The situation of Iranian pastor, Yousef Nadarkhani, is getting more dire. Right now, he is facing one of two outcomes. Either he must face execution or be forced to become a Muslim. Here’s the latest: A pastor in Iran found guilty of leaving Islam is awaiting the outcome of a judicial investigation into his spiritual background to see if he will be executed or forced to become a Muslim, according to Christian groups with ties in Iran… The court’s ruling, which took a month to reach Christian and human rights groups outside of Iran, said that according to Islamic Republic Criminal Law, the matter must be “further investigated to prove…
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Michele Bachmann and Wifely Submission
The Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog is hosting a discussion of Lisa Miller’s column on evangelical “feminism.” But don’t confuse this “feminism” with egalitarianism. Here’s what Miller means by “feminism” of the evangelical stripe: A “feminist” is a fiscally conservative, pro-life butt-kicker in public, a cooperative helpmate at home, and a Christian wife and mother, above all. Rep. Michele Bachmann is Exhibit A. With her relentless attacks on big government and a widely circulated 2006 video in which she credits her professional success to the submission of her will to Jesus and her husband, Bachmann represents “a new definition of feminism.” The roundtable discussion that follows includes three other women…
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Rick Perry’s Backtracking on Gay Marriage
With public opinion seeming to move in favor of gay marriage (see my previous post), I guess it should be no surprise that politicians would be trimming their sails to the prevailing winds as well. Still, I was unhappy to hear the news that Governor Rick Perry took a libertarianish stance on the issue in remarks made at a Republican fundraiser last week. Commenting on the legalization of gay marriage in New York, he said this:
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Majority of Americans Say Homosexuality Is Okay
From ChristianityToday.com: From 1973 to 2010, the General Social Survey (GSS) has asked Americans if they think sexual relations between same-sex couples are wrong. Up until 2008, a majority of Americans have answered that such behavior is ‘always wrong.’ But the latest GSS, conducted in 2010, finds that only 46 percent of Americans hold this position.
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Chilling Testimonial from a Norway Shooting Survivor
Emma Martinovic is an 18-year old survivor of the massacre in Norway last week. The Guardian has translated a portion from her blog in which she describes the carnage and how she swam away to safety. She writes: A young boy came swimming up to me. I looked at him and said: “For someone so young you’re a strong swimmer.” He looked at me and replied: “My daddy is dead.” I said to him: “Don’t look back, just keep swimming for your dad. You’re doing really great.” To this he answered: “I thought the police were supposed to be kind to us.” The anger that swelled up in me gave…
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John Stott, RIP (1921-2011)
Christianity Today is reporting that John Stott passed away this afternoon at the age of 90. His death comes after “complications related to old age.” In his final hours, family and friends gathered to him to listen to Handel’s Messiah one last time. He passed away at 3:15pm London time. It is be difficult to overstate the influence that John Stott has had on generations of evangelicals. He combined a pastor’s heart with an academic mind and was prolific in both his preaching and his books. In the coming days you will hear testimonials from evangelicals worldwide who have been shaped by his ministry.
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A Year with George Herbert
If you are not familiar with the poetry of George Herbert, you need to be. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, “I love George Herbert from my very soul.” In fact, Spurgeon loved the poetry of George Herbert so much, he used to have his wife read the poems to him every Sunday evening after church. Mrs. Spurgeon described their evenings this way: I read on and on for an hour or more, till the peace of Heaven flows into our souls, and the tired servant of the King of kings loses his sense of fatigue, and rejoices after his toil.
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Her Dad Was a Porn Addict
Michelle VanLoon has a gut-wrenching testimony of her father’s porn addiction. She shows that pornography not only destroys marriages, it also wreaks havoc on relationships between children and parents. She writes:
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Which presidential candidate is winning the race for the most Twitter followers?
Which presidential candidate (or potential candidate) is winning the race for Twitter followers? Here’s how the race shakes out among the current front-runners:
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Abolishing the Defense of Marriage Act
The debate about the debt ceiling has dominated the news for the last couple of weeks. As a result, many people missed a significant news story last week. The Senate Judiciary Committee held the first hearing ever held to consider abolishing The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Michael Foust reports: Wednesday’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee marked the first time any Senate or House committee ever held a hearing on overturning the 1996 law, which defines marriage for federal purposes as between a man and a woman and gives states the option of not recognizing another state’s gay “marriages.” Gay groups view its reversal as the first step toward…