Christian News from Christians Unite.

[Shammu]

Pro-Family Groups Campaign for Cable Choice

by Rusty Benson
May 4, 2006

(AgapePress) - - If the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), pro-family groups, and consumers get their way, cable television customers may soon receive and pay only for the channels they want. The change could be mandated through legislation or come about as cable companies voluntarily offer the channels a la carte.

Presently, the majority of cable companies and program producers are unfavorable to such a change, claiming that in the end consumers will have fewer programming choices and pay more each month. They say the practice of offering only packages of channels -- especially the "expanded basic" bundle -- is the most cost-effective method of delivering their products. In recent decades, the industry has built its business around that model.

The American Family Association (AFA) and a coalition of pro-family groups who support a la carte pricing see the changes as a tool for families to protect themselves against offensive programming content. The 24-member coalition campaigning for cable choice includes other high-profile groups such as Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, Morality in Media, Concerned Women for America (CWA), and Parents Television Council.

"It only makes sense for a cable company to allow a family to pick what channels they want, and only pay for those," says Tim Wildmon, AFA president. "Such an a la carte approach would also help parents keep smutty television out of their homes."

The debate over a la carte came to the public's attention in the summer of 2004 when pro-family groups lobbied the FCC and key members of Congress to enact legislation that would require cable companies to allow consumers to pay only for the stations they selected. In response, Congress told the FCC to study and report on the impact of a la carte pricing.

In November 2004 the Media Bureau of the FCC issued its report to Congress. The report, which contained the Booz Allen Hamilton study (BAH), concluded that a la carte pricing was not economical.

However, a re-examination of the report revealed errors in calculations, underlying assumptions, and conclusions of the study, particularly in the BAH. As a result, the FCC reversed its earlier findings, stating in a February press release that consumers would be "better off under a la carte ...." (See related story)

The Further Report on the Packaging and Sale of Video Programming Services to the Public stated that in certain scenarios customers could purchase up to 20 selected channels and still save as much as 13 percent on their cable bills. Although the popular "expanded basic" package commonly includes 200-300 channels, most viewers only watch 15-17 channels a month, according to industry statistics.

Currently cable companies base their advertising rates on the number of people their systems reach. Expanded basic -- the "big bundle," in industry lingo -- reaches the most viewers, so it commands the largest subscription fees and ad rates. A la carte would likely reduce the number of big bundle customers, thus cutting into cable industry profits.

Critics largely agree that loss of profits is the reason the cable industry continues to stand against a la carte. In March the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and The Walt Disney Company released separate studies that support that position. A Disney executive called a la carte "an appealing and superficial sound bite."

However, CWA's Lanier Swann says the FCC's new report shows that the claim that a la carte will cost customers more money is untrue. Congress now has no excuse not to act on legislation calling for cable choice, she says.

Pro-family leaders have applauded FCC chairman Kevin Martin's support of a la carte. Along with recent large fines against CBS, they see a la carte as breaking the cable industry programming and pricing cartel while empowering families to reject offensive channels.

Other countries that already provide a la carte pricing include Spain, Italy, Canada, and Hong Kong.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04405.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Critics Suggest Guttmacher's Pro-Abortion Report Ignores Negative Evidence

by Bill Fancher and Jody Brown
May 4, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Pro-lifers are condemning a pro-abortion report being released today by the Alan Guttmacher Institute. They say the report, titled "Abortion in Women's Lives," attempts to deny the mounting evidence that abortion harms women both physically and psychologically.

According to its website, the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) began as a "semiautonomous division" of Planned Parenthood Federation of America -- and today remains a "special affiliate" to the taxpayer-supported abortion-provider. The Institute's namesake actually served as president of PPFA for more than a decade in the 1960s and 1970s. AGI's mission? To advance "sexual and reproductive health" -- buzzwords typically used by organizations that promote abortion.

Consequently it should come as no surprise that the Institute would release a pro-abortion report. Concerned Women for America (CWA) is not surprised, saying a Guttmacher report on abortion should be taken as seriously as a "tobacco industry report on nicotine."

"True to form, Guttmacher asserts that abortion is safe," says CWA president Wendy Wright, "then claims abortion providers have the solution for reducing what it says is harmless." Wright then offers this thought: "If abortion is harmless like Guttmacher claims, why should there be fewer of them?"

