UNDER GOD : PRAYING FOR GLENN BECK FOX NEWSEVANGELIST

Fox Newsevangelist Glenn Beck might be the most prayed for man in America at the moment -- which could be good news for all of us.
A few weeks ago, Beck urged his conservative Christian followers to pray for his protection. "There is (billionaire George) Soros money now being funneled to stop me. The biggest names, the most powerful people on the planet on the left -- I've told you before, they're not going to go away easy . . . Please, keep me in your prayers, keep my staff in your prayers, for safety, for wisdom, please."
Meanwhile, over on the left, Jim Wallis is asking his fellow progressive Christians to pray for Beck. "It should be no surprise that we strongly disagree with many of Glenn's views, but we too believe in a God far greater than all of us. So on this point, let's take Glenn at his word and pray for him to have wisdom as he speaks out on these issues. Tell Glenn you're praying for him - that he'll choose hope over fear."
So maybe neither of those prayer requests are purely nonpartisan. But it does show that Red State Christians and Blue State Christians at least can pray for the same person, if not for the same reasons. That's progress, right? The culture war-weary among us appreciate any sign of progress among the faithful, especially after reading the new 2009 Religious Activists Survey, which shows just how deeply and fundamentally divided religious activists are in this country.
Here are just a few of the lowlights in the survey of 3,000 conservative and progressive religious activists.
Abortion: 95% of conservative religious activists say abortion should be illegal in all cases (60%) or most cases (35%); 80% of progressive religious activists say abortion should be legal in all (26%) or most (54%) cases.
Gay and Lesbian Issues: 82% of conservatives oppose both same-sex marriage and civil unions; 59% of progressives support same-sex marriage, and 33% support civil unions.
Health Care: 6% of conservatives think that the U.S. should have comprehensive national health insurance; 78% of progressive activists think we do.
Torture: 61% conservatives say torture can often (25%) or sometimes (36%) be justified; 79% of progressives say torture can never be justified.
Priorities: Conservatives said abortion (83%) and same-sex marriage (65%) are the most important issues; progressives chose poverty (74%), health care (67%), and the environment (56%).
We've known for awhile that some followers of Jesus veer to his right, others to his left. But why? The researchers from the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron and Public Religion Research drilled down through the tectonic political plates to get to the core of each side's belief system.
"Conservatives generally emphasize an individualist approach to solving problems, with an emphasis on personal morality," the researchers wrote. "Progressive activists are more likely to see the causes of America's problems in structural terms."
In other words, conservatives subscribe to a personal salvation gospel, progressives to a social salvation gospel. The difference can be summed up in two statements the researchers gave to activists on both sides of Jesus.
1. "If enough people were brought to Christ, social ills would take care of themselves."
67% of conservatives agreed, but only 13% of progressives agreed (and 61% of them disagreed).

2. "Social justice is at the heart of all authentic religious values."
77% of progressives agreed with that one, but only 37% of conservatives agreed.
I'm no theologian, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Jesus of the four gospels agreed with both of those statements.
So I have an idea. Maybe we can get the Glenn Beck Christians and the Jim Wallis Christians to form a book club. They all can read the same book each month and then discuss it. I'd suggest they start with the Book of Matthew. Then Mark, then Luke, then John.
Who knows? After four months of reading the same books, they all might find themselves on the same page, and start praying for each other.

BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN GAVIN MACLEOD STARS IN NEW FAITH BASED FILM ' THE SECRETS OF JONATHAN SPERRY '

As Murray Slaughter, he wrote for airhead anchor Ted Baxter on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" for seven years. As Merrill Stubing, he captained the "Love Boat" for nearly a decade after that. Today, iconic TV actor Gavin Macleod says "I know who my admiral is," referring to his faith in God.
Macleod, 78, is a born again Christian now piloting a career in the Christian film industry, and starring in the movie "The Secrets of Jonathan Perry," which opens this weekend.
"I've worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Gregory Peck, Mary Tyler Moore," he told FOX News in an exclusive interview. "[But] the biggest honor I have ever had was to play the role of Jonathan Sperry in this simple but special film."
The film is about three 12-year old boys who are best buddies in the summer of 1970. One of them mows the lawn for an elderly widower named Jonathan Sperry. The two develop a unique friendship as Sperry employs Biblical teachings to help the boy and his friends deal with a bully, a secret crush, and other life challenges.
"The film is about forgiveness," Macleod says. "Forgiveness is one of the greatest tools God has given us."
The movie was written by twins Dave and Rich Christiano; Rich also produced and directed. They're part of the new breed of grassroots Christian filmmakers that include the Kendrick brothers, makers of the surprise box office hit "Fireproof."
Instead of complaining to Hollywood about the films it produces, Rich Christiano says it's time for Christians to put their money where their mouths are. Sperry has no big-name distributor, so Christiano, who worked with Mcleod on the 2002 film "Time Changer," is marketing directly to churches, a technique also adopted by the Kendrick brothers.
The film has a staggered release starting September 18, showing in 118 theaters. Openings are scheduled through November 2009 with a total of 240 theaters onboard so far. Each one is sponsored by a church or group of church members. They advance $2,000 to get the film into the theater. The church will make their investment back if the film grosses $4,500. The movie's web page www.sperrymovie.com links to a site about sponsorship.
Christiano is betting on success in targeted theaters bringing additional theaters into the fold. Hee says theater owners are already calling him because people who want to see the film are calling them, wondering why the film isn’t showing in their communities.
The key to getting churches on board is having a well-known actor to star. Like Kirk Cameron, who starred in "Fireproof," "Sperry’s" Gavin Macleod is a true believer. Christian audiences know the actor is saying lines he personally believes.
It brings "authenticity and validation" to the film, says Mark Dupre, associate pastor at Christ Community Church in Brockport, New York — one of the churches sponsoring a theater showing. Dupre, who also teaches film at Rochester Institute of Technology, says having a strong Christian like Gavin Macleod play the lead is a built in marketing hook, "the equivalent of having the acting genius of a Meryl Streep in secular movie. Captain Stubing is someone America just loved."
Macleod charts his religious conversion back to September 15, 1984, seven years into the popular TV series "Love Boat." His mother had a serious medical condition and was scheduled for surgery. That morning he woke up and prayed to Jesus to "give my mother more time."
Unknown to Macleod, his then ex-wife Patty, who he hadn’t seen in two years, had gotten involved in a Christian women’s prayer group. She’d been praying that her husband would come back to her. Right after Macleod said the prayer to save his mother, he called Patty and asked "can we see each other?" The two repaired their relationship and were remarried in 1985. Gavin’s mother lived several more years.
From the moment he said his prayer, Mcleod says the change was immediate. "My castmates knew I was different. I was hearing with different ears and seeing with different eyes."
After "Love Boat" ended in 1987, Macleod became the spokesperson for Princess Cruises, a job he still holds today. He’s turned down several TV roles because he’s not interested in doing series work again. His passion now is for his faith and the lives he can touch. "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry" allows him to be captain of his new calling.

