Clarence Sexton stole David Cloud's Church Directory for his Baptist Friends International list???

Sexton should apologize and rectify his theft.

This is abuse.

Former Liberty University official sentenced on drug charge

A former Liberty University official is learning how much time he'll spend in jail for stealing a prescription painkiller.

Scott Alan Ray was sentenced Wednesday afternoon to 18 months in prison.

Ray pled guilty in February to four counts of breaking and entering and one count of stealing the prescription drug "Hydrocodone."

Prosecutors say Ray took the drug from a Campbell County home.

Ray was also sentenced to pay approximately $1,700 to the people he stole from.

The 44-year-old served as director of convocations at Liberty University until his arrest last fall http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=12351644

From Majesty Music: Dr. Frank Garlock went to Jacmel, Haiti last week

****Dr. Frank Garlock went to Jacmel, Haiti last week to preach for the Missions for Haiti school and church. We have not had any communication from him or the missionaries since the earthquake occurred. Please pray with us that he is unharmed and that he can be a tremendous help and testimony to the Hatian people at this time. God is good and we trust Him.****

Your Catholic Church at work in the world: 500 Sex Abuse Claims Filed Against Jesuits

More Than 500 Sex Abuse Claims Filed Against Jesuits

Sunday, December 06, 2009

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SPOKANE, Wash. — More than 500 people in the U.S. Northwest filed claims against the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus in advance of a November deadline, alleging members of the Catholic order sexually abused them as children.

The Spokesman-Review in Spokane reports the claims against the Jesuits span decades and range from Native Alaskan children to students at Spokane's Gonzaga Preparatory School.

A federal judge overseeing the bankruptcy reorganization of the province set a Nov. 30 deadline for people to file the claims. The organization includes Jesuits in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.

The Jesuits already have settled 200 additional sex-abuse claims.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579595,00.html?test=latestnews

Girl claims catholic priest fathered her baby

Girl claims Catholic Priest fathered her baby.

"I'm afraid. I'm on the street. I'm running from people," Hernandez told CBS4's Jim DeFede over the phone. "David said to me that if I go to the media, he would make me disappear and take my baby."

Dueppen last served as an associate priest at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church in Pembroke Pines. He has been on administrative leave for one month, according to Miami Archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta.

Another Jesuit Catholic involved in homosexual rape of orphans

Do there perverts ever stop?

'Dr. Dino' (Kent Hovind) allowed to buy back seized property

The Florida-based ministry of creation-science evangelist Kent Hovind apparently will be able to retain properties set for seizure by the federal government in the tax-related case that sent the founder and his wife to prison

Hovind's son, Eric, who has taken over leadership of Creation Science Evangelism, told supporters the federal government indicated Friday it will work with the ministry to retain properties a federal judge ordered seized as a substitute for payment of fines.

"Upon completion of property appraisals, CSE will begin to negotiate the acquisition," Hovind wrote in a donor letter. "We ask for your patience and prayers during this process."

Snip, read more at WND.com

Another Southern Baptist Pastor Arrested for an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old boy (criminal solicitation of a minor).

"As a preacher, I am a lover of the Scriptures...."  

Richland County (WLTX) - A man who worked as a subsitute teacher is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old boy and had porn on a computer.

Samuel Smith, 40, has been charged with criminal solicitation of a minor.

Richland County deputies say on April 29, a teacher at Sandlapper Elementary School found a computer with inappropriate conversations and pornography on it.

Investigators say Smith had substituted in the classroom where the materials were found, and that he had been having improper conversations while online with a 15-year-old boy about sex and alcohol.

Investigators say Smith has been using Craigslist and Yahoo! to run personal ads soliciting relationships and that he had several conversations with the 15-year-old involved in the case.

News19 has learned Smith is a pastor at a church in Northeast Richland County.

And yet another Southern Baptist Pastor pleads guilty to homosexual child abuse

Former Cordova pastor pleads guilty to sex charges involving teenage boys

By Lawrence Buser (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A former Cordova church pastor pleaded guilty today to charges that he sexually abused two teenage boys, including one with whom he [molested for 5 years].

Steven C. Haney, 48, who headed Walnut Grove Baptist Church for some 20 years, was placed on probation for eight years and will be added to the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry.

Southern Baptist Minister Arrested for Homosexual Child Sex Abuse

A shocking arrest in Benton.   A church leader is behind bars, accused of sexually abusing a child.  David  Pierce served as the music minister at the First Baptist Church in Benton for nearly three decades.  Right now, he is only facing charges for one crime, but more children have  reportedly come forward and more charges could be filed. 
 
(Bruce Pennington, Saline County Sheriff) "I just want people to be aware that regardless of your stature in this community we're not gonna condone these actions." 
 
Pierce was arrested this afternoon at his home in Benton.   The former minister of music at the First Baptist Church of Benton is accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy.   Saline County Sheriff Bruce Pennington made the arrest. 

Pennington is also a first baptist parishioner, and says he feels personally let down by his former friend.

Snip, full article here: http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0409/616653.html

Independent Baptist Preacher accused of sexual harassment and confronted with the proof- weak deacons do nothing

http://truediscernment.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/three-indianapolis-area-pastors-admit-sexual-indiscretions/

from indystar:

Before the Rev. Jerry Hillenburg could take two steps toward his lectern after the offertory music, Huneycutt began a speech that would turn Sunday morning upside down at Hope Baptist.....listen and watch above.

(The "pastor" Jerry Hillenburg and his sycophant deacons admit he sent the filthy x-rated messages.)

