Friday, March 31, 2006

KINGDOM HEADLINES: 31 March 2006

Recent news that affects the Kingdom or Family of God on earth.

ACLU
I could support this legislation and still sleep at night.

Bill would bar ACLU's rewards in religion lawsuits
Indiana's John Hostettler is trying for the fifth consecutive Congress to prevent the American Civil Liberties Union from receiving government funds when it succeeds at legal challenges to public expressions of religion.

This year, the Republican representative has more hope than before thanks to the American Legion. The country's largest veterans organization, with about three million members, has aggressively thrown its influence behind Hostettler's bill, and the persistent congressman is encouraged at his proposal’s prospects.

The intolerance of the native ACLU-ite
Like many civic assemblies, Oconee County, S.C., has opened council meetings with an invocation. Council member and pastor Bill Rinehart closed a meeting in October of last year with prayer by saying, "We ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen."

What Rinehart didn't know was that members of the American Civil Liberties Union "search out and censor corps" were sitting in the audience anonymously, waiting to pounce on the slightest expression of personal faith.

AFRICAN REVIVAL
They call it a "Boom in African Christianity"; I call it a revival, because that's what it is. Then there's this from the Casper, Wyoming, StarTribune ...

Once targets of missions, African Christians now most dynamic force in the faith
Dawn is near. But the congregation shows no sign of tiring. For more than eight hours -- all through a torrid tropical night -- they have danced, shouted and prayed with a preacher most simply call Daddy.

More than 300,000 have come. But for the Redeemed Christian Church of God, it's just an average turnout. Think big. Then think even bigger.

This is the face of 21st century Christianity: colossal, restless -- and African. There's no better lesson than the Redeemed Church, and the insatiable ambitions of its guiding hand, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye. The savvy former mathematician leads the fastest-growing Christian movement on a continent that's rapidly putting its stamp on the faith around the world.

CATHOLICISM
Leaders must be reading Joel Osteen or listen to Curly Joel's messages (see below) because it's wearing off on them - "Catholic Leaders Focus on Positive to Combat Drop in Priests and Nuns."

In other news on the "Mother Church" (that's hard to type) - I'll believe this when we get fruit juice from the tree not its fruit. "'Satanic' art in Catholic Church exposed: Documentary links clergy sex abuse with occult imagery," according to WorldNetDaily. We all know what causes this ... sin!

CRUCIFIXION
Traditional image of crucifixion may be wrong
The image of the crucifixion, one of the most powerful emblems of Christianity, may be quite erroneous, according to a study which says there is no evidence to prove Jesus was crucified in this manner. [...]

... a paper published by Britain's prestigious Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) says this image has never been substantiated in fact.

Christ could have been crucified in any one of many ways, all of which would have affected the causes of his death, it says.
See here also!

JOEL OSTEEN
Success is certain to bring criticism and Osteen's had his share of both.

A new book, a followup to his best-seller "Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential," is reported to be worth as much as $13 million. Osteen said he may have to title the new book, "A Little Bit Better Than Your Best Life Now." A good subtitle might be "7 Steps for Me to Get My Hand in Your Wallet."

LUTHERANS
Lutheran educator, Robt. Harry Smith, who denied the literal interpretation of the Bible, died March 16 at his home in El Cerrito, California, at the age of 73.

Smith, a hero to some, a heretic to others, led a breakaway faction of Concordia faculty (in 1974), who all denied inspiration in one form or another, to form a new institution.
Formally called Christ Seminary-Seminex, it operated in classrooms provided by Jesuit-run St. Louis University and Eden Theological Seminary. Smith served as Seminex's dean from 1981 until 1983, when the school merged with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

NOAH'S ARK
If the image of Christ's crucifixion is wrong, then Noah's Ark and its imagery doesn't have a chance; but Johan Huibers' intentions are inspired!

PERSECUTION (At home)

Tom DeLay says he sees a war on evangelical Christianity in conference with "religious leaders."

In a related story, the WaPo reports the conference "Depicts a Culture Hostile to Evangelical Beliefs."

HT: Christian Headlines

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