PASTOR SETS WORLD RECORD IN FREE THROWING FOR FUND RAISING OF HIS CHURCH

It was a Friday night, and the crowd was abuzz with excitement as 6' 5" All-American forward Perry Dissmore confidently stepped to the free throw line. But would he make it? Would the ball float effortlessly through the air and cause the strings to "pop" as it dropped through the net . . . or would the ball drift slightly and bound off the rim?
Over the next hour, Pastor Perry Dissmore, now 38 and no longer a star forward for North Central Bible College (now North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota), would possibly ask himself that question subconsciously about 2,300 times on his way to a new world record....
Dissmore, who pastors Bear Creek Assembly of God in Panama City, Florida, has used his free throw shooting talent in the past to help raise money for building projects and other events, as people pledged funds per basket. But last year, Dissmore met with Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge (BGMC) Director David Boyd and some missionaries during a trip to Mexico. Boyd challenged Dissmore to do something with his talent that was "fantastic" to raise money BGMC.
"I went home and started investigating world records," Dissmore recalls. "I learned that the record for the most free throws made in an hour was 1,663 - about 28 free throws per minute. I didn't think I stood a chance at breaking the record . . . , but I discovered I could shoot free throws a lot faster than I originally thought."
But could he make a free throw faster than one every 2.16 seconds?
When Dissmore started practicing for the effort this past February, the attempt to break the record seemed out of reach. He was an excellent free throw shooter in college (88 to 90 percent), but now he was shooting in rapid-fire fashion and the record was "so far away, it seemed futile." But the more he practiced, the better he became.
Finally, after weeks of practice, he felt like he was within striking range of the record. So, he approached West Florida District Council Secretary Treasurer Mark Jakelsky with the idea of making this world record attempt the BGMC district fund-raiser. Jakelsky liked the idea so much, the district even created a DVD promoting the effort and encouraging churches throughout the district to help generate enthusiasm and pledges for the attempt.
"We have three specific ministries we're looking to help with BGMC funds through this effort," Dissmore says. "Fountain of Life school in Haskova, Bulgaria; Joyland, which ministers to and helps injured and orphaned children in Kenya; and job skill training for young mothers in Pakistan."
"Those pastors who have seen the DVD have loved the video and had an exceptional response to it," states Jakelsky. "We also developed a brochure for the event to help individual churches promote it and raise pledges. Our goal was to raise $50,000 for BGMC - and we're now just starting to see some of those pledges come in."
The date for the world record attempt was set for Friday, October 9, 2009. At 7:20 p.m. (Central), Dissmore stepped to the free throw line in the Chipola College gymnasium in Marianna, Florida, and with 200-300 witnesses and cameras rolling, he began his assault on the record books.
"It was really loud in there," Dissmore says. "The people were cheering and encouraging me . . . usually, every time I do it [shooting free throws for an hour in practice], I am completely wiped out by the end, but not this time . . . with the kids from all over the district there, it was an incredible adrenaline rush."
Dissmore felt confident he could break the record as he had done so before in practices. However, now his goal was to break 1,900 - a feat that would smash the world record, but something he had never accomplished in practice. An hour later, with the crowd cheering and Dissmore methodically firing up shots, the buzzer sounded, the hour was over and ball No. 1,926 dropped through the net . . . and pandemonium broke loose.
As "We Are the Champions" blared over the loud speakers, Dissmore's wife Nicole gave him a "big kiss" and the fans watching from the bleachers stormed the court, cheering and yelling and asking for autographs from the new world record holder.
"I was surrounded by people - the kids were everywhere," Dissmore recalls. "It was a very humbling when they asked for my autograph, so I spent some time doing that and talking with the kids . . . it became a neat celebration as we rejoiced in what God did that night."
"When I spoke to Perry, I just sensed a heart of compassion for the lost," says Marshall Bruner, Compassion Ministries coordinator for BGMC. "Sacrifice from people such as Perry and others - all raising money for BGMC - speaks volumes to their commitment to seeing people throughout the world come to know Christ as their personal Savior."
To place into perspective what Dissmore accomplished in shattering the old world record by 263 baskets (which is currently being verified by Guinness), first one has to understand that he "only" made about 84 percent of his shots (taking 2,300 to make 1,926). That's more than 38 free throws in a minute - and he would make 32 of them. In other words, in the three or four minutes it took to read this article, Dissmore would have shot well over 100 times - shooting a free throw every 1.57 seconds (and making a free throw, on average, every 1.87 seconds)!
According to Jakelsky, the world record attempt received great press and television coverage, helping to create a greater awareness of BGMC and the Assemblies of God within the district. However, the district is no stranger to BGMC. Although it's one of the smaller districts in the Assemblies of God (35th out of 61), it has been in the top 10 in giving to BGMC the last two years.
"Whether we hit our goal of $50,000 or not, we know children are going to be helped through this effort," Jakelsky says. "This is just part of what we're doing [for BGMC], and helps show how our district feels about helping children and BGMC."