LAWMAKERS BACK OFFICIALS FACING JAIL FOR PRAYER

Two Florida school officials facing possible jail terms for praying in the presence of students arrive in court Thursday enjoying the support of more than 60 members of Congress.
Some of those members, who signed a letter of support and sent it to the two school officials Monday, took to the House floor Tuesday night to denounce what they called a "criminalization of prayer" that "tramples on the First Amendment rights" of Christians.
"The Founding Fathers would be appalled" at the trial of Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and his school athletic director, Robert Freeman, said Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida. His Pensacola-based district includes Santa Rosa County, where the lawsuit is based.
The 9 a.m. trial "is one of the first times we've literally had the potential for the criminalization of prayer in the United States of America," said Rep. J. Randy Forbes of Virginia, chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus.
If the two men are found guilty, "there will come a day," Mr. Forbes predicted, "when the speaker of this house will be hauled into federal court and threatened with jail because she dares to stand at that podium where you stand tonight and ask the chaplain to start our day with the prayer."
Mr. Forbes, Mr. Miller and Rep. Mike McIntyre, North Carolina Democrat, were signatories to the Monday letter to the two educators, assuring them that "we are standing with you in prayer and support as you face your trial." More than 60 members of the House have co-signed.
The two educators are being tried in federal district court in Pensacola for breaching the conditions of a lawsuit settlement reached last year with the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU sued Santa Rosa County School District a year ago on behalf of two students who claimed that some teachers and administrators were allowing prayers at school events, orchestrating separate religiously themed graduation services and proselytizing students during class and after school.
In January, the school district settled out of court with the ACLU, agreeing to several conditions, including the barring of all school employees from promoting or sponsoring prayers during school-sponsored events.
The ACLU complained to U.S. District Judge Margaret C. "Casey" Rodgers after Mr. Lay asked Mr. Freeman to offer mealtime prayers at a Jan. 28 lunch for school employees and booster-club members who had helped with a school field-house project. The judge then issued a contempt order for the two men.
Mr. Miller criticized the order, saying, "a federal judge has gone well outside the bounds of the Constitution to declare that prayer offered among adults is illegal." There was "zero student participation" at the event, he said. "That the court would somehow consider this action to be criminal behavior is simply unconscionable."
The judge's injunction "tramples upon the First Amendment rights of a specific group of people," Mr. Miller added, "denying them the equal protection that is provided under the very Constitution that we believe in."
The contempt order had also included Michelle Winkler, a clerical assistant who asked her husband, who is not a school employee, to bless an evening meal at a private event in February at a nearby naval base with other school employees. After a 7 1/2-hour trial Aug. 21, the judge removed Mrs. Winkler's name from the order.
Susan Watson, the Northwest regional director for the ACLU's Florida affiliate, said she had not seen the letter from the House members, so she had no comment. Glenn Katon, director of the Florida ACLU's religious freedom project, called the letter "political grandstanding."
Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, the Orlando-based legal group that is defending the two school officials, posted the letter on the group's Web site at www.lc.org, noting that Thursday is national Constitution Day. He said he expects the judge to rule within a few hours.

CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE ORDAINED A REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER

A church in Louisville, Ky., ordained a registered sex offender Sunday despite protests from the some in the surrounding community.
Prior to joining The City of Refuge Worship Center, where he was ordained this past Sunday morning, Mark Hourigan had been charged with sodomy, sexual abuse and intimidation of an 11-year-old boy back in 1998.
Following his release from prison in 2006, Hourigan joined City of Refuge and eventually led praise and worship after the Lord touched his heart, according to the Rev. Randy Meadows, City of Refuge’s senior minister.
"No way shape or form does the City of Refuge Worship Center or I as a pastor, condone what Hourigan did 10 years ago. But this man has proven himself and paid his debt to society," Meadows told the local WLKY news station.
Despite assurances by the pastor and an agreement that Hourigan was to sign barring him from ministering to children, some church attendants and members of the community say Hourigan’s ordination concerns them and even “scares” them.
"It's wonderful that he's a member of this church, but he does not need to be ordained as a minister with that kind of position or authority... it's wrong,” Rochelle Fournier, a member of the Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), told a local ABC affiliate in Louisville.
In a statement Sunday, SNAP members said the ordination would be "a reckless move that will only put kids in harm's way."
“SNAP is convinced that a truly remorseful and 'reformed' sex offender would not even seek a position like minister, just as a truly repentant and sober alcoholic wouldn't seek a job in a tavern,” they added.
On Friday, SNAP sent a letter to the Lexington-based Kentucky Council of Churches, urging it to speak out against Hourigan's ordination.
The organization also held a news conference outside the church last Thursday asking that the congregation delay its planned ordination and hold an open public meeting before making a final decision.
SNAP reportedly did not receive replies to any of their objections.

