By Billy Graham Today is Christmas, read Luke 2:11, 13–14. The greatest sermon ever preached was delivered by angels on this historic night. It has always been interesting to me that this message was delivered at night. It wasn’t night because the sun had gone down. It was night because the world was surrounded in spiritual and moral gloom. People were driven by greed, intolerance, and lust for power. Religion had become a device for the rich in the exploitation of the poor. Men robbed and swindled and profiteered under the cloak of religion; they even fought wars in the name of religion. In every arena of life, it was night when Jesus came. Things haven’t changed. Today, there seems to be a moral night that has settled over our world—sexual immorality, pleasure-mad people, lusting for money and power—the same as it was in the days when Jesus came 2,000 years ago. It is in the darkest hour that Christ often comes. He brings the joy, the thrill, the peace, and the glory such as you have never known—when you and your loved ones give your lives to Him. How has Jesus shown Himself to you in your darkest hour? Reflect on this for Christmas. … [Read more...]
Judge declines to issue injunction in lawsuit by Vintage Church
By Philip Timothy, Managing Editor METAIRIE – A judge declined to issue a preliminary injunction Dec. 22 against the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and Jefferson Parish over a dispute regarding sound levels during Sunday worship service conducted by Vintage Church. The church which is temporarily meeting in a tent filed a lawsuit accusing Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand and his officers of intimidation tactics in an attempt to shut down weekly worship services because of noise complaints by a sing individual, and the suit also described the noise level ordinances as flawed. The Liberty Institute, a non-profit law firm which focuses on religious liberty issues, plans to appeal the ruling immediately. “We have already begun working toward an appeal and we are optimistic we will prevail in the end,” said Justin Butterfield, senior counsel for Liberty Institute. “We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision,” said Butterfield, “because as the parish official acknowledged, this ruling could lead to pastors being arrested or the church being shut down. That is unquestionably a substantial burden on the church’s religious freedom.” The tent, erected in August, is intended to be a short term arrangement … [Read more...]
Pre-teen girls plan Christmas market to benefit IMB
By Marilyn Stewart, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS – When Jay and Elizabeth Terrill decided to forego Christmas gifts to each other and instead give the money to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, they knew their family could do more. Their daughter Mollie, 11, along with cousin, Lexi Cole, 11, had an idea: a Christmas Market craft fair to benefit the International Mission Board. With the recent IMB financial/personnel cuts in mind, the girls enlisted the help of their church – Gentilly Baptist Church, New Orleans – and set a goal of $1,000 for the December 5 fair. With donated crafts, baked goods, garden plants and other items for sale, the fair netted $1,067. “I was so excited,” said Pam Cole, grandmother of the two girls. “For them to have other people on their hearts at this time of the year was what was so special to me. They wanted to give and help the missionaries stay on the field.” Staged less than a month after the girls approached pastor Ken Taylor with the idea, the event drew in nearly 80 in attendance, said Dennis Cole, associate pastor and the girls’ grandfather. Taylor and Cole are both serve as professors at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Pre-teen aged girls at the church made … [Read more...]
Kelley to grads: ‘God with us’ changes everything
By Marilyn Stewart, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley pointed to Christ's birth and the meaning of Emmanuel during the seminary's Dec. 19 graduation ceremony. "'God with us' changes everything," he told graduates. Speaking to a class of 224 candidates, Kelley began his charge by noting that some members would soon be going into places too dangerous to name publicly. "This is a day of great joy but also a day of sobering reality," Kelley said. He noted the importance of the day "because of what we see in the world around us." Kelley explained that the course of history is marked by pivotal, epic-making moments. Kelley pointed to the Battle of the Bulge in WWII where German forces broke through the Allied line but were held back by American paratroopers long enough to allow Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. to reposition his tanks, and ultimately secure victory. "It was an epic moment," Kelley said. "That's what happened when Jesus came into the world." 'God with us' matters because nothing can come against the believer committed to God, Kelley said. There are no dead ends where God leads, he explained. "'God with us' changes everything," Kelley … [Read more...]
ADF, chaplains to court: Reverse court-martial against Marine who posted Bible verses
By Staff, Alliance Defending Freedom WASHINGTON – Alliance Defending Freedom and the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty have filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in support of a Marine court-martialed for posting a Bible verse in her workspace. Lance Cpl. Monifa Sterling posted the verse “No weapons formed against me shall prosper,” a reference to Isaiah 54:17, three times around her workspace at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in honor of the Trinity. Her supervisor said, “I don’t like the tone,” and told her to take them down. When Sterling declined, her supervisor took them down at the end of the duty day. Sterling reprinted and re-posted the messages, but she found them in the trash the next morning. She was then court-martialed. “No one in our military who goes to work every day to defend our freedoms should then be court-martialed for exercising those very freedoms,” said ADF Legal Counsel and Director of Military Affairs Daniel Briggs, a former Air Force JAG officer. “This case is about Monifa, but it is also about every American who puts on the uniform in service to this country. The question is whether they will be allowed to exercise their faith in the military, or … [Read more...]
