Immoral behavior

[HisDaughter]

Do-it-yourself 'spirituality' linked to poor mental health
Study: Young adults believing in higher power other than God at greater risk for depression
Posted: January 20, 2008
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com

The first study examining young adults' religious and spiritual thoughts, behavior and feelings in Australia has found those replacing traditional religious beliefs with trendy, self-focused religions and spirituality are not the happier for their attempts at self-transformation.

Rosemary Aird conducted surveys of 3,705 21-year-olds in Brisbane as part of her Ph.D. studies at the University of Queensland's School of Population Health.

"I had a look at two different beliefs – one was a belief in God, associated with traditional religions, and the other was the newer belief in a spiritual or higher power other than God," Aird told the Brisbane Times.

Her research found the newer non-traditional beliefs linked to higher rates of "anxiety, depression, disturbed and suspicious ways of thinking and anti-social behavior" – results, she suggested, arising from New Age beliefs focused on self-transformation, self-fulfillment and self-enlightenment to the exclusion of community.

"Traditional religion tends to promote the idea of social responsibility and thinking of others' interests, whereas the New Age movement pushes the idea that we can transform the world by changing ourselves.

"The downside is that people are very much on their own and not part of a community, which may lead to a kind of isolation," she said.

Aird, a 51-year-old agnostic, said individualism was the common thread in the shift away from traditional religious thoughts to non-religious spirituality.

In Aird's study, eight percent of respondents attended church once a week, a practice linked to a reduction in antisocial behavior among males, but not females. While those with traditional religious beliefs enjoyed no major benefit in the study, their New Age counterparts were twice as likely to report higher levels of anxiety and depression.

Those coming from Pentecostal backgrounds were less likely than other religions to adopt non-traditional beliefs in adulthood.

"People who are into the New Age spirituality tend to shop around and will often borrow from all sorts of old beliefs, like Wicca, witchcraft or Native American religions," said Aird. "It's a whole mish-mash and changes all the time, where they'll do something for a while before doing something else.

"If there's no sense of any kind of tradition, it means you're kind of cast adrift and means there's no fundamental basic thing to hang on to."

Aird said popular culture has fed the trend toward non-traditional beliefs with a popularization of "spirituality."

"Religion and belief has kind of become mixed up with popular culture," she said.

"Look at television and the kinds of shows that we've got, like 'Supernatural,' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Medium'. They promote witchcraft, special powers and spirituality and the general population and young people especially are exposed to these things and could see them as very attractive.

"People want to find some way of embedding these things into some sort of belief system."

Aird also singled out popular self-help books for creating a do-it-yourself approach to matters of faith.

"My generation was about social responsibility and collective interests compared to the Me Generation," Aird said. "'New Spirituality' promotes the idea that self-transformation will lead to a positive and constructive change in self and society.

"But there is a contradiction – how can one change society if one is focused on oneself?"

No kiddin'?  Why am I not surprised?  Are you surprised?  I'm not surprised.

Row erupts in Australia over 'gay' Jesus play

Sun Jan 20, 1:20 AM ET

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian church leaders have condemned a play shortly to open in Sydney depicting Jesus as a gay man who is seduced by Judas, a report said Sunday.

The play, named Corpus Christi, is due to open next month as part of the city's annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Sydney's Sun-Herald newspaper reported.

A senior Sydney churchman called the play "historical nonsense".

"It is deliberately, not innocently, offensive and they're obviously having a laugh about it," Robert Forsyth, Anglican bishop of South Sydney, was quoted saying.

Apart from the relations between Jesus and Judas, the play also features Jesus conducting a gay marriage between two apostles.

The play's director Leigh Rowney, who claims to be a Christian, accepted the play would offend some Christians but said he was keen to provoke debate about Christianity.

"I wanted this play in the hands of a Christian person like myself to give it dignity but still open it up to answering questions about Christianity as a faith system," Rowney was quoted saying.

Playwright Terrence McNally, who is gay, received death threats when the work was performed in the United States, the newspaper said.

Row erupts in Australia over 'gay' Jesus play

And that's just plain sick

Teen swimmers' photos put on gay sites
Police investigating whether campus dispatcher photographed kids

Jan. 20, 2008

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Several gay adult Web sites have posted photographs of teenage water polo players from several high schools in Southern California, a newspaper reported.

Some of the pictures, of boys as young as 14, were displayed next to photos of nude young men and graphic sexual content, an Orange County Register investigation found. 

Parents, coaches and school officials were alarmed, and parents said some of the boys were traumatized and sought counseling.

"These kids don't look at what they do as shameful," said Joan Gould, an international water polo official and a spokeswoman for a group of Orange County water polo parents. "For someone to come in and take what these kids are doing and take it out of context and exploit these images, these kids and their schools, because you can see the school name on the caps, is just horrible."

Police at the University of California, Irvine, confirmed they are investigating whether a campus police dispatcher had photographed the high school athletes for gay-oriented sites. The man had not been charged, and police Chief Paul Henisey said he remained on duty.

"We're looking into the matter," Henisey said. "We're not exactly sure about what we have or what kinds of issues there are."

