| Headlines for Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 |
S&P Sounds Alarm on US Debt
Standard & Poor’s issued a stark warning to Washington on Monday, cutting its outlook on US sovereign debt for the first time and throwing more fuel on the raging debate over America’s swollen deficits. The agency kept America’s credit rating at triple A but for the first time since it started rating US debt 70 years ago, cut its outlook from “stable” to “negative”. A negative outlook means there is a one-third chance of a downgrade in the next two years. Doubts about US creditworthiness could threaten the dollar’s use as a global reserve currency amid the rise of rivals such as China that have better growth prospects and fewer fiscal challenges. “This is questioning what was unquestioned... MORE | Stocks Slide as S&P Downgrades US Debt Outlook
Shares fell sharply on Wall Street today after the ratings agency S&P issued a warning to the US government about its soaring budget deficit. In a move that surprised and rattled the financial markets, S&P said it was cutting its long-term outlook on America from stable to negative. The ratings agency said it was taking the step because the US had, in comparison to other nations given the coveted AAA rating, "very large budget deficits and rising government indebtedness and the path to addressing these is not clear to us". The White House said it disagreed with the S&P judgement and insisted that the Obama administration would reach agreement with Congress over a way to reduce the US budget deficit, which has moved from a surplus at the turn of the millennium to a deficit of 11% by 2009. But the ratings agency said the gap between the opponents remained "wide..." MORE |
Trevor Almy: TERMINAL!
"We have discovered some significant abnormalities on the brain." The most frightful statement a doctor can say to a father about his daughter. As many of my readers will know, on Friday December 4th, 2009, my oldest daughter, Karis Elizabeth Almy, was diagnosed with Krabbe Disease, a rare but fatal genetic condition that causes breakdown of the nerves' protective myelin coating and leads to the significant deteoriation of motor skills. A child diagnosed with Infantile Krabbe develops asymptomatically for the first three to four months of life, but then begins to manifest signs of the disease: muscle tone, vomiting, feeding difficulties, irritability, and seizures. The expected lifespan for a child with this particular onset of Krabbe is two years. As you can imagine, Katie and I were devastated and in a state of disbelief when we heard the news. In the moment immediately following Karis' diagnosis, I knew that my belief in the sovereignty of God was going to be tested. It is times like these that we find out if the theology we preach is the theology we practice. MORE |  | | | |
Ala. 'Ten Commandments Judge' Mulls Presidential Run
The pool of Republican candidates possibly running for the GOP nomination in the 2012 presidential race just got a little wider. Form- er Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore launched an exploratory committee Monday, announcing that America is ready to return to its God-given morals and values. Moore, best known for his refusal to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the state’s judicial building, made... MORE | Nigeria Muslims Riot At Election of Christian Prez
Deadly rioting erupted across Nigeria's largely Muslim north on Monday as youths torched churches and homes in anger at President Goodluck Jonathan's election victory. Jonathan, the first president from the oil producing Niger Delta, was declared the winner with around 57 percent of votes. He defeated Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler from the north, who got around 31 percent. MORE | R. LAND: The Unalienable, Universal Right to Religious Freedom
If God is the giver of the fundamental human right to religious liberty, then no merely human power may rightly take it away. Bap- tists refer to this right as “soul competency.” What does “soul competency” mean? Various terms have been used for this concept, such as soul freedom, freedom of conscience and soul competency. Basically it means the God-given freedom and ability of persons to know and respond to God’s will. MORE |
Egypt's Christians Flee amid Islamic Threat
Egypt's Christians are looking for ways to leave the country over concerns radical Muslims are gaining power in wake of President Hosni Mubarak's ouster. | JIM FLETCHER: Krauthammer On Israel's Dilemma
...As a Jerusalem Post report on the interview put it: “But Kraut- hammer said Israel cannot take on the world.” Do you see? Do you see how explosive this reality is? More on that, and how it relates directly to biblical prophecy. | World Markets Sink on China Central Bank Action
World stocks sank Monday, a day after China's central bank undertook yet another anti-inflation move in an attempt to get control of fast-rising consumer prices. | Members OK after Twister Crushes SC Church
Church member Craig Robinson said he began to pray when he heard the twister approach. | Todd Strandberg: Could Israel Become a Major Oil Exporter?
