Churches and faith organizations unite to pray for an end to poverty

Thousands of people will join with one voice in praying for an end to poverty as they connect with God’s heart for justice.

From 1 to 7 March, churches and individual Christians worldwide will spend time with God and pray about issues of poverty and justice as part of the One Voice prayer campaign led by Tearfund, 24-7 Prayer and CompassionArt.

The ministries have developed prayer resources for the week, including material giving guidance on prayers for Haiti following the January 12 earthquake that left more than 200,000 people dead and another 1.5 million homeless and in need of aid.
Tearfund Chief Executive Matthew Frost said the response to its Haiti appeal had been incredible.

“All around the UK, churches have been praying for people affected by the earthquake and for the churches on the ground in Haiti who have been responding since day one to the urgent needs of so many people,” he said.

“It has reminded me of the privilege it is to be part of the global church at a time like this – we’re able to reach out to our brothers and sisters and lift them up in prayer as they seek to meet the needs of those around them.”

Churches will hear a message from former Delirious? frontman and CompassionArt founder Martin Smith in a short film guiding them on how they can pray and listen to God as they spend time considering his heart for justice.

Some churches are planning to open their doors 24 hours a day for the duration of the week to allow people to come and pray in creative prayer spaces. Other churches are planning to give time over in their scheduled services to reflecting on the needs of the global community.

“When we pray, we have a heart transplant with Jesus and we can’t help but become the answer to our prayers,” said Andrea Percy of 24-7 Prayer UK.

“We no longer see ‘the poor’: we see ‘people’. We respond as family. The child orphaned by Aids becomes my daughter; the widow, my mother. The man who has just lost his home in Haiti, my brother; the farmer who has no rain for his crops, my father.

“Let’s speak up for those who have no voice, for the rights of all the down-and-outers. In the words of Proverbs 31, speak out for justice and stand up for the poor and destitute.”

“Blasphemous” images of Jesus cause riots in India

Reactions to the "blasphemous" use of an image of Jesus in Indian school textbooks resulted in the damage of two churches and a number of businesses over the weekend in the northern Punjab state.

An image of Christ holding a can of what looks like Schlitz beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other has raised eyebrows across India and sparked unrest last Saturday in the Punjabi city of Batala. According to the Vatican's Fides news agency, the image printed in elementary school textbooks was labeled with the word "idol."

A group of Catholic sisters in the city of Shillong in northeastern India had seen the image in print and asked that the book not be used in schools, which the state government honored. However, according to Fides and other news sources, in other places fundamentalists opted to post copies of the representation in public places, some reaction was peaceful, other was not.

A protest of the image was organized on Feb. 20 involving all the Christian denominations in the area. Unfortunately, the demonstration degenerated to the point of a motorbike being burnt.

Hindu fundamentalist groups leaders reportedly mobilized their leaders, inciting the crowd and prompting them to retaliate. The mob set fire to a church belonging to the Churches of North India. The building was destroyed and its minister and his 15-year-old son were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds.

Four Christian youth and four Hindus were taken into police custody for creating public disorder and have since been released pending further investigation into the matter by the local judiciary.

(Image from AP: Of interest is that the primary school textbook, which teaches cursive handwriting, used the picture of Jesus on the page for the letter 'I' - to represent Idol)

(For the full article please go to http://www.christiantelegraph.com)

Internationally renowned theology professor tragically drowns

The drowned body of Professor Steve de Gruchy, was found in the Mooi River by police divers and dogs on Wednesday. De Gruchy was the head of the school of religion and theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Pietermaritzburg campus.

De Gruchy was tubing with his son, David, 15, on Sunday when he came off his tube as they approached rapids. Teams searched frantically for him for almost three days until his body was eventually recovered about 700m downriver from where he initially disappeared.

Professor de Gruchy was an ordained minister in the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), the Editor of the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa since 2003, as well as serving as Head of Theology in Pietermaritzburg. He was respected throughout international theological circles for his work.

