OREGON CITY, Ore. — A jury has resumed deliberations in the faith healing trial of an Oregon City couple charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of their 16-year-old son. The two-week trial of Jeff and Marci Beagley ended Friday with closing arguments.
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Ore. faith healing case: Jury deliberations resume
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — An Ohio judge has set bond at $3 million for a teenager accused of fatally shooting an 80-year-old woman in the head during a robbery as she left church. Municipal Court Judge Robert Milich set the bond Monday for 18-year-old Jamar Houser of Youngstown on charges of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery. He faces another hearing in a week
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$3M bond set in Ohio church parking lot slaying
When the Word of God is preached, something happens. God’s Word, inspired by God’s Spirit, pointing toward God’s Son, spoken by a person empowered by the Spirit of God for their calling from God’s Son, to people prepared by the Spirit of God – it’s a recipe for response! At times we can see that response. We get to see the people moved, the individuals gripped, the lives changed. Sometimes we see something at the moment of preaching, or soon afterwards. Sometimes we only see the response over months and years of ministry. At other times we don’t see the response. We preach our hearts out and are devastated by polite niceties. Or perhaps we don’t see the response we long for. Perhaps we get the response of criticism, or argument, or outright attack. Not quite what we had in mind when we prayed for lives to be changed! Nevertheless, let’s be committed to preach for response, even an apparently negative one, rather than playing safe and settling for nothing other than polite platitudes. Obviously any one of us could abuse this post. We could take it as an excuse to wind people up, to create tensions, to lack sensitivity. We must all answer for our own motivations, and of course, we will answer as preachers for how we have taken the opportunity to present God’s Word (2Tim.4:1-2). Let’s not settle for smooth, let’s rather preach the Word with sensitivity to God and to His people, with a prayer-fuelled passion to see Him prompting response rather than apathy, transformation rather than safety.
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Preaching and Response
A couple that was arrested in Malta should be extradited to France, a magistrate ruled on Monday morning. 49-year-old Frenchman Alain Schmitt, the leader of a religious sect, and his fiancée, 42-year-old Belgian national Laurence Liegeois, were arrested in their Naxxar home on January 7, after a European arrest warrant was issued against them.
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Malta court orders cult leader’s extradition
So a new study on the effectiveness of abstinence education came out and it’s interesting to look at how it’s being covered. First, let’s look at a story from the past about a study that showed that there was no difference in the effectiveness of abstinence programs and their counterparts that instruct teens in how to use birth control: Study Casts Doubt on Abstinence-Only Programs A long-awaited national study has concluded that abstinence-only sex education, a cornerstone of the Bush administration’s social agenda, does not keep teenagers from having sex
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Oh no! Abstinence works?
Last December as part of the holiday displays in the Illinois state capitol building, officials allowed the Freedom From Religion Foundation to put up a sign calling religion a “myth and superstition.” It was placed next to a Christmas tree and near a nativity scene that were also on display. William J
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Suits Charges FFRF Sign In Capitol Violated Establishment Clause
Last year, after a finding of probable cause by the Maryland Commission on Human Relations, the Strathmore Tower Condominiums in Baltimore (MD) modified one of its elevators to accommodate Orthodox Jewish residents. The owner of one of the condos covered the cost of retrofitting it for “Shabbat mode”– each Saturday it stops automatically on each floor so Sabbath observant Jews do not need to press elevator buttons
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Maryland Tells Condo To Stop Removal of Shabbat Elevator Pending Probe
Baptist Press yesterday reported that opposition from Christian conservatives was largely responsible for Friday’s vote in Hawaii’s House of Representatives to postpone consideration indefinitely on HB 444 , a bill that would have authorized same-sex civil unions in the state To the surprise of many, the decision was made by voice vote after a Democratic caucus on the issue. Two weeks ago, some 15,000 religious conservatives rallied in the Hawaiian capital in opposition to the bill.
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Hawaiian House Tables Civil Union Bill Under Pressure From Christian Conservatives
Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, when the Catholic Church recalls the day on which Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus, to the temple “to present him to the Lord,” in accordance with the scripture that “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord.” The Gospel reading for today’s Mass contains Luke’s account of the event. We are told that when Mary and Joseph arrive at the temple with Jesus, they are met by Simeon, a “righteous and devout” man, to whom it had been revealed “by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.” When Simeon sees Jesus, he takes the child in his arms and prays, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.” I almost tingle every time I hear this scripture proclaimed. I can feel the joy and the peace Simeon felt when he beheld Jesus
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My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation
A court in Hong Kong has thrown out a feng shui master’s claim to the multi-billion dollar estate of Asia’s richest woman, Nina Wang.
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Hong Kong court awards Nina Wang fortune to family
Geert Wilders , the radical anti-Muslim Dutch politician, will seek to test free speech in Britain next month when he makes a second attempt to visit the House of Lords to screen a controversial film equating Islam to Nazism. Lord Ahmed, a Muslim peer, has promised to mobilise 10,000 Muslims to block Mr Wilders from entering the House of Lords
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Geert Wilders to test British free speech with anti-Muslim film screening
Street preacher Brian David Mitchell is purposely adopting a fake religious persona, does not suffer a mental illness and is competent to stand trial, according to federal prosecutors. In December, a 10-day competency hearing was held for the man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting Elizabeth Smart in 2002.
