since 2009, with just 43% of blacks and 46% of Democrats saying he is Christian.
Among independents, 18% say Obama is Muslim – up from 10% last year.
Pew analysts attribute the findings to attacks by his opponents and Obama's limited attendance at religious services, particularly in contrast with Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, whose worship was more public.
Andrew Kohut, the Pew Research Center's director, said the confusion partly reflects "the intensification of negative views about Obama among his critics." Alan Cooperman, the Pew Forum's associate director for research, said that with the public hearing little about Obama's religion, "maybe there's more possibility for other people to make suggestions that the president is this or he's really that or he's really a Muslim."
'We got information from media'
Obama is the Christian son of a Kenyan father who was raised Muslim. From age 6 to 10, Obama lived in predominantly Muslim Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather. His full name, Barack Hussein Obama, sounds Muslim to many Americans.
White House officials did not provide on-the-record comments on the survey, but they prompted Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston to call The Associated Press.
Caldwell, who said he has known Obama for years, said the president is a Christian who prays every day. He said he was not sure where the public confusion about the president's religion came from, but he called false media reports about it "a 24-hour noise box committed to presenting the president in a false light."
Six in 10 of those saying Obama is a Muslim said they got the information from the media, with the largest portion – 16% - saying it was on television. Eleven percent said they learned it from Obama's behavior and words.
Despite the confusion about Obama's religion, there is noteworthy support for how he uses it to make decisions. Nearly half, or 48%, said he relies on his religion the right amount when making policy choices, 21% said he uses it too little and 11% too much.
At the same time, the poll provides broad indications that the public feels religion is playing a diminished role in politics today, with fewer people than in 2008 saying the Democratic and Republican parties are friendly toward religion.
With elections for control of Congress just over two months away, the poll contains optimistic news for Republicans. Half of white non-Hispanic Catholics, plus three in 10 unaffiliated with a religion and a third of Jews support the GOP – all an increase since 2008.
The survey also found:
* The Democratic Party is seen as friendly to religion by 26%, while 43% say the same about the Republicans. That's a 9 percentage point drop for Republicans since 2008, and 12 points lower for Democrats.
* Fifty-two percent say churches should stay away from politics, a reversal of the slim majorities that supported churches' political involvement from 1996 to 2006.
The poll, overseen by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, involved landline and cell phone interviews with 3,003 randomly chosen adults. It was conducted July 21-August 5 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3939636,00.html
Monday, August 16, 2010
Muslims Seek to Censor Gospel of Christ
by Staff
August 13, 2010
BRIDGEPORT, Conn., (christiansunite.com) -- In an unprecedented move, Muslim leaders in Connecticut are staging a press conference in Hartford this afternoon, to plead with legislators to censor the Gospel of Christ from the public forum around mosques.
That's right! They are using their own potential for violence to silence the Gospel of Christ. Gentle Christian saints will be conducting a press conference on the public sidewalk in front of the Bridgeport Islamic Center, aka Mafjid An-Noor Mosque in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Truth is hate to those who hate the truth.
Islam is not a religion, nor a cult, but a total and complete 100 % system of life. It has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. In all of the 27 countries ruled by Islam, the church is the state! No other religion will be tolerated.
"Islam presents a monstrous worldview, birthed in the pit of hell, which brings untold misery and murder upon precious people created in the image of God. Religion is its cover (its beard) by which it gains entrance into nations where the 'freedom of religion' is sacrosanct. It then takes this freedom afforded to it, and begins its insidious takeover." Rev. Flip Benham of Operation Save America.
"Like a python, slowly moving upon its prey with almost imperceptible and hypnotic movement, it begins to coil around its victim until it squeezes every last breath of air out of him. When dead, the victim is swallowed whole."
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, yet the Quran states in Sura 4:89, "Those who reject Islam must be killed. If they turn back (from Islam) take hold of them and kill them wherever you find them."
The key difference between Islam and Christianity is that Islam believes that we are to lay the lives of others down to promote the cause of Allah. Christianity, on the other hand, believes that we are to lay down our own lives that others might live. There is a huge difference between a Christian martyr (laying his own life down) and a martyr for Islam (laying the lives of others down). One requires courage. The other is the supreme act of cowardice.
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09587.shtml
August 13, 2010
BRIDGEPORT, Conn., (christiansunite.com) -- In an unprecedented move, Muslim leaders in Connecticut are staging a press conference in Hartford this afternoon, to plead with legislators to censor the Gospel of Christ from the public forum around mosques.
That's right! They are using their own potential for violence to silence the Gospel of Christ. Gentle Christian saints will be conducting a press conference on the public sidewalk in front of the Bridgeport Islamic Center, aka Mafjid An-Noor Mosque in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Truth is hate to those who hate the truth.
Islam is not a religion, nor a cult, but a total and complete 100 % system of life. It has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. In all of the 27 countries ruled by Islam, the church is the state! No other religion will be tolerated.
"Islam presents a monstrous worldview, birthed in the pit of hell, which brings untold misery and murder upon precious people created in the image of God. Religion is its cover (its beard) by which it gains entrance into nations where the 'freedom of religion' is sacrosanct. It then takes this freedom afforded to it, and begins its insidious takeover." Rev. Flip Benham of Operation Save America.
"Like a python, slowly moving upon its prey with almost imperceptible and hypnotic movement, it begins to coil around its victim until it squeezes every last breath of air out of him. When dead, the victim is swallowed whole."
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, yet the Quran states in Sura 4:89, "Those who reject Islam must be killed. If they turn back (from Islam) take hold of them and kill them wherever you find them."
The key difference between Islam and Christianity is that Islam believes that we are to lay the lives of others down to promote the cause of Allah. Christianity, on the other hand, believes that we are to lay down our own lives that others might live. There is a huge difference between a Christian martyr (laying his own life down) and a martyr for Islam (laying the lives of others down). One requires courage. The other is the supreme act of cowardice.
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09587.shtml
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Born-again Palestinian embraces Israeli soldiers
Last month, Saed Awwad, a member of the Christian "he-man" group Team Xtreme, became a focus of attention at two reconciliation events in Tel Aviv.
When Team Xtreme was invited to participate in the Elav worship conference, organizer Rick Ridings of the 24-hour prayer ministry Succat Hallel was reportedly unaware of Awwad's Palestinian background. Once Ridings found out, Awwad was asked to share his testimony with the hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian young adults who had gathered there.
Awwad also shared his testimony at the Tiferet Yeshua Messianic congregation in Tel Aviv. Tiferet Yeshua pastor Ari Sorko-Ram, who also heads Maoz Israel Ministries and istandwithisrael.com, had teamed up with Ridings in funding room and board for the young Jewish and Arab participants at Elav.
At Tiferet Yeshua, as he had at Elav earlier, Awwad recounted how despite growing up in an Arab Christian home, he hated the Jews of Israel every bit as much as his Muslim neighbors. He actively took part in the First Intifada, hurling stones and anything else he could get his hands on at Israeli soldiers on a daily basis.
But he received as good as he gave, to flip a common phrase, and was the victim of regular mistreatment by anxious and angry Israeli soldiers. The pressure of the situation began to get to Awwad, and he decided to use the American passport he had thanks to his mother's American citizenship and spend some time in the US.
While living in the US, Awwad was invited to attend an Arab church, where he was astonished to hear the pastor preach that though the Jews may be their enemies, the Arabs must practice forgiveness and love toward them, as Jesus had taught.
Awwad was even more determined to stay away from Evangelical Christianity, convinced that it was nothing but a Zionist ploy. But God had other plans, and touched Awwad's heart, forcing him to make a decision between the things he had grown up believing were right, and the truth he could find only in Jesus.
"I gave my life to Jesus then and there," said Awwad. "For three days I could not eat or drink. I just read the Bible, and in everything I saw Jesus Christ."
But he still didn't like Israel very much, so when six months following his transformation the Lord asked Awwad to forgive the Jews, he considered turning his back on God. "If you’ll ask me this even one more time I will never speak to you again!" Awwad said, recalling his reaction to the Lord. "From my perspective [the Jews] had come from many nations and taken the land that I believed belonged to the Arabs. I was angry."
Eventually his heart was softened, and Awwad knew he had to surrender to God's nature of unconditional love and forgiveness.
To demonstrate the fullness of his transformation, Awwad invited every active and reserve soldier in the Tiferet Yeshua congregation to join him on stage, where he embraced and professed his love for them, the very people he had fought hardest to defeat.
