Christian News from Christians Unite.

[Shammu]

Founder Anticipates Creation Museum's Spring '07 Opening With Excitement

by Allie Martin
May 1, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Progress is being made on a facility that will house exhibits designed to proclaim the authority and accuracy of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The Creation Museum, located near the Cincinnati International Airport in northern Kentucky, is well under way; and later this month, the museum will be unveiling its large and uniquely designed bookstore.

The Creation Museum is a project of Answers in Genesis, a ministry that helps Christians become equipped to defend the biblical account of creation. The 50,000-square-foot museum will feature exhibits and other teaching tools that will show visitors how science confirms biblical history.

Answers in Genesis president Ken Ham says the project is on target for its opening next April, and the opening of its 3,000-square-foot bookstore May 20. The bookstore is "done up as a medieval castle inside, with a theme of 'Dragons and Dinosaurs,'" he says. Replicas of those mighty creatures will be incorporated into the store's design," Ham notes, along with "a big sculpture of St. George and the Dragon."

And even the outside of the store will reflect the theme, the Creation Museum's founder points out. "It has a big, animatronic pterodactyl above a cave that's an entrance into the bookstore," he says. "The lobby is almost complete."

According to Ham, the museum is already receiving worldwide attention. "The international press are getting very, very interested in this," he says, "and it's going to be not just a national event here in America. It's going to be an international event when it opens in April 2007."

The Creation Museum project has a price-tag of $25 million, and Ham says he intends for the facility to open debt free. More than $20 million has been raised for the project so far.

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[Shammu]

LifeWay's Leader: SBC Must Emphasize Evangelism for Church Growth

by Allie Martin
May 1, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The president of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) says a recent report that showed a drop in baptisms for the denomination should serve as a wakeup call for church members.

Each year LifeWay releases its Annual Church Profile (ACP), which looks at various categories of trends throughout the denomination. For instance, the profile showed a net increase of 234 Southern Baptist churches established last year for a total of 43,699 churches. That number is up slightly from 43,465 the previous year.

However, the profile also shows some denominational statistics as exhibiting a downward trend last year. While baptisms in the SBC increased in 2004, they declined again in 2005: the ACP shows that baptisms fell last year from 387,947 to a total of 371,850 among Southern Baptist congregations.

Dr. Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, says churches in the SBC need to regain their focus and their passion for evangelism if the decline is to be reversed. He feels the ACP report should be viewed as a wakeup call for the denomination.

"We're facing becoming, in appearance, a mainline church," Rainer warns. "If we're not doing evangelism, we're saying that we believe in the Word of God but we're not practicing our belief. We're at about a 20- to 30-year lag from [following] the same downward trend as what used to be the larger mainline churches."

Other areas that showed a drop included enrollment in Sunday school and men and boys' mission education. On the other hand, total offering receipts were up and total mission expenditures increased. However, the head of LifeWay feels the slump in baptisms is the statistic Southern Baptists need to be giving their urgent attention. "You can look at discipleship as being critically important, and I respond, 'Yes, it is,'" he says. "But there's no one to disciple if we have not seen people come to faith in Christ."

Furthermore, Rainer asserts, if Southern Baptists want to talk about worship, he insists that people "cannot learn to worship until they've become a follower of Christ." And, likewise, if a church wants to emphasize fellowship among its people, he says, "they can't understand Christian fellowship until they've become a follower of Christ; and I could go down the list."

To grow and to thrive, Rainer says, the SBC must begin with evangelism. "I'm not minimizing the importance of what else we do in the church, but if we're not doing evangelism, we soon won't have a church," he contends.

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[Shammu]

Retention Down; Next Generation's Military Leaders Exiting Service

by Chad Groening
May 1, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A retired Army commander and West Point graduate says he's concerned that more than one-third of the West Point class of 2000 has chosen to exit the military for lucrative civilian opportunities. He explains that that means the military is losing men with combat experience that is irreplaceable.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bob Maginnis is concerned that last year's retention rate among West Point officers was the lowest in 16 years. Maginnis says the constant stress of deployment is taking its toll on these junior officers -- and that, he contends, is why many are leaving after their initial military commitment.

"It's inevitable that your junior officers, after having multiple combat tours, will find the enticements of the civilian economy far more welcoming than perhaps the combat realities of Iraq or Afghanistan," he comments.

