RICK WARREN PRAISES OBAMA FOR INVITING GAY BISHOP FOR THE INAUGRATION

Rick Warren is applauding Barack Obama's decision to invite homosexual Episcopal bishop V. Gene Robinson to pray at an inauguration event next week in Washington, DC.

Christianity Today quotes a statement from Warren, who says "President-elect Obama has again demonstrated his genuine commitment to bringing all Americans of goodwill together in search of common ground. I applaud his desire to be the president of every citizen." Warren's comment came in the wake of a controversy over Obama's decision to invite Warren to give the invocation prayer at the swearing-in ceremony at next Tuesday's Presidential Inauguration.

Robinson, who became the Episcopal Church's first openly homosexual bishop back in 2003, joined other homosexual activists and their supporters in condemning Obama for inviting Warren, saying "it was like a slap in the face."

Warren has received heavy criticism for openly supporting California's Proposition 8 last November, a voter intiative that amended the Golden State's constitution to define marriage as only between one man and one woman.

Obama eventually gave into the pressure over Warren and has invited Robinson to give a prayer at another inaugural event next week.

Robinson has said he will not use the Bible when praying, and states "I will be careful not to be especially Christian in my prayer."

CHURCH GIVES BIBLE TO PRISONERS BY MARKING THE VERSES TELLING OF SALVATION

A group of ladies at St. Mark Lutheran Church believe the word of God can save lives, and that’s why they are sending more than 100 Bibles to prisoners.The ladies asked their congregation on Sunday to assist them in marking 120 Bibles for inmates of the Coffield Prison, near Palestine.

When marking a Bible, a person highlights certain verses with notes on which verse to turn to next. The verses tell the story of salvation, said Marlene Parker, who is organizing the Conroe church’s efforts.“This is the first time our ladies’ group has done this,” Parker said. “We were surprised when the prison chaplain said the prisoners prefer the King James or New King James Bibles.”[adsys_ad::instory]-->The St. Mark ladies chose to send the books to the Coffield Prison because members of the congregation know one of the inmates there.The Bibles were purchased through church donations, but they were bought at a discounted price through All Christians Together Serving (ACTS) ministries.The nonprofit organization was founded in 1994 and has since delivered 352,000 Bibles across the world, about 30,000 a year.“God blesses us,” ACTS’s executive director Paul R. Seiler said. “We just started in Texas and it went all over the world.”While many Bibles are delivered to prisons, they are also given to anywhere a group sees a need. The volunteer organization is run out of Seiler’s home, near Ft. Hood, and he sent several Bibles oversees with soldiers headed to Iraq.“It’s just awesome how the Holy Spirit works,” Seiler said.ACTS works with any organization wishing to purchase Bibles to give away. The organization has a partnership with International Bible to purchase the books at a discounted price.“Our mission is to get involved in congregations and to get them involved in their own county,” Seiler said. “One church in Houston has marked about 8,000 Bibles. I just do networking for them (the organizations). It’s a team effort.”

CHRISTIAN REFUSES TO DRIVE ' NO GOD ' BUS

LONDON — A Christian bus driver refused this week to drive a bus that displayed an atheist advertisement saying "There's probably no God" on the side, reports said on Friday.
The driver from Southampton in Hampshire reacted with "shock" and "horror" last Sunday when he saw the slogan and walked out of his shift in protest, the BBC reported.
"I was just about to board and there it was staring me in the face, my first reaction was shock horror," driver Ron Heather told BBC radio.
"I felt that I could not drive that bus, I told my managers and they said they haven't got another one and I thought I better go home, so I did," he said.
"I think it was the starkness of this advert which implied there was no God."
The protest comes amid a growing campaign by atheists that started in Britain earlier this month and has spread to Spain, with a similar initiative planned in at least one city in predominantly Catholic Italy.
The slogans have been plastered on 800 buses across Britain and in London's subway system in a move backed by the British Humanist Association (BHA).
The advertisements have been condemned by clergy in Italy and Spain, while angry Christians have protested to Britain's advertising watchdog -- asking for proof that the slogans are telling the truth.
The ads in Britain were the brainchild of comedy writer Ariane Sherine and were financed by more than 140,000 pounds in public donations.
Sherine has said she objected to Christian adverts on some London buses that carried an Internet address warning that people who rejected God would spend eternity in "torment in hell."
Sherine, 28, sought five-pound donations towards a "reassuring" counter-advertisement and won support from the BHA and atheist campaigner Professor Richard Dawkins.
Heather's employer First Bus said it would do everything it could to ensure that he did not have to drive the offending buses. After meetings with First Bus managers on Monday, Heather has agreed to return to work.