Devotional: Receive every day as a resurrection

Receive every day as a resurrection from death, as a new enjoyment of life; meet every rising sun with such sentiments of God's goodness, as if you had seen it, and all things, new-created upon your account: and under the sense of so great a blessing, let your joyful heart praise and magnify so good and glorious a Creator. ...William Law image

TLC: Presiding Bishop: San Joaquin ‘Could Become a Pattern for Other Places’

March 31, 2008

About 500 people from 18 congregations gathered at St. John the Baptist Church in Lodi, Calif., March 29 to declare themselves the representatives of The Episcopal Church in California’s Central Valley and to elect a provisional bishop.

Delegates were certified from 17 congregations previously belonging to the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin; 42 former Episcopal congregations had no delegates certified.

The action by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the remaining parishioners could become a model for dealing with breakaway dioceses, Bishop Jefferts Schori told TLC during a break in the convention.

“This is the first time this has happened, but it could become a pattern for other places,” she said. the rest

Evangelicals less likely to divorce-Barna survey

Mar 31, 2008
by Michael Foust

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Evangelicals are less likely than the overall population to divorce, although one out of every four evangelicals who are or have been married nevertheless have gone through at least one divorce, according to a new study by The Barna Group.

The telephone survey found that, among all U.S. adults who have been married, 33 percent have been divorced at least once. By comparison, 26 percent of evangelicals who have been married have been divorced. The poll did not ask evangelicals whether the divorce occurred before or after their salvation experience. the rest image

Barack Obama Would Back Daughters' Abortion, "Don't Punish Them With a Baby"

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 31, 2008

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Barack Obama is drawing gasps from pro-life advocates today over comments he made during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania over the weekend. The leading Democratic presidential candidate appeared to back a potential decision by his daughters to seek an abortion saying he wouldn't "punish" them with a baby.

Obama's comments came in the context of off-the-cuff remarks addressing the issue of AIDS. the rest

Philanthropists ensure gay community's future

Anastasia Ustinova, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, March 31, 2008

On a recent Thursday morning, Joseph Rosenthal, 77, drove from his barn-red, four-story house on Buena Vista Terrace to a lawyer's office in the Castro, where he quietly transferred a substantial part of his estate to the endowment fund of the Horizon Foundation, a grant-giving organization for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

"I have almost no family living at this time," said Rosenthal, a retired librarian. "Certainly, not having children prompts one to consider other options, such as supporting charitable organizations in the area of my particular interest." the rest

SAN JOAQUIN: Episcopal Church in Cyber War. Diocesan Website Disappears

Presiding Bishop Says She Plans to Reconstitute Diocese, Revise Canons
By David W. Virtue
3/31/2008

The Episcopal Church has engaged in a cyber war resulting in the disappearance of the website of the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin. Seekers are redirected to the diocesan website of the reconstituted TEC Diocese of San Joaquin.

The website just disappeared, an irate searcher told VirtueOnline. Visitors to www.sanjoaquin.anglican.org - the website of the (Southern Cone) Diocese of San Joaquin - are magically redirected to the new website for the reconstituted TEC diocese, at www.diosanjoaquin.org. The Society of Archbishop Justus is the custodian of www.anglican.org, of which www.sanjoaquin.anglican.org is a sub-domain. While the Anglican Domain web site is not official in any way, it is produced and sponsored by the Society of Archbishop Justus as a global resource, the website states.

Bill Gandenberger, Canon to the Ordinary to Bishop John-David Schofield, in an interview with VOL, attributed the problem to an improperly "published" website, making it vulnerable to attack. "We had an address under an anglican.org isp, which came under the control of the Episcopal Church. Our site is safe at present, but people may not be able to find us." It can be found here: http://www.sjoaquin.net/

The hijacked cyber link now run by the Episcopal Church claims 14 parishes in their reconstructed diocese, now under the authority of the Rt. Rev. Jerry Lamb.

the rest at Virtueonline

Is God silenced on college campuses?

Or is the conversation simply changing?
By Tom Krattenmaker

The moment had, on the surface, a Nixon-goes-to-China quality.

Filmmaker Dan Merchant stood before an auditorium of students assembled for the first campus screening of his forthcoming movie, Lord Save Us From Your Followers. Merchant, a Christian, was at Lewis & Clark College, a school in Portland, Ore., deemed by the Princeton Review college guide to be one of the least religious in the USA.

Yet one conspicuous reality defied a key premise of the event from the moment the college chaplain brought Merchant to the stage: Students packed the good-sized hall, overflowing into the aisles and entry ways, for a chance to see what most knew was a Christian-themed movie with a Gospel message. the rest image

Dutch Doctors Turning to Terminal Sedation Over Euthanasia

March 28, 2008

Demonstrating the subversive nature of the euthanasia/assisted suicide movement on proper medical care, Dutch doctors are switching from lethally injecting patients to sedating them into a permanent coma so they die by dehydration over a period of days or weeks. This is the angle being taken in new proposals in CA and Vermont, demonstrating that what we are really dealing with here is a form of euthanasia. the rest image

German Jews sever ties with pope

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL,
JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT, BERLIN
Mar 31, 2008

The German tabloid Bild splashed its broadsheet with "We Are the Pope" to announce the selection of the Bavarian-born Joseph Ratzinger as the successor to Pope John Paul II in 2005.

