Jennifer Knapp and Tad Haggard Discuss Homosexuality with Larry King

Last Friday, Jennifer Knapp, the Christian music artist who announced this month that she is gay, appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live alongside another controversial figure: Ted Haggard, the former megachurch pastor who was involved in a gay sex scandal. Also appearing was Pastor Bob Botsford of Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego who has recently publicly condemned Knapp’s lifestyle and choices.

During the show, Knapp pointed out that scholars have long questioned the interpretation of the original Greek words that have been translated to homosexuality, and which many believers traditionally use to challenge homosexuality.

“Well, I think there is plenty of evidence in my exploration of my faith through the sacred text of the Holy Bible that I have definitely recognized that we are somewhat at the handicap of our own interpretation of a sacred text,” responded Knapp to King’s question on if she feels the Bible is anti homosexuality.

“In the long run I don’t have the greatest deal of problems with it because I’m not the only person in the universe that has ever looked at a different interpretation,” Knapp stated. “We have advocates on both sides. It doesn’t make the truth any less the truth or love less love.”

Throughout the show, Botsford pointed to Scripture, which he believes to be inerrant, to argue that Knapp has succumbed to sin. He said while everyone is a sinner, the difference is that some people allow the sin to rule over their life and others try to overcome the sin.

“Allowing that to continue to reign over your life is not allowing Jesus Christ to be Lord,” said Botsford. “My role is to die to sin not to justify it.”

Botsford said he felt compelled to speak out publicly about Knapp’s choice because she’s a person of influence in the Christian community. He said he does not want people to mistaken that what Knapp is doing is right.

Knapp recently revealed she has been in an eight-year committed relationship with a woman. Knapp has been nominated for a Grammy, and has also won four Dove awards. Her three albums have combined to sell more than a million copies.

Knapp also shared that she remained celibate for ten years while working in the Christian music industry, but now after a seven year break she stated that she is “very comfortable” with her sexuality.

“I feel blessed to fully be who I am. I love being able to be a musician and part of that process of being a musician is being open and honest and to not feel like I have to lie or hide anything,” she said. “I don’t necessarily want to talk about it all the time, but I don’t have to hide it either.”

Knapp remained calm through most of the interview, only getting frustrated with Botsford towards the end. She told him that he did not have any right to speak about her in the way that he has publicly.

“I have spiritual leadership in my life. The pastoral counsel of those who are dear to me, who understand the scripture as sacred text and, Bob don’t interrupt me,” Knapp said. “And you are not that man in my life.”

Ted Haggard was very non-committal in his opinions throughout, refusing to give clear answers on whether he thought homosexuality was a sin and whether it is a choice or not, said the Christian Post.

(For the full article, please go to www.christianpost.com).

More Christians Killed in Jos, Nigeria

There were further killings of Christians recorded in Jos, Nigeria over the weekend with two journalists and five others being attacked by Muslim youth gangs.

Nathan S. Dabak, an assistant editor at a newspaper of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) called The Light Bearer, and Sunday Gyang Bwede, a reporter at the publication, were stabbed to death along with an unidentified motorcyclist.

“The staff of the church were murdered in cold blood by some Hausa Muslim youths,” the Rev. Pandang Yamsat, president of COCIN, stated, “This is clear because they have been using the hand phones of the deceased journalists and boasting that they are the ones that killed them.”

Dabak, 36, and the 39-year-old Bwede had left their office on Saturday morning and were on their way to interview local politician Bulus Kaze when they fell into the hands of young Muslim men, Yamsat said.

The church started a search for the two Christians that day but did not discover their bodies until about noon on Sunday at the mortuary of Jos University Teaching Hospital, he said. He added that the church was eagerly waiting for results of a police investigation.

“The security team of the church has been communicating with the police, but they are yet to make any headway on this unfortunate incident,” he said.

Four other Christians also were killed on Saturday (April 24) in the Dutse Uku district of Jos’ Nasarawa Gwom area in a revenge attack following the discovery of the corpse of a teenage Muslim who had been missing. Their names were not released at press time.

The four Christians reportedly died, three of them stabbed to death, when hundreds of Muslim youths rampaged throughout the area in protest.

