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Last Sunday, Catholic churches all across America read a letter to congregants supporting the church’s stance against the Obama administration order that employers must include contraception and abortion-inducing drugs in their health-care coverage. Churches are exempt from the order but not allied ministries including hospitals, schools, and colleges regardless of faith-based opposition.

The Obama administration has given the Catholic ministries and other church-affiliated hospitals and organizations one year to comply. The Catholic bishops are saying that they ‘will not comply’ with the federal requirement devised by the current administration setting up a legal battle in the near future.

Response: This is a significant battle for religious freedom. Many churches have allied ministries that they support and they should not be required to violate the faith-based belief system that is the foundation for these allied organizations in the first place.

The Catholic Church stands firmly opposed to all medications and procedures that would terminate the life of an unborn child. Some of the contraceptives themselves are abortive in nature in that they can potentially eliminate already fertilized eggs contrary to Catholic beliefs.

The Catholic Bishops are taking a stand here that could help to clarify whether the First Amendment and ‘religious freedom’ in this country is going to be extended to associated religious ministries or limited only to official churches and worship centers. For many religions, schools are an official part of their ongoing ministry. Where is the line to be drawn

Recently the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of a church firing a school teacher  but that person was also a licensed minister. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the years to come since many times Catholic Schools in particular are so closely identified with the church and the administration over the local church and school many times involves the same personnel.            *Top

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In 2007 I ran across an interview on Al-Jazeerah with Sheikh Ahmad Al Katani  lamenting the fact that over 6 million Muslims were being converted to Christianity in Africa every year.

Since that time, Muslim leaders have substantially failed in the arena of ideas and persuasion and have increasingly turned to violence and persecution against Christians in order to stem the growth of Christianity in Africa.

Now every where you turn in reading news coming out of Africa you find one story after another about Muslim extremists Attacking Christians and burning churches. Here’s just the latest sample:

1. Egypt: Muslims Burn Christian Homes and Shops, Attack Church

(AINA) — A Muslim mob attacked Copts today in the Upper Egyptian village of Rahmaniya-Kebly, Nag Hammadi, Qena province, destroying and torching their homes, straw huts and shops, while chanting Allahu Akbar. No one was reported killed or injured. According to reports, security forces were present but did not intervene and the fire brigade arrived 90 minutes late.  …

In another incident today, a large number of Salafis and members of the Muslim Brotherhood entered the Abu Makka church, in Bahteem, Shubra-el-Khayma, Qaliubia province, and informed the congregation that the church has no licence and no one should pray in it. One Muslim said the 1300 square meter church would be suitable for a mosque and a hospital.

Response: As usual the attacks come after Muslim Friday services. According to the reports, the attacks were made by Salafists (Islamic radicals) in order to keep the Coptic Christians from voting in the parliamentary elections on Friday. So much for a new ‘democratic’ Egypt. Notice that the Egyptian security forces refused to protect the Christians.

2. Nigeria: Death Toll Climbs in Islamist Attacks in the Northeast

Members of the Boko Haram group continue their attacks on Christians. This week alone, 9 Christians were killed in Gombe, Nigeria while worshipping in a revival meeting. Also, at least 21 Christians were killed in the neighboring Adamawa state.

Response: Violence against Christians in Nigeria is a daily occurrence. This is just what happen this week. Typically the Nigerian army cannot be counted upon to keep the peace since Muslim members of the forces many times refuse to protect the Christian community.  

3.  Zanzibar: Radical Muslims Burn Two Churches

Muslim extremists destroyed two church buildings on the island of Zanzibar. Meanwhile the government is not doing anything to stop violence against Christians or the destruction of churches on the island. According to Bishop Fabian Obedi of the Pentecostal Evangelical Church of Zanzibar:

“The Muslims are burning our church buildings quite frequently here in Zanzibar, but the government is not speaking against this kind of destruction of our church premises.”

Response: Again this is a situation where the Muslim dominated government authorities are doing nothing even though the churches were legally built and approved.

4.  Sudan: Church Leaders are Threatened

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir told cheering crowds on Jan. 3:

“We are an Islamic nation with sharia as the basis of our constitution. We will base our constitution on Islamic laws.”

His government recently ordered all church leaders to register the names and contact information of all of their leaders in Sudan, sources said. They were also warned not to participate in any evangelistic activities.

Hamid Yousif Adam, undersecretary of the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment, recently sent threatening letters to church leaders warning them:

“We will take legal procedures against pastors who are involved in preaching or evangelistic activities.”. “We have all legal rights to take them to court.”