Three years later, the feel-good headline has turned into a disappointment for many Catholics and Jews. A theological row over the pope's decision to use a rare Latin prayer for Good Friday, which urges Jews to convert to Catholicism, has prompted the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, to sever relations with the Catholic Church. the rest

George Weigel on Benedict's U.S. Trip

March 31, 2008

Excerpt:

"Americans interested in hearing what the pope actually has to say about the United States and its role in the world, and about the deeper issues of world politics, should pay particularly close attention to Benedict’s remarks at the White House welcoming ceremony on April 16 and his address to the U.N. General Assembly on April 18. Far from playing Jeremiah against the Great Satan Bush, Benedict XVI is going to teach the world a lesson about moral reason as the “grammar” by which the world can have a conversation about the world’s future. There are truths built into the world and into us, he will remind Americans and the U.N.; thinking together about those truths is one way to change noise into conversation and incomprehension into dialogue. "

Full Commentary

Britain's Mean Streets

Excerpt:

"The boys and girls who casually pick fights, have sex and keep the emergency services fully occupied are often fueled by cheap booze. British youngsters drink their Continental European counterparts under the table: in 2003, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), 27% of British 15-year-olds had been drunk 20 times or more, compared to 12% of young Germans, 6% of Netherlands youth and only 3% of young French. British kids were also involved more frequently in fights (44% in the U.K. to 28% in Germany). They are more likely to try drugs or start smoking young. English girls are the most sexually active in Europe. More of them are having sex aged 15 or younger, and more than 15% fail to use contraception when they do — which means that Britain has high rates of both teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Small wonder, then, that a 2007 UNICEF study of child wellbeing in 21 industrialized countries placed Britain firmly at the bottom of the table.

None of those indicators are good, but it's the increase in nasty teenage crime that really has Britain spooked. Violent offenses by British under-18s rose 37% in the three years to 2006." the rest Anglican Mainstream

Admissions of Failure-Corrections in Crisis

By Chuck Colson
3/31/2008

Thirty-three years ago, after serving seven months for my role in the Watergate scandal, I walked out of prison a free man. Not entirely free however, because I just could not get out of my mind the men I had met in prison—the hundreds of thousands like them in prisons across the country.

So, in 1977, with the agreement and great support of my wife, Patty, and some dear Christian friends, I started Prison Fellowship. Little could I have imagined back then that Prison Fellowship would one day be the largest Christian outreach to prisoners in the world. the rest

This commentary is part one of a four-part series.

World's oldest audio recording

-gives Edison's rival his moment of glory
Peter Beaumont
The Observer
Sunday March 30 2008

For the researchers at Stanford University who listened to it at the meeting for the Association of Record Sound Collections, it was a voice recovered from the depths of history, a scratchy snippet of a singer recorded on 9 April 1860 in France.

It is a voice that - as last week ended - was all but drowned out by the giggles of a corpsing BBC presenter. Yet what was achieved was remarkable by any counts. For what those researchers had done was to play back the oldest audio recording ever made, a voice captured 17 years before Thomas Edison patented the phonograph. And on a device conceived by a French inventor.

Unearthed in the French Academy of Sciences, the sound was recorded by inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville who transcribed the singer's voice into a visual rather than an auditory record of sound. the rest image

Au Clair de la Lune--French folk song -very scratchy!

Bishop delivers "healing" message

National Episcopal leader uses Riverbank pulpit to comfort splintered diocese
By INGA MILLER

March 31, 2008

RIVERBANK -- The national leader of the Episcopal Church preached a message of healing on Sunday at Christ the King Community Episcopal Church.

The sermon by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, leader of 2.4 million Episcopalians, came a day after the church's leadership met in Lodi to replace the nation's first breakaway bishop.

It installed Jerry A. Lamb, retired bishop of Northern California, to replace Bishop John-David Schofield, who in December led the Diocese of San Joaquin to leave the ECUSA and come under the authority of the Anglican Communion in South America. The split was sparked by the 2003 ordination of a gay bishop and over the interpretation of Scripture. The Anglican Communion is the worldwide body; the Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the church.

Albert Mohler: Digital Natives and Digital Nomads

-- New Tribes of the Internet Age
Monday, March 31, 2008

Observers of cultural change in America have assumed for some time now that the vast technological advances of the digital age would shape the worldviews of coming generations. That future is our present as the generation of youth and young adults now shaping the culture of business and higher education is in full technological overdrive.

Writing in The Times [London], Fleur Britten tells of a class of "Digital Nomads" who dwell in coffee shops and wherever wireless hotspots are found. These new workers are a professional class that needs no office and have nothing but a digital address. They simply do not need the superstructure of the old economy. the rest image

More Floridians becoming single mothers by choice

By Jamie Malernee South Florida Sun-Sentinel
March 31, 2008

Lisa Bell spent years looking for Mr. Right.

At 36, she stopped pining, and soon found the love of her life:Her daughter, Emily.

Today, the girl is 3, with big brown eyes and a head of curls.

"I finally accepted that Mr. Right — or even Mr. So-So — wasn't coming," said Bell, 41, of Delray Beach. "I always knew I wanted to be a mother, so it was, 'OK, I'm going to do this.' "

Bell belongs to the South Florida chapter of a club called Single Mothers by Choice. The group's members are women who have decided to have children without a partner. They often go to great lengths — choosing donor sperm and going through expensive and painful fertility treatments, or hacking through the paperwork jungle of the adoption process — to do so. the rest

UK: Faithful 'crammed into churches'

Sunday, 30 March 2008

Evangelical and Pentecostal churches in London say restrictive planning regulations have left many worshippers crammed into small buildings.

The denominations have seen rapid growth and an estimated 350 London churches want bigger premises.

A report by CAG Consultants said that a "huge unmet need for expansion" has been held back by lack of cultural awareness among planning authorities.

