OUR COLUMNISTS (Click on photos for archives) Why Your Local Church Didn't Make 'The List' -- and Why That Might Be OK Commentary by Matt Friedeman My church of 200 attenders didn't make the recent list of the 50 most influential churches. But are such rankings a good thing? The Lessons of Henry Jackson High Commentary by Joe Murray When is a song "too religious"? Is it the lyrics ... or the music that makes it so? What if the lyrics are in a language that most people would not understand? What if the lyrics aren't even used? Curing a Disease That 'Wasn't' Commentary by Jane Jimenez The big story about HPV has been the new vaccine introduced by Merck. The bigger story that doesn't make the news is the story about a disease that didn't exist until we had a cure for it. A Message Lost Commentary by Brad Locke We all thought Tony Stewart had turned a corner last year, when he seemed to subdue his fragile temperament and won his second NASCAR Cup championship. Obviously, we were all fooled. North Carolina Judge Lowers Great Moral Standard Commentary by Mark Creech Given an ultimatum, a county employee chose to quit her job instead of marrying her live-in boyfriend or moving out. The ACLU took up the woman's case, a judge ruled in her favor -- and the most egregious effect of the ruling was that it lowered a great moral standard.

...A Texas pro-life advocate says an abortion provider is purposely withholding information that it is required by law to give to the authorities. Planned Parenthood of Waco, Texas, recently held its annual conference, which was called "Nobody's Fool." Pro-life Waco director John Pisciotta describes the conference as a sex promotion event. But while Planned Parenthood is promoting sex to adults and to children, Pisciotta says the abortion mill needs to be under investigation for not reporting criminal activity to the authorities. When a minor girl is taken to Planned Parenthood for an abortion, the Pro-Life Waco spokesman explains, the organization is legally required to report it; but he says that is not always happening. "Planned Parenthood of Waco is not following Texas law with regard to reporting potential statutory rape as required by state law," Pisciotta contends, "and we have evidence showing that the reports relating to that statutory rape law, relating to girls under the age of 17 [are being underreported]. They're only making, on the average, three reports per year." The pro-life advocate says according to Pro-Life Waco's statistics and Planned Parenthood own service reports, the abortion provider should be a making at least two or three hundred reports of child rape every year, based on how many young girls the abortion provider serves. [Rusty Pugh]

...A California radio station has turned its back on the Christian music, sermons and Bible stories it was broadcasting until about a week ago. KFYE-FM in Fresno now it calls itself "Porn Radio" and suggests that people under 21 not listen. Songs with little in common except suggestive titles and lyrics fill the playlist, and tamer songs are heated up by adding recorded moans and groans. The change, made after the station was sold this month, was met with groans of another kind. Local radio personality Ed Beckman tells the Fresno Bee that it is a format that belongs on satellite radio rather than a broadcast station. KFYE's new owner would not say whether he plans to eventually adopt a more traditional format. [AP]

...Offensive programming on Fox's FX channel has compelled the head of T-Mobile to demand some changes in his company's media planning policy. According to an AdAge report, T-Mobile CEO Robert Dotson has instructed the wireless provider's media-planning and -buying agency to pull all T-Mobile ads from the FX shows Rescue Me and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The move came after the American Family Association (AFA) and several of its supporters contacted the CEO about the gratuitous and explicit content on the two shows. After being bombarded with e-mails from concerned pro-family viewers, Dotson wrote to AFA, saying he had "taken the time to view some of the programs where we have run advertising" and concluded that "some of the choices we have made are clearly inconsistent with who we are and what we stand for." In the July 20 letter, the T-Mobile executive made it clear his company "will not support ... content offerings that are sexually gratuitous and explicit, racist, hateful or excessively violent." He said the wireless provider was removing advertising from the offensive shows "effective immediately," and was "pulling all advertising from the FX channel pending further review of their programming." Also, Dotson said he has directed his marketing and advertising leads to "conduct a deeper review of our advertising standards to ensure that our selections are consistent with the qualities of T-Mobile's brand." AFA special projects director Randy Sharp commended Dotson's response, noting that it is "extremely unusual" for a major corporate CEO to actually "take time to listen to concerns and make a personal investment." [Jenni Parker]

