Christian News from Christians Unite.

[Shammu]

Four Men and No 'Maybe' -- They're Rockin' for God

by Tracy Goodwin
June 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - For four men, the idea of sitting around and just playing music has taken on a whole new meaning in the last few years.

The story starts a few years ago when two men, Mike Beloud and Steve Rogers (who was being mentored by Jorge Ramirez), were taking a class at church. As they sat and talked about their pasts, they all learned they had more in common than their love for Christ.

"It turned out that the three of us were 80's rockers in bands that played around the L.A. club scene," said Beloud. "Former members Matt and Russell were also musicians in the 70's." So after finding this striking similarity between them, they began getting together for "fun and fellowship with no real thought of our music becoming any more than that."

Rogers then surprised them all by writing songs that had to be sung. The first CD, "Through the Son," which was released in 2002, contains the first 12 songs the group did together.

Matt and Russell left the band because they were at different places in their lives, according to Beloud. "They moved on to do other things early on in the recording process of 'Through the Son,' but still remain dear friends to us. God just called us to serve in different ways."

For some time, it was just Rogers, Beloud and Ramirez. It was not until their CD began taking off that the need for a new drummer became more pronounced. They had had to turn down several offers to perform because they did not have one.

"We prayed and searched for a long time and in 2003, out of the blue, God dropped Mike Partain into our mix," Beloud said. "We often comment on what an amazing job God did picking the perfect blend/balance of personalities to make this band work.

"When one or two of us is losing our minds, there is always at least one or two others to help us retrieve our sanity! We have become like brothers."

Members of Rise (left to right): Mike Partain (drums), Mike Beloud
(guitar), Jorge Ramirez (bass), and Steve Rogers (vocal). In
Cologne, Germany, where they performed at World Youth Day
2005.

Unlike most bands that hope and dream for the big spotlight, Rise has a different focus. They have no plans of ever being signed to a record label or becoming huge rock stars.

According to Beloud, they are seeking another path. "We [want] the freedom to blaze our own trail and have a great time doing it. We went through all those rock star dreams in the 80's and for us that aspect is over. Now we want to be able to focus 100 percent on the ministry, not on selling a million CDs."

More than anything, this band is watching miracles when people learn the background of their faith, Catholicism. Beloud said it challenges people's preconceived notions of Catholics.

One of the notions that they battle are the ideas that all Catholic music is very traditional. There are actually not very many Catholic rock bands out there. "Things are changing -- it's fun to be on the grassroots of this genre of music," Beloud said.

"Rise is on an ecumenical mission to unite Christians, not divide," he said. "The devil laughs at us when Christians bicker and fight amongst ourselves, because while we are busy doing that, he is busy wreaking havoc around us.

"We want to be remembered for our positive Christian music, but more importantly for trying our very best to walk the walk and be a uniting force in God's service. Tough times are coming, and as Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we need to be ready."

When asked what their favorite scriptures were, they stated that it depends largely on where they are with their walk with God when they open the Bible.

"No matter how many times we open up the Bible, a different scriptural message will stand out depending on what God knows we need to hear at that moment in time," Beloud said.

Currently, the scripture that is standing out to them is Revelation 3:15-16: "I know your works: I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."

Beloud said that the "one thing Rise never wants is to be accused of having a lukewarm faith!"

The stress of being in the spotlight and constantly busy can have its effect on anyone, and the members of Rise are no exception. But Rise occasionally gets a special "pick-me-up" that many bands do not get: constant encouragement from their fans.

"It never fails that just about the time we may be getting discouraged or tired, an e-mail or letter comes through, saying 'Your music changed/saved my life ...' or 'I listen to your CDs to put me in the right frame of mind for the day ...,'" Beloud said. He also added though that people need to remember that it is not their music, it is God's. But the encouragement they get from these messages gives them encouragement and strength when they continue to work for God through their music.

The majority of Rise's concerts are put on for free. Their belief is that they are performing for God and not themselves. It also does not matter where they perform. They are willing to travel and only request a small stipend for travel and accommodations to help offset their costs.

And there are no borders when it comes to Rise. They have already traveled to Germany, and in 2008 they will be traveling to Australia to perform.

When they perform, they basically desire one thing: that people will leave touched by God. Said Beloud: "We want people to leave saying, 'If God can take four average Joes like this, knuckleheads even, and change their hearts, change their lives, then He can work miracles in my life, too!'"

That is exactly what happened to a man in California one year ago. Hector Lopez went to hear their music at his church fiesta and was touched by their music in a way that changed his life forever.

"Their music changed my life in many ways, but the biggest way it changed my life is by getting involved in my church because of their music," said Lopez. "I started to teach a junior high program and I also joined the youth program at my church. Their music inspired me to go and teach to young people the important way of our Catholic faith."

Before the concert, however, his faith was not as strong as it should have been. "I now go to church every Sunday and I am involved in my church. But the biggest thing that has changed is that if it wasn't for their music, I would have lost my faith."

In the future, Rise wants to do something different. They want to encourage other young Christian artists by opening their own recording studio where they can mentor them.

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Michigan Activist Urges GOP to Be Fair, Condemn McCain's MPA Vote

by Jody Brown
June 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A Michigan-based, pro-family political action committee (PAC) says if the state Republican Party is going to condemn the state's Democratic lawmakers in Washington for voting against the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) last week, it should be fair about it -- and also condemn the same action by the current frontrunner for the GOP's presidential nomination.

On Election Day in November 2004, almost 60 percent of Michigan voters approved a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. But among Democratic senators voting to discontinue debate on the MPA last week, thereby preventing it to be voted upon by the full Senate, was Michigan's Debbie Stabenow, whose current term in the U.S. Senate expires in 2007. For that action, the Michigan Republican Party is blasting Stabenow for what it calls "tak[ing] sides with the radical special interests and against Michigan families."

Saul Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan GOP, is taking the opportunity to point out to voters Stabenow's perceived allegiance to those special interests.

"Debbie Stabenow has turned her back on her constituents," Anuzis says in a press release. "We need someone who represents Michigan, not Democratic interests in Washington. It is time that Michigan has a senator who truly represents the will of the people, not a divisive political agenda."

That is all well and good, says Gary Glenn, chairman of the Campaign for Michigan Families and co-author of the state marriage amendment approved by voters in 2004. But the state GOP should not stop there, he says.

Glenn says Republican leaders in Michigan are right "to publicly condemn [Stabenow] for thumbing her nose at the vote of the people of Michigan -- but cannot in fairness fail to publicly condemn Republican Senator John McCain for voting the exact same way ...."

McCain, considered one of the frontrunners to lead the GOP presidential ticket in 2008, was in Grand Rapids late last week, stumping for Secretary of State Terri Land at an event hosted by high-profile Republicans in the state. Glenn says he wrote to each one of those GOP hosts, urging them not only to defend their party's platform, but also to "disavow McCain's vote." By remaining silent, he says, they would be giving the impression that they approve of it.

