Indian Christians have been accused of offering illegal inducements for conversion. Some followers of Jesus have paid a high price indeed. An account by Anand Mahadevan, however, talks about a heart that has been strangely warmed.

When I was 19, a Christian friend with whom I used to play cricket invited me to his house for prayer. If he had invited me to a pub, or party, I would have gone too. At his home, he and his sister prayed for me. It was a simple yet delightful conversation with God that lasted all of five minutes. I don't remember it verbatim, but they articulated a prayer of blessing on my life, future, career and family. It was a simple affair - no miracles, no angels visiting. All they did was utter a deep human cry out to the creator God and His only son Jesus Christ. When they said Amen, I felt in my heart a desire to follow Jesus.

Posted by Stan Guthrie at October 31, 2008 9:06AM | Comments (4)

Update: Thursday, 30 October, 2008; 13:00 cdt

Familes from the Goma region flee renewed violence this week. (World Vision, 2008)

Americans love their new cellphones and laptop computers, and I'm no different. But few of us can truly appreciate our piece of the puzzle in the bigger picture of what we see unfolding in eastern Congo, one of the world's most dysfunctional places.

While Americans have been worrying about their investments, the weak economy, and global economics, the city of Goma, DR Congo, has been sliding toward renewed violence for weeks. Goma is critical in this region of Africa because it has evolved into a staging ground for the United Nations' huge peace-keeping force and for much humanitarian work.

Here's the latest off the news wire:

The rebel general besieging Congo's eastern provincial capital Goma said Thursday he wants direct talks with the government about ending fighting in the region and his objections to a $5 billion deal that gives China access to the country's vast mineral riches in exchange for a railway and highway. Laurent Nkunda told The Associated Press in a telephone interview he also wants the urgent disarmament of a Rwandan Hutu militia that he accuses of preying on his minority Tutsi people.

Granted, Nkunda casts himself in a positive light here. That is but one part of a complex story. This new conflict in eastern Congo has a deeply economic element. Global demand for scarce minerals means certain raw materials that don't require huge mining operations lend themselves toward smuggling.

The concept of "blood diamonds" has captured the imagination of film-makers. It's much harder to address the same issue with coltan and cobalt. But it's true. Coltan is used in cell phones and laptops. Cobalt is extensively used in batteries. In some cases, the products of small-scale, illicit mining operations in eastern Congo and elsewhere end up in manufacturing plants in Asia and the West.

If you are doubtful about this new reality, consider the following development. China has cash in hand seeking trade agreements in an amazing number of African states, in search of oil, minerals, and other natural resources to supply its plants in the manufacture of consumer electronics and many other goods.

Here's what the BBC had to say recently:

"China is hungry for minerals and Africa has rich reserves of cobalt and copper," says Li Xiao Dong, who runs the factory. "Africa is full of opportunities - it's just like China when we started opening up a few years ago." Africa's minerals are vital for China. For the Communist Party the bags of minerals stacked up in the Huayou factory warehouse mean social stability. China has a billion people who want a better life. They want to buy TVs, cars and fridges. China simply does not have enough natural resources of its own to meet their needs. So, in order to keep its people happy and stable, it has to get its raw materials - oil, copper, zinc, cobalt - from abroad. And Africa has what China needs.

The bottom line is that the struggle in eastern Congo is far from over. If it reignites the simmering tensions between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority throughout this region of Africa, even Hotel Rwanda itself would not be 100 percent safe place.

There are Christian missions and churches throughout this region. Click here for the 2006 CT cover story on Congo.

Posted by Tim Morgan at October 30, 2008 1:00PM | Comments (1)

Christianity Today has launched a new line of podcasts that include editorials, and news and books commentaries. You can subscribe to the RSS feed, iTunes feed, or search for "Christianity Today" on the iTunes store.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at October 29, 2008 4:45PM | Comments (1)

Hu Jia, who was among those named in our map of pre-Olympic arrests in China, was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

The European Parliament gives out the prestigious annual award. Their press release says:

Hu Jia is a prominent human rights activist and dissident in the People's Republic of China. He has embraced a wide range of causes, including environmental issues, HIV/AIDS advocacy and a call for an official enquiry into the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. He has also acted as a coordinator of the 'barefoot lawyers movement'.

Having already been arrested several times, he spoke to MEPs in November 2007 from house arrest via conference call during a public meeting of the EP Human Rights Subcommittee on human rights in China in the run-up to the Olympic Games. As a result he was charged by the authorities with "inciting subversion of state power" and sentenced on 3 April 2008 to three-and-a-half years in jail.

The prize puts China - which is reportedly pretty steamed - in the awkward position of having an internationally recognized lawyer in prison.

