Alvin Peabody
apeabody@pnj.com
Jo Hovind, the wife of creationist theme-park owner Kent Hovind, stood solemnly beside her attorney Friday as U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers handed down a sentence of one year and one day in federal prison.
Jo Hovind, 51, also was ordered to pay $8,000 in fines and three years supervision when she is released from prison.
Hovind was found guilty in November on 45 counts of evading bank-reporting requirements.
[Law requires banks to report transations greater than $10,000. Mrs. Hovind was convicted of making deposits under $10,000. Of course there is no law against this.....]
The same jury found her husband guilty on 58 federal counts, including failure to pay $845,000 in employee-related taxes. He was sentenced in January to 10 years in federal prison.
Jo Hovind’s attorney, Jerry Barringer, said after the sentencing that he plans to file an appeal against the guilty verdict as well as the prison sentence.
June 29, 2007
June 23, 2007
Devilish Rock Festival at Glastonbury, England boast 1,200 injured, over 160 arrests, most for drugs
Still they come. And they bring their innocent children to this hedonist hell weekend.
Revellers line up in a sodden, rubbish littered que to brush their teeth and get water.
Glastonbury, the world's biggest open air arts and music festival, has made environmental issues a pillar of the three-day event by launching its I Count campaign to stop climate change.
The target is for 100,000 festival-goers to sign up at the festival, which has a line-up of hot rock bands, comedians and circus performers at a farm in rural southern England, and each attendee gets a We Can Stop Climate Chaos wristband.
"We've put a lot of effort into focusing Glastonbury on the environment and climate change this year," said festival organiser Michael Eavis, who was recently given an award for services to music by Queen Elizabeth.
"We hope to see at least 100,000 new supporters sign up to the I Count campaign and I'll be the first to put my name down," the 71-year-old bearded organiser and campaigner said.
Lucy Pearce, I Count campaign manager, described it as creating a "massive, popular, irresistible movement for change".
John Sauven, representative for Greenpeace, described climate change as a "man-made disaster" and urged people to make "personal" changes in their lives as well as "putting as much pressure as we can on governments to act".
Atlanta officials declare Constitution-free zone
Atlanta officials declare Constitution-free zone
Punishing pastors so perverts can parade.
June 22, 2007
June 21, 2007
June 20, 2007
Joe Kennedy's First Marriage: Still On | TIME
Joe Kennedy's First Marriage: Still On | TIMEThe most controversial "marriage that never was" in recent U.S. political history is back. Sources tell TIME that the Vatican has reversed the annulment of Joseph P. Kennedy II's marriage to Sheila Rauch. The annulment had been granted in secrecy by the Catholic Church after the couple's 1991 no-fault civil divorce. Rauch found out about the de-sanctification of their marriage only in 1996, after Kennedy had been wedded to his former Congressional aide, Beth Kelly, for three years.
June 19, 2007
Church's street ministry attacked
OnlineAthens.com | News | Church's street ministry attacked
JACKSON COUNTY-The city of Jefferson's police chief wants a group of anti-abortion protesters to tone down their act and has asked the Jefferson City Council to adopt an ordinance to help him do that.
But the pastor whose church stages the regular protests says the Jefferson Lighthouse Baptist Church will fight any ordinance the city passes that would limit church members' right to express themselves.
A group of a dozen or more church members regularly gathers on Saturday mornings - often in Jefferson - holding up signs with anti-abortion slogans and handing out anti-abortion pamphlets.
The church has held these weekend events regularly for the past 15 years, said the Rev. Kevin Whitman, the church's pastor for the past nine years.
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But they're a street ministry, not a demonstration, Whitman said.
In the past and now, the group has demonstrated without a problem - not just in Jefferson, but in other places like Commerce; Hendersonville, N.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; and Atlanta, Whitman said.
In only two places, Hendersonville and Jefferson, has there been any government attempt to tone down the group's message, he said.
But in the past few months, the church members have added two new visual aids - at first, a ketchup-covered baby doll, now replaced with large placards that purport to be photographs of aborted fetuses, body parts of fetuses and the like.
One of the placards shows a life-size photograph of a newborn or near-full-term fetus, its head crushed and jaw nearly severed.
"The picture is the problem," said Jefferson Police Department Lt. Steven Bannister.
The baby and the fetus photos have horrified children in cars passing by and elicited a wave of unhappy telephone calls from their upset parents and other citizens, said Jefferson Police Chief Joseph Wirthman.
"I thought these signs were beyond the pale," Wirthman said.
As a handful of church members shouted their message Saturday morning from the driveway of Wal-Mart on U.S. Highway 441, most shoppers either ignored the demonstration or gawked at the photographs for a second or two.
A few shouted insults or asked the church members to go away.
"I think it's ridiculous," said Chris Collins, of Jefferson. His family - including his 5-year-old son - came to shop, but had to pass the anti-abortion photos to get to the Commerce store's one entrance.
"I support what they are saying, but the use of the photographs, especially for people with small children, is obscene," Collins said.
When the family was stopped at a red light one recent Saturday, a Lighthouse member approached the car and showed his son one of the photographs, Collins said.
"He saw it up close, and he had nightmares about it," he said. "They have every right to say what they want to say, but at the same time, I think you have a responsibility to say it tactfully."
While describing the problem to the city council, Wirthman said that one group, whose name he did not know, had to cancel a fundraising event because of the protesters.
But Whitman said when the church knows of another group's fundraiser, such as a firefighter boot drive, the street ministry moves elsewhere.
Recently, one of the photos sparked a confrontation that might have become violent as the church picketed in Jefferson over Memorial Day weekend, Wirthman told the Jefferson City Council last week.
A man stopped his truck and got out, scolding the anti-abortion posters for their graphic photos, and snatched one of the photo placards from a church member's hands.
The two men exchanged sharp words, but the confrontation did not escalate to any kind of physical assault, both Whitman and Wirthman said.
But the next time, it might, Wirthman warned the council, which is scheduled to discuss adopting an ordinance at Monday's meeting, set for 6 p.m. in the Jefferson Civic Center.
Whitman said church members will resist any efforts to make them hide their graphic signs, just as they've ignored at least one threat from Jefferson police officers that the protesters could face arrest, he said. Overall, police have been "very professional," he said.
The signs are just telling a truth, Whitman said.
"It's not just the abortion. Obviously, we want the babies to be saved, but we want the mother to be saved from a lifetime of knowing she murdered her baby. That's our goal, to see people saved, but we obviously cannot see people saved unless they know what their sins are," he said.
Whitman quoted a Bible verse, Isaiah 58:1, which admonishes believers to "lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins."
And the photos make the transgression of abortion abundantly clear, he said.
"People get upset about us holding up the signs, and to me they ought to get upset about the fact that it's happening 4,200 times a day. The best way to stop abortion signs is to stop abortion," Whitman said.
Many cities, including Athens, have ordinances regulating street demonstrations and other "special events," and Wirthman showed the council one from the city of Gainesville that he thought could provide a model for a Jefferson ordinance.
Wirthman suggested that groups that stage public demonstrations should not only have to get a permit beforehand with the Jefferson Police Department, but should also have to pay for police security when the police chief deems a threat might exist, either to the public or demonstrators.
But the city will be on treacherous legal ground if it tries to make the church pay for security based on how people might react to them, or if the city tries to restrict the content of the signs the group uses, said Gerry Weber, legal director of the Georgia American Civil Liberties Union.
"I think the city has to be very careful in drafting an ordinance along these lines," Weber said. "There are a lot of pitfalls."
Governments can require a group to get a permit for a demonstration, but is allowed very little discretion to deny anyone a permit, he said.
And in a case involving Georgia's Forsyth County, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a city or county cannot charge a fee based on "the anticipated reaction of listeners," Weber said.
And finally, the city will find it "very difficult" to legally impose restrictions that would require the church group to tone down their signs, Weber said.
"Content-based restrictions are very difficult," he said.
• Staff Writer Allison Floyd contributed to this report.
June 17, 2007
Wife of evangelist Billy Graham rejected Biblical baptism
Wife of evangelist Billy Graham rejected Biblical baptismA loyal, lifelong Presbyterian
Though the wife of a famous Baptist minister, the independent-minded Ruth Graham declined to undergo baptism by immersion and remained a loyal, lifelong Presbyterian. When in Montreat, a town built around a Presbyterian conference center, Billy Graham would attend the local Presbyterian church where his wife often taught the college-age Sunday School class.
Due to her husband's travels, she bore major responsibility for raising the couple's five children: Franklin (William Franklin III), Nelson, Virginia, Anne and Ruth.
Ruth Graham was the author or co-author of 14 books, including collections of poetry and the autobiographical scrapbook "Footprints of a Pilgrim."
In 1996, the Grahams were each awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for "outstanding and lasting contributions to morality, racial equality, family, philanthropy, and religion."
Crime novelist Patricia Cornwell began her writing career with a Ruth Graham biography that depicted many deeds of personal charity. Cornwell said as a youth in Montreat she thought Ruth Graham "was the loveliest, kindest person ever born. I still do."
She helped establish the Ruth and Billy Graham Children's Health Center in Asheville, and the Billy Graham Training Center near Montreat.
Ruth Graham will be buried at the new Billy Graham Library in Charlotte -- a source of apparent discord within the family last year. This week, Billy Graham said he and Ruth had decided "after much prayer and discussion" they would be laid to rest at the foot of a cross-shaped walkway in the library's prayer garden.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Though the wife of a famous Baptist minister, the independent-minded Ruth Graham declined to undergo baptism by immersion and remained a loyal, lifelong Presbyterian. When in Montreat, a town built around a Presbyterian conference center, Billy Graham would attend the local Presbyterian church where his wife often taught the college-age Sunday School class.
Due to her husband's travels, she bore major responsibility for raising the couple's five children: Franklin (William Franklin III), Nelson, Virginia, Anne and Ruth.
Ruth Graham was the author or co-author of 14 books, including collections of poetry and the autobiographical scrapbook "Footprints of a Pilgrim."
In 1996, the Grahams were each awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for "outstanding and lasting contributions to morality, racial equality, family, philanthropy, and religion."
Crime novelist Patricia Cornwell began her writing career with a Ruth Graham biography that depicted many deeds of personal charity. Cornwell said as a youth in Montreat she thought Ruth Graham "was the loveliest, kindest person ever born. I still do."
She helped establish the Ruth and Billy Graham Children's Health Center in Asheville, and the Billy Graham Training Center near Montreat.
Ruth Graham will be buried at the new Billy Graham Library in Charlotte -- a source of apparent discord within the family last year. This week, Billy Graham said he and Ruth had decided "after much prayer and discussion" they would be laid to rest at the foot of a cross-shaped walkway in the library's prayer garden.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
“Cloud Nine-groovy-hippie-liberals bringing ‘enlightenment’ to inner city schools”
The lesson began with the striking of a Tibetan singing bowl to induce mindful awareness.