The university website (http://www.ukzn.ac.za) includes the following information in his academic profile:

“Prof de Gruchy has always had a lively academic and practical interest in the interface between the Christian faith and social ethics. During his student years at the University of Cape Town he served on the Student Representative Council, was active in the student anti-apartheid movement, a signatory to the Kairos Document, and was a Conscientious Objector to military service. His work in the under-resourced rural area of Kuruman continued this focus where he helped establish NGOs working in the field of land rights, small business development, early childhood development, and leadership training. His academic work has all drawn from that praxis, and continues to be constantly informed by ongoing engagement with people working at community level, especially his students from throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Most recently he has been engaged in research work on the interface between religion and health in Africa in the context of the HIV and AIDS pandemic, and with a specific focus on Zambia.”

A local Pietermaritzburg minister and fellow lecturer at the University, the Rev. Delme Linscott wrote the following tribute for his blog (included here by his permission):

“I join with many sad family and friends as we mourn the loss of Prof Steve De Gruchy. While tubing with his family on Sunday, tragedy struck and he went missing in the river. His body was found this morning. We are all in shock and send our prayers, love and support to his family.

Last Friday Steve and I briefly chatted while we were both making photocopies at the Varsity. He asked how I was doing and I enquired about his heavy workload. His daughter stood next to him whilst we chatted and I remember thinking, "She loves and admires her dad! How awesome!"
Little did I ever expect the tragedy that has now unfolded.

Although we were not close friends, in a sense, I still feel an overwhelming heaviness and numbness. It should not end like this:(

Pray for the De Gruchy family at this time. The memorial service will be on Saturday.

Rest in Peace, Steve. “

Jerusalem wall matches Biblical account say archeologists

A team of Israeli archaeologists has announced the discovery of a massive wall they say dates to the 10th century BCE in Jerusalem's Ophel Park on the slope between the Temple Mount and the village of Silwan. The dig director, Dr. Eilat Mazar, dates the wall according to potsherds found nearby to the period of King Solomon and the major period of construction in Jerusalem in the First Temple period, as described in the Bible.

The dig is a joint project by the Hebrew University, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

Along with the wall, which is 10 meters high and 70 meters long, other structures were found, including a monumental gatehouse and a tower. According to Mazar, the wall is additional proof of the accuracy of the Bible's description of the grandeur of the period of David and Solomon.

According to 1 Kings 3:1, Solomon brought his royal Egyptian wife "into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about."

"If we take the type of building and the finds and examine them in the light of what we know from the Bible, it certainly goes together well," Mazar says. "It suits the biblical story and upgrades our ability to propose an association to the wall of Jerusalem that King Solomon built. It's not wise to relate to archaeology without the biblical text. It is very possible that the Bible, like stories of dynasties, preserves a kernel of truth," she says.

The artifacts found near the wall are seen as further proof of its construction during the Israelite period. An inscription found on a fragment of a jug reads "of the overseer of the ba...", which Mazar believes refers to the "overseer of the bakers." Other fragments bear the words "of the king." Clay seals were also found bearing dozens of names.

According to Mazar, the wall, which has been uncovered over the past few months, was built on a very high level in terms of construction and engineering, and was perched on the natural rock scarp in a way that protected the Temple Mount from the east.

"This is the first time a structure has been found that could conform to descriptions of King Solomon's construction in Jerusalem," Mazar says.

(For the full story please go to http://www.haaretz.com)

Tongans gather to pray as dangerous cyclone menaces

Tongans went to church and prayed Sunday as Tropical Cyclone Rene barreled toward their islands, threatening to intensify and hit the South Pacific nation directly.
After brushing past American Samoa and Samoa on Saturday without doing much damage, the powerful storm was moving southwest on a track that would take it across central and southern Tonga, Nadi Tropical Cyclone Center forecaster Alipate Waqaicelua said.
The storm was centered about 212 miles northeast of the Tongan archipelago at midafternoon Sunday, he said.

"With this southward movement . . . it's heading directly toward Tonga," Mr. Waqaicelua told the Associated Press. "If the center goes right on [this track], then within 24 to 36 hours it will be very close to Tonga."