...Since the Jewish state was founded, there have been efforts to get Christians to invest in oil-drilling ventures. So far, no significant amount of oil has been extracted from Israel's soil. | Iraq Accused of 'Religi-cide'
An advocacy group protecting the persecuted church says if no action is taken, there will be no more Christians in Iraq in 3 years. | Vincent Bacote: The Questions Remain on Rob Bell & Hell
The ongoing conversation generated by Rob Bell's Love Wins raises a number of important questions that we should consider. Let's consider two: First, how do we think about our relationship to the history of the church? |
| Israel Prepares for Passover Festival
Monday night marks the beginning of the Passover, which to the Jewish people commemorates the biblical story of the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt after hundreds of years of slavery. | Baby Miraculously Survives Tornado
Family members of a 3-month-old baby say it's a miracle that he survived being stripped from a relative's hands during the recent string of tornados. | Richard Dawkins: Atheist Stranded in a World of Purpose
....if God does not exist, why spend so much time and energy trying to disprove his existence? Take Richard Dawkins, the famous evolutionary biologist and atheist, for example. In a recent interview with Der Spiegel, Dawkins was asked if he ever... | Many 'Christians' Hold Universalist Views, Barna Finds
One in four born-again Christians hold universalist thoughts when it comes to salvation, according to a new Barna analysis of trend data. (See our disclaimer below) | Global Monetary Masters Surround Israel
We have watched over the past months while Israel’s Islamist neighbors have ignited in revolutionary fervor. They surround that tiny country, their dictatorial governments in chaos. | Making the Case Again for 1st Amendment
A professor in North Carolina is thrilled that he will once again have an opportunity to make his case that he was denied a promotion because of his conservative Christian views. | CHRISTIAN POST OP-ED: Does Street Evangelism Really Work?
...After a solid week of almost constant rejections, the group consoled themselves that they had planted spiritual seeds... |
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| Headlines for Monday, April 18th, 2011 |
W. ROBERT GODFREY: The End of the World According to Harold Camping (Part I)
If you were to drive the freeways of southern California, you would see from time to time billboards proclaiming the Judgment Day on May 21, 2011 and declaring that the Bible guarantees it. The signs have been placed by Harold Camping and his followers to warn people that the end is at hand. To understand these signs we must know something of the history as well as the theology of Harold Camping. I am in a somewhat distinctive position to write on this subject since I first met Camping in the late 1950s. I learned a great deal from him then, and so I find what follows a very sad story. I pray for him that the Lord will deliver him from the serious errors into which he has fallen. MORE | Police Arrest Pastor of Megachurch in China, Says Rights Group
Police arrested the senior pastor of one of the largest unregistered churches in Beijing on Saturday and have put many congregants under house arrest for trying to hold Sunday service outdoors, said a rights group focused on religious freedom in China. Senior Pastor Jin Tianming, who founded the 1,000-member Shouwang Church in the 1990s, was detained yesterday after his church intended again to attempt to hold worship service outdoors, according to Texas-based China Aid Association. MORE | | | |
 | Israel Unveils Hiking Trail for Christian Pilgrims
Israel hopes to attract Christian tourists with a new pilgrimage route unveiled this week in the Galilee, a network of footpaths, roads and bicycle paths linking sites central to the lives of Jesus and his disciples. Developing sites linked to Jewish history has long been a priority for the Jewish state. But the Gospel Trail, inaugurated Thursday by Israeli tourism officials, is a nod to the growing number of Christians traveling to the country in recent years, outnumber- ing Jewish visitors. More than two-thirds of the 3.45 million tourists in Israel last year were Christian, double the amount of the previous year, and about 40 percent of them defined themselves as religious pilgrims, according to Israel's Tourism Ministry. The 40-mile trail in northern Israel passes sites including Tabgha, the traditional site of Jesus' miracle of the loaves and fishes, and the Mount of Beatitudes, where he delivered his Sermon on the Mount. It ends at Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee... MORE | | | |
Missionaries Grapple With Leaving Japan
Wolfgang Langhans, a Tokyo-based field director for missionaries, calls the week since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan "the busiest and most stressful week of my life." But when those twin crises created a third — the threat of dangerous radiation leaks from a damaged nuclear plant - the balancing act between living out a missionary calling and keeping safe became difficult. MORE |  | Chick-fil-A CEO: Jesus Teachings Helped Increase Sales
Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy wasn’t shy about his faith Friday when he attributed the huge increase in sales at the fast food chain to the wisdom found in the teachings of Jesus. Pointing to Matthew 5, 6, and 7, Cathy half- jokingly told the crowd of over 600 people that the Sermon on the Mount is a sermon on how to operate a Chick-fil-A restaurant and how to deal with customers. MORE | | | | |  | Did Faith Drive Musicians Playing On the Deck of Sinking Titanic?