Maginnis says the exodus is unfortunate because combat experience is not easy to replace. "The combat experience is irreplaceable -- and especially as you mature in the ranks," he says. "And the president has made very clear that he expects this is going to be a very long war, and we need combat experience in the officer rank as well as the enlisted rank."

According to the retired Army officer, the military has turned to incentives in an attempt to retain young officers in uniform. "The Army, in particular, is countering by offering graduate school and other perks," he explains. Those "other perks" include such things as the choice of an Army job or a pick of a desirable location for a home post.

"But that doesn't entice everybody," says Maginnis, "given some of the financial alternatives and the hardship alternatives that they face out there." Many, he points out, simply want the calmer civilian life and more time for family.

Maginnis says it is "very worrisome" to the higher-ranking officers that attrition is causing the military to lose some of its best young officers. "[T]hat's going to have long-term implications for the future leadership of the services," he says.

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[Shammu]

California Democrats Endorse Boycotts Supporting Illegal Immigration

by James Lambert and Chad Groening
May 1, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Late last week, California State Senate Democrats passed Resolution 113, which endorses the "Great American Boycott 2006." The May 1 boycott is being used by pro-illegal immigration proponents to demonstrate their support for allowing amnesty for the 12-15 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

The initiative, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (Dem-District #24) and State Senator Gil Cedillo (Dem-District #22), passed primarily along party lines. The measure compares the boycott to the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott that is says "galvanized the African-American community ... result[ing] in the landmark 1956 United States Supreme Court ruling against segregation."

While some black conservatives are reportedly appalled at this comparison, Cedillo's initiative commends immigrants for being a strong component of America's economy. Cedillo is best known for being the author of numerous bills to provide illegal immigrants with California State driver's licenses. The initiative delineates contributions immigrants have provided to the Golden State's society and economy, and makes note of the fact that an immigrant -- Arnold Schwarzenegger -- now occupies the position of governor of the state.

The initiative does not use the phrase "illegal immigrants." However, the tenth paragraph recognizes that "nearly 40 percent of California's foreign-born residents are United States citizens" -- implying, but neglecting to add, that over 60 percent of the state's "foreign-born" residents are in the state illegally.

Violence a Distinct Possibility
Meanwhile, an Arizona-based immigration reform activist believes the massive protest planned across the country could become violent. Glenn Spencer, president of American Border Patrol, says he has seen such protests in the past and has even been physically assaulted by radical Latinos who have opposed his work.

Spencer, who lives within a thousand feet of the U.S.-Mexico border, says Americans should not be surprised if the protests get out of hand.

"There is a potential of violence here that is going to be real, it is going to be manifest, and it's going to blindside the American people," says Spencer. "I've been in these fights, I have seen what they do -- they are capable of very, very bad things."

He claims the radicals behind the demonstrations want to intimidate anyone who might oppose them. "This is to demonstrate their power [and] to try to intimidate the Congress of the United States," he says. "A lot of people [such as the Spanish-language media] are trying to discourage them ... sort of half-heartedly, I believe, because they know the danger of it."

Spencer explains there is a danger for violence when people are angry and demonstrating. "And there might be others who are trying to ... go into a store or use some service or get something done and they get upset. It has the makings for possible conflict."

Spencer agrees with others who believe the protests will backfire on supporters of illegal immigration and on a delegation of representatives from the Mexico government who are in Los Angeles.

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[Shammu]

Attacks Continue on NY's Marriage Laws

by Allie Martin
May 2, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A Christian law firm is defending traditional marriage in New York's highest court. Florida-based Liberty Counsel has filed two separate briefs at the New York Court of Appeals defending that state's marriage laws.

In the case of Hernandez v. Robles, a judge declared in February 2005 that New York's marriage laws are unconstitutional. Judge Doris Ling-Cohen ruled at that time that individuals have a "fundamental right to choose one spouse," that same-sex marriage "would cause harm to no one," that there is "no legitimate purpose, let alone a compelling interest" in the marriage laws, and ordered that the terms "husband," "wife," "groom," and "bride" be construed as "spouse." The First Department of the Appellate Division later reversed that ruling and upheld the marriage laws.

In the second case -- Samuels v. New York State Department of Health -- Judge Joseph Teresi upheld the state's marriage laws against a challenge brought by 13 same-sex couples. Upon appeal, the Third Department of the Appellate Division also upheld the marriage laws.