Churches want rules changed to let them move to areas earmarked for employment. the rest

Devotional: To Touch Jesus

It is possible now to touch Jesus by seeking him at the Father's side and allowing him to draw us after him on his journey. To touch is to worship, and brings with it a mission. That is why Thomas may touch him: the presentation of Jesus' wounds to Thomas is meant not to cause the Passion to be forgotten but, on the contrary, to make it unforgettable. Jesus' action is a call to the mission of witnessing. Consequently, too, Thomas' touching turns onto an act of worship: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28) The entire Gospel has been leading up to this moment in which the touching of Jesus, the touching of the mortal wounds of him whom the powers of this world had crushed, becomes a recognition of God's glory. Now that he has passed through death, Jesus belongs to all human beings. We can touch him only by entering upon his way, only by ascending with him and, in union with the Father and the Son, belonging to all. The attempt to hold on to him is replaced by a mission: "Go to my brethren" (John 20:17)
...Pope Benedict XVI image

Robert Munday: My love / hate relationship with megachurches

Sunday, March 30, 2008

For nine years before I became an Episcopal priest, I was a Baptist minister, serving part of that time on the staff of Bellevue Baptist Church, in Memphis, Tennessee, which was then one of the largest congregations in the United States. The late Dr. Adrian Rogers was the senior pastor under whose ministry I was licensed and ordained. Adrian Rogers died a little over two years ago, but you can still hear his broadcasts on Christian radio stations in many cities; and his ministry continues at Love Worth Finding. I will always be indebted for what I learned during those years at Bellevue.

Many people I know today speak derisively of "megachurches" and attribute their tremendous growth to gimmics and shallow preaching. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truly great megachurches have reached their present size through: (1) articulate, relevant, biblically faithful preaching; (2) effective ministries for children and youth; (3) small groups to help men and women grow in personal discipleship. Congregations of any size could benefit from doing these things. the rest

Christian girls menaced by Hinduvatna hooligans

Christian girls menaced by Hinduvatna hooligans
A group of Evangelical Christians was menaced by a group of men believed to be Hindu nationalists who demanded that their daughters be given to them. An elderly couple was couple was beaten with rods and stones.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
By Chandra Kant Shourie

On 22nd March 2008, at around noon, a group of nine men from the village Bahera, came to the residence of certain Brij Lal, armed with rods and sticks and stones, and very drunk and attacked a group of Christians gathered there.The attackers are believed to be belonging to Hindutva extremist group. the rest

Church's music leads to lawsuits

It says township violated its rights; neighbor says volume too high
BY JOHN WISELY • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • March 30, 2008

To a church neighbor and local police, it's a matter of peace on Earth.

The church, on Airport Road south of Williams Lake Road, is suing the township, accusing officials of using police to raid the church to quiet its worship in violation of the First Amendment right to freely exercise religion.

"Uniformed Waterford police officers raided ... without a search warrant, arrest warrant or on any other legal authority, detained Pastor Mark Kerr, interrogated him and seized his driver's license," according to the lawsuit filed earlier this month in federal court in Detroit. The actions of police have had a chilling effect on worship, the suit claims. the rest

TLC: Presiding Bishop Seeking Quicker Way to Intervene Before Other Dioceses Leave

March 29, 2008

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori made it clear Friday night that she will direct The Episcopal Church to move ahead to reconstitute the Diocese of San Joaquin and to establish control over church property swiftly. In addition, she said, she intends to begin the process of revising the denomination’s canons to allow it to deal more expeditiously with breakaway bishops.

“I expect to see revisions to the canons to deal with situations like the one that you have been living with in San Joaquin for several years,” she said. the rest

Anglican church appoints new Archbishop

March 30, 2008

The Anglican Church of South Africa has installed a new Archbishop. The new church leader, Reverend Thabo Makgoba, 48, is said to be the youngest person to be elected head of the 160-year-old Anglican Church in South Africa.

After his anointment by fellow bishops, including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Makgoba pledged to work for peace, justice and reconciliation in a changing world. the rest

Kids openly gay earlier than ever

By Patricia Farrell Aidem, Staff Writer
03/26/2008

When a gay teenager was gunned down earlier this year at an Oxnard school, the violence resulted in the unexpected: Young people, gay and straight, rallied across the nation for civil rights.

And even at an age when they're grappling with their own fragile sexuality, teens weren't afraid to stand up for the classmate who had been different.

"In middle school, you don't think about your own sexuality so much as you think of what society thinks is normal for kids, and you try to blend in," said 18-year-old Luis Roman, a gay community college student and youth leader for the Gay-Straight Alliance, an advocacy group active on high school and middle school campuses. the rest

McDonald's signs onto 'gay' agenda

Muslims more numerous than Catholics: Vatican

Sun Mar 30, 2008

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism as the biggest single religious denomination in the world, the Vatican said on Sunday.

Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who compiled the Vatican's newly-released 2008 yearbook of statistics, said Muslims made up 19.2 percent of the world's population and Catholics 17.4 percent.

"For the first time in history we are no longer at the top: the Muslims have overtaken us," Formenti told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano in an interview, saying the data referred to 2006. the rest

Episcopal Diocese of Maryland elects Sutton as its 14th bishop

Canon pastor of Washington National Cathedral will be first African-American leader of the diocese
By Tyeesha Dixon Sun reporter
March 29, 2008

Maryland Episcopalians elected the the Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, canon pastor of Washington National Cathedral, as the state diocese's 14th bishop today.

Sutton is the first African-American elected to lead the diocese in its 227-year history. The Maryland diocese has about 44,000 baptized members.

Sutton, 54, also works as director of the Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage. the rest

Devotional: The love I bear Christ...

The love I bear Christ is but a faint and feeble spark, but it is an emanation from himself: He kindled it and he keeps it alive; and because it is his work, I trust many waters shall not quench it. ...John Newton image

Not Your Father's L'Abri

The Swiss retreat now tends less to philosophical skeptics than to disaffected evangelicals.
Molly Worthen
3/28/2008

Amelia Hendrix, a tall brunette and the daughter of a Presbyterian Church in America minister, has spent her life as "a poster child for the church." Toward the end of her four years at the University of Tennessee, however, that role proved harder to play. Her "Christian bubble" dissipated as friends from church got married, and she found herself befriending people with different values: non-Christians, gay students, and pot smokers at the record store where she worked.

