OUR COLUMNISTS A Father's Legacy of Love Guest Commentary by Randall Murphree It was Christmas morning, 1949 -- a Sunday. The three inches of snow outside had me and my siblings hoping we wouldn't have to go to church. But Dad would hear nothing of that -- and his priorities left a lasting impression on me. The Peterson Verdict: Truth Reclaimed Commentary by Jane Jimenez As America shifts its attention from the Scott Peterson trial to the coming trial for the murderer of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, our search for truth will be harder than we care to admit. Knee-Jerk Unions Commentary by Brad Locke The basic concept of unions is good, but there is ample room for abuse -- and unions also tend to cultivate mean-spiritedness and an almost cult-like mentality. Christmas As It Was Originally Celebrated Commentary by David Sisler Christmas used to mean more than great deals on computers and peripherals. The conception of Christmas used to be a teenaged girl, pregnant before marriage, drenched in sweat. She had just pushed her first child into the cold night air of an unheated, smelly barn. What's Really Behind the First Noel? Commentary by Mark Creech Why does the Christmas story hold a place of adoration in the hearts of millions throughout the world? I suggest it is because the evidence in favor of its truth claims far outweighs the declarations of skeptics.

...Leaders of the 1.5-million-member American Baptist Churches say the ongoing controversy over homosexuality threatens to split the denomination. A pastoral statement to "preserve unity," released this month after a meeting of American Baptist leaders, said they have agreed to "voluntarily refrain from" naming sexually active homosexuals to national and regional positions. The church leaders also said they will not participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies, but at the same time will shun "homophobic behavior" and listen to those with "differing viewpoints." Liberal policy on homosexuals in some American Baptist congregations was one reason cited by the Southern Baptist Convention for ending 99 years of affiliation with the Baptist World Alliance. [AP]

...A Canadian pro-family activist says he is encouraged by the sudden grassroots efforts to head of Parliament's desire to extend marriage rights to homosexuals. Brian Rushfeldt, co-founder and president of the Canada Family Action Coalition, says there was a spontaneous reaction from a number of Canadians following the Supreme Court's decision to give Parliament the go-ahead to approve same-sex marriage. But Rushfeldt says most Canadians do not want marriage laws changed. "We have seen polls range from a 50-50 split up to a [poll] just out in the last few days on a simple question: 'Do you want to redefine marriage to include same-sex [individuals]?' -- and 60 percent of Canadians on that poll said no." And Rushfeldt says some government officials are also taking a stand. "A cabinet in the conservative government in Alberta has taken a very strong stand against redefining [marriage] and, in fact, said they will fight the federal government however they can, even though it's limited." Rushfeldt says he is encouraged that many Canadians signed petitions and wrote letters to their members of Parliament voicing their opposition to same-sex marriage. [Chad Groening]

...A North Carolina pastor is encouraging Christians to boycott merchants that take a politically correct approach to Christmas. Recently Patrick Wooden, pastor of The Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, took out a full-page ad in the local newspaper, asking believers to only patronize merchants who use the term "Merry Christmas." Rev. Wooden says it is unfortunate that many merchants have given in to what he calls the "anti-Christian bias" of multi-culturalists. "Jesus Christ was a Jew himself, and what we're simply saying is that the Christian buying public ought to patronize those businesses which include 'Merry Christmas' in their holiday advertising and promotions," he says. "What's being excluded is any mention of Christmas at Christmastime." The pastor notes that Christmas is celebrated by 96 percent of Americans who are not offended by what the holiday represents. And Christians, he points out, are simply celebrating because it is a holiday. "We're celebrating the birth of Christ," he says. "[And] most Christians are not offended when someone says 'Happy Hanukkah'; we're certainly not offended when someone says 'Happy Kwanzaa'; so why should anyone be offended at the greeting 'Merry Christmas'?" My question is, when did 'Merry Christmas' become a term of offense?" Wooden made his comments recently on the Fox News Channel. [Allie Martin]

...A conservative black pastor says black Christians should be outraged by recent attempts from the politically correct crowd to stamp out Christianity from Christmas celebrations, while at the same time accepting a fake holiday created by a convicted felon. Jesse Lee Peterson says there is nothing "African" about Kwanzaa, which has become recognized by corporations and even President Bush as an "African holiday." Peterson, the founder and president of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, says the "so-called holiday" was created in 1966 by Dr. Ron Karenga, the head of a Marxist black power group who was later convicted for the assault and torture of two of his followers. "There is no such thing as Kwanzaa," the BOND president says. "You can look up and down Africa, you're not going to find Kwanzaa." Peterson says black Christians need to say no to Kwanzaa and yes to Christ. "I hear a lot of black folks telling me [they] incorporate Kwanzaa into [their] celebration of Christmas," he shares. "If you are a child of God, if you believe in Jesus, there's no reason to incorporate anything else because Jesus provides all that we need. Jesus Christ is the reason for the season." According to Wikipedia, Karenga was influenced by the Nation of Islam's Malcom X during discussions of black power and social change in the 1960s. [Chad Groening]