Earlier, police reportedly exhumed eight bodies from shallow graves in a predominantly Christian village near Jos. The discovery of the bodies brought to 15 the number of corpses found in three days in an area fraught with Muslim aggression that has left hundreds of Christians dead, says the Christian Post.

(To read the full article, please go to www.christianpost.com).

Franklin Graham Upsets Muslims

Over the last few weeks, Franklin Graham, the son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham has been at the centre of religious controversy. A week ago, Graham was disinvited from a Pentagon prayer event because Muslim and other interest groups complained over his inclusion due to inflammatory statements he has repeatedly made regarding Islam.

After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Graham called Islam a “very evil and wicked religion.” He also made withering remarks about the Muslim faith in a CNN interview in 2009.

Now, groups are trying to get Graham removed from the speaking panel at the National Day of Prayer event on Capitol Hill as well. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group that is widely accused of having ties to terrorists, has denounced Graham as an “anti-Islam preacher” who promotes messages of “religious intolerance.”

“Franklin Graham has the right to be an Islamophobe, but he does not have the right to a taxpayer-funded public platform,” said Corey Saylor, CAIR national legislative director, in a statement.

So far the members of Congress involved in organizing the national prayer day have resisted all pressure to remove Graham. Franklin Graham has thus far served the American military on four combat tours.

Graham has retaliated by bringing the Pentagon prayer situation to President Obama’s notice. During a visit with Billy Graham in his home on Sunday, Franklin voiced his concern to Obama that activists were trying to remove all religion from the military. Obama promised to look into the matter, says the Christian Post.

(For the full article, please go to www.christianpost.com).

Sceptics Sceptical about Noah’s Ark Finding

Turkish scientists believe that Noah’s Ark has been found entombed in ice on Mount Ararat. Their claim has been taken up by a Christian filmmaker, Yeung Wing-Cheung of Hong Kong who said that he is "99 percent" sure the wooden artifice he recently filmed on the behest of Turkish scientists and archeologists is the remnants of the renowned Biblical ark.

"We are not saying that we are 100 percent certain that what we found is Noah's Ark. No one has ever seen the ark, no one knows what it looks like," Yeung said. "We are only 99 percent certain that it is Noah's Ark based on historical accounts, including the Bible and local beliefs of the people in the area, as well as carbon dating."

It would be an incredible discovery, but many skeptics are questioning why Yeung is refusing to say exactly where this ark was found. Since the location is being kept secret, Yeung and his scientists might need to parachute in a team of independent experts to verify their findings.

George Washington University’s Dr. Eric Cline said that he remained to be convinced.
"In terms of Noah's Ark, I would have suspected it would have perished long ago," Cline asserted. "The wood should just have disintegrated."

Cline went on to say that if Noah's Ark had come to rest atop a remote mountain, as the Bible records, it is not unreasonable that he would have used wood from the ship for shelter.

"Instead of Noah's Ark, I would be looking for Noah's first house or something like that," he said.

Carbon dating on wood brought back by Yeung dates it to around the time Noah might have lived. Yeung said the Turkish scientists informed him there has never been any evidence of human settlement on top of Mount Ararat.

"We heard from the people living near the mountain that there are remains of a wooden boat on top of the mountain," Yeung said. "Some of them said they have seen it but we were the first to bring back video of these wooden remains."

Scholars have long believed that Mount Ararat would have been the final resting place for the ark. However, there have been many claims over the years to the finding of Noah’s Ark, yet many of these have been quickly debunked.

"I'm waiting for them to convince me," Cline said. "But who knows? Stranger things have happened.”

(For the full article, please go to www.abcnews.go.com).

Celebrating World Earth Day

April 22 is World Earth Day – a day set aside to remember the importance of the planet on which we are privileged to live, and our God-given responsibility to care for it.

Some Christians are hesitant to become involved in environmental work as they argue we need to be careful that we don’t worship creation instead of the creator. The response other Christians make to this is quite simple – that our Creator has actually asked us to care for and steward creation (see Genesis 1-3 for examples).

This is why Christian should view World Earth Day as a fantastic opportunity to renew their stewardship efforts in creative and responsible ways.