Wright's organization has chronicled the physical and emotional risks of abortion. "Clearly, abortion carries numerous medical risks -- even death, as we have seen with the abortion pill RU 486," says the CWA president. "The physical and emotional trauma a woman endures during and after an abortion can be excruciating." And taking an innocent human life simply because a pregnancy is unwanted or unplanned leaves scars, she says -- "some physical, some psychological, and some spiritual."

Wright's take on the new Guttmacher report lines up with that of Troy Newman of Operation Rescue. Newman says the report attempts to put a "nice face" on the evil of abortion, without any evidence. As he puts it: "Guttmacher loads their reports with quotes and evidence from themselves -- and it's full of junk science and junk reporting."

He points out that AGI ignores more than two dozen studies that have linked abortion to breast cancer. "They say that [abortion] may even prevent some forms of cancer, although they don't have any studies or proof to underscore that," he says.

"If it wasn't such a serious subject that millions of women have been injured through abortion, both psychologically and physically, this report would be absolutely laughable," Newman adds. "They whitewash abortion to the point where they want to say abortion's actually good for you."

The report says there is virtually no risk in first-trimester abortions and that there are no long-term mental effects of abortion. Newman suggests the Institute is releasing the report as a last-ditch effort to salvage what he says is a dying pro-abortion industry.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04406.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Survey: Pastors Would Use Surprise Income to Build and Evangelize

by Allie Martin and Jody Brown
May 4, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A new survey shows what pastors nationwide would do if their church received an unexpected financial windfall.

The research was conducted for Facts & Trends magazine -- a publication of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention -- and sought to clarify the overall budget and spending priorities of clergy and lay people. According to a survey conducted by Ellison Research, 31 percent of the more than 500 Protestant pastors surveyed said they would build, expand, or update their church's buildings and facilities. That preference was even more pronounced among Southern Baptist pastors, 43 percent of whom said they would spend the unexpected financial boon on facilities.

Sixteen percent of all pastors said they would use the windfall to increase community evangelism activities. Paying off debt (12 percent) and adding staff (10 percent) were also among the priorities expressed. Only one percent indicated they would use the windfall to increase the salaries or benefits for staff members.

In a companion survey of almost 1,200 Protestant lay people, the top three priorities for spending a windfall would be paying off debt (18 percent), increasing social programs (18 percent), and building, expanding, or updating church facilities (17 percent).

Dr. Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, says the surveys show the need for a balanced perspective on what it means to be a church.

"It seems as if the research that we have done, which is published in the latest issue [May/June 2006] of Facts & Trends, is something that confirms that we can lose our focus when we start focusing on that which matters but which should be more peripheral than the main things, such as evangelism," Rainer notes.

The Facts & Trends article is written by Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research. He observes that the findings may make it appear that evangelism, missions, and outreach are a higher priority for clergy than for their congregations. "[But] in reality, both put a fairly high priority on evangelism," he writes. "They just have different priorities for where the evangelism should take place."

Dr. Rainer offers a different perspective. "More than half of all members of churches in America will meet their Savior face to face without ever having shared Christ with anyone," he says. "On the leadership issue, 53 percent of pastors have not shared Christ, by their own admission, in the last six months."

The LifeWay leader admits he may be oversimplifying things, but offers this observation. "It seems to me, when someone [asks]: 'What's wrong with the evangelistic health of our churches?' -- I can give a simple response: We're not doing it."

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04407.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Repent America Questions Eastern University's Welcome of Homosexual Activists

by Jim Brown
May 5, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The leader of a Philadelphia-based Christian group says a private Christian university in Pennsylvania seems to be embracing homosexuality, and he believes the school is on the verge of abandoning the very biblical principles on which it was founded.

Recently the group Soulforce brought its "Equality Ride" bus tour to the campus of Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. The intention of the homosexual group's tour was to "confront" colleges that bar homosexual students from enrollment.

While the young homosexual activists were on the Eastern campus, members of the group Repent America (RA) attempted to pass out literature to students regarding what the Bible says about homosexuality. University officials, however, ordered the Christian group to leave the premises.

RA's director, Michael Marcavage, says the school appeared to be embracing the homosexual agenda while claiming to hold Christian beliefs. "It was a very grievous situation," he contends. "Many of the students had no problem with the Equality Ride's lies."

These members of the Eastern student community, along with some of the school's administrators as well, indicated apparent support for Soulforce "by wearing buttons that promoted the group's agenda," Marcavage asserts. "They called RA's information offensive because it addressed homosexuality as a sin."