...A Missouri school district has removed the Bible from a reading program, citing concern that it might be "an excessive entanglement of church and state." Mary Alice and Chuck Nelson had donated the Bible and related testing materials for use at elementary and middle schools in Neosho as part of an accelerated-reader program, in which students earn points by reading and taking tests on certain books. Superintendent Mark Mitchell said the district was concerned that including the Bible in the program might somehow violate the Constitution, and decided to "err on the side of caution." [AP]

...A conservative writer and history professor says historical documents from America's founding fathers clearly indicate they intended for the country to be a Christian nation. Dr. Thomas E. Woods is the author of the recently published Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. He says revisionists have done a good job of hiding the vision that the nation's founders truly had for America. "It was just absolutely taken for granted that this is, by and large, a Christian people," Woods says. "And as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Joseph Storey said in the early 19th century, it was understood from the beginning that Christianity was to be in effect the religion of the people and would be looked upon benignly -- and even directly and indirectly promoted -- by the federal government." He points out that the Northwest Ordinance, which dealt with territories beyond the Ohio River, actually pledged federal funds for the Christian education of the Indians. In addition, Woods notes that John Jay, the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, actually celebrated the fact that the country was not particularly diverse. Jay, he says, wrote in the Federalist Papers that Divine Providence had bestowed on the nation a people who speak the same language and, by and large, share the same religion -- Christianity. "He thought that was good, because that conduces to social comity," says Woods. [Chad Groening]

...An abortionist with a history of also causing injuries to women has had his medical license permanently revoked in Alabama. A Mississippi pro-life activist wants her state to do the same. The Alabama Board of Medical Licensure has permanently removed the license of Malachy Dehenre, who is being sued for the death of an Alabama woman in November 2003. Dehenre has also performed abortions at the New Woman Clinic on Briarwood Drive in Jackson, Mississippi. Pat Cartrette, president of Pro-Life Mississippi, says Dehenre has had his license temporarily suspended in the Magnolia State, but she wants the state to ban him for good. "Alabama has ended more than five years of danger to women and their unborn children by taking the medical license of this abortionist," she says. "We expect Mississippi to look at the facts and do the same." The Pro-Life Mississippi leader calls her state's decision on Dehenre's license "a tiny piece of sanity in a legally schizophrenic mess" and an affirmation that a woman's safety and health "trumps the right to abortion." The New Woman Clinic in Jackson has been closed since Dehenre's license was suspended in Mississippi. A final determination on the abortionist's license in Mississippi is expected in late January. [Rusty Pugh]

...A media watchdog organization doesn't believe the liberal bias will change at CBS, even though Dan Rather is stepping aside as the anchor of CBS Evening News. The Virginia-based Media Research Center says conservatives are right to be cheerful about the imminent end of Rather's grip on the anchor chair. But MRC spokesman Rich Noyes says it is hard to imagine that any of Rather's protégés would take the liberal bias out of the evening news. Noyes says the top name being floated is Sunday night anchor and White House correspondent John Roberts. "In terms of taking a political approach to reporting the news, [Roberts] seems to be every bit Dan Rather's disciple," Noyes says. "He'd probably keep the show much as it is." But Noyes says CBS has to deal with the upcoming report on the "MemoGate" scandal. "What's in the air now is whether ... they're going to have some way to react to this internal investigation that is coming up through CBS," he says, "and if there's to be some assurance that the climate inside CBS is going to change after Dan Rather leaves. That, Noyes says, may be a much more difficult thing to do than just changing personnel. [Chad Groening]

...A Christian author says it's time for young people to get serious about serving God through a local church. In his new book Stop Dating the Church: Fall in Love With the Family of God, Joshua Harris says too many Christians put in an hour or two a week at a church, then take the rest of the week off, neglecting the Church. Harris says Christians are meant to invest themselves in a local church. "I think we can all fault ourselves for, in a sense, failing to emphasize what is so clear throughout scripture -- that God's plan has always been to save for Himself a people." Harris, the senior pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, says God makes it clear in the New Testament that He wants to use the Church to take the gospel to every generation. "That's how He wants to raise up disciples; that's how He wants to demonstrate what the gospel does in real lives," he says. "He wants real people to be joined together in community in local churches to show how He has transformed them." Faith, the author says, was never meant to be a solo pursuit -- and passion for the Church, he adds, is "not just another item on the Christian 'to do' list." The starting point, he says, is sitting under the teaching of God's Word in a church setting, where one receives care from real people. [Allie Martin]

© 2004 AgapePress all rights reserved.

E-mail this page to a friend

Printer-Friendly Version

Read all of our current headlines