Renowned Old Testament scholar Dr. Ellen F. Davis firmly believes that the two different creation accounts of Genesis 1 and 2 can shape and guide how we interact with the environment around us. I have included her thoughts below:

“Unquestionably, the editors who fused the two creation accounts intended us to see them as complementary components of a single story. Together, the two images give us a rich understanding of the derivation and the destiny of the human being: we are connected on one side of the family with divinity; on the other with fertile soil.
To use a phrase from the African-American tradition, we might say that the first chapter of Genesis give us a sense of ‘somebodyness.’ We are made in the image of God; we have a definite worth and high destiny. But the second creation account implicity warns us not to get a distorted opinion of ourselves.”

“The two biblical symbols – humanity made in the image of God and human from humus – belong together, but in practice most contemporary Christians separate them. I think it is fair to say that our self-estimation generally owes more to the first chapter than to the second. We rightly remember that we have something of God in us, but we tend to forget the equal claim that the soil lays upon us.

For us in this generation, the call to discipleship may well be a call to remember our kinship with the fertile earth. If we are listening to the Bible’s prophetic witness to the present rapacious age, then we should be as shocked and radically reorientated as were those (few, perhaps) who hear and heeded Amos or Jeremiah, when we are told that the soil is more like a relative than a resource: it is to be respected, and not just used. For us, heeding the prophetic call means turning away from the rampant materialism that infects our society to the healthy materiality that is the first principle of a biblical ecology.”

(This quote has been taken from “Getting Involved with God – Rediscovering the Old Testament).

The Last of the Mighty Men?

Shalom ministries and their leader Angus Buchan hosted the 7th and final Mighty Men Conference on Buchan’s Greytown farm this last weekend. Estimates are that around 300 000 men attended the gathering.

Shalom Ministries' spokeswoman, Bianca Ortmann said that, “the weekend went fantastically; the guys had a lot of fun. Angus spoke hope to the men and urged them to be responsible.”

Most of those who attended the conference called it a life-changing experience, according to Lesley Ashwell, who has been attending the conference ever since it started. “It was absolutely awesome and humbling, seeing grown men cry.”

“Angus said it is the last one here at Shalom, from now on there will be men’s conferences all over but they will not be organized by Shalom” said Ortmann.

Early speculation is that the next Mighty Men Conference may well be hosted in Soweto.

(Image and information from Shalom Ministries).

Efforts to Overturn Indonesia’s Blasphemy Law Fail

Indonesia’s High Court recently upheld the country’s controversial Blasphemy Law saying that it is still needed to maintain public order among religious groups.

“If the Blasphemy Law was scrapped before a new law was enacted … it was feared that misuses and contempt of religion would occur and trigger conflicts in society,” explained court justice Akil Mochtar, one of eight judges who upheld the law Monday.

Of the eight only one justice voted against the 1965 law, which permits the ruling government to ban religious groups that “distort” or “misrepresent” any of the country’s six official religions – Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.

Justice Indrati, who voted against the Law and is the only woman on the Constitutional Court, stated in her dissenting opinion that the Blasphemy Law was badly flawed in many areas related to human rights and emphasised the “arbitrary actions” often elicited in the law’s execution.

Muslim countries with similar laws often experience situations where members of the majority religions too easily persecute religious minorities and unorthodox sects. The law leads to discrimination, harassment, and violence against these minorities, argue rights groups fighting against the constitutionality of the Blasphemy Law.

Those convicted of heresy could find themselves serving jail time of around 5 years, says the Christian Post.

(For the full article, please go to http://christianpost.com).

Zimbabwean Students Struggling to Survive

A recent news report by women in Zimbabwe’s Student Christian Movement say that poverty is so bad that many fellow students are resorting to prostitution to survive.

The power sharing group between Zanu-PF and the MDC has not brought the long hoped-for relief to students who are finding every-day life a battle to survive.
Zimbabwe’s economic travails are well known world-wide, where many are starving and millions have fled the country in the wake of inflation that hit 231 million percent at one point.

"The only thing I can say is that there is food on the shelves and we can have our workshops as the Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe without being intimidated," says Matsiliso Moyo, a recent teaching graduate. "But to those students who are still at college, things are not so rosy. They are expected to pay tuition fees which are six times their parents' salaries."

Moyo's testimony is part of a collection published recently by the SCMZ. The booklet titled Students' Experiences in Times of Governance Crisis contains descriptions of arrests and intimidation by state security agents and stories of students struggling through their studies on tiny budgets.

