MODERNIZATION OF THE STORY AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS

The basis of Christianity are the teachings of Jesus Christ. This is an undisputed fact. While they have been passed through time in many forms and incarnations, the settings and text have remained unchanged. The Man and a Boy (published by iUniverse) by Dr. James McBride employs techniques of academic literary discourse to update the ideals and teachings of Jesus to a modern setting.
The Man and a Boy is a portrayal of Jesus as a teacher, friend and spiritual father of the little boy. The story covers approximately twelve years of the boy's life. As The Man and a Boy progresses, the boy grows from a child into a young adult. The boy gains knowledge of the words, ideas, thoughts and language of the heroes and idols that have permeated the modern world and attempts to reconcile them with the teachings of Christianity. We learn from their original works. This book is the accumulation of their ideas. I can only say that I trust and believe in the truth of their words and language.
"Steven Hawking is a theoretical physicist at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He is known for his contributions to the fields of theoretical cosmology and quantum gravity, especially in the context of black holes.
"His scientific works included theorems regarding singularities in general relativity, and the theoretical discovery that black holes emit radiation, which is known as Hawking radiation. He's written some popular best-selling science books about time and other science ideas."
"At first, I didn't understand his words from math and physics. After thinking about them, I got the general idea about theorems, general relativity, black holes, and radiation. Physics makes you think."
The boy paused before continuing. "He's a brilliant man confined to a wheelchair. His handicap has not slowed his thinking. He's disabled by ALS, known as Lou Gehrig's disease."
The Man interjected, "That gives us a good idea about Steven Hawking. Here are some more of his words. Please read them!" The Man handed the boy some papers.
Before he read the words from Steven Hawking, the boy had to brag: "I think I understand how a scientist can be a prophet of God."
Dr James McBride was born and raised in St. Louis. Dr McBride has devoted his life to learning and personal understanding so that he may extend that understanding to others.

' ROCK THE RIVER ' DRAWS OVER 13,000 BEFORE FINAL STOP

Nearly 14,000 youth and young adults came out Saturday for the third stop of the four-city “Rock the River” tour led by evangelist Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Though not as large as the crowd the week before in St. Louis, the 13,800 people who attended the “Rock the River” event at Centennial Park in Davenport, Iowa, pushed the tour’s attendance figure closer to 100,000 and included 805 decisions for Christ.
"We thank God for what he’s done,” says Graham, who leads the BGEA as president and CEO. “ We’ve come up the Mississippi River, fishing for the souls of America’s youth: kids that have never even been to church or known that people love them. This is what it is all about: taking God’s love – His son, Jesus Christ – to another generation."
In total, more than 90,000 people have so far taken part in the inaugural “Rock the River” tour, which aims to attract unchurched young people living amid the currents of secularism, postmodernism, and God-less culture.
"The country we’re living in today is different than when I grew up," says Graham. "Kids today don’t have role models. They don’t even know that God is there and cares for them. These kids need help. They are searching for someone who will love them and tell them the truth. We have the answer."
Inspired by the vision that Graham shared last September, “Rock the River” brings together the sounds of some of the nation’s top Christian rock, hip-hop, and rap artists, in addition to messages delivered by Graham.
The BGEA’s new, high-energy youth outreach has so far gained notable success - not surprising given that more than two-thirds of those who made decisions for Christ in the last few years during the ministry’s large, evangelistic crusades have been youth.
Despite statistics leaning in their favor, Graham and the BGEA have been urging the faith community to continually pray for their latest effort, noting that "it is a spiritual battle we are facing here.”
“The devil wants these kids. He wants their souls. He wants these kids in hell with him for eternity,” Graham says.
"In every battle, blood is shed. My prayer is that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ will cover those who come to the event, that many will experience forgiveness of sin. The blood for this battle was spilled 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ shed His blood on Calvary’s cross."
With Saturday’s event all wrapped up, the BGEA is now headed to the final stop of “Rock the River” – Minneapolis-St. Paul, which will gather thousands more youth and young adults on Aug. 16.
"Pray for us," urges Graham. "This is a battlefield. We are going in the name of Jesus. Pray for these kids that are lost.”