With the sound of their new school bell, the fifth graders at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School here closed their eyes and focused on their breathing, as they tried to imagine “loving kindness” on the playground.
“I was losing at baseball and I was about to throw a bat,” Alex Menton, 11, reported to his classmates the next day. “The mindfulness really helped.”
As summer looms, students at dozens of schools across the country are trying hard to be in the present moment. This is what is known as mindfulness training, in which stress-reducing techniques drawn from Buddhist meditation are wedged between reading and spelling tests.
Mindfulness, while common in hospitals, corporations, professional sports and even prisons, is relatively new in the education of squirming children. But a small but growing number of schools in places like Oakland and Lancaster, Pa., are slowly embracing the concept — as they did yoga five years ago — and institutions, like the psychology department at Stanford University and the Mindfulness Awareness Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, are trying to measure the effects.
During a five-week pilot program at Piedmont Avenue Elementary, Miss Megan, the “mindful” coach, visited every classroom twice a week, leading 15 minute sessions on how to have “gentle breaths and still bodies.” The sound of the Tibetan bowl reverberated at the start and finish of each lesson.
The techniques, among them focused breathing and concentrating on a single object, are loosely adapted from the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, the molecular biologist who pioneered the secular use of mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts in 1979 to help medical patients cope with chronic pain, anxiety and depression. Susan Kaiser Greenland, the founder of the InnerKids Foundation, which trains schoolchildren and teachers in the Los Angeles area, calls mindfulness “the new ABC’s — learning and leading a balanced life.”
At Stanford, the psychology department is assessing the feasibility of teaching mindfulness to families. “Parents and teachers tell kids 100 times a day to pay attention,” said Philippe R. Goldin, a researcher. “But we never teach them how.”
The experiment at Piedmont, whose student body is roughly 65 percent black, 18 percent Latino and includes a large number of immigrants, is financed by Park Day School, a nearby private school (prompting one teacher to grumble that it was “Cloud Nine-groovy-hippie-liberals bringing ‘enlightenment’ to inner city schools”).
But Angela Haick, the principal of Piedmont Avenue, said she was inspired to try it after observing a class at a local middle school.
“If we can help children slow down and think,” Dr. Haick said, “they have the answers within themselves.”
It seemed alternately loved and ignored, as students in Ms. Graham’s fifth-grade class tried to pay attention to their breath, a calming technique that lasted 20 seconds. Then their coach asked them to “cultivate compassion” by reflecting on their emotions before lashing out at someone on the playground.
Tyran Williams defined mindfulness as “not hitting someone in the mouth.”
“He doesn’t know what to do with his energy,” his mother, Towana Thomas, said at a session for parents. “But one day after school he told me, ‘I’m taking a moment.’ If it works in a child’s mind — with so much going on — there must be something to it.”
Asked their reactions to the sounds of the singing bowl, Yvette Solito, a third grader, wrote that it made her feel “calm, like something on Oprah.” Her classmate Corey Jackson wrote that “it feels like when a bird cracks open its shell.”
Dr. Amy Saltzman, a physician in Palo Alto, Calif., who started the Association for Mindfulness in Education three years ago, thinks of mindfulness education as “talk yoga.” Practitioners tend to use sticky-mat buzzwords like “being present” and “cultivating compassion,” while avoiding anything spiritual.
Dr. Saltzman, co-director of the mindfulness study at Stanford, said the initial findings showed increased control of attention and “less negative internal chatter — what one girl described as ‘the gossip inside my head: I’m stupid, I’m fat or I’m going to fail math,’ ” Dr. Saltzman said.
A recent study of teenagers by Kaiser Permanente in San Jose, Calif., found that meditation techniques helped improve mood disorders, depression, and self-harming behaviors like anorexia and bulimia.
Dr. Susan L. Smalley, a professor of psychiatry at U.C.L.A. and director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center there, which is studying the effects on schoolchildren, said one 4-year-old noticed her mother succumbing to road rage while stuck in traffic. “She said, ‘Mommy, Mommy, you have to sing the breathing song,’ ” Dr. Smalley said.
Although some students take naturally to mindfulness, it is “not a magic bullet,” said Diana Winston, the director of mindfulness education at the U.C.L.A. center. She said the research thus far was “inconclusive” about how effective mindfulness was for children who suffered from trauma-related disorders, for example. It is “a slow process,” Ms. Winston added. “Just because kids sit and listen to the bell doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be more kind.”
Glenn Heuser, who teaches a combined fourth- and fifth-grade class at Piedmont, said one student started crying about a dead grandparent and another over melted lip balm. “It tapped into a very emotional space for them,” Mr. Heuser said. “They struggled with, ‘Is it O.K. to go there?’ ”
Although mindful education may seem like a New Yorker caricature of West Coast life, the school district with possibly the best experience has been Lancaster, Pa., where mindfulness is taught in 25 classes a week at eight schools. The district has a substantial poverty rate, with 75 percent of students qualifying for free lunch.
Midge Kinder, a yoga teacher, and her husband, Rick, started the program six years ago at George Ross Elementary, where their daughter Wynne taught.
Camille Hopkins, the principal, said initially she was skeptical. Growing up in South Philadelphia, “I was never told to take an elevator breath”— a way of breathing in stages, taught in yoga — “or hear the signals of chimes to cool down,” Ms. Hopkins said.
But the stresses today are greater, she conceded, particularly on students who lived with the threat of violence. “A lot of things we watched on TV are part of their everyday life,” she said. “It’s ‘Did you know so-and-so got shot over the weekend.’ ”
In after-school detention, children are asked to “check in with their feelings,” Ms. Hopkins said. “How are you really changing behavior if they’re just sitting there?”
Yolanda Steel, a second-grade teacher at Piedmont, said she was hopeful that the training would help an attention-deficit generation better manage a barrage of stimuli, including PlayStations and text messages. “American children are overstimulated,” Ms. Steel said. “Some have difficulty even closing their eyes.”
But she noted that some students tapped pencils and drummed on desks instead of closing their eyes and listening to the bell. “The premise is nice,” Ms. Steel concluded. “But mindfulness can’t do it all.”
June 16, 2007
"I wasn't going to make a big deal about it," the mother said Thursday, "but then he got sick."
A toddler who was served a margarita at a restaurant earlier this week is doing well, and investigators say the incident appears to have been an accident. Police say 2-year-old Julian Mayorga ordered apple juice but instead received an alcoholic beverage in a covered, plastic sippy cup on Monday night at an Applebee's franchise in Antioch, between San Francisco and Sacramento.
The boy's mother, Kim Mayorga, said she noticed Julian making funny faces and pushing away his cup. She opened the lid and was hit by the smell of tequila and Triple Sec. The toddler grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital.
"I wasn't going to make a big deal about it," the mother said Thursday, "but then he got sick."
Applebee's Vice President Randy Tei said the restaurant keeps apple juice and the premixed margarita concoction in identical-looking plastic bottles on ice behind the bar. A manager on duty mistakenly grabbed the margarita bottle instead of the apple juice jug, Tei said.
The company will reimburse the Mayorgas for their medical bills. It will no longer keep the juice and margarita mix in similar-looking containers, Tei said.
"We absolutely believe it was an honest mistake," Tei said.
The boy's mother, Kim Mayorga, said she noticed Julian making funny faces and pushing away his cup. She opened the lid and was hit by the smell of tequila and Triple Sec. The toddler grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital.
"I wasn't going to make a big deal about it," the mother said Thursday, "but then he got sick."
Applebee's Vice President Randy Tei said the restaurant keeps apple juice and the premixed margarita concoction in identical-looking plastic bottles on ice behind the bar. A manager on duty mistakenly grabbed the margarita bottle instead of the apple juice jug, Tei said.
The company will reimburse the Mayorgas for their medical bills. It will no longer keep the juice and margarita mix in similar-looking containers, Tei said.
"We absolutely believe it was an honest mistake," Tei said.
June 15, 2007
June 11, 2007
"Jesus is coming back to Missouri!" Mormons rage at Romney
Tom Grover, 26, a Mormon who is the host of a weekday talk show on politics on radio station KVNU here, said that while he thinks Mr. Romney has handled the scrutiny admirably, some of his callers were incensed about Mr. Romney’s repudiation of his own ancestors’ polygamy. The church outlawed the practice a century ago, but members are taught to understand that polygamy had a theological and historical context in the church, which Mr. Romney’s remark ignored.
“That really left a bad taste in people’s mouths,” Mr. Grover said. “That’s a tough thing for people to hear when their ancestors sacrificed a lot to live that life. They probably wouldn’t bring polygamy back, but they honor the place of it in church history.”
Audrey M. Godfrey, a historian who has written books with her husband, Kenneth, said of Mr. Romney, “If I were one of his relatives, I would be upset with him.”
Another case arose when George Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked Mr. Romney about a Mormon teaching that Jesus will come to the United States when he returns to reign on earth. Mr. Romney responded that the Messiah will return to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, “the same as the other Christian tradition.”
Mr. Grover said some of his radio listeners were astounded.
“They were just in disbelief, saying that’s not true, Jesus is coming back to Missouri,” Mr. Grover said. “It’s the L.D.S. Church’s 10th article of faith that Zion will be built upon the American continent.”
A Letter From Jack Schapp
I believe it is necessary for me to speak personally to the issue of our college students’ church membership while they are attending our college.
We are a local-church college. Hyles-Anderson College is owned and operated by the First Baptist Church of Hammond. That perhaps in itself is one of the greatest blessings of attending Hyles-Anderson College-to be a vital active part of this fine church. Such is true about each of the Christian colleges that are operated by a local New Testament Church. I believe in the LOCAL CHURCH.
That very fact is why I tell students that I may send to other colleges than ours that they should immediately introduce themselves to the pastor of the church where they attend, and they should join that church and become an active member.
I have found two main concerns of pastors who think it unwise for their college students to transfer their membership. One is a matter of control and influence. There is definitely a trust issue when one sends a student off to a Bible college.
I certainly am honored and humbled that a pastor or parent would send us a member or child. I also think it is a great honor to send a member or child to Hyles-Anderson College. I would never seek to replace either a pastor or a parent in our students’ lives; yet, I would ask to have the authority of the local church to direct and influence our students. I don’t think it wise or practical to pastor your members, nor do I think it wise or practical for you to co-pastor a student in our college which is under my pastoral care and leadership.
I do not seek the students’ money, but I do desire to have their heart and you and I both know that “where you treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Many students never give us their heart, and forfeit a great learning experience. Many students are constantly relaying back home to their pastors what I am preaching while I am preaching, and they are sitting in judgment of what our college is doing. I believe that is a most undesirable situation.