ADF: Missouri officials unlawfully exclude Christian learning center from children’s safety program
By Staff, Alliance Defending Freedom WASHINGTON – Alliance Defending Freedom filed a brief Dec. 18 with the U.S. Supreme Court that answers arguments the state of Missouri has made in favor of religious discrimination in what is supposed to be a religion-neutral state program. ADF attorneys, who represent the school, argue that the high court should reverse a lower court decision that allowed the state to exclude a Christian pre-school and daycare center from the program, which provides recycled tires to surface children’s playgrounds. Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit upheld a district court’s decision in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Pauley that ruled the state was justified in denying the center because a church runs it. This month, 10 states filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that the high court should grant the ADF petition and reverse that ruling. “Children’s safety is no less important on church daycare playgrounds than it is on other daycare playgrounds,” said ADF Senior Counsel Erik Stanley. “Missouri should understand that the U.S. Constitution prohibits anti-religious bias, which is what the state exhibited when it denied Trinity Lutheran’s scrap tire … [Read more...]
City changes tune on Christmas Carol ban
By Staff, Alliance Defending Freedom FALLS CHURCH, Va. – A small city in Virginia has changed its tune on ban on Christmas caroling on public sidewalks. After receiving a letter from Alliance Defending Freedom, the city of Falls Church, Va., has decided to allow Christmas carolers to sing on a public sidewalk outside of an abortion business Dec. 22. “No one should try to shut down Christmas carols on a public sidewalk, and we’re pleased that that city has changed its tune and says it won’t do that again,” said ADF senior counsel Matt Bowman. “We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the carolers will be able to exercise their constitutionally protected freedom to sing tomorrow as planned.” Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter Dec. 21 to the Falls Church Police Department after two officers told several Christmas carolers to stop singing on a public sidewalk outside of an abortion business. One of the carolers captured the officers on video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpWEa85iZbc&feature=youtube) informing the carolers that singing is prohibited under a noise ordinance and that they must cease singing. The letter explains that police cannot use the ordinance to stop a constitutionally … [Read more...]
NFL’s Watson: ‘Changed hearts’ can heal racial divide
By Marilyn Stewart, Regional reporter NEW ORLEANS -- Race is an issue that continues to divide, said New Orleans Saints tight end Benjamin Watson during a book signing at the LifeWay campus store at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The solution is "changed hearts" in Christ, Watson said. The event fell on Nov. 24, the one-year anniversary of the ruling in the racially charged Ferguson, Mo., case of the shooting death of Michael Brown. Watson's book, "Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race -- and Getting Free from the Fear and Frustrations that Divide Us," expands on his lengthy Facebook post that resonated with readers the day after the news broke that officer Darren Wilson would not face criminal charges for the shooting death of Brown. "[Race] is something that keeps on coming up," Watson said. "It's something we're always talking about and it's not seeming to be going anywhere." Calling his book "part manifesto, part memoir," Watson told the line of fans that snaked past shelves and out LifeWay's door that he put his thoughts to paper after seeing a public reaction to the verdict that seemed to split along racial lines. "I was conflicted because so much was tied into it. I wanted to work out my … [Read more...]
Egyptian church, destroyed by terrorists, rebuilt by Egyptian army
By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner CAIRO (Christian Examiner) – A Coptic Christian Church in Minya, Egypt, burned down by the Muslim Brotherhood in the wake of the Arab Spring riots, has been rebuilt by the Egyptian military, the Egyptian news source Watani has reported. Parishioners gathered at the church of Amir Tadros, or St. Theodore, to celebrate the church's reopening Nov. 14. It was one of 100 Christian churches, houses and Christian establishments firebombed in the country during riots there in 2013, shortly after the Muslim Brotherhood took power – and then lost it after failing to provide essential civil services and wreaking havoc on the nation's non-Muslim minority communities. Muhammad Morsi, who led the Muslim Brotherhood, was recently charged with torturing his political opponents, but he also has been found guilty of helping more than 100 militant Islamists escape from prison during the 2011 revolts that ushered him into power. For that crime, Morsi has been sentenced to death. Morsi deposed then President Hosni Mubarak, a long-time ally of the United States and a peacemaker with Israel. In August 2013, the Algemeiner, a Middle East news source, said its Investigative Project on Terrorism had … [Read more...]
Indonesian churches closed, burned, demolished by Muslim extremists
By Kelly Ledbetter, Christian Examiner ACEH SINGKIL, Indonesia (Christian Examiner) – After Muslim hard-liners burned churches in Aceh Singkil on the island of Sumatra, over 8,000 people fled religious violence that has been building in Aceh province since a 2006 law discriminated against religious minorities. The religious harmony law requires signatures of the religious majority, which is Islam in Indonesia, before a church may be built. Conflicts about church permits, which few possess, have escalated into discrimination involving mobs burning and looting in violence that has killed at least one person, according to World Watch Monitor. Erde Burutu, a pastor of Pakpak Dairi Christian Protestant Church, which was burned in October, said temporarily displaced Christians who are returning to Aceh are afraid. "There is no guarantee of safety from the state," he told WWM. "For us, safety goes beyond the physical; it means that we can have our church back and exercise our freedom to worship." After burning the Indonesian Christian Church on Oct. 13, the mob circulated a message that read: "We will not stop hunting Christians and burning churches. Christians are Allah's enemies!" Since the 2006 law was passed, thousands … [Read more...]
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