 The messages sent to the former church employee, a woman the pastor had counseled through a divorce last fall, include one in which Hillenburg invites her to join him at a movie theater where he said he was by himself. Another message informs her that "some whore just called me, had my phone number, from some bar, it was wild." Another message tells her: "Text me something dirty."

Southern Baptist Mega "Pastor" Mac Brunson controls Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and uses them to harass church members who disagree with him

Mac Demands money from church to put him on TV
"Southern Baptist Mega "Pastor" Mac Brunson controls Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and uses them to harass church members who disagree with him.

Southern Baptist-Calvary Chapel Pastor Accused of Sex With a 16 Year Old

Youth Pastor Accused of Having Sex With 16-Year-Old

Lorri Helfand & Rita Farlow
St. Petersburg Times

Published: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 9:03 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 9:03 a.m.
A youth pastor was arrested this week, accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl in a Palm Harbor home.

(snip)
Scott Dewayne Wright, 35, who lives in New Port Richey, turned himself into Pinellas authorities Monday. He was charged with two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

(Snip)
Detectives say Wright met the teen in September 2006 when he was a youth pastor at Calvary Chapel in New Port Richey.

The next year, according to authorities, Wright befriended the teen, and at least twice between September and November 2007, he engaged in sexual activity with her.

(Snip)
In 2005, Wright was featured in the St. Petersburg Times in a story about a weekly program for teens at Calvary Chapel.

"We have a youth that is in crisis, and we need to reach out to them before it's too late," said Wright, who headed the program.

Wright later worked for the Crossing Church in Tampa [Willow Creek associated, "seeker friendly" Southern Baptist Convention member] for a period of time, according to the church's Web site. Tuesday evening, a church pastor there said Wright no longer works there.

According to his biography on the Web site, Wright is married with four children. The site, which referred to Wright as "Pastor Scott" said he began working at that church as student director in 2007. It also said that he "has a great drive to take youth on overseas missions trips every year."

Newt Gingrich crosses the Tiber (Becomes a Catholic.) Pictures of Newt Gingrich Wives, Jackie, Marianne and Callista

I am about a day late with this news, but I thought it interesting that Newt Gingrich has finally joined the Roman Catholic "church" that his mistress (now wife) is a member of.

Regular readers will recall that the late Jerry Falwell invited the adulterer Gingrich to deliver the commencement  address in 2007. And while Falwell dropped dead not long after praising Gingrich,  the soon to be Catholic, thrice married Gingrich, delivered the 2007 commencement address to the largely Southern Baptist University.

He was no doubt warmly received.......

Who should decide medical care? The doctor and patient or the state?

Medicaid Suit Could Determine Who Decides Care: Doctor or State

Keep an eye on this one folks. The State wants to dictate the medical care you can receive, and for how long.

Billy Graham grandson to lead famed megachurch Coral Ridge

By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Writer – Sun Mar 15, 

A widely-known megachurch founded by an architect of the religious right and seen as a national political force selected a grandson of Billy Graham on Sunday as its new leader.

The overwhelming vote by congregants at Coral Ridge Presbyterian inFort Lauderdale to appoint the Rev. Tullian Tchividjian could represent a softening of the message spread by the Rev. D. James Kennedy, who was pastor at the church until his death in September 2007. (snip)

Tchividjian insists he holds the same theological positions of Kennedy, but he cuts a far different image.

His hair is spiky, his beard sometimes scruffy, his skin tan. He offers a classic prodigal son story of youthful forays into drugs and sex, then his return to the fold. He has said he wants people to know what Christians are for as much as what they are against, and has rejected the idea that politics is the most important way to change the country.

"I think that politics is one strategic area of cultural engagement," he said Sunday. "But I also think that the sphere of art and the sphere of education and the sphere of media and technology are also strategic."

Tchividjian, 36, is the middle of seven children born to Stephan Tchividjian and Graham's eldest daughter, Gigi. He attended Coral Ridge — where Graham delivered the dedication ceremony — and its adjacent school as a young man, but at 16 he dropped out, spending the next five years partying on South Beach, seeking the company of women and getting high. (snip, full article at this  link.)

An Interview with Tullian Tchividjian

Q.You did your MDiv work at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. Which happened first—you became Reformed, then went to RTS, or the other way around?

"Soon after God saved me (if indeed I was saved at 21 instead of 5), God gave me an overwhelming hunger and thirst to study, to read, to learn. I wanted to go to college but with only a GED and no SAT scores, I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this. So at first, I simply began reading books that my pastor (we were attending a PCA church at the time) encouraged me to read (this included books by Packer, Sproul, Lloyd-Jones, the Puritans, etc.). I really wrestled with the doctrine of election. But after a long hard struggle with the Bible I came to the realization that I could choose not to believe this doctrine but I could not in good conscience say that the Bible doesn’t teach it. It was clear to me that from cover to cover Scripture highlights God’s sovereignty in salvation. After I was convinced of the Doctrines of Grace, however, I became a real pain in the neck. Every non-Calvinist was an idiot, so I thought, and I made sure to tell them. Thankfully, God quickly tempered my zeal and I came to realize that an arrogant Calvinist is an oxymoron."

(snip, interview at link.) 

GRIEF COUNSELING PSYCHOBABBLE

GRIEF COUNSELING PSYCHOBABBLE (Friday Church News Notes, March 13, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) -

 Grief or bereavement counseling is big business. The Grief Recovery Institute claims that “hidden grief costs U.S. companies more than $75 billion annually.” Whenever tragedy strikes today, from plane and car crashes to shootings and bombings to wild animal attacks to divorce and untimely deaths, you can be sure that grief counseling is not far behind. 

he firefighters who sought for survivors after the Twin Towers fell on 9/11 were given extensive grief counseling. After the shootings at Virginia Tech in April 2007 that killed 32 people a memorial fund was created to provide grief counseling and other aid to the “survivors.” After an ape viciously mauled a woman in February 2009, grief counseling was offered to the doctors and nurses who provided medical care. The logical question is whether all of this grief counseling is proper and effective and how did people get along for thousands of years without it, and the answer is that it is nothing more than psychobabble that can cause more harm than good. 