Melissa Green shares how she and others have turned to sex for money with older men in order to supplement their limited funds. "It's quite a painful experience to see beautiful girls selling their bodies as a means of survival." Green laments in her contribution.

Green goes onto lament "That's the only way we can survive because most of us come from disadvantaged backgrounds. I used to do it myself, but thank God for SCMZ and my Christian background, I can't do that anymore," says the Ecumenical News International.

(For the full story, please go to http://www.christiancentury.org).

Bruising Religious Battles Now Staining the Haitian Revival

After the initial devastating events in their country, many Haitians of all faiths responded by turning their refugee camps into 24 hours religious revival centers. This religious fervor was marked by remarkable unity between people of different denominational backgrounds as they all became part of a sustained relief effort.

However, in the last few months the relationship between different believers has regressed into a battle for the Haitian soul. Not only are different Christian denominations battling to win the most believers, but they are also apportioning blame for the quake on whomever they disagree with most. Protestants battle and condemn Catholics while both are taking on followers of Vodou (the ancestral religion of Haiti).

Recently, Mario Joseph, a Haitian human rights lawyer, went before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights seeking investigation into attacks against Vodouists after incidents of stoning by Evangelical pastors in the Cité Soleil slum.

``In other zones of the country,'' he informed the commission, ``particularly in the commune of Verrettes in the Artibonite, literal witch hunts have been launched against priests and practitioners of this religion.''

Some believe that statements like that of the controversial conservative religious leader, Pat Robertson, have fueled this kind of animosity between denominations, and certainly between religions. Only a day after the quake, Robertson stated on National television his belief that Haiti’s pact with Satan was to blame for the earthquake.

(To read the full story, go to http://miamiherald.com).
(Image is of a cross from Haiti).

Is There Really a Missing Link Out There?

The recent landmark discovery of two fossils in South Africa has predictably re-opened debates between evolutionists and creationists. Two articles published in the journal ‘Science’ make the very bold statement that these fossils are actually members of a new species that “might help reveal the ancestor” of the genus Homo. While newspaper headlines have been quick to trumpet this find as the long-awaited “missing link,” both scientists and creationists can agree on one thing at least: That this probably is not it because there really is no such thing!

While we can easily understand why creationists would espouse such thinking, many readers may be confused as to why evolutionists might be agreeing with them (on this one issue at least!). Well, first of all because the scientists behind this fossil find – now named as Australopithecus sediba – make no such claim for it, and secondly because most evolutionists now reject the term “missing link” because it implies a chain in evolution rather than the more widely accepted tree model.

The story of Australopithecus sediba is by now, well known to most South Africans. Paleoanthropologist Lee R. Berger of the University of Witwatersrand was out on a fossil-find with his then nine-year old son, Matthew, who first stumbled upon a piece of skeleton. Matthew’s find interested Berger enough to lead numerous official expeditions into the area where they eventually uncovered two ancient skeletons in remarkable condition.

During a press conference last Thursday, Professor Berger stated that, “They (the fossils), ladies and gentlemen, are potentially a Rosetta stone into the past."
However, others are casting doubts about the discovery, saying that they might not even prove to be a new species as has been claimed in the scientific papers.
"The origins of the genus Homo remain as murky as ever," commented Dr. Daniel E. Lieberman, professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard.

Berger's research team is presently looking for preserved proteins in the skeletons, which they hope might contain dried brain remnant. If the brain yields soft tissue, there is a small chance the researchers could find DNA that might eventually uncover the genetic code for Sediba.

"We shall wait and see," said Berger.

The lead scientist said the newly described fossils date between 1.95 million and 1.78 million years in age, says the Christian Post.

(For the full article, please go to http://christianpost.com).
(Photo: University of the Witwatersrand / Brett Eloff)

Turin Shroud Remains ‘Shrouded’ in Mystery

The Turin Shroud is perhaps the most controversial religious artifact in the modern world. The cloth that so many believe actually wrapped Jesus’ body and somehow became imprinted with his image has long intrigued both believers and skeptics. Now having gone on public display for the first time in over ten years, the arguments around its authenticity look set to continue.