The Christian activist says some of the students present "unashamedly declared that they sin every day, and therefore it is possible to be a practicing homosexual and a Christian." Only a few students vocally agreed that homosexuality should be addressed as a sin, he notes.

Marcavage is outraged that Eastern officials would welcome the Equality Ride participants and allow them to engage in homosexual activism, but would try to kick Repent America members off campus. He says RA is calling on the supposedly Christian university to repent for "embracing the homosexual agenda."

Although most school officials and students RA encountered on the Pennsylvania school's campus were sympathetic to Soulforce's cause, Marcavage says the Word of God is "very clear" on this issue. "Homosexuality is sin, and Christ can set you free," he says, "but this message was not the message of the administration; nor was it the message of the students on the campus, and that's why we're grieved by this situation."

The RA spokesman adds that he is concerned about Eastern University and its witness. "I do believe the school is on the verge of apostasy," he says, "just like many other schools that started to train ministers to spread the gospel."

Although university officials initially tried to remove Repent America from the Eastern campus, Marcavage says God showed he had a different plan by intervening so the Christian group could set up an information table and speak with students for six hours.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04416.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

U.S. Navy and Chaplain Differ Over Basis for Charges

by Chad Groening
May 5, 2006

(AgapePress) - - An evangelical Navy chaplain says he is facing a possible court-martial for disobeying what he believes was an unlawful order. The Navy, however, is challenging Lieutenant Gordon Klingenshmitt's account of why he's facing the possibility of such a serious charge.

Chaplain Klingenshmitt says the U.S. Navy is trying to punish him for what he did on Lafayette Square near the White House on March 30. He says he faces disciplinary action for praying in the name of Jesus while in uniform outside a chapel setting.

"The new SECNAV instruction authorizes commanding officers to punish chaplains for disobeying orders if they pray in Jesus' name outside of a chapel," Klingenshmitt shares. "So that's what I'm being charged with -- willful disobedience of what they say is a lawful order. I say it's an unlawful order."

The event on March 30 in the nation's capital was a news conference protesting a ban on military chaplains invoking specific religious figures such as Jesus Christ in their prayers -- unless they did so in a chapel setting. Klingenshmitt admits he did pray in uniform at that event, and that one of the prayers ended with the words "through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."

But Terry Davis, public affairs officer at Naval Station Norfolk, says the charges are not for praying in uniform, but for participating in uniform at an event supporting personal or partisan political, economic, social or religious issues -- and for violating orders. "The charges against Lt. Klingenshmitt were for violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice," she explains. "It's Article 90, which is willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, and Article 92, failure to obey a regulation or order."

According to Davis, charges against the chaplain "have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he prayed. It has to do with his conduct as a naval officer and that the Uniform Code of Military Justice is very specific when service members can and cannot wear their uniform."

Klingenshmitt, who is filing a religious harassment complaint against the Navy, says he had prior written permission to wear his uniform to events he considered a "bona fide religious service or observance." And he says it is part of his job as a military chaplain to say public prayers in his uniform; he also noted there is a cross on that uniform.

It is unfortunate, he says, that the Navy has decided it is going to enforce the brand new Secretary of the Navy policy that bans Christian prayers outside of a chapel. "And since it was outside of a chapel setting, they're saying that I either had to pray nonsectarian prayers or I had to not wear my uniform," he explains.

Klingenshmitt says he has refused to accept a reprimand known as a "captain's mast" and has been read his rights. If he is court-martialed and found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison and be dismissed from the Navy with a dishonorable discharge. "We'll have to wait and see if the Lord comes and defends me," he says.

The Navy chaplain says the ball is now in the Navy's court, but he does not expect a court-martial summons any time soon.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04417.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Charlotte Christians' Gospel Rally to Replace Annual 'Gay Pride' Event

by Allie Martin
May 5, 2006

(AgapePress) - - An annual "gay pride" rally that ordinarily takes place this weekend in a North Carolina city park has been replaced by a Christian event. The first "Not Ashamed Charlotte" rally is being held Saturday in Charlotte's Marshall Park and will feature Christians from various churches around the city.

For the past four years, a homosexual event known as "Charlotte Pride" has been held at the park during the first weekend in May. This year, however, the organizers of Charlotte Pride had to delay the event.

What that means, Coalition of Conscience director Dr. Michael Brown says, is that there will not be any of the public lewdness and vulgarity that usually happens in the park this time of year. Instead, he says, "We're going to have a city-wide rally. We'll have different pastors and leaders from the city giving a positive vision of what God can do and what He wants to do in the city."