...April 15 always marked a tragedy: the sinking of the RMS Titanic. This year marks the 99th anniversary of the famous shipwreck that claimed almost 1,500 lives, and as the centennial draws nearer, interest in the event is ramping up...The two most popular beliefs surrounding the Titanic band are that they played until the ship went down, & their last song was “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” MORE | North Korea Detains U.S. Citizen for Spreading Christianity
North Korea confirmed Thursday that it is preparing to indict an American who is accused of proselytizing. Jun Young-Su has been held since November, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said. The report did not state what crime he was accu- sed of committing, but South Korean media have reported that an American was detained for spreading Christianity. MORE |
Two Palestinians Confess to Murdering Fogel Family
Two Palestinian teenagers confessed to murdering five members of the Fogel family on March 11, Army Radio reported on Sunday. | BBC to Broadcast Man Taking His Life
The BBC is planning to broadcast footage of a man taking his own life in a new documentary on assisted suicide. | New Gaga Song Shocks Religious Leaders
Lady Gaga released her second single, Judas, from Born This Wayyesterday and already religious leaders are in a tizzy, reports The Daily Mail. | Humanist Bible Copies Christian Look But Leaves God Out
Atheist-humanist Anthony C. Grayling's The Good Book mimics the Bible right down to language and its use of books, chapters and verses. But its sole message, is to think for yourself and dictate your own good life. | Atheist Ricky Gervais – A Better Christian than Christians?
Are atheists better Christians than Christians are today? Famous comedian and English actor Ricky Gervais likes to think so. | AM THINKER: Do We Really Need to Raise the Debt Ceiling?
...To predict the outcome of not raising the debt "ceiling," let's model an American household, since that is a financial model most of us can comprehend. | Missionaries Reap Rewards from Shared Medical Program
A missionary in South Korea is very thankful for Medi-Share, a not-for-profit ministry in which people pay into and medical bills are shared by participating members. | Obama Moves Forward With Internet ID Plan
he Obama administation is moving ahead with a plan for broad adoption of Internet IDs despite concerns about identity centralization, and hopes to fund pilot projects next year. | PUBLIC DISCOURSE: Politics and the Devil
A healthy democracy depends on people of conviction working hard to advance their ideas in the public square—respectfully and peacefully, but vigorously and without apologies. We cannot simultaneously serve the poor and accept the legal killing of unborn children. |
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| Headlines for Weekend, April 16th-17th, 2011 |
Surging Food, Gas Costs Push Cost of Living Higher for Ninth Month in Row
The cost of living in the U.S. rose in March for a ninth consecutive month, led by increases in food and fuel costs that have yet to filter down to other goods and services. The consumer- price index increased 0.5 percent for a second month, in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Excluding volatile food and energy, the so-called core gauge rose 0.1 percent, less than forecast and restrained by lower clothing expenses and smaller gains... MORE |
ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG: 20 Signs That A Horrific Global Food Crisis Is Coming
In case you haven't noticed, the world is on the verge of a horrific global food crisis. At some point, this crisis will affect you and your family. It may not be today, and it may not be tomorrow, but it is going to happen. Crazy weather and horrifying natural disasters have played havoc with agricultural production in many areas... MORE | U.S.Bank Unveils Microchipped Credit Cards
Wells Fargo & Co., the U.S. bank with the most branches, is testing microchip-embedded credit cards with frequent travelers to address complaints of customers who have trouble using their cards abroad. The pilot program announced today marks the first effort by a major U.S. bank to deploy Visa Inc. (V) credit cards with so-called EMV- chip technology, which has become a standard in Europe... MORE |
MOHLER: TIME Magazine Asks, Just In Time For Easter, 'What If There's No Hell?'
The edition of TIME magazine timed for Easter Week features a cover story on the contro- versy over Rob Bell and his new book, Love Wins. Interestingly, the essay is written by none other than Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former editor of Newsweek –TIME’s historic competitor. Meacham, who studied theology as an undergraduate at the University of the South, helpfully places Rob Bell in the larger context of modern theology, even as he offers a basically sympathetic analysis... MORE | | |
Free Condoms for 11-Year-Olds? Philadelphia and Its Sex Problem
Philadelphia has a disturbing problem on its hands – it has the highest rate of sexually active teens in the country and the fifth high- est HIV/AIDS rate for the age group. MORE | COURT ON NAT'L DAY OF PRAYER: IT'S A GO!
A federal appeals court has ruled that the National Day of Prayer is legitimate, ordering that a lawsuit claiming the event is unconsti- tutional be dismissed. MORE | Has Hollywood Increased Religiosity In Its Movies?
...Hymnody, gospel music, and scriptural quotations showed up in more than one film. The Coen brothers’ critically and popularly acclaimed remake True Grit opens... MORE |
CP Op-Ed: The Faith Factor and The Signing of Jackie Robinson
...April 15 marks the day in 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball. The executive who signed the talented athlete was Branch Rickey, President of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yesterday, CNN reported that Branch Rickey’s faith was a strong motivation for his decision to sign Robinson. MORE |
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Be advised that some of the viewpoints espoused on this page may not be held by the editor. News For Christians is a news digest, pulling links from all over the web. The articles found here represent a window into what is being written about religion and Christianity, not necessarily the editor's personal views. Please read with these points in mind. |
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