The Turin Shroud is woven from herringbone cloth, and is discoloured with human blood while also marked by the mysterious imprint of a crucified man. This imprint is not easily noticeable and was only picked up at the end of the 19th century in an amateur photograph. Many people firmly believe that this imprint was the outline of the crucified Christ.

However, in 1988 it seemed that science had closed the issue once and for all. Carbon dating experts from universities in Zurich, Arizona and Oxford proved in testing that the shroud originated from the 14th century and not from the time of Christ. Yet, many are still arguing that this process of testing was inherently flawed.

The historian, Ian Wilson, an author of many books on this subject, still asserts the shroud could well be genuine.

"Through no fault of the labs the 1988 sample was taken from the most inadvisable place - the top left hand corner," he says. "Before 1840 the normal process of display was to have the cloth loose and held up by at least three bishops so the corners would have been contaminated. A further problem was that the shroud was in a serious fire in 1532 and smoke introduces a lot of contaminants. All of these factors are ways that the carbon dating could have been skewed as it's not infallible," he states.

Interestingly enough, there are other intriguing details of the shroud that have yet to be explained. For example the type of weave used was definitely more first century than medieval. Also, there are puncture wounds in the skull (of the imprint) which would be consistent with a crown of thorns worn by Christ. There is real human blood staining the shroud, and whereas every artist in the 14th century depicted Christ crucified through the palms, the shroud indicated it was through the wrist, which we now know as the only plausible way a body could have remained on the cross. Finally, the ‘negative’ image left by the body is a technique that has yet to be reliably replicated by modern scientific procedures. All these issues throw into question whether the shroud really was a clever 14th century hoax.

The Catholic Church has never been willing to take a firm position on the shroud’s authenticity. However, many scientists are quite willing to be very certain indeed. Professor Gordon Cook, at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, rejects the idea that the carbon dating process was in any way flawed. He firmly believes that the shroud is indeed a 14th century product.

"Pre-treatment methods should get rid of the contamination," says Dr Cook, a professor of environmental geochemistry and a carbon dating expert. "The measurements were done by three really good radiocarbon labs so I've no doubt what they measured is the correct age."

The only question that does remain in his mind is whether the sample contained repairs rather than original material. If the dating was done on a repaired piece of the cloth, it could explain why carbon dating put it at the 14th century, the BBC news says.

(To read the full story, go to http://news.bbc.co.uk)

Obituary: Renowned Professor, Anthony Flew Dies

The renowned rationalist philosopher, Professor Anthony Flew died on April 8 aged 87. Flew had spent much of his life emphatically denying the existence of God until 6 years ago when he radically changed his views.

Professor Flew had always called himself a "negative atheist", arguing that "theological propositions can neither be verified nor falsified by experience", a position he explained in his renowned work Theology and Falsification (1950). Flew asserted that any philosophical debate about the Divine should have atheism as its starting point, placing the burden of proof firmly on believers.

"We reject all transcendent supernatural systems, not because we've examined or could have examined each in turn, but because it does not seem to us that there is any good evidence in reason to postulate anything behind or beyond this natural universe," he explained. A central aspect of his thinking was the Socratean concept of "follow the evidence, wherever it leads".

It came as a massive shock to his fellow atheists, when in 2004; Flew revealed that he now believed in the possibility of a God after all. What was even worse is that Flew appeared to have abandoned Plato for Aristotle, since it was two of Aquinas's renowned five proofs for the existence of God – the arguments from design and for a prime mover – that had apparently been the final straw in his move to belief in a Creator.

In defending his new position, Flew argued that research into DNA had "shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce life, that intelligence must have been involved". Whereas, he still accepted Darwinian evolution, it still could not explain the beginnings of life in his opinion.

"I have been persuaded that it is simply out of the question that the first living matter evolved out of dead matter and then developed into an extraordinarily complicated creature," he said.

Flew felt strongly enough about his new convictions to make a video of his conversion entitled 'Has Science Discovered God?' and seemed to want to redeem himself for past mistakes: "As people have certainly been influenced by me, I want to try and correct the enormous damage I may have done," he said.

However, Christians and other believers were soon to be disappointed as they realized that Flew’s change of belief did not embrace notions such as the afterlife, or even good or evil. Flew’s theology was firmly minimalist and very different from what he termed "the monstrous oriental despots of the religions of Christianity and Islam."