OM RELEASES NEW RECRUITMENT DVD

Thanks to Operation Mobilization Asia Challenge Teams (ACT), now you can see what it would be like to serve in Asia. The ACT program offers potential missionaries the opportunity to travel to various locations in Asia and experience diverse cultures and peoples.
A new recruiting DVD recently arrived to educate people about mission programs in Southern and Eastern Asia. The DVD targets individuals between the ages of 18 and 30 years old.
There are three versions of the DVD, and each gives prospective missionaries a taste of Asia. An overview of ACT's one- and two-year programs is contained in the 2-minute version. More detail is included in the 5-minute version, and ACT's 8-minute version gives the greatest amount of detail. This version features interviews and personal testimonies from previous ACT workers.
Teams of 3 to 4 people from different nationalities are placed in locations around South and East Asia. They experience a wide variety of activities, as well as the Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist cultures. Most learning comes from working alongside nationals and serving the local church. Teams are moved to a different location about every 6 months.
Pray that this resource will be widely used and will stir God's people into action. Pray that lives will be changed through this video, and that it will generate prayer and support for ACT's work in Asia.
Click here to watch the 2-minute version, or visit the ACT Web site.

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER JOSE SARMAGO SLAMS BIBLE AS A " HANDBOOK OF BAD MORALS "

LISBON — A row broke out in Portugal on Monday after a Nobel Prize-winning author denounced the Bible as a "handbook of bad morals".
Speaking at the launch of his new book "Cain", Jose Saramago, who won the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature, said society would probably be better off without the Bible.
Roman Catholic Church leaders accused the 86-year-old of a publicity stunt.
The book is an ironic retelling of the Biblical story of Cain, Adam and Eve's son who killed his younger brother Abel.
At the launch event in the northern Portuguese town of Penafiel on Sunday, Saramago said he did not think the book would offend Catholics "because they do not read the Bible".
"The Bible is a manual of bad morals (which) has a powerful influence on our culture and even our way of life. Without the Bible, we would be different, and probably better people," he was quoted as saying by the news agency Lusa.
Saramago attacked "a cruel, jealous and unbearable God (who) exists only in our heads" and said he did not think his book would cause problems for the Catholic Church "because Catholics do not read the Bible.
"It might offend Jews, but that doesn't really matter to me," he added.
Father Manuel Marujao, the spokesman for the Portuguese conference of bishops, said he thought the remarks were a publicity stunt.
"A writer of Jose Saramago's standing can criticise, (but) insults do no-one any good, particularly a Nobel Prize winner," the priest said.
Rabbi Elieze Martino, spokesman for the Jewish community in Lisbon, said the Jewish world would not be shocked by the writings of Saramago or anyone else.
"Saramago does not know the Bible," the rabbi said, "he has only superficial understanding of it."
The author caused a scandal in Portugal in 1992 with "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ."
The book depicted Jesus losing his virginity to Mary Magdalene and being used by God to control the world.
Saramago quit Portugal at the time and moved to Lanzarote, in the Spanish Canary Islands