It was not clear if posting the pictures constituted an offense.

"With free speech and photography, there's a gray cloud in terms of what is legal, constitutional," said state Assemblyman Jose Solorio, chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

Solorio said he would have the committee investigate the matter.

The Register said it found photos of players from 11 Orange County high schools plus schools in Los Angeles and San Diego counties on several pages of one gay porn site registered to a London address. Photos were also posted on other sites, the paper reported.

Teen swimmers' photos put on gay sites
~~~~~~~~

They ought to get some one to hack the website, and destroy this abomination!! These kids are as young as 14!!!!!!  I do know there is a law about this in the U.K.!!!

Proving that homosexuality is a PERVERSION and not something you were born with.

[HisDaughter]

Online game rivalry ends with real life murder
A young Russian man has been charged with murder after an internet game jumped off the screen onto the street. It's alleged he killed an internet gaming rival after they met face to face in the city of Ufa.
 
Violence on screen isn't harmful to anyone. But when virtual reality and real life collide an innocent game can end in tragedy.

It all started when two clans - the Coo-clocks, made up of mostly students, and the so-called Platanium with more experienced gamers of over thirty - started fighting to wipe out each other on screen.   

33-year-old Albert used to spend hours in front of his computer. On the web he had his own clan and a dozen of warriors. Just days before the New Year in a virtual battle his clan killed a member of the hostile Coo-clocks. 

Days later the enemies agreed to meet literally face to face in the real world.

Their confrontation led to tragedy. Albert was badly beaten and died from his injuries on the way to hospital. 

“I think they have confused the game and reality. And after we buried him on December 31, they continued to threaten us,” Albert’s sister Albina says.   

The alleged murderer hasn't shown regret and hasn't justified himself. 22-year-old student just calmly explained why he killed his opponent. 

On the web each of the clans had its own hierarchy and rules

“Beat everything that moves, and everything that doesn’t move - move and beat!” – this is one of the rules of the Coo-clocks clan.

In this case the rule applied to real people in real life. Members of the internet Coo-clocks clan continue to harass the family of the murdered man, threatening to kill his sister, who hasn’t turned on the computer for days. 
 
In an unrelated case another gamer in his twenties came to Moscow from Ukraine to meet his rival. The confrontation ended in with the Moscow man being beaten to death. 

And a twenty-year-old from Petrosavodsk killed his grandmother after she interrupted his game calling him to eat.

However, internet experts say these cases shouldn't be lumped together just because some people can't handle the situation.

“Not many talk about the benefits of internet games for disabled people who don’t have a chance to communicate with others like themselves or able-bodied people.  Nobody mentions the benefits the internet can offer in education,” says Aleksandr Kuzmenko of a computer game magazine.   

With more and more people logging on to get their fix of virtual reality the experts say incidents like these are rare, and want it to stay that way.

I've already seen 2 different shows (one was Law and Order) along this same type of behavior.

[HisDaughter]

Davis County, UTAH —  A 14-year-old Utah boy has been charged with bestiality and lewdness for allegedly raping a dog, according to local affiliate FOX 13.

If convicted, the teen could face up to one year in jail and a fine of $2,500 under state law, which classifies cruelty to animals as a misdemeanor offense.

FOX 13 spoke with Cheryl Smith, executive director of the Utah Animal Adoption Center, about the case. She urged lawmakers to pass stricter laws against people who intentionally harm animals.

"These crimes are getting more and more common. And it’s very disturbing," she said.

Smith said the dog had been molested in "unspeakable ways," but that it was in good care now and adjusting well to its new surroundings, according to FOX 13.

She said she learned of the case after a concerned neighbor called to report a dog was being abused. The owners then released the dog to authorities.

I'm posting this because I'm wondering just how sick this world has to get before the Second Coming?  Just when I think I've heard every immoral thing that is going on, up pops something else.  Not I've never heard of this kind of thing, but it did catch me unawares tonight.

[nChrist]

GrammyLuv Said:

I'm posting this because I'm wondering just how sick this world has to get before the Second Coming?  Just when I think I've heard every immoral thing that is going on, up pops something else.  Not I've never heard of this kind of thing, but it did catch me unawares tonight.

Sister, I'm sad to say that I think we've only seen the first rounds of evil. I think that things will get MUCH WORSE, but I also think that JESUS CHRIST could come to RAPTURE HIS CHURCH HOME to GLORY at any time. In the meantime, the weirdos, perverts, and evil will have to put up with hosts of Christians who are still quite willing to stand up and call evil what it is - EVIL! It's almost impossible for decent people to imagine how someone would even get the idea to do something like this to an animal. We MUST remember that practices like this are mentioned in the Holy Bible as an ABOMINATION to GOD, so evil people have done sick, disgusting, and perverted things like this long before now. Sadly, evil people are capable of doing worse than this. Most police officers have seen things so horrible that they are impossible to forget.

Sister, I just heard something I loved on the Fox News Channel. I missed part of the story, but it was something about a child dying. The person being interviewed said something like this:  It's time for Christians to pray, put on the full armour of GOD, and go forth to do the WILL OF GOD! I heard this while typing the end of the previous paragraph. Sadly, the interview ended, and I didn't get the full details about what they were talking about. The details don't matter! Regardless of circumstances around the world, Christians should be PRAYING, putting on the FULL ARMOUR OF GOD, and going forth TO DO THE WILL OF GOD! If all Christians did this even ONCE, can we even imagine what the impact would be? The GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD is still the most powerful message in the world!