The U.S. State Department and other organizations are demanding Hu's release: "We are deeply concerned about the imprisonment of human rights activist Hu Jia and have pressed the Chinese authorities for his immediate release on many occasions and at the highest level," State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid told The Age.

Although the European Parliament statement, the Wikipedia page, and reports by The New York Times, BBC, and others don't mention it, Hu is a Christian and one of many Christian human rights activists fighting for human rights in China.

* * *

While one source listed Hu Jia as a Christian, he is a Buddhist, according to China Aid and others. My apologies.

Posted by Susan Wunderink at October 24, 2008 10:05AM | Comments (1)

Says David G. Meyers, professor of psychology at Hope College:

Ridiculous, and worse. So say the new atheist books: In God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens does not mince words, calling religion "violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children." Now Bill Maher's movie Religulous lampoons the plausibility and social effects of all religion, ominously concluding that the world will end if religion does not end. But I suggest that social science data point to a different conclusion.

For the whole post, click here.

Hat tip: David G. Meyers, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Posted by Stan Guthrie at October 23, 2008 11:28AM | Comments (7)

Oral Roberts University reached a settlement with two former professors who sued the university a year ago, alleging that they were wrongfully terminated, the Tulsa World reports.

The details of the settlement were confidential. The professors alleged that they were forced out after detailing financial and ethical wrongdoing by Richard Roberts, the school's former president who resigned last year.

Christianity Today has followed the developments at ORU on the higher education section of liveblog, and CT also recently published a lengthy article detailing the school's path to healing.

The university has gone through rapid changes in the past year, including new leadership. Mart Green, whose family founded Hobby Lobby and the Mardel Christian stores chain, was made chairman of the board of trustees. (Clarification) Cameron Strang, founder of Relevant magazine, told me earlier this month that he has also been added to the board of trustees at his alma mater.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at October 23, 2008 12:17AM | Comments (0)

For those invested in the evolving origins debate, Beliefnet's Blogalogue today features a lively letter exchange between Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis USA, which opened the Creation Museum last spring, and Karl Giberson, director of the forum on faith and science at Gordon College, and author most recently of Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution.

Of particular interest is how autobiography has in no small way shaped each scientist's convictions. Ham's family was one of few Christians in rural Australia. His father, a school principal, showed a deep commitment to studying Scripture and defending its authority, which Ham likewise sees as part of his mission. Giberson also grew up in a Bible-believing church, in rural New Brunswick, Canada. But he faced something of a crisis of faith upon attending Eastern Nazarene University, whose science and religion faculty did not teach creationism. Giberson eventually embraced theistic evolution, or the view that God creates via natural processes over billions of years.

Both Giberson and Ham have become somewhat predictable go-to men for the sound bites necessary to write origins-related news stories, but their letter exchange nonetheless provides fresh insight:

Karl Giberson on genetics [from "Why I Am Not a Creationist"]:

Recent discoveries in genetics reveal that humans share almost all their genes with primates and other animals. If these genes were all functional and did something meaningful--like make blood clot, or give us two lungs--we could suppose that God used common genetic tools to make different species. But many of these genes are completely nonfunctional and do nothing. Some of them, called pseudogenes, are mutated copies of functioning genes.

They sit irrelevantly beside functioning genes, not needed because their neighbors are doing all the work. There are so many different possibilities for pseudogenes that we would never expect, from a statistical point of view, for different species to have identical pseudogenes, unless they inherited them from a common ancestor. The distribution of these and other genes in different species strongly suggests that these species are related and were not created independently. Why does genetic research point so strongly toward common ancestry if common ancestry is not true?

The evidence from genetics is compelling and trustworthy. We have confidence in genetics to establish biological kinship in legal cases, such as paternity suits; that same genetics now indicates biological kinship among species and we should accept that as well.

Ken Ham on Jesus' interpretation of Genesis [from "The Bible Teaches Creationism"]:

[I]f Genesis (and the rest of the Bible) is a revelation to us from an infinite God, it must be self attesting and self authenticating--and Scripture must interpret Scripture. I checked out the New Testament. Jesus (the Son of God--the Truth--the Word) quoted from Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24 in Matthew 19: 4-6 when discussing the doctrine of marriage. Obviously Jesus (and Paul in Ephesians 5) referred to Genesis as literal history in building the doctrine of marriage being one man and one woman (and the whole understanding of one flesh--Eve came from Adam, as it also states in 1 Corinthians 11:8). . . .

As a Christian, my father had also shown me that the gospel message (the good news of salvation in Christ) was founded on the literal history in Genesis--as Paul in the New Testament makes obvious in passages such as Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. I therefore saw the importance of standing on the authority of God's Word and determined there was a problem with what I was being taught at school--even if at that time I couldn't resolve it back then. I needed to search for answers--and I did. It began a journey that has led me to where I am today.