Dr. Tana Dineen, in Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry Is Doing to People, gives the following warning: “A battalion chief in a large metropolitan fire and rescue agency, writing about the ascendance of the CISD movement in his field, noted a comment made decades earlier by a hook and ladder captain. ‘We used to have steel men and wooden wagons; now we have steel wagons and wooden men.’ He is one of an increasing number of people who are expressing concern that such procedures undermine the natural support and adaptation that keeps those with jobs like firefighting resilient. 

Adding support to this concern is the growing scientific literature that finds that the debriefing movement appears to have no appreciable preventive or palliative effect, and may, in fact, be responsible for an iatrogenic effect of causing the problems it claims to treat” (p. 184). “[James] Pennabaker, critical of this simplistic approach [e.g., pop grief counseling] says: ‘Not everyone progresses through stages in grieving or coping. In fact, as many as half of all adults may face torture, divorce, the loss of a loved one, or other catastrophe and not exhibit any major sign of depression or anxiety’” (p. 207).

“Another researcher, George Bonanno, a clinical psychologist at Columbia University, offers his empirical analysis of the so-called grief-work hypothesis: the widely held assumption that venting negative emotions and ‘telling your story’ are necessary for regaining mental health. ... ‘There’s really no evidence that these things are effective--and there’s even some to suggest that they can actually be detrimental,’ says Bonanno” (pp. 207, 208).

"Jesus is the only answer."

First funeral held in South Alabama killings

Michael McLendon, 28, shot and killed 10 people, including five of his family members before committing suicide at a metals plant where he used to work. Six people were gunned down at his uncle's house -- two blocks away from where Jenkins lives.

Sonya Smith, 42, was shot and killed as she walked out of a Big Little Stores gas station in Samson on Tuesday. Mourners remembered her as a loving wife and mother of three who wouldn't hesitate before helping someone in need.

  

"We're all asking how could a deranged gunman come and bring so much pain, so much grief to our community," Rev. Donnie Earls told the hundreds gathered for Smith's funeral at Shady Grove Assembly of God Church in Coffee Springs.

"Even in times like this -- in horrific times -- only God has the answer," he said.

Mourners in this rural Bible Belt community said burying the people who were taken from them so suddenly and violently was the first step toward moving forward, but it would take time.

Wade Smith said his wife of 16 years was the "backbone of our family," and losing her at the hand of a random killer made the pain even more difficult.

"Why didn't he just take his own life if he wanted to do anything and leave all these other families alone?" Smith said while holding his wife's photo and a red rose following her burial in the church cemetery.

It started raining as he spoke, and Smith said it felt like his wife was "crying down from heaven on everybody and all the families that are going through this."

"I got angry," he said, hugging the framed picture to his chest to keep it dry. "The sadness has turned to anger, so you've got to turn to Jesus. Jesus is the only answer."

Former Fundy's cry out for access to the counselors of the World.

Former Fundy's cry out for access to the counselors of the World, but thinking what? That it might make things all better?

"I’m not sure how to apply what I’m wanting to talk about here, but it seems to be a big problem I’ve started to notice. Many ministry kids grow up being told they’re living in a glass bowl, and many times they are. They feel like they have to be perfect all the time. They learn early on to put on a face showing how they’re strong, and spiritual, and how their family has it all together. They never get attached to friends like many other kids do either because they move around, travel from church to church ministering, or because they’re afraid that if anyone finds out the truth about them and their family then the gossip will get around. 

Too many times the father and sometimes the mother are so involved in ministry and counseling everyone else in the church that they never realize that they’re children are wearing this mask and hiding what they really are. 

When they become disappointed or hurt they have no one to talk to about it so they just hold it all in. They go to church and hear preaching that tells them psychologists are of the world and are anti-christian so if they need to talk to someone, they need to just go to the pastor. They’re told that if they’re feeling depressed they need to minister to others and their depression will go away. They hear over and over not to become bitter against those that have hurt them and just to forgive them but never figure out how to fully forgive someone."

We'll just let Sharon Osborne speak to that, if we may. After all, she's certainly spent her life trying the counselors of the World.

"I've lost count of the number of them that have been in this house,' she says cheerily. 'I've had therapists. Ozzy's had therapists. The kids have had therapists. They've all trooped in and out. I like to think that I've taken something from all of them, but, at the end of the day, how do you know?

'What I do know is that none of them has given me any sense of serenity, and that's what I crave. I like the idea of that acceptance and calm that religion brings.' "

Of course Mrs. Osbourne has that part wrong. It isn't religion, it is Jesus Christ. 

Former Fundys Team Blog

There's a new blog on the block. Former Fundy's Team Blog. Go there by clicking here.

Go easy on them. They are young people who have not really found anything they are willing to suggest in place of their former beliefs. But I thought some of my readers might find it interesting to take a peek at the mindset of some of the younger set who have left Biblical Fundamentalism.

Chilling free speech case underway in Knoxville, TN: Judge vs Knoxville News Sentinel

Judge questions media intent on Web commentary

Lawyers in fatal carjacking want tougher regulation

By Jamie Satterfield (Contact)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A Knox County judge on Friday questioned whether news organizations opposing proposed limits on anonymous commentary on their Web sites were more worried about cold hard cash than chilled free speech.