At university, Amelia took classes on modern American religion. "That was eye-opening," she said. "I did a lot on Jerry Falwell, the conservative party, and the consolidating of the Christian right. It made me question everything I'd been taught. I was raised conservative, pro-life, anti-gay; I was taught that Christians should be in power. I came out thinking nothing I was taught had been right." the rest

Students of Virginity

By RANDALL PATTERSON
March 30, 2008

There was a time when not having sex consumed a very small part of Janie Fredell’s life, but that, of course, was back in Colorado Springs. It seemed to Fredell that almost no one had sex in Colorado Springs. Her hometown was extremely conservative, and as a good Catholic girl, she was annoyed by all the fundamentalist Christians who would get in her face and demand, as she put it to me recently, “You have to think all of these things that we think.” They seemed not to know that she thought many of those things already. At her public high school, everyone, “literally everyone,” wore chastity rings, Fredell recalled, but she thought the practice ridiculous. Why was it necessary, she wondered, to signify you’re not doing something that nobody is doing? the rest

Episcopal bishop elected in disputed California diocese

Sat. Mar 29, 2008

LODI, California (Reuters) - A bishop loyal to the U.S. Episcopal Church was elected on Saturday to replace the deposed leader of a California diocese that was the first to break away over the church's support for gay and women's rights.

At a special convention at St. John the Baptist Church in Lodi, local delegates voted Bishop Jerry Lamb, 67, head of the divided 47-church San Joaquin diocese, which stretches from Stockton to Bakersfield in California's central valley.

Lamb immediately named three women priests -- the region's first -- and called for "dialogue" with church members about including gay and lesbians in local congregations as part of what he said would be his policy of "opening the doors wide." the rest image

Episcopal diocese reorganizes in Lodi, might allow gay priests

Church of Nigeria Executive Committee gives unanimous support for GAFCON

March 29th, 2008

Here: Anglican Mainstream

Full Communique

Psalms offer source of inspiration for prayer

Worshipers turn to ancient Hebrew verses to discover a powerful tool for intimacy with God.
By K. Connie Kang, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 29, 2008

The Psalms, says theologian Eugene H. Peterson, are God's gift to those who want to learn how to pray.

"If we wish to develop our entire heart, mind, soul and strength, the Psalms are necessary," the author of the bestselling "Message Bible" writes in "Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer." "We cannot bypass the Psalms." the rest image

Uganda: Gay Row - U.S. Pastor Supports Country On Boycott

29 March 2008
Evelyn Lirri
Kampala

FAMED American pastor, Dr Rick Warren has said he supports the decision by Ugandan bishops to boycott the forthcoming Lamebth conference in England, United Kingdom.

The conference brings together Bishops of the Anglican Communion from all 38 Provinces of the Communion every 10 years.

"The Church of England is wrong and I support the Church of Uganda(CoU) on the boycott,"Dr Warren said on Thursday shortly after arriving in Uganda.

The Bishops are protesting the Church of England's tolerance a homosexuality. Announcing the boycott in February, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said that Uganda's action had been prompted by the invitation of bishops of The US Episcopal Church (TEC) who in 2003 elected as bishop, Gene Robinson, a divorced man living in an active homosexual relationship. the rest

Greek study shows kids afraid to report porn

Friday, March 28, 2008
By Achilleas Topas

Nine out of ten Greek parents do not know how to protect their children from online child pornography, according to research conducted by the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.

Leila Ben Debba, manager at the centre, who has conducted research regarding child pornography disseminated through Greek sites, says the findings are alarming.

"Generally, Greek parents do not guide their children or monitor how they use the internet and mobile phones. Parents focus more on the cost of the internet and mobile use, while 56 percent of parents do not know whom to report harmful internet content," she says.
the rest image

Gays Still Looking for Love from Christians

By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Mar. 19 2008

To this day, the gay and lesbian community is looking to the Church for some verifiable evidence that Christians love homosexuals as they say they do, said a former gay activist.

Many Christians use the phrase "We hate the sin but we love the sinner" when responding to the homosexual community. But if the Church is going to continue to use that cliché, the burden of proof is on us, said Joe Dallas, program director of Genesis Counseling – a Tustin, Calif.-based ministry to men struggling with sexual addiction and homosexuality.

The Church must provide verifiable evidence of its hatred of sin of homosexuality and love for the homosexual, he explained at a past Love Won Out conference in Orlando, Fla. Dallas’ session was aired on Focus on the Family's radio broadcast on Tuesday.

"We have responsibility to be consistent to live what we preach," he said. the rest

Dealing with turmoil

Saturday, March 29, 2008
By HEATHER TRAVIS

Rev. David Fuller believes his church is strong enough to withstand the turmoil that has polarized other congregations within the Anglican Church of Canada.

Fuller, who is the priest for the three churches within the Anglican Parish of Rondeau Bay, is upset with the division of some Canadian churches over the issue of blessing same-sex couples who were civilly married.

"It's a tough time," he said. "It's like a family fighting with itself."

Fuller is responding to the recent separation of 15 Anglican churches from the Anglican Church of Canada. These churches have gone on to form Anglican Network Canada, which holds a more conservative view of the church's teachings. the rest

Devotional: Such is our dependence upon God

Such is our dependence upon God that we are obliged not only to do everything for His sake, but also to seek from Him the very power. This happy necessity of having recourse to Him in all our wants, instead of being grievous to us, should be our greatest consolation. What a happiness is it that we are allowed to speak to Him with confidence; to open our hearts and hold familiar conversation with him, by prayer! He Himself invites
us to it. ...Francois Fenelon image

Commentary: Without Christianity, our society is doomed

By Peter Mullen
The Rev Dr Peter Mullen is Rector of St Michael's, Cornhill and Chaplain to the Stock Exchange
21/03/2008

Excerpt: "Urgent though it is, the threat from a murderous jihad is not the worst we have to face at Easter 2008. Any civilisation has a hope of defending itself against even the most ruthless enemy so long as it preserves the integrity of its own culture and traditions. But for 40 years our governments in Britain have done nothing but undermine the essential quality of our way of life. Those elected to defend the realm have destroyed it. The shepherds are hirelings.