"I am a Palestinian - you are Jewish. The world calls us enemies - but we are brothers! Brothers and sisters in Yeshua. Nothing can separate us. The world will not separate us, politics will not separate us, walls will not separate us. We have a place in Heaven. You and I will bow our knees and worship the Messiah Yeshua, our King together! He is the Real Thing!"
Awwad concluded by asking the Israeli soldiers to also forgive him, and was greeted by a great outpouring of love.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21633
When Team Xtreme was invited to participate in the Elav worship conference, organizer Rick Ridings of the 24-hour prayer ministry Succat Hallel was reportedly unaware of Awwad's Palestinian background. Once Ridings found out, Awwad was asked to share his testimony with the hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian young adults who had gathered there.
Awwad also shared his testimony at the Tiferet Yeshua Messianic congregation in Tel Aviv. Tiferet Yeshua pastor Ari Sorko-Ram, who also heads Maoz Israel Ministries and istandwithisrael.com, had teamed up with Ridings in funding room and board for the young Jewish and Arab participants at Elav.
At Tiferet Yeshua, as he had at Elav earlier, Awwad recounted how despite growing up in an Arab Christian home, he hated the Jews of Israel every bit as much as his Muslim neighbors. He actively took part in the First Intifada, hurling stones and anything else he could get his hands on at Israeli soldiers on a daily basis.
But he received as good as he gave, to flip a common phrase, and was the victim of regular mistreatment by anxious and angry Israeli soldiers. The pressure of the situation began to get to Awwad, and he decided to use the American passport he had thanks to his mother's American citizenship and spend some time in the US.
While living in the US, Awwad was invited to attend an Arab church, where he was astonished to hear the pastor preach that though the Jews may be their enemies, the Arabs must practice forgiveness and love toward them, as Jesus had taught.
Awwad was even more determined to stay away from Evangelical Christianity, convinced that it was nothing but a Zionist ploy. But God had other plans, and touched Awwad's heart, forcing him to make a decision between the things he had grown up believing were right, and the truth he could find only in Jesus.
"I gave my life to Jesus then and there," said Awwad. "For three days I could not eat or drink. I just read the Bible, and in everything I saw Jesus Christ."
But he still didn't like Israel very much, so when six months following his transformation the Lord asked Awwad to forgive the Jews, he considered turning his back on God. "If you’ll ask me this even one more time I will never speak to you again!" Awwad said, recalling his reaction to the Lord. "From my perspective [the Jews] had come from many nations and taken the land that I believed belonged to the Arabs. I was angry."
Eventually his heart was softened, and Awwad knew he had to surrender to God's nature of unconditional love and forgiveness.
To demonstrate the fullness of his transformation, Awwad invited every active and reserve soldier in the Tiferet Yeshua congregation to join him on stage, where he embraced and professed his love for them, the very people he had fought hardest to defeat.
"I am a Palestinian - you are Jewish. The world calls us enemies - but we are brothers! Brothers and sisters in Yeshua. Nothing can separate us. The world will not separate us, politics will not separate us, walls will not separate us. We have a place in Heaven. You and I will bow our knees and worship the Messiah Yeshua, our King together! He is the Real Thing!"
Awwad concluded by asking the Israeli soldiers to also forgive him, and was greeted by a great outpouring of love.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21633
Thursday, July 15, 2010
George Washington: A True Christian?
By Lee Webb
CBN News Anchor
Monday, February 22, 2010
As Americans celebrate George Washington's birthday, a debate continues about the man known as the father of our nation, including his religious beliefs.
Was Washington a Deist, who believed that God had no real involvement in the world? Or was he a devout Christian who believed that God revealed Himself in scripture and in the person of Jesus Christ?
"Up until the bicentennial of his birth almost everybody thought he was a Christian," explained Peter Lillback, president of Westminster Theological Seminary. "But then kind of post-1932, it went the other way, that everybody thought he wasn't a religious man.".
Lillback has spent the last 15 years researching Washington's faith.
His 1,100-page book, George Washington's Sacred Fire, includes the founding father's own words and the testimony of his family.
Lillback's conclusion?
"Basically what we see Washington as is a creedal Christian from the Reformational Era," he said. "He held to the 39 articles of the Anglican church, he was a vestryman, he was a warden, he was a parishioner, he held a pew in two different churches and he was on the building committee of churches."
Lillback says it's wrong to compare Washington to a modern day evangelical.
He says Anglicans in Virginia didn't express their faith in the way many Christians do today. But to say our first president paid lip-service to Christianity is to ignore the facts.
"Washington's grandchildren said as they grew in his family that Washington often spent an afternoon with Martha reading a sermon to her," Lillback continued. "I've read those sermons. They could be preached in a biblical pulpit today. They're filled with Christian truth."
But what about historians who say Washington was never confirmed in the church?
"Washington was never confirmed in the Anglican church because you need a bishop to do it and there were no bishops in America," Lillback said.
As for the claim that Washington avoided Communion?
"All the evidence shows that he communed regularly before the war. After the war, he was now at war with the head of the church," he added. "How could you be communing with the king of England when you're trying to fight him?"
Lillback points out that some of Washington's closest friends were clergymen and he entertained many of them at Mt. Vernon-- something a Deist wouldn't have done.
Lillback also counters the modern-day notion that Washington avoided using the name of Jesus Christ.
"For him, Jesus' name was very sacred," he said. "He used that in worship or only when necessary in a special sense."
But he did use it. Washington told the Delaware indians in 1779, "You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are."
And Lillback says Washington's family had no doubt about his firm belief in Christ.
source:http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2008/February/George-Washington-A-True-Christian-/?cpid=EU_SPL_2010_196
CBN News Anchor
Monday, February 22, 2010
As Americans celebrate George Washington's birthday, a debate continues about the man known as the father of our nation, including his religious beliefs.
Was Washington a Deist, who believed that God had no real involvement in the world? Or was he a devout Christian who believed that God revealed Himself in scripture and in the person of Jesus Christ?
"Up until the bicentennial of his birth almost everybody thought he was a Christian," explained Peter Lillback, president of Westminster Theological Seminary. "But then kind of post-1932, it went the other way, that everybody thought he wasn't a religious man.".
Lillback has spent the last 15 years researching Washington's faith.
His 1,100-page book, George Washington's Sacred Fire, includes the founding father's own words and the testimony of his family.
Lillback's conclusion?
"Basically what we see Washington as is a creedal Christian from the Reformational Era," he said. "He held to the 39 articles of the Anglican church, he was a vestryman, he was a warden, he was a parishioner, he held a pew in two different churches and he was on the building committee of churches."
Lillback says it's wrong to compare Washington to a modern day evangelical.
He says Anglicans in Virginia didn't express their faith in the way many Christians do today. But to say our first president paid lip-service to Christianity is to ignore the facts.
"Washington's grandchildren said as they grew in his family that Washington often spent an afternoon with Martha reading a sermon to her," Lillback continued. "I've read those sermons. They could be preached in a biblical pulpit today. They're filled with Christian truth."
But what about historians who say Washington was never confirmed in the church?
"Washington was never confirmed in the Anglican church because you need a bishop to do it and there were no bishops in America," Lillback said.
As for the claim that Washington avoided Communion?
"All the evidence shows that he communed regularly before the war. After the war, he was now at war with the head of the church," he added. "How could you be communing with the king of England when you're trying to fight him?"
Lillback points out that some of Washington's closest friends were clergymen and he entertained many of them at Mt. Vernon-- something a Deist wouldn't have done.
Lillback also counters the modern-day notion that Washington avoided using the name of Jesus Christ.
"For him, Jesus' name was very sacred," he said. "He used that in worship or only when necessary in a special sense."
But he did use it. Washington told the Delaware indians in 1779, "You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are."
And Lillback says Washington's family had no doubt about his firm belief in Christ.
source:http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2008/February/George-Washington-A-True-Christian-/?cpid=EU_SPL_2010_196
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Believing in the exclusivity of Christ is not arrogant, says pastor
by Audrey Barrick, Christian PostPosted: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 11:05 (BST)
"In a context where there is no truth but only truths, no principles but only preferences, we face the challenge of being regarded as arrogant for proclaiming Jesus," says a Cleveland, Ohio, pastor.
Dr Alistair Begg, who is senior pastor of Parkside Church and hosts "Truth for Life" radio, was answering the question "Is the exclusivity of Christ unjust?" when he made the statement.