"It's a commercial site," Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner said during a round of legal sparring with News Sentinel attorney Richard Hollow. "It's a site run for commercial purposes. … This is not the Internet. This is a site created by you in which you invite comments. This is something you control."

Defense attorneys representing four suspects in the January 2007 fatal carjacking of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, asked the judge to either bar media Web sites from allowing online readers to post comments on stories about the case or require news organizations to police the commentary by requiring posters to provide verifiable identifying information.
A Knox County judge on Friday questioned whether news organizations opposing proposed limits on anonymous commentary on their Web sites were more worried about cold hard cash than chilled free speech.

"It's a commercial site," Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner said during a round of legal sparring with News Sentinel attorney Richard Hollow. "It's a site run for commercial purposes. … This is not the Internet. This is a site created by you in which you invite comments. This is something you control."

Defense attorneys representing four suspects in the January 2007 fatal carjacking of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, asked the judge to either bar media Web sites from allowing online readers to post comments on stories about the case or require news organizations to police the commentary by requiring posters to provide verifiable identifying information.
(snip-article at link)

James Dobson resigns as Focus on the Family chair

Feb 27 12:35 PM US/Eastern
By ERIC GORSKI
AP Religion Writer
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96K28PG2&show_article=1

DENVER (AP) - The Associated Press has learned that James Dobson has resigned as chairman of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family.
Jim Daly, president and chief executive officer of the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based ministry, said Friday that Dobson will continue to host the organization's flagship radio program and speak out on moral issues.

The departure of the 72-year-old Dobson as board chairman is part of a succession plan. He founded the group in 1977.

Dobson began relinquishing control of the group six years ago by stepping down as president and CEO.

Writer Says "Feminism turned me into a failure"

As a successful playwright this woman should have the world at her feet. So why, at 36, does she feel bitterly unfulfilled?

By ZOE LEWIS
Last updated at 2:07 AM on 10th February 2009

Though I never thought I would be saying this, being a free woman isn't all it's cracked up to be. Is that the rustle of taffeta I hear as the suffragettes turn in their grave? Very possibly.

My mother - a film-maker - was a hippy who kept a pile of dusty books by Germaine Greer and Erica Jong by her bedside. (Like every good feminist, she didn't see why she should do all the cleaning.) She imbued me with the great values of choice, equality and sexual liberation.

As a result, I fought with my older brother and won, and at university I beat the rugby lads at drinking games. I was not to be messed with.

But, at nearly 37, those same values leave me feeling cold. Now, I want love and children, but they are nowhere to be seen.

When I was growing up, I was led to believe by my mother and other women of her generation that women could 'have it all', and, more to the point, that we wanted it all. To that end, I have spent 20 years ruthlessly pursuing my dream of being a successful playwright. I have sacrificed all my womanly duties and laid it all at the altar of a career. And was it worth it? The answer has to be a resounding no.

(Snip-article here)

Call for pope to step down over Holocaust denier

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jgFF3BlptqEHC3CmOBvNZ86jLpkw

ROME (AFP) — Attacks on Pope Benedict XVI's decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust denier escalated Monday, with one theologian calling on him to step down as the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Criticism following the pope's January 24 announcement has been particularly cutting in Germany, where denying the Holocaust is a crime punishable with a jail sentence.

"If the pope wants to do some good for the Church, he should leave his job," eminent liberal Catholic theologian Hermann Haering told the German daily Tageszeitung.

"That would not be a scandal, a bishop has to relinquish his position at 75 years, a cardinal loses his rights at 80 years," he said. Pope Benedict is 81. (Snip-see above link for article)

Karen Godin's instructions to Pastors

Note from the editor: Karen Godin (screen name JeriFletcher)  directs a singing group made up of her  children and terms that "a ministry." Karen is also a member of White Washed Feminist, a support group for people who are "coming out of patrio-centric Christianity."

"Our desire is that our ministry will challenge fathers to turn their hearts to their children, and the children's hearts to their fathers.(Mal.4:6) But lately we have been seeing several parallels between the family in the home and the family of God. Many things we see in the home regarding relationships may be useful in the church family, as well as in our personal relationship with God the Father.

It seemed natural to me, when wondering what is causing believers to doubt their salvation, to examine what sort of diet, care and teaching they had received in the church over the last few decades. (I guess I get this from my interest in nutrition, and from my favorite doctor- Doug Kauffman, of "Know the Cause" television fame.)

First, I asked myself, What do preachers know about babies nowadays? I mean, we have a generation of mothers that don't know what the basic needs of a baby are, so, I am sure that there are men in pulpits that have never cared for, nor trained up a child. Yet, as a minister to God's people, he should know something about the proper care and feeding of infants.

1. Babes need swaddling. As this is comforting to a new babe, so will comforting be beneficial to a new child of God.
2. Babes need to bond with their mama. Newbies need to learn Christ. Feed them the gospel of John. They need to learn the kind voice of their Shepherd.
3. Babes need milk- and they need milk for a while! This means, there's no hurry to wean them. The milk has everything a baby needs to develop a healthy immune system. In this case, a strong defense against the doubts of the devil is the best foundation you can lay in a new babes life.
4. Do not try to hurry the babe's progress. The baby is a blessing. The baby should be appreciated for what he is, not valued for his monetary contributions, or, his ability to serve you and alleviate some of your burden of responsibility.
Rather than saddle new believers with responsibilities, hoping this is the key to growth, let the child grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus. Let him be a glory to God in every state of his growth. Every age of every child should be a unique blessing to the family of God. There should be no pressure to become instantly mature!

Have you ever wept when you learned that you have inadvertantly made a bad choice and compromised your child's health?
If so, then you will understand the reason for this message."