Brown says Not Ashamed Charlotte is inviting the press to be part of its celebration of faith and positive, pro-family values. "And for everyone coming through the park in need," he notes, "we're going to have ministry available the entire day -- for hurting people, searching people, lost people, people that need freedom."

The Coalition of Conscience spokesman points out that his group was formed to work for social and moral change in the community through the gospel, which is why the coalition is planning Not Ashamed Charlotte and incorporating outreach into the event at Marshall Park. "We're going to be there to minister," he says. "So it's going to be a day to proclaim, a day to reach out."

And what is being offered and proclaimed is not a message of "gay pride" but of Christian truth, Brown points out. "We feel that if homosexual men and women can come out of the closet with pride, it's time for followers of Jesus to stand up and say, 'We're not ashamed of our faith, not ashamed of purity and morals. We're not ashamed of wholesome family living.'"

But at the same time, Brown adds, Not Ashamed Charlotte is about loving others, not condemning them. "We want this to be a day when we don't bash others," he says. "We want to bless. We're not there to criticize; we're there to walk in compassion."

Not Ashamed Charlotte is an event for the whole family, and the Coalition is encouraging families to come to the park early, bringing their blankets, picnic chairs, and games. The special day of worship, prayer, and proclamation officially begins at 12:00 noon on May 6, with the citywide rally taking place from 3:00-4:00 pm.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04418.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Americans Are Losing Their Critical Thinking Ability

by Mary Rettig
May 5, 2006

(AgapePress) - - An author and editor for the National Post in Canada says Americans are losing the ability to think critically, a problem he relates to the lack of objective reporting in the media.

Michael LeGault is the author of Th!nk: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye (Threshold Editions, 2006). He says his book discusses why the premise behind Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking, a best-selling book by Malcolm Gladwell, does not work.

Gladwell's Blink extols and even advocates "gut reactions" and snap judgments. But LeGault feels this is poor approach for reasoning minds, and he is concerned that increasing numbers of people in America seem to be moving away from thoughtful, critical decision-making, and turning instead to their emotions.

"The result of this has been, ultimately, that more and more people rely on received knowledge," LeGault says. They take their information and conclusions "from news media primarily," he asserts, or in any case, "from other people, rather than doing thinking on their own or asking questions -- hard questions."

The author of Th!nk says this reliance on media for more and more information has caused the facts to be increasingly filtered through various biases. "Behind each one of these as it's presented in the media," he contends, "are other information and other sides to the story that are often not presented, and our general tendency is to believe these wholesale, without question."

Also, LeGault notes, this phenomenon has resulted in what he calls a "greatest hits" mentality, where news media outlets exploit hot-button issues in an effort to increase their ratings and bring in advertising dollars. As a result, he suggests, the public has come to rely on pithy pundits and appeals to passion instead of real, objective information.

Americans are buying into all kinds of media hype, LeGault asserts, because many have lost the ability to think critically, weighing information and separating opinion and propaganda from actual facts. He says this is why so many people tend to believe unfounded claims such as global warming theories or the idea that the Earth is running out of oil.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04419.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Liberty Counsel Defends Christian Ordered to Copy Pro-Homosexual Videos

by Allie Martin
May 8, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A Virginia businessman has been ordered by the Arlington Human Rights Commission to duplicate pro-homosexual videos, even though he says reproducing the material would violate his biblical values.

Earlier this year, Tim Bono, owner of Bono Film and Video, was contacted via e-mail by a potential customer, Lilli Vincenz, who asked him to reproduce two documentaries entitled Gay and Proud and Second Largest Minority. Bono informed Vincenz that he was refusing the job as his company does not copy material that is obscene or that could embarrass employees, hurt the company's reputation, or material that otherwise runs counter to the company's Christian values.

Vincenz contacted the Arlington Human Rights Commission, asking it to force to Bono to duplicate her videos, and last month the Commission ordered him to do so. Florida-based Liberty Counsel is defending him.

According to the Human Rights Commission's order, if the Christian businessman refuses to do the duplication job "after a reasonable amount of time, the commissioners can reassemble to discuss why the remedy was not done." The Commission could then forward the case to the full county Board of Commissioners and request permission to file a discrimination complaint against Mr. Bono in Arlington Circuit Court.

However, Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver says the film and video service's owner was within his rights to refuse to duplicate the pro-homosexual materials. "He did not discriminate against any person because of their sex or gender or their sexual practices," the attorney asserts. "Instead, he did what any person of common sense would do."

According to Staver, owners of video transfer and duplication businesses can certainly refuse to duplicate homosexual propaganda videos without discriminating on the basis of the customer's sexual preference, and they have every right to turn such work down.

"While lifestyle choices are not relevant to his business, what customers request Mr. Bono to duplicate is critically important," the Liberty Counsel spokesman contends. He says a Christian proprietor like Bono has " just as much right to refuse to duplicate videos which promote the homosexual agenda as he has the right to refuse to duplicate obscenity, pornography or hate speech."

Christian business owners "don't have to allow [their] business to be hijacked to promote the ideology of some radical, homosexual agenda," Staver insists. "That's what this lesbian activist is trying to do," he says, "and no business is required to do that."

"In fact," the attorney continues, "newspapers, or publishers or printers are not required to print every item or reproduce every copy that they receive. They have the discretion to not engage in every reproduction of a suggested item."

Mr. Bono would never be forced to duplicate videos promoting obscenity, pornography, or hate speech, Staver adds. And neither, he asserts, should the Christian company owner be forced to copy Vincenz's pro-homosexual videos or to allow his company "to become a vehicle of her ideological agenda."

Staver says it is possible that legal action will be taken against the Arlington Human Rights Commission on Tim Bono's behalf.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04421.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Founder Hopes Christian Social Networking Site Will Fill Niche

by Jim Brown
May 8, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A new website designed in the sleepy coastal town of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, is offering Christians an alternative to questionable social networking sites like "MySpace.com" and "Facebook.com."

The "Oaktree.org" website orginally began as a "hope exchange" where people could post prayer concerns and words of encouragement for people depressed, hospitalized, or battling an illness. But last month the site was re-launched with more social networking features such as online journals, photos, biographies, discussion forums, and chat.

Oaktree.org founder Brady Stump says he and his wife felt this website could fill a void, as they did not see anything on the Internet fostering Christian community from a social networking standpoint.

What they happened almost spontaneously with the Oaktree.org site, Stump says, is "it flipped social networking on its head and created a place where people could share their testimonies, share their favorite Bible verses, where ministers and pastors and youth pastors could get on a forum, and they could share ideas on how to reach more people, how to reach more youth."

Right away, the Christian site's founder says he and his wife saw how a social Internet forum "could definitely be used for good if it was created correctly, and that's kind of what inspired us to do this."

Thirty-one-year-old Stump says the idea of a hope exchange site came about following the tremendous outpouring of support he received from fellow Christians after he lost his left leg in a car wreck in 1998. Now, he is seeing Oaktree.org help countless others find not only hope but purpose in life.

The hidden gem in the site, the website creator says, is a feature called Impact Projects. This area is "a place to put 'Purpose Driven' in action," he explains. "Under these Impact Projects we have on our site, you can put basically your life purpose, your Christianly purpose -- what you want to do to build the kingdom of heaven."

Once a community member puts down this spiritual plan of action, what happens next is "kind of neat," Stump observes. As other Christians visiting the site connect with a person about his or her Impact Project goals, he says, "the way it's developed is that other people almost turn into accountability partners."

Stump says the online profiles and posting areas at Oaktree.org are filtered and monitored regularly to ensure appropriateness. He hopes that as the membership of the Christian social networking website grows, more and more visitors will discover it as a place where they can find community, encouragement, and accountability as well as resources to help them grow in their faith.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04426.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Christian Author Sees Confusion of Da Vinci Code as Useful

by Allie Martin
May 8, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A Christian apologist is trying to help believers respond to claims made in the upcoming movie based on Dan Brown's best-selling book The Da Vinci Code.

Lee Strobel is co-author of a DVD-driven discussion curriculum kit called "Discussing the Da Vinci Code." The four-session study includes interviews with authors and experts who look at topics such as the reliability of the gospels, the deity of Christ, and the role of women in Christianity. Strobel says Brown's novel has caused confusion among Christians because it weaves together fact and fiction in its storyline. Still, he encourages Christians to see the movie -- but only as a method of outreach to unsaved friends or family members.

"I would really pray about it, and consider going to the movie so that you can engage with them in a dialog," the author says. He offers some suggestions for doing that. "Give them a resource like our book, Exploring the Da Vinci Code, invite them into a little discussion experience like our 'Discussing the Da Vinci Code' resource, and help them to come to an understanding about the real Jesus."