Both cases are now before the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court. On behalf of the New York Family Policy Council and Concerned Women for America, Liberty Counsel has filed a brief in each of the two cases. Mat Staver, president of the legal group, says marriage laws in the state of New York are clear.

"They limit marriage to husbands and wives, brides and grooms, men and women, moms and dads, male and female," he says. "It's absolutely clear how the laws limit marriage -- and it's also clear why they limit marriage to one man and one woman."

Staver takes issue with Judge Ling-Cohen's remark that same-sex marriage would case harm to no one. He says the state has a legitimate interest in limiting marriage to the union of one man and one woman.

"[M]arriage is distinct and unique [from other personal relationships]," he points out, "[and] marriage between a man and a woman certainly benefit both the man and woman relationship -- but it also has particular benefit to children, to our society, and to the well-being of the state. Every civilized society has certainly based its marital relationships on people in opposite-gender relationships."

And in direct reference to the judge's argument, Staver says there is no fundamental right to "marry" a person of the same sex. "Marriage licenses should not be given to two people who simply say that they have some kind of affection to one another," the attorney says.

The Liberty Counsel leader contends that recognition of marriage between people of the same sex would result in "the abolition of male and female by making gender irrelevant." And that, he adds, would have "devastating effects on children, [who] do best when raised with a mom and a dad."

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[Shammu]

Arrested Falun Gong Protester Reportedly Facing Possible Deportation

by Chad Groening
May 2, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A Chinese immigrant who faces federal charges for shouting at President Hu Jintao during the communist leader's recent visit to the White House says if convicted, she could be deported back to China. The medical doctor says she wanted to call attention to persecution in her homeland.

Dr. Wang Wenyi is a pathologist who practices medicine in New York City. But the Chinese native is also a writer for the Epoch Times, and has reported on large-scale organ harvesting being conducted from living members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. She shares why she verbally confronted the Chinese leader and President Bush with shouted statements.

"I say something to President Bush, tell him, 'Stop the persecution of Falun Gong, the killing of practitioners,' something like that," she says, "because as a physician you consider that humanity -- it cost everything."

Dr. Wang says she used her media pass to get close enough to shout at President Hu. "People [are] dying and at risk, and we need to really stop them [from being mistreated]," Wang says. "So that's why at the White House I just speak so loudly and ask them to stop the persecution against the Falun Gong, stop the harvest of organs from practitioners."

Wang explains that she took action even though she knew there would probably be consequences. She now faces up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine -- and possible deportation.

"The lawyer told me the charges were serious -- coercing, threatening, intimidating, harassing, or something -- because I have not taken the oath ceremony yet, so [I'm] not officially a citizen yet," she shares. "Then they say that have a risk to be deported." She admits that "part of me is ready to be [handed over to] a foreign state."

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[Shammu]

Bay State Parents Want to Know When Homosexuality Brought into Classroom

by Jim Brown
May 2, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A second-grade teacher and school officials in Lexington, Massachusetts, are being sued for refusing to notify parents before their children were read a book in class celebrating homosexual marriage.

Last year, Lexington parent David Parker was arrested at Estabrook Elementary School when he demanded that officials notify him before his young son is subjected to discussions about same-sex "marriage." And just a few weeks ago, at the very same school, a second-grade teacher read students a fairy tale about a homosexual romance.

Teacher Heather Kramer never notified Rob and Robin Wirthlin that she was planning to read their son the book King & King, an illustrated children's book about a young prince who spurns eligible princesses to marry another prince, with whom he shares a kiss at the story's end. The Wirthlins were initially surprised, then outraged. Last week they, along with Parker and his wife, filed a lawsuit alleging that school officials violated their state and federal civil rights as well as the state's parental notification law.

Rob Wirthlin admits that he and his wife never expected another instance of homosexual indoctrination would occur in the same school district after the Parker ordeal a year ago. "We're new to the area," he says, "and we -- I think the best way to describe it is -- we took a little solace in the idea that certainly they won't allow this to happen again."

The concerned father notes that Kramer and school administrators apologized for having offended his family but would not apologize for having subjected students to the pro-homosexual book. He says the incident has led him to consider pulling his son from the Lexington schools.

"We sat down as a family, and we talked about our options," Wirthlin recalls. "But I believe strongly in the value of a public education," he explains. "I went through public schools, and my wife attended public schools. I think that as citizens and as taxpayers in this country, [we feel] that public schools are there for all children."