From Karen's blog instructing pastors.

A young pregnant wife is murdered by her husband, Karen Godin blames that on the Independent Baptist Church teachings

Before you have the Godin Family come and sing in your church and collect a "love offering" from your congregation, you might want to be aware of what she believes about Baptists churches. Click the below print screen to read.



"The Bible does not tell Christians to ignore. Quite the opposite! The Bible warns us "Beware! Watch! and, I Warn of Wolves"
It says Beware of men, Be Wise as serpents, and Be a testimony. (Matt 10:16-20
That's answering with wisdom-speaking- not ignoring."

Karen Godin's thoughts regarding Biblical headship

07-10-2008, 09:53 AM

"what does that mean? They adore their wives? I keep hearing that.


I mean, doesn't that really mean, that as long as things go his way, he adores you? If you really analyze this, you will only be adored as long as you are biblical. And the folks like this that I know, interpret the Bible to mean that whatever you learn must come from your husband. And these ladies agree with that. So they're...adorable.:)


For instance. Family visits a church. Becomes aware of this undercurrent in the teaching. The aren't comfortable with it, so they leave. Will would say, "its not essential to the gospel...why not just put up with it? Who says we are allowed to pick and choose where we will worship? We are to serve where God puts us!"


Fine. If you do choose to stay, you will be taught that if you don't comply with all their beliefs (which they think are biblical) then you are in rebellion. Which is the sin of witchcraft. Which means that your wife is a witch and you are weak.


So, the adored wives are those who line up. If you do not line up, you cannot expect to be adored.


I would rather be respected, as a sister in Christ with the same Holy Ghost anointing, than be "adored".

Rick Warren lauds Lesbian activist Melissa Ethridge and says he can walk hand in hand with Muslims

By CHRISTINA HOAG – 10 hours ago


LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Under fire for opposing gay marriage, influential evangelical pastor Rick Warren said Saturday that he loves Muslims, people of other religions, Republicans and Democrats, and he also loves "gays and straights."
The 54-year-old pastor and founder of Saddleback Church in Southern California told the crowd of 500 that it's unrealistic to expect everyone to agree on everything all the time.


"You don't have to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand," said Warren.

 ["Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" said God. Amos 3:3]

At the end of his speech on Saturday, Warren also talked about singer Melissa Etheridge, who performed earlier in the evening. Warren said the two had a "wonderful conversation" and that he is a huge fan who has all her albums.
The openly lesbian gay rights activist even agreed to sign her Christmas album for him, he said.

President Bush says the Bible is not true and that he believes in evolution

Interviewer Cynthia McFadden asked Bush if the Bible was literally true.

"You know. Probably not ... No, I'm not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it, but I do think that the New Testament for example is ... has got ... You know, the important lesson is 'God sent a son,'" Bush said.

Asked about creation and evolution, Bush said, "I think you can have both. I think evolution can - you're getting me way out of my lane here. I'm just a simple president. But it's, I think that God created the earth, created the world; I think the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an almighty and I don't think it's incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution."

Words associated with Christianity, the monarchy and British history have been dropped from a leading dictionary for children.

Oxford University Press has removed words like "aisle", "bishop", "chapel", "empire" and "monarch" from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like "blog", "broadband" and "celebrity". Dozens of words related to the countryside have also been culled.

The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society.

But academics and head teachers said that the changes to the 10,000 word Junior Dictionary could mean that children lose touch with Britain's heritage.

"We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable," said Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment at Buckingham University. "The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, moving away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us."

An analysis of the word choices made by the dictionary lexicographers has revealed that entries from "abbey" to "willow" have been axed. Instead, words such as "MP3 player", "voicemail" and "attachment" have taken their place.

Lisa Saunders, a worried mother who has painstakingly compared entries from the junior dictionaries, aimed at children aged seven or over, dating from 1978, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007, said she was "horrified" by the vast number of words that have been removed, most since 2003.

"The Christian faith still has a strong following," she said. "To eradicate so many words associated with the Christianity will have a big effect on the numerous primary schools who use it."

Ms Saunders realised words were being removed when she was helping her son with his homework and discovered that "moss" and "fern", which were in editions up until 2003, were no longer listed.

"I decide to take a closer look and compare the new version to the other editions," said the mother of four from Co Down, Northern Ireland. "I was completely horrified by the vast number of words which have been removed. We know that language moves on and we can't be fuddy-duddy about it but you don't cull hundreds of important words in order to get in a different set of ICT words."

Anthony Seldon, the master of Wellington College, a leading private school in Berkshire, said: "I am stunned that words like "saint", "buttercup", "heather" and "sycamore" have all gone and I grieve it.

"I think as well as being descriptive, the Oxford Junior Dictionary, has to be prescriptive too, suggesting not just words that are used but words that should be used. It has a duty to keep these words within usage, not merely pander to an audience. We are looking at the loss of words of great beauty. I would rather have "marzipan" and "mistletoe" then "MP3 player."

Oxford University Press, which produces the junior edition, selects words with the aid of the Children's Corpus, a list of about 50 million words made up of general language, words from children's books and terms related to the school curriculum. Lexicographers consider word frequency when making additions and deletions.

Vineeta Gupta, the head of children's dictionaries at Oxford University Press, said: "We are limited by how big the dictionary can be – little hands must be able to handle it – but we produce 17 children's dictionaries with different selections and numbers of words.

"When you look back at older versions of dictionaries, there were lots of examples of flowers for instance. That was because many children lived in semi-rural environments and saw the seasons. Nowadays, the environment has changed. We are also much more multicultural. People don't go to Church as often as before. Our understanding of religion is within multiculturalism, which is why some words such as "Pentecost" or "Whitsun" would have been in 20 years ago but not now."