I feel that if a student does not want to be under the pastoral care and leadership of our church he should not pretend to be under the authority of the college, for the college authority is that of the local church and pastor.
If you were the pastor overseeing a college, I would insist that my students who attend your college would place themselves under your authority and join your church. It only fits with our philosophy of the local church.
I certainly respect your right to disagree with me on this matter; however, I am not trying to build a college enrollment; I am trying to build men and woman with a passion for God and His work! I want our students to be active members and participants in this church, not casual observers of this operation.
If you think we are using this college to build our church, then you have never run a church-operated college. It simply does not work that way. First Baptist Church was declared the largest Sunday school in the world BEFORE Hyles-Anderson College was started. Ever since that day, it has been a fight to keep the church growing. Colleges do not build churches, but a growing church can provide a wonderful opportunity to teach and train your pastoral candidates.
I would like too have my hands untied with the students you send us. I will exalt you and endorse you, and your students will love and honor you more for having been here; however I want to be the pastor of our students and not simply a figurehead puppet leader whose strings are pulled by the “home pastor.” Our college is boot camp, and we don’t need “Daddy” overriding the drill instructor’s direction. If we are good enough for you to send us your students, then send all of the student, including his heart and mind!!
In closing, let me thank those of you who support us and have loved us through the years. Many of you are graduates of our college, and your alma mater is certainly proud to have had a part in your ministry.
Others of you are tied to us through Pastor’s School. You also are dear to us as fellow laborers in the work of Christ.
Our world has never needed an institution like Hyles-Anderson College as it does now. Colleges and Christian ministries are compromising quickly. Many Bible colleges are graduating nice, polite, decent Christians, but fewer and fewer red-hot, passionate, holy, church builders are coming out of the Bible college movement.
This nation and this world will never be influenced by the large number of above-average, good, decent Christians we graduate; it will be changed by the few great men who have learned to walk with God, work for God, and live for God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength!
To that end, Hyles-Anderson College is dedicated! Everything else ultimately really does not matter!
For Christ’s sake,
Jack Schaap
Pastor
We are a local-church college. Hyles-Anderson College is owned and operated by the First Baptist Church of Hammond. That perhaps in itself is one of the greatest blessings of attending Hyles-Anderson College-to be a vital active part of this fine church. Such is true about each of the Christian colleges that are operated by a local New Testament Church. I believe in the LOCAL CHURCH.
That very fact is why I tell students that I may send to other colleges than ours that they should immediately introduce themselves to the pastor of the church where they attend, and they should join that church and become an active member.
I have found two main concerns of pastors who think it unwise for their college students to transfer their membership. One is a matter of control and influence. There is definitely a trust issue when one sends a student off to a Bible college.
I certainly am honored and humbled that a pastor or parent would send us a member or child. I also think it is a great honor to send a member or child to Hyles-Anderson College. I would never seek to replace either a pastor or a parent in our students’ lives; yet, I would ask to have the authority of the local church to direct and influence our students. I don’t think it wise or practical to pastor your members, nor do I think it wise or practical for you to co-pastor a student in our college which is under my pastoral care and leadership.
I do not seek the students’ money, but I do desire to have their heart and you and I both know that “where you treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Many students never give us their heart, and forfeit a great learning experience. Many students are constantly relaying back home to their pastors what I am preaching while I am preaching, and they are sitting in judgment of what our college is doing. I believe that is a most undesirable situation.
I feel that if a student does not want to be under the pastoral care and leadership of our church he should not pretend to be under the authority of the college, for the college authority is that of the local church and pastor.
If you were the pastor overseeing a college, I would insist that my students who attend your college would place themselves under your authority and join your church. It only fits with our philosophy of the local church.
I certainly respect your right to disagree with me on this matter; however, I am not trying to build a college enrollment; I am trying to build men and woman with a passion for God and His work! I want our students to be active members and participants in this church, not casual observers of this operation.
If you think we are using this college to build our church, then you have never run a church-operated college. It simply does not work that way. First Baptist Church was declared the largest Sunday school in the world BEFORE Hyles-Anderson College was started. Ever since that day, it has been a fight to keep the church growing. Colleges do not build churches, but a growing church can provide a wonderful opportunity to teach and train your pastoral candidates.
I would like too have my hands untied with the students you send us. I will exalt you and endorse you, and your students will love and honor you more for having been here; however I want to be the pastor of our students and not simply a figurehead puppet leader whose strings are pulled by the “home pastor.” Our college is boot camp, and we don’t need “Daddy” overriding the drill instructor’s direction. If we are good enough for you to send us your students, then send all of the student, including his heart and mind!!
In closing, let me thank those of you who support us and have loved us through the years. Many of you are graduates of our college, and your alma mater is certainly proud to have had a part in your ministry.
Others of you are tied to us through Pastor’s School. You also are dear to us as fellow laborers in the work of Christ.
Our world has never needed an institution like Hyles-Anderson College as it does now. Colleges and Christian ministries are compromising quickly. Many Bible colleges are graduating nice, polite, decent Christians, but fewer and fewer red-hot, passionate, holy, church builders are coming out of the Bible college movement.
This nation and this world will never be influenced by the large number of above-average, good, decent Christians we graduate; it will be changed by the few great men who have learned to walk with God, work for God, and live for God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength!
To that end, Hyles-Anderson College is dedicated! Everything else ultimately really does not matter!
For Christ’s sake,
Jack Schaap
Pastor
June 10, 2007
Blair 'may become a Catholic deacon'
Blair 'may become a Catholic deacon'
Tony Blair has discussed becoming a Roman Catholic deacon when he quits office.The revelation comes as he prepares to meet the Pope amid speculation that he will use the audience in the Vatican to announce his conversion.In his last foreign engagement, just days before he leaves Downing Street for the final time, the Prime Minister will visit Pope Benedict XVI in what officials say will be a "highly significant" personal mission.The Prime Minister's first meeting with the present Pope took place last June, but he had an audience with Pope John Paul II in February 2003, shortly before the US and British-led invasion of Iraq.It later emerged that the Prime Minister had received Holy Communion from the Polish-born pontiff at a private service for the Blair family in the Vatican.Mrs Blair, who is a devout Catholic, had an unexpected meeting with Pope Benedict last year when she was on a speaking engagement in Rome.In 1996 Cardinal Basil Hume, the late Archbishop of Westminster, asked that the Prime Minister – a member of the Church of England – cease taking Communion at his wife’s London church in Islington.Mr Blair is not believed to have received the sacrament in British Catholic churches since then. However, he is understood to have taken the Eucharist during holidays in Italy where an Anglican church was not easily available.
Tony Blair has discussed becoming a Roman Catholic deacon when he quits office.The revelation comes as he prepares to meet the Pope amid speculation that he will use the audience in the Vatican to announce his conversion.In his last foreign engagement, just days before he leaves Downing Street for the final time, the Prime Minister will visit Pope Benedict XVI in what officials say will be a "highly significant" personal mission.The Prime Minister's first meeting with the present Pope took place last June, but he had an audience with Pope John Paul II in February 2003, shortly before the US and British-led invasion of Iraq.It later emerged that the Prime Minister had received Holy Communion from the Polish-born pontiff at a private service for the Blair family in the Vatican.Mrs Blair, who is a devout Catholic, had an unexpected meeting with Pope Benedict last year when she was on a speaking engagement in Rome.In 1996 Cardinal Basil Hume, the late Archbishop of Westminster, asked that the Prime Minister – a member of the Church of England – cease taking Communion at his wife’s London church in Islington.Mr Blair is not believed to have received the sacrament in British Catholic churches since then. However, he is understood to have taken the Eucharist during holidays in Italy where an Anglican church was not easily available.
June 9, 2007
Pope doesn't recognize the Ten Commandments!
The two men, as is traditional in such visits, traded gifts. The pope presented the president with an etching of St. Peter’s Square from the 17th century and a gold papal medallion. The president gave the pope a white walking stick made by a former homeless man turned artist from Texas, covered with the 10 commandments in multiple colors.
The pope double-checked with the president what was written on the stick.
“The 10 commandments, sir,” the president said...
June 8, 2007
One million march in anti-gay rally -
One million march in anti-gay rally -
An estimated one million evangelical Christians marched in Brazil's largest city Sao Paulo today against homosexuality, just days ahead of what is billed to be the world's largest gay pride parade.
Pastor Andre Fabiano shouted over truck-mounted loudspeakers: "Vade retro, Satanism! Vade retro, homosexuality!" -- Get back, Satanism! Get back, homosexuality! -- paraphrasing Medieval Latin exorcism amulets.
Seventeen flatbed trucks carried musical bands performing live for the marchers as they snaked through the streets of Brazil's financial capital. Police estimated the number of marchers at one million.
The March for Jesus, organised by evangelical churches, comes just ahead of Sunday's annual Gay Pride parade.
In 2006 some 2.8 million marched in the Gay Pride parade. At this year's event, billed as a march against racism, homophobia and male chauvinism, organisers say they expect even more protesters.
"Through the Bible we know that God disagrees with what they (the homosexuals) do," Walter Silva Filho, an evangelical marcher, told the G1 news website. "We condemn those acts, but not the people."
Another marcher, identified as Pastor Paulo Henrique de Oliveira, said the purpose of today's march was not to repudiate homosexuality or compete with the Sunday parade, but was rather a march for evangelical unity.
Brazilian gay groups in May staged protests during the visit to Brazil by Pope Benedict, criticising the Vatican for influencing government social policies.
The Association of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals published an open letter denouncing "the public pressure that religious groups, beginning with the Vatican, wield against the passage of laws" around the world that would benefit people like them.
An estimated one million evangelical Christians marched in Brazil's largest city Sao Paulo today against homosexuality, just days ahead of what is billed to be the world's largest gay pride parade.
Pastor Andre Fabiano shouted over truck-mounted loudspeakers: "Vade retro, Satanism! Vade retro, homosexuality!" -- Get back, Satanism! Get back, homosexuality! -- paraphrasing Medieval Latin exorcism amulets.
Seventeen flatbed trucks carried musical bands performing live for the marchers as they snaked through the streets of Brazil's financial capital. Police estimated the number of marchers at one million.
The March for Jesus, organised by evangelical churches, comes just ahead of Sunday's annual Gay Pride parade.
In 2006 some 2.8 million marched in the Gay Pride parade. At this year's event, billed as a march against racism, homophobia and male chauvinism, organisers say they expect even more protesters.
"Through the Bible we know that God disagrees with what they (the homosexuals) do," Walter Silva Filho, an evangelical marcher, told the G1 news website. "We condemn those acts, but not the people."
Another marcher, identified as Pastor Paulo Henrique de Oliveira, said the purpose of today's march was not to repudiate homosexuality or compete with the Sunday parade, but was rather a march for evangelical unity.