NEW VATICAN PLANS LETS ANGLICANS CONVERT EASIER

VATICAN CITY—The Vatican announced a stunning decision Tuesday to make it easier for Anglicans to convert, reaching out to those who are disaffected by the election of women and gay bishops to join the Catholic Church's conservative ranks.
Pope Benedict XVI approved a new church provision that will allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while maintaining many of their distinctive spiritual and liturgical traditions, including having married priests.
Cardinal William Levada, the Vatican's chief doctrinal official, announced the new provision at a new conference.
In the past, such exemptions had only been granted in a few cases in certain countries. The new church provision is designed to allow Anglicans around the world to access a new church entity if they want to convert.
The decision immediately raised questions about how the new provision would be received within the 77-million strong Anglican Communion, the global Anglican church, which has been on the verge of a schism over divisions within its membership about women bishops, an openly gay bishop and the blessing of same-sex unions.
The Anglican's spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, downplayed the significance of the new provision and said it wasn't a Vatican commentary on Anglican problems.
"It has no negative impact on the relations of the communion as a whole to the Roman Catholic church as a whole," he said in London.
Conservative Party lawmaker Ann Widdecombe, who left the Church of England because of its policies for the Catholic Church, welcomed the Vatican's decision.
"I'm delighted if it does become easier, because when we had the last big exodus in 1992 over the ordination of women, the Catholic Church was not ready," she said in London. "There were enormous discrepancies up and down the country, and the direction from the Vatican came late in the day."
The new Catholic church entities, called personal ordinariates, will be units of faithful established within local Catholic Churches, headed by former Anglican prelates who will provide spiritual care for Anglicans who wish to be Catholic.
They would most closely resemble Catholic military ordinariates, special units of the church established in most countries to provide spiritual care for the members of the armed forces and their dependents.
"(This will) facilitate a kind of corporate reunion of Anglican groups" into the Catholic Church, Levada said.
Anglicans split with Rome in 1534 when English King Henry VIII was refused a marriage annulment.
The new canonical provision is a response to the many requests from Anglo-Catholics who want to come back, increasingly disillusioned with the progressive bent of the Anglican Communion. Many have already left and consider themselves Catholic but have not found an official home in the 1.1-billion strong Catholic Church.
By welcoming them in with their own special provision, Benedict has confirmed the increasingly conservative bent of his church. The decision follows his recent move to rehabilitate four excommunicated ultra-conservative bishops, including one who denied the full extent of the Holocaust, in a bid to bring their faithful back under the Vatican's wing.
Levada declined to give figures on the number of requests that have come to the Vatican, or on the anticipated number of Anglicans who might take advantage of the new structure.
One group, known as the Traditional Anglican Communion, has made its bid to join the Catholic Church known. The fellowship, which split from the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1990, says it has spread to 41 countries and has 400,000 members, although only about half are regular churchgoers.
The new canonical provision allows married Anglican priests and even seminarians to become ordained Catholic priests—much the same way that Eastern rite priests who are in communion with Rome are allowed to be married. However, married Anglicans couldn't become Catholic bishops.
The Vatican announcement immediately raised questions about how the Vatican's long-standing dialogue with the Archbishop of Canterbury could continue. Noticeably, no one from the Vatican's ecumenical office on relations with Anglicans attended the news conference; Levada said he had invited representatives to attend but they said they were all away from Rome.
Just last week, the Vatican's top ecumenical official, Cardinal Walter Kasper, told reporters: "We are not fishing in the Anglican pond," when asked about the Vatican's negotiations with would-be converts.
Levada stressed that ecumenical dialogue with the global Anglican church would remain a priority. But he said the goal of that dialogue for 40 years had been to achieve "full visible unity."
To downplay suggestions of poaching, the Catholic archbishop of Westminster and Williams, the Anglican leader, issued a joint statement saying the decision "brings an end to a period of uncertainty" for Anglicans wishing to join the Catholic Church.
And at a press conference in London, Williams tried to put the best face on the decision.
"It has no negative impact on the relations of the communion as a whole to the Roman Catholic church as a whole," he said.
But Williams' representative in Rome, the Very Rev. David Richardson, called the Vatican's decision "surprising," given that the Catholic Church in the past had welcomed individual Anglicans in without creating what he called "parallel structures" for entire groups of converts.
"The two questions I would want to ask are 'why this and why now,'" he told The Associated Press. "Why the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has decided to embrace that particular method remains unclear to me."
Also unclear, he said, was the Vatican's target audience: those Anglicans who have already left the Anglican Communion, or current members. Levada said it covered both.
"If it's for former Anglicans, then it's not about our present difficulties, then it's people who have already left," Richardson said. If it's current Anglicans, "There is in my mind an uncertainty for whom it is intended."
The Anglican Communion has been roiled for years over disagreement on the role of women. But the long-standing divisions over how Anglicans should interpret the Bible erupted in 2003 when the Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
Williams has struggled ever since to keep the church from splitting, frustrated by moves by churches in the United States, Canada and elsewhere to bless gay relationships.
At least four conservative U.S. dioceses and dozens of individual Episcopal parishes have voted to leave the national denomination since 2003, with many affiliating themselves instead with like-minded Anglican leaders in African and elsewhere.
The Vatican announcement was kept under wraps until the last moment: The Vatican only announced Levada's briefing Monday night, and Levada only flew back to Rome at midnight after briefing Catholic bishops and Williams about the decision.