CHRISTIAN BAND ' MERCY ME ' INVOLVED IN FATAL CAR ACCIDENT

Popular Christian rock band MercyMe was involved in an automobile accident Saturday that resulted in the deaths of two people and the hospitalization of a third.
Car just hit our tour bus,” tweeted MercyMe frontman Bart Millard from his iPhone around an hour after the early morning accident. “We are ok, but 2 of the 3 in the car did not make it. The one that did is pregnant. Please start praying.”
According to The Associated Press, police in Fort Wayne, Ind., were told by witnesses that the tour bus was going through a green light about 1:15 a.m. Saturday when the car made a left turn in front of it.
Fort Wayne police officer Liza Thomas told AP that two passengers in the car died and the driver was in critical condition after losing her baby.
In a second tweet made roughly four hours after the accident, Millard had reported that the woman and the 35-week-old fetus were in stable condition.
“Can't sleep. Officers left to notify families of their loss. My heart aches. Girl driving is 35 wks pregnant. Both are stable,” he wrote around 5 a.m.
MercyMe was on their way to a show at the Six Flags theme park in St. Louis, which has been rescheduled for Sept. 5.
No injuries had been reported on the tour bus.

TEEN COMES WITH PRAYRE APPLICATION FOR iPHONE : LONESOME WITH NONE TO TALK,GETS THE IDEA TO WRITE " A NOTE TO GOD '

SACRAMENTO, Calif. For eons, people have reached out to the Almighty with prayers and supplications. Soon they might be able to use their iPhones.
Teenager Allen Wright of Fair Oaks, Calif., thought up an application for the Apple iPhone called “A Note to God.”
It lets iPhone users send prayers into cyberspace and allows them to read the prayers of others. The messages are stored in a database, and users remain anonymous.
Wright, 17, submitted his proposal to Medl Mobile, a Los Angeles startup that is developing apps for Apple to sell on its Web site. It selected “A Note to God” from 20,000 proposals.
“It's so simple, it's brilliant,” said Andrew Maltin, one of the co-founders of Medl Mobile. “We think it's going to be extremely successful.”
Wright, a junior at Del Campo High School and regular churchgoer, said he came up with the idea while lying in bed and feeling lonesome.
“If you want to send a message, and you don't have anybody to talk to, you could send a little prayer,” he said.
Apps, which iPhone users download from Apple, range from free to $5 or more. Users can play games, find restaurants or transform their iPhones into remote controls. There are hundreds of applications.
Successful apps can generate thousands or even millions of dollars for developers. Any proceeds from “A Note to God” would be shared among Apple, Medl and Wright.
If his app becomes a big seller, Wright said he'd like to use his share of the profits to go to college.
The application is not a joke, but a sincere way for people to reach out to the divine and to each other, Maltin said.
Users can read each others' prayers and be supportive by clicking on a “thumbs up” sign, he said. Otherwise, they can't leave feedback, he said.
Religious scholars welcomed the concept, although one offered a note of caution.
The Rev. James Murphy, vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, agreed the iPhone app “could be a high-tech form of prayer and an authentic way to express our desires to God.”
“There is in each one of us the need to communicate with the divine and to reach the transcendent,” he said.
But he cautioned users to question their motivations.
“Prayer is direct to God, and God should be the primary motive,” he said. “If the motive is to be seen by others, be careful. There's a sense in which prayer is private.”
He said whatever the form, prayers are heard. “God will hear it,” he said. “You don't have to have his e-mail address.”
Darleen Pryds, an expert in medieval religious practices at the Franciscan School of Theology – part of the Graduate Theological Union, in Berkeley – called the app a brilliant use of technology that brings to mind the 13th-century bells summoning people to pray.
“This application sounds to me like a call to prayer,” she said. “It creates a community of prayer, and by seeing other people's prayers, it is a reminder to pray yourself.”

