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Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., recently commented on the deaths of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon.

“The passing of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon takes me back to another time,” said Dr. King, “a time that certainly had its turmoil, but that also had its promises. The passing of these ’stars’ reminds me of the days when ABC was a fresh and innocent song without hints of profanity or gratuitous sex; the time before beautiful Farrah became an Angel; and Ed and Johnny gave us late night television. Those were the days and times when life was precious in America.

“The memories of Michael, Farrah, and Ed take us back 40 years and over 50 million abortions ago,” added Dr. King. “They remind me and my fellow pro-life civil rights warriors how the choices we make shape not only our lives, but the future of others. They teach us yet again that one life can touch the world.”

Priests for Life is the nation’s largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

(Source: Christian Newswire)

A new book exposes Charles Darwin as the man who separated God from science.

Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, member of the board of General Superintendents, The Wesleyan Church, was part of a nine-person international peace-building/goodwill mission to Sri Lanka.

A second hotel has been added in Atlanta to accommodate delegates who are registering for the Symposium on the Great Commission.

Friday afternoon, June 26, a man on a bicycle attacked Operation Rescue’s national headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, and attempted to disable the security system. There were four people working in the office at the time.

Operation Rescue President Troy Newman heard noise outside his office and observed the assailant through the security cameras attempting to gain access to the roof. Newman rushed outside and confronted the man, who then tried to punch Newman. When that failed, he flung his bicycle at Newman then fled the scene.

One security camera was stolen causing an estimated $1,000 in damage. No one was hurt in the fracas.

Police were called and a report was filed, but the suspect is still at large.

Ironically, at the time of the attack Newman was on the telephone giving an interview to a reporter from the Washington Times about the increase in threats against Operation Rescue staff members in the wake of the murder of late-term abortionist George Tiller.

“In light of the recent events, the targeting of our security system is troubling. We can’t help but think that if this attack happened to an abortion clinic, there would be federal marshals patrolling and investigating. The police seemed apathetic. It’s almost as if pro-lifers are second-class citizens,” said Newman.

“We are just thankful that no one was injured and that the attacker was interrupted before he could do more damage. We will be increasing our security precautions as a result of this incident. We have a very dedicated staff, and no amount of intimidation will deter us from our work.”

About Operation Rescue®

Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.

(Source: Christian Newswire)

Part one of a series on the church planting strategy of Pastor Niko Njotorahardjo of Indonesia, pastor of the largest Church of God congregation in the world.

By James Cossey

Driving recently through a major Southern city, I saw an impressive billboard for a Church of God congregation, the caption of which read, “One Church: Two Locations.” The idea that the church is not a building, but a movement of people under pastoral authority is not new; it is a biblical concept, and one that has worked well in many parts of the world for many years.

Such is the concept of Pastor Niko Njotorahardjo, a former assistant national overseer for Gereja Bethel Indonesia (the Church of God in Indonesia), and a senior pastor whose billboard could read, “One .Church: 500 Locations!”

On Sunday, January 11, 2009, I was privileged to minister to over 500 people in the 8:30 a.m. service at Bethany Church, Singapore, originally one of Pastor Niko’s congregations, now led by Senior Pastor Djohan Handojo. At the second service that morning, Donnie Smith, director of the Division of Care Ministries, preached to more than 1,200. While we worshipped, services were also being conducted in the Mandarin language for the Chinese, youth services were going on, and domestic helpers (hotel maids and workers, most of them Muslims) were being taught how to get their high school diplomas and improve their way of life. Eight services are conducted each Sunday by Bethany Church in the beautiful Hyatt Hotel.

Mentored by Pastor Niko and the son of a Gereja Bethel pastor, Djohan didn’t plan to be a pastor. He was a businessman with a degree in architecture who became a consultant for educational construction. He collaborated with institutions such as the World Bank and served in human-resource development with the Asian Development Bank (1988-1998). But today, five of seven siblings, including Djohan, are in full-time ministry.

Another such pastor is Richard Pang, who is the associate pastor for the Bethany Church’s English-speaking congregation. Meeting on the seventh floor of a commercial office building, this congregation began in 1993 as a home cell group. Comprised primarily of young, affluent Singaporeans, this growing congregation is nearing the 100 mark in regular attendance and, to accommodate their growth, is now moving into the Hyatt Hotel.

Using this mother-daughter method of church planting, Pastor Niko has spread the influence of Gereja Bethel across Indonesia and into Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and major cities all over the world where Indonesians have migrated.

–James E. Cossey is Editor in Chief of the Church of God Evangel.

© 2009 Church of God World Missions

Bruce Conn

Dr. Bruce Conn, has been elected as president of the American Society of Parasitologists, an association of more than one thousand researchers at universities, corporations, and government laboratories around the world

This is article four of a series on the missions heart of the late J. Herbert Walker, Jr., former director of Church of God World Missions.

On June 26, a shiny copper cupola was placed atop the tower of the new science and math complex at Lee University.

May 26, 2009–Cleveland, TN–Phase One of a $14 million science and math complex at Lee University is nearing completion. The project is part of the $25 million Press Toward the Mark capital campaign which has realized new scholarship funds, improved campus infrastructure and new buildings, including the new classroom complex.