He spoke to some 4,000 people at Ligonier Ministries' national conference in Orlando, Florida. The theme of the June 17-19 event was "Tough Questions Christians Face".
The Bible affirms that there is only one way to God and one mediator, Begg said. And that is Christ Jesus.
"If we're going to take seriously the instruction of the Bible ... as believing Christian people we accept the fact that Jesus' name is above every name and that all of history is moving towards the day when at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father," he said in his session on Friday.
Two thousand years ago, the affirmation of the exclusive claims of Jesus resulted in the death of those who held to it. Today, while there may not be physical persecution for believers in America, there certainly is intellectual and social persecution, Begg said.
To suggest that Christianity has got it right and that others have got it wrong comes off as arrogant to many.
Begg acknowledged that some Christians' affirmations are "justifiably charged as arrogant – not the truth itself but the way that truth is conveyed".
But in general, he said, "We need to understand that truth is not a matter of pride or humility. It's a matter of fact."
Christians are often also accused of being narrow and intolerant for proclaiming Jesus as the only way to salvation.
Many, however, have redefined the term tolerance, Begg noted.
"What we need is a dictionary. We need to rescue 'tolerance' from the mistaken notion that tolerance means accepting every viewpoint as equally true and value," he said.
That new "tolerance" "cultivates a mind so broad that it can tolerate every opinion without ever detecting anything in it to reject." That, he said, is "not a virtue but the vice of the feeble-minded".
"True tolerance," he explained, "involves treating with integrity and humility someone whose opinions I believe to be untrue and invalid."
"Therefore, to be a tolerant Christian doesn't mean accepting contrary views as valid but treating with grace and kindness those with whom you disagree," he added.
Begg laid emphasis on the fact that Christianity makes affirmations no other religion makes, such as God becoming flesh and Christ suffering and dying the death that everyone deserves.
"The uniqueness of Jesus is inescapable. Christianity is superior or it is totally irrelevant," he said.
Though the world and culture say that all the "stories" of various religions are equally valid and that there is no overarching story, the Bible says otherwise.
"The entire story is the story of our alienation and the wonder of God's reconciliation," said Begg.
"The alienations of our world today, which don't have to be argued for, they jump out on us don't they? – a man alienated from his wife, parents from their children ... governments from their people, man from himself.
"... Is it unjust, it is unfair to say 'Do you know there is someone who has come to deal with your alienation? Do you know that there is someone who has come and has himself taken all of your alienation in him?
"Do you know that the story that we have for you is not the story of a God on a deck chair somewhere but it is the story of a God on a cross?'"
Begg added, "It won't do for us to offer our friends ... a God who does everything in general and nothing in particular. It sounds appealing but it's irrelevant."
Other topics covered during the Ligonier conference include "Why did Jesus have to die?" "Is the doctrine of inerrancy defensible?" "What is evil and where did it come from?" and "Why do Christians still sin?"
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/believing.in.the.exclusivity.of.christ.is.not.arrogant.says.pastor/26150.htm
"In a context where there is no truth but only truths, no principles but only preferences, we face the challenge of being regarded as arrogant for proclaiming Jesus," says a Cleveland, Ohio, pastor.
Dr Alistair Begg, who is senior pastor of Parkside Church and hosts "Truth for Life" radio, was answering the question "Is the exclusivity of Christ unjust?" when he made the statement.
He spoke to some 4,000 people at Ligonier Ministries' national conference in Orlando, Florida. The theme of the June 17-19 event was "Tough Questions Christians Face".
The Bible affirms that there is only one way to God and one mediator, Begg said. And that is Christ Jesus.
"If we're going to take seriously the instruction of the Bible ... as believing Christian people we accept the fact that Jesus' name is above every name and that all of history is moving towards the day when at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father," he said in his session on Friday.
Two thousand years ago, the affirmation of the exclusive claims of Jesus resulted in the death of those who held to it. Today, while there may not be physical persecution for believers in America, there certainly is intellectual and social persecution, Begg said.
To suggest that Christianity has got it right and that others have got it wrong comes off as arrogant to many.
Begg acknowledged that some Christians' affirmations are "justifiably charged as arrogant – not the truth itself but the way that truth is conveyed".
But in general, he said, "We need to understand that truth is not a matter of pride or humility. It's a matter of fact."
Christians are often also accused of being narrow and intolerant for proclaiming Jesus as the only way to salvation.
Many, however, have redefined the term tolerance, Begg noted.
"What we need is a dictionary. We need to rescue 'tolerance' from the mistaken notion that tolerance means accepting every viewpoint as equally true and value," he said.
That new "tolerance" "cultivates a mind so broad that it can tolerate every opinion without ever detecting anything in it to reject." That, he said, is "not a virtue but the vice of the feeble-minded".
"True tolerance," he explained, "involves treating with integrity and humility someone whose opinions I believe to be untrue and invalid."
"Therefore, to be a tolerant Christian doesn't mean accepting contrary views as valid but treating with grace and kindness those with whom you disagree," he added.
Begg laid emphasis on the fact that Christianity makes affirmations no other religion makes, such as God becoming flesh and Christ suffering and dying the death that everyone deserves.
"The uniqueness of Jesus is inescapable. Christianity is superior or it is totally irrelevant," he said.
Though the world and culture say that all the "stories" of various religions are equally valid and that there is no overarching story, the Bible says otherwise.
"The entire story is the story of our alienation and the wonder of God's reconciliation," said Begg.
"The alienations of our world today, which don't have to be argued for, they jump out on us don't they? – a man alienated from his wife, parents from their children ... governments from their people, man from himself.
"... Is it unjust, it is unfair to say 'Do you know there is someone who has come to deal with your alienation? Do you know that there is someone who has come and has himself taken all of your alienation in him?
"Do you know that the story that we have for you is not the story of a God on a deck chair somewhere but it is the story of a God on a cross?'"
Begg added, "It won't do for us to offer our friends ... a God who does everything in general and nothing in particular. It sounds appealing but it's irrelevant."
Other topics covered during the Ligonier conference include "Why did Jesus have to die?" "Is the doctrine of inerrancy defensible?" "What is evil and where did it come from?" and "Why do Christians still sin?"
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/believing.in.the.exclusivity.of.christ.is.not.arrogant.says.pastor/26150.htm
Friday, June 18, 2010
Ten Commandments Called Unconstitutional
by Staff
June 16, 2010
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the purpose of the Ten Commandments display placed in the Courts of McCreary and Pulaski Counties is religious and it violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
However, Judge James L. Ryan recommended a rehearing with the full Sixth Circuit panel of Judges because of several other rulings by the court which had different outcomes. Judge Ryan said, "Perhaps the panel will reconsider an en banc hearing in this case."
Mathew Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University Law School said, "The Ten Commandments are a part of the fabric of our country. They are as much at home in display about the foundations of law as the stars and stripes are in the flag. The Founding Fathers would be outraged that we are even debating the constitutionality of the Ten Commandments."
Don Swarthout, President of Christians Reviving America's Values said, "These rulings against the Ten Commandments and against Christianity are nothing but ludicrous. Since when did we make the Federal Courts out to be the thought police? How can the Federal Courts say the thinking of our Founding Fathers was unconstitutional, when it was our Founding Fathers who thought out our Constitution before they wrote it?"
A quote attributed to John Quincy Adams said, "The greatest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." Swarthout said, "That seems pretty clear about what the thoughts of our Founding Fathers actually were when they wrote the Constitution.
Jesus said in Matthew 22:21, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are Gods. Jesus gave both Christianity and government validity in that sentence. Jesus was telling us, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which make up the principles of good civil government; and render unto God the things which make up the principles of Christianity.
Swarthout said, "From John Quincy Adams and Jesus Christ we should understand the principles of good civil government and the principles of Christianity are exactly the same. We should not have any battles between government and Christianity. How would our courts rule on that argument?"
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09426.shtml
June 16, 2010
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the purpose of the Ten Commandments display placed in the Courts of McCreary and Pulaski Counties is religious and it violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
However, Judge James L. Ryan recommended a rehearing with the full Sixth Circuit panel of Judges because of several other rulings by the court which had different outcomes. Judge Ryan said, "Perhaps the panel will reconsider an en banc hearing in this case."
Mathew Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University Law School said, "The Ten Commandments are a part of the fabric of our country. They are as much at home in display about the foundations of law as the stars and stripes are in the flag. The Founding Fathers would be outraged that we are even debating the constitutionality of the Ten Commandments."