The authority of Parliament is a joke in an age ruled by spin and the Prime Minister's gang of party interest. New Labour has created its own client state out of millions on benefits and 800,000 new civil servants, bribed by the sort of job security and pension entitlements long vanished in the private sector. Public services are near collapse - try getting anywhere by road or rail this holiday weekend. The NHS is a disgrace. "State education" is an oxymoron. The Government loses our national records and lately there have been convictions for vote-rigging.

We might have expected the Church to resist the decay, but instead it has connived with the destructive sexual and social revolution begun in the 1960s. Back then, I voted for homosexuality to be decriminalised. But this meant "between consenting adults in private" - where "between" meant two, "adults" meant men over 21 and "private" meant behind locked doors. I did not foresee the obscene and coercive "Gay Pride" pantomimes that now disfigure our high streets.

Who would have thought we would live to see the Bishop of Hereford fined £47,000 and made to attend a re-education course because he refused to employ a practising homosexual in his diocese's youth services? How long before I am carted from the pulpit to the nick for preaching that sodomy is not morally equivalent to Christian marriage?

I voted also for abortion law reform, because I was told it would put an end to squalid back-street terminations. I did not think I would see the result: 200,000 abortions every year and most as a form of contraception." Full commentary

Planned Parenthood Abortion Business Makes $1 Billion Profit for First Time

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 28, 2008

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new annual report from Planned Parenthood shows the nation's largest abortion business has made over $1 billion in profit for the first time in its history. The non-profit pro-abortion group shows the historical gain in its new annual report covering 2006-2007.

While Planned Parenthood made $972 milion in its 2005-2006 annual report, last fiscal year it brought in $1.017 billion.

On its web site posting of the annual document, Planned Parenthood says it "highlights our advancements in providing and protecting trusted health care services and medically accurate sexuality education."
the rest image

Planned Parenthood increases funds to influence elections

Very Creepy Widget From Huffington Post

March 28, 2008

The Huffington Post's FundRace2008 widget is creepy. Plug in a person's name, a zip code, a profession, or an employer, and you can retrieve all the individual federal political donations that cross the $200 threshold by each person's name with address info and a map, the amount donated and to whom. Include 2004 contributions or exclude them to limit your search to only 2008 contributions. the rest

Attorney fears 'prayer police' could be reality in NY town

Jeff Johnson - OneNewsNow
3/28/2008

A liberal special-interest group based in Washington, DC, is asking the town of Greece, New York, to dictate to its citizens what is acceptable speech for starting prayers in the town council's monthly meetings.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State is suing the town of Greece, New York, on behalf of residents Susan Galloway, who is Jewish, and Linda Stephens, an atheist. The pair is offended because, for past decade, town council meetings have been preceded by a voluntary prayer -- typically offered by a local clergy member.

Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, argues that repeatedly offering Christian prayer at the meetings "sends a message to non-Christians that they are second-class citizens. That's not a message public officials should want to send ...." But Joel Oster, the Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel representing the town, disputes claims by Lynn's gruop that the council is promoting Christianity by allowing the prayers. the rest

Diocese of South Carolina Protests Presiding Bishop’s Failure to Follow the Canons
Posted by Kendall Harmon
March 27, 2008

The Most Reverend Katherine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop
The Episcopal Church Center
815 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10017

Dear Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori:

We, as the Standing Committee and Bishop of South Carolina, write this letter to strongly protest what we recognize as a failure to follow the Canons of our Episcopal Church in the recent depositions of Bishops Schofield and Cox. We respectfully request that you and the House of Bishops revisit those decisions, refrain from the planned selection of a new bishop for the Diocese of San Joaquin, and make every effort to follow our Church Canons in all future House of Bishops decisions.

We believe that deposition is the most severe sanction that can be applied against a bishop.. Consequently, it is most important that both the letter and the spirit of the Canons be followed. In this instance, it is clear that the canonical safeguards in place were not followed.

Under Canon IV.9.2, the House of Bishops must give its consent to depose a bishop under the "abandonment of communion" canon. ". . . by a majority of the whole number of Bishops entitled to vote." The Constitution of the Episcopal Church, Article I.2, states in pertinent part that "Each Bishop of this Church having jurisdiction, every Bishop Coadjutor, every Suffragan Bishop, every Assistant Bishop, and every Bishop who by reason of advanced age or bodily infirmity . . . has resigned a jurisdiction, shall have a seat and vote in the House of Bishops." the rest at TitusOneNine

Pope Reaches Out to American Catholics
Benedict XVI to visit Washington, D.C., and New York City in April
By Jay Tolson
Posted March 28, 2008

It won't be the easiest roadshow for the leader of the world's largest Christian church, a man who many thought would be a quiet but dogmatic transitional figure focused on preserving the church in an increasingly secular Europe. But Pope Benedict XVI has already upset expectations, and when he arrives this month for his first pontifical visit to the United States, many of his admirers believe that he will overturn more.

As Benedict well appreciates, his upcoming six-day visit to Washington and New York City will bring him into direct contact with a nation that has not only the third-largest Roman Catholic population in the world but also the most diverse. In ethnic terms, that variety may be taking on an increasingly Hispanic cast—at almost 30 percent and rapidly growing—but most of America's 195 dioceses can boast of parishes with a mini-United Nations of national flavorings as well as those in which the melting pot has effectively left no particular ethnic imprint at all. the rest

Churches to Hold Web Focus Day April 27

"How can we use this new-fangled Internet thing to share the gospel?" Christians are asking. A worldwide "web evangelism focus day" is helping to provide answers. Sunday, April 27, has been designated as Internet Evangelism Day. Churches can download free materials from the Internet Evangelism Day website. These materials make it easy for churches to create a short presentation about online outreach on or near that Sunday. A PowerPoint, video clip testimonies, drama scripts, music and handouts can be used to create their own customized program lasting from one minute to 50.