Brazilian gay groups in May staged protests during the visit to Brazil by Pope Benedict, criticising the Vatican for influencing government social policies.
The Association of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals published an open letter denouncing "the public pressure that religious groups, beginning with the Vatican, wield against the passage of laws" around the world that would benefit people like them.
President Bush scheduled to pay visit to the Pope
U.S. President George W. Bush is coming to the Vatican for his first formal audience with Pope Benedict XVI, a meeting seen on both sides as immensely important.
Vatican officials said the June 9 encounter would give the pope and the president a chance to sit down for a survey of dramatic situations around the world, including Iraq, where thousands of Christians have been forced to flee.
The Bush administration believes the audience will highlight the shared values and common objectives of the Vatican and the United States.
Vatican officials said the June 9 encounter would give the pope and the president a chance to sit down for a survey of dramatic situations around the world, including Iraq, where thousands of Christians have been forced to flee.
The Bush administration believes the audience will highlight the shared values and common objectives of the Vatican and the United States.
June 7, 2007
Catholic sues over prayer in "Jesus name" at LA. graduation
For the second time in as many months, a parent has launched a federal lawsuit against the Tangipahoa School Board over religion, this time objecting to a teacher-led prayer delivered at a recent high school graduation ceremony.The suit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. It marks the sixth court case in 13 years by the American Civil Liberties Union against the same school district involving matters of religion, according to Joe Cook, executive director of Louisiana's branch of the ACLU.
"It's certainly a state record," Cook said. "I'm not aware of any school district that's been sued this many times for religious freedom."
At the ceremony, John "P" received a program that specified a student would deliver the invocation. Instead, a faculty member at PM High School gave a prayer that began with "Lord we thank you for ... " and ended with "We pray for these things in Jesus' name, Amen," the suit states.
John "P," who is Catholic, found the invocation "offensive and objectionable" because it served to advance only one faith, Christianity, the suit claims.
Last month, a parent filed a federal suit claiming the district permitted the distribution of Gideon Bibles to a class of fifth-graders while on school grounds. The board has also been sued for allowing teacher-led prayer in the classroom, over the intercom, at school-sponsored events and during board meetings.[Snip, article here]
June 6, 2007
Surprising Study Reveals Half Southern Baptist Pastors Believe in Gift of Tongues
Surprising Study Reveals Half Southern Baptist Pastors Believe in Gift of Tongues
Half of Southern Baptist pastors say they believe the Holy Spirit gives some people a special language to pray to God – what is known to some as private prayer language – a surprising new study found. (snip)
What is "praying in the Spirit?"
Missionary/Pastor David Cloud writes:There is no “private prayer language” in the New Testament. It is the recent invention of Pentecostals and Charismatics who, having realized that they cannot speak in real tongues that can be interpreted (one of the absolute biblical requirements), were forced either to renounce their experience or to create some sort of cockeyed defense for it.
There is not one example of a prayer in the Bible that is uttered in unintelligible mutterings that “bypass the intellect.”Jesus Christ did not pray that way and neither did the apostles. I have heard Charismatics speak in their “private prayer language” in churches and conferences in many parts of the world. Larry Lea’s “private prayer language” at Indianapolis ’90 went something like this: “Bubblyida bubblyida hallelujah bubblyida hallabubbly shallabubblyida kolabubblyida glooooory hallelujah bubblyida.”
I wrote that down as he was saying it and later checked it against the tape. Nancy Kellar, a Roman Catholic nun who was on the executive committee of St. Louis 2000, spoke in “tongues” that went like this: “Shananaa leea, shananaa higha, shananaa nanaa, shananaa leea…” repeated over and over.
Friends, this is not any sort of biblical prayer; it is childish nonsense, but it is neither innocent nor lacking in spiritual danger. The Bible warns repeatedly and forcefully about the danger of spiritual deception, and those who empty their minds through the practice of a “private prayer language” are in danger of the devil filling them.
The Southern Baptist Convention would do well to cleanse itself of all Charismatic practices, but no half-hearted attempt will ever get the job done. What kind of silliness is this, forbidding missionaries to do something that the head of their agency does!
Because the SBC refuses to discipline charismatic error thoroughly and consistently, the charismatic leaven will doubtless spread.The Bible warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” This is true for sin (1 Cor. 5:6) as well as for false doctrine and practice (Gal. 5:9).See also "When Was the Southern Baptist Convention Rescued from Liberalism" and "Why I Am Not Southern Baptist" under the Southern Baptist section of the End Times Apostasy Database at the Way of Life Literature web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org
Half of Southern Baptist pastors say they believe the Holy Spirit gives some people a special language to pray to God – what is known to some as private prayer language – a surprising new study found. (snip)
What is "praying in the Spirit?"
Missionary/Pastor David Cloud writes:There is no “private prayer language” in the New Testament. It is the recent invention of Pentecostals and Charismatics who, having realized that they cannot speak in real tongues that can be interpreted (one of the absolute biblical requirements), were forced either to renounce their experience or to create some sort of cockeyed defense for it.
There is not one example of a prayer in the Bible that is uttered in unintelligible mutterings that “bypass the intellect.”Jesus Christ did not pray that way and neither did the apostles. I have heard Charismatics speak in their “private prayer language” in churches and conferences in many parts of the world. Larry Lea’s “private prayer language” at Indianapolis ’90 went something like this: “Bubblyida bubblyida hallelujah bubblyida hallabubbly shallabubblyida kolabubblyida glooooory hallelujah bubblyida.”
I wrote that down as he was saying it and later checked it against the tape. Nancy Kellar, a Roman Catholic nun who was on the executive committee of St. Louis 2000, spoke in “tongues” that went like this: “Shananaa leea, shananaa higha, shananaa nanaa, shananaa leea…” repeated over and over.
Friends, this is not any sort of biblical prayer; it is childish nonsense, but it is neither innocent nor lacking in spiritual danger. The Bible warns repeatedly and forcefully about the danger of spiritual deception, and those who empty their minds through the practice of a “private prayer language” are in danger of the devil filling them.
The Southern Baptist Convention would do well to cleanse itself of all Charismatic practices, but no half-hearted attempt will ever get the job done. What kind of silliness is this, forbidding missionaries to do something that the head of their agency does!
Because the SBC refuses to discipline charismatic error thoroughly and consistently, the charismatic leaven will doubtless spread.The Bible warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” This is true for sin (1 Cor. 5:6) as well as for false doctrine and practice (Gal. 5:9).See also "When Was the Southern Baptist Convention Rescued from Liberalism" and "Why I Am Not Southern Baptist" under the Southern Baptist section of the End Times Apostasy Database at the Way of Life Literature web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org
Man tries to board popemobile -
Man tries to board popemobile - : "VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- A man tried to jump into the back of the open-air vehicle carrying Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City on Wednesday before being wrestled to the ground.
Video showed the man wearing a red t-shirt, dark shorts, a baseball cap and sunglasses, launch himself over a crowd of people waving flags and holding banners on the side of the street as the popemobile passed by.
The man then jumped over the barricade and seemed to touch the back of the vehicle before at least six men in dark suits wrestled him to the ground. "
Video showed the man wearing a red t-shirt, dark shorts, a baseball cap and sunglasses, launch himself over a crowd of people waving flags and holding banners on the side of the street as the popemobile passed by.
The man then jumped over the barricade and seemed to touch the back of the vehicle before at least six men in dark suits wrestled him to the ground. "
June 5, 2007
Circular patterns growing on moss confuse scientists
Circular patterns growing on moss confuse scientists
Of course it does!!!!!!!!!!!
"A mysterious circular pattern on moss-covered logs has scientists scratching their heads.Last winter, researchers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park discovered the symmetrical bull's-eye pattern on patches of liverwort (a close relative of moss) growing on pine trees that had died and fallen on the ground.
At this point, biologists aren't sure what causes the circles. Some have suggested snails, while others have speculated millipedes.
"Immediately, we thought of snails," said Keith Langdon, chief biologist with the Smokies. "But snails graze in a zigzag pattern. We can't find records of anything like this in the park. It appears to be a rare phenomenon."
Etched into the velvet-green surface of the liverwort, the patterns have appeared like tiny crop circles. The only reports of anything similar come from the arctic regions of Greenland and Canada, where a moss-eating fungus is believed to be the cause.
So far, there are no known reports of the circular patterns occurring this far south or on liverwort.
Chuck Parker is an aquatic biologist for the U.S Geological Survey who spotted the circular patterns a few weeks ago on a cliff face in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.
"Finding them outside the Smokies, and on a substrate other than pine trees, is a variation on the theme," Parker said. "There's a real fascination here. I'd love to figure it out."
Rebecca Shiftlett is a nature photographer and art teacher who was with the group that discovered the circles in the Smokies last winter. They were surveying an area for the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) when they noticed some unusual impressions on liverwort-covered logs beside the trail.
"When you've been in the woods as long as we have, you look for things you've not seen," Shiftlett said. "These concentric circles jumped out at us. We sat there for the longest time trying to figure out what in the world would do that."
Since 2002, the ATBI has sent an army of researchers and volunteers into the Smokies to collect and catalogue every living life form.
So far, the ATBI has identified approximately 4,666 species that are new records for the park and 651 species new to science.
Shiftlett said the bull's-eye patterns are a perfect example of the mysteries that are revealed when enough people start looking around.
"Nature tends to produce shapes that are organic and free form," she said.
"This clearly is a geometric pattern, which, in the natural world, you hardly ever see."
June 4, 2007
Dan Burrell jumps ship
...Or walks the plank, whichever the case may be.
"We've been visiting Northside Baptist Church for the last few weeks and think we like it. We both really enjoy the pastor. We are not crazy about the music style most of the time, however. It is a fundamental church, but quite contemporary in its style of worship. We enjoyed the couples Sunday School class we went to this Sunday. They are going through a book about family and couple issues. It was interesting and seemed to be a good group...During the morning service, we were stunned to hear the Pastor, Dan Burrell, announce that he was resigning. He let the church know that his last Sunday would be September 1st. Apparently, there are some issues going on and some are not happy with him."
"We've been visiting Northside Baptist Church for the last few weeks and think we like it. We both really enjoy the pastor. We are not crazy about the music style most of the time, however. It is a fundamental church, but quite contemporary in its style of worship. We enjoyed the couples Sunday School class we went to this Sunday. They are going through a book about family and couple issues. It was interesting and seemed to be a good group...During the morning service, we were stunned to hear the Pastor, Dan Burrell, announce that he was resigning. He let the church know that his last Sunday would be September 1st. Apparently, there are some issues going on and some are not happy with him."
Woman pontificator compares conservative Southern Baptist to "militant fundamentalists" like murderer David Koresh
Just another glaring example of a messed up woman who hates conservatives!