Don Swarthout, President of Christians Reviving America's Values said, "These rulings against the Ten Commandments and against Christianity are nothing but ludicrous. Since when did we make the Federal Courts out to be the thought police? How can the Federal Courts say the thinking of our Founding Fathers was unconstitutional, when it was our Founding Fathers who thought out our Constitution before they wrote it?"
A quote attributed to John Quincy Adams said, "The greatest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." Swarthout said, "That seems pretty clear about what the thoughts of our Founding Fathers actually were when they wrote the Constitution.
Jesus said in Matthew 22:21, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are Gods. Jesus gave both Christianity and government validity in that sentence. Jesus was telling us, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which make up the principles of good civil government; and render unto God the things which make up the principles of Christianity.
Swarthout said, "From John Quincy Adams and Jesus Christ we should understand the principles of good civil government and the principles of Christianity are exactly the same. We should not have any battles between government and Christianity. How would our courts rule on that argument?"
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09426.shtml
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Afghan parliamentarian calls for execution of Christians
by ASSIST News ServicePosted: Thursday, June 3, 2010, 10:12 (BST)
An Afghan parliamentary secretary has called for the public execution of Christian converts from the parliament floor, according to International Christian Concern.
On Tuesday, the Associated Free Press reported that Abdul Sattar Khawasi, deputy secretary of the Afghan lower house in parliament, called for the execution of Christian converts from Islam.
Speaking in regards to a video broadcast by the Afghan television network Noorin TV showing footage of Christian men being baptized and praying in Farsi, Khawasi said, "Those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be executed in public. The house should order the attorney general and the NDS (intelligence agency) to arrest these Afghans and execute them."
An ICC spokesperson told ASSIST News Service that the broadcast triggered a protest by hundreds of Kabul University students on Monday, who shouted death threats and demanded the expulsion of Christian foreigners accused of proselytising.
As a result, the operations of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and US-based Church World Service (CWS) have been suspended over allegations of proselytising.
The ICC spokesperson said the Afghan government was currently undertaking an intensive investigation into the matter.
"According to Afghan law, proselytising is illegal and conversion from Islam is punishable by death," the spokesperson said.
ICC sources within Afghanistan have reported that many national Christians are in hiding, fearful of execution. Under government pressure during investigations, some Afghans have reportedly revealed names and locations of Christian converts.
Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, "It is absolutely appalling that the execution of Christians would be promoted on the floor of the Afghan parliament.
"Khawasi's statement sounded a whole lot like the tyrannical manifesto of the Taliban not that of a US ally. American lives are being lost fighting terrorism and defending freedom in Afghanistan - yet Christians are being oppressed within Afghan borders.
"This comes after billions of US dollars have been invested in the war effort, and millions more have been given in aid. The US government must intervene to protect the religious freedoms and human rights of all Afghans. The US is not a mere outside bystander - but, is closely intertwined within Afghan policy."
Clay added, "Intervention is not a choice, but a responsibility, as Afghan policies reflect the US government's ability and commitment to secure a stable government in Afghanistan."
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/afghan.parliamentarian.calls.for.execution.of.christians/26025.htm
An Afghan parliamentary secretary has called for the public execution of Christian converts from the parliament floor, according to International Christian Concern.
On Tuesday, the Associated Free Press reported that Abdul Sattar Khawasi, deputy secretary of the Afghan lower house in parliament, called for the execution of Christian converts from Islam.
Speaking in regards to a video broadcast by the Afghan television network Noorin TV showing footage of Christian men being baptized and praying in Farsi, Khawasi said, "Those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be executed in public. The house should order the attorney general and the NDS (intelligence agency) to arrest these Afghans and execute them."
An ICC spokesperson told ASSIST News Service that the broadcast triggered a protest by hundreds of Kabul University students on Monday, who shouted death threats and demanded the expulsion of Christian foreigners accused of proselytising.
As a result, the operations of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and US-based Church World Service (CWS) have been suspended over allegations of proselytising.
The ICC spokesperson said the Afghan government was currently undertaking an intensive investigation into the matter.
"According to Afghan law, proselytising is illegal and conversion from Islam is punishable by death," the spokesperson said.
ICC sources within Afghanistan have reported that many national Christians are in hiding, fearful of execution. Under government pressure during investigations, some Afghans have reportedly revealed names and locations of Christian converts.
Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, "It is absolutely appalling that the execution of Christians would be promoted on the floor of the Afghan parliament.
"Khawasi's statement sounded a whole lot like the tyrannical manifesto of the Taliban not that of a US ally. American lives are being lost fighting terrorism and defending freedom in Afghanistan - yet Christians are being oppressed within Afghan borders.
"This comes after billions of US dollars have been invested in the war effort, and millions more have been given in aid. The US government must intervene to protect the religious freedoms and human rights of all Afghans. The US is not a mere outside bystander - but, is closely intertwined within Afghan policy."
Clay added, "Intervention is not a choice, but a responsibility, as Afghan policies reflect the US government's ability and commitment to secure a stable government in Afghanistan."
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/afghan.parliamentarian.calls.for.execution.of.christians/26025.htm
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Case against 'homosexuality is sin' preacher dropped
by Nathan Black, Christian PostPosted: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 8:37 (BST)
Charges have been dropped against a street preacher who was arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin.
After reviewing the evidence, crown prosecutors decided last week to discontinue the prosecution of Dale Mcalpine, as reported by the Christian Institute.
"It was a ridiculous charge, I should never have been arrested," the 42-year-old preacher said. "I’m relieved that they have seen sense."
Mcalpine was arrested in Workington, in Cumbria, last month while preaching to shoppers. He said he refrained from speaking about homosexuality in his sermon but when a passerby inquired on the issue, he told the person it was a sin.
He was then approached by a gay community support officer who took him to the police station where he was detained in a cell for seven hours and charged with causing "harassment, alarm or distress".
The Christian Institute released hidden camera footage of the arrest.
It shows an officer asking Mcalpine, "What have you been saying, homophobic wise?"
Mcalpine responds, saying that homophobia is hatred toward homosexuals and maintains that he is not homophobic.
The preacher goes on to insist to the officer, who is joined by three other officers, that he is not there to break any laws and contends that it is not against the law to say homosexual behaviour is a sin. But the officer quickly replies, saying there is a law prohibiting such speech.
"It's a breach of Section 5 of the Public Order Act," the officer says.
Mcalpine then says that he did not speak of homosexuality while preaching to the public. He only mentioned it when he was talking to one individual.
He adds, "Even so, you know, it still is not against the law."
He was then arrested.
Though the case was dropped, Mcalpine and the Christian Institute are weighing legal options to ensure that the incident doesn't happen again.
"It’s important that we have them to defend our religious liberties," he stated.
Christian Institute spokesman Simon Calvert commented, "Cumbria police can’t just walk away from this. They have arrested and charged an innocent man for no other reason than he peacefully expressed his religious beliefs.
"And it has happened in other parts of the country too. So there is clearly a problem with the system and it has to be put right."
Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Steve Johnson, police commander for West Cumbria, said balancing the law and people's rights isn't easy, especially when opinions and interpretations differ.
While reassuring the public that they respect and are committed to upholding the fundamental right to freedom of expression, Johnson said they are just as committed to "maintaining the peace and preventing people feeling alarmed or distressed by the actions of others in public places".
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/case.against.homosexuality.is.sin.preacher.dropped/25924.htm
Charges have been dropped against a street preacher who was arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin.
After reviewing the evidence, crown prosecutors decided last week to discontinue the prosecution of Dale Mcalpine, as reported by the Christian Institute.
"It was a ridiculous charge, I should never have been arrested," the 42-year-old preacher said. "I’m relieved that they have seen sense."
Mcalpine was arrested in Workington, in Cumbria, last month while preaching to shoppers. He said he refrained from speaking about homosexuality in his sermon but when a passerby inquired on the issue, he told the person it was a sin.
He was then approached by a gay community support officer who took him to the police station where he was detained in a cell for seven hours and charged with causing "harassment, alarm or distress".
The Christian Institute released hidden camera footage of the arrest.
It shows an officer asking Mcalpine, "What have you been saying, homophobic wise?"
Mcalpine responds, saying that homophobia is hatred toward homosexuals and maintains that he is not homophobic.
The preacher goes on to insist to the officer, who is joined by three other officers, that he is not there to break any laws and contends that it is not against the law to say homosexual behaviour is a sin. But the officer quickly replies, saying there is a law prohibiting such speech.