Church leaders who have already used these materials are excited. "This is a huge help for small churches such as ours," writes a church leader from California.

The Internet Evangelism Day team emphasizes that web evangelism is for anyone, not just the technically gifted. "There are many ways to share your faith online, without any technical background at all," says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker.

Christian leaders are also enthusiastic: "I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day," says Dr. John Stott.

Churches can start planning their focus day now.
More information: here

Free Church Website Tool Released

'A Tale of Two Golf Clubs'

Six Candidates for Bishop Coadjutor in Texas
March 28, 2008

Six candidates have been announced for the election of a bishop coadjutor in the Diocese of Texas. Five of the nominees currently are involved in ministry in the Diocese of Texas, and the sixth functions in Dallas.

The nominees are: The Rev. David W. Alwine, rector of Christ Church, Temple; the Rev. Canon C. Andrew Doyle, canon to the ordinary in Texas; the Rt. Rev. Dena A. Harrison, Bishop Suffragan of Texas; the Rev. Gary Dixon Hill, rector of Christ Church, Nacogdoches; the Rev. Canon Neal Michell, canon for strategic development in the Diocese of Dallas; and the Rev. Jim Stockton, rector of Church of the Resurrection, Austin.

The special electing council will be held May 24 at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston. The person elected will succeed the diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev. Don Wimberly. The Living Church

ENS: San Joaquin diocese prepares for its future
Reorganization effort to continue by 'taking care of people'
By Mary Frances Schjonberg, March 28, 2008

[Episcopal News Service] Members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin are gathering in Stockton, California, March 28 to take two major steps in reorganizing the diocese.

The first step will be a "service for healing and forgiveness" at the Episcopal Church of St. Anne in Stockton, the temporary home of the diocese. House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson will preside at the service and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will lead the litany for healing. The Presiding Bishop and a number of other clergy will be available to anoint people during the service.

Prior to the service, St. Anne's will host a reception for Jefferts Schori and Anderson. After the service, the Presiding Bishop will engage members of the diocese in a question-and-answer session at the church. the rest

Stand Firm:
The Dean of Nashotah House Writes About the Bishop MacBurney Deposition

Battle over homeschooled teen's welfare moves to European Parliament
Posted: March 28, 2008
By Bob Unruh
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

The parents of Melissa Busekros, the German teen who was taken by police from her home and placed in a psychiatric ward because she was homeschooled, now are being billed by the government for the cost of her forced stay, according to attorneys who are working on her case.
attorneys who are working on her case.

WND originally reported more than a year ago when Busekros, then 15, was taken into custody from in front of her shocked family by police officers bearing the following court order:
"The relevant Youth Welfare Office is hereby instructed and authorized to bring the child, if necessary by force, to a hearing and may obtain police support for this purpose."

She eventually was detained for several months, until she turned 16 and was subject to different German laws, when she simply left the custodial foster family where she had been ordered to stay and returned to her parents, Hubert and Gudrun Busekros, and her five siblings.
the rest

Islam to be primary religion in Brussels within twenty years
Thursday, March 27, 2008

Today, one third of the population is Muslim and younger generations are more religiously active.

The European capital will be Muslim in twenty years. At least this is what is confirmed by a study published last week in the daily La Libre Belgique. According to Olivier Servais, a sociologist at the Catholic University of Louvain, nearly a third of the population of Brussels is already Muslim and, due to their high birth rate, practitioners of Islam should be in the majority "in fifteen or twenty years". Since 2001, Mohamed has consistently been by far the most popular first name given to boys born in Brussels. the rest image

Belgian politicians propose allowing euthanasia to terminally ill kids

Evangelicals urged to attend Lambeth
March 28, 2008
Posted by geoconger

The Archbishop of the West Indies has urged the evangelical wing of the conservative Global South coalition of provinces not to boycott the Lambeth Conference.In an interview broadcast March 12 on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Archbishop Drexel Gomez urged evangelicals to reconsider their position. “I prefer to be at the table where the discussion is taking place than to view it in absentia,” he said, “and the future of Anglicanism - to a large extent - will be determined by the outcome of Lambeth.”

His remarks came the same week as the Diocese of Sydney reaffirmed its decision to boycott the conference, with the Dean of Sydney arguing that the reputation of any bishop who went to Lambeth “knowing that unrepentant homosexual activity is wrong’ would ‘always be tarnished.” the rest

The Cemetery Evangelist
Charles R. Swindoll
Insight for Living

When I was growing up in Houston, our family lived across the street from a man and woman who had married later in life. Ms. Brill met and married Mr. Roberts after her childbearing years had passed, so the two of them enjoyed a honeymoon that lasted well into retirement. He was a wonderful, doting husband who loved her deeply, and she found great joy in the man of her dreams. Mr. Roberts was not only the light of her life; he provided much of its meaning. Then, a sudden heart attack took him from her. Her grief knew no bounds. the rest image

Chinese believers to print Olympic Bible in China
28 March, 2008

China (MNN) ― As Tibetan Monks continue to protest against the Chinese government, Chinese believers are excited about the possibility of outreach during the Olympics games in Beijing this year.