See more of Christianity Today's science-related coverage here.

Posted by Katelyn Beaty at October 21, 2008 2:54PM | Comments (5)

Taliban soldiers killed a Christian aid worker from South Africa in a drive-by motorcycle shooting. Gayle Williams, 34, had been working for the UK ministry SERVE Afghanistan for two years and had recently moved to Kabul for safety. One of her colleagues found her on the pavement at 8 this morning.

Zabiullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, told The Times "The reason that we killed her was because she was spreading Christianity." The Taliban took credit publicly, "saying on its Web site that it killed the ?foreign woman' for preaching Christianity in the country and adding that it had been following the woman for some time," CNN reported.

SERVE Afghanistan's chairman of the board, Mike Lyth, emphasized to The Times that the organization is not involved in evangelism. "We have a policy of not (preaching Christianity), so she certainly wasn't involved in that. She was only doing missionary work, if that means living a Christian life and helping disabled people. She spoke only a little Pashtun and Farsi."

The Times reports 28 killings of aid workers, 72 kidnappings, and 146 security incidents involving NGOs this year (the 2007 count was 135 for the whole of last year, according to the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office).

The Guardian also spoke to Lyth about the future of SERVE Afghanistan:

Lyth said the charity would now have to take a "long, hard look" at its operations.

"I personally have been very concerned about security for a long time, but we have tried to take all possible measures to reduce the threat."

"We train our people really carefully. We are in daily touch with the security authorities to find out which roads we shouldn't be on, which parts of the country we shouldn't go to."

"Each time something like this happens, you wonder: do you go on exposing people to unnecessary risk? Yet at the same time, you have got the cry of many, many of the Afghans saying, 'Please help us'. You're caught between a rock and a hard place."

Posted by Susan Wunderink at October 20, 2008 12:20PM | Comments (8)

The President signed the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act on October 8. The legislation aims "to increase the provision of scientifically sound information and support services to patients receiving a positive test diagnosis for Down syndrome or other prenatally diagnosed conditions." These conditions also include dwarfism, spina bifida, and cystic fibrosis.

Recent research has indicated that 90 percent of the unborn children who are diagnosed with Down Syndrome end up as victims of abortion.

The new law aims to reinforce a culture of life by offering information and support to parents who receive a diagnosis before birth and up to a year after birth.

"This is a great victory for the culture of life we should all seek to promote," Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., said. "[The 90 percent abortion rate for unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome] is much too high and suggests that we as a society are not doing everything we can to protect every human life, at every stage."

For previous CT coverage on disability, see our editorial and columns by me and Al Hsu.

Posted by Stan Guthrie at October 17, 2008 2:15PM | Comments (1)

Update: Friday, 17 October 2008, noon, cdt

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If you follow popular culture, you know that the new feature film, "Fireproof," the related book, "Love Dare," and the TV series "Jon & Kate Plus 8," (and the related new Zondervan title), are hot media properties.

This weekend may be the third in the row that 'Fireproof' makes it into the all-important list of Top Ten grossing films. The plot-device book 'Love Dare' also is topping best-seller lists in the how-to and advice categories. "Jon & Kate Plus 8," broadcast on The Learning Channel with new episodes airing on Mondays, is now in its fourth season. The program follows a couple (who are Christians, but don't make a big deal out of it) as they raise 8 kids.

All three of these media entities are crossing beyond the typical boundaries for a low-budget film, yet another marriage-saver title, or a cable TV show. The one thing they seem to have in common is the obvious reality that:

Keeping a marriage healthy in today's America is near impossible.

But why has the Christian angle on traditional marriage captured the popular imagination? This is the bigger question in my mind. Has Christian marriage come full circle and now become cool enough to be counter-pop cultural? What are the other appealing elements, for example, for a program such as "JK+8"?

Here's what my journalist colleague Corrie Cutrer (now a mom of 2 in South Carolina) had to say on the topic of the Gosslin family in particular:

As a sometimes-harried parent of two young children, I was not initially hooked on The Learning Channel's (TLC) reality show Jon & Kate Plus Eight. My sister, also a young mom, had suggested I watch the program, which features the day-to-day chaos of a couple in their early thirties parenting eight (yes, eight) children as the result of fertility treatments: a set of twin girls (age 8) and four-year-old sextuplets (three boys and three girls).

After the first five minutes of watching I thought: I deal with enough screaming, whining and stress of my own all day. Why would I want to watch it on television once my own children are finally asleep?

Yet curiosity occasionally drew me back. Just how, I wondered, would these parents manage to potty training six toddlers?