"It's a breach of Section 5 of the Public Order Act," the officer says.
Mcalpine then says that he did not speak of homosexuality while preaching to the public. He only mentioned it when he was talking to one individual.
He adds, "Even so, you know, it still is not against the law."
He was then arrested.
Though the case was dropped, Mcalpine and the Christian Institute are weighing legal options to ensure that the incident doesn't happen again.
"It’s important that we have them to defend our religious liberties," he stated.
Christian Institute spokesman Simon Calvert commented, "Cumbria police can’t just walk away from this. They have arrested and charged an innocent man for no other reason than he peacefully expressed his religious beliefs.
"And it has happened in other parts of the country too. So there is clearly a problem with the system and it has to be put right."
Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Steve Johnson, police commander for West Cumbria, said balancing the law and people's rights isn't easy, especially when opinions and interpretations differ.
While reassuring the public that they respect and are committed to upholding the fundamental right to freedom of expression, Johnson said they are just as committed to "maintaining the peace and preventing people feeling alarmed or distressed by the actions of others in public places".
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/case.against.homosexuality.is.sin.preacher.dropped/25924.htm
Monday, May 17, 2010
Somali Christian executed by Muslims
(christiansunite.com) - Three Islamic al-Shabaab rebels killed a Christian man in front of his home in Afgoye, Somalia on March 23. The men shot Mu'awiye Hilowle Ali at close range, hitting his head and chest and killing him instantly.
Islamists had previously accused Mu'awiye and his family of spreading "fitna" -- an Arabic word for religious discord. Trained in the former Soviet Union, Mu'awiye had served in the Somali armed forces. He converted to Christianity in 2006. Members of al-Shabaab refused to allow Mu'awiye's body to be buried in a public graveyard, calling it Muslim territory.
As a result, he has been temporarily buried in the compound of his home. He is survived by his wife and 10 children. In response to the tragedy, a Somali church leader in Mogadishu said, " martyrdom will only strengthen the Somali church and that such violence will never succeed in stopping the church planting movement we see in Somalia today."
source: http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09329.shtml
Islamists had previously accused Mu'awiye and his family of spreading "fitna" -- an Arabic word for religious discord. Trained in the former Soviet Union, Mu'awiye had served in the Somali armed forces. He converted to Christianity in 2006. Members of al-Shabaab refused to allow Mu'awiye's body to be buried in a public graveyard, calling it Muslim territory.
As a result, he has been temporarily buried in the compound of his home. He is survived by his wife and 10 children. In response to the tragedy, a Somali church leader in Mogadishu said, " martyrdom will only strengthen the Somali church and that such violence will never succeed in stopping the church planting movement we see in Somalia today."
source: http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09329.shtml
Hunger for Bibles 'growing' in China
The church is growing in China and with it the demand for Bibles, visitors to this year's international Christian Resources Exhibition heard yesterday. The head of Bible Society's China Partnership programme, Kua Wee Seng, said that Amity Printing Press, the only government-approved Bible printer in China, was struggling to keep up with demand. Although the number of Bibles being printed for distribution in China rose to four million last year, Kua said even more Bibles were needed to meet the needs of the estimated 500,000 people turning to Christ in the communist nation each year. He urged Christians in the West to support Bible Society's 2010 campaign to raise funds for a new printing press to increase the number of Bibles being printed for the Chinese market to 12 million. Kua said that financial and practical help from Christians outside of China had made Bible printing there possible, most notably through the shipment of tonnes of Bible paper. Now that China is producing its own Bible paper.
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/hunger.for.bibles.growing.in.china/25895.htm
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/hunger.for.bibles.growing.in.china/25895.htm
The Christians among the Conservatives
by Wesley WJ RichardsPosted: Sunday, May 16, 2010, 15:51 (BST)
Of the 143 new Conservative MPs, twelve are members of the Christian Conservative Fellowship (CCF).
Representing 8% of the new intake, the twelve were part of a group of 37 candidates who were supported in their campaign by the CCF.
According to research by The Sunday Times, 23% of the new intake are women, 6% are from ethnic minority backgrounds — with 2% black and 4% Asian — while gays make up 3%.
CCF member Robert Halfon, a former Chief of Staff to Oliver Letwin, overturned his 2005 defeat in Harlow to unseat Armed Forces Minister, Bill Rammell, through a 5.9% swing to the Conservatives. Rammell, who was involved in the release of Lockerbie bomber, Ali al-Megrahi, had the third smallest majority of any Labour MP, at just 97 votes.
Liberal Democrat spokesman for science, Dr Evan Harris, lost his Oxford West & Abingdon seat by 176 votes to Nicola Blackwood. Harris, first elected in 1997, had been outspoken in his support for euthanasia and abortion, earning him the nickname ‘Dr Death.’
Blackwood, a Cambridge graduate, is concerned ‘that the voice of Christians and people of other faiths on key issues of conscience is too readily dismissed in public debate,’ according to the CCF.
In Congleton, Fiona Bruce was one of 38 from the party’s 100 ‘A-list’ of candidates elected. She is a national winner of the Business Woman of the Year Award "Women into Business".
Stephen Metcalfe won South Basildon and East Thurrock after beating Labour MP, Angela Smith. In 2009 Smith was one of the MPs whose expenses were highlighted by The Daily Telegraph during the Parliamentary expenses scandal, after submitting claims for four beds for a one bedroom flat in London.
Two candidates secured a swing of more than 10% to win their seats, Jessica Lee taking Erewash and Derek Thomas, St Ives.
Elsewhere: Nicky Morgan won Loughborough; Amber Rudd, Hastings; Councillor Martin Vickers, Cleethorpes; John Glen, Salisbury; Steven Baker, Wycombe; Jeremy Lefroy gained a seat in Stafford, through a 7.4% swing from Labour
CCF members include voters, Councillors, MPs, and Peers who aim to provide a link between the Conservative Party and the Christian community.
Founded in 1990 by Tim Montgomerie and David Burrowes, while they were students at Exeter University, the CCF is an interdenominational fellowship, which holds prayer as the foundation for all its activities.
Burrowes, who is Chairman of the CCF, was elected to Parliament in 2005 for Enfield and Southgate after ousting Stephen Twigg. Montgomerie is now an influential Conservative commentator and blogger.
source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/the.christians.among.the.conservatives/25906.htm
Of the 143 new Conservative MPs, twelve are members of the Christian Conservative Fellowship (CCF).
Representing 8% of the new intake, the twelve were part of a group of 37 candidates who were supported in their campaign by the CCF.
According to research by The Sunday Times, 23% of the new intake are women, 6% are from ethnic minority backgrounds — with 2% black and 4% Asian — while gays make up 3%.
CCF member Robert Halfon, a former Chief of Staff to Oliver Letwin, overturned his 2005 defeat in Harlow to unseat Armed Forces Minister, Bill Rammell, through a 5.9% swing to the Conservatives. Rammell, who was involved in the release of Lockerbie bomber, Ali al-Megrahi, had the third smallest majority of any Labour MP, at just 97 votes.
Liberal Democrat spokesman for science, Dr Evan Harris, lost his Oxford West & Abingdon seat by 176 votes to Nicola Blackwood. Harris, first elected in 1997, had been outspoken in his support for euthanasia and abortion, earning him the nickname ‘Dr Death.’
Blackwood, a Cambridge graduate, is concerned ‘that the voice of Christians and people of other faiths on key issues of conscience is too readily dismissed in public debate,’ according to the CCF.
In Congleton, Fiona Bruce was one of 38 from the party’s 100 ‘A-list’ of candidates elected. She is a national winner of the Business Woman of the Year Award "Women into Business".
Stephen Metcalfe won South Basildon and East Thurrock after beating Labour MP, Angela Smith. In 2009 Smith was one of the MPs whose expenses were highlighted by The Daily Telegraph during the Parliamentary expenses scandal, after submitting claims for four beds for a one bedroom flat in London.
Two candidates secured a swing of more than 10% to win their seats, Jessica Lee taking Erewash and Derek Thomas, St Ives.
Elsewhere: Nicky Morgan won Loughborough; Amber Rudd, Hastings; Councillor Martin Vickers, Cleethorpes; John Glen, Salisbury; Steven Baker, Wycombe; Jeremy Lefroy gained a seat in Stafford, through a 7.4% swing from Labour
CCF members include voters, Councillors, MPs, and Peers who aim to provide a link between the Conservative Party and the Christian community.
