Who would you allow in your church directory?

[Christian Post]

Homosexuals have been part of a Baptist church in Texas for decades but a new pictorial directory of membership has divided the church over whether homosexual couples should be pictured together.

Members of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth postponed a vote originally scheduled for this past Sunday that would have determined the layout of the directory – with options including photos of gay couples, photos of gay people individually but not as couples, or photos omitting all individual and family photos, according to The Dallas Morning News.

“We will continue to discuss this issue together as a church family,” Kathy Madeja, chair of the deacons, said in a statement. “We do not want to rush to make a decision, but rather to continue to listen to each other and for God’s leading for our church.”

A decision is expected after deacons make a recommendation on Feb. 24.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Wow, this one is sticky. How many adulterers, overweight people, gossipers, liars, cheaters, pornography readers/watchers, etc… are in church directories? The only directory I worry about being in is Jesus’ directory.

What do you think?

Is this really going to build bridges?

[World Net Daily]

An American evangelist has jumped into the fray over the fate of a British teacher facing calls for death over a teddy bear named “Muhammad.” Bill Keller, host of LivePrayer, has posted a video on YouTube featuring a pink, toy pig named Muhammad after the Muslim prophet.

Bill Keller of LivePrayer has named this toy pig after the Muslim prophet

“Indeed Muhammad was a man of murder,” the pig, voiced by Keller himself, states in the video. “He was a pedophile, having a wife at the age of six. And I came to find out that the Quran really is nothing more than a book of fairy tales.”

Keller, a vocal critic of Islam, made the video in response to the case of Gillian Gibbons, who was sentenced to 15 days in a Sudan jail after being convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her student to call a teddy bear “Muhammad.”

Gibbons was moved to a secure location in Khartoum last week after street demonstrators called for her death.

Read about it here.

[From me]

I think the whole Gibbons case is sad.  But do two wrongs make a right?  How can we reach out to Muslims if Christians are purposely attempting to offend?

What do you think?

The NCAA is a farce!

Let me say up front I’m a life long Alabama Crimson Tide fan. I have no stake in this year’s NCAA football BCS Championship because the TIDE stunk this year. But this year has been wild with all of the # 1′s and # 2′s losing week after week. THE POLLS AP & Coaches stink!

This week Missouri and West Virginia #’s 1 & 2 went down leaving Ohio State @ #3 and Georgia @ # 4. The logical progression is #’s 3 & 4 would move up to #’s 1 & 2, right? NOOOOOO! The NCAA and the media have their darlings. So LSU who lost to Arkansas just a week ago at home and barely beat lowly Tennessee jumps from # 5 to # 2 over Georgia. Something is fishy!

Could it be because Mark Richt is a fine man of morality (he is an outspoken believer) and doesn’t go tooting his own horn? I am definitely not an Auburn fan but a few years ago they got ripped off when they went undefeated and didn’t get a shot at the National Championship. It is time to take the Championship out of the hands of the RUSSIAN judges and put it on the field.

The NCAA is a farce. They pick and choose which rules they want to enforce. They put Oklahoma and Alabama on probation for something their administrations had nothing to do with. But Southern Cal and Tennessee can pay players and get a slap on the hand. Show some consistency. Georgia is getting robbed! Those student athletes competed by the rules and what does it get them? I’m sick of this. It is time for the NCAA to go.

What do you think?

I wonder who has been giving Pat his words of knowledge?

[Christian Post]

Televangelist Pat Robertson appeared on “Hannity & Colmes” last week to explain his endorsement of presidential contender Rudy Giuliani, saying he believes the former New York mayor is a “true conservative” – a description that has yet to warm up to conservatives and liberals alike.

When Robertson announced earlier this month that he was supporting Giuliani for president, many who had been following the careers of both figures were perplexed at why an anti-abortion evangelical leader would align himself with an outspoken pro-choice candidate.

In the interview on the FOX show last Wednesday, Robertson explained his endorsement of the former New York mayor, providing some reasons similar to those given at the press conference announcement.

“I think this man is a true conservative, and I think he’s going to lead this country as a conservative,” Robertson later added.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Huh? What has Pat been smoking? Giuliani may very well be the lesser of two evils, but there is no way he is a conservative in the Ronald Reagan mold. He isn’t even in either Bush mold. Isn’t Pat the same one who jumped all over President Clinton for his indiscretions? Where is the consistency?

Pat, I just received a word of knowledge–RETIRE!

What do you think?

did China really ban Bibles?

[From the Guardian]

Beijing denied a story about an Olympic Bible ban spread by the rightwing media but it was actually a Catholic news service that shut it down.The story had everything going for it. It was outrageous. It was emotionally laden. It involved suppression of religion by godless communists. The flurry of attention in the comments section of rightwing political and religious websites was instantaneous. The problem was that it wasn’t true.

A recent editorial in the conservative New York Sun kicked off the fuss by citing a report from the Catholic News Service asserting that the Chinese government would bar athletes from bringing Bibles to the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games. Pajamas Media, home of many a rightwing blog, followed up with a report, also citing CNS, and adding the strange cavil “if true”.

The facts, by the way, are that Bibles circulate freely in China, despite the Chinese government’s bad record on religion and human rights. An official Chinese government statement said that it would prefer that athletes bring Bibles for personal use only, but stopped well short of a ban.

In fact, Olympic organizers in China said there would be no restrictions on Bibles in the Olympic village. Later, the reporter for the Italian newspaper unconvincingly defended his story by asserting that a ban on “pamphlets and materials used for any religious or political activity or display” meant Bibles, even after the Chinese issued a clarification changing the banned category to “promotional materials”.

Read about it here.

[From me]

There are enough human rights violations in China than to make up accusations that aren’t true. This ought to be a lesson to all of us to check out our stories before we say something to friends or gossip about it to someone else.

What do you think?

Using the Bible as a scapegoat?

[From Knoxville News Sentinal]

A Maryville couple who profess to be “bondservants” of God were bound over to a Blount County grand jury Friday on charges they operated a plant nursery without proper state certification.

During their preliminary hearing both Wendy Gail and William Albert Roseburgh said they are prevented by their religious beliefs from signing any type of agreement with anyone or any organization, and they faced the court without the aid of an attorney, quoting the Bible as saying God will give them the proper words to speak.

The Roseburghs also raised concerns of faith about the number of a Tennessee Department of Agriculture certificate formerly held by William Roseburgh that was carried over onto the paperwork related to Wendy Roseburgh’s uncertified nursery. The number is “996,” which Wendy Roseburgh says she equates with “666,” the “number of the beast” that is related in Revelation 13:18.

Read about it here.

[From me]

First, 996 isn’t 666. My initiation number in my fraternity was 669. I didn’t protest it. It is easy to use the Bible to make cases for things we don’t want to do. I don’t know these people but man they are doing more harm to the cause of Christ by refusing abide by a law that protects all citizens.

What do you think?

Lowe’s says ‘family trees’ a mistake

[From AZ Central.com]

In big bold print, above a picture of the Lowe’s Christmas tree collection, are the unfamiliar words ‘family trees.’ Lowe’s is causing a stir, by taking the “Christmas” out of “Christmas trees,” and calling them “family trees” in their catalog.

Read about it here, here and here.

[From me]

Mistake?  Give me a break.  Corporations have too much money at stake to make that kind of “mistake.”  It is a Christmas tree. Retailers start Christmas after Labor Day and rake in billions of dollars. First they change it to “Happy Holidays” and Holiday Season. Now it is a Family Tree. What’s next are Christians going to be called “Familians?” This is more political correctness that is incorrect.

What do you think?