Family struggles
Wright said he prays regularly and attends the New Life Community Church in Fair Oaks.
His favorite iPhone app is one that calls up quotes from Scripture.
In his suburban home on a cul-de-sac, Wright demonstrated “A Note to God.”
He said the need to write a message focuses his prayer. The messages can be as long as you want, he said.
Wright's father, Tod Wright, said he was badly hurt in a bulldozer accident two years ago and has struggled to raise his children as an out-of-work single dad.
He said his family has been through a lot in the past five years. Cancer, divorce and the death of a baby grandchild have taken their toll, he said.

Prayer outlet
The 44-year-old Wright said people need a way to reach out when they are grappling with heartache, trouble and tragedy. His son's app might provide an outlet for their prayers.
“It's going to do something for a lot of people to help them through,” he said. “Having a place you can send a message to your lost and loved ones – people you believe are your guardian angels.
“All of us could use some place to reach out,” he said. “I think Allen's is perfect.”

WIFE OF IMPRISONED UYGHUR CHRISTIAN APPEALS FOR INTERNATIONAL HELP

China ― The family of a Uyghur Christian is frustrated with the blatant injustice of his trial, China Aid Association reports. The Kashi District Intermediate People's Court in Xinjiang openly used forged documents to accuse Alimujiang Yimiti of "revealing state secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations" and claimed it didn't have to prove the documents were valid. The verdict in the case is still pending.
Yimiti's wife, Guli Nuer, their two children, and Yimiti's mother were not allowed to be present at the trial. However, Yimiti was able to smile and wave to them from a police vehicle, despite his handcuffed hands, outside the gate of the courthouse. It was the first time his family had seen him since he was arbitrarily detained at Kashi Municipal Detention Center on January 12, 2008 - 18 months ago.
Only Li Dunyong and Liang Xiaojun, the two attorneys representing Alimujiang, were allowed to attend the trial.
Alimujiang testified that he was innocent of the charge, that the charges resulted from his evangelistic activity, and that he will appeal a guilty verdict. He also expressed his gratitude for the prayers and support of others.
Yimiti's wife, Guli, also expressed appreciationl to many Christians from all over China, including Han Chinese, who have called to express their prayers and support. She and Alimujiang have two sons -- one who is three years old and another who is school-aged.
The older son "feels repressed, angry and terrified," sources have told China Aid, and "Guli Nuer also felt disappointed, not expecting that such a wrongful case in which right and wrong would otherwise be clearly distinguished could become so difficult, and that right and wrong are so confused."
Alimujiang's mother is also frustrated, having spent months petitioning authorities in the Kashi District on behalf of her son. Friends say she aged visibly during the disappointment of the recent trial.
The international community is monitoring the situation. China Aid's Bob Fu is concerned about reports from some overseas organizations that the accusations actually stem from Alimujiang's advocacy against the mistreatment of the Uyghur nationality in Xinjiang. "Bob Fu said that this claim is not based on facts and is irresponsible political hype," CAA reports.
"Alimujiang's case demonstrates that the conduct of the Kashi local government has reflected the policies of the Wang Lequan government by persecuting the innocent, while providing opportunities for Islamic extremists," Fu said. "Alimujiang is a law-abiding Christian of Uyghur nationality and a peacemaker between the Han and Uyghur Chinese citizens. Since the July 5 riot in Xinjiang, it has become evident to the world that Xinjiang government authorities need peacemakers to help bring healing and hope to the region. We call on the Xinjiang authorities to recognize their wrongful actions against Alimujiang Yimiti and immediately release him without any charges."
Contact your Chinese embassy to express your concern for Alimujiang Yimiti and Wusiman Yiming.