Dan Terry, 64, had been in Afghanistan for 40 years, 30 of them under appointment by the United Methodist Church’s national board, the General Board of Global Missions. Apparently, on at least one occasion, Terry and his wife were here in Lakeland at the Florida Conference’s annual meeting.
View post:
Slain Aid Worker in Afghanistan Had Florida, Methodist Connections
Another mob attack on Christian worshipers in Bekasi on Sunday has led to renewed calls for police and national leaders to crack down on the apparently swelling tide of religious violence. About 20 members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church in Pondok Timur Indah were chased and beaten with sticks by a mob believed linked to the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) after they tried to conduct Sunday services at a field in Ciketing, Bekasi. Muslims nationwide have condemned the hard-line Islamic organization for an attack on a church group on Sunday, saying the incident had tarnished the image of Islam
See the rest here:
Hardline Muslim Thugs Attack Indonesian Christians
Contextual Notes : God has restored His relationship with His people. Moses’ rad iant face from being in the presence of God is evidence of it.
See more here:
Exodus 35:20-36:7 – A people of willing hearts
When North Charleston Baptist Church was founded in 1920, and its fortress-like brick building first rose at Crawford and Cherry streets just south of Montague Avenue, the area consisted of tracts of woodland and decaying plantations along the Cooper River and tidal creeks.
Read more:
Tenacious church holds out hope in its changing North Charleston neighborhood
The novelist says she still believes in God, but she couldn’t find a basis in Scripture for some positions taken by churches. And she rejects the persecution of gays and women. The author Anne Rice, best known for her vampire novels, made waves last week when she declared on her Facebook page that she had “quit being a Christian.” Twelve years after her return to Catholicism, Rice said she still believed in God, but that, “In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay.
Here is the original:
Anne Rice discusses her decision to quit Christianity
I would like to discuss “Rome’s Challenge.” No doubt you’ve heard of it. Back in September 1893, one James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, approved a four-piece article for his personal newsletter, the Catholic Mirror. The title was ” the Christian Sabbath.
Go here to see the original:
Rome’s Challenge
Matt Rediger tries to explain how legalized equality for gay people, affirmed in yesterday’s ruling [pdf] against California’s Proposition 8, violates freedom of religion. Rediger: [P]eople of faith cannot be expected to go against their beliefs, even if they view opposing beliefs and arguments as holding some kind of legitimacy. Two ethical systems can be legitimate, but they cannot necessarily exist in the same place at the same time
Here is the original post:
Proposition 8 – It’s All Over but the Overheated Assertions and Poor Arguments
Claire and Marc Headley, who left Scientology in 2005, said the church controlled them with threats of harsh punishment and other tactics that prevented them from leaving the Sea Organization, Scientology’s religious order.
See the original post here:
Judge dismisses two lawsuits aimed at Scientology
Megachurches are no longer “Mega” these days. Unless, of course, you consider the megalomaniacs building these ornate and appalling edifices. Sure, some of them are huge because they have to be – see Willow Creek, The Potter’s House or Second Baptist Church for example
Read more from the original source:
Solomon’s Temple revisited: The worst megachurch yet
One of the secrets of the success of narrative writing and storytelling (whether that is historical narrative, fiction, fantasy, film or whatever) is the power of identification. When you read, hear or see a story, you naturally find yourself either identifying with or disassociating from characters in the story. If you are left cold, it is usually a sign that the story isn’t being told well, or you are in some sort of disconnected state. So, if this is a central function of narratives, then it is a factor to consider in preaching biblical narratives. Some might try to make a hard and fast rule here, but again I would urge wisdom and consideration of the options. Identifying with the Central Character
Read more from the original source:
The Identification Situation