Love In Christ,
Tom

GOOD NEWS!

1:  Romans 3:10 NASB  as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

2:  Romans 3:23  NASB  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

3:  Romans 5:12  NASB  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--

4:  Romans 6:23  NASB  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

5:  Romans 1:18  NASB  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

6:  Romans 3:20  NASB  because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

7:  Romans 3:27  NASB  Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

8:  Romans 5:8-9  NASB  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

9:  Romans 2:4  NASB  Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

10:  Romans 3:22  NASB  even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;

11:  Romans 3:28  NASB  For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

12:  Romans 10:9  NASB  that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

13:  Romans 4:21  NASB  and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

14:  Romans 4:24 NASB  but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

15:  Romans 5:1  NASB  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

16:  Romans 10:10  NASB  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

17:  Romans 10:13  NASB  for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

Thanks be unto GOD for HIS unspeakable GIFT!, JESUS CHRIST, our Lord and Saviour forever!

[Def]

Sister, I'm sad to say that I think we've only seen the first rounds of evil. I think that things will get MUCH WORSE, but I also think that JESUS CHRIST could come to RAPTURE HIS CHURCH HOME to GLORY at any time. In the meantime, the weirdos, perverts, and evil will have to put up with hosts of Christians who are still quite willing to stand up and call evil what it is - EVIL! It's almost impossible for decent people to imagine how someone would even get the idea to do something like this to an animal. We MUST remember that practices like this are mentioned in the Holy Bible as an ABOMINATION to GOD, so evil people have done sick, disgusting, and perverted things like this long before now. Sadly, evil people are capable of doing worse than this. Most police officers have seen things so horrible that they are impossible to forget.

Sister, I just heard something I loved on the Fox News Channel. I missed part of the story, but it was something about a child dying. The person being interviewed said something like this:  It's time for Christians to pray, put on the full armour of GOD, and go forth to do the WILL OF GOD! I heard this while typing the end of the previous paragraph. Sadly, the interview ended, and I didn't get the full details about what they were talking about. The details don't matter! Regardless of circumstances around the world, Christians should be PRAYING, putting on the FULL ARMOUR OF GOD, and going forth TO DO THE WILL OF GOD! If all Christians did this even ONCE, can we even imagine what the impact would be? The GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD is still the most powerful message in the world!

Love In Christ,
Tom

GOOD NEWS!

1:  Romans 3:10 NASB  as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

2:  Romans 3:23  NASB  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

3:  Romans 5:12  NASB  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--

4:  Romans 6:23  NASB  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

5:  Romans 1:18  NASB  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

6:  Romans 3:20  NASB  because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

7:  Romans 3:27  NASB  Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

8:  Romans 5:8-9  NASB  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

9:  Romans 2:4  NASB  Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

10:  Romans 3:22  NASB  even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;

11:  Romans 3:28  NASB  For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

12:  Romans 10:9  NASB  that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

13:  Romans 4:21  NASB  and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

14:  Romans 4:24 NASB  but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

15:  Romans 5:1  NASB  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

16:  Romans 10:10  NASB  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

17:  Romans 10:13  NASB  for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

Thanks be unto GOD for HIS unspeakable GIFT!, JESUS CHRIST, our Lord and Saviour forever!

well it is nothing new.
and the reason people did not hear about it before is because the news dint not go as far.
 and some things should not be repeated.
but today the good and the bad is worldwide and so is the WORD
so I believe that Jesus Christ  is at the door.
the young and the weak feed from what comes out of your mouth good or bad.

[Shammu]

Canadian Anglican Bishop to Priests: Approve Homosexual Blessings or Resign

By Hilary White

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland, January 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The deep fissures in the Anglican Communion are increasing as the sides line up in the fight over the "blessings" of homosexual partnerings. A diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada in Newfoundland has announced it will attempt to force its clergy to assent to the blessings, even as the rest of the Worldwide Anglican Communion continues to fracture over the issue.

Clergy were called to a mandatory meeting in the cathedral of St. John's and told that if they supported a breakaway movement that objects to the formal blessing of homosexual partnerings, they should "do the honourable thing and resign".

The retired former bishop of the diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, Don Harvey as well as Malcolm Harding of Brandon, Manitoba, relinquished their licenses in November 2007 in the Anglican Church of Canada and transferred to the authority of Anglican Province of the Southern Cone of America a jurisdiction of the Anglican Church in South America.

Following Bishop Harvey's defection from the ultra-liberal Canadian Anglican Church, the new bishop, the Right Reverend Cyrus Pitman, had them repeat their priestly vows and exacted a loyalty pledge of sorts from his diocesan clergy and re-issued their licences signed by himself rather than Bishop Harvey.

