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).