It also felt a bit comforting to see a fellow mom muddle through the daily tasks of wiping, diapering, feeding, consoling, correcting, and nurturing her children. Like many viewers, I'd think, If they can manage with eight, surely I can with two!

TLC's formula of unveiling this family's life unscripted (marital arguments, toddler stomach viruses, botched vacations and all) may be the secret to the show's success. What began as one of the network's many reality shows has now catapulted to TLC's top program. Two million viewers watch each week, including many who tuck their own kids into bed before collapsing on the couch to watch Jon and Kate Gosselin do the same.

Ironically, the family's ability to engage viewers in the mundane has transformed them into celebrities. The October 13 edition of People magazine includes a sprawling article on the family and their recent trip to Hawaii, where Jon and Kate Gosselin renewed their wedding vows this summer.

Also, a recent episode of the program revealed behind-the-scenes footage of prepping the family for a Good Housekeeping photo shoot. The entire clan will grace November's cover.
Meanwhile, Kate Gosselin, along with coauthor Beth Carson, will release a book this month, Multiple Blessings (Zondervan), that serves as a precursor to what life was like for the Gosselins before taping of Jon & Kate Plus Eight began.

It also reveals what until now only has slightly been observed on their show: the Gosselins are born-again Christians.

Interestingly, even the idea of a book by Kate Gosselin has mirrored the kind of feedback the show itself receives as seen on myriad blogs across the internet. People either love it or strongly oppose it. Some moms can't get enough of Kate Gosselin's no-nonsensical approach to organizing her household and her determination to provide outings and vacations for her bulging brood.

Others disapprove of the tone Kate takes with Jon (like many stressed parents, we see a fair share of eye-rolling and sarcasm between the two of them.) Response to Zondervan's choice to publish Multiple Blessings is no exception. Upon the publishing company announcing its release of the book last spring, bloggers immediately reacted. Some disagree with the Gosselins for allowing their children's lives to made into a television show. Additionally, much of the controversy centers around the Gosselin's complete forthrightness on camera.

"My wife would never treat me with such disdain and disrespect as Kate treats Jon," one blogger wrote. "This goes against everything we strive for in our marriage and family, within our faith and our church. I can't get to how Zondervan thinks that this couple is a good example."
Yet Zondervan is not without support for Multiple Blessings. "I look forward to the book," wrote one blogger. "I think the Gosselins are a loving family that has been fortunate enough have a happy ending to their story."

Their story, as described in Multiple Blessings, reveals details about the early and trying days of Kate Gosselin's fertility treatments (the couple chose intrauterine insemination.) Pregnant for the second time, Gosselin describes the intense pressure their doctor put on them to consider selectively reducing the number of fetuses in her uterus. "They stood the risk of suffering premature lungs, blindness, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation--just to name a few possibilities," she writes of the developing babies. "I realized that I had become a fertility doctor's worst nightmare, and dawn was a long way off."

Gosselin shares her determination to give each baby a chance to survive and how her faith carried her through a brutal 10-week hospital stay as she remained on bed rest in the months leading up to her delivery. She doesn't shy away from revealing the tension created during her hospitalization between her and the medical staff, at times heightened by her own stubbornness.

For the most part, the Gosselins have chosen not to specifically respond to their critics. "Right now, there are so many opportunities for us to repay evil with evil, but we refuse," they write on their website. "It hasn't been easy to keep our mouths shut, but it's what God is asking us to do--continue to overcome evil with good. Things like love, prayers, and kindness instead of retaliation and exposure."

In addition to releasing Multiple Blessings, Jon and Kate Gosselin also have begun speaking at select churches nationwide. In coming weeks, Kate Gosselin will be speaking in Louisiana and in her home state of Pennsylvania.

Kate Gosselin knows she's not perfect, but still believes she and Jon can encourage couples in their marriages and families. "I battled with my insecurities, and every time I'd lose my patience, I'd hear a nasty voice in my head saying I couldn't do it, that only people who exemplify goodness, grace, and gentleness can stand up in front of a crowd as an inspirational speaker," she writes in Multiple Blessings. "That's when I had an epiphany: possibly for the first time in my life, I realized that it was exactly because I wasn't perfect that God was willing to use me."

Posted by Tim Morgan at October 17, 2008 11:10AM | Comments (27)

I've been attending the second annual REVEAL Conference at Willow Creek. At the first one, Willow announced that a survey called REVEAL had shown them that a lot of their members had stalled out in their spiritual growth. This was a surprise to Willow leaders, though many long-term critics of Willow shook their heads and said, "We told you so!"

Whatever one's views of seeker-sensitive or market-driven ministry or studies (like REVEAL) that claim to be able to statistically measure spiritual growth, this much is clear: Willow is not the only church that is desperate to learn whether it is being a good and effective servant. The auditorium is filled (I'm guessing 2,000 in attendance) with pastors and staffs from hundreds of churches, and churches of all sizes and shapes.