Lexington District Superintendent Paul Ash and School Committee Chairman Helen Cohen have continued to express full support for the actions of the teacher and the principal at Estabrook Elementary School. Ash has stated publicly that sexual orientation and homosexual relationships do not constitute "human sexual issues" as described in the Massachusetts parental notification law, and therefore he has instructed teachers not to give parents any notification on these topics.

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[Shammu]

Pro-Abortion Vandals Desecrate Princeton Group's Pro-Life Display

by Jim Brown
May 2, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Pro-abortion vandals have destroyed yet another campus pro-life display, this time at an Ivy League university.

The student group Princeton Pro-Life had erected a display featuring 347 flags designed to symbolize the estimated number of students who might have been a part of Princeton's class of 2010 if abortion had not been legalized. After being up just three days, the display was destroyed and signs bearing sarcastic pro-abortion messages were put up in its place.

Thomas Haine, president of Princeton Pro-life, says he finds it very ironic that pro-abortion liberals who claim to be proponents of tolerance and free speech so often display little or no tolerance for pro-life expressions. He feels the messages left by the vandals are truly indicative of liberal abortion advocates' brand of tolerance.

"Someone had added 30 cut-up coat hangers strewn around on the ground," Haine says, recalling the damage to the pro-life exhibit. "Our sign was trampled, and there were two other signs attached to ours: one that said, 'Support smaller class sizes -- support abortion'; and the other one that said, '347 coat hangers saved from mangling and mutilation.'"

The pro-abortion vandals' tableau was "a pretty horrific and obscene display," the Princeton Pro-Life spokesman says. "I can't imagine anyone laughing about a coat hanger abortion or proposing that these are good things, or anything. To poke fun at such a practice, even if you are pro-choice, seems a bit heartless."

The purpose of the Princeton Pro-Life's display with its 347 flags, was to give members of the university community some immediate sense of the number of people they were deprived of knowing because of the "barbaric act" of abortion, Haine explains. He feels the flag display was instigating a lot of positive debate on campus until the vandals struck.

Campus police brought the damaged pro-life display in to dust for fingerprints. However, Haine believes the investigation of this act of vandalism is very low on the police's priority list.

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[Shammu]

Bauer Thinks Blackwell Could Bring Ohio GOP Much Needed 'Star Power'

by Chad Groening
May 2, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A Christian conservative and former presidential candidate is watching today's Republican primary in Ohio with interest. Gary Bauer of American Values believes the state's GOP primary features a number of important races, including the contention for governor.

Current Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell hopes to be one of two black conservatives to be elected to the office of governor in the U.S. this fall. So far he has been leading Attorney General Jim Petro in GOP polls and has been receiving the endorsements of some high-profile leaders, including Bauer.

Blackwell has what the American Values spokesman describes as "star power," and he is hoping the Ohio GOP will start hitching their wagon to someone he sees as a rising conservative statesman.

"It's a tough year for Republicans in Ohio for a lot of reasons," Bauer says, "but I just think that Blackwell is the ideal candidate. I mean, he's a solid, pro-family, pro-life conservative. He's also conservative on all the economic issues. He's not afraid to talk about his faith."

The Christian pro-family leader is hopeful that the Republican Party establishment in Ohio, which he notes, "is always talking about the need for the party to reach out to minorities and yet with this gentleman has been very hostile," will recognize Blackwell's potential. "I think he's got a great future ahead," Bauer asserts, "and not only in Ohio politics but perhaps nationally."

The conservative spokesman and political observer believes his ideal candidate's "star power" emanates at least in part from his character and spiritual forthrightness. "He's not afraid to talk about his faith and the fact that that is what motivates him in public life," Bauer says.

Also, he notes, that Blackwell, as an African American, "certainly is a great positive for the Republican Party and for conservatives," many of whom have acknowledged the need to build bridges into the black community. Blackwell, according to Bauer, may be just the bridgebuilder the Ohio GOP needs. "It is my great hope that I will someday soon watch him being sworn in as the governor of that great state," he says.

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[Shammu]

Christian Students Considering Lawsuit Over Suspensions

by Jim Brown
May 3, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Christian students who were punished by their California high school for protesting its celebration of an annual pro-homosexual event are threatening to sue over the incident.

Thirteen students at Oakmont High School in Roseville were suspended last week for refusing to remove shirts displaying the message: "Homosexuality is sin. Jesus can set you free." The students were countering the "Day of Silence," a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The event is designed to protest what GLSEN describes as "anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) name-calling, bullying, and harassment" in schools. Meantime, with the blessing of the school district, other students on campus were wearing shirts openly promoting homosexuality.