Response: Thousands of Muslims had converted to Christianity but nearly all of them have fled to breakaway South Sudan as the persecution of Christians has increased in the north.          

Conclusion: The point is that Muslim violence against Christians is on the rise in Africa and very few of these stories are in any way carried by the Western media who are overly concerned with the PC claims of Islamophobia.

These are just a few prominent stories of recent Muslim persecution of Christians. The fact is that there are many other incidences that go unreported.  Literally you can now find stories like these every week on the Internet with very little effort.

One thing for sure, the violence against Christians will not stop Christianity from increasing in Africa nor will it force converts back to Islam. The new Christians have found the reality of a relationship with a loving God and a community of believers who care for one another. No amount of force or violence will convince them otherwise.

I am however concerned about the Coptic Christians in Egypt who now seem to be facing new rounds of persecution. Also, thanks to the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ they now have a very bleak future under the domination of a future Islamic extremist government run by the Muslim Brotherhood and even more radical Salafist party. Already with the tide of change on the horizon, the Egyptian Security forces are refusing to protect them.           *Top

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Texas Gov. Rick Perry took time out from his busy presidential campaign in South Carolina to attend a prayer event. While there, without any fanfare or introduction he took the stage at the large prayer gathering called "The Response" in Greenville, S.C. and prayed for President Obama and his family:

“Perry led a prayer in which he asked God to grant safety to "our president" and his family. He also said that "we pray that you light his way" in dealing with national issues.”

Response: We all should be praying for our President and his family regardless of what we think about his policies and politics. It would be good if he did receive some ‘light’ from above on how to deal with the problems facing our nation right now and for the whole year of 2012 while he is President.            *Top

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Today (Tuesday 1/17) the US Supreme Court declined to hear a case coming from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Appeals Court had ruled in a 2-1 panel decision last October in Joyner v. Forsyth County (North Carolina) that public legislative meetings could not begin with prayers in the “name of Jesus.” Therefore, the ruling stands within the jurisdiction of the 4th circuit.

Here’s a link to our post on the original case: -U.S. Circuit Court: Prayers ‘In Jesus Name’ are Unconstitutional

Response: It is a real disappointment that SCOTUS did not pick up this case and make a definitive ruling. This leaves the country legally divided over this prayer issue.

Meanwhile, Christian prayers are now limited in public forums within the jurisdiction of the 4th circuit which includes the states of Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The rest of the country should not be affected by this unfortunate ruling.

Congress is Constitutionally forbidden from making laws concerning religion but the 4th Circuit has in effect made a new law by putting the government in charge of deciding what prayers are acceptable and which ones aren’t –what is ‘sectarian’ and therefore offensive and what is not.

If a Muslim Imam was invited to say a prayer before a public legislative meeting in the 4th Circuit area would he be free to address his prayers to ‘Allah’ rather than God? The keepers of ‘political correctness’ would probably rule in the affirmative since ‘Allah’ is merely the Arabic form of God. Yet such a prayer would be just as sectarian as Christian prayers in Jesus name and offensive to many more for sure.

What government agency will now be in charge of determining what names for God are acceptable and which ones aren’t? So far only Christian prayers in ‘Jesus name’ have specifically been referenced in the ruling for censorship.                *Top

Related Posts?:

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Some startling claims have come out on the Internet in response to a new survey of church going Americans by the Barna Group. The conclusions drawn by many writers is that the new study proves that going to church doesn’t do anything positive for people.

However, when you go directly to the Barna website and view the study, one can easily come to vastly different conclusions than what is popularly showing up on some of the atheist and secularist blogs.

First of all, do people get anything out of going to church?

Yes.

1.  According to the study, 66%  “feel they have had a real and personal connection with God” while attending church. However, most do not experience that connection every week in worship services.

2.  The study also shows that nearly seven out of 10 respondents (68%) feel they are cared for as “part of a group of people who are united in their beliefs and who take care of each other in practical ways.”

Now for the not so positive. This first point is the one emphasized by most of the negative posts. The survey found that most church goers say that they lives have not been changed or transformed by the church experience.

1.  Overall, only 26%  who had been to a church before said that “their life had been changed or affected “greatly” by attending church.” Another 25% described it as “somewhat” influential. while nearly half  (46%) said their life “had not changed at all as a result of churchgoing.”

2.  Concerning their last few visits, 61% said “they could not remember a significant or important new insight or understanding related to faith.”

3.   The survey also examined whether attendees believe that their church prioritizes caring for the poor outside of the congregation.  40% said caring for the poor was emphasized “a lot” in their church while 33% indicated it was only “somewhat” of a priority.

