C U R R E N T N E W S S U M M A R Y
by the Editors at ReligionToday.com
February 15, 1999
A law exempting churches from landmark-preservation laws is
constitutional. A Sacramento, Calif., appeals court upheld a 1994
state law that allows religious organizations to alter or
demolish their historic buildings for religious or financial
purposes, the Associated Press said. The city of San Francisco
and landmark-preservation groups had challenged the law, saying
it established an unconstitutional state preference for religious
groups. A lower court ruled against the law, but the appeals
court called it proper because it removes potential hindrances to
the practice of religion.
Prayer and diplomatic efforts continue for three kidnapped
missionaries. Prayer for Rich Mankins, Dave Tenenhoff, and Mark
Rich is making a difference, Sanford, Fla.-based New Tribes
Mission (see link #1 below) says. The men were taken hostage by a
Colombian rebel group in 1991; recent unconfirmed reports
indicate they are still alive, the ministry said.
...Christians in the United States, Russia, Indonesia, and
Colombia participated in a worldwide day of prayer last month.
New York City churches organized a prayer rally outside the
United Nations Jan. 31 that drew 200 people. The U.S. Department
of State emphasized the importance of the hostages in a recent
meeting with the rebel group, and NTM's crisis team has been
meeting with congressional leaders and their staffs to seek
support for their cause.
...U.S. media are giving more coverage to efforts to free the
hostages. NBC news covered the prayer rally at the U.N. on its
national broadcast and the hostages' wives appeared on the Today
show. Fox News Network also broadcast an interview with the
wives.
Islamists in Sudan are harassing Christian college students.
Muslim students reportedly attacked an exhibition by the
Association of Christian Students at the University of Khartoum
recently. They burned 15,000 Bibles and religious books and threw
cassette tapes and thousands of small crosses into the Nile
River, World Evangelical Fellowship (see link #2 below) said.
Officials urged the Christian group to cancel the exhibition, and
are investigating the incident.
...Christians are being threatened at several colleges and
universities, and anti-Christian posters and newspaper stories
reportedly are being posted on campuses. Officials at an Islamic
university warned non-Muslim students not to engage in any
anti-Islamic activity and called on the government to confiscate
Christian buildings and materials, and urged schools to ban
Christian activities. About 300 non-Muslim students at schools
around Khartoum have fled the city.
..."The government must move quickly to ban all the activities of
the church in Sudan," school officials reportedly said.
Non-Muslims have called on the United Nations, the Red Cross, and
other human rights groups for protection. More than a third of
Sudan's 32 million population is non-Muslim. A civil war between
the Islamic north and Christian and animist south has been going
on for 15 years.
Christians in Sri Lanka prayed for persecuted believers in India.
About 3,000 Christians on the island nation off the coast of
India marched and prayed to protest violence by Hindus against
Christians, World Evangelical Fellowship said. "We are here in
the spirit of harmony and to express our concerns for our
brothers in India," Tissa Weerasinghe said. The crowd gathered at
Christ Church Galle Face to pray, then walked to the office of
the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo, the capital.
...The group presented to the High Commissioner a list of
atrocities reportedly committed against Christians and a petition
asking the government to protect them. Officials of the
Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka and the Evangelical Fellowship
of Asia participated. Christians in Sri Lanka have also been
persecuted; the Calvary Prayer Center in Udagampola was attacked
and burned Jan. 1.
Hindu priests "reconverted" 150 Christian tribal people in India.
The men and women in Dindori came forward in groups of 15 to
receive the prayers and blessings of a Hindu priest who
encouraged them to be true to the faith, the Associated Press
said. Dilip Singh Judeo, a federal legislator and Hindu political
party member, participated in the event. He has led protests
against Christian missionary activity. "There are enough
Christians in the world. There is no need to convert Hindus to
Christianity," he said as he washed the feet of the tribespeople.
The head of Romania's Orthodox Church invited the pope to visit.
The trip would be the pope's first to a mainly Orthodox country.
Prime Minister Radu Vasile invited John Paul to Romania during a
visit to Rome last year and Patriarch Teoctist issued his
invitation after a church synod agreed to the proposal. The
Vatican (see link #3 below) said the pope might visit before the
end of the year if the Orthodox continue working toward settling
a dispute with Greek Catholics over church properties, Reuters
said. The Communist government seized more than 2,000 Greek
Catholic church buildings and turned them over to the Orthodox
when it outlawed the faith in 1948. The 5 million-member Greek
Catholic Church, which is loyal to the pope but practices
Orthodox worship styles, wants the churches returned.
Henry Lyons did not intentionally mislead the Anti-Defamation
League, a secretary testified. The National Baptist Convention
USA (see link #4 below) president is accused of stealing $225,000
that the ADL contributed toward rebuilding black churches that
were firebombed, the Associated Press said. Church secretary
Deborah Blake said she sent a letter to the ADL indicating that
he gave the money to the churches before Lyons told her to. Lyons
dictated the letter on tape and she transcribed it and stamped
his name to it, she said. "I was just so new at that time," she
said at Lyons' trial. Lyons says he intended to distribute the
money after investigating the needs of several churches. Florida
state prosecutors said he used the money to put $60,000 in his
bank account, gave $12,000 to his wife, made payments to his
credit card, and redecorated his house.
Eight Christians are still imprisoned in Laos. Officials in
Vientiane, the capital, arrested 44 people, including three
Americans, in a raid on a Bible study last year, Compass Direct
News said. The government released all the Christians except
eight, most of whom are with the American relief agency Partners
in Progress. Police reportedly have been following the other
Christians since their release. Authorities in Luang Prabang
province released three Christians from prison in December, and a
fourth was to be released in January.
-----------
RELATED LINKS:
1: http://www.ntm.org
2: http://www.WorldEvangelical.org
3: http://www.vatican.va
4: http://www.nbcusa.org
-----------
Current Feature Story from ReligionToday.com:
Americans push God away, evangelist says
An evangelist known for preaching to crowds of hundreds of
thousands of people in Third World nations is turning his
attention to the United States.
Read more at http://www.religiontoday.com/CurrentFeatureStory/
-----------
Today in LiveIt!
"Make sure that your thought-life belongs to God"
Have you given your mind over to God? Or do you still
harbor selfish attitudes, hateful feelings, or wayward
thoughts? Learn how to walk with God in your mind.
Read more at http://www.liveit.net/inspiration/insp19990215.html
-----------
News from ReligionToday.com is Copyrighted by Media
Management. Content may be reproduced provided proper
credit is given to www.ReligionToday.com. Please go to
http://www.GOSHEN.net/Copyright.html to be sure you
meet all legal requirements.
---
Thank you for subscribing to Current News Summary as:
[[EMAIL PROTECTED]]. To unsubscribe, forward this message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--------- End forwarded message ----------
--------- End forwarded message ----------
___________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
_______
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Eat the hay & spit out the sticks!" RTKB&G4JC!
Autoresponder: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://rangernet.org