Stabenow, says Glenn, voted against the people of Michigan when she voted against the MPA. McCain, he says, voted not only against the people "but [also] against President Bush and his own party in opposing protection of marriage."

"Both should be equally condemned for standing instead with homosexual activist groups and left-wing judges who want to overturn the people's vote in order to radically redefine marriage," says the pro-family activist. He points out that is exactly what has happened in Nebraska, where an amendment protecting traditional marriage was approved by 70 percent of voters -- but later deemed unconstitutional by one federal judge.

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Events Leading Up to SBC's 2006 Meeting Stress Outreach, Soul-Winning

by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
June 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The theme for the Southern Baptist Convention's 2006 Pastor's Conference, scheduled for June 11-12, is "Reaching today's world for Jesus Christ." Organizers say this year's conference is unlike any other the SBC has hosted.

The Pastor's Conference is just one of the precursors to the 2006 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, taking place this week in Greensboro, North Carolina. The two-day event for pastors was designed to reach a broad spectrum of church leaders from young to old, from traditional or contemporary, large or small churches, urban or rural.

Other events have helped set the stage for this year's SBC gathering. On Saturday evening, the Life Community Church in Jamestown, North Carolina, held a block party on its property, with games and activities for kids and food, music, and testimony from church members -- all part of Crossover Triad, an effort by Southern Baptist churches to take the gospel to the unchurched throughout the area. (See related article)

Jesse Wilson is discipleship pastor for Life Community Church. He says taking part in the Crossover Triad outreach has helped the church connect better with the area. "We have done these once or twice a year, and we have seen some great fruit from it," he notes.

Several people accepted Christ as a result of the weekend's Crossover effort, Wilson notes. Now, as the Southern Baptist Convention's annual gathering continues, he says his church will be busy following up the community outreach effort.

The 2006 Pastor's Conference -- Putting Substance Over Style
In his welcoming remarks, Pastors Conference president Bryant Wright said it is vital for Southern Baptists to change their mindset when it comes to worship and methodology. "The amazing thing about worship," he noted, "is worship is very subjective. There is no right or wrong way to worship God as long as it is centered on Jesus Christ and grounded in the Word of God."

Worship at the Pastor's Conference was designed to bear out these principles. While Sunday's session featured a blended musical style, the Monday afternoon session was planned with a contemporary theme, and the evening session has been planned to feature traditional worship.

Another Pastor's Conference speaker, Pastor Dick Lincoln of South Carolina, touched on style differences in his address as well. He encouraged pastors to review their strategies when it comes to evangelism, referring his listeners to the Apostle Paul's teaching about reaching people from different backgrounds.

Lincoln warned SBC church leaders against becoming so entrenched in a tradition or area of comfort that they cease to be relevant. "You can become so formal that people can't relate," he observed. "You can become so country that you are hokey; you can become so contemporary that you're just nothing except funky for Jesus, and you're not really counting for Him. Any of them can go over the edge in a bad direction."

Why is it, the South Carolina pastor mused, that Christians will go to all the trouble of translating the Bible into "every imaginable language" but then demand that those who hear worship in a particular way must adjust their ears to "our preferences" in worship. "Why would we do that?" he asked.

Church leaders more concerned about preserving their worship style as sacrosanct than about reaching a world that may not understand the gospel message "the way we speak it," ought to "go back and reexamine [their] genuine concerns," Lincoln asserted. He said Southern Baptists must stop placing their worship preferences on a pedestal and must not be afraid to try new methods.

While admitting he was not initially fond of contemporary worship styles, Pastor Lincoln noted that his church has reached more people by shifting its focus to the unchurched. He challenged his fellow Southern Baptist pastors to lead the way in stepping out of their comfort zones in order to reach lost people for Christ.

Pastors' Personal Witnessing and Purpose-Driven Priorities
A megachurch pastor from Georgia picked up the theme of soul winning when his turn came to speak. Pastor Johnny Hunt of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia, told the Greensboro audience the heads of churches must lead by example when it comes to personal evangelism. Basing his sermon on the 17th chapter of Acts, which documents Paul's preaching in Thessalonica, Hunt said churches in America need to regain their passion for soul winning.

The Georgia minister cited a recent study that showed 53 percent of U.S. pastors had gone six months or longer without witnessing to anyone. "And they were asked as to the reason," he notes. "The number-one reason was busyness. But I've got another word. If you're too busy as a gospel preacher to share the gospel, that's not busyness; that's disobedience. And the last time I checked, disobedience was sinfulness."

Hunt also warned pastors that they must never "water down" the gospel by trying to make it so "relevant" that it is stripped of all its authority and power. Rather, the pastor urged, Christian ministers must preach scriptural truth and leave the results up to God. "Just be right with God and love Jesus and get up and tell the truth," he said. "It's amazing what God will do when we preach the truth."

A similar message came from best-selling author and well-known pastor Rick Warren, who was scheduled to close out Sunday evening's session of the Pastor's Conference. The pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, had a last-minute family responsibility and prepared a videotaped address to be played in his absence. In that message, he told his fellow clergy that believers must start living like Jesus and trusting in God the way Jesus did in order to have a lasting impact on the world.

"The priority is to live for the kingdom of God," Warren said. "Only people who don't know God are always worrying. In other words, when I worry, I'm acting like an atheist." What the SBC needs most of all, he contended, is Christians who will live like Jesus every day.

Although Pastor Warren was not there in person, his prerecorded sermon was well received. As one conference attendee noted, "We may disagree with some of the things that he's done or is doing, in a sense, but you can't disagree with the heart that he has."

Disaster for New Orleans, Opportunity for the Gospel
The President of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Chuck Kelley, also addressed the conference about the impact of a servant's personal witness. He said when Hurricane Katrina hit nearly 10 months ago, it flooded the seminary campus and challenged students and faculty to live out their faith in Christ in some very concrete ways. And, as a result, he added, the storm also changed people's attitudes toward Christians and their message.

"There has always been in New Orleans a deep-seated hostility towards the gospel," Kelley observed. "Evangelical Christians come to that city, and they immediately begin feeling intimidated and kind of oppressed by the spiritual darkness of that place," he said, "but Satan got floated out on the flood, and right now we are seeing an opportunity to share Jesus that we have never had before."

Katrina scattered New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary students throughout 29 states, and its faculty were displaced throughout nine states. But although the hurricane devastated the city of New Orleans, Kelley says it showcased God's greatness in the midst of life's storms.

A Moral Responsibility to Support Missions
A main theme that has emerged repeatedly during the 2006 Southern Baptist Convention Pastor's Conference is the call for a renewed emphasis on evangelism. Frank Page, pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina, says that theme is one reason why he is running for president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He says he entered the race for SBC president because he believes it is important that SBC churches support the cooperative program, the denomination's main channel for sending state, national, and international missionaries.