DAN BROWN'S ' THE LOST SYMBOL ' SET TO RELEASE

The latest book by author Dan Brown hits bookstores Tuesday with an initial print run of over five million copies.
The Lost Symbol, the direct sequel to Brown’s controversial 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code, will once again feature Brown’s trademark protagonist, Robert Langdon, who will turn his attention to Washington, D.C., and a hunt for a legendary Masonic treasure.
“The Lost Symbol is a brilliant and compelling thriller,” commented Sonny Mehta, chairman and editor in chief of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Doubleday, which is publishing Brown’s latest novel in the United States and Canada, is an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
“Dan Brown’s prodigious talent for storytelling, infused with history, codes and intrigue, is on full display in this new book. This is one of the most anticipated publications in recent history, and it was well worth the wait,” he added.
The 509-page book, which has been in development for several years, takes place over a period of 12 hours and begins when Langdon is seemingly invited to Washington by his friend Peter Solomon, a wealthy, and high-ranking Mason. When Solomon turns up missing, Langdon finds himself on a rapid chase through the concealed passages of the city in search of a Masonic legend – a map or portal that leads to a body of secret knowledge that, as Langdon puts it, "allegedly enables its practitioners to access powerful abilities that lie dormant in the human mind."
Though not expected to stir the volume of controversy that Brown’s 2003 novel had, The Lost Symbol is still expected to be make a splash for the book industry, which has been hit hard by lower sales, consolidations and layoffs.
According to The Los Angeles Times, by the time The Lost Symbol lands on bookstore shelves Tuesday, pre-orders will have kept it at or near the top of Amazon's bestseller list for the last 148 days.
“Dan’s readers will feel the thrill of discovery as they follow Robert Langdon through a masterful and unexpected new landscape. The Lost Symbol is full of surprises,” commented Jason Kaufman, Brown’s longtime editor and the vice president and executive editor at Doubleday.
Brown's last novel, The Da Vinci Code, ended up being one of the most popular books in publishing history, selling more than 40 million copies worldwide in 44 languages.
The 2003 thriller, which rankled Christians worldwide, was based on the hotly protested idea that Jesus Christ had married Mary Magdalene and conceived a child with her.
The Da Vinci Code was also the first Brown novel to be adapted to the big screen, though it was published three years after Brown's first bestseller, Angels & Demon.
Angels & Demons was adapted to the big screen earlier this year as the sequel to "Da Vinci Code" the movie.
Aside from Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol, Brown also came out with books in 1998 and 2001.

CONCERNS RISE AS NEW PAKISTAN CHURCH ATTACKED

ISLAMABAD — A rights group raised concern Monday that vigilante attacks were increasing against religious minorities in Pakistan when another church was damaged, weeks after an angry mob killed seven Christians.
About 100 people, mostly youths, attacked a Catholic church in the Sambrial district near the Indian border on Friday after accusing a young Christian man of desecrating the Koran, police said.
"They set fire to prayer mats and some religious books but the timely arrival of police prevented the situation from taking an ugly turn," local police official Rafaqat Ali told AFP by telephone.
"The church suffered no major damage," he said. Police arrested a man accused of "snatching and desecrating" a copy of the Koran from a girl while she was going to school, he added.
Pakistan's Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti visited the area Monday and vowed that the government would "reconstruct" the church.
"No one from minorities can even think of desecration of the holy Koran," he said in a statement released in English.
"Some people want to destabilise the country by doing such things, but the government will not allow anyone to play with the lives and properties of the minorities," he added.
Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law carries the death penalty although no one has ever been sent to the gallows for the crime.
Human rights activists say the legislation is often exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism and have demanded it be repealed.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed concern Monday over the "increasing frequency of violent attacks on religious minorities" and demanded the government prosecute those responsible and act to prevent such violence.
"The Commission has been warning the government of the growing intolerance of religious minorities' rights and pointing towards the increasing frequency of vigilante actions against them.
"It is unfortunate that our fears of recurrence of such violence again proved to be true in Sambarial," said Pakistan's leading rights group.
The organisation slammed the government's offers of financial compensation and encouraging local reconciliation as "insufficient".
"The Commission would emphasise that another attack targeting the minorities is a question of when, not if, unless the government acknowledges in a meaningful manner the threat extremism and intolerance pose," it said.
"Effective prosecution would serve as a deterrent to future attacks, while a lack thereof would encourage impunity," it added.
Last month, an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the remote village of Gojra in Pakistan's central Punjab province.