Some other interesting data was also explored by the study.

1.  The size of the church didn’t seem to matter much.

2.  Those in the 18 to 27 age group were “significantly less likely to describe positive outcomes while attending congregations.”

3.  Among ‘practicing Christians’, Catholics generally had “less positive outcomes in their congregational experiences than did Protestant attenders.”

Response: The somewhat crazy responses around the Internet to this study really prove why it is so important to go back to the original study and website for your information rather than solely relying on reports that many times are slanted.

In this case, a number of atheist sites decided to emphasize the one point in the study that seemed to indicate that church goers really didn’t get anything out of the experience and were not substantially changed in the process. One point that most the the writers missed was that the ‘new insight’ question only was directed at recent visits and not the entire lifetime of church going experience.

The Barna Group is an evangelical research organization whose reason for existence is to show churches and Christian organizations where improvements need to be made. This is not the first time that secularists or atheists have used Barna research in a slanted way against Christians, churches, and Christianity.             *Top

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Is God Helping Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos? A recent poll shows that Americans are evenly divided over this question with 43% believing he is receiving Divine assistance while 42% think that God has nothing to do with it.

If you brake down the poll in different age groups, 52% of those in the 18- to 29-year-old age range believe that Tebow receives supernatural help, and 48% of those the 45-64 age category believe the same.

The greatest support for divine intervention is found among Hispanics at 81% and Blacks at 59.5% while Whites come in at only 38%.

Response: Is God helping Tim Tebow play football?

I believe so.

But having said that, I do not believe that he is necessarily helping the Broncos win games. After all, there are Christians on both sides of the line of scrimmage on any given Sunday and Denver was only a mediocre team at best with an 8-8 record at the end of the regular season.

Now, why do I think that God is helping Tebow? Because the Lord answers the prayers of believers who genuinely ask for his help and blesses those who dedicate their work in his honor -“as to the Lord”:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  -Col 3:23-24   (NIV)

I believe the scripture applies to Tim Tebow since he has made it clear on numerous occasions that he is trying to serve the Lord in all that he does including playing football.

Now how is God helping Tebow play football? I believe that He is helping him to play at a level that reflects the very best of his God given abilities and talents along with blessing his dedication and preparation.

Another question that some are raising –is Tim Tebow manifesting supernatural miracles on the football field?

I don’t know.

However, when Tim Tebow pulled off an overtime ‘miracle’ to beat the Steelers who were suppose to be a far better team some including myself began to wonder. Particularly since he passed for an incredible 316 yards and averaged 31.6 yards per pass before a TV audience that achieved a 31.6 rating producing a repeated set of numbers that was reminiscent of Tim’s favorite Bible passage- John 3:16. Was all that just a fortuitous accident?

Today, Tebow and the Denver Broncos play Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. What was destined to be another fun football game may have become a spiritual confrontation instead. Yesterday, a coven of witches in Salem, Mass. cast spells, did rituals, and called upon ‘Spirits’ to help Tom Brady and the New England Patriots defeat Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. It may not be Mt. Carmel, but a ‘spiritual’ gauntlet seems to have been thrown down none the less.

On the face of it, Tom Brady is a far better quarterback and the Patriots are heavily favored in the contest having soundly beaten the Broncos earlier in the season. They really didn’t need the extra ‘spiritual’ help and it will take a miracle to beat them.

Up to this point, I really didn’t care who won the game until the witches got involved. I still can’t see how Tebow can possibly win this thing. Nevertheless I will now be praying and rooting for Tebow and the Broncos to play up to the very best of their abilities and beyond, hoping that they will gain the respect of all, regardless of the outcome.             *Top

Related Posts?:

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2. -Tebow Passes for John 3:16 in OT Victory

          (Image by OPEN Sports via Flickr)

In an incredible turn of events, Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime. You really had to see it to believe it.

The incredible part is that it was accomplished by Tebow actually passing for 316 yards in the game. Tim Tebow is not known for his passing prowess but in this game that is exactly what it took to beat the heavily favored Steelers.

No sporting expert would have ever expected Tebow to pass for 316 yards against the Pittsburgh defense. Even more astounding is that the 316 yards is reminiscent of Tim’s favorite Bible passage- John 3:16. He used to put “3:16” in his eye black during his college playing days, but on this day he did one better, he actually passed for John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Nobody could have done that on purpose even if they tried. To emphasis 316 even more, he completed 10 passes for a 31.6 average. Amazing, what an inspirational story.            *Top

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2. -Tim Tebow Does it Again and Muslims & Jews Defend Him