Page notes that his church gives more than 12 percent to the cooperative program, along with funding a major missions program. "Personally, if I am going to call myself a Southern Baptist," he says, "then I feel a moral responsibility to support the work that we have voted to do."

For example, the candidate says, the SBC has more than 5,000 international missionaries and almost 5,000 North American missionaries in the seminaries and the other entities and agencies the church has. "I believe to not support that, for me, is to be morally irresponsible."

Page has pastored First Baptist Church (Taylors) for five and a half years. He will be nominated during the SBC's annual business meeting, which begins tomorrow in Greensboro.

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Christian MD: Legal System Has Turned Malpractice Suits Into Patient 'Lottery'

by Mary Rettig
June 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The executive director of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) says the malpractice system is broken and needs to be fixed.

The comment came after a recent study from Harvard found that four out of every 10 medical malpractice cases were groundless. The researchers reported that many of the lawsuits they analyzed had no evidence that a medical error was committed or even that the patient had suffered any injury.

However, Dr. David Stevens of the CMDA says he thought the number of groundless cases would have been even higher. "When I went to medical school, we used to say bad doctors got sued," he notes. "By the time I was in practice, a lot of doctors got sued. Now everybody gets sued, no matter whether you're a good doctor, bad doctor, or whatever."

Unfortunately, Stevens observes, the medical malpractice system in America has "turned into the lottery." The potential for enormous payouts from these cases has many people filing despite having no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of their doctors, he says.

Many people say, "Let's sue the doctor if there's even a bad outcome, because the chance of making a huge amount of money is there," the Christian physician explains. "The system that's in place, where malpractice lawyers are not paid a fixed fee for services or per hour but paid upon a contingency fee, encourages people to sue with no risk to themselves."

This system gives the lawyer every incentive, Stevens adds, "to get as much as he can and to stretch the truth, for want of a better word, because they will personally benefit." As a result, he says, skyrocketing malpractice insurance is forcing some doctors out of the profession.

What the country needs, the CMDA spokesman contends, is a system like that in place in the state of Indiana, which requires all malpractice cases to go before a review board to see if the facts merit a trial.

Implementing a system like Indiana's would cut down on gigantic jury awards, Stevens asserts. That, he says, would in turn lower medical malpractice insurance costs, which would benefit both doctors and patients.

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Senate Republicans Foil Attempt to Establish 'Native Hawaiian' Gov't

by Chad Groening
June 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A military analyst and former officials in the Reagan Defense Department says it's outrageous that the Senate even considered a bill that opponents contend would have allowed the island of Hawaii to create an autonomous, race-based government capable of pulling the state out of the union if it chose.

It is called the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, and critics say it would allow Hawaii to establish a race-based government dominated by "native" Hawaiians -- if the Senate passed it, which it did not. Like the Marriage Protection Amendment last week, this measure failed to garner the 60 votes needed to keep it alive, falling four votes short (56-41) on Thursday (June . Only this time around, all those voting against the S.R. 147, sponsored by Democratic Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, were Republicans.

Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy is among those critical of the legislation. He cites what he sees could have been detrimental impacts on the nation as a whole.

"The effect could be to enable this new race-based government to decide that it wants to opt out of the 50 states of this union, taking with it not only the wonderful tourist sites of Hawaii but also the strategically critical military facilities," says the Center president.

While intended to give indigenous Hawaiians some of the same powers of self-governance enjoyed by American Indians, Gaffney fears that the legislation instead could have encouraged other groups to push for the same kind of autonomy. "I think it's entirely possible you'd see people coming out of the woodwork, saying, 'You know that deal that the native Hawaiians got in S-147? We want that, too. We want to be able to govern ourselves in our own way. And if it involves leaving the Union, so be it,'" he suggests.

Among those groups pushing for similar powers, he says, would be "... people like the Reconquistas, who think they ought to take back part of the United States for Mexico, or Islamists who think they ought to have the right to run their community by a Taliban-style sharia religious code."

Such legislation, he says, also could accelerate the process of unraveling the United States as a nation. "You know, we fought a civil war to keep people from doing this sort of thing," says Gaffney, "and the United States' Senate [by considering S.R. 147] seems at the precipice of saying, 'Okay; you can take Hawaii and go.'"

Despite the backing of the entire Hawaiian delegation to Congress and Republican Governor Linda Lingle, the measure had only partial support of the state's population, according to reports. Supporters had argued that the legislation was needed to redress wrongs that have persisted since the U.S.-backed overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893.

But opponents on Capitol Hill cited their concerns about introducing a race-based division of government control. "I cannot and will not support a bill whose very purpose is to divide Americans based upon race," said Senator John Cornyn of Texas. And through a letter, the White House stated its strong opposition because the bill would reverse the country's melting-pot tradition and "divide people by their race."

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Parents of Fallen Marine Ask Bush to Federalize Mt. Soledad Memorial Site

by James L. Lambert
June 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The parents of a Marine who died in Iraq last November say that they would like the National Park Service to take over the Mt. Soledad war memorial site in La Jolla, a suburb of San Diego, California.

Robert and Sybil Martino are requesting that two military veterans currently in Congress -- Senator John McCain and Representative Duncan Hunter -- approach President Bush on this matter. The war memorial site, constructed in 1954, includes a 29-foot cross which is the center of a 17-year legal dispute involving an atheist, his lawyer James McElory, and the City of San Diego.

The Martino's son, Captain Michael Martino, 32, was killed in action in Iraq when his Cobra helicopter was shot down by a Russian shoulder-mounted SA-16 surface-to-air missile. According to the Martinos, their "son's Camp Pendleton [Oceanside, California] unit, which recently returned from Iraq, dedicated a plaque at Mt. Soledad to honor [their] son ...." They both have expressed "the feelings of honor [they] felt at having their son memorialized for all time under the cross at Mt. Soledad" -- and add that "there is no better place on the West Coast to honor our fallen heroes than under that cross overlooking the country they fought and died to preserve ...."

Mr. Marino states that "this cross has been in existence [in one form or another] since 1913" and, in response to an atheist's lawyer who wants the cross removed, the elder Martino said that the Soledad cross "is no more an affront to personal beliefs than the thousands of crosses at Arlington [National Cemetery]."

Since his death, Captain Martino was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and promoted to the rank of Marine Major. His mother says "Michael always had a fascination with flying," and his father characterizes his son "as a determined young man who was focused and always gave it his all." The young Martino graduated from the University of California, San Diego before enlisting in the Marine Corps.

According to Marine Major Thomas Dolan, Michael Martino "routinely demonstrated valor and poise despite the chaos of [war] .... He did a lot of dangerous work yet ... [Captain Martino] always played down what he did."