Strobel -- a former atheist who came to know Jesus as his personal Savior after a two-year investigation of the evidence of Jesus -- and curriculum co-author Garry Poole traveled to Europe and visited sites that will be featured in the upcoming movie, which stars Tom Hanks. Like the book, Strobel expects the Ron Howard-directed movie to also cause confusion.

"Dan Brown so cleverly mixes fact and fiction, people are getting spiritually confused," he says. "One out of every three Canadians who have read the book now believes that there are descendants of Jesus walking among us today."

In addition, says Strobel, 53 percent of Americans who have read the book say it has been "helpful in their personal spiritual growth and understanding."

On May 21 -- two days after Da Vinci Code hits U.S. theaters -- Strobel co-hosts a national satellite telecast on the Church Communication Network about the Da Vinci debate. The outreach event is available to churches for evangelism training, and features co-hosts Dr. Erwin Lutzer (pastor of Moody Church in Chicago and author of The Da Vinci Deception) and Mark Mittleberg, co-author of Becoming a Contagious Christian.

Strobel's award-winning books include The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, The Case for a Creator, and Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04422.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

ADF Applauds UW Chancellor's Approval of Catholic Group Using Student Fees

by Jim Brown
May 8, 2006

(AgapePress) - - University of Wisconsin-Madison's Chancellor John Wiley has recommended that a campus Catholic group be allowed to use student fees to print religious booklets and support its religious activities.

Wiley says he will endorse $145,000 in funding for the UW Roman Catholic Foundation, even though he has concerns that it may violate the so-called "separation of church and state." The Catholic group, which is being represented by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), had threatened to sue if the funding was not allowed.

David French, an ADF-affiliated attorney, is applauding the recommendation to allow use of the UW student funds for the campus religious group's materials and activities. He notes that student fees are used for a wide variety of expressions at the university.

"They pay for political activities, they pay for cultural activities, and they pay for athletic activities," French notes. He says student fees are used to "help students buy everything from drinks and food at events to ... print materials that they distribute at rallies."

This recommendation by Chancellor Wiley is part of a growing trend, the ADF spokesman says, a pattern that suggests Christian groups are increasingly no longer settling for discriminatory policies and unequal access on their campuses. He believes campus religious groups have become more assertive in demanding fair treatment over the last several years.

The case involving the UW Roman Catholic Foundation is "another in the long line of cases for the last 25 years on campus," French contends -- a succession that he says is "designed to demonstrate and to show that Christian student groups and Christian individuals on campus are not second class citizens."

Wiley's decision to endorse the $145,000 in funding for the Roman Catholic Foundation goes to the UW System Board of Regents next for final approval. The case is being closely watched by school administrators and religious groups across the United States.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04423.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Study Shows Low Competition Among Health Insurers Is Costing Patients

by Mary Rettig
May 9, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The American Medical Association (AMA) says a study it conducted shows there is extremely limited competition between health insurance providers in many metropolitan areas of the United States, and this has heavy implications for Americans.

The AMA looked at nearly 300 metropolitan areas in the U.S. from 1995 to 2005 to determine what happened after a decade of unprecedented mergers and takeovers in the health insurance industry. The study found that in 56 percent of the markets, a single insurance company had a market share of 50 percent or greater.

Dr. Jim Rohack, the immediate past chairman of the AMA's Board of Trustees, says this lack of competition is very bad for the consumers. He says the researchers found that, under the kind of market consolidation they saw, patients had fewer insurance options and higher premiums. Also, due to those high costs, more people were uninsured.

"And the only one that was benefiting was the company itself, making record profits," Rohack adds. "Patients had less choice [in terms of] the health insurance that they could purchase, and we also found that the premiums had increased," he says, "yet the benefits provided to patients did not increase."

According to the former AMA Board of Trustees chairman, more competition among health insurance companies leads to lower costs for consumers as well as better healthcare, because it means patients have more choices. However, he says the recent study indicates that competition among the insurance carriers is on a steep decline, while health insurance premiums are rising quickly.

Rohack says the AMA's study will be turned in to the U.S. Department of Justice. That agency, he notes, will look further into the matter to determine whether any anti-trust laws have been violated by the insurance companies.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04431.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

New Bishop's Selection Reflects Anglican Church's 'Directive,' Say Observers

by Jody Brown and Bill Fancher
May 9, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The Episcopal Church USA may have dodged a bullet this past weekend when one of its dioceses decided against electing a homosexual bishop as its new leader. As a result, New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson remains ECUSA's only openly homosexual bishop.