She said children's dictionaries were trialed in schools and advice taken from teachers. Many words are added to reflect the age-related school curriculum.

Words taken out:

Carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe

Dwarf, elf, goblin

Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar

Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade

adder, ass, beaver, boar, budgerigar, bullock, cheetah, colt, corgi, cygnet, doe, drake, ferret, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, hamster, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster, panther, pelican, piglet, plaice, poodle, porcupine, porpoise, raven, spaniel, starling, stoat, stork, terrapin, thrush, weasel, wren.

Acorn, allotment, almond, apricot, ash, bacon, beech, beetroot, blackberry, blacksmith, bloom, bluebell, bramble, bran, bray, bridle, brook, buttercup, canary, canter, carnation, catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, conker, county, cowslip, crocus, dandelion, diesel, fern, fungus, gooseberry, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, holly, horse chestnut, ivy, lavender, leek, liquorice, manger, marzipan, melon, minnow, mint, nectar, nectarine, oats, pansy, parsnip, pasture, poppy, porridge, poultry, primrose, prune, radish, rhubarb, sheaf, spinach, sycamore, tulip, turnip, vine, violet, walnut, willow

Words put in:

Blog, broadband, MP3 player, voicemail, attachment, database, export, chatroom, bullet point, cut and paste, analogue

Celebrity, tolerant, vandalism, negotiate, interdependent, creep, citizenship, childhood, conflict, common sense, debate, EU, drought, brainy, boisterous, cautionary tale, bilingual, bungee jumping, committee, compulsory, cope, democratic, allergic, biodegradable, emotion, dyslexic, donate, endangered, Euro

Apparatus, food chain, incisor, square number, trapezium, alliteration, colloquial, idiom, curriculum, classify, chronological, block graph

Just how bad is the new $621 million dollar Capitol Visitors Center in Washington DC?

Lead architect Steven Ayers brought the project in 3 years late and 300 million over budget and managed to use a totally incorrect and fabricated national motto.


"After taking a tour of the center in September with Steven Ayers, the architect who oversaw its completion, DeMint correctly noted that it had erroneously described "E. Pluribus Unum" — Latin for "from many, one" — as the national motto rather than "In God We Trust."

Despite winning a months-long battle to highlight the importance of religion in U.S. life, DeMint was not satisfied Tuesday, saying the center still misrepresents American history by downplaying the faith of the founding fathers and other prominent figures. The center's "most prominent display proclaims faith not in God, but in government," he noted.

11 boys from Reclamation released from state custody to families or guardians

Eleven boys returned to homes as probe into abuse claims continues at Reclamation Ranch Ministries' Lighthouse Academy


TOM GORDON
News staff writer
EONTA - Eleven juveniles who had been at a faith-based home for troubled boys were returned to their parents and guardians Tuesday while a probe continued into charges of abuse at the facility.

The boys, who had lived at Reclamation Ranch Ministries' Lighthouse Academy in western Blount County, were the subject of a hearing before Circuit Judge Steve King to determine if they should stay in the custody of the Department of Human Resources. The boys, who hailed from places including California, Kentucky and an Amish community in Ohio, were released by the court throughout the day to parents, relatives or other adults.

Some of the boys said their time at the academy had changed them for the better. But some foster parents,[who were never at the home and don't know anything at all about it] with whom DHR had placed some of the boys after removing them from Lighthouse Academy on Saturday, said the facility seemed unduly harsh. (Snip, click here to read article.)

Gestapo/Waco style raid on Baptist Boy's Home in Alabama (Lighthouse Academy)

"Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - during our "Come and See" Jubilee in which we invite family and friends of the young people in our programs to come and see the facilities, enjoy special church services with their young people and have a time of fellowship with them, one of the boys who convinced his parent that he had been abused, went on to start a major "shake-up" of Lighthouse Academy in producing false and misleading accusations upon which resulted in the police department from Blount County on Saturday, November 22, 2008.

The swarmed our Lighthouse Academy dorm in true "swat" style, breaking down the door with a battering ram, and entered with pistols and guns drawn!

The Parkinson's and their children were awaken with pistol drawn in their bedroom, forcing Bro. Parkinson onto the floor and cuffed him, kept the guns on him and his family forcing them to sit with guns drawn. Finally producing the search warrant they went about arousing the other staff members from the other house, the Gregory's with their three small children, and Bro. Rick and his wife Samantha who is pregnant.


Once we received the call at 6:15 a.m. we went straight to the Lighthouse property where we were not allowed to see or to speak with any of our staff members and were told to go back to our other "compound" (the girls dorm 2 miles away in Walker County).

The pictures seen here are just a few I took before leaving the property that morning. After getting everyone out of bed, they would not let the staff see the boys nor the boys the staff. They then proceeded to interview the boys. After a search of the facilities they proceeded to take out miscellaneous items and them proceeded to take all of the boys that are in the program and placed them in "state" custody.

After we were told to leave and go to the girls "compound" (the great "Waco" terminology) we returned and met with our staff there and decided rather than cause our girls unnecessary trauma we would send them to the church to clean up after our jubilee.

About a quarter of a mile away one of our vans was pulled over and swarmed by the police cars you see here.


The other van went onto the church to begin cleanup. They proceeded to hold them there while waiting on information from Blount County and then decided to call in the social worker from Walker County to hold individual interviews with the girls there on the side of the road.

After about an hour, they decided to take them to Sumiton Police Station where they would continue the interview and asked us to bring the other girls from the church to the police station. We complied with every request that Walker County asked for...when asking for paper work or information on the girls we were not required to give them anything without a warrant but decided that cooperation is always best, especially when you have nothing to hide.