Brad Dacus is president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), which is representing the thirteen suspended students free of charge. A lawsuit is "very likely," says the attorney.

"We've already entered the first phase of that through filing an administrative complaint with the school district," Dacus says. "And make no mistake: this school district in the end, we believe, will learn a valuable lesson -- that they cannot engage in the indoctrination of children into homosexuality and expect to be able to silence the First Amendment rights of those Christian students bold enough to speak up."

The PJI head believes a recent ruling out of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals prohibiting such religious expression will not stand long. "We believe that [the ruling] clearly trounces on the established case law and precedents with regards to the free-speech rights of students," he says, adding that he is both "hopeful and confident" the ruling will be either reversed or overturned before the full Ninth Circuit or before the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to a PJI press release, several students who came to school wearing the "Homosexuality is sin" T-shirts were given an ultimatum by school officials: remove the shirts, or face disciplinary action. When the thirteen students chose to stand firm and were suspended for two days, the school principal explained the action by saying "Many kids were upset because their shirts were rude." The legal firm points out the school evidently did not take into account where religious students may have been equally offended by pro-homosexual expressions on other students' shirts.

"Tolerance must be a two-way street," says Dacus. "Our society cannot afford the suppression of religious viewpoints just because some people disagree with or don't like those views."

At least one leader in the Sacramento Regional Gay Straight Alliance seems to understand that concept. The Sacramento Bee quotes high school student Lance Chih as saying, "If they're stating their own belief that homosexuality is wrong, that's not promoting hate or violence against us. If I want to promote my civil rights, I can't tell another group of students that they can't do it."

The PJI press release notes that students at other nearby high schools in Sacramento and Citrus Heights were suspended for similar actions.

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[Shammu]

Paying Yourself First!

by Austin Pryor
May 3, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Years ago, when one of my college-age sons came to me for help in getting his finances organized, the first thing I did was get him set up on a pay-as-you-go basis using the so-called "envelope" system. That's where you cash your paycheck(s) and immediately divide your income into several envelopes, one for each of your major spending areas. When the money in a particular envelope is gone, that means no more spending in that area until the next payday. (Modern technology has enabled us to improve on this approach -- now we use the "Ziploc™ bag system" so all the loose change doesn't fall out!)

Here's the process my son used as he worked on building his emergency savings fund. After setting aside his tithe and taxes, what was left was his spendable income. This was the "pie" that he proceeded to "cut" several ways. The first piece of 10 percent went into his emergency savings fund account. Then, the remainder of his spendable income went into envelopes for paying his current bills, debt repayment, and monthly living expenses.

His emergency fund came in handy twice during his first few months using the system -- to pay for emergency brake and transmission repairs. The money in the savings account was used up, and he had to begin building it anew. But having it on hand prevented him from going back into debt to pay for those items. That's why it makes sense to set aside some savings in a contingency fund.

When it comes to saving, despite your best intentions, it's easy to rationalize putting it off until the next paycheck. Too many times, the "savings" envelope goes unfilled. One way to overcome this is to have some of your money put aside automatically before you have the opportunity to spend it. Here are two paths to automated savings:

    * Sign up to have part of your paycheck (you decide how much) automatically deposited into your savings account at your credit union or local bank. It's easy, convenient, and offers some useful discipline. Plus, your savings are insured and available for withdrawal without penalty whenever you wish.
    * For a higher rate of return once interest rates return to more normal levels, set up automatic transfers from your bank account to a money market mutual fund. Such funds typically accept transfers of $50 and up on either a weekly, every other week, or monthly basis. Most money market mutual funds offer this service; call them and ask for the forms to get started.

Consider a strategy of saving five to ten percent of your gross income when you're in your twenties. Initially, this will go toward building your emergency fund. Once that's in place, your savings can be used for a down payment on a house and other large purchases. (Eventually, the primary use of your savings will be to invest for retirement.) Then, move up to ten-to-fifteen percent in your thirties and forties.

Many couples believe they could never save that much. But let me ask you -- what would happen if a cutback at work resulted in fewer hours and a 10 percent reduction in your income? Wouldn't you make the necessary adjustments in your spending so that you could still cover the basics? Unpleasant though it might be, you would. In the same way, saving a similar amount is not beyond the financial capabilities of most families. Usually, it's a matter of having the willingness to sacrifice and make the necessary changes in one's lifestyle.

