To know Menno Simons was dangerous; to befriend him, deadly. For sheltering Menno, Tjard Reynders was broken on the wheel. A ferryman was executed for bearing Menno down the Meuse River. Surely Menno Simons must have been a desperate criminal for mere accomplices to receive such stiff sentences!
MEXICO CITY (Compass) — Twenty-five evangelical families in a Chiapan village won’t be expelled from their homes now that agreements have been reached between Presbyterians, political party leaders and a group of men accused of encouraging violence against evangelicals.
“I do not expect the tide of evil and immorality in America to ebb. We are cycling, as cultures and civilizations have always cycled, and are now on the down side of glory. Our once great and godly nation, having crested the hill of God’s grace, has begun a slow descent into the abyss of self destruction.”
In the Balkans, fear and tension fill the hearts of those who see a flare-up of the ongoing conflict between ethnic Albanians and the other peoples of the region. Rebels making almost daily mortar attacks and shootings surround Macedonia’s second largest city. Foreign workers have fled the tension-filled areas. The local population is scared and unsure of what the future holds. Yet a light is burning bright in the lives of many!
BAMAKO, Mali (Compass) — For some time, Muslim city authorities in Magnambougou planned for a beautiful new mosque in this new suburb of Bamako, the Malian capital. They acquired land in the middle of the urban dwellings and began to build a mosque that would dominate the area and accommodate more than 2,000 Muslims for prayers, much to the distress and dismay of local Christians.
GREENSBORO, NC (AgapePress) – It was a smaller than expected crowd, with only about half of the 2,400 tickets having been sold. So the evangelicals stood out all the more. Not because of their angry signs, but because of their own numbers and their gentle witness.
Anti-Syrian sentiment is rising among Christians in Lebanon, evidenced by bold comments by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir in his visit to the US last week, and during protests at a Beirut university this week.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–It’s not just the release of a fourth Harry Potter book that increasingly will force Christians to deal with the overarching occult themes in the series about a fictional teenager who attends a school for witchcraft and wizardry.
“I was eager to get to Hogwarts first because I like what they learned there and I want to be a witch.” Gioia Bishop, age 10.[1]
WASHINGTON (ABP) — In light of newly released statistics reporting a rise in hate crimes, leaders of the Interfaith Alliance have sent a letter to U.S. senators asking for passage of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Guided by your rented driver, your Caddy glides through a new and elegant part of the city, doing its quiet big-tires flip-flop sound over the asphalt road-joints. Beyond the deep grass borders of the boulevard, a line of low white-columned buildings glisten in the street lights. Above, each has the neon sign of a goddess -“Venus”, “Ishtar”, “Kali”, with bright letters and a flashing, moving logo or figure to beckon customers. You see those customers come and go from their sedans. You haven’t been around for a year or two.
The re-released and slightly extended version of the movie “The Exorcist” should serve to remind Christians that the world has a hunger for things supernatural — although they’re looking in all the wrong places. However, while demon possession is a subject that attracts many non- Christians to the big screen, it is also an issue that seems to repel many believers, who prefer a more sanitized and psychologized version of their faith.
JACKSON, Miss. (BP)–Gov. Ronnie Musgrove signed a law March 23 mandating that public schools display “In God We Trust” in classrooms, cafeterias and auditoriums.
WASHINGTON (BP)–The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution July 24 encouraging the display of “In God We Trust,” the national motto, in public buildings.
Indigenous ministries in India, helped by donations given through Christian Aid, are hard at work assisting the survivors of January’s deadly earthquake. The Indian government recently approved one ministry’s request to “adopt” a village.
While the Palestinian uprising has not been as intense over the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and the end of Ramadan, there were still plenty of violent incidents, even as renewed negotiations were being conducted.
If all those lopsided opinion polls are reliable, Israeli voters will install Ariel Sharon as their next prime minister on Tuesday, completing a most remarkable comeback for this native-born farmer whose long military and political record engenders considerable doses of both respect and scorn.
BELLFLOWER, CA (ANS) — Josh McDowell, Franklin Graham, Dr. D. James Kennedy, as well as a number of other well-known Christian leaders, have put their names to a unique new Bible — one that has been designed to counterattack the unprecedented rise in godless skepticism in the contemporary secular world.
DALLAS (ABP) — Social-service programs that seek to evangelize their clients will not qualify for direct federal grants, the head of President Bush’s White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives told a gathering of conservative Christian leaders.
“. . . change will probably be radical, if not total. Those whose lives are dedicated to serving the Church of the past will resist these suggestions with a vehemence that always emerges from threatened hierarchies and dying institutions…. But the seeds of resurrection are present in the exile, and in time those seeds will sprout and bloom. When they do, we will once again be able to see continuity between the Church of the past and the purged and opened church of the future.â€
Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong,
Why Christianity Must Change or Die[1]