ANCIENT SYNAGOGUE FOUND IN ISRAEL

JERUSALEM -- In what was slated to be the site of a new 122-room hotel, archaeologists say they have discovered one of the world's oldest synagogues in Northern Israel.
The site, which was unearthed as preparations were being made for construction of the hotel near the Sea of Galilee, is believed to date back some 2000 years from 50BCE to 100CE.
In the middle of the 120 square meter main hall of the synagogue archaeologists discovered an unusual stone carved with a seven branched menorah . "We are dealing with an exciting and unique find," said excavation director and Israeli Antiquities Authority archaeologist Dina Avshalom-Gorni.
The menorah engraving is the first of its kind to be discovered from the Early Roman period according Avshalom-Gorni who said the site joins just six synagogue locations that are know to date from the same time.
She said synagogues from this period were extremely rare in part because many Jews during that time were in the habit of visiting the main temple in Jerusalem three times a year as opposed to attending local houses of worship.
Avshalom-Gorni posited that the engraved menorah was done by an artist who had visited the main synagogue in Jerusalem known as the Second Temple where the actual menorah was believed to be kept.
In addition to the engraved stone Avshalom-Gorni said they discovered preserved frescoes on the walls with "vivid" colors.
The synagogue was discovered in area called Migdal, historically an important settlement along the Sea of Galilee, which researchers say was mentioned in ancient Jewish texts as playing a prominent role during what is known as the Great Revolt, when Jews attempted to rebel against Roman rule. Migdal also figures in early Christian writings as the place where Mary Magdalene accompanied Jesus and the Apostles.
Jose Miguel Abat, a legal representative for the company developing the land, Ark New Gate, said the company was thrilled at news of the find and planned to establish a multi-cultural and multi-religious center at the location.
"We are sure this finding and the planned center will attract tourists and visitors from Israel and from around the World," Abat said in a statement.

BOLIVIAN PASTOR HIJACKS A MEXICAN JET : SAYS GOD WANTED HIM TO HIJACK THE PLANE

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican investigators are evaluating a Bolivian pastor who hijacked a jetliner for possible mental illness, and trying to figure out how he managed to slip through Cancun Airport security with a fake bomb in his luggage.
Jose Flores, 44, pulled out the device, which he later described as a "a juice can ... with some little lights I attached," as the airplane was approaching Mexico City Wednesday afternoon.
The device was a dud, but his sudden move and demands sparked an hour-long runway standoff that kept the country in suspense until the 103 passengers and seven crew members escaped unharmed. The incident ended peacefully when armed police dramatically raided the airplane.
Authorities said the entire incident was preventable because the fake bomb should have been spotted during routine airport screening.
"It was certainly something that should have been detected and stopped," Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna told the Televisa television network on Thursday. The device included cables, three sand-filled juice cans and a digital clock, he said.
Federal prosecutors said Flores may face terrorism charges but is also undergoing mental evaluations. If he is found to be mentally ill, authorities said it's possible he could be sent to a psychiatric hospital.
Flores told authorities that Wednesday's date - 9-9-09 - is the satanic number 666 turned upside down. Speaking to reporters after he was detained, Flores smilingly told them: "Christ is coming soon."
He said he had received divine revelation that an enormous earthquake would soon strike Mexico and that he hijacked the plane to force a meeting with President Felipe Calderon.
In Bolivia, Flores's mother said she was confident that divine justice would save her son from doom.
She said his actions were wrong, "but I believe that God will bring victory," said Mary Pereira.

WEEK-OLD BABY UNDERGOES SEX CHANGE OPERATION IN RAJKOT

RAJKOT: Seven days after a boy was born to a city-based family, doctors have medically proved that the baby is a girl. The baby went through an operation on Wednesday for a sex change.
After a sonography, city-based doctor Dr Atul Hirani confirmed that it was a baby girl. The baby had male genital organs but female sexual organs inside the body.
The family realized that something was amiss and took the baby to a paediatrician and after various tests. After consultation and discussion with doctors, they were convinced to take a practical decision for the better future of the baby. Had the family chosen to keep the baby as it is, it could have led to psychological and social problems for the baby. The family belongs to middle class strata.
A team of doctors lead by Dr Rohit Thakkar and five others, including plastic surgeon Dr Girish Amlani, urologist Dr Sanjay Popat, general surgeon Dr Yogesh Raichura, paediatrician Dr Nayan Kalavadiya and Dr Sukhdev Chandarana, operated upon the seven-day-old baby for genital reconstruction in a three-hour operation. The baby will be able to live a normal life as a female child.

WORLD'S OLDEST PERSON GERTRUDE BAINES DIES AT 115

LOS ANGELES: Gertrude Baines, the world's oldest known person who once quipped she had won the genetic lottery, died Friday at a nursing home. She
was 115.
Baines likely suffered a heart attack, but an autopsy will be conducted to confirm the cause of death, said her longtime physician, Dr. Charles Witt.
"I saw her two days ago, and she was just doing fine," Witt said. "She was in excellent shape. She was mentally alert. She smiled frequently."
Born in 1894 in Shellman, Georgia, Baines claimed the title of the world's oldest living person when a 115-year-old woman, Maria de Jesus, died in Portugal in January.
The oldest person in the world is now Kama Chinen, 114, who lives in Japan, according to Dr. L. Stephen Coles of the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks claims of extreme old age. Chinen was born May 10, 1895, Coles said.
The oldest person who has ever lived is Jeanne-Louise Calment, according to Coles. She was 122 when she died Aug. 4, 1997, in Arles, France.
Baines outlived her entire family, including her only daughter, who died of typhoid.
Baines worked as a maid in Ohio State University dormitories until her retirement and has lived at the Western Convalescent Hospital in Los Angeles for more than 10 years.
After turning 115 in April, she said, "Living that long is like winning the genetic lottery."
Nurses at Western Convalescent Hospital described Baines as a modest woman who liked to watch the "Jerry Springer Show" and eat fried chicken, bacon and ice cream. She refused to use dentures.
"I don't know how she does it. She only has her gums, no teeth," said Susie Exconde, the nursing director. Exconde who found Baines dead in her bed at about 7:25 a.m. (1125 GMT)
Witt, her physician, said that when he visited Baines earlier this week, she only complained that her bacon was soggy and arthritis was causing pain in her right knee.
Baines celebrated her birthday at the nursing home April 6 with music, two cakes and a letter from President Barack Obama, whom she voted for in November.
Featured on local television newscasts when she cast her ballot, Baines, who is black, said she backed him "because he's for the colored." She said she never thought she would live to see a black man become president.
"We were hoping to have her until the next election," Exconde said. "We'll miss her."