Delegates from the Episcopal Diocese of California gathered Saturday (May 6) to pick their next bishop. Among the seven candidates were three homosexual church leaders. But the diocese chose the Rt. Rev. Mark Handley of Birmingham, Alabama, who is married and has two college-age daughters. His election must be endorsed by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in June before being formally installed in late July.

Addressing the gathering by phone after his election, Handley alluded to the presence of homosexual candidates on the ballot and to the denomination's "inclusiveness" philosophy. "[Y]our vote today remains a vote for inclusion and communion -- of gay and lesbian people in their full lives as single or partnered people, of women, of all ethnic minorities, and all people. My commitment to Jesus Christ's own mission of inclusion is resolute," he stated.

A conservative Anglican leader in the U.S. believes the California Diocese, in selecting Handley, was right not to "short-circuit" decisions ECUSA must make at its General Convention about remaining with, or separating from, the worldwide Anglican Communion.

"The world church has clearly told us what we must do to stay in communion," says Bishop Robert Duncan of the Anglican Communion Network. "[And that is to] repent of our decision in 2003 to confirm the election of a bishop in a same-sex partnered relationship [Gene Robinson] and place moratoriums on further elections of bishops in same-sex partnered relationships as well as the blessing of same-sex relationships."

Pro-family advocate Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute agrees. "I think [the decision by the Diocese of California] was because the larger Anglican community warned them that if they did it again and they did it in their face like this, it would probably result in the Episcopal Church of the United States of America being excommunicated from the Anglican Communion," Knight opines.

The CFI spokesman says he was not surprised by the decision out of San Francisco. "People familiar with the situation in California acknowledge that they deliberately did not pick a gay bishop because they knew it would lead to a conflict with the larger Anglican Church," he says.

But according to earlier comments from a pro-homosexual group within ECUSA, the prospect of homosexual Episcopal bishops in the future remains alive. When the slate of nominees was announced in February, the group Integrity said in a press release that it was "inevitable" that another "gay/lesbian person" would eventually be nominated to the episcopacy. And whether or not the California Diocese elected a homosexual leader, Integrity predicted another Gene Robinson would eventually be elevated to the level of bishop.

"t is inevitable that another gay/lesbian person WILL eventually be elected, confirmed, and consecrated to that order of ministry," said Integrity, "as the Episcopal Church continues to live into its call to fully include all of the baptized into the Body of Christ."

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04432.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Senator's Support for Marriage Amendment Wins Over Family Activist

by Chad Groening
May 9, 2006

(AgapePress) - - An Ohio pro-family activist says a recent move by one of his state's U.S. senators has convinced him to now support the two-term incumbent's re-election.

It was November 2, 2004, and Ohio was one of 11 states allowing its citizens to go to the polls and defend traditional marriage by amending the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. By the time the votes were tallied, all of those states had overwhelmingly passed the marriage initiatives. In the Buckeye State, the measure won 62%-38% -- and many pundits credited the marriage amendment there with helping George W. Bush win the state, sending him back to the White House for a second term.

But one pro-family leader says he was not happy that Ohio Senator Mike DeWine chose not to support his state's marriage initiative in 2004. The family advocate also expresses dissatisfaction with the Republican lawmaker for joining others in the GOP last year to preserve the Democrat-led filibuster of judicial nominees.

But Phil Burress, president of the Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values (CCV) Action PAC, says DeWine has come around on the marriage issue and is a co-sponsor of the Marriage Protection Amendment to be debated in the Senate in early June.

"He's certainly not right on all the issues," acknowledges Burress, "and even though I've had a lot of problems with Mike and his voting record, I will be one of the first ones to put the yard sign in my yard in support of Mike DeWine."

As Burress explains, DeWine received the "wrath" of CCV over several issues, one of them being the senator's opposition to the 2004 marriage amendment. "But what saved him in the primary and made a huge difference in his numbers was the fact that, just a couple weeks ago, Mike came out in support of the Marriage Protection Amendment .... And he has not only has come out for it, but he is also a co-sponsor."