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[Shammu]

Leader Released on Bail, But Hopegivers' Troubles in India Continue

by Allie Martin
May 3, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The president of a global Christian child care ministry who was jailed in Rajasthan, India, was recently granted bail. Dr. Samuel Thomas of Hopegivers International has spent more than a month and a half in the Kota Central Jail in the state of Rajasthan after being accused of distributing a book that militant Hindus found offensive.

Although Thomas contends he had nothing to do with the book's printing and circulation, he was nevertheless arrested and charged with creating communal disharmony by distributing a book that cast Hinduism in a negative light. Meanwhile, Hindu government authorities have stripped Hopegivers' schools, orphanages, and hospitals of their operating licenses and frozen their financial assets.

Although Dr. Thomas was released on bail after an extensive letter writing campaign on his behalf, the already high expenses for his legal defense continue to mount, and the ministry's day-to-day operations are in financial jeopardy as well.

Bill Bray, director of communications for Hopegivers International, says the false accusations, arrest, and imprisonment of Dr. Thomas have, along with the local authorities' persecution of the ministry, caused great financial hardship. "We're not able to pay our bills," he points out, "and we're having to operate strictly on cash donations from Christians and friends."

However, Bray notes, the ministry's ongoing ordeal has also "stirred up the Christian community in India in a wonderful way and brought revival to them and prayer." As a result, he explains, "Christians are coming from all over India just bringing money to Rajasthan."

In a gracious outpouring of support for Hopegivers, fellow believers from India and around the world have sent help, the ministry spokesman points out. Some Indian Christians and other local supporters are "coming on the train and the bus and bringing money to the orphanages and to the schools so they can keep operating," he says.

"Even Hindus are coming and bringing food to the children every day," Bray adds. Also, many are bringing other needed items in addition to the food, including "cooking gas and things like that," he says. "So it's like a war, keeping the ministry going."

Hopegivers International is now awaiting decisions from courts in India -- decisions that will hopefully restore the ministry's operating licenses and unfreeze its bank accounts. Meanwhile, the ministry is urging its supporters to continue in prayer for the organization.

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[Shammu]

Truth Project Sets Out to Equip Believers With Biblical Worldview Training

by Allie Martin
May 3, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Equipping Christians with a biblical worldview -- that's the goal of a series of two-day conferences being sponsored by Focus on the Family. The events will be held nationwide and will feature speakers who seek to train and educate participants about the importance of living lives consistent with the Bible's teachings.

According to a recent Barna poll, only four percent of Americans have a biblical worldview. That is one reason, according to one Focus on the Family spokesman, that the Colorado-based Christian pro-family ministry is holding this latest conference series, dubbed "The Truth Project."

Mar Fey, community impact director for Focus on the Family, says the goal of the Truth Project is to establish and broaden the Christian worldview of the trainees. "What it helps Christians do," he explains, "is integrate their faith into every area of life and to integrate the truth in the Bible into every area of life."

Fey says the people behind the conference series are hoping to combat an unfortunate trend in the lives of believers. "What we've seen arise in the last 15 or 20 years in particular," he explains, "is a separation between the secular and the sacred," he notes.

The way this plays out for many Christians, the Focus on the Family official notes, is that these people will have one part of their faith "over here in church," but will live the rest of their life "over here" in a predominantly separate and secular realm. The Truth Project's objective, Fey says, is to aid Christians throughout the United States in "bringing those two worlds together to understand that faith really applies to all of life."

During the two-day conference, presenters will provide attendees with comprehensive biblical worldview training. Ideally, when the training is completed, conference participants will be equipped to bring the information back to their communities and lead their own small-group Truth Project trainings.
The inaugural Truth Project conference takes place this weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina. Focus on the Family is bringing the conference series to a number of locations nationwide throughout 2006 and beyond. Locations scheduled so far include Rockford, Illinois; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Seattle, Washington; Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; and Washington, D.C.

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[Shammu]

Columnist's 'Sheldon Award' Spotlights Campus Leaders Squelching Free Speech

by Jim Brown
May 3, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A conservative columnist has announced the latest winner of an annual mock award conferred upon "the university president who does the most to look the other way when free speech is under assault on campus." U.S. News & World Report columnist John Leo has declared a tie in this year's Sheldon Award competition.