Bishop Pitman wrote, "I would expect any clergy involved in the network and working to the establishment of a parallel jurisdiction to the Anglican Church of Canada would do the honourable thing and resign their positions, relinquishing their licences to exercise ordained ministry in this church as their leader has done."

The move follows decisions by other dioceses in the country. In October last year, the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa voted to recognize the blessing of marriage for same-sex partners who have been civilly "married" under Canadian law. The diocese of Montreal followed this with a decision to allow blessings for homosexual partners and the diocese of Niagara Falls followed suit in November.

A spokesman for the traditionally Christian group, Anglican Network in Canada, responded at the time, "We are grieved that the synod and bishops of Niagara have chosen to walk away from centuries of Christian teaching and defy the consensus within the Anglican Communion."

The Right Reverend Donald Harvey, Moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada continued, "There is clearly a growing momentum within the Anglican Church of Canada to ignore biblical teaching, disregard the views of the global Church, and even ignore the principles upon which the Canadian Church was founded. These actions have 'torn the fabric' of the Communion at its deepest level just as the Primates warned in October 2003."

In a letter to the Canadian Anglican Primate, the titular head of the Worldwide Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams chastised groups of Canadian Anglicans who have broken away from the ultra-liberal mainstream church, accusing them of poaching clergy. Nevertheless, he admitted he has no authority to prevent what he called "interventions and irregular ordinations" by such groups.

Meanwhile, Williams, has announced that the church's dispute over sexual morality will be on the agenda for the next Lambeth Conference to be held in Kent this summer. "We will look at sexuality and the ministry of bishops. We will be reporting back from the listening process that came out of the previous Lambeth Conference." William said.

To date, only 70 per cent of the world's Anglican bishops invited to the ten-yearly Lambeth meeting have indicated they will attend.

A group of Anglican bishops who hold to the traditional Christian moral doctrines have announced they will be holding an alternate meeting in Jerusalem, a move not supported by the liberal Anglican bishop of that city. The week-long Global Anglican Futures or "Gafcon" conference is set for June, the same month as the Lambeth Conference, and will discuss "the future of mission and relationships within the churches of Anglican Communion".

Conservative Anglican commentator, David W. Virtue, summed up the essential division in the Anglican Communion, writing, "Most of the orthodox will stay away from Lambeth thus saying, in so many words, 'We have had enough and we will discuss what it means to fulfill the Great Commission'. The predominant voices at Lambeth will be liberals, not conservatives, with the loudest most strident left wing voices coming from the U.S., Canada, the UK, Wales, Scotland and Ireland."

Virtue points out that some bishops have worried publicly that if the conservative bishops stay away from Lambeth, the liberals will use it as an opportunity to overthrow Resolution 1:10, the lynchpin resolution of Lambeth 1998 that says sexual behaviour is only appropriate between a husband and wife.

Canadian Anglican Bishop to Priests: Approve Homosexual Blessings or Resign

[Shammu]

Apostasy just keeps on growing, and growing. Its getting easier to see how the one world church will persecute and murder the saints. Embrace apostasy or else!!

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

[Shammu]

Protestant Head, Pope Unite to Close 100th Christian Unity Week
By
Ethan Cole
Christian Post Reporter
Fri, Jan. 25 2008 09:11 AM ET

Representatives of the two largest Christian bodies in the world will come together Friday evening in Rome to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and close the worldwide event.

General secretary Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia of the World Council of Churches – which represents some 560 million Protestant Christians – will meet with Pope Benedict XVI – head of the more than 1-billion-member Roman Catholic Church – for a private meeting and later for an ecumenical Vespers service at the Roman basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

Pope Benedict XVI will preside at the ecumenical service where Kobia will bring greetings on behalf of the fellowship of 347 churches constituting the WCC. The service concludes the traditional Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, celebrated Jan. 18-25 in the northern hemisphere. In the global south, churches favor the days around Pentecost to observe the Christian unity week.

The Roman Catholic Church has been part of the ecumenical event from nearly its inception.

In 1909, the Roman Catholic Pope at the time, Pius X, was approached about joining the event and ended up giving his official blessing to the effort. In 1916, Pope Benedict XV encouraged its observance throughout the Roman Catholic Church.

But it was in 1967 that members from Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches agreed to jointly observe a time of prayer called the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Since 1968, the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity has worked together annually to promote prayer for the unity of Christian churches during the designated week.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the annual event celebrated by millions of Christians worldwide. The theme this year was “Pray Without Ceasing,” taken from I Thessalonians 5:17.

On Friday, Pope Benedict XVI and Kobia will be joined by high-level representatives from both parties for the closing day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Protestant Head, Pope Unite to Close 100th Christian Unity Week

[Shammu]

Countdown Begins to Global Day of Prayer
By
Maria Mackay
Christian Post Correspondent
Sat, Jan. 26 2008 08:59 AM ET

The countdown to the massive Global Day of Prayer (GDOP) event in London began Friday night when hundreds of Christians packed into Westminster Chapel to join in prayer and praise for the capital and the nation.

Around 30,000 Christians are expected to come to Millwall Stadium to pray for the capital and the nation on Pentecost Sunday, May 11, as part of the Global Day of Prayer. The movement brings together millions of Christians each year for a day of repentance and prayer for spiritual revival within the church and the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth.