The conference attendees are mostly white, suburban males, but the presenters have been a healthy mix of suburban/urban, white/black/multicultural churches. Some years ago, Hybels had committed his church to a more multicultural friendly direction, and he has done so, at least from what is presented from the front.

What is more striking, however, is the passion that exudes from the audience as they participate in worship, and applaud or laugh with speakers. This is a leadership group that is desperate to know and follow Jesus, and to lead their congregations and communities into deeper knowledge of God and larger concern for neighbors.

In an age time when many evangelicals seem ambivalent about evangelism, here is a larger group whose hearts burn within them to share the gospel message. In a time when nuanced and sophisticated discussion of hermeneutics abound, here is a group that is more interested in obeying biblical commands we do understand than writing articles on the verses we don't understand. In a time of postmodern doubt and narcissistic self-questioning, here is a group who knows whose they are and what they are called to do in his name.

It's not hard to find things to criticize at a conference based on a survey that traffics in marketing language and the latest business maxims. Really, do we, as one speaker said, "need to completely reinvent spiritual formation" - as if the desert fathers and medieval saints and reformation heroes hadn't already taught about spiritual practices that are supposedly being rediscovered by a contemporary marketing survey?

To argue about method, though, would be to fall into cultural mindset that St. Paul seems to reject: The point is the longing to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. And that longing is palpable here.

(For more of a play-by-play look at this conference, check out the Out of Ur blog from our sister publication, Leadership.)

Posted by Mark Galli at October 15, 2008 11:33AM | Comments (2)

I had Cherrios (again) for breakfast thanks to General Mills and the Washburn brothers. But tomorrow (October 16) is World Food Day and it's a good time for Christians to think differently about food, food aid, and food ministry.

Globalization has transformed agribusiness, the national and international response to food emergencies, and the way Christians, their churches, and faith-based organizations respond to hungry and needy people.

This post serves as my heads up to CT readers that our November 2008 cover story is titled, "Hunger Isn't History." It will be posted on the CT site within a few days' time. The print edition goes out via USPS this week.

The ongoing global food story truly has crisis proportions. Here are some headline quotes that help to prove my point:

India has the largest number of hungry people in the world, despite the strong economic growth witnessed in recent years. From New Delhi, Anjana Pasricha says a new report shows that India's economic boom has brought new prosperity to its middle class and pulled many out of poverty, but that millions of people n the vast country still struggle on low incomes.

A report by the International Food Policy Research Institute says hunger, across India's 17 major states, ranges from "serious to extremely alarming." Voice of America

ROME (AFP) - The international goal of cutting hunger by half by 2015 appears "even more remote" after 75 million new people joined the ranks of the famished last year, a United Nations agency said Tuesday.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said that high food prices have reversed the gains made towards achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of reducing the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015.

Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Rome-based agency, said Wednesday that the number of malnourished people rose from 850 million to 925 million in 2007.

During world food summits held in 1996, 2002 and last June, the international community underscored its desire to reach food security and cut the number of people suffering from chronic hunger in half by 2015. AFP

What is essence of how Christians can think differently about global hunger? This is one of the big questions I thought CT should tackle in addressing the current hunger crisis because we in "The West" cannot provide enough free rice, beans, or wheat and cooking oil to feed the chronically hungry of the world until the kingdom comes.

First....

we need to realize that there is not a global shortage of food (at the moment anyway). Experts note that in 2007 there was a record grain harvest.

Don't believe me? Read Worldwatch's report, here.

Second, we Christians need to smarten up about the latest advances not only in agriculture, but also agriculture systems and global markets. Any meaningful solution to global hunger will require a global response from the farmer up the food chain all the way to the consumer. Here's an out-take quote from food aid expert Bob Zachritz, from World Vision:

Take the country of Sudan. What the needs are in Khartoum, the capital, are very different from where the needs are in the south down by Juba, or very different from the needs out in the west in the Darfur region.

Take the situation in North Korea. The situation in the capital city is very different from the countryside. So even within one country, the needs can be different.

There are top tier principles that you can apply across the board. I go back to that little triangle of hunger, nutrition, and agriculture. There are top tier principles of networking, working together, and resources that you can use, but that template must be changed based on community input and the given situation in the country at the time, including droughts, famines, wars, government mismanagement; those type of things.

If solving global hunger was easy, we would have solved it long ago. But fighting hunger isn't easy.