The storm will be accompanied by hurricane-force winds, heavy rain and powerful sea surges, he said.

Rene was packing winds of 90 miles an hour with gusts of up to 130 mph and was expected to intensify in the next 12 to 24 hours, Mr. Waqaicelua said.

In the Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa, there was little evidence of preparations for the cyclone. Few buildings were shuttered, but fishing boats were returning to port.
Tonga's meteorological office warned that the cyclone could "increase to very destructive hurricane force."

(For the full story please go to http://washingtontimes.com/news)

Church of England Christians celebrate ‘Evolution Weekend’

Dr. Peter Capon, a former computer science lecturer, introduced the motion arguing that "rejecting much mainstream science does nothing to support those Christians who are scientists ... or strengthen the Christian voice in the scientific area."
He urged Christians to take scientific evidence seriously and avoid prejudging science for theological reasons.

The vote comes as more than 850 congregations throughout the globe are celebrating Evolution Weekend with the aim of demonstrating that evolution poses no problems for their faith.

Religion and science are not adversaries, they say. Rather, the two fields should be seen as complementary, they maintain.

Evolution Weekend, which kicked off Friday, is supported by those of various faith traditions including Christians, Jews, Muslims and Unitarian Universalists.
"Religious leaders around the world are coming together to elevate the quality of the discussion about this important topic. They are demonstrating to their congregations that people can accept all that modern science has learned while retaining their faith," said Michael Zimmerman, founder of Evolution Weekend and professor of Biology at Butler University in Indianapolis.

Since 2004 more than 12,400 Christian clergypersons from various denominations in the United States have signed "The Clergy Letter," expressing their belief "that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist."

In the letter, Christian clergy contend, "Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts.
"We ask that science remain science and that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, forms of truth."

Zimmerman, who is leading "The Clergy Letter Project," says those who promote "narrow religious views" and reject the compatibility of science and faith do not speak for all of the world's religious communities.

"Evolution Weekend shows that the disagreement is actually not between religious leaders and scientists, but rather between those who believe that their particular religious views should be incorporated into the science curriculum and clergy who recognize and respect the diversity of different faith traditions," he noted.
The compatibility, or lack thereof, of evolution and faith remains a hot debate among Christians. Prominent evangelical theologian Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. has said he finds it impossible to reconcile the two. While he does not deny that changes do take place in the animal kingdom and that there is even a process of natural selection, he firmly rejects theistic evolution and the argument that the process is entirely natural and in no case supernatural.

"God was not merely fashioning the creation of what was already pre-existent, nor was He merely working with a process in order to guide it in some generalized way, nor was He waiting to see how it would turn out," Mohler has said.

(For the full story please go to http://www.christianpost.com).

World’s Oldest Pastor Dies at 101

The funeral service of the Rev. Tsuneharu Oshima was held Monday at Mikage Shinai Church in Kobe city, Nagoya, Japan.

During his funeral, held at the Japan Assemblies of God-affiliated church, attendees watched a video of Oshima’s speech in July 2009 during the 150th anniversary of Japan’s Protestant Mission. The audience was deeply touched as he spoke about the past, present and the spirit-filled vision for the future.

Oshima passed away on Saturday at 1:45 p.m. (local time) at a hospital in Kobe. Up until his last few days, Oshima spoke the words, “peace, gratitude, victory, hope.” He passed away in peace.

His memorial service was held on Sunday and attended by some 250 people from throughout Japan.

The pastor’s eldest son, the Rev. Yoshinao Oshima, shared that his father continued to work as a pastor even after he turned 100 years old.
“He gave us hope for heaven, served as a path for Lord Jesus Christ, and became a blessing and hope to many people,” the younger Oshima said, according to Christian Today Japan.

The older Oshima had served as an active pastor for 74 years. He was senior pastor at Kobe Philadelphia Church, part of the Free Christian Missionary Fellowship. His son, meanwhile, is serving as assistant pastor at the same church.

(For the full story please go to http://www.christianpost.com).