London organizers include the Bishop of Barking, the Rt. Rev. David Hawkins, and the head of one of London’s largest Pentecostal churches, Pastor Jonathan Oloyede of Glory House.

Oloyede shared the verse in the Bible, 2 Chronicles 7.14, which inspired South African Christian businessman Graham Power to start world prayer for revival just over eight years ago.

The verse reads, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Oloyede continued, “If we do what we are supposed to do then God will do what He has to do.”

“We have to take London for Jesus. We have to take the nation for Jesus,” he added.

This year’s event will build on the huge success of the 2007 GDOP which drew 20,000 Christians to West Ham Stadium to pray.

GDOP London will also fall within a sweep of events around the city this year as part of the Pentecost Festival, which is being spearheaded by Share Jesus International (SJI). On May 9-11, Christians will flood to the capital’s churches, streets, theatres, pubs and cafes for a number of events including worship, prayer, campaigning and social action.

SJI head, Andy Frost, hit home the purpose of Pentecost Festival when he told believers, “The church is not dead. The church is alive and the church is active. We are going to show this nation just what Christians are doing.

“It is about making Jesus famous again and showing who He is in this city. The church is alive and we’ve got a message they need to hear.”

This year, GDOP is being rolled out across the UK, with events planned for Birmingham, Manchester, Cambridge, Derby and Stoke on Trent, where Christians have already signed up for 40 days of continuous prayer for the nation.

In 2007, churches across London prayed 24 hours a day, every day of the year, for the capital and the UK as part of the Year for London. This year, churches in the city are repeating the yearlong action, this time calling it the Canopy of Prayer.

The long-term vision is to take GDOP to Wembley Stadium in 2010. “It will be done in Jesus’ Name,” said Oloyede.

Countdown Begins to Global Day of Prayer

[Shammu]

Churches Decry Israel's Treatment of Gaza
By
Ethan Cole
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Jan. 24 2008 09:10 AM ET

Churches in the Middle East denounced Israel’s blockade of Gaza as an “immoral act” that has cut off the entire country from proper food and medicine.

The Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, called the blockade of Gaza “illegal collective punishment, an immoral act in violation of the basic human and natural laws as well as International Law,” in a statement issued Jan. 22 – a day before Hamas militants destroyed the Gaza-Egypt barrier.

Younan and other Holy Land church leaders added that the blockade “cannot be tolerated anymore” and “the siege over Gaza should end now.”

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak had ordered the strip sealed off Jan. 17 because of persistent rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. But on Tuesday, the same day the letter was issued, Israel eased the blockade slightly transferring fuel to restart Gaza’s only power plant, according to The Associated Press.

“To deny children and civilians their necessary basic commodities are not the ways to security but rather throw the region into further and more dangerous deterioration. This siege will not guarantee the end to rocket firing, but will only increase the bitterness and suffering and invite more revenge, while the innocents keep dying,” the statement admonished.

The blockade “imprisoned” 1.5 million people “without proper food or medicine,” the church leaders voiced with concern. The punishment left large parts of the Palestinian territory, which also borders Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, without access to electricity.

True to the church leaders’ words, a week after the blockade Hamas-linked militants knocked down the border wall separating Gaza and Egypt. On Wednesday, more than 50,000 Palestinians flooded into Egypt to stock up on needed supplies such as bread, oil, cheese, according to The Associated Press. Others carried crates of Coca-Cola, television sets, tires, furniture, car parts, shoes, generators, cleaning products, goats, chicken, cigarettes and even a motorcycle.

Egyptian officials as of Thursday have not attempted to reseal the broken border. Authorities have only begun to try to control the masses so they don’t move deeper into Egypt.

U.S. and Arab officials said Wednesday that Egypt assured it would soon reseal its border with Gaza, according to AP.

Yet despite sympathy for trapped Gazans, the Christian leaders also acknowledged that Palestinians firing rockets at Israel give reason for people to see justification in the blockade.

The leaders advised Palestinian officials “to unite in ending their differences for the sake of their people in Gaza.”

“Put the differences aside and deal with this crisis for the good of all human beings, demonstrating that you care for your brothers and sisters who have suffered enough already,” they said.

"We pray for the day when the people of Gaza will be free from occupation, from political differences, from violence and from despair. We pray for the Israelis and Palestinians to respect human life and God's love for every human life, and to take all possible measures to end this suffering," said the church leaders.

Heads of churches in the Mideast that signed the statement included (Roman Catholic) Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, Patriarch Torkom II Manooghian of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Archbishop Anba Abraham of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate and Anglican Bishop Suheil Dawani.

Egypt reportedly told the United States it expected the Palestinian exodus from Gaza to end by midday Thursday.

Churches Decry Israel's Treatment of Gaza

[Shammu]

Christians to Protest Outside ESPN HQ Over Anti-Jesus Remarks
By
Alex Sheffrin
Christian Post Contributor
Fri, Jan. 25 2008 10:06 AM ET

Christian groups will gather Friday afternoon for a demonstration and prayer vigil outside the headquarters of ESPN over their disapproval with how the television network has responded to the anti-Jesus remarks made recently by one of their anchorwomen.

Though news anchor Dana Jacobson has been temporally suspended for one week for her Jan. 11 tirade – which reportedly included “**** Jesus” – many Christian groups feel that ESPN has been slow and reluctant to claim responsibility.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue noted that when late sportscaster Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder made disparaging remarks about blacks during a 1988 interview, he was immediately fired by CBS.