Colonel Weidley, Martino's commanding officer, said in a letter to his parents that their son "performed his duties above expectations .... He was always in the books, studying his aircraft, weapon systems and the enemy. [He was] one of the smartest pilots we have .... Sacrifice, selfless service, and uncommon valor are the staples of this generation of American service members, to which Mike was a part. We miss him terribly. He will never be forgotten."

On May 10, 300 of his comrades from Camp Pendleton commemorated Major Martino's legacy atop Mt. Soledad. Without media coverage, a plaque was dedicated to his memory. The Martinos see this site as a fitting tribute to their son. Yet they are disturbed that one atheist would be allowed by the courts to dismantle a cross that is a significant part of the historical San Diego war memorial.

In a letter to Senator John McCain, the Martinos asked: "Is it fair to the majority and to those who have served or have fallen in the service for our nation who wish to keep the cross to appease a few who look to strip all religion from our country under a false interpretation of the separation of church and state? Our son died with a strong belief that he was fighting to preserve the freedom of all Americans."

Robert and Sybil Martino are asking Congressman Hunter, Senator McCain, and newly elected Representative Brian Bilbray to help persuade the White House to federalize the site, thus making it a national war memorial. "Please let us have our freedom from activist judges and their personal interpretation of our Constitution," they plead in conclusion.

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Creeps Crash Online Hangouts

by Rebecca Grace
June 13, 2006

(AgapePress) - - "GTG, QT ... PIR ... TLK-2-U-L-8-R!" If you're under the age of 30, this sentence makes perfect sense. If not, keep reading.

What it really says is: "Got to go, cutie ... parent in room ... talk to you later."

This new nonverbal lingo is basically a form of shorthand used to communicate in cyberspace via text messaging, instant messaging, blogging or any other means of wireless or online technology. Not only does it save time in a fast-paced world, it keeps parents in the dark when it comes to understanding their children's way of communicating in a technologically advanced world.

One aspect of this communication is social networking sites, more commonly know by their official website names of MySpace.com, Xanga.com, and Facebook, among others. A social networking site is "sort of a cyber combination of a yearbook, personal diary and social club," as defined by MSNBC.com.

"It's the way kids communicate today," said Al Kush, deputy director of WiredSafety.org. "[To them], it's just a nice, convenient, fun thing to do."

But that's not all. For some social networking site users, their frequent activity on the sites is becoming an invitation to crime and, in some cases, a death trap. Some are posting personal information such as their full names, school names, cell phone numbers and addresses, making themselves easy prey for sexual predators. In a sense, teens are baiting their own hooks, trolling for friends but attracting sharks.

The sharks are stalking MySpace.com, "the second largest website of any kind," according to Rebecca Hagelin, family advocate and author of Home Invasion. Today, MySpace has about 70 million registered users, the majority consisting of Gen Y-ers, those born between 1976 and 2001.

The Beginnings
MySpace was started by entrepreneurs Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, who met while working for an online storage company. The techno-savvy pair created a social networking site that promoted bands and gave consumers a central location to audition and download music.

Visiting the site became a craze and spread by word-of-mouth, thus gaining the attention of the music industry. As of February 2006, more than one million music artists had pages on MySpace, including superstars like U2 and Madonna. But the website quickly evolved into more than a band site.

According to USA Today, MySpace is "a universe of hundreds of thousands of personal Web pages [some of which are laced with profanity, pornography and sexually explicit dialogue] created by its users ... to express their interests and display their personality."

Such interests are expressed through digital photos, music downloads, personality profiles, icons and banners among other features. Users are also able to post comments, send notes in the form of bulletins, instant message each other and display their personal thoughts and opinions in the form of blogs, which are much like online diaries. However, these diaries are not kept under lock and key but can be viewed by the entire world.

The Dangers

What social networking users, especially teens, don't realize is that MySpace is not "my space" at all. Some teens are oblivious to this and begin living in their own cyberspace bubble, thinking it's only their friends who are reading their MySpace pages. Too frequently these "friends" turn out to be predators in disguise.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, one in five children online is solicited sexually. While it's next to impossible to know how many pedophiles are online, there is more than enough evidence to know they are out there waiting for their next vulnerable target. After all, Connecticut Detective Frank Dannehey says a full name and a photo are the only essentials needed by any online predator.

"[M]ost of the time when kids get into trouble online, it's not because they went out looking for trouble, it's because trouble found them," Kush said. "A lot of them get embarrassed, and they feel they'll get in trouble, and they cut themselves off from the very help that they need, which is other family members, to help them get clear of it.

"[Predators] rely on the kid feeling embarrassed and feeling guilty, and they play on that in their own way to isolate the kids from their parents," he continued. "That's why a lot of parents have no idea this stuff is going on until it's too late, in many cases."

For example, MSNBC.com reported that within 60 seconds of logging onto an Internet Relay Chat channel, one is likely to be propositioned for sex. Online predators use these channels along with chat rooms and social networking sites to lure the children into a face-to-face meeting.

The Reality

The prevalence of this online luring tactic was most recently seen on four different broadcasts of "To Catch a Predator" on Dateline NBC. NBC Reporters and volunteers from Perverted Justice, a watchdog group that catches online predators by posing as children, held sting operations in various U.S. cities.

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Perverted Justice volunteers set up computers at a designated house where volunteers took on their childlike personas and began chatting online. Within a short amount of time, men were showing up at the house ready to have sex with minors. Some brought beer, others brought sex novelties, and one even entered the house nude.

During the first sting operation, "Men from all over Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC, arrived at this house after chatting about sex, thinking they were meeting a 12-, 13-, or 14-year-old who is home alone," said Dateline's Chris Hansen. "Nineteen men in three days, from the down-and-out to pillars of the community [arrived at the house]" -- from school bus drivers to special education teachers to ministers.

In a recent WorldNetDaily column, Hagelin lists a sampling of similar cases. These deal specifically with MySpace:

    * In February, a 14-year-old New Jersey girl was found dead in a dumpster after arranging a meeting with a stranger on MySpace.
    * Hartford, Connecticut, officials are investigating eight sexual assault cases after teenage girls met men on MySpace.
    * In Lafayette, Louisiana, four teen girls were sexually assaulted by a local pervert who found them on MySpace.
    * In another Louisiana case, a predator lay in wait for a teen girl in the parking lot of her place of employment, which he had found on her profile page.

Even more recently, Fox News reported, "Five teenage boys accused of plotting a shooting rampage at their high school [in Riverton, Kansas] on the anniversary of the Columbine massacre were arrested ... after a message authorities said warned of a gun attack appeared on the website MySpace.com."

No Magic Bullet
The reports are endless, but the problems don't have to be. According to Hagelin and Kush, the answer lies in the hands of parents, although they are partially to blame for the initial problems.

