OUR COLUMNISTS (Click on photos for archives) A Youth Exodus From Church -- What Are We Doing Wrong? Commentary by Matt Friedeman I wonder if we don't significantly cheat our kids when we suggest that vital discipleship can exist without a life of evangelism and compassionate service. Elvis Has Left the Building Commentary by Joe Murray While rock and roll may have been Elvis' namesake, gospel music is what flowed through his blood. "Jailhouse Rock" or "All Shook Up" may have gotten him a platinum record, but it was "He Touched Me," a gospel song, that won Elvis his only Grammy. Hey, Everybody, Let's Give Up! Commentary by Jane Jimenez If Mr. Boss Man had his way, the Kansas City Royals would be sent home for rest and relaxation for the rest of the season. After all, odds are they won't be winning the World Series. Thank goodness for sports fans that Mr. Boss Man isn't in charge. By Example Commentary by Brad Locke I can't count how many stories I've written about "quiet leaders," those guys who "lead by example," as the coaches always say. There are plenty of vocal leaders, but their words are only as effective as their example. 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.

...West Virginia's Harrison County School Board is considering what to do now that a contested portrait of Jesus Christ has been stolen from Bridgeport High School. A burglar struck just two days after the school board voted to use funds raised by private donors to fight a legal challenge to the picture, which hung in the school's hallway for 37 years. Schools Superintendent Carl Friebel says the theft could render the lawsuit moot, since the contested picture is now gone. But he says the school board will consider whether to remount the portrait if it is recovered, or replace it with another picture of Jesus that might be donated. [AP]

...Focus on the Family has launched a campaign aimed at getting out the Christian vote in this November's elections. The ministry's senior vice-president, Tom Minnery, says voter registration drives and political rallies will be held in state with close Senate races -- and he says there is a key reason for that. "In states where there are Senate elections, people ought to realize that the future of the federal judiciary is at stake," he explains. "We have seen two relatively conservative Supreme Court nominees be confirmed because we have a more conservative Senate than before." As expected, Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State does not like FOTF's campaign, and he is warning churches not to participate, saying the effort is aimed at helping only Republican candidates get elected. Minnery dismisses that charge. "We are very carefully non-partisan," he says. "We don't tell people how to vote. We just lay out issues that they may want to consider, and we ask people to vote their values." Minnery insists that the ministry's events will be issue-oriented, non-partisan, and fully legal. [AP]

...Canada's conservative prime minister, who is said to be a born-again Christian, is defending his decision not to attend this week's International AIDS Conference in Toronto. Stephen Harper is also under fire for refusing to announce any new federal funds for AIDS research. Harper is proving to be one of the few leaders in the world who is not bowing to the pressures of political correctness when it comes to the AIDS issue. Besides his no-show at the Toronto conference, Harper has made it known that he will not announce any new funding for AIDS research this week, saying the issue has become too politicized. A number of his cabinet ministers have also cancelled press conferences at the event. Harper's stand is in sharp contrast to what former U.S. President Bill Clinton had to say to the more than 20,000 delegates earlier this week. In his hour-long address, Clinton rebuked such things as abstinence-only sex-education programs, apparently blaming them for the spread of AIDS. Clinton also repeated his endorsement of government-funded needle exchange programs which see taxpayers provide needles for drug addicts. [Fred Jackson]

...Homosexual activists have pooled their money to launch a quarter-of-a-million-dollar ad blitz to promote same-sex "marriage." But one pro-family advocate says the effort won't work. Culture and Family Institute director Bob Knight says the $250,000 ad campaign was predictable. "Homosexual activists are sitting back there watching court after court uphold marriage, watching state after state -- 20 in a row -- vote for marriage amendments," he notes. "And they're thinking, 'We don't have the numbers to counter this because we're a tiny portion of the population. So let's use what we do have, which is a lot of money.'" Knight says the ad blitz will not work because respectability is not something that can be bought -- and the vast majority of Americans have already spoken on the issue, saying they want traditional marriage preserved. [Bill Fancher]

...Pro-family activist Peter LaBarbera, formerly of the Illinois Family Institute, is changing hats -- but says he's staying in the fight. LaBarbera has decided it is time to make a change. "I am leaving Illinois Family Institute, which is a wonderful organization that does tremendous work," he shares. "But I'm going back to re-launch a group that I've had for a long time called Americans for Truth, and I'm going to be able to devote [myself] full time to it." Americans for Truth, he says, needs his full attention in the battle against the homosexual agenda. "[The group] is solely devoted to fighting the homosexual agenda -- it's all we do, and our goal is to be a resource for Americans ... who know that homosexuality is wrong, but they don't really know how to oppose it -- and we're going to help them." LaBarbera contends that people who are growing more frustrated with the forceful homosexual agenda need a strong resource group like Americans for Truth. [Bill Fancher]

...An Alabama pro-life advocate says the recent closure of an abortion clinic in Montgomery is further proof that the abortion industry has no concerns for the health and safety of women. The Alabama Department of Public Health has suspended the operating license for Reproductive Health Services, an abortion facility in the capital city. The chief reason given was that the clinic did not have a physician with admitting privileges to a local acute care hospital. John Giles, president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, finds that unsurprising. "[T]he abortion industry is profit-driven and not quality healthcare-driven," he says. "[T]hey don't care about these women after hours if they have complications." He offers a plausible scenario. "If a young lady comes for an abortion [and] finds herself in trouble [afterwards], the doctor's already flown out of town, leaving her with no tending physician -- and that's exactly the reason this clinic, among other reasons, had their license suspended." Giles, along with several other pro-life leaders, recently met with state public health officials to discuss abortion clinic regulations, inspections, and enforcement. He claims closure of the abortion mill was a result of that meeting. His group is currently working on a "Human Life Amendment" to the Alabama state constitution. [Rusty Pugh]

...A summer of sacrifice has ended for a tired group of pro-life college students. "Crossroads" is a program for college students who want to do a lot of walking and sharing of the pro-life message. Martha Nolan is the national director for Crossroads. "We had a wonderful summer," she shares. "We had over 45 college students from throughout the country walking with us, and altogether we were able to cover over 9,500 miles through 33 states." The three teams left Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in May and walked all the way to Washington, DC. Nolan says along the way the young people shared their pro-life message with hundreds of thousands of people. She adds the group is hopeful for continued growth and perhaps someday to expand to include international walks. [Bill Fancher]

...A Christian leader of Lebanese descent says the Israelis repeated a past mistake when they agreed to the U.N.-sponsored cease-fire in their struggle against the terrorist group Hezbollah. Tony Nassif is president of California-based Cedars Cultural and Educational Foundation. Nassiv, whose father immigrated from Lebanon, says Israel apparently did not learn from its own history when it agreed to a cease-fire with terrorists. "It's exactly what happened in 1982 with the [Palestinian Liberation Organization]," he explains. "They had them on the ropes, and they worked a deal for the PLO to leave and to strike another day. Right now, they're doing the same thing with Hezbollah. Hezbollah's come out and says, 'We don't plan to disarm.'" Nassif says it is unfortunate, but Israel will eventually have to go back into Lebanon and finish the job. But he says this is not the same country that performed so many brilliant military campaigns in the past. "You don't have the same Israeli government that you did under Sharon and Netanyahu and Menachem Begin." Nassif is convinced that political correctness contributed to what he believes was ineptness in the recent military operation. [Chad Groening]

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