OUR COLUMNISTS Your Name is Mo! The Church's Finest Hour Commentary by Matt Friedeman Saints from Kansas, and Ohio, and Maryland, and Colorado, and ... well, from everywhere it seems ... are descending on the places hurt by Hurricane Katrina with healing hands and words of compassion. Audio-visual Christians, I have heard it described lately. Kiss, Kiss, I Love You Commentary by Jane Jimenez Summer is the time for true love to flourish. What better place to witness this than in the airport? Playing Through the Pain Commentary by Brad Locke I once wrote that it's ludicrous to think something as inconsequential as sports could help people cope with tragedy. I fear I misspoke. Amnesia Commentary by David Sisler What would it be like to wake up and not remember the evil that you had done, the people you had hurt, the sins you had committed? What would you pay for a little selective amnesia? North Carolina Enacts a State Lottery Commentary by Mark Creech The Tarheel State has now entered the gambling business' world of vice and deception. Mark Creech of the North Carolina-based Christian Action League says only a miracle in the courts could possibly change matters.

...The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention may soon be gearing up to provide disaster relief teams to victims of Hurricane Rita. For the past three weeks, SBC Disaster Relief teams have prepared more than four million meals in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. More than 5,000 volunteers from 36 state conventions have served in Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Now NAMB president Dr. Bob Reccord says preparations are being made for the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. "There are 22 feeding units that are being mobilized to head to Texas; many of them are en route now," Reccord says, "and we have three staging areas in two encampment retreat areas that are normally used for people for getaways and conferences and all that, and Kelly Air Force Base." The NAMB leader says as soon as the eye of the storm passes through, their units will be "up and ready." The command center, he adds, is already operating non-stop. "We've been 24-hours around the clock in our command center, which is regularly and constantly in touch with the Red Cross command center and [with] FEMA," he says. "We have operating agreements where we partner with them, and we are having people literally there all around the clock." The North American Mission Board has announced it will provide low-interest loans of up to $100,000 for Southern Baptist churches damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Another denominational disaster relief ministry is waiting in the wings, prepared to move into the areas affected by Hurricane Rita after the storm passes. The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) is preparing volunteers to provide pastoral care and initial assessments of damage. Bill Adams, manager of CRWRC Disaster Response, says while "unprecedented" aid has been needed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, "there is no question that CRWRC will stretch to respond to those affected by [Hurricane] Rita." The Christian Reformed Church Chaplaincy Service is partnering with CRWRC in this effort. [Allie Martin/Jody Brown]

...Christian artists have performed at a nationally televised fund-raising concert to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. "Gospel Angels: A Concert to Restore Hope" was broadcast on the Gospel Music Channel from Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, with proceeds going to World Vision and Feed the Children. The concert's emcee, CeCe Winans, lamented that residents of Houston had welcomed those left homeless by Katrina, only to be evacuated themselves now as Rita approaches. Performers included Third Day, Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary, Barlow Girl, NewSong, Downhere, Natalie Grant and the Blind Boys of Alabama. [AP]

...A Christian ministry that targets youth has seen expanded opportunities to reach out to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Colorado-based Young Life has chapters throughout the South that felt the brunt of Hurricane Katrina. Five or six staff members in the Mississippi Valley area have been displaced and are trying to find temporary housing. Also, Mississippi Valley director John Evans says nearly every city in which Young Life works in the South has an influx of new students because of the storm, providing "great opportunity" for the ministry. "There's a whole lot of kids that have been displaced, and we're getting folks in new schools," Evans shared with Mission Network News. "We're just trying to figure out how to reach out to a lot of those kids as best we can." According to the Young Life spokesman, practically every ministry his organization has in the South will have an opportunity to touch the lives of young people who were forced to evacuate the Gulf Coast. "I think there's no question that we're going to be involved with these kids," he said. "We're just trying to figure out how to make sure that every one of our existing ministries stays funded so we can keep doing what we need to do." Evans says Young Life leaders are also being encouraged to go with hurricane victims to shelters to reach out and help other victims. [Allie Martin]

...A Christian school in Ontario, California, has expelled a 14-year-old student because her mother is living in a lesbian relationship. Associated Press quotes a letter written by the school saying Shay Clark's "family does not meet the policies of admission." The letter goes on to say that policy at Ontario Christian School requires that a parent not be involved in practices that are "immoral or inconsistent with a positive Christian lifestyle" such as unmarried cohabitation or a homosexual relationship. According to the report, the teen's mother has been in the lesbian relationship for 22 years, but that the school only learned of the relationship this week when the student was reprimanded for talking to the crowd during a football game. [Fred Jackson/AP]

...Consumers are complaining like never before about gas prices -- and it appears to be producing results. Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas says what is happening at the gas pumps the past few months is about to get plenty of attention. "We've got to set a government entity within the Department of Justice that investigates whether this is illegal what's taken place -- whether there has been price fixing or price gouging has occurred. They should investigate that," Brownback says. "I understand as well [that] the Energy Committee, [chaired by New Mexico Republican] Senator [Pete] Domenici, is going to hold hearings on this topic." Brownback believes the nation's energy policy needs to be revisited and changed in ways that will affect prices at the pumps. [Bill Fancher]

...An Iowa lawmaker says a vast majority of his constituents want to completely eliminate illegal immigration, which has become a serious problem in the nation's heartland. Republican Steve King is a member of both the House Agriculture and the Small Business committees. Both of those areas, he explains, have become magnets for illegal aliens who are willing to work for much less than American citizens. He offers one example. "We have a large meat-packing industry ... that has traditionally been one of the magnets for illegals. And I know there was a time that one of our packers actually had bulletin boards set up ... in Mexico to advertise for the illegal help that they wanted to hire to work in their plant," he says. "Some of that has turned around, and over time they have become more responsible." Still, King says most Iowans resent the presence of so many illegal aliens in his state, as evidenced by the mailed-in surveys of 1,800 residents. "Ninety-seven percent [of my constituents] said that they wanted to eliminate all illegal immigration and reduce legal immigration. Not freeze it at its current point, but reduce it," King says. "That tells you how intense it is in the caucus state of Iowa." King says nothing will get done about the illegal immigration issue unless citizens across the country get involved and demand that their lawmakers take action. [Chad Groening]

...Truth is truth and cannot be changed -- yet that is what pro-family advocates claim many Democrats and some Republicans are attempting to do. Christianity is an integral part of American law as well as the nation's establishment and founding. Its teachings and principles permeate governing documents and American history itself. But according to some family advocates, "politically correct" politicians are trying to change that truth. Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America says the influence of Christianity cannot be denied. "There are people who would rather deny that and ignore that -- but that's simply a fact," says Wright. Former Republican official John Lofton says even Christian politicians fall prey to politically correct ideas and fail to promote a Christian agenda. "They put their Republicanism first," Lofton offers. "They put their party first over their faith -- and that's why we're in the mess we're in." Many Christian leaders believe America has been blessed because it has recognized God -- and failure to do so, they say, spells trouble in Washington. [Bill Fancher]

...Major Hollywood studios are going to church to market films that they hope will appeal to Christian audiences -- a strategy that helped make Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ one of the most successful films ever. For the family comedy The Thing About My Folks, members of churches, synagogues and Jewish community centers were invited to screenings in cities including Minneapolis, Cleveland and Chicago. Other films being promoted with sneak previews include the golf movie The Greatest Game Ever Played and even the dark drama The Exorcism of Emily Rose, whose director is a Christian. Disney is counting on Christian audiences to boost The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Dozens of churches nationwide will host sneak peeks of parts of the film before its December opening. [AP]

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