Al-Qaida’s North Africa branch on Thursday said it killed an American aid worker in Mauritania this week for allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Born from our culture’s preoccupation and fear of death, the obsession with the supernatural and afterlife is everywhere in society today.

Last night’s Season Four premiere of Gospel Music Channel’s (GMC) American Idol®-style talent search series Gospel Dream had a little bit of everything:

Churches across America plan to close their doors on that Sunday to serve communities during tough economic times.

Anglicans for Life applauds the newly formed Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) for affirming the sanctity of life in its founding documents yesterday.

Chuck and Sherry Quinley, a Church of God missionary family, share about their expereinces of raising children on the missions field.

This is article three of a series on the missions heart of J. Herbert Walker, Jr.

On June 13, 2009 Russian National Overseer Vladimir Shestopalov and his family were traveling in the Moscow region when they were hit head-on by a SUV,

DETROIT, MI - A federal judge has denied an evangelical group’s request for permission to hand out Christian literature on sidewalks at an Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds denied Anaheim, Calif.-based Arabic Christian Perspective’s request for a temporary restraining order. The group describes itself in its court filing as “a national ministry established for the purpose of proclaiming the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ to Muslims …(that) travels around the country attending and distributing Christian literature at Muslim festivals and mosques.”

A lawyer for the group said it would seek a permanent injunction against the city of Dearborn. “It’s not over,” said Robert J. Muise of the Thomas More Law Center, an Ann Arbor-based Christian rights advocacy group.

Another lawyer on the case said the Dearborn officials action could be part of what he described as a broader Muslim legal attack on critics of Islam in our “Judeo-Christian nation.”

“Muslims are using the courts in this country to stop our free speech rights,” said William J. Becker Jr., a Los Angeles attorney who has represented a number of prominent critics of Islam.

The 14th annual Dearborn Arab International Festival is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors Friday through Sunday to the city that has the Detroit area’s greatest concentration of Arab-Americans.

Festival organizer Fay Beydoun said the evangelical group was being offered a good spot in an area with a number of other religious, nonprofit and political groups. “You have to pass right in front of it to get anywhere,” said Beydoun, executive director of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce.

Southeastern Michigan has about 300,000 people with roots in the Arab world. It includes large numbers of both Muslims and Christians.

The group sued Dearborn after police told the Rev. George Saieg members would need to restrict literature distribution to a designated table-and-booth section of the festival site.

The city said safely accommodating the 150,000 daily festival-goers requires limits on where people can leaflet. It said other Christian and Muslim groups already have tables and booths for distributing material at the festival.

City officials say anyone is free to have conversations — but not leaflet — on sidewalks within the festival’s barricades.

“It appears to be a legitimate governmental interest for crowd control and safety,” Edmunds said in denying the request. “The festival area is more akin to a fair than a normal city street.”

Becker said the case is similar to one he handled in Los Angeles, in which Jews for Jesus member Cyril Gordon won about $250,000 after being arrested for trespassing in 2006 outside an Israel Independence Day event in a park. “This is a case where your right, my right and anybody’s right to walk down the street and express their views is being disrupted by a police action,” he said.

An official of the Council of American-Islamic Relations said Arabic Christian Perspective was asking for special treatment. “They should abide by the rules and purchase a booth like the other religious groups,” said Dawud Walid, executive director of the group’s Michigan chapter. “Christians can talk about Christianity and Muslims can promote Islam. This is the right we have as Americans.”

(Source: OneNewsNow)

This is article two of a series on the missions heart of the late J. Herbert Walker, Jr. , former director of World Missions for the Church of God.

The Lord has been good to me in that, at various times in my life, He has given me a word of knowledge. The first one came when I was a student at the Church of God Bible School in Sevierville, TN. I was sitting on the steps of the boys’ dormitory while two girls walked around the circle by the dorm. I had never seen these girls nor did I know who they were. Turning to Johnny Carter, sitting next to me, I said, “Johnny, do you see that blond-haired girl? I am going to marry her one day.”

Later I learned that her name was Lucille and that she was three-and-a-half years older than me. I was only fifteen when I had the experience. However, because of rapid promotion in school, I found that Lucille and I were in some classes together. As time passed, the age difference between us became less important. We became good friends, and I learned of her deep interest in missions.

In the summer of 1944, Lucille studied at the University of Mexico in Mexico City and lived in the home of our pastor, Brother Ruesga. The next school year two of Brother Ruesga’s daughters came to Bible school and roomed with her. The following summer Lucille returned to the University of Mexico for another summer of study. Her interest in missions deepened. We both were active in the Missions Club, even serving as officers. Sister Avis Swiger, our sponsor, exerted a good influence over us as she shared numerous letters from missionaries and encouraged us in our prayer life to be concerned for those in world missions.

J. Herbert Walker, Jr.

Taken from The Pentecostal Minister written in 1987.

For more articles like this visit the new World Missions Centennial web site, www.wmcentennial.org.

© 2009 Church of God World Missions

Both Jesus and the Apostle Paul modeled accessibility and had close bonds with their disciples. That’s the way we should do ministry.