WORLD'S FIRST MUSLIM SEARCH ENGINE ' IMHALAL.COM ' A SEARCH ENGINE ONLY FOR MUSLIMS

NEW DELHI: A Dutch company has launched a new search engine that aims to protect Muslims from accidentally bumping into explicit material while su rfing the Web. Called ImHalal.com, or "I am Halal," is the world's first Muslim search engine.
Reza Sardeha, founder of AZS Media Group, which runs the search engine, told The Daily Star that the idea grew after his friends complained of bumping into sexually explicit content when using search engines such as Yahoo or Google.
According to The Daily Star, the site's filter examines the user's search terms and the websites that are returned, trawling for a 'non-halal list' of words that may indicate forbidden fruit. On the site, sex-related terms such as 'gay,' 'lesbian' or simply 'sexy' merit a haram level of three; the highest score on the list.
But 'beer' and 'pork' only merit a score of one, while 'drugs' comes up as a level two. There are, however, no restrictions on more general concepts that are forbidden in Islam such as 'suicide' or 'magic.'
Sardeha told the publication that the company is now in talks with Imams to determine what else might be considered Haram so that it can be blocked on the site. They also have plans to keep adding to the search engine with what Sardeha calls 'Islamic widgets.'
The site, launched earlier this month, claims to have received more than 400,000 unique visitors so far.

MINISTER IN SPOTLIGHT AFTER OBAMA DEATH PRAYERS IN ARIZONA

A controversial Arizona minister who prays for the death of President Obama has attracted attention from the Secret Service to a small group of protesters who hold regular demonstrations outside his church.
The Rev. Steven Anderson quoted passages from the Old Testament to the congregation of his Faithful Word Baptist Church about the kinds of people God hates in Tempe Aug. 16. Anderson then told worshippers he interprets those passages to include Mr. Obama and that he prays for the president's death.
While Anderson didn't say he wanted his parishioners to attack the president, he did say the country would benefit from Mr. Obama dying.
"If you want to know how I'd like to see Obama die, I'd like him to die of natural causes," Anderson told KNXV-TV. "I don't want him to be a martyr. We don't need another holiday. I'd like to see him die, like Ted Kennedy, of brain cancer."
Anderson told the station the Secret Service contacted him after his comments became public and that his attorney advised him to deny giving the agency an interview.
Anderson's sermon inspired the creation of a group called People Against Clergy Who Preach Hate to protest against the pastor.
"I'm just disgusted with this man who claims to be a minister of the Lord preaching hate toward the president," protester Larry Crane told KNXV-TV.
"It's hard to believe we could have someone of a religious nature wishing our president was dead," protester William Crumb told the station.
Some parishioners — whether they didn't provide their names or the station just didn't report them is unclear — supported their minister.
"I hate people that hate God," one Faithful Word parishioner said.
"As far as I know we live in America, we have freedom of religion, freedom to assemble and the freedom of speech," another parishioner said.
Protesters will continue to demonstrate outside Anderson's church until he stops preaching what they consider hate speech.
"I just think it's sad," Crane told the station. "We can have discourse without preaching hate. That's what this minister is doing."

OM SENDS OUT 250 FULL TIME MISSIONARIES

They include 35 Christians from the UK and one lady from Trinidad who even sold her own business so that she could work alongside OM in Cambodia.
"Each had heard and answered God’s call to join the Great Commission," said a spokesman for OM.
At the end of August, the missionaries came together in De Kroeze in the Netherlands to learn about cross-cultural communication and God's heart for mission.
They also prepared themselves for some of the challenges they would face while proclaiming Christ overseas by taking part in daily Bible studies, discussion seminars and setting an entire day aside for prayer.
Destinations include France and countries in East Europe, Central Asia and the Near East. Several of the new missionaries from the UK were inspired to join OM after the ministry's new ship Logos Hope stopped at UK ports earlier in the year. They flew out after the conference to join the ship in the Caribbean.
One Christian joining the OM team in the UK said of her visit to Logos Hope: "It was amazing to be with the people of God from so many nations! I loved the focus on knowing God and loving people."
There are presently 5,400 Christians serving with OM in 110 countries and onboard two ministry ships.

KISWAHILI BIBLE TRANSLATION DEDICATED IN KENYA

Kenya― Millions of people will be able to understand God's Word thanks to the work of Biblica, formerly International Bible Society/Send the Light. Friday September 4, Biblica dedicated a new translation of God's Word in Kenya.
The group's Vice President Benedict Omollo says, "We launched the Kiswahili Bible. The Kiswahili Bible is not just relevant to the Kenyan market. This is a language that is spoken in eastern and central Africa. We're talking about eight nations that use Kiswahili as a language. So right there we have a target of about 60 million speakers."
While Kiswahili speakers had a Bible, Omollo says, "It's pretty old. It was translated in kind of the context of the King James Version, so it's very, very, difficult Kiswahili."
According to Omollo, "The advantage of the Bible that we dedicated Friday is that it is NIV-like. It is contemporary Kiswahili. It is very, very simple to read and to understand."
Omollo believes it will affect the average Kiswahili speaker. "This is one of the Bibles that you can give to your neighbor; you can give to the people especially in the rural community. It is the language the simplest people can read and understand."
This translation will help with evangelism and discipleship all across the region both rural and urban.
Omollo is asking people to pray. "Let's pray that God opens doors and uses this Bible. Pray that for every person who gets to read this Bible, the Word of God will come alive and would transform their lives."