After over eight hours we were able to have the girls back, they decided at this time the girls were in no "danger". We do appreciate the treatment by the Sumiton police department to the girls. (While I only wish we could say the same for the way Blount County department handled the boys situation. In such a "Cops" attitude.) While the social services could not find no reason to keep the girls they have made calls to all the parents of the girls implying that they should remove their girls from Rachel Academy.

The girls holding their bible before going into the police station.

We have 100% support of the parents of all of the girls and there are a few who are going to bring their daughters home until the situation stabilizes. We totally understand and respect the seriousness of the situation seeing how quickly things can turn as resulted in the boys being placed in "state" custody.

The picture below is of the girls hugging Ms. Trudy before going into the police station. They were terrified because we were not able to be with them during the process. They love our staff and our staff loves the girls. They know that we protect them. We do not do anything to hurt them or endanger them in anyway!

One more note: the girls while inside the police station (none of us on staff were allowed in the police station during the hours of interviews) they got together and begin singing songs about the Lord and giving testimonies to the officers in the station. In fact one officer was so impressed he recorded the girls on his phone and wants to place it as his "ringing" tone. He came out and gave us updates often! Brother Jack bought the girls pizza for lunch (at the request of the police station) and opened one of the box tops and wrote "I love you" on it. When the girls opened the box the officer saw it and had a real problem with it, they removed the pizza out of the box and took it out and said that we should not have done that. My..my...we've come a long way.

Now I would like for you to keep in mind that we work with boys and girls have had many problems in many different areas that resulted in their family member to place them with us to try and help them learn respect for themselves, each other and how to become a better individual that the Lord Jesus Christ can produce in their lives. During the year that they are in our program we do not allow "worldly" influences into our program. Our homes takes many of the young people off of the streets, out of abusive situations, out of gangs and away from video games, promiscuous activities, and quite often away from friends who are leading the young people in the wrong. direction.

Please join us on Tuesday, November 25th at the park in Oneota, Alabama, across from the court house at 9 a.m. where we will be showing support to the parents whose sons were taken away during the raid on the boys dorm. We have many friends, family of the youths in our facilities, pastors and other Christian based facility superintendents coming in from all across the country.

Pictured here below is one of the boys father whose son was taken away and placed in state custody without his permission. The purpose of the hearing on Tuesday is to see if the parents can have custody back or if the state is going to keep the custody and run the boys through the "foster care" maze. Please continue to pray for all of our young people and parents whose lives are being turned upside down by one young man who is bringing these accusations. Needless to say if these children were not known for their lying, manipulations etc. they would not have been in a situation where they had to come to one of our homes.

We do not nor will we ever condone abuse to any young person whether it is in a Christian based facility such as ours or in a parents home. We protect these children from so very much and yet this is one more of your liberties as a parent that you are about to lose from the state.

We are losing our freedoms when a police force can come into a home with guns and battering rams ...handcuffing the superintendent and scaring everyone. Please keep us in your fervent prayers.

Southern Baptist Church embraces female "Pastor"

Decatur First Baptist keeps woman in the pulpit

By DONNA WILLIAMS LEWIS

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, November 23, 2008

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, in a fellowship hall flanked by overstuffed easy chairs and candlelit bar tables, visitors and members of Decatur First Baptist Church were asked what they were thankful for.

“We all have days, or even seasons, when gratitude is a real stretch for us,” the Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell told the early service congregation. “Thankfulness takes the sting out of adversity.”

One woman was happy about her new niece. Another was grateful some parts of her “disjointed family” would be together for the holiday. A teacher thanked God for answering his prayer that a disruptive student do his work.

And then a man stood to say, “I’m thankful for Julie Pennington-Russell.”

It was a poignant statement, coming, as it did, on the first Sunday Pennington-Russell took the pulpit since Georgia Southern Baptists approved a policy aimed at diminishing the role of churches led by women pastors.

A Southern Baptist statement of faith says only men can serve as head pastor in churches, but the churches are independent and can call whom they want as pastor.

Last year Pennington-Russell became head of the nation’s largest Southern Baptist church with a female senior pastor when she was called to the 2,700-member Decatur First Baptist Church. Her appointment led to talk in the Georgia Baptist Convention of breaking ties with the church.

On Nov. 11, the convention approved a policy that allows the convention to refuse donations from churches that do not adhere to Southern Baptist beliefs. That move would make the churches lose their association voting privileges but allow them to maintain an affiliation with the convention.

So far, the convention has taken no action against Decatur First Baptist. Pennington-Russell said Georgia Baptist Convention’s executive director has asked to meet with the church, and that the meeting will probably occur in December.

In the meantime, “Folks here realize the mission of this church is just moving forward in all kinds of creative, wonderful ways,” Pennington-Russell said in an interview between services. “I think it’s an unfortunate momentary distraction.”

She said Decatur First Baptist has, over time, become much more invested in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a national organization for moderate Baptists, which accepts women as pastors.

“This church really is historically tied to the Southern Baptist Convention, but lately it’s only been tied by the slenderest of threads,” Pennington-Russell said.

Member Gail Roper, 63, would probably vouch for that.

“If they would like to ask us to leave the Southern Baptist Convention, I think that’s fine,” Roper said. “I think our new minister is wonderful.”

Chris Stanford, 35, of Decatur, who plays guitar in the morning service’s band, said he hadn’t given the matter much thought.

“I don’t really care what a governing body thinks about the spirit leading us in a certain direction,” he said.

Dawn Shorb hadn’t heard the news, but it didn’t matter to her, either.