Founded in 1990 by Tim Montgomerie and David Burrowes, while they were students at Exeter University, the CCF is an interdenominational fellowship, which holds prayer as the foundation for all its activities.
Burrowes, who is Chairman of the CCF, was elected to Parliament in 2005 for Enfield and Southgate after ousting Stephen Twigg. Montgomerie is now an influential Conservative commentator and blogger.
source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/the.christians.among.the.conservatives/25906.htm
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Is the church dying in America's Bible Belt?
The once vibrant Christian South is beginning to become a "boneyard of religious history", warns one US pastor.
There may be a church on every street corner but many of them are dying, if not dead already, said Tyler Jones, lead pastor at Vintage21 Church, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Jones has joined several pastors this week to sound the alarm on the decline of the church in the South – a decline that he believes is happening faster than anywhere in the country.
And the decline, they say, isn't due to the external changes in the South, such as urbanisation and intellectual and cultural growth. Rather, the problems are within the church.
In the South, the people are not unreached but wrongly reached, Jones said at "Advance10: Contextualising the Gospel in the New South", a three-day conference that kicked off on Monday.
Churches have failed to understand the Gospel and how it applies to people's lives in a rapidly changing culture, he noted. Christian faith in the South exists primarily in name alone, he stated.
Though a majority of residents in the South claim to be Christian, many are being taught "quaint moralism over the Gospel", the Raleigh pastor lamented.
And "moralism is the greatest form of self worship", he warned. "It robs us of our need for God."
Jerome Gay, lead pastor of Vision International Church in Raleigh, also views moralism as a pervasive problem in the churches.
"Too long within the South, Christianity has been presented as a list of don'ts. Don't go to the club, don't join the frat, don't do this, don't do that," he pointed out.
The result is an increase in the "culture of the dechurched – people that have been burned by church, experienced a ton of church hurt".
"And they don't actually know Christ because they haven't been presented with the God of the Bible. They've been presented with a list of do's and don'ts."
The conference is being put on by a cooperative movement called Advance the Church, which seeks to "assist local churches in planting healthy, Gospel-centred churches and revive the boneyard of dead or dying churches – beginning in the context of the urban south".
Pastors in the South recognise the need for churches to get serious about their mission, respond to the changing culture without watering down the Gospel, and radically reorient their very existence to not only reach the unreached but also those who grew up in the pews.
David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, said there was a definite question among many churches as to what the Gospel was and that there was a great need for clarity on the Gospel.
"I think there's a real comfortability level that the Gospel is almost assumed when the reality is a lot of people who [grew] up in the church need to hear the Gospel truly as it's presented biblically and need to be saved and are being saved," said Platt.
According to missiologist Ed Stetzer, the biggest challenge in the churches is that they have made it acceptable for people to do nothing and call themselves Christ followers. He contended that sitting next to someone on Sunday did not guarantee biblical community.
source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/is.the.church.dying.in.americas.bible.belt/25802.htm
There may be a church on every street corner but many of them are dying, if not dead already, said Tyler Jones, lead pastor at Vintage21 Church, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Jones has joined several pastors this week to sound the alarm on the decline of the church in the South – a decline that he believes is happening faster than anywhere in the country.
And the decline, they say, isn't due to the external changes in the South, such as urbanisation and intellectual and cultural growth. Rather, the problems are within the church.
In the South, the people are not unreached but wrongly reached, Jones said at "Advance10: Contextualising the Gospel in the New South", a three-day conference that kicked off on Monday.
Churches have failed to understand the Gospel and how it applies to people's lives in a rapidly changing culture, he noted. Christian faith in the South exists primarily in name alone, he stated.
Though a majority of residents in the South claim to be Christian, many are being taught "quaint moralism over the Gospel", the Raleigh pastor lamented.
And "moralism is the greatest form of self worship", he warned. "It robs us of our need for God."
Jerome Gay, lead pastor of Vision International Church in Raleigh, also views moralism as a pervasive problem in the churches.
"Too long within the South, Christianity has been presented as a list of don'ts. Don't go to the club, don't join the frat, don't do this, don't do that," he pointed out.
The result is an increase in the "culture of the dechurched – people that have been burned by church, experienced a ton of church hurt".
"And they don't actually know Christ because they haven't been presented with the God of the Bible. They've been presented with a list of do's and don'ts."
The conference is being put on by a cooperative movement called Advance the Church, which seeks to "assist local churches in planting healthy, Gospel-centred churches and revive the boneyard of dead or dying churches – beginning in the context of the urban south".
Pastors in the South recognise the need for churches to get serious about their mission, respond to the changing culture without watering down the Gospel, and radically reorient their very existence to not only reach the unreached but also those who grew up in the pews.
David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, said there was a definite question among many churches as to what the Gospel was and that there was a great need for clarity on the Gospel.
"I think there's a real comfortability level that the Gospel is almost assumed when the reality is a lot of people who [grew] up in the church need to hear the Gospel truly as it's presented biblically and need to be saved and are being saved," said Platt.
According to missiologist Ed Stetzer, the biggest challenge in the churches is that they have made it acceptable for people to do nothing and call themselves Christ followers. He contended that sitting next to someone on Sunday did not guarantee biblical community.
source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/is.the.church.dying.in.americas.bible.belt/25802.htm
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Poway School Board Continues Fight to Ban Teacher's "God" Banners
by Staff
March 30, 2010
ANN ARBOR, MI, (christiansunite.com) - Late last week, attorneys for the Poway Unified School District in San Diego, California, filed their appeal of Federal District Court Judge Benitez's ruling that held school officials violated teacher Bradley Johnson's constitutional rights when they ordered him to remove two patriotic banners from the walls of his classroom because they referred to "God." The appeal will be heard by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Johnson, a highly respected math teacher in the Poway school district, had the banners displayed on his classroom walls for over 20 years. In 2007, school officials ordered him to take them down, claiming the banners expressed an impermissible Judeo-Christian viewpoint and may be offensive to a Muslim student.
The patriotic banners included the phrases, "In God We Trust, " "One Nation Under God, " and "God Bless America."
In a clear case of a double standard, school officials, however, saw no problem with non-Christian or anti-religious displays by other teachers. The school district left untouched displays that included a 40-foot string of Tibetan prayer flags with images of Buddha; a poster with the lyrics from John Lennon's anti-religion song "Imagine, " which begins, Imagine there's no Heaven; a poster with Hindu leader Mahatma Gandhi's "7 Social Sins;" a poster of Muslim leader Malcolm X, and a poster of Buddhist leader Dali Lama.
On February 26, 2010, Federal District Judge Roger T. Benitez, in a strongly worded decision, ruled the school district violated Brad Johnson's constitutional rights when it ordered him to take down his classroom banners:
"[The school district officials] apparently fear their students are incapable of dealing with diverse viewpoints that include God's place in American history and culture. . . . That God places prominently in our Nation's history does not create an Establishment Clause violation requiring curettage and disinfectant for Johnson's public high school classroom walls. It is a matter of historical fact that our institutions and government actors have in past and present times given place to a supreme God."
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has been representing Bradley Johnson ever since the school district ordered him to remove his banners in 2007.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for the Thomas More Law Center, commented, "This is another example of public school boards attempting to eradicate the essential role played by Christianity in our Nation's history. We are in this fight for the long haul, and our lawyers will defend Mr. Johnson's constitutional right to display his patriotic banners and Judge Benitez's ruling before the Ninth Circuit, and to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary."
The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes America's Christian heritage and moral values, including the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life. It supports a strong national defense and an independent and sovereign United States of America. The Law Center accomplishes its mission through litigation, education, and related activities. It does not charge for its services.
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09167.shtml
March 30, 2010
ANN ARBOR, MI, (christiansunite.com) - Late last week, attorneys for the Poway Unified School District in San Diego, California, filed their appeal of Federal District Court Judge Benitez's ruling that held school officials violated teacher Bradley Johnson's constitutional rights when they ordered him to remove two patriotic banners from the walls of his classroom because they referred to "God." The appeal will be heard by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Johnson, a highly respected math teacher in the Poway school district, had the banners displayed on his classroom walls for over 20 years. In 2007, school officials ordered him to take them down, claiming the banners expressed an impermissible Judeo-Christian viewpoint and may be offensive to a Muslim student.
The patriotic banners included the phrases, "In God We Trust, " "One Nation Under God, " and "God Bless America."