"It is obvious, then, that neither Jacobson nor ESPN is dealing with this matter in a professional way," Donohue said in a released statement.

The Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, which plans to lead Friday’s demonstration, also holds a similar view and believes that there is a double standard in the media towards Christians.

"Imagine the outrage if Ms. Jacobson said, '**** Mohammed,' '**** Jews,' or '**** African Americans,'” he said in a released statement. “We would simply ask that the parent company of ESPN, ABC, treat this incident the same way they did when Isaiah Washington publicly used the word 'fag' when referring to a cast member. A week suspension is simply not enough and sends a message that ESPN tolerates this kind of behavior and speech."

Jacobson made her anti-Jesus remarks during a Jan. 11 roast in Atlantic City.

She was reportedly intoxicated during the incident, talking vulgarly about Jesus and a colleague’s alma mater, Notre Dame.

The Press of Atlantic City described Jacobson during the incident as “… swilling vodka from a Belvedere bottle, mumbling along and cursing like a sailor.”

Both ESPN and Jacobson have apologized for the incident.

“Her actions and comments were inappropriate and we've dealt with it," ESPN spokesman Josh Drulewitz said.

Jacobson also released her own statement.

"My remarks about Notre Dame were foolish and insensitive. I respect all religions and did not mean anything derogatory by my poorly chosen words," she explained.

Despite the apologies, some Christians are not yet ready to put the incident behind them.

“Although the faith community can forgive and extend mercy to Ms. Jacobson, she still must assume full responsibility and accept the consequences for her hate-filled rhetoric," Mahoney stated.

Jacobson, a graduate of the University of Michigan and co-host of ESPN's “First Take,” joined ESPN as a regular news anchor in 2002. Per her suspension, she has not appeared on TV this week.

Friday’s demonstration outside the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., was scheduled to begin at noon.

Christians to Protest Outside ESPN HQ Over Anti-Jesus Remarks

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Methodists To Mull Divestment From Israel

BY SETH GITELL - Special to the Sun
January 24, 2008

The nation's largest and most prominent mainline Protestant denomination, the 11 million-member United Methodist Church — whose members include both President Bush and Senator Clinton — is set to take up the issue of whether to divest from companies that do business with Israel.

The meeting, which is to be held on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas, will mark the highest level of consideration that the subject of economic divestment from the Jewish state has received within the Methodist denomination.

Key questions hanging over the event will be whether the church will decide to use its $16 billion pension fund as an economic tool against Israel, and whether divestment would shatter the church's traditional relationship with American Jews.

If the church moves ahead with a divestment resolution on the national level, the denomination would become the largest Protestant group to embrace such a measure. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, which has 2.4 million members, voted in favor of such a measure in 2004. Another important liberal denomination, the United Church of Christ, went in the other direction last summer when it opted to engage in a "balanced study" of the Middle East conflict.

"I would counsel a bit of humility. I wonder how much the voice of the United Methodist Church even has in foreign policy or Middle East policy," an executive with the church's General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, the Reverend W. Douglas Mills, told The New York Sun. "I'm concerned about protecting our relationships."

Rev. Mills will be one of four speakers from a variety of perspectives who will address a crowd of church delegates and others at the event later this week and will speak against divestment.

Another speaker will be a member of the New England Conference's Divestment Task Force, Susanne Hoder. She also headed an informational gathering on the Middle East in June, which gave attendees the opportunity to "learn how these companies profit from Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands," "examine the impact of the occupation on Israeli and Palestinian society," give an "update on Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Gaza," "discuss apartheid in Israel and the occupied territories, and learn how many organizations, including churches, municipalities, and Jewish groups, are using economic measures to end it."

The New England Conference came out in favor of divestment three years ago, and in June of last year, it released a report urging divestment from 20 specific companies with business interests in Israel, including Blockbuster, General Dynamics, and General Electric.

Rev. Mills said he supported the church keeping a "balanced perspective" on the Middle East. "I would prefer to have, for example, shareholder activism in companies, rather than have no voice at all, which is what you have when you're not a shareholder," he said. Titled "Divestment, the Middle East, and Sudan," the Friday meeting in Texas will be part of a larger assembly beginning today and ending on Saturday in anticipation of the church's general conference in April.

The general conference in April will be the first national legislative gathering of the church since two of its regional groupings — the New England Conference and Virginia United Methodists — passed pro-divestment resolutions in 2005.

While the church did not provide a copy of specific legislation likely to be brought up at the church's general conference in April, the Friday session is an indicator that divestment will be on the Methodist agenda.

"As far as legislation for the conference, I don't believe it's available yet," a spokeswoman for the United Methodist Church, Diane Denton, said. "The briefing [in Texas] is to provide delegates and others with information on issues expected to arise on general conference. It will be up to the conference to determine what if any action may be taken on this issue." Coming out in favor of divestment would likely damage the church's ability to work with American Jewish groups.