Third, we Christians should act with greater wisdom and cooperation, and for the long haul if global hunger (and poverty) are to become things of the past. Zachritz told me:

There are numerous ways different people can respond. You can be involved through advocacy. It can be directly giving. It can be through community organizing. You're part of the body of Christ. What are our responsibilities? In Isaiah it talks about what's a true fast but to care for the needs of the poor.

In Proverbs, it talks about if you give to those in need, you're lending to God, which I find amazing. And again in James, it talks about caring for the widow and the orphan.

We as individuals can't do it all by ourselves. We can do something. But sometimes in advocacy, our collective voice is stronger than our individual voices. And so there's opportunity there.

We all have spheres of influence, spheres of power. How do we use that, our own spheres of influence and power for change, positive change as Christians that would then bring glory to God?

So tell me about the five loaves and two fish in your church and what you are doing with them to feed the hungry:

Posted by Tim Morgan at October 15, 2008 11:30AM | Comments (1)

Religulous, the new anti-religion documentary by TV talker Bill Maher, is neither funny nor insightful, according to Biola's Craig Hazen:

Maher is pitching this film as mavericky - telling the truth about religion that everyone else is afraid to address. But Religulous is nothing more than filthy, nudie, druggie, and obtusey. There is little to laugh at and nothing to learn (except maybe that if you quit being religulous you get to act like Caligulous).

Nor is it all that profitable, grossing just under $4 million so far. This trails by far Fireproof, an unabashedly religious flick that has raked in about $13 million (albeit entering theaters a week earlier).

Now that's funny.

Posted by Stan Guthrie at October 9, 2008 12:47PM | Comments (16)

Updated: 10 October 2008

* * *
I was in a newspaper newsroom during the Crash of 1987. Twenty-one years later, I'm still in the news game and now we have the Crash of 2008.

The events of recent weeks are something that your grandchildren may ask you about in 20 years. In recent days, we have seen persistent comparisons to the 1930s. That sent me onto Internet search engines to find out what was going on in American Christianity during the 1930s and the Great Depression.

Here's a glimpse of interpretation, written in 1965:

The depression had a devastating effect on the Churches as well as on the nation. In the optimistic flush of the ?20's many congregations had built new edifices far too large and expensive. When the depression hit, they found themselves unable to pay. Most carried their huge debts; a few rejected their obligation, thus bringing shame on the Christian Church. Colleges and publishing houses, missionary enterprises, and the social work of the Churches were all hard hit by the depression. Many an institution of the Church lost its endowment in the financial crash and had to close or had to drastically cut back its activities.

But the physical effects of the depression were only part of its devastation. It left deep spiritual and mental wounds. It destroyed the utter self-confidence of the ?20's, and it gave birth to a despair and lack of confidence. What an opportunity for the Churches to interpret the meaning of this event! Yet, the Churches profited little in terms of growth. There was no surge of a repentant people to the Churches. There was no appreciable increase in the numbers of churches. There was no great revival which swept the nation.

This narrative was written by Jerald C. Brauer, the late theologian and divinity dean from the University of Chicago. (NYT: Obituary)

Dr. Brauer addresses the issue of the church during the Great Depression in Chapter 17 of his book (online version) Protestantism in America.

Dr. Brauer continues:

Perhaps that was good. The Churches did not lose members because of the catastrophe; neither did they make great gains. They did seem to grow in their depth of understanding the meaning of suffering and sacrifice in the Christian life. This was no time for an emotional outburst that would sweep millions into the Church. It was a time for sober reappraisal of the kind of message the Church had preached and of its relevance for modern life.

While the larger Protestant denominations were busy with their reappraisal and their ministering to the spiritual needs of the nation, there was one segment of Protestantism that profited greatly by the depression. This was the group of Churches usually called "sects." They stressed the radical, emotional conversion of the sinner and the new life lived in all holiness. They stressed the presence of the operation of God's Holy Spirit and the rebirth through him; thus, they were called Pentecostals. Some of them spoke with strange, unintelligible utterances, most practiced faith healing, and all advocated a rigorous moral life. Among these were such groups as the Nazarenes, the Assemblies of God, and the Holiness or Pentecostal Churches.

Another type of Christianity that had wide appeal at this time of dire national distress was the adventists. It believed in the immediate return of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as William Miller had in the 1840's. One of the most rapidly growing of such groups was that called Jehovah's Witnesses. Founded by Charles Taze Russell at the beginning of the century, it professed to be no Church and had no ministers. The leadership was later in the hands of " Judge" Rutherford, who, like Russell, turned out thousands of pamphlets and tracts.