ELIZABETH CLARE PROPHET DIES AT 70 : FORMER LEACER OF SPIRITUAL SECT

Elizabeth Clare Prophet, retired spiritual leader of the Church Universal and Triumphant, which was based for several years in a Calabasas headquarters called Camelot and gained notoriety in the late 1980s for its followers' elaborate preparations for nuclear Armageddon, has died. She was 70.

Prophet, who had Alzheimer's disease, died Thursday in Bozeman, Mont., her legal guardian, Murray Steinman, told the Associated Press.The church's beliefs combined aspects of the world's major religions, mixing Western philosophy with mysticism.

Despite Prophet's illness, her videos and writings continued to dominate teaching in the church, which has transformed into a New Age publishing enterprise and spiritual university.Prophet was called "Guru Ma" by her followers, who believe she received "dictations" from such "ascended masters" as Jesus, Buddha and St. Germain.

She retired in 1999 from an active role in the church, which once had about 50,000 members.Elizabeth Clare Wulf was born April 8, 1939, in Red Bank, N.J. She grew up in a Christian Science environment, she told The Times in 1980, but by age 9 had gone "to every church in town" only to find that none taught "the whole truth. . . . I found that within the self.

"She was a political science student at Boston University when she met Mark L. Prophet, who in 1958 founded the Summit Lighthouse, which teaches practical spirituality using the world's major religions.After earning her bachelor's degree, they were married in 1963.In 1966, Summit Lighthouse moved to Colorado Springs.

Mark Prophet died in 1973 and Elizabeth Clare Prophet assumed the leadership of Summit Lighthouse.She founded the Church Universal and Triumphant, as well as Summit University and Summit University Press. The church moved to Pasadena in 1977 and bought the estate in Calabasas the next year.In 1981, the church purchased a remote, 12,000-acre site in Montana adjoining Yellowstone National Park from magazine publisher Malcolm S. Forbes.

Prophet, close associates and followers started moving to Montana in 1983, she said. "We felt we were divinely led here," she told The Times in 1987. "You know it is easier to meditate here than it is in Los Angeles. You have 10 million auras in Los Angeles and here you have wide open space.

"The Calabasas property was sold to Soka University in 1986. The same year, a former church follower who had been expelled in a dispute over money was awarded $1.5 million in a suit against Prophet and the church. Gregory Mull alleged that he had been subjected to a form of thought control.

Prophet's then-husband, church official Edward Francis, said the jury got inaccurate information and that the church and its beliefs "had been put on trial."In the late 1980s, news reports said Prophet expected a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union, and at least 2,000 church followers headed to the Montana ranch, stockpiling weapons and supplies. The ranch included a large underground bomb shelter.

Prophet told The Times in 1991 that newspapers had distorted her statements, "literally fabricating that I had predicted the end of the world. Even if there is a nuclear war, I believe we can survive it. I don't think it's the end of the planet."Prophet's books included "Climb the Highest Mountain" with Mark Prophet in 1972 and "The Lost Years of Jesus" in 1984. She also founded, with Mark Prophet, a school based on the Montessori educational principles.She is survived by her children, Erin, Moira, Tatiana, Sean and Seth.