October 11, 2006
The inspirational movie “Facing the Giants” enjoyed an impressive weekend at the box office after its recent release. Made on a shoestring budget of $100,000 by a group of churchgoers with no film experience, “Giants” grossed $2.7 million in 10 days and is “showing no signs of slowing down,” according to Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. The film, about a high school football team that turns to God for encouragement, was written by an associate pastor and originally financed by the Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. The film’s Christian themes earned it a PG rating from the Motion Picture Association because it was considered “too evangelistic.”
September 29, 2006
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed two bills—AB 606 and AB 1056—that would have required the State Board of Education to implement “tolerance training for students.” In early September, the governor vetoed SB 1437, which sought to require all textbooks used in California’s public schools to extol the “contributions of gay, lesbian and trans-gendered people, with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society.”
The Capitol Research Institute (CRI) is calling the vetoes “a victory for California families.” Karen England, head of CRI, said, “This proves that when citizens who care about protecting their religious and moral beliefs speak out, we can make a huge difference.” According to World Net Daily, AB 1056 would have forced students in public schools not only to tolerate homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism but to endorse them.
Source: A. Urti, www.reclaimamerica.org
September 12, 2006
A new documentary by Grizzly Adams Productions examines the faith and heroism of the men and women aboard United Airlines Flight 93, who are believed to have overpowered the hijackers and forced the plane to crash into the Pennsylvania countryside. After years of painstaking investigation, “Portrait of Courage: The Untold Story of Flight 93” reveals the story of Flight 93, one of four commercial aircraft hijacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001. Approximately 160 minutes, the DVD includes bonus features, such as a segment on helping children come to terms with tragedy and interviews with family and friends of those who perished aboard the plane. The documentary has been reviewed in Focus on the Family’s Citizen Link; see www.family.org.
June 27, 2006
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) became the latest religious body to endorse legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill patients. By consensus, the denomination passed a resolution “urging federal legislation that allows for its use and that provides for the production and distribution of the plant for those purposes.” Medical marijuana patients already are protected from arrest by state and local police in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) joins the United Methodist Church, Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, Union for Reform Judaism, Progressive National Baptist Convention and the Unitarian Universalist Association in support of decriminalizing medical marijuana. “[This] is an issue of mercy,” said Rev. Lynn Bledsoe, a Presbyterian minister and a hospice chaplain. “As people of faith, we are called to stand up for humans who are suffering needlessly. It is unconscionable that seriously ill patients can be arrested for making an earnest attempt at healing by using medical marijuana with their doctors’ approval.”
May 19, 2006
Actor Tom Hanks, who stars in the controversial movie The Da Vinci Code, is encouraging pastors to use the film to share the Christian faith. “If [churches] put up a sign saying: ‘This Wednesday we’re discussing the gospel,’ 12 people show up. But if a sign says: ‘This Wednesday we’re discussing The Da Vinci Code,’ 800 people show up,” Hanks told Entertainment Weekly. “I think the movie may end up helping churches do their job.”
The film—and the novel that inspired it—is seen by many believers as an attack on Christianity, with its specious claims about Jesus’ alleged marriage to Mary Magdalene. But others say the release of the movie is an opportunity to dsicuss the truth about Jesus. In a recent Leadership magazine poll, more than half of church leaders said they are offering classes, seminars, or sermons on The Da Vinci Code.
May 5, 2006
Christians around the world are gearing up for the second annual Internet Evangelism Day on Sunday, May 7. The Christian Post reports that as the Internet takes new heights, Christians are getting on board to make the good news just as accessible as wireless has become. An Internet evangelistic ministry reported seeing up to 1,400 indicated decisions for Christ every day on the Web. According to a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, nearly two-thirds of online Americans use the Internet to engage in spiritual and religious activities. Tony Whittaker, who initiated Internet Evangelism Day, hopes that more believers will join the worldwide Web outreach.
January 11, 2006
In ACLU of Kentucky v Mercer County, Kentucky, a unanimous panel of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued an historic decision declaring that “the First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state.” In upholding a Kentucky county’s right to display the Ten Commandments, the court affirmed that strict separatism is “a notion that simply perverts our history.” It referred to the phrase “separation of church and state” as an “extra-constitutional construct” that “has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state,” the court said. “Our nation’s history is replete with governmental acknowledgment and in some cases, accommodation, of religion.”
August 30, 2005
Nick Cannon’s latest single hip-hop tune, “Can I Live,” has caught the interest of pro-lifers because of its appeal against abortion. The song tells of the artist’s near death by abortion, but Cannon says the lyrics are not intended as a political statement.
In the song, Cannon shares how his mother walked away from the operating table minutes before she was scheduled to have an abortion. “This is the first wave of a post Roe v Wade generation telling their side of the story,” said Brandi Swindell of GenLife, a youth pro-life group. No one knows what it’s like to be open prey in your mother’s womb unless you born after 1973.” Cannon’s song is featured on his upcoming CD “Stages,” set for release this month. To see the music video of “Can I Live,” go to http://www.nickcannonmusic.com/index_main.html
July 1, 2005
[AT HOME: USA] The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released the results of a five-year study of four abstinence programs that analyzed changes in teens who participated in such programs. The study showed that abstinence programs are effective in teaching teens about the negative consequences of premarital sex and that teens who participated in these programs had less favorable attitudes about sex outside of marriage than their counterparts who did not participate.
Leslee J. Unruh, president of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, said, “The evidence from this and other studies is overwhelming; abstinence education results in self-confident, healthy kids. Every child in America deserves the best. When it comes to health instruction, the best is abstinence.”
[ABROAD] Anglican bishops in Africa are refusing millions of dollars from American Episcopal Church donors who have endorsed homosexual clergy after the 2003 election of openly homosexual New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson. Refusing these contributions has put a heavy burden on the Rwandan dioceses, which are still recovering from the effects of the 1994 genocide in that country. Rwandan Bishop John Rucyahana of the Diocese of Shyira said, “If money is being used to disgrace the gospel, then we don’t need it.”
Africa is the fastest-growing portion of the Anglican Communion, which includes the U.S. Episcopal Church. After Bishop Robinson was ordained, the archbishops of many African countries, representing close to half the world’s Anglican community, declared that they will not accept grants from Episcopal churches that endorsed him.
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