She says "Militant fundamentalist are NOW intent on purifying the SBC of ANYONE who believes ANYTHING different from them. The standard is set by them and anything less than where they place the bar is 'unqualified' to be Baptist. Groups who are willing to move a little slower, but yet deliberately to accomplish their goals have influenced agencies. But the goals are the same. Purification, Purging, ie Let's send those who don't align with 'us' over to that nasty CBF tent. They aren’t like us, we don't want 'me.
The greatness of the SBC has been its ability to come together in areas with diverse regional, theological and popular constituency and cooperate. If militant fundamentalist have their way in the SBC, there will be no more cooperation; there will be no more diversity. What will be left is "my way-or the highway' clothed with words like 'inerrant and liberalism."
Robin Foster has written a resolution to be submitted at the SBC convention in San Antonio. Please read it, the link is HERE Please read it. This kind of thinking frightens and saddens me. Can you see armed guards coming to get our brothers and sisters who pray 'in the spirit?' May it never be so.
God help us.
Posted by Alycelee"
What is "praying in the Spirit?"
Missionary/Pastor David Cloud writes:
There is no “private prayer language” in the New Testament. It is the recent invention of Pentecostals and Charismatics who, having realized that they cannot speak in real tongues that can be interpreted (one of the absolute biblical requirements), were forced either to renounce their experience or to create some sort of cockeyed defense for it. There is not one example of a prayer in the Bible that is uttered in unintelligible mutterings that “bypass the intellect.”
Jesus Christ did not pray that way and neither did the apostles. I have heard Charismatics speak in their “private prayer language” in churches and conferences in many parts of the world. Larry Lea’s “private prayer language” at Indianapolis ’90 went something like this: “Bubblyida bubblyida hallelujah bubblyida hallabubbly shallabubblyida kolabubblyida glooooory hallelujah bubblyida.” I wrote that down as he was saying it and later checked it against the tape. Nancy Kellar, a Roman Catholic nun who was on the executive committee of St. Louis 2000, spoke in “tongues” that went like this: “Shananaa leea, shananaa higha, shananaa nanaa, shananaa leea…” repeated over and over.
Friends, this is not any sort of biblical prayer; it is childish nonsense, but it is neither innocent nor lacking in spiritual danger. The Bible warns repeatedly and forcefully about the danger of spiritual deception, and those who empty their minds through the practice of a “private prayer language” are in danger of the devil filling them.
The Southern Baptist Convention would do well to cleanse itself of all Charismatic practices, but no half-hearted attempt will ever get the job done. What kind of silliness is this, forbidding missionaries to do something that the head of their agency does!
Because the SBC refuses to discipline charismatic error thoroughly and consistently, the charismatic leaven will doubtless spread.
The Bible warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” This is true for sin (1 Cor. 5:6) as well as for false doctrine and practice (Gal. 5:9).
See also "When Was the Southern Baptist Convention Rescued from Liberalism" and "Why I Am Not Southern Baptist" under the Southern Baptist section of the End Times Apostasy Database at the Way of Life Literature web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org
June 1, 2007
Complaint filed with IRS after Tampa televangelist compares Romney to Satan. "Bring it on!"
WASHINGTON _ Florida evangelist Bill Keller says he was making a spiritual -- not political -- statement when he warned the 2.4 million subscribers to his Internet prayer ministry that ``if you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan!''
But the Washington-based advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State says the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should revoke the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status of Bill Keller Ministries, nonetheless.
Keller, 49, who has a call-in show on a Tampa television station and a Web site called Liveprayer.com, on May 11 sent out a ``daily devotional'' that called Romney ``an unabashed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago.
'' If the former Massachusetts governor wins the GOP nomination and the presidency, Keller's message added, it will ``ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell.''
In a letter to the IRS on Thursday, Americans United called Keller's message a violation of the ban on partisan politicking by tax-exempt religious groups.
Keller, in a telephone interview, laughed off the controversy. ``Let them come after me for making a spiritual statement about Mitt Romney. I would love that,'' he said. ``Bring it on.''
May 31, 2007
Homeschooler Evan O'Dorney wins 2007 Spelling Bee
Evan is 13 and has completed all of his high school level studies in his homeschool. He is now working on college level courses.
May 30, 2007
May 29, 2007
Valedictorian's Speech About Jesus Christ Prompts 'Controversy' (Shannon Spaulding)
Valedictorian's Speech About Christ Prompts Controversy
A high school class's top student took the show at her graduation with a nearly 20-minute speech urging her fellow students to find God -- a topic that prompted a commencement controversy, according to WJXT-TV.
Wolfson High School valedictorian Shannon Spaulding made the comments in front of a large crowd of proud parents, friends and classmates.
Some members of the audience said Spaulding picked the wrong forum to share her beliefs, while others applauded her courageous message.
The valedictorian's speech was about Jesus Christ and suggested those who don't believe would go to hell.
"I want to tell you that Jesus Christ can give you eternal life in heaven," Spaulding said before the crowd. "If we die with that sin on our souls, we will immediately be pulled down to hell to pay the eternal price for our sins ourselves."
For 17 minutes, Spaulding's speech went on, making religious references to Bible scriptures that were often followed with applause.
"Like the Geico Insurance slogan -- so easy a caveman can do it. Letting Jesus take care of our sin problem is so easy a child can do it," said Spaulding.
However, there were some in the audience who said they were uncomfortable during the speech and felt the comments were inappropriate.
"It was not the right forum. We were all sent there to have a joyous occasion and not a religious revival," said Samantha, who was at the event to see her sister graduate.
School superintendent Joseph Wise issued a statement after the graduation ceremony, stating he deeply regretted that "the student exercised her time in her valedictorian speech in a manner that was offensive and insensitive to some."
Spaulding told WJXT-TV she was not aware of the controversy and stands behind everything she said.
"I was not trying to force anything on anybody. I just wanted to tell them something I knew was important to me and wanted to have them a chance to hear," Spaulding said.
While some were uncomfortable about her message, there were others who felt it was very appropriate speech.
"I think that was the most important thing to her, and I think she had the right to say it. She succeeded in becoming valedictorian, and that was her right," said attendee Carileen Bollinger.
A high school class's top student took the show at her graduation with a nearly 20-minute speech urging her fellow students to find God -- a topic that prompted a commencement controversy, according to WJXT-TV.
Wolfson High School valedictorian Shannon Spaulding made the comments in front of a large crowd of proud parents, friends and classmates.
Some members of the audience said Spaulding picked the wrong forum to share her beliefs, while others applauded her courageous message.
The valedictorian's speech was about Jesus Christ and suggested those who don't believe would go to hell.
"I want to tell you that Jesus Christ can give you eternal life in heaven," Spaulding said before the crowd. "If we die with that sin on our souls, we will immediately be pulled down to hell to pay the eternal price for our sins ourselves."
For 17 minutes, Spaulding's speech went on, making religious references to Bible scriptures that were often followed with applause.
"Like the Geico Insurance slogan -- so easy a caveman can do it. Letting Jesus take care of our sin problem is so easy a child can do it," said Spaulding.
However, there were some in the audience who said they were uncomfortable during the speech and felt the comments were inappropriate.
"It was not the right forum. We were all sent there to have a joyous occasion and not a religious revival," said Samantha, who was at the event to see her sister graduate.
School superintendent Joseph Wise issued a statement after the graduation ceremony, stating he deeply regretted that "the student exercised her time in her valedictorian speech in a manner that was offensive and insensitive to some."
Spaulding told WJXT-TV she was not aware of the controversy and stands behind everything she said.
"I was not trying to force anything on anybody. I just wanted to tell them something I knew was important to me and wanted to have them a chance to hear," Spaulding said.
While some were uncomfortable about her message, there were others who felt it was very appropriate speech.
"I think that was the most important thing to her, and I think she had the right to say it. She succeeded in becoming valedictorian, and that was her right," said attendee Carileen Bollinger.
May 28, 2007
Muslim Cleric Leads Prayer in Alabama House
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- A Muslim cleric has delivered the opening prayer in the Alabama House. Kareem Abdullah, imam of the Birmingham Islamic Center, prayed for Alabama to prosper as the House began its session Thursday.
Ministers from across the state, mostly from Christian churches, pray at the start of each day's session, just before House members say the Pledge of Allegiance.
Abdullah was invited by state Representative Yusuf Salaam of Selma, the only Muslim in the Alabama Legislature. Salaam says he invited Abdullah because he feels it's important to show the lawmakers and people of Alabama that "most Muslims are God-fearing people," not anti-American terrorists.
Ministers from across the state, mostly from Christian churches, pray at the start of each day's session, just before House members say the Pledge of Allegiance.
Abdullah was invited by state Representative Yusuf Salaam of Selma, the only Muslim in the Alabama Legislature. Salaam says he invited Abdullah because he feels it's important to show the lawmakers and people of Alabama that "most Muslims are God-fearing people," not anti-American terrorists.
May 27, 2007
Priest admits to having homosexual relationship
The Roslea priest at the centre of a Crown Court Trial in Liverpool admitted on Tuesday to having a homosexual relationship with a convicted paedophile.
Father Jeremiah McGrath, whose address was given as Church Road, also told a jury that he had not considered the relationship with William Adams to be wrong.
He said he formed a relationship with Adams when he was in his mid-40s and Adams was 21 and homeless.
Their sexual relationship did not last long, he said. "It changed from being a physical relationship to an emotional relationship. There was precious little sexual activity," said 62-year-old McGrath.
McGrath faces three charges of facilitating the commission of a child sex offence by Adams and one of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl. He denies all the offences, which spanned seven months ending in November 2005.
Adams, from Newtownabbey, but latterly of Bootle, Merseyside, has admitted repeatedly raping the child when she was 11 and 12 in Liverpool, Blackpool and Southport.
McGrath, said that if he had had a continuing sexual relationship with Adams he would have considered his position as a priest but, after Adams was released from a 12 year jail sentence for raping an eight-year-old girl, he only had sex with him once.
Cross-examined by Andrew Menary, QC, prosecuting, McGrath agreed he had told police he had not had a sexual relationship with Adams. "I was embarrassed", he explained.
"It was a lie?" asked Mr Menary.
"It wasn't the complete truth. The answer should have been it wasn't a continuing sexual relationship," he replied.
He said Adams had told him he had not abused the eight-year-old girl and also a 13-year-old girl, and he believed him. He said he had not then thought he was a paedophile but McGrath admitted he had told police he repeatedly told Adams that he was to get psychiatric help.
"I believed him when I wanted to believe him. When you are emotionally attached to a person, it is a difficult situation to be in," he said.
He said that during 2005 he recognised that Adams might be a paedophile and advised him to get help.