In a clear case of a double standard, school officials, however, saw no problem with non-Christian or anti-religious displays by other teachers. The school district left untouched displays that included a 40-foot string of Tibetan prayer flags with images of Buddha; a poster with the lyrics from John Lennon's anti-religion song "Imagine, " which begins, Imagine there's no Heaven; a poster with Hindu leader Mahatma Gandhi's "7 Social Sins;" a poster of Muslim leader Malcolm X, and a poster of Buddhist leader Dali Lama.
On February 26, 2010, Federal District Judge Roger T. Benitez, in a strongly worded decision, ruled the school district violated Brad Johnson's constitutional rights when it ordered him to take down his classroom banners:
"[The school district officials] apparently fear their students are incapable of dealing with diverse viewpoints that include God's place in American history and culture. . . . That God places prominently in our Nation's history does not create an Establishment Clause violation requiring curettage and disinfectant for Johnson's public high school classroom walls. It is a matter of historical fact that our institutions and government actors have in past and present times given place to a supreme God."
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has been representing Bradley Johnson ever since the school district ordered him to remove his banners in 2007.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for the Thomas More Law Center, commented, "This is another example of public school boards attempting to eradicate the essential role played by Christianity in our Nation's history. We are in this fight for the long haul, and our lawyers will defend Mr. Johnson's constitutional right to display his patriotic banners and Judge Benitez's ruling before the Ninth Circuit, and to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary."
The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes America's Christian heritage and moral values, including the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life. It supports a strong national defense and an independent and sovereign United States of America. The Law Center accomplishes its mission through litigation, education, and related activities. It does not charge for its services.
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09167.shtml
Christian man burned alive, wife raped in Pakistan
by Staff
March 31, 2010
(christiansunite.com) - A Pakistani Christian man passed away on March 22 after he was set on fire by Muslims in Rawalpindi three days earlier. Arshed Masih (38) and his wife, Martha (33), had been threatened with "dire consequences" by their employer, Sheikh Mohammad Sultan, unless they agreed to convert to Islam. The couple steadfastly refused.
In the days before the attack, Sultan reported a theft of 500,000 rupees and, although Arshed and Martha were not named as suspects, Sultan offered to drop the case if they renounced Christianity.
When they were brought in for questioning, Arshed was assaulted and Martha was raped by police. Arshed was set on fire on March 19 in front of the police station by a group of Muslims, some of whom were reportedly officers and religious leaders.
He sustained burns to 80% of his body. The couple's three children -- Mary (12), Nasir (10) and Neha (7) -- were forced to witness the horrific violence against their parents. (Sources: BosNewsLife, AsiaNews, International Christian Concern)
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09174.shtml
March 31, 2010
(christiansunite.com) - A Pakistani Christian man passed away on March 22 after he was set on fire by Muslims in Rawalpindi three days earlier. Arshed Masih (38) and his wife, Martha (33), had been threatened with "dire consequences" by their employer, Sheikh Mohammad Sultan, unless they agreed to convert to Islam. The couple steadfastly refused.
In the days before the attack, Sultan reported a theft of 500,000 rupees and, although Arshed and Martha were not named as suspects, Sultan offered to drop the case if they renounced Christianity.
When they were brought in for questioning, Arshed was assaulted and Martha was raped by police. Arshed was set on fire on March 19 in front of the police station by a group of Muslims, some of whom were reportedly officers and religious leaders.
He sustained burns to 80% of his body. The couple's three children -- Mary (12), Nasir (10) and Neha (7) -- were forced to witness the horrific violence against their parents. (Sources: BosNewsLife, AsiaNews, International Christian Concern)
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09174.shtml
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
43,000 people call for religious freedom in Eritrea
by Jenna LylePosted: Sunday, January 17, 2010, 15:58 (GMT)
A petition calling for religious freedom for Eritrea’s Christians has received more than 43,000 signatures.
The petition was handed in to the Eritrean Embassy and 10 Downing Street by the former bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali, patron of persecution ministry Release International.
Mr Nazir-Ali said: “We want to assure the government of Eritrea that Christians are loyal citizens and present no danger to the integrity of the Eritrean nation.
“We are appealing to the government of Eritrea to allow all Christians freedom of assembly, worship and expression.”
Eritrea has been a major campaign focal point for Release International in the last few months. It says more than 2,000 Christians have been imprisoned by the government for their faith, some placed in underground cells or shipping containers where temperatures are freezing during the night and soaring during the day.
As part of the campaign, Release published the book Song of the Nightingale, the first-hand account of gospel singer Helen Berhane who was incarcerated in a shipping container, where she endured terrible conditions, and was beaten by the Eritrean authorities.
It believes tens of thousands of people have fled the country to neighbouring Sudan, Ethiopia and Yemen, passing through crocodile-infested rivers and minefields and running the risk of being shot by border guards who are under orders to shoot on sight anyone attempting to flee the country.
“Those we speak to love their country and want nothing more than to live in freedom as good citizens,” said Andy Dipper, the CEO of Release International, which serves the persecuted church worldwide.
“Yet many are being hounded out, jailed and tortured for no other reason than their Christian faith.
“Our message to Eritrea is stop the brutality. We’re calling on Eritrea to honour the right to freedom of religion, guaranteed under its own constitution.”
Eritrean Christians who were tortured and jailed for their faith have told their harrowing stories in the latest edition of Release magazine.
One prisoner, Hzkias, was chained and kept in solitary confinement in a tiny pitch-black cell for five months. He said he "looked like another creature" when he was finally let out, with long hair and nails.
"My body colour was yellow," he said.
A Christian activist documenting persecution in Eritrea, and named in the magazine only as Hanibal, reported that authorities were torturing and killing Christians.
He said: "Christians are treated like animals."
Release is helping Eritrean refugees start their own small businesses, and is supporting churches in refugee camps by giving them Bibles and Christian resources.
source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/43000.people.call.for.religious.freedom.in.eritrea/25098.htm
A petition calling for religious freedom for Eritrea’s Christians has received more than 43,000 signatures.
The petition was handed in to the Eritrean Embassy and 10 Downing Street by the former bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali, patron of persecution ministry Release International.
Mr Nazir-Ali said: “We want to assure the government of Eritrea that Christians are loyal citizens and present no danger to the integrity of the Eritrean nation.
“We are appealing to the government of Eritrea to allow all Christians freedom of assembly, worship and expression.”
Eritrea has been a major campaign focal point for Release International in the last few months. It says more than 2,000 Christians have been imprisoned by the government for their faith, some placed in underground cells or shipping containers where temperatures are freezing during the night and soaring during the day.
As part of the campaign, Release published the book Song of the Nightingale, the first-hand account of gospel singer Helen Berhane who was incarcerated in a shipping container, where she endured terrible conditions, and was beaten by the Eritrean authorities.
It believes tens of thousands of people have fled the country to neighbouring Sudan, Ethiopia and Yemen, passing through crocodile-infested rivers and minefields and running the risk of being shot by border guards who are under orders to shoot on sight anyone attempting to flee the country.
“Those we speak to love their country and want nothing more than to live in freedom as good citizens,” said Andy Dipper, the CEO of Release International, which serves the persecuted church worldwide.
“Yet many are being hounded out, jailed and tortured for no other reason than their Christian faith.
“Our message to Eritrea is stop the brutality. We’re calling on Eritrea to honour the right to freedom of religion, guaranteed under its own constitution.”
Eritrean Christians who were tortured and jailed for their faith have told their harrowing stories in the latest edition of Release magazine.
One prisoner, Hzkias, was chained and kept in solitary confinement in a tiny pitch-black cell for five months. He said he "looked like another creature" when he was finally let out, with long hair and nails.
"My body colour was yellow," he said.
A Christian activist documenting persecution in Eritrea, and named in the magazine only as Hanibal, reported that authorities were torturing and killing Christians.
He said: "Christians are treated like animals."
Release is helping Eritrean refugees start their own small businesses, and is supporting churches in refugee camps by giving them Bibles and Christian resources.
source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/43000.people.call.for.religious.freedom.in.eritrea/25098.htm
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Eighth church arson attack after Malaysia's Allah ruling
by Ethan Cole, Christian PostPosted: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 9:39 (GMT)
Eighth church arson attack after Malaysia's Allah ruling
Police on Monday reported the eighth arson attack on a church in Malaysia since the High Court ruled that non-Muslims can use the word “Allah” to refer to God.
