Faith News Network

The Christian Defense Coalition will lead an historic prayer delegation to Baghdad, leaving Tuesday, July 24. This Christian prayer delegation has been officially welcomed by the Iraqi government and will be their guests in Baghdad.

The Prayer Delegation will present to the Iraqi people an engraved stone display of the Ten Commandments as a gift from the Christian community of America.

The timeless and eternal truths enumerated in the Ten Commandments provide inspiration and direction to both our countries and cultures.

The Coalition has worked for months to arrange this trip, and in a letter hand-delivered to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Rev. Patrick Mahoney, speaking for the Coalition, says, “What happens in the next few months will have a profound impact on the future course of Iraq, the United States, and the entire region. In response to this critical hour, it is essential that we urgently humble ourselves and look to God for His sovereign grace, blessing and wisdom in all that we do.”

Rev. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, comments, “Now is the time for Americans to lay our political differences aside concerning the war in Iraq and humbly seek God for His direction.

Although there has been much debate, discussion and disagreement in our country regarding events in Iraq, there are many things Americans are united on — such as justice and mercy which will always triumph over terror and fear. We can also agree that the violence and bloodshed in Iraq must come to an end. This historic prayer initiative offers a unique opportunity to come together in one voice before God and leave our political differences at the water’s edge.

“It is important for the people of Iraq to know that the faith community of America stands with them during these challenging and difficult times.”

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(Source: Christian Newswire)

DISCLAIMER: Church of God and Faith News does not necessarily endorse or sanction all or any part of this news item.

Hundreds of culture changers will be gathering in San Antonio on October 22-24 to discuss a replacement industry for Hollywood as part of the Third Annual Christian Filmmakers Academy. The Academy, a project of Vision Ministries is designed to give Christian filmmakers the nuts-and-bolts skills to succeed in creating films for the glory of God.

By Jim Brown, OneNewsNow.com

The man who was arrested for disrupting a Hindu chaplain’s prayer in the U.S. Senate on Thursday claims he was “honoring the intentions” of America’s founding fathers and hoping to “avert the wrath of God on the nation.”

Allan Carlson, President of the Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society and John Howard, Senior Fellow, today expressed deep sadness at the death of Harold O.J. Brown, who passed away on Sunday, July 8, and called Joe “a hero of Christian faith, service and scholarship.”

By Ed Thomas, OneNewsNow.com

A church that was denied reimbursement through a Detroit city program for its building renovations because of a legal challenge by atheists, has appeared before a judge asking for summary judgment in the case filed by the atheists against the city.

St. John’s Episcopal Church, the church denied the reimbursement, was allowed entrance by the court as an intervenor in the case in December, becoming a defendant. Church legal counsel Dale Schowengerdt of Alliance Defense Fund says St. John’s made $180,000 in renovations to its exterior after contracting for 50 percent reimbursement through a Detroit Development Authority program designed to help enhance the appearance of city buildings and lots ahead of the 2006 Super Bowl. Nine of the 91 properties which were eligible participants were churches or church-owned properties.

Schowengerdt explains that “because of that, a group called American Atheists sued to have this plan declared unconstitutional.” After American Atheists v. City of Detroit was filed, the city withheld reimbursement funds to St. John’s and other church participants.

Schowengerdt and the church are out to prove the discrimination against religious organizations contradicts the Establishment Clause found in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

“The counterpart to that is the free exercise clause,” he explains, “and the [U.S.] Supreme Court has held numerous times that if you exclude religious organizations, [if] you exclude churches from a neutral program, that [is] evidence [of] hostility to religion, not neutrality.”

The ADF attorney says the atheist group’s argument is based on a “cramped interpretation” of the First Amendment. He states that reimbursement promised to a church for non-religious purposes is no more an establishment of religion than the reimbursement promised to non-religious groups.

(Source: OneNewsNow.com)

DISCLAIMER: Church of God and Faith News does not necessarily endorse or sanction all or any part of this news item.

By Allie Martin, OneNewsNow.com A Texas pastor who was sued after exercising church discipline has been handed a victory by that state’s supreme court. The lawsuit was brought by a church member who refused to repent following a divorce and remarriage.