The top prize in 2006 goes to Washington State University president Lane Rawlins, who financed and organized an attempt to shut down a student play, and who also threatened to expel a student from the school's teacher education program because of his conservative religious and political views. However, Rawlins must share the honor with the other award winner this year, DePaul University president Thomas Holtschneider.

This top "honor" was conferred upon Holschneider for, among other things, having censored a campus protest against affirmative action and having suspended a teacher without a hearing for debating pro-Palestinian students on campus. Leo calls Rawlins and Holtschneider "the Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of Sheldonism" this year.

The dubious award is named after former University of Pennsylvania president Sheldon Hackney, who did nothing about a major theft of student newspapers on his campus. In that incident, Leo points out, "minority students got so angry at an editorial in their paper [that] they stole 15,000 copies, and Hackney let them go, but he reprimanded the guard who caught them. I thought that was an amazing touch."

Now, the U.S. News & World Report editorialist notes, "every time a university president exceeds all boundaries by allowing unconstitutional speech codes or theft of newspapers, I give an annual award -- a mock honor -- to the failing university president."

According to Leo, the conservative viewpoint is nearly always the one that gets punished, censored, or silenced on campuses across the U.S. "Every year," he says, "I look for liberal and moderate victims of this, and they're very hard to find because, as you probably know, the university has been taken over by the 60s radicals, and they don't like dissent on the right."

Both of the latest Sheldon Award "winners" have repeatedly attempted to censor the expression of conservative students, Leo asserts, and both have failed to stand up for the constitutional rights of members of their campus communities. For that reason, he contends, both Holtschneider and Rawlins are equally worthy of the award for this year's most "spineless" university president.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04403.shtml

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[Shammu]

Brownback Calls for Pressure on Senate Dems to Support Marriage Amendment

by Bill Fancher
May 4, 2006

(AgapePress) - - There is good news and there is bad news for supporters of a federal marriage amendment. The good news? The bill should be acted upon soon. The bad news? There may not enough support to pass it.

Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback says the federal marriage amendment will finally see action within a matter of days. "We will have it up probably coming to the full Judiciary Committee in two weeks," he says. "It will probably pass on a strict party line vote, defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman."

Then the measure will come to the Senate floor, he explains. "And I wouldn't doubt that the same thing will happen this time around that happened last time. That is, the Republicans will vote for it, and the Democrats will vote against it," he states.

That could be a problem -- because the current make-up of the U.S. Senate shows 55 in the Republican column. A two-thirds vote (67) would be necessary for the bill to move out of the Senate to the House for consideration. Brownback says without help, the amendment will not make it out of the Senate.

"I would urge people to contact their senators, particularly Democratic senators, and urge them to support the definition of marriage by the United States Congress as a man and a woman," the Kansas lawmaker says, adding that he sees that as the only way the amendment will have enough votes to pass.

Meanwhile, about 100 African-American and Latino pastors and religious leaders from around the country met in suburban Washington on Wednesday (May 3) to learn what they can do to work for passage of the federal marriage amendment scheduled to be introduced next month in the Senate. The gathering was hosted by Bishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor of Hope Christian Church, in Lanham, Maryland.

Jackson, who is also the founder of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, tells Associated Press that a marriage amendment is needed to cover holes in existing law. "There is a superseding amendment needed because of the things that may happen if a person tries to take a marriage license from Massachusetts and then go and get all the benefits of marriage in the state of Maryland, for example," he says.

Rev. Jackson says the Church has always had a role in the formation of marriage laws, and that contrary to what the press might report, the marriage amendment is not anti-"gay."

"There is a Judeo-Christian basis for all of our laws in America, and marriage came from the Church -- in a sense -- to the secular society," he explains. "We believe that marriage is a sacred right, not a civil right, and that there are ways that we can make sure that the civil rights of gays are taken care of.

"We don't have anything against gay people. This is for the protection of marriage, and we think a national 'umbrella' is necessary."

Jackson says support of the proposed legislation crosses cultural lines -- and that minority church leaders should be involved in promoting the marriage protection amendment. He cites a startling statistic.

"In the black community we have such a breakdown in the family structure now -- seven out of ten of our babies are born out of wedlock -- and there is a postponing of marriage," he states. "Therefore we can't sit idly by and let this go on. The whole Church -- black and white -- needs to say marriage is important ...."

Jackson says social justice issues such as justice and poverty are no less pressing, but that protection of marriage is critical.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04404.shtml

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