A recent Mason-Dixon Line poll showed DeWine ahead of his opponent, Democratic Congressman Sherrod Brown, by 11 points. Burress believes DeWine is a far better alternative than Brown, whom he likens to liberal Democrats such as Ted Kennedy, Richard Durbin, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04433.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

[Shammu]

Author's Vivid Personal Account Speaks Volumes to Widows and Widowers

by Rev. Austin Miles
May 10, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The most gut-wrenching experience in life is to lose a spouse. The only person who can actually know the depth of that feeling is one who has gone through the ordeal. And the best person to counsel a survivor is the one who has been there, done that, and managed to go on with life. Richard L. Mabry, author of the just-published book, The Tender Scar: Life After the Death of a Spouse (Kregel, June 2006), is just that person.

A man deeply in love with his wife, Cynthia, he had built his entire life around her. They were planning a happy retirement together. Even after three years of "going steady" and then 40 years of marriage, they were still on their honeymoon.

When she unexpectedly died of a stroke in September 1999, he was as devastated as any man could be. First he had to face whether or not to pull the plug on the life-support equipment.

Then he had to deal with getting rid of her personal things -- what to keep, what not to keep. Should he move or stay in the home he shared with her? What about the wedding rings? What about "starting a new life"? And if so, for what purpose?

During his grieving time he dealt with every feeling, question, and anxiety that everyone else who has lost a spouse will immediately identify with and say, "Yes, that is exactly how I feel."

Richard Mabry had been advised to keep a journal following Cynthia's death, an activity which was not only cathartic but also very useful for his own recovery. Some of the journal entries were in the form of personal letters addressed to his beloved wife. He also sent e-mails to his children, friends, and his pastor that he shares with us in the book.

Mabry, a physician, has a natural instinct to help others and felt that he should share what he learned, how he recovered, and the mistakes he made, such as inadvertently building a shrine to his wife and trying to live her life for her.

He describes his own emotions, the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, and asked himself questions like, "When will this end?" or "Is it normal to feel this way?" or "What have other people done about this?" And how do you pray when prayer seemed unanswered and the only thing you can pray is, "Why Lord?" He managed to make it through that -- and he shows us what he learned.

Even though Dr. Mabry is a recognized professional, he did not just simply knock out this book. He first went to a Christian Writers Workshop in Glorieta, New Mexico, to fine-tune his writing instincts in order to produce a first-class book. And that he did. This slim volume is filled with digestible short chapters that open with a topic description followed by an entry from his journal and/or one of the personal e-mails he sent as he was going through each phase of the grieving process.

Next, the coping mechanisms he discovered are detailed. The counsel is solid throughout. Every section of the book ends with a meaningful prayer.

The literary quality entries from his journal and e-mails are so personal that the reader seems to be a part of the inside circle of a man of standing in his community. He is totally transparent as he discloses the wrong turns he took and how he worked out the emotional challenges he faced.

Dr. Mabry's thorough diagnosis doesn't miss one thing. He talks about visiting the grave, remembering an anniversary, and getting through the first holidays after the death. One chapter is devoted to "Being Open to a Second Chance." Should you ever fall in love again? Could you ever fall in love again? Would it dishonor my spouse? And he has chapters titled, "Avoiding a Self-Centered Outlook" and "Changing Your Way of Thinking."

The chapter titled "Expanding Your Horizons" ends with a prayer that begins: "Loving Father, we don't want things to be different, we want them to be back the way they were. Help us to accept the changes in our lives." And the reader is definitely strengthened by the rest of that prayer. The author articulates the feelings we all have had but may not be able to express. That in itself helps.

Dr. Mabry tells the reader how to reach "the other side of grief," how to "live hopefully ever after" and about learning to live "the new normal." He reminds us that, "For the Christian, the grave is not a monument to death, but the entrance to new life -- life eternal."

The Tender Scar should be purchased and given to anyone you care about who has lost a spouse. It offers valid, genuine help that well-meaning friends often cannot provide. It also gives the contact information for support groups. This is also a very valuable book for all pastors, counselors, ministers, and chaplains who so often deal with death issues.

Reading this book will compel you to rethink how important your own husband, wife, or companion is. It will spur you to make every minute count with your spouse even if it means turning off your favorite program in order to pay full attention to a soul mate who at that moment wants to talk.

Richard Mabry said that he wrote this book to bring something good out of something terrible in his life. His goal was accomplished. Romans 8:28 says: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." There is no better example of that famous Scripture.

Thank you, Dr. Mabry, for a fine diagnosis and the advice you give in your book. It couldn't be better.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04434.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.