"When you marry sloppy parenting, a technological revolution and pornography -- as pervasive as it is today -- that's a recipe for disaster for our children [and for] their physical safety and their moral and spiritual health," Hagelin explained. "It's the perfect storm, in other words, and our kids are the ones that are the victims caught up in it. [So], it's time for hands-on parenting."

Kush agrees, "[While] there's nothing you can do apart from unplugging the computer that will make them 100% safe ... parents have to become actively involved in their kids' online activities. There's just no way around it."

But at the same time, "there's no magic bullet," Kush explained. Therefore, it is going to take an extra effort on behalf of the parents to become familiar with the technological advances of the day.

"If they don't know the technology ... that doesn't excuse them from being parents," he said. "They are still the authority figure in the family," and they are going to have to monitor their children's online activity on a consistent basis.

Kush encourages parents to talk to their children about any accounts they may have on social networking sites, and treat the conversation as a learning experience. Let the child teach the parent about social networking sites, and if the parent finds anything questionable in the process, instruct the child to remove it using his password.

Not only does this give parents an insider's perspective on what their child is doing online, it also gives the child the opportunity to contribute his technical knowledge to the family.

"[So] unless parents can stand in the gap and protect their kids ..., then the world will be passing its values on to our children by default, rather than parents doing it actively," Hagelin concluded.

After all, a parent's inability to act could be a predator's ability to attack.

Strategies for Parents
One promising organization to help parents and kids be more savvy is www.webwisekids.org. Though not a Christian-based site, Web Wise Kids offers a number of resources. The site offers games that help kids-to-teens develop their critical skills. For example, Missing is the title of a game for 11- to 14-year-olds. Based on a true story, Missing is an interactive computer game that puts players in the role of detective. Players work to discover and interpret clues which can lead them to find the Internet predator who kidnapped a young boy named Zack. While solving the crime, players identify dangers of the Internet and learn safety concepts they can use in their time online.

In addition, Rebecca Hagelin suggests that parents should "trust but verify" their children's online activity. Here's how:

    * Go to Google.com and type in your child's first and last name and his state of residence. If your child has a website or has been mentioned on a friend's website by his first and last name, it will appear.
    * If you find such sites, visit them. Ask your children for passwords.
    * Realize that although the Internet is worldwide, it is also local since all a sexual predator has to do is type in his own zip code on MySpace and all his potential victims within a designated radius pop up.

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[Shammu]

Volunteers Deliver More Hope to Storm-Ravaged Mississippi Coast

by Randall Murphree
June 13, 2006

(AgapePress) - - "Nothing ever happens in Waveland, Mississippi!" insisted Paul Jordan. And with that declaration, Paul and his wife Florence decided to stay in their home while Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast in August 2005.

"We had over seven feet of water in our home," Florence Jordan said later, "so we lost everything. The insurance didn't do much, so we had to rely on these wonderful people to come down and help us. We're thankful."

The "wonderful people" were the volunteers of 8 Days of Hope II, a massive Christian-based relief effort organized by lay people who wanted to help storm victims. The Jordans got walls rebuilt in their damaged home on their 35th wedding anniversary.

It all began last fall when Steve Tybor, Jr. and his son, Steve III, decided to recruit a few friends and go to the Gulf Coast for some hands-on ministry in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's August 29 devastation. They thought they could make a little difference for a few families whose homes had been severely damaged.

The project grew into 8 Days of Hope I, and the few friends grew to 650 volunteers from 34 states. They completed projects at 84 storm-damaged homes during the December 10-18, 2005, project. Volunteers slept in tents, vehicles, church basements and anywhere they could find to lay their heads.

Many returned this spring for 8 Days of Hope II to continue the re-building ministry. After the latest project, Tybor III talked about how members of the Body of Christ use their unique gifts. He cited one lady who returned to the project just to do laundry for the volunteers.

"In 1 Peter 4:10, he tells us to use the gifts God has given us to minister to one another," Tybor said. "Eight Days of Hope II used this verse as our call. Some people did this with a hammer and a paint brush while others did it with a smile and a listening ear."

Tybor used his gifts of organization and administration, but he is quick to say all the credit goes to God. He also praises the volunteers, plus corporate and church sponsors who made the work possible, donating money, food, and materials.

"TGI Fridays was kind enough to bring us lunch every day we were on the coast," he said. "They provided lunch for all 1,140 volunteers! They also donated $75,000. Without these monies we would only have accomplished half as much."

American Family Radio provided advance publicity, and Tybor credits the 180-station network as the way most participants learned about the project. Volunteers each committed a minimum of three days to the project. They completed 260 projects in 202 homes in Gulfport, Bay St. Louis, Waveland, Pass Christian and Pascagoula.

They invested 30,000 man hours and tabulated these impressive stats:

    * 4,150 pieces of sheetrock/drywall were installed
    * 700 squares of roofing shingles were installed
    * 15 homes were completely rewired
    * 25 additional homes had some type of electrical work done
    * Hundreds of rolls of insulation were installed
    * 80+ homes had extensive carpentry work done
    * 17 homes were primed and painted.

Tybor III has lived in Tupelo, Mississippi, for six years and his father lives in Buffalo, New York. Their spring co-laborers came from Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio and 32 more states.

"It took us 17 hours to get here," Julene Bryce said in an interview with American Family Radio (AFR). Bryce is from Bolivar, Ohio. She said, "There is nothing on television that gives you any concept of what you actually see. You don't see the people's hearts. It's absolutely amazing. Their hearts are still broken."

Ben Morris, member of the 8 Days of Hope leadership team, tells a story about having too many volunteers and not enough work. So he called Forest Heights Missionary Baptist Church in Gulfport looking for someone who needed help.

"The pastor was almost speechless," Morris said. "He said just seconds earlier, he'd gotten a call from an 80-something-year-old woman they all call Granny." Church friends had tried to get Granny to apply for help, but she always thought someone else needed it more. This time, however, she had called the pastor to tell him her floors were falling in and she could use just a little help.

"We assigned a crew to go over and do her floors," Morris said. "And Granny's got this wonderful, sweet spirit, and they were singing hymns and praying. And they couldn't leave. They couldn't just stop at what she wanted them to do. So they re-did her ceilings and painted them. They put a ramp outside where her steps were falling down. They just couldn't leave Granny."

Granny's story is among countless illustrations of blessing coming to both givers and receivers in 8 Days of Hope.

Jeff Scofield of Tullahoma, Tennessee, told AFR what a blessing Paul and Florence Jordan had been. Scofield came with a 14-member team from Christ Community Church. "We had a gentleman with us who got news while we were here that his son was going to lose his leg," he said. "As we were praying, Florence Jordan jumped right in and was praying with us and then began to sing praise songs to God. We were all in tears before it was over."