Sometime between 1:30 am and 8:30 am local time, unknown vandals attacked Sidang Injil Borneo Church on the western coast of Malaysia. Burn marks were found on the church’s main entrance door, according to local newspapers. But the arson did not affect the interior of the building.
Deputy police chief of Negeri Sembilan state Datuk Abd Manan Mhd Hassan told reporters that officers, a forensic unit and members of the fire department inspected the damaged door after a man reported the scorching Monday morning.
“We believe assailants used petro to set fire to the door but, fortunately, the fire did not spread,” Hassan said.
He added that all police patrol cars and officers on duty have been called to monitor places of worship, especially mosques and churches.
“I urge the people to stop such activities,” the deputy police chief appealed to Malaysians. “Do not do anything that can disrupt peace and harmony of the country. We will take stern action against those found responsible.”
In addition to security provided by police, Muslim non-government organisations have also begun to patrol church areas in the Klang Valley – an area on the west coast that includes the capital Kuala Lumpur – where four churches were targets of arson attacks.
Muslim volunteers began patrolling Monday night in two shifts, from 11 pm to 2 am and 4 am until dawn, according to Malaysia’s The Star newspaper.
The Muslim NGO’s have committed to be the “eyes and ears” of the government, which has condemned the attacks on churches, to ensure the security of Christian places of worship.
Attacks on churches and other Christian-owned buildings occurred after a High Court judge ruled on December 31, 2009, that the word “Allah” is not exclusive to Islam and that the government’s Home Ministry is “not empowered” to ban non-Muslims from using the word.
The case began two years ago when The Herald, the Roman Catholic Church’s weekly Malaysian publication, filed a suit against the government. The Herald has argued that the word “Allah” predates Islam and is used by Arabic-speaking non-Muslims to refer to God. It filed the suit in order to continue to use the word “Allah” in its Malay language newspaper.
The government had issued the ban on the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims in the 1980s, but the law was never enforced. Just in the last few years the government began enforcing the law and confiscating Bibles that contained the word “Allah.”
In response to the High Court’s decision, the government appealed the ruling last week. It maintains that “Allah” is an Islamic word and if used by non-Muslims could confuse Muslims into converting to those faiths.
According to the CIA World Factbook, 60.4 per cent of Malaysia's 25.7 million people ascribe to Islam. Around 19.2 per cent, meanwhile, is Buddhist, and 9.1 per cent is Christian.
Though the population is predominantly Muslim, Malaysians of different faiths have historically been able to live in peace with one another.
A Christian ministry worker living in Malaysia, whose name was withheld for security reasons, said, “This (church attacks) is totally shocking to us Malaysians, because as far as this generation can remember, this has never happened,” according to Mission Network News. “We’ve always had peaceful relations.”
Faced with unprecedented violence, Malaysian Christians are praying and calling for national unity.
“We call on our government to take the necessary steps to educate those who lack understanding and are ‘easily confused’ to be mature minded in a progressive democratic society," reads the statement by the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship.
“As Christians and responsible citizens of this country, it is our desire to see all quarters promote peace and harmony,” the evangelical group states. “NECF calls on all parties to learn to respect each other’s basic constitutional and human rights to practice one’s faith and religion, recognising the fundamental boundaries in not interfering with the Scriptures of other faiths.”
NECF urges Christians to pray for peace in Malaysia.
In the UK, a service of prayers was held in Lichfield Cathedral for the safety and security of Christians in Malaysia.
The Rev Terry Bloor, Vicar of Basford near Newcastle-under-Lyme, led prayers for the Bishop of West Malaysia, the Rt Rev Moon Hing and all Christians in Malaysia, and especially for the congregations whose church buildings have been damaged by fire-bomb attacks.
He said: “We pray that the Malaysian Home Minister’s appeal for calm might be heeded and protests moderated.”
He prayed: “Father, be with those in authority who seek a peaceful solution, and may all Christians in Malaysia, of whatever denomination, through prayer, fasting and without retaliation, seek your will and overcome all evil intent with the good that your name, in whatever language, speaks to the world.”
source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/eighth.church.arson.attack.after.malaysias.allah.ruling/25056.htm
Eighth church arson attack after Malaysia's Allah ruling
Police on Monday reported the eighth arson attack on a church in Malaysia since the High Court ruled that non-Muslims can use the word “Allah” to refer to God.
Sometime between 1:30 am and 8:30 am local time, unknown vandals attacked Sidang Injil Borneo Church on the western coast of Malaysia. Burn marks were found on the church’s main entrance door, according to local newspapers. But the arson did not affect the interior of the building.
Deputy police chief of Negeri Sembilan state Datuk Abd Manan Mhd Hassan told reporters that officers, a forensic unit and members of the fire department inspected the damaged door after a man reported the scorching Monday morning.
“We believe assailants used petro to set fire to the door but, fortunately, the fire did not spread,” Hassan said.
He added that all police patrol cars and officers on duty have been called to monitor places of worship, especially mosques and churches.
“I urge the people to stop such activities,” the deputy police chief appealed to Malaysians. “Do not do anything that can disrupt peace and harmony of the country. We will take stern action against those found responsible.”
In addition to security provided by police, Muslim non-government organisations have also begun to patrol church areas in the Klang Valley – an area on the west coast that includes the capital Kuala Lumpur – where four churches were targets of arson attacks.
Muslim volunteers began patrolling Monday night in two shifts, from 11 pm to 2 am and 4 am until dawn, according to Malaysia’s The Star newspaper.
The Muslim NGO’s have committed to be the “eyes and ears” of the government, which has condemned the attacks on churches, to ensure the security of Christian places of worship.
Attacks on churches and other Christian-owned buildings occurred after a High Court judge ruled on December 31, 2009, that the word “Allah” is not exclusive to Islam and that the government’s Home Ministry is “not empowered” to ban non-Muslims from using the word.
The case began two years ago when The Herald, the Roman Catholic Church’s weekly Malaysian publication, filed a suit against the government. The Herald has argued that the word “Allah” predates Islam and is used by Arabic-speaking non-Muslims to refer to God. It filed the suit in order to continue to use the word “Allah” in its Malay language newspaper.
The government had issued the ban on the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims in the 1980s, but the law was never enforced. Just in the last few years the government began enforcing the law and confiscating Bibles that contained the word “Allah.”
In response to the High Court’s decision, the government appealed the ruling last week. It maintains that “Allah” is an Islamic word and if used by non-Muslims could confuse Muslims into converting to those faiths.
According to the CIA World Factbook, 60.4 per cent of Malaysia's 25.7 million people ascribe to Islam. Around 19.2 per cent, meanwhile, is Buddhist, and 9.1 per cent is Christian.
Though the population is predominantly Muslim, Malaysians of different faiths have historically been able to live in peace with one another.
A Christian ministry worker living in Malaysia, whose name was withheld for security reasons, said, “This (church attacks) is totally shocking to us Malaysians, because as far as this generation can remember, this has never happened,” according to Mission Network News. “We’ve always had peaceful relations.”
Faced with unprecedented violence, Malaysian Christians are praying and calling for national unity.
“We call on our government to take the necessary steps to educate those who lack understanding and are ‘easily confused’ to be mature minded in a progressive democratic society," reads the statement by the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship.
“As Christians and responsible citizens of this country, it is our desire to see all quarters promote peace and harmony,” the evangelical group states. “NECF calls on all parties to learn to respect each other’s basic constitutional and human rights to practice one’s faith and religion, recognising the fundamental boundaries in not interfering with the Scriptures of other faiths.”
NECF urges Christians to pray for peace in Malaysia.
In the UK, a service of prayers was held in Lichfield Cathedral for the safety and security of Christians in Malaysia.
The Rev Terry Bloor, Vicar of Basford near Newcastle-under-Lyme, led prayers for the Bishop of West Malaysia, the Rt Rev Moon Hing and all Christians in Malaysia, and especially for the congregations whose church buildings have been damaged by fire-bomb attacks.
He said: “We pray that the Malaysian Home Minister’s appeal for calm might be heeded and protests moderated.”
He prayed: “Father, be with those in authority who seek a peaceful solution, and may all Christians in Malaysia, of whatever denomination, through prayer, fasting and without retaliation, seek your will and overcome all evil intent with the good that your name, in whatever language, speaks to the world.”
source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/eighth.church.arson.attack.after.malaysias.allah.ruling/25056.htm
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