"For another church to start down this road is very dangerous and very harmful to the relationship between the Jewish community and the mainline Protestant churches," the American Jewish Committee's U.S. director of interreligious affairs, Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, said.

Rabbi Greenebaum plans to travel to Forth Worth for the meeting. "These are churches that traditionally the Jewish community has gotten along with very well."

It would also likely have consequences for members of the church who favor a different approach. "I love my denomination, and I think this is a stupid move," a senior minister at the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto, the Reverend Archer Summers, said. Rev. Summers, who plans to attend the April conference, is an executive committee member of Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East, a group of mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics who seek to inject fairness into the discussion of the issue.

A lifelong member of the Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church in Cambridge, Mass., John Regier, opposed the New England Conference's resolution, and will try to convince his pastor — who will attend the conference — to vote against divestment measures. "The resolution is premised on the idea that the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians is all Israel's fault," Mr. Regier said. "I think the situation is far more complicated than that."

Methodists To Mull Divestment From Israel

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 Methodist Lobby Office Unveiling Anti-Israel Divestment Proposal This Week in Fort Worth

"The United Methodist church is discussing anti-Israel divestment when other church groups are moving in the opposite direction. Even if anti-Israel divestment were constructive, which it's not, why jump on a stalled band wagon?" -- Mark Tooley, Executive Director UMAction

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- The 7.9 million member United Methodist Church's official lobby office is urging church agencies and members to divest their holdings in Caterpillar, Inc for doing business with Israel. The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society will unveil its proposal this Friday in Fort Worth, Texas before leading delegates of the church's governing General Conference in April 2008.

Several United Methodist regional conferences have endorsed anti-Israel divestment. The only major U.S. denomination actively to endorse anti-Israel divestment was the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which, after enormous controversy over two years, revoked its divestment policy in 2006.

United Methodist Communications is sponsoring the quadrennial Pre-General Conference News Briefing for first-elected delegates and communicators this week. The event is for participants who wish to prepare for the 2008 General Conference.

IRD Director of UMAction Mark Tooley commented:

"Like other Religious Left agencies, the United Methodist lobby office thinks that U.S. pressure against Israel is the magic key for a peace settlement. The reality is more complicated, and Israel is not the exclusive obstacle to Middle East peace.

"The United Methodist church is discussing anti-Israel divestment when other church groups have moved in the opposite direction. Even if anti-Israel divestment were constructive, which it's not, why jump on a stalled band wagon?

"Delegates to the United Methodist General Conference should examine a 2006 resolution approved by United Methodism's Pacific Northwest Conference. It noted that 'some church groups have selectively advocated divestment of firms doing business with Israel while ignoring severe human rights abuses by the governments of Israel's neighbors,' affirmed the Jewish state as 'nearly the only long-standing democracy among its neighbors in the Middle East,' and declared that 'selective attention to Israel's mistakes will not create peace in the Middle East.'"

Methodist Lobby Office Unveiling Anti-Israel Divestment Proposal This Week in Fort Worth

[Shammu]

Phony, ignorant Christians
Posted: January 25, 2008
1:00 a.m. Eastern
WorldNetDaily
By Joseph Farah
© 2008

Paul warned us about times like this and the way people – including those claiming to be professing Christians – would act.

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away," he writes in 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

And a chapter later (2 Timothy 4:3-4) adds: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

I strongly believe Paul had in mind the kind of people who run major Protestant denominations like the United Methodist Church.

Today, at an event in Fort Worth, Texas, leaders of the denomination, which boasts membership by President Bush and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, will consider divesting from all companies that do business with Israel.

To say that even considering such an action is hateful, unbiblical, anti-Christian and evil would be an understatement.

(Column continues below)

It's not even understandable except in the context of the kind of morally blind apostasy described by Paul.

Nevertheless, because so many people in our world do not know better and could easily be fooled by such discussions, let me explain in simple terms where the Methodists, and the Presbyterian Church USA and the United Church of Christ before them, are going wrong.

By calling for divestment from one nation in the world, the Methodists are suggesting in the strongest terms possible that Israel is the worst of the world's nations with regard to human rights.

As far as I know, the Methodists have no similar divestment plans for Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Zimbabwe, Cuba, China or any other of dozens of tyrannical hellholes I could name. Israel is their only target.

That in itself is unbelievable. It shows how perverse this action really is. You have to believe up is down, left is right, black is white and right is wrong to accept such a bizarre concept.

The problem with these people is not that they don't understand the Middle East. It is simply that they are no longer able to tell right from wrong. They are no longer able to distinguish between good and evil. They are no longer able to see the difference between freedom and tyranny. They are no longer able to judge between criminal and victim.

They have, in short, completely lost their moral bearings.

This is no longer a church; it is an organization of misguided political activism. This is no longer a house of God; it is a mad house. This is no longer part of the bride of Christ; it is a whore to the world.