Tybor said he expects to announce dates for 8 Days of Hope III in July.

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[Shammu]

California Pro-Family Forces Rally Against Homosexual Education Bills

by Bill Fancher
June 13, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Yesterday in Sacramento, California, more than 4,000 parents, grandparents and children rallied at the State Capitol against three bills that opponents see as sexual indoctrination legislation designed to promote homosexuality to school children.

Rally speakers thanked Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for promising to veto one of the bills, SB 1437, and urged him to pledge to do likewise with the remaining two pieces of legislation, AB 1056 and AB 606. One of the speakers, California activist Randy Thomasson of Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), told rally attendees that their government leaders need to hear the people's voices and that each citizen must stop being a spectator and "become a player in the battle for children's hearts, minds, and souls."

Parental rights do not end at the schoolhouse door, and California parents have to let their governor know how they feel about bills that "teach schoolchildren to see alternative sexual lifestyles as okay, as natural, and maybe even for them," Thomasson asserted. The pro-family activist went on to lead the crowd in loud chants that were "surely heard in the Capitol Building behind us," he says.

Immediately after the rally, the pro-family attendees entered the Capitol en masse to lobby the offices of Governor Schwarzenegger and key legislative officials. Thomasson says the massive crowd was made up of pro-family Californians, mostly Russian and Ukrainian immigrants, who "have the will power to do what's right" and who are willing to put feet to their faith.

Pro-family, Christian and conservative forces across the state and the nation remain hopeful that California's governor will keep his promise to veto SB 1437, which many believe is aimed at giving homosexuals more power in the state's education system. Opponents of the legislation hope Schwarzenegger will reject the remaining two bills as well, one of which would provide $250,000 to promote homosexuality in schools, and the other of which would withhold funding from districts that refuse to promote a homosexual agenda.

Pro-family analyst Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute (CFI) says homosexual indoctrination in California's schools would suffer a broken back if the governor follows through. Schwarzenegger "did a good thing when he vetoed the marriage bill, where the legislature tried to legalize same-sex 'marriage,'" Knight says, "and if he goes ahead and vetoes all three of these radical homosexual education bills, I think that will give a lot of people reason to look at him again."

Many conservatives had written Schwarzenegger off as a liberal Republican, which has cut deeply into his support, the CFI spokesman observes. He believes a veto of SB 1437 would go a long way toward mending fences and that the governor realizes it.

"This radical step by the California legislature to insist that textbooks be rewritten, even for kindergarteners, to promote homosexuality is a step too far, and I think the governor recognizes that," Knight asserts. "Parents don't want their children inundated with the idea that homosexuality is just like race or ethnicity and that famous figures in history were good because they happened to be gay or lesbian," he adds.

Knight credits parents across California with keeping up the pressure on Schwarzenegger and other state officials. The pro-family leader encourages these parents and other concerned citizens to keep up their push to combat homosexual indoctrination and prevent it from being mandated by liberal state legislators.

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[Shammu]

Baptist Pastors Urged to Maintain Focus Amidst Controversy

by Allie Martin
June 13, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The day before their denomination's annual business meeting convened, pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention were encouraged to keep an eternal and unselfish perspective when sharing the good news of Christ, and to not allow disagreements in the denomination to distract believers from more important issues. On that note, the pastors heard a word of advice from the widow of one of the SBC's most beloved pastors, Dr. Adrian Rogers.

Speaking at the SBC Pastors' Conference on Monday (June 12), Dr. Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, said too many Christians today are like survivors of the Titanic who would not turn back in their half-empty lifeboats to save the drowning. Evans called for a new emphasis on saving the lost, saying pastors and church members must be willing to take risks to win some for Christ. Christians, he said, must refocus their energy and efforts on eternity.

"When you number your days and understand that I am in the world of the dying, on my way to the world of the living, all of a sudden making your time matter for eternity [is important]," Evan stated. "All of a sudden that person at the bus stop, that person at the gas station, that person at the laundry, that person who teaches my kids at school is a candidate for glory that I don't want to miss because I'm running out of days."

Evans said every church should examine its programs and priorities to see if what they are doing makes a difference for eternity.

Other speakers on Monday encouraged pastors to step outside of tradition to reach the unchurched for Christ. Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic, a Los Angeles church known for its use of art and music, said the church in America needs to serve the world. McManus shared his take on the role of personal evangelism in achieving that objective.

"You know the number-one question I get from Christians when they come from other churches? 'Where do I go get discipled? Well, how many years does it take?'" he shared. The California pastor says for most Christians, that is the wrong attitude. "If you've been a Christian more than three weeks, you don't need to be discipled any more," he said. "It's time for you to start discipling."

While Mosiac meets in a nightclub on Sunday mornings, Fellowship of the Woodlands meets in a high school in an affluent Houston suburb. Kerry Shook, pastor of that church, says Southern Baptists must be trained in the language of the unchurched.

"One of my pet peeves is that Hollywood spends so much time and effort and energy and creativity and resources into getting their message out. And frankly, folks, they've got nothing to say," Shook offered. "But most [of us] spend very little time and effort and energy and creativity and resources into getting our message out, and we've got the greatest message of all -- the gospel of Jesus Christ."

More than 70 percent of those who join Fellowship of the Woodlands come to Christ and are baptized at the church.

Distractions Causing Loss of Focus
Pastor Ed Young, pastor of Second Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, delivered the closing sermon for SBC Pastors' Conference. Saying the SBC is in crisis, he alluded to current controversies involving the International Mission Board and a three-way presidential race that has many focused on the importance of churches and their support of the Cooperative Program, the mission-sending vehicle of the denomination.

Dr. Young said the denomination has gone down what he called "side streets" and has lost its focus. He referred to a sharp drop in young SBC members. "And the kids brought up in your church and my church, six out of every eight, when they're 19, have not been won to Christ," the Texas pastor shared. "And as far as we know and any studies we can give, they are gone to the kingdom of God."

But Young remains optimistic, saying the denomination can change course when churches reach out to children and teens and increase international missions giving through the Cooperative Program. In addition, he says a supernatural healing is needed because of the bitterness and backbiting caused by recent controversies within the denomination.

Young was referring to a recent move by the denomination's International Mission Board (IMB) to bar future missionaries who, while not publicly speaking in tongues, use a "private prayer language"; and to a revised IMB policy on baptism that has also caused discord among SBC members.

If Adrian Were Here ...
Finally, it was a poignant moment Monday evening as Southern Baptist pastors paid tribute to the late Adrian Rogers. On Monday night, his widow, Joyce, spoke briefly during the SBC Pastors' Conference, sharing about God's faithfulness during her husband's illness and death. She told the pastors that her husband would never have allowed certain issues -- a reference to those involving IMB policy -- to divide the denomination.

