Month: June 2001

‘Mother God’ worshipped at group’s gathering for CBF annual meeting

ATLANTA (BP)–With songs and prayers to “Mother God,” an auxiliary organization of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship opened its annual meeting at the CBF General Assembly Thursday with a clear message — the current controversy is about more than women pastors. The annual Baptist Women in Ministry breakfast was rife with stridently feminist God language, culminating in a litany read by BWIM members about their discomfort at calling God “Father,” “Lord,” and “King.”

Continued Prayer Requested for Christian Schoolmaster (Pakistan)

The Voice of the Martyrs requests that Christians around the world continue to pray for Pervez Masih, a 35-year-old Christian schoolmaster in Pakistan charged on April 1 with blasphemy against Mohammed under Pakistan’s blasphemy law section 295/ C. Since his arrest, he has been tortured and is imprisoned in a 6-ft X 4-ft cell. The daytime temperature in the cell exceeds 50 degrees centigrade. He cannot come out of his room and walk. Once a week, he is taken out to meet his relatives. He sleeps on the hard floor on a mat next to the toilet. In May he told visitors that police have beaten him, as they demand that he convert to Islam.

Arafat Frees Dolphinarium Terrorists

“There is no better example of the cynical attitude of the Palestinian Authority,” and of Arafat himself, to acts of terror than their handling of the Dolphinarium suicide slaughter that claimed 21 young lives. So wrote military correspondent Ze’ev Schiff in Ha’aretz (June 22).

Christian Youth Workers Slain In Colombia

(COMPASS) — In the past two weeks, the civil war in Colombia has claimed the lives of two adult children of evangelical ministers. Church leaders say the deaths may indicate a sinister policy trend among guerrilla groups and paramilitary units to eliminate successful Christian evangelists, especially those attracting youth to Christ.

“New York Moment” No Match for Fight Over Eternal Jerusalem

As American, Israeli and Palestinian leaders converge in New York for the UN’s opening Millennium summit, there are no signs of an imminent breakthrough to the negotiating impasse over Jerusalem, only hardening Arab positions and gloomy forecasts of failed diplomacy.

Land of the Pyramids Hinders Christian Outreach

Inescapably intertwined with Bible history, Egypt and much of her history has had great impact over the years on Judaism, then Christianity. From Joseph being appointed as second-in-command to Pharaoh, to Moses leading the Jews through the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula, to the infant Jesus and His family seeking refuge, the stories are familiar to us. Egypt’s recorded history dates back to 3200 BC. This land that straddles parts of two continents–Africa and Asia–rose to world wide prominence as a series of Pharaohs who ruled the Land of the Nile oversaw incredible feats of engineering that resulted in the … Read more

300,000 Young People Rebel Against Promiscuity

Somehow beauty arrests the emotions. And what is more beautiful than the youth?
Somehow vibrancy sparks the imagination. And what is more vibrant than the youth?

But too many of our youth are robbed of their beauty, their vibrancy. Too early. Too young. Mangled victims of society’s sickness.

Terrorists Target Christians in Ambon

In a new twist to the violence against Christians in eastern Indonesia’s Maluku Islands, Muslim Jihad fighters dressed like Japanese “ninjas” have begun targeting individuals under cover of darkness.

Death of an Israeli Army Officer Jeopardizes Cease-fire

An Israeli army officer was killed by a Palestinian gunman today on the “Tunnel Road” at the southern entrance to Jerusalem, jeopardizing a fragile cease-fire that went into effect yesterday afternoon. Security sources believe the officer was deliberately targeted in a Palestinian hit.

Vietnamese Pastor’s Letter A Plea For Help

The letter below — the cry of a frustrated and persecuted Vietnamese Mennonite pastor named Nguyen Hong Quang — is an appeal for religious freedom in Vietnam and for support from the international Christian community.

Ukrainian Entrepreneur Seeks to Launch “Christianity” Magazine in the Former Soviet Union

KIEV, UKRAINE, (ANS) — Thirty-four-year-old high-tech magazine editor Alex Yefetov was born and raised in Kyiv (Kiev), the capital of Ukraine. His family are computer scientists. With his knowledge of computer, high-tech, business and telecomm magazine publishing, Yefetov is seeking to launch “Christianity,” the first such Christian magazine of its kind in the former Soviet Union.

Religious Liberty Deteriorates During Wahid’s Impeachment Crisis

LONDON (Compass) — Mobs attacked five East Java churches, and six Ambon Christians were hacked to death in May in a sudden escalation of religious violence being played out in Indonesia against a backdrop of increasing political instability.

ACLJ Applauds Supreme Court Decision Protecting Religious Organizations

(Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning a federal appeals court that prevented a New York Christian youth group from using a public school after-hours is “an important victory for the First Amendment and sends a powerful message that religious organizations must receive equal treatment.”

Iraq’s Long-Suffering Christian Community

For many Western Christians, the mention of “Iraq” gives rise to mental images of Saddam Hussein and the Gulf War. Few realize that there are Christians in Iraq and that those Christians have arguably suffered more from the U.N. sanctions imposed after the 1991 war than from government oppression.

China’s House Churches Under Renewed Pressure

Thirty-five house church Christians were arrested in Inner Mongolia and 15 were sent to labor camps after police raided a worship meeting being held on May 26 in Dongsheng, the Associated Press reported on May 30.

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