OUR COLUMNISTS Christian Rockers -- Here's a Song About Education You Ought to Sing Commentary by Matt Friedeman How about this for a contemporary Christian rock song: "Give public schools what they need. In the name of heaven, choice!" Add a screaming lead with a solid bass line, and you'll have a winner. To Know Love When We See Love (Part 1) Commentary by Jane Jimenez Love American Style is still a television favorite. And the search for love drives nearly every television talk show from Phil to Montel to Oprah. With so many people looking for love, why is it so hard to find? Generous to a Fault Commentary by Brad Locke United Way TV spots show NFL players interacting with children; NBA players are shown reading to a class; baseball players are shown giving kids batting tips. But why is it necessary others know the giver's identity? What does that add to the gift? The Church Joins the World -- and Almost No One Notices Commentary by David Sisler In the spirit of the season, churches all over our nation will have a very spiritual experience by being closed in celebration of the birthday of our Savior. No matter how you phrase it, no matter how you spin it, that is a prime example of evangelical Christianity having lost its way. The Book of Daniel: A Form of Godliness, But Denying the Power Commentary by Mark Creech Wrapped in the garb of professed good intentions, NBC's The Book of Daniel is really a slight on genuine faith in Christ. It highlights and emphasizes "a form of godliness," but denies the power of the Gospel to transform a life.

...A Texas school board has voted to spend nearly $60,000 to offer high school juniors and seniors an elective course on the Bible. The class approved by the New Braunfels Independent School District will use The Bible and its Influence, a textbook that examines the Bible's impact on art, literature and popular culture. The text and curriculum published by the Bible Literacy Project has won the endorsement of a number of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and secular groups. School trustee Jorge Maldonado told citizens at Monday's board meeting that the course is not meant to teach religion, but rather to teach about religion "in a way that is purely academic and not devotional." [AP]

...Three more NBC affiliates have dropped the controversial television show The Book of Daniel, bringing the number of stations opting not to air the program to 11 so far. Touted by NBC as a serious family drama that explores the lives of Christian characters and their faith, the show centers on a drug-addicted Episcopal priest (who routinely sees and talks to a bearded, white robed, and often unorthodox "Jesus") and this troubled minister's likewise troubled family. The recurring characters include the priest's homosexual Republican son and alcohol-dependent wife, a daughter who sells drugs, an adopted son who is having a sexual affair with a bishop's daughter, and other characters exhibiting various dysfunctions and depravities. Some network affiliates across the U.S., many of them having been bombarded by e-mailed and phoned-in protests, are steering clear of The Book of Daniel. Two Arkansas stations, KNWA in Fayetteville and KFTA in Fort Smith, as well as WTVE in West Monroe, Louisiana, have joined stations in Nashville, Tennessee; Meridian and Tupelo, Mississippi; Terre Haute, Indiana; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Amarillo, Beaumont, and Tyler, Texas, in canceling their broadcasts of the controversial television drama. NBC has scheduled Daniel to run for eight episodes; however, American Family Association chairman Donald Wildmon says the show is losing between two and three million dollars each time it airs. "With those kinds of losses," he notes, "NBC may decide to cancel the show." [Jenni Parker]

...Lawmakers have held a hearing on whether "sexual orientation" and "gender expression or identity" should be added to the state of Washington's anti-discrimination law. One opponent objected that those are "behavior-based classifications" that don't warrant civil rights protection. Another simply read from the Bible until the committee chairwoman cut her off. Supporters say homosexuals should be covered by the state law that already bans discrimination in housing, employment and insurance based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, marital status and other factors. Rev. Ken Hutcherson, who pastors a Seattle-area church, says he will call for a boycott of Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and other companies supporting the homosexual rights bill. [AP]

...A pro-life spokesman says it is outrageous that American taxpayers are shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars each year to a group that has only recently begun to admit it is a pro-abortion advocacy organization. Jim Sedlak, president of STOPP International, observes that not long ago the abortion provider used to refer to itself as a women's health organization but now has re-described itself as a "sexual advocacy group." He says he is glad to see the nation's leading abortion provider finally being honest about its mission. "They no longer consider themselves the nation's most trusted reproductive health organization; they're an advocacy group. And we, the taxpayer in the United States, last year gave $265 million to this advocacy group -- and that is absolutely ridiculous," he asserts. Sedlak insists Planned Parenthood should not be getting any tax dollars at all. [Bill Fancher]

...A Los Angeles County (California) sheriff's deputy is raising support for law officers facing financial and medical emergencies. Tony Miano, who has served as a deputy sheriff for L.A. County's sheriff's department since 1987, is the founder of Ten-Four Ministries. He started that organization to provide practical and spiritual support to the law enforcement community. And now, Miano has established the "10-33 Fund," a new resource designed to provide law officers with financial assistance in times of need. The officer notes, "We are a very close society in the law enforcement family. We have a tendency to circle our wagons around one another, to take care of our own. Considering that we deal with the worst that society has to offer, when the community at large, particularly the body of Christ, reaches out to the law enforcement family with help and support, it is always greatly appreciated." Miano says the 10-33 Fund through Ten-Four Ministries is "a way for the community at large and for the body of Christ to provide that kind of support to the law enforcement family." The name of the fund derives from the radio code that is used when an officer needs emergency assistance. Miano says the idea for the fund came about earlier this year when the wife of one of the detectives at his station was undergoing chemotherapy. "In order for her to do that, she had to come into town some 40 or 50 miles from home every day," he explains. "So the thought around the station was, well, wouldn't it be great if we could provide them with a hotel room in town. I put that out as a request, and before I knew it, we had enough resources to provide them with six or seven weeks of hotel accommodations a mile from the hospital." [Allie Martin]

...The leader of a financial stewardship ministry says most Christians have a desire to be good money managers but do not always have the training they need to understand God's way when it comes to handling their financial resources. Howard Dayton, co-founder and CEO of Crown Financial Ministries, says the problem is that most churches only offer people financial advice when it comes to tithing and nothing more. In that case, he says, people tend to fall back to the default practice of managing the remainder of their finances pretty much the same way the world does. "Many churches have typically focused on teaching God's people only how to handle ten percent of their income, the area of giving," he explains. "It's a crucial area," he admits, "but frankly, they haven't addressed the other 90 percent." Dayton says some of Crown's studies of more than 1,000 congregations that have received financial training show many of these churches' families paying off more than $20,000 in debt within three years of their instruction. He strongly urges Christian churches that have not done so already to develop a financial training program for their members. [Ed Thomas]

...Dr. Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America (CWA) is commending First Lady Laura Bush for her passionate support of a woman's right to choose abstinence as an effective means of preventing sexually transmitted infections. During a recent trip to Africa, Mrs. Bush has encouraged young women to exercise their right to abstain from sex, especially in light of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is wreaking havoc among the populaces of so many countries across the continent. Crouse, CWA's senior fellow of the Beverly LaHaye Institute, is a former U.S. delegate to the United Nations and is among CWA's representatives at the U.N. She is also the creator of the "Sex Pyramid," a resource for parents to use in talking with their children about sex, and author of a weekly column about sex and society for United Press International. Crouse says Laura Bush should be applauded "for taking a stand for abstinence" and supporting the president's policy on that issue. "She has offered hope and encouragement to many young girls in Africa," the CWA spokeswoman adds. "By taking a bold stand for women's rights," Crouse contends, "Mrs. Bush has helped girls realize that their lives do have value, and that they deserve the utmost respect." [Jenni Parker]

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