"Now he had other interpretations of doctrines that were important to him; like, he was an avid believer in the premillennial view of prophecy. But he never considered that that was a basis for fellowship," Mrs. Rogers said. "And I want you to listen to me carefully: Adrian Rogers would not have been a part of what is going on in some parts of our convention today, getting narrower and narrower about very highly interpretive issues."

Rogers said that while her husband stood for biblical inerrancy, he would not exclude people from missions if they disagreed with him on "controversial issues." She said, "I challenge you on his behalf to graciously work for unity in the body of Christ."

Dr. Adrian Rogers, a three-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention, died last November following a battle with cancer.

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[Shammu]

Home Churches Growing Increasingly Popular as Worship Alternative

by Natalie Harris
June 13, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Church and culture analyst George Barna, founder of The Barna Group, says millions of Christians are leaving conventional churches to meet in homes. According to the researcher, about 50 million American adults meet in home churches at least once a month, and the numbers choosing this option are on the increase.

Barna says home churches are a growing trend among Christians who want to "be" the church, not just attend church. Many who join such groups do so, he explains, because they are seeking greater depth in relationships and more commitment to spirituality than they may have found in traditional church settings.

Home churches often do not have traditional settings and can vary, depending on what the members contribute from week to week or what they feel led to discuss and pray about at any given time. Barna himself started attending a home church a year ago, and he admits that this style of fellowship can have its weaknesses.

"There are some challenges, of course," the Christian researcher says. "You've got the possibilities of bad teaching and errant theology creeping into the process, but we already have that happening in churches today. So we're going to have a lot of the same challenges that we've always had -- it's just an issue of who's going to resolve them."

Barna predicts that the home-church movement will continue to grow. He also predicts this increasingly popular alternative to traditional churches will prompt many Christians to take their faith more seriously and to avoid depending on clergy for spiritual growth.

Leaders Who Left Traditional Churches: Why They Chose to Go 'Home'
South Carolina home-church leader Doug Shales vows he will never go back to traditional church, which he left more than a year ago to start meeting with about 20 other believers of a variety of ages and church backgrounds. Every Sunday evening, they meet in his home to eat, worship, pray, and teach one another from the Bible. There is no preacher and no structured format for the group's services.

Shales says he left the traditional church because he felt its structure was contrary to the model he found in scripture. "To me, I just could not reconcile it at all with anything biblical to just have three or four people ministering to three or four hundred, and having the spiritual life of those three or four hundred pretty much hanging on what those three or four people give them," he says.

"It's just not the way that I understand the Holy Spirit wants to work in our lives," the home-church leader says. So, instead, he and the other members of his small congregation seek understanding, mutual accountability, and spiritual growth together.

Shale says most problems faced by the home church are logistical. For instance, he notes, members have to consider issues such as how to give and how to grow new churches. But in many ways, he notes, the size of these congregations can contribute to a more intimate style of problem-solving that involves everyone.

Author and former pastor, Rev. Chip Brogden, a home-church leader in North Carolina, considers home churches a necessary part of the Christian community. He believes this style of Christian fellowship is filling some of the gaps left by traditional churches.

Brogden says home churches can be a place for those who have been hurt by the traditional church or for those who do not want to be distracted from Christ by a complex church structure. But he cautions Christians not to differentiate themselves from one another based on what kind of structure they choose for their worship and association with fellow believers.

"Whether they're in the church building or outside of the church building, we're all still brothers and sisters," the North Carolina minister says. "We're just going about the life of Christ and how we see the life of the body of Christ differently from the more traditional way of going about it."

Home churches allow Christians to see the body of Christ as more than just a local fellowship, Brogden says. Also, he adds, such churches give members the chance to gather with believers of different denominational backgrounds from their own.

Obviously, home churches serve a function that their members consider desirable and perhaps vital to their spiritual nourishment and well being. And if many believers who have chosen to leave traditional churches for what this alternative has to offer are any indication, the home-church trend has already begun to change the face of contemporary Christianity.

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[Shammu]

ADF Celebrates Oregon High School Student's Free-Speech Victory

by Jim Brown
June 13, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A high school in Oregon has apologized to a student for censoring her Christian view on homosexuality.

Last April, an official at Springfield High School ordered several Christian students on campus to remove the T-shirts they were wearing on the "National Day of Truth," an event designed to counter the promotion of homosexuality in schools. The T-shirts contained the message "I am a Christian, and I am against homosexuality, abortion, pre-marital sex, and drugs."

After her shirt was banned, one sophomore contacted the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a pro-family legal organization. ADF then sent a letter to school officials, arguing that the student's free-speech rights were being violated. Springfield High School later apologized to the teen girl, saying she and other students will be allowed to wear their Christian T-shirts in the future.

ADF litigation counsel Tim Chandler says he is pleased the issue has been resolved. However, the attorney notes, it is discouraging that many school officials are still unaware of students' free-speech rights. He says the school officials felt the Day of Truth T-shirt message was negative and felt they needed to suppress it.

"So often school officials are trying to create this perfect, politically correct campus," Chandler laments, "but in doing so they end up censoring students, and they squelch any kind of debate on these issues on campus." However, he contends that the law is clear on this issue.

"The Supreme Court has said schools have the right to censor student speech only if it's disruptive, only if it's vulgar, only if it's lewd -- those kinds of things," the ADF lawyer explains. "Those are the standards that schools need to be adhering to," he says. "They can't ban speech just because they don't agree with it or because it might be a little controversial."

Chandler notes that students celebrating the pro-homosexual "Day of Silence" event on Springfield High School's campus this year were not prohibited from expressing their support for the homosexual agenda. He says ADF applauds officials at the school who realized they cannot censor students based on their viewpoint, particularly when students promoting an opposing view are permitted to express their opinions freely.

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[Shammu]

SBC Meeting Addresses Leadership, Mission, Money, Personal Morality

by Allie Martin
June 14, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention's 2006 annual meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, have hammered out some critical decisions about the denomination's leadership, mission, and witness. Among the actions undertaken during this June 13-14 gathering are the election of new officers and some controversial measures regarding outreach funding and alcohol use.

In perhaps its most important vote, the SBC has elected Rev. Frank Page, a South Carolina pastor who had said it would take a miracle for him to win, as the denomination's new president. According to an Associated Press report, Page was the choice of several pastors, many from a younger generation than the current leadership, who have complained that the denomination suppresses debate over worship styles and doctrinal details.

Hailing New Leader's Vision, Honoring Past Leader's Legacy
The SBC's new leader says his election is proof that rank-and-file Southern Baptists want a new style of leadership. Receiving 50.48 percent of the first ballot vote, he beat out two more prominent candidates: the Rev. Ronnie Floyd of Arkansas and Rev. Jerry Sutton of Nashville, Tennessee.