He was shown photographs taken while the two men were on holiday in Blackpool with the girl, her mother and brother. These included Adams at a swimming pool complex with the children and also another showing Adams and the girl close together.
McGrath claimed it was the girl who behaved in an overtly sexual way and Adams would tell her to go away. "I never saw any closeness like in the photograph. If I had I would be worried."
Mr Menary suggested that he knew full well what was going on between Adams and the girl but ignored it because he was "besotted" with Adams; however, McGrath denied knowing what was happening.
While the group was on holiday, Adams described McGrath as his uncle and that their name was Adamson.
McGrath said he had not told anyone he was his uncle and had not queried why Adams had used the name Adamson.
Asked if he would do anything for Adams he replied, "I would do a lot of things."
Further questioned, he said it was only after Adams pleaded guilty to repeatedly raping the 12-year-old that it began to sink in what had been going on.
Mr Menary read a letter McGrath wrote to Adams after Adams was arrested which Mr Menary described as, "full of warmth and support." Quizzed about it McGrath agreed he had been prepared to stand by Adams and had described 2005 as "a good year."
"It wasn't a good year for the girl, was it?" asked Mr Menary. "No, a very sad year," said McGrath.
Questioned about his police interview, McGrath agreed he had told police that he had said the girl had been hurting Adams and was "putting him in harm's way."
The case continues. It is expected to last until the end of this week.
Father Jeremiah McGrath, whose address was given as Church Road, also told a jury that he had not considered the relationship with William Adams to be wrong.
He said he formed a relationship with Adams when he was in his mid-40s and Adams was 21 and homeless.
Their sexual relationship did not last long, he said. "It changed from being a physical relationship to an emotional relationship. There was precious little sexual activity," said 62-year-old McGrath.
McGrath faces three charges of facilitating the commission of a child sex offence by Adams and one of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl. He denies all the offences, which spanned seven months ending in November 2005.
Adams, from Newtownabbey, but latterly of Bootle, Merseyside, has admitted repeatedly raping the child when she was 11 and 12 in Liverpool, Blackpool and Southport.
McGrath, said that if he had had a continuing sexual relationship with Adams he would have considered his position as a priest but, after Adams was released from a 12 year jail sentence for raping an eight-year-old girl, he only had sex with him once.
Cross-examined by Andrew Menary, QC, prosecuting, McGrath agreed he had told police he had not had a sexual relationship with Adams. "I was embarrassed", he explained.
"It was a lie?" asked Mr Menary.
"It wasn't the complete truth. The answer should have been it wasn't a continuing sexual relationship," he replied.
He said Adams had told him he had not abused the eight-year-old girl and also a 13-year-old girl, and he believed him. He said he had not then thought he was a paedophile but McGrath admitted he had told police he repeatedly told Adams that he was to get psychiatric help.
"I believed him when I wanted to believe him. When you are emotionally attached to a person, it is a difficult situation to be in," he said.
He said that during 2005 he recognised that Adams might be a paedophile and advised him to get help.
He was shown photographs taken while the two men were on holiday in Blackpool with the girl, her mother and brother. These included Adams at a swimming pool complex with the children and also another showing Adams and the girl close together.
McGrath claimed it was the girl who behaved in an overtly sexual way and Adams would tell her to go away. "I never saw any closeness like in the photograph. If I had I would be worried."
Mr Menary suggested that he knew full well what was going on between Adams and the girl but ignored it because he was "besotted" with Adams; however, McGrath denied knowing what was happening.
While the group was on holiday, Adams described McGrath as his uncle and that their name was Adamson.
McGrath said he had not told anyone he was his uncle and had not queried why Adams had used the name Adamson.
Asked if he would do anything for Adams he replied, "I would do a lot of things."
Further questioned, he said it was only after Adams pleaded guilty to repeatedly raping the 12-year-old that it began to sink in what had been going on.
Mr Menary read a letter McGrath wrote to Adams after Adams was arrested which Mr Menary described as, "full of warmth and support." Quizzed about it McGrath agreed he had been prepared to stand by Adams and had described 2005 as "a good year."
"It wasn't a good year for the girl, was it?" asked Mr Menary. "No, a very sad year," said McGrath.
Questioned about his police interview, McGrath agreed he had told police that he had said the girl had been hurting Adams and was "putting him in harm's way."
The case continues. It is expected to last until the end of this week.
May 23, 2007
As Tammy Faye lies dying, her niece releases book opposing the heresy of the Word of Faith movement
AS TAMMY FAYE DIES, NIECE RELEASES BOOK OPPOSING WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT
May 23, 2007
Faye Messner's niece writes book that opposes the Word of Faith movement. Former Methodist minister and current PH.D. candidate writes book that exegetes scripture which directly opposes the Word of Faith movement that Tammy Faye Messner still proclaims.
A survivor of experimental brain surgery, Teri K. Messner, former Miss Indiana of the Miss America pageant, feels compassion toward her aunt that while weighting 65 pounds and being taken off life support still says, " I refused to live in fear! I lived in FAITH! Everyday I claimed "I AM GETTING WELL"! And I BELIEVED that with all my heart!"
"I love my aunt," says Messner, "but she is still living in deep denial of the human condition."Messner writes on how the Word of Faith movement is in direct opposition to God's word.
Contradicting Tammy Faye's belief system and the Word of Faith movement Messner gives dignity to people who are suffering and explains that living with illness requires great faith.
Tammy Faye claims, "My faith in God played the most important part in my recovery, I feel. I read many healing scriptures!" In opposition, Teri K. Messner believes that her aunt has been living in denial, has misinterpreted scriptures for millions of people, and continues to live in denial of her own impending death.
Throughout her book, Teri K. Messner explains that the scriptures prepare people to live with adversity claiming that the Word of Faith movement is heretical.
Reaching for the Crown can be purchased at Amazon.com. Teri K. Messner M.A. M.Div. can be reached at 316-260-9928.###
May 22, 2007
"Dance with the one that brung ya." Another reason why conservative Christians should dump the GOP.
It is an old Southern saying to be sure. But it fits. Translated it means, "Pay your dues. Be loyal. Be thankful and respectful."
Or at least fake it until the last shovel of red dirt falls on the grave.
"Dance with the one who brought you" has a less colloquial ring, but it still gets the message across.
Where is the GOP? Why are they glaringly and startling absent from the funeral of Jerry Falwell?
I am not a Falwell fan. And I personally don't even like what he accomplished, presiding at the marriage of the GOP to Evangelical Christianity. I don't care for the progeny of that cursed union. (A huge herd of Christian sheep who will vote for the GOP no matter how corrupt it is.)
But the man was due some respect from the people who derived their positions from his taking a stand and drawing a line in the sand. The majority of elected politicians from the GOP would not stand a chance of being elected without the Christian Right.
Certainly George W. Bush owes Falwell a big debt. But the list is long. Many more men than just George W. Bush owe Falwell even a token of respect, and they know it.
Those same Republicans fought and clawed over one another to get to Falwell, to speak to his students, to claim their place in his pulpit for a few precious moments. They clamored to curry his favor and address his audience.
They stay away in droves now and become very conspicuous in their absence.
Prominent Republicans running for president say they are too busy to come. They can't make it. The Bush White House announces they are sending "A middle level aide."
Their silence during his funeral is deafening and their absence speaks volumes, if only those who have ears to hear will listen.
Or at least fake it until the last shovel of red dirt falls on the grave.
"Dance with the one who brought you" has a less colloquial ring, but it still gets the message across.
Where is the GOP? Why are they glaringly and startling absent from the funeral of Jerry Falwell?
I am not a Falwell fan. And I personally don't even like what he accomplished, presiding at the marriage of the GOP to Evangelical Christianity. I don't care for the progeny of that cursed union. (A huge herd of Christian sheep who will vote for the GOP no matter how corrupt it is.)
But the man was due some respect from the people who derived their positions from his taking a stand and drawing a line in the sand. The majority of elected politicians from the GOP would not stand a chance of being elected without the Christian Right.
Certainly George W. Bush owes Falwell a big debt. But the list is long. Many more men than just George W. Bush owe Falwell even a token of respect, and they know it.
Those same Republicans fought and clawed over one another to get to Falwell, to speak to his students, to claim their place in his pulpit for a few precious moments. They clamored to curry his favor and address his audience.
They stay away in droves now and become very conspicuous in their absence.
Prominent Republicans running for president say they are too busy to come. They can't make it. The Bush White House announces they are sending "A middle level aide."
Their silence during his funeral is deafening and their absence speaks volumes, if only those who have ears to hear will listen.
Falwell should of listened. And not to the GOP. Their siren song was empty, yet full with years of broken promises.
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
~2 Timothy 2:4
In the end, only the faithful showed up say good-bye.
In Lynchburg, a city with a population of 62,000, 30,000 people came to pay their respects and view the body of Jerry Falwell. Lynchburg police estimated at least 15,000 people at the funeral today and possibly 20,000.
They are really the only ones who mattered anyway, in the long run.
Its just a shame Jerry Falwell had to die to find that out.
The backward step of Beckwith
Banner of Truth Trust General Articles
Interesting read.
"The lesson that we learn from the coming of Benedict and the ‘unconversion’ of Beckwith is this: he who forgets to be only co-belligerent to become an ally in common causes runs the risk of ‘walking spiritually’ along trails that the Gospel we find in the Word of God does not approve and of seeking comfort in a path which is mystic and cosy, but alienated from the truth."
Interesting read.
"The lesson that we learn from the coming of Benedict and the ‘unconversion’ of Beckwith is this: he who forgets to be only co-belligerent to become an ally in common causes runs the risk of ‘walking spiritually’ along trails that the Gospel we find in the Word of God does not approve and of seeking comfort in a path which is mystic and cosy, but alienated from the truth."
May 21, 2007
May 20, 2007
Prayer fight in statehouse
The Enquirer - Prayer fight in statehouse
Guest ministers invited to lead prayers at the Ohio House are violating state guidelines by evangelizing, speaking out on political topics and invoking the name of Jesus, the House clerk’s office said in a memo warning lawmakers.
The issue reached a tipping point during Wednesday’s invocation when the Rev. Keith Hamblen, pastor of Calvary Bible Church in Lima, made multiple references to Jesus, spoke favorably of church-sponsored schools and mentioned the bills up for debate that day, including a proposal to ban nudity in strip clubs after midnight.
That sparked a memo from House Clerk Laura Clemens, asking lawmakers to enforce state guidelines that require guest ministers to submit prepared remarks at least three days in advance for review. The rule had been loosely enforced.
“I would hate to have to eliminate this program but may find it necessary to do so if this trend continues,” Clemens wrote.
Rep. Matt Huffman, a Republican from Lima who invited Hamblen to give the prayer, said it was inappropriate for him to mention issues on that day’s agenda. “I kind of cringed when he did it,” he said.