China Partner works with the registered church in the country. China Partner's Erik Burklin says, "The China Christian Council is right now working with the Olympic committee to print a New Testament of the Bible both in English and Chinese. It will be handed out as a gift to incoming athletes and foreigners attending the Olympics this summer in Beijing and for the media personnel that are coming in." the rest

Islam’s ‘Public Enemy #1’
Coptic priest Zakaria Botros fights fire with fire
By Raymond Ibrahim
March 25, 2008

Though he is little known in the West, Coptic priest Zakaria Botros — named Islam’s “Public Enemy #1” by the Arabic newspaper, al-Insan al-Jadid — has been making waves in the Islamic world. Along with fellow missionaries — mostly Muslim converts — he appears frequently on the Arabic channel al-Hayat (i.e., “Life TV”). There, he addresses controversial topics of theological significance — free from the censorship imposed by Islamic authorities or self-imposed through fear of the zealous mobs who fulminated against the infamous cartoons of Mohammed. Botros’s excurses on little-known but embarrassing aspects of Islamic law and tradition have become a thorn in the side of Islamic leaders throughout the Middle East.

Botros is an unusual figure onscreen: robed, with a huge cross around his neck, he sits with both the Koran and the Bible in easy reach. Egypt’s Copts — members of one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East — have in many respects come to personify the demeaning Islamic institution of “dhimmitude” (which demands submissiveness from non-Muslims, in accordance with Koran 9:29). But the fiery Botros does not submit, and minces no words. He has famously made of Islam “ten demands,” whose radical nature he uses to highlight Islam’s own radical demands on non-Muslims. the rest

Peggy Noonan: Getting Mrs. Clinton
March 28, 2008

I think we've reached a signal point in the campaign. This is the point where, with Hillary Clinton, either you get it or you don't. There's no dodging now. You either understand the problem with her candidacy, or you don't. You either understand who she is, or not. And if you don't, after 16 years of watching Clintonian dramas, you probably never will.

That's what the Bosnia story was about. Her fictions about dodging bullets on the tarmac -- and we have to hope they were lies, because if they weren't, if she thought what she was saying was true, we are in worse trouble than we thought -- either confirmed what you already knew (she lies as a matter of strategy, or, as William Safire said in 1996, by nature) or revealed in an unforgettable way (videotape! Smiling girl in pigtails offering flowers!) what you feared (that she lies more than is humanly usual, even politically usual).

But either you get it now or you never will. That's the importance of the Bosnia tape. the rest

Castro champions gay rights in Cuba
By Michael Voss BBC News, Havana
Thursday, 27 March 2008

There is a Castro who is fighting to introduce radical changes in Cuba.

Not the new president, Raul, although he has promised to push through "structural and conceptual" changes to this communist island in the Caribbean.

It is Raul's daughter, Mariela Castro.

As head of the government-funded National Centre for Sex Education, she is trying to change people's attitudes towards minority groups in the community. the rest

'The man with the plan wins'
Friday, 28 March 2008
By Kendal Egli

Excerpt: "Bulmer was known during his tenure at St. John’s for his tenacity in urging the Anglican Church to approve the blessing of same-sex unions, even threatening not to bless heterosexual unions himself. The Anglican Diocese of Ottawa approved a motion put forward by Bulmer last October allowing clergy to choose to perform same-sex blessings in church.

“I felt vindicated,” he says.

About 15 years earlier, Bulmer personally blessed a same-sex union before about 150 parishioners from St. John’s church, prompting the bishop at the time to issue a letter to all clergy condemning the practice and warning others they would be fired if it happened again. Bulmer says this was the first and only public same-sex blessing in the city’s Anglican Diocese. the rest

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. James 4:8

The nearer we come to God, the more graciously will He reveal Himself to us. When the prodigal comes to his father, his father runs to meet him. When the wandering dove returns to the ark, Noah puts out his hand to pull her in unto him. When the tender wife seeks her husband's society, he comes to her on wings of love. Come then, dear friend, let us draw nigh to God who so graciously awaits us, yea, comes to meet us.

Did you ever notice that passage in Isaiah 58:9? There the Lord seems to put Himself at the disposal of His people, saying to them, "Here I am." As much as to say—"What have you to say to me? What can I do for you? I am waiting to bless you." How can we hesitate to draw near? God is nigh to forgive, to bless, to comfort, to help, to quicken, to deliver. Let it be the main point with us to get near to God. This done, all is done. If we draw near to others, they may before long grow weary of us and leave us; but if we seek the Lord alone, no change will come over His mind, but He will continue to come nearer and yet nearer to us by fuller and more joyful fellowship. ...CH Spurgeon image

The Economist: Angry Anglicans
Mar 27th 2008
VANCOUVER
From The Economist print edition

The schism over gays

SINCE Canada is a generally liberal-minded place, it is no surprise that Anglicans there are among the prime advocates of blessing homosexual unions. What was less predictable was that the conservative backlash against this attitude should be so strong. The upshot is that the country's Anglican church is breaking apart, mirroring the strife in the worldwide Anglican communion.

In 2002 the diocese of New Westminster (which includes Vancouver) became the first in the world to authorise the blessing of same-sex partnerships. Conservatives object that homosexuality is harshly condemned in several verses in the Bible. Liberals call this scriptural fundamentalism and note that being gay is not a matter of choice. In an uneasy compromise, the 1998 Lambeth Conference—a once-in-a-decade gathering of Anglican bishops—declared that homosexual acts were incompatible with scripture but that gays were loved by God. In an effort to preserve unity, the communion has called for a moratorium on blessing same-sex unions. the rest image

Mugabe calls for 'Africanisation' of churches in Zimbabwe
Thursday, 27th March 2008
By: George Conger

Robert Mugabe has called for the “Africanisation” of Christianity in Zimbabwe, calling upon the nation’s churches to break free from foreign overlords.

In a reference to Dr Nolbert Kunonga’s battle with the Anglican Communion and to his long-running battle with the Roman Catholic Church, President Mugabe said ecclesiastical authority in Zimbabwe’s churches should be held by Zimbabweans.

Speaking in the Bulawayo suburb of Lobengula on the final Sunday before the March 29 General Elections, Zimbabwe’s president said "independence means power has come to the indigenous people of the country. In every area we should show that we could exercise that power.”