Witnesses were to be found on every street corner passing out their paper, The Watchtower. Nobody is certain how many members they have, for they will never release figures. However, their message of the immediate coming of God's judgment met with great appeal in an age disillusioned with the disappointments of life. It gave many faith, courage, and hope. Their slogan, "Millions now living will never die," had great appeal. Even though life was very hard, it would soon be ended, the evil would be punished, and the saints would be blessed. They refused to fight in any wars or to salute any flags. Their only loyalty was to Christ, and for him alone they were prepared to fight. Because of this, they were always under suspicion in most communities. Nevertheless, they grew.

Though the Protestant Churches did not experience a large increase in membership, except for the extreme sectarian groups, they too went through a profound and invaluable experience as a result of the depression. For too long they had preached and taught a rather shallow message which was a watering down of the full insights of the gospel. No age perfectly comprehends God's message of judgment and redemption, but some ages become so smug in their interpretation of that message that they fail to stand under it. They often pick that side of it which justifies their own wellbeing and earthly possessions.

Though liberal theology and the social gospel contained many valuable elements necessary for their age, they also played into the hands of the age by their emphasis. People of the ?20's were convinced that Christianity meant literally following the Golden Rule -- doing to others as one would wish to be treated; that it stood for the gradual building of the Kingdom on earth by men of good will if only men would exert enough good will; and that through friendliness and kindness that Kingdom was slowly being built in America.

Suddenly the Protestant Churches were confronted with the stark reality of the failure of their dreams. Under all the supposed goodness and friendliness of the prosperous ?20's were to be found greed and pride. Man suddenly was shown to be no higher on the moral scale, no less selfish than his medieval brethren. In place of a new stage in the Kingdom of God men had arrived at a shattered economy. The consequence was a new look at some old Protestant doctrines that had been largely ignored -- sin, faith, and justification were once more relevant.

I've been fond of the saying, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." So after you say a prayer for your church and your portfolio, but sure to work for economic justice.

If you were alive during the Great Depression and have a faith story of survival to share, email me at the address below and I'll post edited versions on the CT blog of what I receive.

TMorgan@christianitytoday.com

Here's some additional perspective from Nazarene expert, David Felter:

There is one discrepancy in your article that I believe is worth clarifying. You cited the work of Jerald C. Brauer, the late theologian and divinity dean from the University of Chicago, and his acknowledgment of the growth surge of the Pentecostal churches immediately following this catastrophic event.

Unfortunately, Dr. Brauer was guilty of inaccurately labeling the Church of the Nazarene as a Pentecostal sect. While the Church of the Nazarene experienced solid growth through the period subsequent to the Great Depression and beyond, it is inaccurate to lump it in the same sectarian camp as the Pentecostal churches. Our history at first glance seems to parallel the history of many American Pentecostal churches in that they have their origins in the 1907 Azusa Street awakening in Californina, and the Church of the Nazarene experienced its amalgamating foundation in 1908, one year later. The antecedent roots, however, draw from differing streams in terms of theological emphasis. The Church of the Nazarene recognized the erosion of concern for the poor and the marginalized of society. Its founders determined to resist the pressures to create architectural monuments, and took the Good News to the streets and corners of the world where the Light of the Gospel had either dimmed or had never shined in the brilliance of reconciliation, hope and transformation. Arguably, these two traditions converged at the intersection of holiness and holy living; one emphasizing empowerment, tongues-speaking, and the flamboyance of unrestrained emotional connection with the God who is Wholly Other. The Church of the Nazarene, on the other hand, saw holiness as "perfect love." Such love would worship God without reservation and connect to others in a spirit of love, seeking the same good for them as they sought for themselves. Holiness would mark devotion, loyalty, and commitment; it would also mark compassion, mercy, and charity.

That these two trajectories are parallel and not identical is a mater of record. Additionally, the Church of the Nazarene prior to the Great Depression, for a brief period in its history subsequent to its founding as a denomination in 1908, had the term "Pentecostal" in its name. Because of the association with tongues-speaking and other aberrations, the denomination removed the term, becoming the Church of the Nazarene.

Finally, the Church of the Nazarene is clearly within the normative Christian tradition as a part of the Wesleyan-holiness trajectory. The Patristic Fathers influenced the theological insights of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and Phineas Breesee was originally an ordained Elder in the Methodist connection. Hence, the sectarian label does not apply either historically, theologically or ecclesially to the Church of the Nazarene.

Posted by Tim Morgan at October 8, 2008 1:40PM | Comments (12)

Blame is flying as the U.S. economy continues to dive.

Some say the problem is greed among business executives. Others say all Americans are too greedy. Still others are blaming capitalism itself.

Lest we put the blame on ourselves - where at least some of it no doubt belongs - here's another possibility: Feel-good theology is causing the financial crisis.

When belief in God is prevalent in a society, the values of honesty and integrity are more prevalent as well, economists Kevin Kliesen and Frank Schmid noted in a 2004 article echoing German sociologist Max Weber's classic "Protestant work ethic" argument.