Page had strong support on Internet "blogs," personal web pages where a variety of opinions and topics are discussed and updated. He believes the bloggers made a big difference and says these individuals "watch and look and listen, and so obviously that impacts public opinion."

The SBC's newly elected leader says the Internet is "simply another venue for people to go to, to find out what people are saying and thinking." While this venue "may have an inordinate amount of influence beyond its number," he asserts, "it cannot be ignored anymore."

Page, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina, will serve for one year with an option to run for a second term. He says he will work to attract new leaders to the SBC as well as those pastors who are strong supporters of the Cooperative Program, the main mission-sending program for the denomination.

But even as the messengers hailed their president-elect, they also paused to honor one of the Convention's outgoing leaders. The Southern Baptist North American Mission Board (NAMB) has been challenged by the recent resignation of its president, Rev. Robert Reccord, whose accomplishments and improvements at the NAMB during his nine-year presidency were noted and listed at the meeting by a Baptist delegate from Georgia.

An internal investigation was launched following a Baptist newspaper report alleging that Reccord had misspent funds, funneled contracts to a friend, and approved manipulation of a missionary count. Reccord resigned in April after the investigation cleared him of wrongdoing but criticized his management style.

At last night's annual meeting session, chairman Bill Curtis said he and the rest of the NAMB are grateful for Reccord's service to that organization as well as for his "difficult decision" to step down from his position as its leader.

A Call for Spirit-Empowered Evangelism
Another issue that has been taken up at the annual meeting is the SBC's progress toward outgoing president Bobby Welch's goal of baptizing one million new converts in the year that began last October 1. With less than four months remaining until the deadline, only a few thousand new baptisms have been reported, and many Southern Baptists feel a miracle might be required to put the benchmark within reach.

However, a fiery message delivered by Rev. Fred Luter reminded listeners of the evangelism-and-outreach-focused theme of this year's annual meeting: "Everyone Can and I'm It."

Luter is pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and now meets in three different churches in three different cities. While that tragedy caused his congregation to put its plans on hold, Luter says he is encouraged by the first chapter of Acts, which tells believers to wait for the Holy Spirit to empower them for the job of evangelizing the Earth.

In his rousing sermon, the New Orleans pastor told his fellow Southern Baptists that the SBC's evangelism goal can be met with the Holy Spirit's help. "The text says, 'But you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me,'" he thundered.

"The Holy Spirit will give us new power," Luter continued, "power to walk right, power to talk right, power to preach right, power to sing right, power to serve right, power that enables us to share the gospel, power that enables us to witness, power that enables us evangelize, power that enables us to win the lost at any cost!"

Messengers Find No Percentage in Church Giving Guideline
Delegates to the Greensboro meeting took up the practical business of missions -- namely, how to fund them, when they addressed a report from an ad hoc committee that encouraged churches to give ten percent of undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program.

The SBC and state Baptist conventions developed the Cooperative Program so churches could support Baptist mission work with one monthly gift. However, giving has dropped nearly four percent over the past 25 years. The ad hoc committee drafted the report suggesting the ten percent gift last February; however, the SBC Executive Committee removed all references to that guideline.

Mike Stone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Georgia, moved in the opening session of the 2006 business meeting that the original language be put back into the report, once again advising the ten percent gift and encouraging the SBC to elect leaders from churches that give at least that amount to the Cooperative Program.

In making his case for the re-insertion of the language, Stone urged fellow messengers to realize that the SBC is at a historic juncture. "In the life of the Southern Baptist Convention," he contended, "much as we needed strong, convicted leadership theologically in 1979, I believe we need that same level of challenging ourselves -- not so much theologically but now missiologically."

The messengers turned the motion down, however. The SBC delegates rejected the motion to reinsert the references to the ten percent in the report, voting it down by a two-to-one margin.

Delegates Approve Strong Language Opposing Strong Drink
Another controversial measure that came up before the Southern Baptist assembly sparked some debate, but passed nevertheless. The resolution dealing with alcohol use by SBC members not only expressed opposition to the drinking of alcohol but also stipulated that no one who does so may be elected to serve with any entity of the denomination.

A messenger from Florida spoke against the anti-alcohol resolution. "I do not think that we can be more holy than Jesus Christ," he said. "Christ turned water into wine. If indeed, as we have said, this is a matter of Christian liberty, then we cannot at the same time say that this is a matter of righteousness."

Another messenger, however, encouraged support of the measure from a personal perspective. "I spent two years and seven months in prison, and it all started with drinking beer when I was eight years old," the delegate said. "I think that we as Southern Baptists -- but, more importantly, we as Christians -- need to take a stand against something that's destroying our nation."

The resolution was approved, and the messengers proceeded to other items on their agenda. Other business included a resolution dealing with home schooling, which was scheduled for debated late on Wednesday, and approval of the transfer of responsibility for stewardship education in the SBC to the Executive Committee from LifeWay Christian Resources, thus consolidating stewardship with SBC Cooperative Program promotion.

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[Shammu]

Illinois Church Sues, Gets Permit to Hold Marine's Memorial Service

by Jim Brown
June 14, 2006

(AgapePress) - - An Illinois town has had a change of heart and will now allow the family of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq to hold a memorial service at a small evangelical church. Wadsworth village trustees originally told relatives of Staff Sergeant Edward Davis they could not hold their regular worship service or the memorial service it had planned for this Thursday at Cornerstone Community Church.

The reason the local officials gave for refusing the family of the fallen soldier was that landscaping had not been completed on the new church grounds. Cornerstone filed a lawsuit challenging the ban, after which Wadsworth issued the congregation a 30-day temporary permit allowing the memorial service to go forward as planned.

John Mauck, an attorney for the church, says the property may not meet the local officials' aesthetic requirements, but it does meet the necessary health and safety requirements. "They don't need to have the landscaping finished," he asserts.

Cornerstone has posted a $104,000 letter of credit and obviously cannot put in all the landscaping all at once, Mauck points out. "It's a 25-acre piece of land," he says. "We think the village is just taking an unreasonable position."

Mauck suspects Wadsworth of offering the temporary concession in response to the negative publicity and attention the matter was generating. "The city may have just backed down because of the public outcry and the focus, which was intense," he says.

When the trustees were saying they would not allow a veteran of the Iraq war to be honored and memorialized at Cornerstone, the congregation's attorney observes, "that got people of every political persuasion and every religious persuasion outraged." He believes the village issued the temporary permit in response to an outpouring of citizen indignation.

However, the Wadsworth officials continue to claim that Cornerstone's property does not meet health and safety standards. "So," Mauck insists, "until everything's settled, no lawsuit will be dropped."

According to a Suburban Chicago News report, Cornerstone started holding services in its newly built, partially completed sanctuary on April 2. Officials with the church say they were given verbal approval to resume occupancy, a claim Wadsworth officials dispute.

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