Two Democrats, Robert Hagan of Youngstown and Chris Redfern of Catawba Island, walked off the floor during the prayer in protest. Redfern said prayers over recent years have become increasingly evangelical.
“The opening prayer is a time to be mindful of the obligations that we’ve been granted through our voters and gives us a chance to reflect,” said Redfern, who is also chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. “It should not be used as an opportunity to proselytize. At times, all we’re lacking is a river to take members down to dip them in.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has generally banned government-sponsored prayer at public events. But in 1983 it made an exception for Congress and state legislatures.
Ohio House guidelines require prayers to be nondenominational, nonsectarian and nonproselytizing.
Bill of Rights
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Lutheran professor of philosophy prepares to enter Roman Catholic Church
Lutheran professor of philosophy prepares to enter Catholic Church
Dr. Robert Koons, professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, will be entering the Catholic Church next week following several years of considering the teachings and history of the Catholic Church.
"I used to be confident that the teachings of Paul in Romans, Galatians and Ephesians
made it quite clear that the Roman position on justification was fundamentally wrong.
I’ve come to have serious doubts about this, however, based in part on a recent
scholarship about Paul’s writings..."
(More)"1) new scholarship (primarily by Protestants) on Paul’s epistles, which raised profound doubts about the correctness of Martin Luther’s and Phillip Melanchthon’s excessively individualistic and existentialist reading of Paul’s teaching on justification by faith, (2) the fruits of Lutheran/Roman Catholic dialogue on justification, expressed most fully in the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1997, that greatly clarified for me the subtlety of the doctrinal differences between the two bodies, and (3) a more thorough exposure to the writings of the early Church fathers, especially those considered most “evangelical”: Chrysostom, Ambrose, and (above all) Augustine of Hippo."
May 18, 2007
Long Island Diocese Loses Abuse Lawsuit
Las Vegas SUN: Long Island Diocese Loses Abuse Lawsuit
A jury found the nation's sixth-largest Roman Catholic diocese and a church parish negligent Friday in a case involving a youth minister who repeatedly raped and sodomized teenagers in his care.
The jury awarded two victims a combined $11.4 million in damages in one of the rare civil cases to go to trial in the wake of the nationwide sex abuse scandal that erupted five years ago.
The jury found that the Diocese of Rockville Centre, one of its churches and a pastor were also negligent in the hiring and retention of the youth minister.
The plaintiffs' attorney, Michael Dowd, said the decision - announced in a hushed Long Island courtroom - sends a powerful message to the Catholic church. "The church can no longer be reckless in the safety of children," he said.
The defense said no decision has been made on whether to appeal.
The trial included graphic testimony by a female victim who told the jury that former youth minister Matthew Maiello seduced her and eventually had sex with her in a variety of locations on church property - including church pews and the elementary school principal's office, as well as at their homes.
The jury awarded the female victim about $5.5 million in damages, and a second male victim about $5.9 million. After the trial, the woman hailed the verdict as a vindication for her and other abuse victims.
"I'd just like to say that the reason for seeking justice in a civil trial was to ensure that the truth finally came out and that this might prevent the abuse from happening to children everywhere," she said.
The Associated Press generally does not name victims of sexual abuse.
Maiello pleaded guilty to third-degree rape and sodomy in 2003 and served more than two years in prison, admitting he abused four children. But since Maiello did not contest any of the allegations, the focus of the monthlong trial became St. Raphael's Church in East Meadow, its pastor, the Rev. Thomas Haggerty, and the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
The victims said that starting when they were 15, they were repeatedly molested by Maiello, and that church officials failed to act when confronted by reports that the youth minister was acting inappropriately.
The victims, now 23, said the abuse lasted three years, from 1999 to 2002. The woman testified that Maiello took her virginity in a basement office in the church convent and eventually cajoled her into having sex with the boy in the youth ministry. Before long, Maiello was engaging in three-way sex with the teenagers, and videotaping other encounters.
"He would always tell me it was God's plan for us to be together," said the woman. "He controlled all of my thoughts - he manipulated me."
The plaintiffs' attorney, Michael Dowd, said Haggerty failed to check on Maiello's educational background and other qualifications for the $20,000-a-year youth ministry position.
"Who in God's name would let this person work with kids?" Dowd asked.
Brian Davey, a defense attorney representing the pastor, the parish and the diocese, insisted that Maiello alone was responsible for the sexual abuse.
"Matthew Maiello is a degenerate, is a deviant," Davey said. "He is 100 percent responsible."
The case is one of several civil lawsuits to arise from allegations of sexual abuse in the Catholic church. But unlike this case, very few went to trial and most were instead settled out of court.
Prosecutors said they were prevented from pursuing criminal charges because statutes of limitations had expired long ago.
The U.S. Conference of Bishops estimates abuse-related costs from lawsuits have exceeded $1.5 billion. On Long Island, a grand jury found nearly two dozen cases of abuse going back decades in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, with 1.3 million Catholics in 134 parishes.
--
A jury found the nation's sixth-largest Roman Catholic diocese and a church parish negligent Friday in a case involving a youth minister who repeatedly raped and sodomized teenagers in his care.
The jury awarded two victims a combined $11.4 million in damages in one of the rare civil cases to go to trial in the wake of the nationwide sex abuse scandal that erupted five years ago.
The jury found that the Diocese of Rockville Centre, one of its churches and a pastor were also negligent in the hiring and retention of the youth minister.
The plaintiffs' attorney, Michael Dowd, said the decision - announced in a hushed Long Island courtroom - sends a powerful message to the Catholic church. "The church can no longer be reckless in the safety of children," he said.
The defense said no decision has been made on whether to appeal.
The trial included graphic testimony by a female victim who told the jury that former youth minister Matthew Maiello seduced her and eventually had sex with her in a variety of locations on church property - including church pews and the elementary school principal's office, as well as at their homes.
The jury awarded the female victim about $5.5 million in damages, and a second male victim about $5.9 million. After the trial, the woman hailed the verdict as a vindication for her and other abuse victims.
"I'd just like to say that the reason for seeking justice in a civil trial was to ensure that the truth finally came out and that this might prevent the abuse from happening to children everywhere," she said.
The Associated Press generally does not name victims of sexual abuse.
Maiello pleaded guilty to third-degree rape and sodomy in 2003 and served more than two years in prison, admitting he abused four children. But since Maiello did not contest any of the allegations, the focus of the monthlong trial became St. Raphael's Church in East Meadow, its pastor, the Rev. Thomas Haggerty, and the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
The victims said that starting when they were 15, they were repeatedly molested by Maiello, and that church officials failed to act when confronted by reports that the youth minister was acting inappropriately.
The victims, now 23, said the abuse lasted three years, from 1999 to 2002. The woman testified that Maiello took her virginity in a basement office in the church convent and eventually cajoled her into having sex with the boy in the youth ministry. Before long, Maiello was engaging in three-way sex with the teenagers, and videotaping other encounters.
"He would always tell me it was God's plan for us to be together," said the woman. "He controlled all of my thoughts - he manipulated me."
The plaintiffs' attorney, Michael Dowd, said Haggerty failed to check on Maiello's educational background and other qualifications for the $20,000-a-year youth ministry position.
"Who in God's name would let this person work with kids?" Dowd asked.
Brian Davey, a defense attorney representing the pastor, the parish and the diocese, insisted that Maiello alone was responsible for the sexual abuse.
"Matthew Maiello is a degenerate, is a deviant," Davey said. "He is 100 percent responsible."
The case is one of several civil lawsuits to arise from allegations of sexual abuse in the Catholic church. But unlike this case, very few went to trial and most were instead settled out of court.
Prosecutors said they were prevented from pursuing criminal charges because statutes of limitations had expired long ago.
The U.S. Conference of Bishops estimates abuse-related costs from lawsuits have exceeded $1.5 billion. On Long Island, a grand jury found nearly two dozen cases of abuse going back decades in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, with 1.3 million Catholics in 134 parishes.
--
If homosexuality is true, evolution is not
Eureka!
If homosexuality is true, evolution can not be true.
If evolution is not true, God is true.
If God is true, then homosexuality is a sin.
If homosexuality was true, evolution can not be true. Homosexuality as a human "trait" would not be able to co-exist with evolution. The survival of the fittest mechanism that is supposedly inherent to evolution would have killed off homosexuality in its first generation. It can't breed, ergo it can not reproduce after its kind.
If evolution is not true, God is true.
If God is true, then homosexuality is a sin.
Just like He said.
If homosexuality is true, evolution can not be true.
If evolution is not true, God is true.
If God is true, then homosexuality is a sin.
If homosexuality was true, evolution can not be true. Homosexuality as a human "trait" would not be able to co-exist with evolution. The survival of the fittest mechanism that is supposedly inherent to evolution would have killed off homosexuality in its first generation. It can't breed, ergo it can not reproduce after its kind.
If evolution is not true, God is true.
If God is true, then homosexuality is a sin.
Just like He said.
May 17, 2007
Pastor inspiration: Divine or online? | ajc.com
Pastor inspiration: Divine or online? | ajc.com
Surfing for sermons: Sometimes desperate ministers lift texts from Web.
By JOHN BLAKE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/12/07
Two days after the Virginia Tech shooting, Bishop Eddie Long walked before the congregation of his Lithonia megachurch and said the Holy Spirit had a message for them.
The senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church preached a sermon he called "Act of Man or Act of God?" He talked about a "misguided, twisted" student who murdered 32 people before killing himself. He invoked the book of Job and punctuated his delivery with dramatic sighs and anguished grunts. The congregation was shouting by sermon's end.
Few, if any, knew the inspiration for Long's sermon wasn't confined to the Holy Spirit. It also came from sermons.com, a preaching Web site that offers pastors prepackaged sermons for a fee. Long's words matched large portions of a Virginia Tech sermon with a similar title ("Acts of Man and Acts of God") posted on the site. A Google search revealed that at least three other pastors — including one in Alpharetta — had preached long passages from the Internet sermon.
Parishioners who dwell on the meaning of their pastor's words now face the question: Is the sermon an act of man or an act of the Internet? Sermon borrowing — called "pulpit plagiarism" by critics — is spreading among the nation's clergy.
"The kerosene on the fire is the Internet," the Rev. Thomas Long, a professor of preaching at Emory University's Candler School of Theology (and no relation to the New Birth pastor), wrote in a recent article in Christian Century magazine.
Pastors pinched for time no longer lean solely on divine inspiration. With a credit card and a few mouse clicks, they can surf sites like sermons.com and desperatepreacher.com to find sermons to fit virtually any occasion — Mother's Day, say, or Easter. The sites serve as the Home Depot for homilies. Any preaching tool is available.
Some pastors, though, don't let on they've sermon-shopped. They pass the ideas off as their own. Critics say they're dishonoring their calling and deceiving their flock.