Flew remained to his death a committed ‘Deist’ and so did not believe the Creator was intimately involved with creation at all. God may have called his creation into existence, then, but why did he bother? To that question, it seemed, Flew had no theories, the Telegraph says.

(To read the full story, go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries).

Ritual Child Sacrifices in Uganda

Recently, the body of 8 year old Caroline Aya was found a short walk away from her house in Jinja, Uganda – her tongue cut out. Police believe that she was used as a sacrifice in a ritual killing, believed to bring wealth or health.

Caroline’s father, Balluonzima Chris, said that: "If it is a sickness you try to treat it, and if they die that is one thing, but when you slaughter a person like a goat, that is not easy."

Of late Uganda has seen a drastic rise in human sacrifices where body parts, most often facial features or genitals are cut off and used ceremonially. Children make up over half the statistics of people killed in ritual murders, and the situation is becoming so dire that the U.S. recently donated $500,000 to train 2,000 Ugandan police in investigating offences related to human trafficking, which includes ritual killings.

Ugandan police have since established an Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce. Other countries such as India, Indonesia, South Africa, Gabon and Tanzania also struggle with humans being used in ritual killings as sacrifices. However, the drastic rise in Uganda of late seems to come from a desire for riches and the belief that drugs made from human organs can bring wealth. Some experts believe that this situation is being fueled by the popularity of violent Nigerian films which share common story lines: someone gaining riches after sacrificing a human.

However, the rise in human sacrifices in Uganda appears to come from a desire for wealth and a belief that drugs made from human organs can bring riches, according to task force head Moses Binoga. They may be fueled by a spate of violent Nigerian films that are growing in popularity, and showcase a common story line: A family reaping riches after sacrificing a human.

The situation is compounded by the fact that of around 30 people charged with ritual killing last year, not one has yet been convicted. The last conviction was in 200, says the Associated Press.

(Read the full story at http://www.google.com/hostednews)

Recent Religious Conflict in Malaysia Results in the Formation of an Interfaith Panel

A Malaysian government official said on Wednesday that an interfaith panel had been created to advise the government on trouble-some religious issues.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism was established in response to recent tensions between the Muslim majority and minority faiths. The role of this group would be to help Malaysian leaders better understand these issues and make more informed decisions.

In December around 12 churches were attacked or firebombed after a judge ruled in favour of non-Muslims using the word Allah for God. For centuries now Arabic speaking non-Muslims have traditionally employed the phrase Allah in reference to God.

Although the government had banned non-Muslims from using the word Allah for God, the judge had ruled this ban as unconstitutional which fueled considerable tension between adherents of various religions. Retaliation attacks were made on several mosques and Muslim prayer halls.

The Malaysian government had banned the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims but the judge ruled that the ban was unconstitutional. The ruling sparked considerable tension between the Muslim and Christian communities in Malaysia.

60.4 percent of Malaysia is Muslim with Buddhists at 19.2 percent and Christians at 9.1. The recent religious discordance surprised many because the different faith groups had co-existed peacefully for generations.

(Read the full story at http://christianpost.com)

Christian Scientists Excited by the ‘Genesis Machine’

On Tuesday of this week, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) directed two proton beams into each other to bring scientists one step closer to seeing how the universe may have looked like after its creation. This experiment is part of CERN’s search for the Higgs Boson, a theoretical particle also known as the God particle that scientists believe might give mass to other particles and thus to other objects and creatures.

Guido Tonelli, spokesperson for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment said that “We’ll address soon some of the major puzzles of modern physics like the origin of mass, the grand unification of forces and the presence of abundant dark matter in the universe, I expect very exciting times in front of us.”

Christian scientists were largely very excited by how this week’s milestone experiment by the informally nicknamed ‘Genesis Machine’ might lead to noteworthy insights into the creative work of God.

“This experiment is one of the most significant of this third millennium,” stated Dr. Karl W. Giberson of the BioLogos Foundation. Giberson believes that the experiment was an amazing event because it might well lay the foundation for further investigations that could answer some of our deepest questions regarding the universe around us.