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Prosecutors say alleged Elizabeth Smart kidnapper competent to stand trial
Recruitment efforts at the churches, which are predominantly white, involve fight night television viewing parties and lecture series that use ultimate fighting to explain how Christ fought for what he believed in.
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More churches promote martial arts to reach young men
A DNA test was ordered today for William Rex Fowler, a 58-year-old businessman and founder of an Adams County software company accused of killing his former business partner. Fowler’s wife, Janet, reportedly told investigators that her husband is a Scientologist “and would not have gone without a fight.” [video]
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Scientologist makes court appearance in murder case
In case you are new to the Gospel, a couple of things: Welcome! Jesus loves you. Muslims aren’t huge fans of the Jews. To the latter, I don’t mean as in not carrying a foam finger reading, “There’s only one Savior for me.” It’s more like, “I have hated your guts for 6,000 years.
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Jesus turned water into wine, but Arabs are turning it into cash
Mainstream Religion a Unifying Thread: Part V Hinduism Student Operated Press Hinduism , if I may be permitted to call it that does, not suffer from this problem. Hinduism is not a monolithic entity as is the case for many mainstream …
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Mainstream Religion a Unifying Thread: Part V Hinduism – Student Operated Press
Art Remillard Despite the request , I have nothing interesting to say about the Leo Frank lynching. Kelly Baker’s insights ( here and here ) are far more interesting than mine–trust me.
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A Surprisingly Unsurprising Look at Southern Jewish Life in the Age of Leo Frank
Six years ago today, Douglas LeBlanc clicked his Mac mouse and GetReligion was born as a small website on TypePad. We had a simple goal, but one that was a bit hard to explain to folks on the outside. GetReligion was not and is not a site about religion news.
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GetReligion turns 6, believe it or not
You may have noticed the new tab for Cor Deo at the top of the page. Cor Deo is a mentored study and ministry training programme that I am helping to launch. The name Cor Deo means “a heart for God” and it is our desire to multiply ministry that shares God’s heart by means of a relationally shaped training programme. The basic approach will be to invite 6-12 individuals to join the team of mentors for an intensive full-time training programme from February through to July (starting next year). During this time the team will share a unique study programme between Tuesday and Thursday each week, and then be exposed to a variety of ministry situations by sharing ministry together with the mentors over the weekends. We want to study, grow and serve together.
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Mentored Training – Cor Deo
A Portland, Oregon man, Craig Clark Show, filed suit on January 17 against the Idaho State Police and the Bonner County, Idaho, Sheriff’s Office, alleging that the police destroyed the mystical qualities of his medicine bag when they opened it after Show was stopped for speeding on his motorcycle. According to Friday’s Bonner County Daily Bee , Show says the medicine bag imparts protection after it was blessed by a medicine woman and sealed in 1995
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Suit Claims Police Destroyed Mystical Qualities of Medicine Bag
The agreement between Rifqa Bary and her parents to settle their conflict through counseling has ended without a single meeting between the parents and their daughter, according to a motion filed in Franklin County Juvenile Court.
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Agreement between Rifqa Bary, parents to settle conflict short-lived
Randall Stephens John Cotton was one of the most ambitious and bedeviled Puritan ministers of late-17th century New England. He was pastor of the Wethersfield, Conn., church in his early twenties. He lost the pulpit as the result of a sex scandal and subsequently worked as an Indian missionary on Martha’s Vineyard
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Misunderstood Puritans, John Cotton, and Scandal in 17th-Century New England: An Interview with Sheila McIntyre and Len Travers
Oneindia Satsang With Swami Chinmayananda-On Hinduism And Philosophy Oneindia Hinduism is the way-of-life of the Hindus. Hinduism cannot be termed as a religion.
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Satsang With Swami Chinmayananda-On Hinduism And Philosophy – Oneindia
According to today’s New Delhi Pioneer, a two-judge panel of the Supreme Court of India last week held that civil service rules of the state of Rajasthan barring any state employee from taking a second wife without permission of the state takes precedence over the Muslim Personal Law that allows Muslim men to have a second wife. Liyakat Ali, a former constable in the Rajasthan Police, was fired in 1986 and has been in litigation over the civil service ban ever since. Muslim leaders say the Supreme Court’s ruling interferes with the religious rights of the Muslim community
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Indian Supreme Court Says Civil Service Rules Trump Muslim Personal Law
I don’t mean by the title, choosing which product to buy (although when I first moved back to the US after two years of living in Nepal, India and Thailand, I found that to be no easy task). Rather, I’m talking about making choices for where we devote our energy, choosing among options that are good. If we are on a spiritual path, our choice for where to devote our energies is generally not between a good and a bad choice
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Choosing Among Goods
Gayle Haggard, the loyal wife of fallen evangelical mega-pastor Ted Haggard, was all over the mainstream media world (Oprah, “Today,” etc.) last week promoting her new book: “Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made in My Darkest Hour.” With this book blitz, reporting on the Ted Haggard story has now officially moved from Chapter 1 in the Media Playbook (Hard news: Scandal) to Chapter 3 (Features: “Lifie”) without going through Chapter 2 (Analysis: What the heck is really going on here?). Readers would have benefited from deeper questioning
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‘Lifies’ and the Haggard saga
Ten U.S. Baptists arrested trying to take 33 children out of earthquake-shattered Haiti say they were just trying to do the right thing, applying Christian principles to save Haitian children.
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Baptists accused of child peddling in Haiti