After crushing Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in what was widely viewed as a corrupted election in 2000, the Roman Catholic Church’s Archbishop of Bulawayo, Mgr Pius Ncube emerged as the country’s leading democracy advocate. While Archbishop Ncube resigned last year in the wake of what his supporters say was a plot concocted by the country’s secret police the Catholic Church has remained an outspoken supporter of human rights and democratic freedoms. the rest

Monks Protest During Press Tour of China
By DAVID BARBOZA
March 28, 2008

SHANGHAI — Tibetan monks shouting pro-independence slogans caught Chinese officials by surprise on Thursday during a highly scripted tour for Western journalists in Lhasa’s central Buddhist temple. The protest disrupted China’s effort to portray the recent Tibetan rioting as the work of violent thugs and separatists.

“Tibet is not free! Tibet is not free!” yelled one young Buddhist monk, who then started crying, according to an Associated Press correspondent in the tour. the rest image

AT&T CEO says hard to find skilled U.S. workers
Wed Mar 26, 2008

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - The head of the top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc (T.N) said on Wednesday it was having trouble finding enough skilled workers to fill all the 5,000 customer service jobs it promised to return to the United States from India.

"We're having trouble finding the numbers that we need with the skills that are required to do these jobs," AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told a business group in San Antonio, where the company's headquarters is located. the rest

"Raining McCain" Meghan McCain

I just came across one of the weirdest, craziest, funniest YouTube videos I've seen. Be sure to watch to the end for the floating head and "fatherly" downpour... it's pretty hilarious! link

Meghan McCain Has Offbeat Campaign Blog

Bible rewrite includes binge-drinking Goliath and sex-obsessed Adam
By Laura Clout
27/03/2008

Goliath was a celebrity binge drinker, and Adam was obsessed with Eve's naked body - according to a retelling of traditional Bible stories by an Anglican vicar.

The Must Know Stories, written by the Rev Robert Harrison, feature a reworking of the top ten Bible stories, which were chosen in a poll by the Christian charity Scripture Union.

In the book, the tale of David and Goliath is retold from the perspective of the giant, portrayed as a "depressed alcoholic" who is hung over on the day of his fateful encounter with David. the rest

Albert Mohler: Is Belief in God Just a Natural Phenomenon?
Thursday, March 27, 2008

The attempt to explain every dimension of the cosmos in purely natural terms is one of the monumental projects of the modern age. If the existence of a supernatural Creator is denied, then everything -- everything -- must be explained by purely natural and material causes.

Explaining some aspects of human experience will pose an especially difficult challenge for those committed to a naturalistic worldview, but some scientists are working hard toward meeting the challenge.
the rest image

TLC: Bishop Lawrence: 'Faithful Preaching' Key to Church Growth
March 26, 2008

Shortly before he was consecrated Bishop of South Carolina on Jan. 26, the Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence predicted that the Diocese of South Carolina would “light a torch” for internal reform of The Episcopal Church during remarks at diocesan convention.

A few days before the House of Bishops’ spring retreat March 7-12 in Texas, Bishop Lawrence spoke with a reporter about reform and maintaining the enviable growth record begun under the 16-year tenure of his predecessor, the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr. Bishop Salmon accompanied Bishop Lawrence to the first House of Bishops’ meeting since his consecration. the rest

RC Sproul Interviews Ben Stein about the movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed"

Call for review after trial ‘flouted Church rules’
March 27, 2008
Posted by geoconger

US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori failed to follow the procedural rules governing the trial of Bishop William Cox for “abandonment of the Communion” of the Episcopal Church an investigation by The Church of England Newspaper has found.

In a March 12 press conference, Bishop Schori stated she had not followed rules governing the requirement that the 88-year old retired bishop be granted a speedy trial, that he be informed of the charges against him in a timely fashion, and that the consent of the church’s senior bishops be solicited by the Presiding Bishop to suspend him from office pending trial. A subsequent investigation by CEN in conjunction with The Living Church magazine revealed an insufficient number of votes to convict were cast also.

The Bishop of Central Florida has called for a review of the proceedings, and the president of the church’s appellate court of review for the trial of bishops is understood to have agreed to look into the proceedings. the rest

Catholics could join the royal succession
By Simon Johnson and Christopher Hope
27/03/2008

Gordon Brown is to consider abolishing the Act that prevents Roman Catholics marrying into the Royal Family or becoming king or queen, in a move that could lead to the disestablishment of the Church of England.

The Government signalled that it would look at abolishing the 307-year-old Act of Settlement because it is "antiquated" and discriminates against a section of society. the rest image

Vote could see women bishops in Wales
March 27, 2008

The Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, is urging his clergy to vote in favour of women bishops in a referendum on the issue next week.

Dr Barry Morgan, said that after the ordination of women priests he did not see how the church could "logically exclude women" from the episcopate. "That is why I and my fellow bishops will be asking members of the Governing body to vote in favour of the Bill,” he said. the rest

Church in Wales talk about possibility of women bishops

Vienna Cathedral Museum Exhibits Lewd, Blasphemous Homosexual "Religious" Art
Artist said to be very pleased his works displayed in museum associated with the Church
By Hilary White

VIENNA, March 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Dommuseum in Vienna, the art gallery attached to the historic Catholic cathedral of St. Stephen, is running an exhibition of works by a self-avowed Marxist atheist, titled "Religion, Flesh and Power", that includes depictions of explicit homosexual sex acts in "religious" themed art. Prominent among the works is a rendition of the Last Supper with Christ and His Apostles depicted as homosexuals engaged in an orgy. Another work depicts Christ on the cross without a face but with uncovered genitals. The Last Supper rendition is displayed in a prominent place near the entrance to the exhibition.

Vienna sculptor and painter Alfred Hrdlicka is said to be very pleased that his works are being displayed in a museum associated with the Church. the rest