“Coming here benefits us and backs up what we’re learning about now,” said Shorb, 40, who has attended the church since June with other women from a local halfway house. “From the first time we came we just felt such warmth.”

Member John H. Davis, 70, of Decatur, said he’s happy with his [sic] mininster.

“As long as Christ is being preached, I can accept anyone,” Davis said. “In fact, some of my favorite preachers are women.”

Is Obama a Muslim? Who does Obama look like?

Does he look more like his white grandfather who raised him? Or does he look like the Kenyan father he never knew?

Is Obama a Muslim? I doubt Obama is a Muslim, although he is very partial to the religion due to spending about 3 years as a youth in Indonesia with a Muslim stepfather.

Is Obama a Christian? I doubt it, even though he spent the majority of his life being raised by his white grandparents and attending a Christian school in Hawaii. He has stated he doesn't actually believe in any of the major Christian doctrines.

Does he really believe in change? I doubt it.
Everyone he has hired so far for his administration are tired and warmed over white liberals from the Clinton years. He's slapped his black Christian constituents in the face by naming 7 practicing homosexuals to important posts on his transition team.

Of course, he was just giving all those black folks lip service anyway. He isn't like them and has nothing in commom with them. He was raised in a white home, in a white community, in all white private schools by his white grandparents.

Obama has no idea what the average black person has had to live through, because he has never wanted for a thing his whole life.

He's just another rich almost white liberal using the black man for a vote.

Obama volunteer lies, and tells Secret Service that pro lifer made Obama death threat

LUFKIN — A Lufkin woman received a surprise visit from the Secret Service last week because of a “death threat” comment she "supposedly" made about Sen. Barack Obama to a campaign volunteer asking for her support of the presidential candidate.

Two federal agents arrived at Jessica Hughes’ home Thursday to ask her if she said, “I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor.”

Hughes said her words were deliberately twisted by a volunteer who was apparently furious that Hughes didin't support Obama during a phone conversation. The Lufkin mother, a Republican, said she received a call on her cellphone Wednesday from a woman with the Obama Volunteers of Texarkana.

“She asked if I was an Obama supporter, to which I replied, ‘No, I don’t support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time.’ (And then) I hung up.”

Hughes is referring to a “born alive” Illinois bill that did not pass in the Illinois state Senate in 2005 and had previously been opposed by Obama.

Obama Campaign Communications for Texas director Josh Taylor declined to comment Monday, referring the matter to the Secret Service, which he said is conducting an investigation. A message left with a Secret Service agent in Houston was not immediately returned.

Hughes said she was surprised to see two Secret Service agents at her door, and upset to learn that the conversation she had with the volunteer apparently had not been recorded.

“I find it hard to believe that (campaign volunteers) don’t tape these calls. They call people unsolicited and they aren’t monitoring the calls or recording them? I think that is absolutely ridiculous,” she said. “I mean, how often must this happen - that someone is rude to a volunteer that they don’t want to talk to?”

Hughes said she wants to file a countercomplaint against the volunteer.

“She has made a charge that will follow me the rest of my life,” she said. “I find that repugnant and violating - that some person who got her undies in a bundle because she didn’t like what I had to say.”

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6043299.html
By JESSICA SAVAGE

OJ Simpson declared guilty on all charges: He's finally going to jail

A NV jury has declared OJ Simpson guilty on all charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping.

13 years to the day that a jury in Los Angeles acquitted OJ in the brutal knife murder of his ex wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.

Hindu religious rites taught to public school students causes stress among critics.

Hindu religious rites taught to public school students causes stress among critics.


MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) -- A group of parents and religious leaders in upstate New York want yoga classes out of public schools, saying the instruction violates boundaries between church and state.

Two high school teachers began using yoga last year to help students relieve stress before exams. Special education teacher Martha Duchscherer and Spanish teacher Kerry Perretta also were developing a districtwide program.

But those plans were halted after parents and others in the community complained students were being indoctrinated in Hindu rites.

"We are not opposed to the benefits. We can understand the benefits. We are opposed to the philosophy behind it and that has its ties in Hinduism and the way they were presenting it," said the Rev. Colin Lucid of Calvary Baptist Church in Massena.

The program does not have ulterior motives, Julie Reagan, Massena Board of Education president, said Thursday.

"If the school board felt there was any hidden religious activity behind the motives of our two instructors, we certainly wouldn't allow that," she said. "There is absolutely none of that. The teachers are well intended and trying to offer an aspect of fitness in the classroom that relaxes and readies the children for better learning."

A hundred schools in 26 states use yoga in the classroom to relieve stress, Reagan said. Federal funds and grants are available to educators seeking yoga certification, she said.

According to a statement on the Web site of the American Yoga Association, yoga is not a religion, although its practice has been adopted by Hinduism, as well as other world religions.

There are more than 100 different schools of yoga, which seeks to bring harmony to the mind and body. The most commonly practiced type in the United States is hatha yoga, which encompasses physical movements and postures, plus breathing techniques.

"It's been a little discouraging that this program has taken on a negative tone," said Duchscherer, who has taught in the Massena district for 11 years. "The intention was never to teach religion. ... It was to introduce relaxation techniques."

But Lucid believes the voluntary program causes stress and should be offered as an after-school activity.

"People have made it a religious war, and it's not a religious war. We are basically concerned parents, saying we don't want our children participating in something that could cause them more stress and confusion," Lucid said.

Parents in Aspen, Colo., were successful in demanding the removal of yoga in the local curriculum in 2002. In Alabama, religious leaders pushed for a 1993 law prohibiting the teaching of yoga in schools, citing connections between yoga and Hindu religious training.