"A sermon is supposed to reflect what God has given you to say to the people," said the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a veteran civil rights activist. "If I don't feel God gave it to me, I feel like I'm lying on God and to the people."
Attribution is optional
Bishop Long declined a request to explain his Virginia Tech sermon. A review of audio from New Birth revealed no instances in which Long told parishioners that extended passages were not his own, and Long did not provide any examples of attribution. However, he did sell the sermon under his own name on New Birth's Web site.
Another Georgia preacher who delivered the same Virginia Tech message from sermons.com said he told his church that it came from a third party.
The Rev. James Thalacker of the Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Alpharetta said he used the Internet homily because he didn't have one prepared in the wake of the massacre.
"The sermon itself was a good sermon and I thought it was relevant for people today," Thalacker said. "This is the first one that I've done totally like this. It's only because I had another sermon prepared and the whole thing [Virginia Tech shooting] happened."
The Rev. Brett Blair, owner and president of sermons.com, declined to speak about his Web site but released a statement. He's written many of the recycled sermons.
"Paying members are allowed to use any of the material as they see fit," the statement said. "Citation of sources is always advised but we do not obligate any user to cite one way or another."
Now a handier commodity
Evangelists' swiping of material from one another is as old as the Bible itself.
Scholars say writers of Luke's and Matthew's Gospels borrowed heavily from the Gospel of Mark — but don't bother hunting for footnotes. In a more modern example, the Rev. Jesse Jackson didn't coin his signature sermon, "I Am Somebody." It was created by an Atlanta pastor, the late Rev. William Holmes Borders of Wheat Street Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue.
The emergence of preaching Web sites has made sermons a commodity, said the Rev. Darryl Dash, senior pastor of Richview Baptist Church in Toronto. "It's an industry," Dash said. "You do have people making money from it."
Dash wrote a recent essay called "Confessions of a Sermon Thief." He says he didn't set out to steal sermons. He did it for the same reasons he thinks other pastors do it: lack of confidence in themselves, being overworked, trying to sound like the famous pastors.
Dash said he stopped stealing but can tell that others haven't. He posts his own sermons on his Web site — where traffic spikes every Saturday night and Sunday morning.
"There are a lot of guys just sitting at the Internet at night saying: 'What am I going to say tomorrow?' " Dash said.
Some borrowers pay price
There are signs of a borrowing backlash. Parishioners using Google or Yahoo have forced some pastors to resign after discovering that their sermons weren't original.
Yet some New Birth members weren't bothered that Bishop Long preached without attribution.
Ben Jakes, a New Birth elder, said Long's Virginia Tech sermon revealed that God can orchestrate circumstances so that preachers deliver the same message across the nation.
"I really believe it's an act that shows honor and respect for [God]," Jakes said. "You're basically communicating a unified message."
Sometimes, pastors catch their brethren plagiarizing.
Lowery, the civil rights leader, who was part of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle, once preached a sermon that grew out of a comic encounter he had with his daughter. He was agonizing over the outcome of a professional tennis match on television when his daughter attempted to interrupt him. He told her to hush until she finally told him that the outcome had already been decided because the match was a delayed broadcast.
He used the incident to preach a sermon about the futility of worrying because God had already won the battle. Later, Lowery was attending a funeral in Washington, D.C., one day when he heard a prominent pastor, whom he declined to name, launch into a story: "I was watching a tennis match one day. ..."
The pastor never credited Lowery. Afterward, Lowery walked up to the man. The fellow preacher could barely look Lowery in the eyes before slinking away.
"First, I was flattered that he was using my illustration," says Lowery. "I was sure at the end that he would give me credit. Then I was angry. I thought a little less of him, and he's one of the most prominent preachers in the country today."
Professor Long from Emory recalled being invited to a church where something similar took place. Before he stepped into the pulpit to deliver his message, a friend of the church's pastor approached him with a request.
"He said several months ago he [the minister] preached one of your sermons and he's really hoping you don't preach that sermon tonight."
Ultimately, said Dash, the self-confessed sermon thief, authenticity is more important than eloquence.
"If everything I say to my wife is scripted from a Hallmark card, it may be beautiful, but it will be hollow," Dash said.
Dash recently put that belief to the test. He said he stopped stealing sermons and started composing his own. His sermons weren't as polished, and he worked much harder. But people in his congregation seemed to like them more.
He said he stole sermons because he was insecure about his own ability, but his decision to rely on his own voice was vindicated when a member of his church approached him after a sermon one day and said:
"It's almost as if you've stopped talking to us in general, and now you're talking to us."
Surfing for sermons: Sometimes desperate ministers lift texts from Web.
By JOHN BLAKE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/12/07
Two days after the Virginia Tech shooting, Bishop Eddie Long walked before the congregation of his Lithonia megachurch and said the Holy Spirit had a message for them.
The senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church preached a sermon he called "Act of Man or Act of God?" He talked about a "misguided, twisted" student who murdered 32 people before killing himself. He invoked the book of Job and punctuated his delivery with dramatic sighs and anguished grunts. The congregation was shouting by sermon's end.
Few, if any, knew the inspiration for Long's sermon wasn't confined to the Holy Spirit. It also came from sermons.com, a preaching Web site that offers pastors prepackaged sermons for a fee. Long's words matched large portions of a Virginia Tech sermon with a similar title ("Acts of Man and Acts of God") posted on the site. A Google search revealed that at least three other pastors — including one in Alpharetta — had preached long passages from the Internet sermon.
Parishioners who dwell on the meaning of their pastor's words now face the question: Is the sermon an act of man or an act of the Internet? Sermon borrowing — called "pulpit plagiarism" by critics — is spreading among the nation's clergy.
"The kerosene on the fire is the Internet," the Rev. Thomas Long, a professor of preaching at Emory University's Candler School of Theology (and no relation to the New Birth pastor), wrote in a recent article in Christian Century magazine.
Pastors pinched for time no longer lean solely on divine inspiration. With a credit card and a few mouse clicks, they can surf sites like sermons.com and desperatepreacher.com to find sermons to fit virtually any occasion — Mother's Day, say, or Easter. The sites serve as the Home Depot for homilies. Any preaching tool is available.
Some pastors, though, don't let on they've sermon-shopped. They pass the ideas off as their own. Critics say they're dishonoring their calling and deceiving their flock.
"A sermon is supposed to reflect what God has given you to say to the people," said the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a veteran civil rights activist. "If I don't feel God gave it to me, I feel like I'm lying on God and to the people."
Attribution is optional
Bishop Long declined a request to explain his Virginia Tech sermon. A review of audio from New Birth revealed no instances in which Long told parishioners that extended passages were not his own, and Long did not provide any examples of attribution. However, he did sell the sermon under his own name on New Birth's Web site.
Another Georgia preacher who delivered the same Virginia Tech message from sermons.com said he told his church that it came from a third party.
The Rev. James Thalacker of the Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Alpharetta said he used the Internet homily because he didn't have one prepared in the wake of the massacre.
"The sermon itself was a good sermon and I thought it was relevant for people today," Thalacker said. "This is the first one that I've done totally like this. It's only because I had another sermon prepared and the whole thing [Virginia Tech shooting] happened."
The Rev. Brett Blair, owner and president of sermons.com, declined to speak about his Web site but released a statement. He's written many of the recycled sermons.
"Paying members are allowed to use any of the material as they see fit," the statement said. "Citation of sources is always advised but we do not obligate any user to cite one way or another."
Now a handier commodity
Evangelists' swiping of material from one another is as old as the Bible itself.
Scholars say writers of Luke's and Matthew's Gospels borrowed heavily from the Gospel of Mark — but don't bother hunting for footnotes. In a more modern example, the Rev. Jesse Jackson didn't coin his signature sermon, "I Am Somebody." It was created by an Atlanta pastor, the late Rev. William Holmes Borders of Wheat Street Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue.
The emergence of preaching Web sites has made sermons a commodity, said the Rev. Darryl Dash, senior pastor of Richview Baptist Church in Toronto. "It's an industry," Dash said. "You do have people making money from it."
Dash wrote a recent essay called "Confessions of a Sermon Thief." He says he didn't set out to steal sermons. He did it for the same reasons he thinks other pastors do it: lack of confidence in themselves, being overworked, trying to sound like the famous pastors.
Dash said he stopped stealing but can tell that others haven't. He posts his own sermons on his Web site — where traffic spikes every Saturday night and Sunday morning.
"There are a lot of guys just sitting at the Internet at night saying: 'What am I going to say tomorrow?' " Dash said.
Some borrowers pay price
There are signs of a borrowing backlash. Parishioners using Google or Yahoo have forced some pastors to resign after discovering that their sermons weren't original.
Yet some New Birth members weren't bothered that Bishop Long preached without attribution.
Ben Jakes, a New Birth elder, said Long's Virginia Tech sermon revealed that God can orchestrate circumstances so that preachers deliver the same message across the nation.
"I really believe it's an act that shows honor and respect for [God]," Jakes said. "You're basically communicating a unified message."
Sometimes, pastors catch their brethren plagiarizing.
Lowery, the civil rights leader, who was part of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle, once preached a sermon that grew out of a comic encounter he had with his daughter. He was agonizing over the outcome of a professional tennis match on television when his daughter attempted to interrupt him. He told her to hush until she finally told him that the outcome had already been decided because the match was a delayed broadcast.
He used the incident to preach a sermon about the futility of worrying because God had already won the battle. Later, Lowery was attending a funeral in Washington, D.C., one day when he heard a prominent pastor, whom he declined to name, launch into a story: "I was watching a tennis match one day. ..."
The pastor never credited Lowery. Afterward, Lowery walked up to the man. The fellow preacher could barely look Lowery in the eyes before slinking away.
"First, I was flattered that he was using my illustration," says Lowery. "I was sure at the end that he would give me credit. Then I was angry. I thought a little less of him, and he's one of the most prominent preachers in the country today."
Professor Long from Emory recalled being invited to a church where something similar took place. Before he stepped into the pulpit to deliver his message, a friend of the church's pastor approached him with a request.
"He said several months ago he [the minister] preached one of your sermons and he's really hoping you don't preach that sermon tonight."
Ultimately, said Dash, the self-confessed sermon thief, authenticity is more important than eloquence.
"If everything I say to my wife is scripted from a Hallmark card, it may be beautiful, but it will be hollow," Dash said.
Dash recently put that belief to the test. He said he stopped stealing sermons and started composing his own. His sermons weren't as polished, and he worked much harder. But people in his congregation seemed to like them more.
He said he stole sermons because he was insecure about his own ability, but his decision to rely on his own voice was vindicated when a member of his church approached him after a sermon one day and said:
"It's almost as if you've stopped talking to us in general, and now you're talking to us."
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