MISSIONARIES HELP AIDS ORPHANS IN KENYA

United Methodist missionary Jerri Savuto wishes she could somehow transport one typical North Texas grocery store to Kenya.
"One grocery store from here would feed a million people in Kenya," Mrs. Savuto told a gathering of about 70 United Methodists Sept. 4. "Thousands and thousands of people in Kenya are hungry, and America is full of food.
"And Kenya could use it, because Kenya is dying," she said.
Prolonged drought has reduced the ability of Kenyan farmers – most of whom are women – to grow crops to feed their families, said Mrs. Savuto, who serves as the quality improvement officer for Maua Methodist Hospital. The North Texas Annual Conference, the regional United Methodist unit, sponsors Mrs. Savuto and her husband, Bill. The Methodist Church of Kenya and The United Methodist Church support the hospital jointly.
The Savutos explained that the town of Maua sits at a mile above sea level, almost in the exact center of Kenya, an East African country about the size of Texas. One million people live within a 30-mile radius of Maua. Most of them live on one-acre farms that grow barely enough food to feed them in good times, and the drought has severely reduced their food output.
The lack of food has exacerbated Kenya's public health problems, where thousands of people die daily of malaria, HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, malnutrition, typhoid, and cholera, Mrs. Savuto said. Christian hospitals are providing 30 to 40 percent of the health care in Kenya, where corruption runs rampant through public medical facilities, said her husband.
Overall, the continent of Africa suffered 1.8 million deaths from malaria alone last year, Mr. Savuto said during a luncheon program at the North Texas Ministry Center in Plano.

In addition to these public health issues, Maua Methodist Hospital has begun a program of care for AIDS orphans, he added.
"In Africa, 30,000 people die every day from AIDS," he said while showing a series of photos about the hospital programs. "AIDS orphans are often sent to live with their grandmothers, but the grandmothers don't have enough food to feed them. Kenya law prohibits women from owning land, so when the grandmothers are too old to work, they have no way to feed their grandchildren."
The "Giving Hope" AIDS orphans program at Maua Methodist Hospital now has 1,750 families enrolled. Each month the families are given sacks of beans and cornmeal along with other staples. In addition, the program pays for the children's school uniforms so they can gain the primary-school education that will help lift them out of poverty, Mr. Savuto said. (At left, Mr. Savuto plays with a child during a picnic for AIDS orphans).
As the children become teen-agers, they often assume responsibility for their younger, orphaned siblings, the missionary added. Because of this, Maua Methodist Hospital also has begun a program for orphaned teen-agers, to give them spiritual training in personal responsibility and ethics, along with business skills and a small start-up grant so they can begin their own businesses.
Some become tailors, truck farmers or small merchants, but the most successful student of the teens' program is a young man named Dickens, said Mr. Savuto.
"All along the roads in Kenya you see small piles of stones known as 'cocoto'," Mr. Savuto explained. "These stones are used to make concrete for buildings."
After completing his training, Dickens decided he wanted to break up rocks to make cocoto, the missionary continued. Although others didn't see much future in breaking rocks, Dickens began to sell his cocoto to local builders and contractors. Then he realized he could make more money if he hired an employee to help him. Soon, Dickens had a thriving business employing several local workers who make the cocoto that Dickens sells to builders and contractors in the Maua region.
"Dickens has become a very successful businessman by breaking up rocks," Mr. Savuto said, laughing along with his audience.
Mr. Savuto started out as the hospital's computer systems administrator, a job that became unnecessary as the Kenyan staff learned computer skills and networked the hospital's 70 donated computers. Today he serves as the liaison for volunteer mission teams and supervises hospital construction projects. He and his wife have worked at Maua Methodist Hospital for 10 years, assigned there by the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, the denomination's missions agency based in New York City.
The Methodist Hospital at which the Savutos work has 280 beds, with a staff of 350 people, on a 19-acre compound. Each day at the hospital begins with worship services in every ward to give the patients spiritual encouragement. The Kenya National Hospital Insurance Fund recently honored the hospital as the country's number-one facility for patient care and cleanliness – an achievement that came primarily because of Mrs. Savuto and her co-workers.
Despite being officially supported by the North Texas Annual Conference, Mr. and Mrs. Savuto have welcomed only one volunteer mission team from this area. A team from Grace Avenue United Methodist Church in Frisco went to Maua in June this year and helped construct housing for the hospital staff.
United Methodists from North Texas who go to Maua also would help build staff apartments and perform building maintenance such as painting for the hospital, which must direct all its funds to staff salaries and medical supplies and equipment.
"On-site housing for hospital staff is crucial in Kenya," Mr. Savuto said. "Housing is part of their pay."
North Texas United Methodists unable to travel to Kenya can help Maua Methodist Hospital through The Advance mission giving program, the missionaries said. One hundred percent of every contribution to The Advance goes to the chosen mission project, because the Global Ministries board pays for the program's administration.
"We've seen the face of suffering in Maua, but among the faces of suffering there's always hope," Mrs. Savuto said. "We need your help to help the children who have no one else to help them."