I know these are tough words, for which I am sure to be criticized by some of my Christian friends.

Let me say this. We have many problems in this country that need to be addressed first and foremost by the church. So often, I hear church leaders say that their commitment is exclusively to spreading the Gospel, not in making moral pronouncements, not in teaching right from wrong, not in applying the lessons of Scripture to the direction of our nation and world.

Too often the church allows itself to be intimidated by the world, subjugated by tax laws, seduced by government, cowed by the doctrine of feel-good liberalism.

That's what has happened to the Methodists and the Presbyterian Church USA and some other major denominations.

I would urge anyone still associated with the Methodists to divest yourself and your family from this institution. Divest it of your tithes and offerings. Divest it from your last will and testament. Divest it from your time and volunteer work. Divest your children from its Sunday school classes.

For those pastors leading Methodist churches who understand where your denomination is heading, it's time to pack up and divest yourself of links to the denomination.

The biblical principle at stake is the one about avoiding relationships in which we are unequally yoked. As Paul would say, avoid such people and institutions that have turned their backs on God, on the Bible, on what is right, on what is moral.

It's separation time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By calling for divestment from one nation in the world, the Methodists are suggesting in the strongest terms possible that Israel is the worst of the world's nations with regard to human rights. As far as I know, the Methodists have no similar divestment plans for Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Zimbabwe, Cuba, China.

Have you seen anywhere in the articles where anyone questions them on how the bible instructs us 'those that bless Israel will be blessed, and those that curse them, will be cursed'?

I wonder what their answer would be to that question.

Another thought, why are Church's in the business of investing money? That maybe that is common practice but me personally would rather it was given away to the poor.

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Gandhi's Grandson Angers Jewish Community

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Jan. 26, 2008(AP) Arun Gandhi said he learned at his grandfather's feet that the world's major conflicts can only be tackled by first solving the little problems.

"It's the little problems that accumulate and become big problems," the fifth grandson of revered pacifist Mahatma Gandhi said when he moved his M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence to the University of Rochester last June.

Now, intemperate remarks about Israel and Jews being "the biggest players" in a global culture of violence have gotten Gandhi removed as president of the peace center he launched in 1991.

"My intention was to generate a healthy discussion on the proliferation of violence," Gandhi said Friday, a day after the institute's board accepted his resignation. "Instead, unintentionally, my words have resulted in pain, anger, confusion and embarrassment. I deeply regret these consequences."

The institute offers courses, workshops and seminars on nonviolence and will "continue its mission" at the University of Rochester, which provides office space and staff support, said the school's president, Joel Seligman.

Gandhi co-founded the center with his wife, Sunanda, at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tenn., and relocated it to the Rochester campus a few months after her death last February.

Gandhi's resignation "was appropriate" because his remarks "did not reflect the core values" of either the university or the institute, Seligman said in a statement. But a forum will be held later this year to allow Gandhi to discuss issues he raised with Jewish community leaders and other speakers, Seligman said.

"I think it's shameful that a peace institute would be headed up by a bigot," said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, an international group that opposes anti-Semitism. "One would hope that the grandson of such an illustrious human being would be more sensitive to Jewish history."

Gandhi was on a panel of scholars, writers and clergy who discuss a new topic weekly on the Washington Post's "On Faith" page and his comments, posted Jan. 7, drew a torrent of criticism, much of it unfavorable.

Gandhi wrote that Jewish identity "has been locked into the holocaust experience - a German burden that the Jews have not been able to shed. It is a very good example of (how) a community can overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends.

"The holocaust was the result of the warped mind of an individual who was able to influence his followers into doing something dreadful. ... The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on, the regret turns into anger."

Describing Israel as "a nation that believes its survival can only be ensured by weapons and bombs," Gandhi asked whether it would "not be better to befriend those who hate you?"

"Apparently, in the modern world so determined to live by the bomb, this is an alien concept," he wrote. "You don't befriend anyone, you dominate them. We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity."

Gandhi later apologized "for my poorly worded post," saying he shouldn't have implied that Israeli government policies reflected the views of all Jewish people.

"I do believe that when a people hold on to historic grievances too firmly it can lead to bitterness and the loss of support from those who would be friends," he wrote in a follow-up.

While emphasizing that Jewish suffering, particularly in the Holocaust, "was historic in its proportions" and that "it is also important not to forget the past, lest we fail to learn from it," he stood by his criticism of "the use of violence by recent Israeli governments."

"I have criticized the governments of the U.S., India and China in much the same way," he said, adding that "I want to correct statements that I made with insufficient care, and that have inflicted unnecessary hurt and caused anger."

The institute's research library contains multiple photographs, audio and videotapes, and 100 volumes of writings by his grandfather, who led India to independence in 1947 and was assassinated by a Hindu hard-liner in January 1948.

Gandhi's Grandson Angers Jewish Community