Giberson added that “What is most exciting in this experiment is that it lets us push back a bit closer to that mysterious moment almost 14 billion years ago, when our universe emerged in the Big Bang. What the LHC might demonstrate is a piece of the grand puzzle: where does mass come from? If Christians can embrace the Big Bang theory, instead of inventing odd and implausible reasons to reject it, they will be drawn into a most wonderful world of grandeur that will greatly enlarge their concept of God."

Giberson, who is also a professor at a College in the States, is a theistic evolutionist – in other words he believes that classical religious teachings about God can be harmonised with modern scientific understandings.

BioLogos, was founded in 2007 by renowned geneticist (and committed Christian) Francis Collins, and the organization seeks to emphasise the compatibility of Christian faith with scientific discoveries about the origins of the universe and life.

Over the next 2 years, CERN plans to run further experiments with the aim of assembling enough data to make significant advances in some of these key issues. A vital part of their work will be the systematic search for the Higgs boson with the anticipation of learning far more about the nature and interaction of matter in the early Universe. CERN believes that these experiments might give them insight into the composition of around a quarter of the universe, said the Christian Post.

(Read the full story at http://christianpost.com)

Obama Speaks of Christ’s Sacrifice at Easter Prayer Breakfast

On Tuesday Obama personally testified how much the sacrifice of Christ inspired him.

"We are thankful for the sacrifice he gave for the sins of humanity, and we glory in the promise of redemption in the resurrection," the President stated at the traditional Easter prayer breakfast hosted by the White House.

"Such a promise is one of life's great blessings," Obama continued. "As I am continually learning, we are, each of us, imperfect. Each of us errs, by accident or designs. Each of us falls short of how we ought to live. Selfishness and pride are vices that afflict us all."

Obama's words gave rare insight into how he viewed his own faith. He shared how he was particularly struck by Christ’s final words on the cross: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

"These words were spoken by our Lord and savior," Obama said, "but they can just as truly be spoken by every one of us here today. Their meaning can just as truly be lived out by all of God's children. So on this day, let us commit our spirit to the pursuit of a life that is true."

Around 90 prominent Christian leaders were invited to the event, including Bill Hybels of Willow Creek. In the past President Obama has also hosted events to honour both the Muslim and Jewish faiths, said the Christian Post.

(Read the full story at http://christianpost.com).

'Footnote' Tells the Painful Stories behind the Porn Industry

Pornography is one of the biggest media industries worldwide. As the accompanying graphic reminds us, every second 28, 258 internet users are watching porn. Porn is also exceptionally popular in the mobile media industry.

Sadly, Christianity and porn all too often share the exact same headlines. Either because the church is denouncing the latest sex scandal or because some high profile Christian has been caught in some unsavoury incident related to porn. The media delights in jumping all over the perceived judgementalism or the hypocrisy of these kinds of scenarios.

This type of focus on porn means that too often the church loses sight of the real people involved in the industry. We forget their stories, their lives – the reasons why they find themselves involved in such an intrinsically denigrating industry. No little girl dreams of being a porn star growing up – so how exactly do so many young woman (and men) end up posing nude before a camera?

These are issues that the church should not lose sight of and they are exactly the kind of issues that ‘Footnote’ – a Christian TV show that tries to capture the funny, the sad and raw stories of real people - is concerned with dealing with.
Donny Pauling, an ex-porn producer, recalls seeing young women get started in the porn industry. They would be paid $500 a day just for having some photos taken of them, which sounded better than a $200 paycheck every two weeks at Starbucks.

But the women would be led into "harder stuff" once they got used to the pay. And Pauling would eventually see "the lights go out in their eyes" and their lives fold.
"The industry breaks them," Pauling says in the first episode of "Footnote," "They're just people who have bought into a lie and it's so easy to get caught up in."

One porn star, who calls herself Kyanna Lee, states, "Pornography is my boyfriend. It actually hurts but we have to make it look good because we have to sell the product."

"Footnote" is a project launched by Back to the Bible which is producing episodes in conjunction with Brad Knull and Cooke Pictures. Producers hesitate to call "Footnote" a "ministry" because of some of the stigmas associated with the word and because of their desire to reach audiences that would never get involved with a ministry.

The show is also targeted to people like them who grew up in the church but went through and continue to go through times of "disillusionment and cynicism towards the usual idea of what a 'Christian' should be." They say their aim was to produce something that they themselves would want to see on TV and something that actually starts conversations, says the Christian Post.

