Burke, VA, December 14, 2015- "The agreement Reached at the Paris climate summit is worse than a failure," said Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, Founder and National Spokesman of The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation. "The 'Commitments' made in the Paris agreement are voluntary and unenforceable," Beisner said, "which means most nations will not comply. EU nations said They would make binding Commitments only if all major emitters did-and They Did not. So the EU's 'Commitments' lose all substance. " China and India, the # 1 and # 3 CO2 emitting nations, plan for Their emissions to keep rising at least until 2030 and Reductions even in rate of growth later will depend on Whether They can be made without slowing Their rise out of poverty. Other Developing Countries' "Commitments" are similar. "That's perfectly understandable," Beisner said. "Risks from poverty are far greater than from climate change, so whatever slows economic growth means greater harm than global warming." That thinking is behind the Cornwall Alliance's petition, Forget 'Climate Change', Energy Empowers the Poor. Full compliance with the Paris agreement would cost Hundreds of billions of dollars per year beginning now and rise to $ 1-2 Trillion … [Read more...]

By David Roach, Baptist Press RICHMOND, Va. (BP) - With the International Mission Board expecting hundreds of missionaries to leave their positions in the coming months, the board has published a list of ways individuals and churches can support field personnel returning to the U.S. According to a Q&A posted on the IMB website and updated Nov. 18, at least 600 field personnel and stateside staff members are expected to resign as a result of a voluntary retirement incentive (VRI) offered to all personnel 50 and older with five or more years of service and a subsequent "hand-raising opportunity" for all remaining personnel to indicate a call from God to pursue non-IMB ministry opportunities. An undated document titled "Ways to Support Your Field Personnel as they Return to the U.S." recommends that churches form "re-entry teams" to assist returning missionaries with practical services, friendship and prayer. Among the IMB's suggestions: -- Let returning missionaries talk about their experiences. "Perhaps you could interview them during a worship service, invite them to lead a prayer time or share during Life Group or Sunday School times," the document states. -- Be sensitive to culture shock as missionaries … [Read more...]

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...]

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...]

By Todd Starnes, Christian Examiner The nation was forced to endure yet more pious prattling from President Obama this week who spent time berating Americans who are worried about Islamic jihadists hell-bent on blowing us all to kingdom come. “When individuals say that we should have a religious test and that only Christians – proven Christians should be admitted – that’s offensive and contrary to American values, the president said – just one day after he called such behavior un-American. What’s offensive and contrary to American values is refusing to properly investigate those wanting to come to our nation – especially those coming from regions that are hotbeds of Islamic extremism. “Those of us who fear that Islamic radicals might be lurking among the refugees have been called every name in the book: bigots, Islamophobes and un-American. But the cold hard reality is that Protestants, Catholics and Jews aren't the ones beheading people,” said Obama. But the president says such prudence only further enflames the Islamic jihadists. “ISIL seeks to exploit the idea that there is a war between Islam and the West,” he said. “When you starting seeing individuals in positions of responsibility suggesting that … [Read more...]