...One of the largest Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma will vote this weekend on a proposal that would eliminate immersion baptism as an essential for those who wish to join the church. Members of Henderson Hills Baptist Church of Edmond will vote on a proposal that would remove baptism by immersion as a requirement for church membership. An elder said the church will have no comment until after the vote. But in a column published in the Baptist Messenger, Henderson Hills' Pastor Dennis Newkirk said the church is concerned about those who physically cannot experience immersion due to a disability and for those under the conviction that sprinkling is baptism. But another Baptist clergyman, Pastor Rick Thompson of Council Road Baptist Church in Bethany, says while there is no biblical mandate for baptism as a church membership requirement, baptism is a matter of discipleship. "Jesus in the Great Commission said, 'Go into all the world, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, discipling them,'" Thompson says. "The implication, certainly, was that those who are members of the church are baptized believers." Council Road's pastor says the action by Henderson Hills has led to debate over what is and is not scriptural baptism. "It challenges all of us to get back to scripture and to think through our beliefs and to know what we believe," he says. Thompson adds that he is thankful for the blessings that have come out of the debate but hates that it might cause divisions. [Allie Martin]

...Al-Qaida's second-in-command has issued a worldwide call for Muslims to wage holy war against "crusaders and Zionists" until Islam reigns from "Spain to Iraq." In the message broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, Ayman al-Zawahri also urges the "downtrodden" throughout the world, not just Muslims, to join the battle against what he calls "tyrannical Western civilization and its leader, America." Al-Zawahri calls the fight against Israel in Lebanon and Gaza a holy war "for the sake of God" that will not be ended with "cease-fires or agreements." He adds that al-Qaida now views "all the world as a battlefield" and "will attack everywhere." On the wall behind Al-Zawahri in the video was a picture of the burning World Trade Center. Commenting on that broadcast, Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families says whatever people may think about the war on terror, "it is clear our enemy views it as a religious war ...." And the effort against terrorism, he says, will be "hobbled" until the American government speaks honestly about that fact. Bauer believes many Iraqis and Afghans are grateful to the U.S. for liberating them from oppressive Muslim regimes. "But it is abundantly clear," he adds, "that a significant percentage of Muslims do believe that their faith demands they 'kill the infidel' or die trying." [AP/Jody Brown]

...A Christian ministry founder says the recent discovery of an ancient copy of scripture is remarkable, not only because of the age of the find, but also because of its timing. A Bible believed to be up to a thousand years old was discovered in a bog in Ireland on Tuesday. The book was open to Psalm 83, in which God hears the complaints of nations plotting the destruction of Israel. Dave Hunt, founder of The Berean Call, says the discovery is "remarkable" in light of Israel's current war with Hezbollah and other enemies; he believes God's promises still apply to Israel, although many believers seem to dismiss this idea that scripture addresses contemporary events. "What astonishes me," Hunt says, "is that evangelical Christians will take what the Bible says about the gospel -- you know, things in the New Testament -- but then, when it comes to the Old Testament, what God said about Israel, they will not accept that. There will never be peace in the Middle East until the world accepts what God has said. 'That's my land,' God said in Leviticus 25:23. 'I gave it to these people.'" The Berean Call's founder says scripture calls God the "God of Israel" more than 200 times. The Bible recently discovered found in Ireland is a reminder, Hunt asserts, that God's Word is still relevant to modern events. [Natalie Harris]

...Facing the Giants (PG), an inspirational film made by two Baptist pastors who used their congregation as cast and crew along with other volunteer actors and extras, is turning into a sort of David and Goliath tale of its own. The movie was written by two brothers, Associate Pastors Stephen and Alex Kendrick, and tells the story of how a coach, struggling with his own personal issues, teaches players on a losing high school football team how to win through faith, courage, and character. According to an Associated Press story, members of the Kendricks' congregation -- Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia -- donated funds to make the film and spent about nine months producing it, including three months of filming at local schools and orchards. Now, the congregation's "little" $100,000 film is getting Hollywood treatment from a media giant. The movie is heading to 400 theaters nationwide in September, when it is released by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Destination Films, a branch of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The movie got "discovered" after Sherwood Baptist Church contacted Nashville, Tennessee-based Provident Films, for permission to use some of the company's music. Provident has focused on Christian music distribution in the past but merged with Sony last year, and the company asked to see the movie. Impressed with Facing the Giants, Sony worked with Provident to get the rights. In addition to its role in the theatrical release, Sony will also be handling the movie's DVD distribution. [Jenni Parker]

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