But the relationship is complex: A 2003 study from Harvard University's Robert J. Barro and Rachel M. McCleary found that the economy strengthens as belief in heaven or hell increases, but weakens with increased church attendance. And as a country's economy gets stronger, faith in God and interest in religion declines.

This leaves the economy - and religion - in a catch-22. Economies thrive in a semi-religious atmosphere, but are hurt if countries get too religious or too secular. A country needs a strong religious base to build the economy, but as soon as the economy is built up, religious faith drops off.

In case you're wondering, The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life says belief in hell has declined in the last eight years. In 2001, 71 percent of Americans said they believed in hell. Today only 59 percent do. No wonder we're in financial crisis.

Shoring up the numbers of people who believe in hell without actually getting them to increase church attendance is simple enough: get them to watch horror movies, not listen to sermons.

Shoring up the numbers of people who will stay out of hell? That's a different question.

Posted by Ted Olsen at October 6, 2008 3:54PM | Comments (11)

As long expected, the exodus of conservatives from The Episcopal Church is gathering steam. This afternoon, the Diocese of Pittsburgh voted to leave TEC and join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, based in Argentina.

What does this mean for TEC and global Anglicanism?

My analysis is that the bluff of TEC and its left-leaning House of Bishops is being called. Right now, TEC and a number of dioceses around the nation are so involved in litigation that the situation is moving beyond unmanageable.

Starting another court fight over Pittsburgh's decision would be staggering in its expense. TEC probably is spending more per month on litigation nationwide than at any other time in its history. However, actual figures are being withheld from public scrutiny.

Keep reading for the entire press statement from TEC Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and from the soon to be recalled Pittsburgh Bishop Duncan:

* * *
October 4, 2008

I believe that the vast majority of Episcopalians and Anglicans will be intensely grieved by the actions of individuals who thought it necessary to remove them from The Episcopal Church. I have repeatedly reassured Episcopalians that there is abundant room for dissent within this Church, and that loyal opposition is a long and honored tradition within Anglicanism. Schism is not, having frequently been seen as a more egregious error than charges of heresy.

There is room in this Church for all who desire to be members of it. The actions of the former bishop of Pittsburgh, and some lay and clergy leaders, have removed themselves from this Church; the rest of the Church laments their departure. We stand ready to welcome the return of any who wish to rejoin this part of the Body of Christ. We will work with remaining Episcopalians in Pittsburgh to provide support as they reorganize the Diocese and call a bishop to provide episcopal ministry. The people of The Episcopal Church hold all concerned in our prayers ? for healing and comfort in time of distress, and for discernment as they seek their way into the future.

The mission of God, in which The Episcopal Church participates, is to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We cannot do one without doing the other. We believe that it is in serving the least among us that we discover the image of God, and the presence of a suffering Christ. It is in serving those least that we rediscover our common mission, which transcends our differences. Jesus weeps at the bickering of his brothers and sisters, particularly when they miss him in their midst.

* * *

October 4, 2008

DIOCESE BEGINS PROCESS TO RECALL BISHOP ROBERT DUNCAN

The Standing Committee of The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh today took action to recall Bishop Robert Duncan to his position as diocesan bishop. Bishop Duncan was involuntarily removed from the post by The Episcopal Church's House of Bishops on September 18. While the diocese remained in The Episcopal Church, it submitted to the decision. Now that the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh is part of the Province of The Southern Cone, it is free to invite Bishop Duncan back into leadership.

The move came minutes after the close of the 143rd Diocesan Convention. After a short meeting, the Standing Committee officially announced the diocese's plans to elect a bishop on November 7. The election will take place during a special convention of the diocese. It is expected that Bishop Duncan will be the only candidate on the ballot.

"This is a great day for the diocese. Bishop Duncan has served the Lord and this diocese faithfully and well through one of the most significant periods of our diocesan history. We look forward to welcoming him back to his episcopal office," said the Rev. David Wilson, president of the diocese's standing committee. Fr. Wilson also announced that the Standing Committee had agreed to ask Bishop Duncan to function in the diocese between now and November 7.

Archbishop Gregory Venables has appointed Bishop Duncan to be the Southern Cone's "commissary," or representative, in the diocese. In this role, Bishop Duncan will be able to visit parishes and offer episcopal ministry such as confirmation on behalf of the Standing Committee while it continues to serve as the Ecclesiastical Authority until the completion of the election on November 7," explained Fr. Wilson.

"I am deeply grateful for the possibility of serving as both the seventh and eighth bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. We have been through much together over the last years, but I am convinced a new day is dawning for all of us," said Bishop Robert Duncan.

Posted by Tim Morgan at October 4, 2008 2:16PM | Comments (16)