(To read the full article please go to www.christianpost.com)

Scientists Discover Link between the Plagues and Natural Causes

The Hebrew Testament tells the story of Ancient Egypt being torn apart by a succession of plagues. Scientists now claim that there is evidence linking these plagues to global warming of the period and a local volcanic eruption.

Rather than explaining these plagues as the result of supernatural intervention, scientists explain that a chain of natural phenomena triggered by climate change and environmental disaster explain the fall of the Egyptian capital of Pi-Rameses on the Nile Delta, near the end of the reign of Pharaoh Rameses the Second.

A paleoclimatologist, Professor Augusto Magini, said: "Pharaoh Rameses II reigned during a very favourable climatic period. There was plenty of rain and his country flourished. However, this wet period only lasted a few decades. After Rameses' reign, the climate curve goes sharply downwards. There is a dry period which would certainly have had serious consequences."

The scientists believe this drastic climate change triggered the first of the plagues. Rising temperatures could have caused Burgundy Blood algae or Oscillatoria rubescens, which stains water red. The arrival of these algae could also result in an overpopulation of frogs, lice and flies. This overpopulation, could well have led to the fifth and sixth plagues – diseased livestock and boils.

Meanwhile, 400 miles away volcano Thera erupted spewing tons of ash into the air which scientists believe could be responsible for the hail (by mixing large quantities of ash with thunderstorms above Egypt). This event could also have caused higher precipitation and humidity forming ideal conditions for locusts. Furthermore, this event could easily have been the cause of the widespread darkness related by Scripture. Scientists recently found physical evidence that the ash fallout from this volcano reached Egypt.

In responding to these findings, Dr Robert Miller, associate professor of the Old Testament, from the Catholic University of America, stated: "I'm reluctant to come up with natural causes for all of the plagues. The problem with the naturalistic explanations, is that they lose the whole point. And the whole point was that you didn't come out of Egypt by natural causes, you came out by the hand of God."

(For the full article please read www.telegraph.co.uk)

Many Catholics Find Loyalty Tested by Cover-up Crisis

As Catholics fill their churches during this Holy Week, many are experiencing profound difficulties with how the church is being led through the latest crises amidst new revelations of clerical abuse and also implications that Pope Benedict may have been involved in cover ups.

There is a growing chorus amidst the faithful, and not just the secular press, that the Catholic church should embrace full transparency and take a much stronger stand against pedophile priests. Many are also fervently arguing that the church should reconsider the whole issue of priestly celibacy.

Experts believe that the Catholic church is facing one of its biggest crises throughout its long history. Paul Collins, an Australian church historian and former priest said that while the controversy was not addressed by his local priest, the congregation discussed the issue after the service.

"People are outraged really, they're furious with the complete failure of the church's leadership, and their view would be that we are led by incompetent people," Mr. Collins said. That view has been repeated by many Catholics interviewed around the world, the Washington Times said.

(For the full article please read www.washingtontimes.com).

From Prison to Tourist Site – What will happen to the world’s oldest church?

Four years ago the world’s oldest Christian place of worship was discovered during the course of routine renovations in Megiddo prison. Some of the prisoners were allowed to participate in an extensive archaeological dig, and now plans are being put together to relocate the prison all together so as to allow the church to be opened to tourists.

Megiddo prison is normally surrounded by tough looking prison guards on horseback and with guard dogs which ensure that even tougher looking prisoners stay put. Normally Megiddo prison is a place that ordinary folk stay well away from but if these plans come to fruition then the prison could become a tourist attraction that could draw people from all over the world.

During the dig a stunningly beautiful mosaic floor inscribed with references to Christ was found, along with a building foundation dated from the 3rd or 4th century C.E. Scholars believe that a Roman army was encamped there at this time and this was the base of communal Christian activity. Remains of an altar were also found at the site.

The head of the regional council, Hanan Erez, said that: “the discovery of the finds created great excitement in the Christian world and among researchers of early Christianity. The discovery was even a main topic of a conference of researchers in Washington three years ago.”

Plans to build a tourist site are awaiting local government approval, Haaretz.com says.

(For the full article please read www.haaretz.com, image is of the mosaic floor found in Meggido prison).