CHRISTIAN COUPLES STAYING FAITHFUL ONLINE

Lance Maggiacomo was out of work, bored and lonely when he started hiding his online relationships from his wife.
There was no affair, only chatting through e-mail, yet it felt like cheating just the same.
A few years later, a reformed Maggiacomo has an in-house check on his impulses. He and his wife Lori, like other Christian couples around the country, share one e-mail account as a safeguard against the ever-expanding temptations of the Internet.
"There's not a Gestapo, KGB quality to it, like I have to check in with mother before I do anything," said Lance Maggiacomo, a 40-year-old surgical nurse from Beverly, Mass. "It's what we believe as Christians: We are our brothers' keepers. It's about biblical accountability."
The e-mail addresses — "tim_shawna" and "christyandbrian" — broadcast the couples' commitment to all correspondents. If one spouse has a Twitter or Facebook account, the other is usually given the password. Often, spouses have separate work accounts where bad behavior could go undetected. However, the goal isn't policing each other every minute, they say. Instead, they are doing whatever is possible to avoid keeping secrets.
"It's not a matter of distrust," said Ronda Hodge, 53, of Amesbury, Mass., an ice-cream maker who shares an e-mail address with her husband Tom, 60, a landscaper. "We really don't have anything to hide from one another. We were friends first before we even dated so we've got that level of openness there."
It's impossible to know how widespread the practice has become.
Couples with a joint account said they never heard preaching about it and didn't read it in an advice book. Some said they initially created their account for bills and other household business then later realized the personal benefits. A 2003 article published by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family urged husbands and wives to share one e-mail address, but it was one of many suggestions on preventing infidelity.
Still, the phenomenon has become common enough to merit a post on "Stuff Christians Like," a popular blog in which creator Jonathan Acuff, an evangelical and son of a pastor, good-naturedly mocks Christian culture and himself.
Acuff shares one account with his wife of eight years, Jenny, and estimates that one-third of their married friends also use one e-mail address. He joked on the blog that he and his wife "cleaved our separate e-mail addresses and lit a unity candle on Yahoo! that burns brightly throughout the virtual landscape."
"We offset the whole thing by not dressing alike," he wrote.
In a recent phone interview from his home in Alpharetta, Ga., Acuff said he and Jenny started their account while planning their wedding, then noticed that it helped their communication, even in small ways, such as keeping track of each others' schedules.
He said he is grateful that his marital status is clear on his e-mail because he is in touch with so many strangers through his blog.
"It's so easy to make dumb mistakes online. We don't have this precedent for how these online friendships work," said Acuff, 33, whose posts will be released as a book by Zondervan next year. "For me, it's just a safety measure. I don't want to be just floating out there."
James Furrow, a professor of marital and family therapy at Fuller Theological Seminary, an evangelical school in Pasadena, Calif., said sharing an account can be helpful if the goal is promoting openness. But he said the practice can hurt a relationship if it's meant "as an act of deterrence."
"We can take steps to manage our behavior, but then the problem with that is it begins to become the emphasis rather than the trust of giving the other the benefit of the doubt," Furrow said. "What you end up with is the doubt."
Tim and Shawna Rollins of North Richland Hills, Texas, said they consider their shared account — "tim_shawna" — a sign of trust, not suspicion. Both were divorced and their first spouses had been unfaithful. The pair had been friends in high school, then began dating as adults, and entered their marriage pledging to share everything, no matter how uncomfortable.
"I'm just a real open book with him and likewise he is with me," said Shawna, 42, an administrator for a prison literacy ministry. "The trust is there. If he really wanted to do something he'd just do it. For us, it's just such a non-issue."
None of the couples could recall receiving an e-mail that was upsetting or started a fight. They said e-mail addresses with a husband's and wife's name can discourage old flames from trying to renew a connection. The couples said the only trouble they had was developing a system so that e-mails reached the right person or weren't accidentally deleted.
The Rev. Monica Mowdy, 48, and her husband Joe can't share one account because she is a pastor at the Friendship United Methodist Church in Cookeville, Tenn., and needs privacy for working with congregants. However, they know each other's passwords for e-mail and Facebook.
Mowdy, who has counseled many couples, said if the goal of sharing an e-mail is to check up on someone it's "inherently unhealthy." She and her husband decided to share their online lives because they believe too much privacy can build barriers.
This is the second marriage for both, and they wanted to share as much as possible so they could avoid bringing any distrust from their first marriages into their relationship.
"You get to the point where openness and daylight in a union becomes more critical than having your corner of privacy," Monica Mowdy said. "Whenever you have a place where you can keep secrets, the tendency is to keep secrets."

' MASSIVE ' ANCIENT WALL UNCOVERED IN JERUSALEM

JERUSALEM -- An archaeological dig in Jerusalem has turned up a 3,700-year-old wall that is the largest and oldest of its kind found in the region, experts say.
Standing 8 meters (26 feet) high, the wall of huge cut stones is a marvel to archaeologists.
"To build straight walls up 8 meters ... I don't know how to do it today without mechanical equipment," said the excavation's director, Ronny Reich. "I don't think that any engineer today without electrical power [could] do it."
Archaeologist Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority added, "You see all the big boulders -- all the boulders are 4 to 5 tons."
The discovered section is 24 meters (79 feet) long. "However, it is thought the fortification is much longer because it continues west beyond the part that was exposed," the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a news release.
It was found inside the City of David, an archaeological excavation site outside the Old City of East Jerusalem on a slope of the Silwan Valley.
The wall is believed to have been built by the Canaanites, an ancient pagan people who the Bible says inhabited Jerusalem and other parts of the Middle East before the advent of monotheism.
"This is the most massive wall that has ever been uncovered in the City of David," Reich and Shukron said in a joint statement about the find. It marks the first time "that such massive construction that predates the Herodian period has been discovered in Jerusalem."
It appears to be part of a "protected, well-fortified passage that descends to the spring tower from some sort of fortress that stood at the top of the hill," according to the joint statement.
The spring "is located in the weakest and most vulnerable place in the area. The construction of a protected passage, even though it involves tremendous effort, is a solution for which there are several parallels in antiquity, albeit from periods that are later than the remains described here."
Such walls were used primarily to defend against marauding desert nomads looking to rob the city, said Reich, a professor at the University of Haifa.
"We are dealing with a gigantic fortification, from the standpoint of the structure's dimensions, the thickness of its walls and the size of the stones that were incorporated in its construction," the joint statement said.
Water from the spring is used by modern inhabitants of Jerusalem.
"The new discovery shows that the picture regarding Jerusalem's eastern defenses and the ancient water system in the Middle Bronze Age 2 is still far from clear," Reich said. "Despite the fact that so many have excavated on this hill, there is a very good chance that extremely large and well-preserved architectural elements are still hidden in it and waiting to be uncovered."

GENDER-NEUTRAL BIBLE TO BE PUSHED OUT: A NEW NIV , DUE IN 2011, WILL REPLACE ONE THAT HAD RANKLED SOME EVANGELICALS

Chicago - When the new New International Version of the Bible is unveiled in 2011, don't look for androgynous vocabulary that had rankled some evangelicals. In fact, as soon as the latest version is published, the gender-neutral Today's New International Version will vanish.
"If we want to maintain the NIV as a Bible that English speakers around the world can understand, we have to listen to and respect the vocabulary they are using today," said Keith Danby, president of Biblica.
New Testament scholar and author Bart Ehrman doubts the revision has as much to do with the evolution of the English language as the orthodox trends in evangelical thought.
"They are changing the gender-neutral language, no doubt, because their 'base' is conservative evangelical Christians who are offended by anything that appears to have a feminist agenda behind it, not because the language has changed," Ehrman said. "If it has changed, of course, it has changed toward greater gender neutrality -- except in religiously and politically conservative circles."

Original (NIV) and gender-neutral (TNIV) passages:
Psalm 8:4
NIV: What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
TNIV: What are mere mortals that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

Matthew 7:4
NIV: How can you say to your brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
TNIV: How can you say, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

1 Corinthians 15:21
NIV: For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
TNIV: For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a human being.

RETURN OF KENYA'S PIONEER TELEVANGELISTS ( DENIS WHITE )

There are two things mankind abhors — palling around with the devil and corruption. Yet, devil worshipping and being branded among the 10 most corrupt people in Kenya were the accusations levelled against Denis White, the former prelate at Nairobi Pentecostal Church (NPC), Valley Road.
"I was hurt deeply because people didn’t have the facts and they didn’t bother to seek my explanation. However, I gave it to God and chose to walk away from it," he says. "This was my lowest moment. It was a trying moment, too, for the family and the church, but through the grace of God we triumphed."
Pastor Denis White and wife, Esther.
This was in the 1990s, when White was at the apex of his ministry. Then, anything glitzy easily attracted a stabbing finger of association with devil.
NPC attracted the cream of the middle-class and ruling elite, who would appear for Sunday service with top of the range cars.
But that is in the past. White shrugged off the slander and gallantly soldiered on. Today, he is a contented man. The church he ministered for 14 years has blossomed to even greater heights — eight branches, interests in media, education, health and even hospitality.
"I’m impressed with NPC. I’m encouraged. I made some decisions that were implemented and it is good to see that the church is progressing," he told The Standard on Saturday at Valley Road church.
At NPC, White and his wife, Ester, are celebrities of sorts.
A week ago, they jetted into the country for NPC’s 50th anniversary.
During the golden jubilee celebrations at the church on Tuesday, he stole the show from Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, who was the chief guest. People were elated to see their icon.
"He is our hero. He is our hope," said Mary Matheka, a member of NPC.

Local leadership
The attention and affection is understandable. White was the face of NPC. He gave the church a character such that former President Moi found its service irresistible. He steered the church from the backwaters of Christian ministry and placed it at par with the mainstream churches.
Importantly, he delivered the elixir – bestowed the church to a local leadership.
According to White, the decision to let an indigenous person run the church was the best he has ever made. His idea of establishing branches has also paid off. This is why NPC has managed to come this far, he argues.
"My high moments were passing the torch to Pastor (Bonifes) Adoyo and the dedication of the NPC South Karen," he says.
"When I came to Kenya as a pastor, I came feeling strongly that I should be the last expatriate on the pulpit. I felt it was high time Kenyans took over the stewardship of NPC. When the time came, I knew I had served the purpose," he says.

Televangelism
But many will remember White for pioneering radio evangelism and was easily the father of televangelism.
"I got into televangelism by default," he says. "Then the former President used to frequent my services and after that the same would be beamed on national television. That’s how it started," he explains.
"This exposure was good and bad. Good because I could reach the nation with the word; bad because society could think I was endorsing Moi," he explains.
"But I’m a strong believer of radio. It can reach the masses especially those who need the Good News most. The problem with TV is that it is not real, almost delusional. TV is instant. Life is not instant. On TV you condense time, that is not how life is," he observes.
According to White, there was an understanding that Moi attended the church purely for spiritual reasons and not because he would accrue political mileage from the association with the church.
"I’m not a politician, and my work was not to endorse politicians," White says.
"Moi told me ‘Denis, I’ve come for service, nothing else,’" he recalls.
He says being the face of NPC came accidentally.
"I even didn’t know that people strongly saw a manifestation of NPC through me. It is just the other day that people told me…I guess all this is because of the great love I have for the people and NPC. Worshipers knew that we are equal and that I didn’t come here to preside over them."
But white is also a disturbed man. While the church in Kenya is reporting numerical growth, he feels it lacks a corresponding spiritual growth.
"The growth seems to embrace numbers, not quality. If you got quantity without quality you are in trouble. This is why we are bedevilled by problems. Some of the issues could be solved if we were true Christians," he says.
The Kenyan church, he insists, needs to be holistic to address the diverse needs of the nation. He underscores the primacy of religion in societal development and calls upon the clergy to play a critical role in ensuring that "ours is a society on the straight and narrow."
After handing over to Bishop Adoyo, White travelled to Malawi briefly but he was quickly recalled to Canada because "the church there was in a crisis and our input was required."
Today, he ministers at Toronto Islington Evangelical Centre.