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Same-sex weddings can't be, Presbyterians decide

he highest court of the Presbyterian Church USA has found that a California minister did not violate the church's constitution when she officiated at the weddings of same-sex couples in 2004 and 2005.

The decision, announced Tuesday by the church's permanent judicial commission, cleared the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr of San Rafael of misconduct and lifted an earlier ruling of censure against her by a regional church court.

In the decision, the Louisville, Ky.-based panel found that the ceremonies Spahr had performed for the two lesbian couples could not be considered marriages.

"The ceremonies that are the subject of this case were not marriages . . . ," the high court said. "These were ceremonies between women, not between a man and a woman." . . . read more

Every day, 14,000 children die by the hand of a silent killer, Hunger.

"The children don't have enough to eat. Sometimes they don't eat all day," says Francine, the mother of eight children in southern Rwanda. Her husband tries to farm, but fails in this area where the soil is acidic and plots are small in the most densely populated country in Africa. "It's like growing food on a rock," says Francine.

Starvation causes terrible suffering. Your generosity will multiply 6 times to help children and families in 33 of the poorest countries on earth like Angola, Bolivia, Haiti, and Rwanda.

World Vision is committed to providing food and care to more than 10 million desperately hungry children and their families. . . . read more

from the net

Long Division

J. R. R. Tolkien’s book The Fellowship of the Ring includes an evocative scene that failed to make it into the movie. The eight who accompany the ring bearer on his journey are men, hobbits, dwarves and elves. In order to defeat the power of the Dark Lord, these historically divided groups must endeavor to work together for a common goal. As the fellowship approaches Lothlórien, an elven region, the elven guard refuses to let Gimli the dwarf pass without a blindfold. The resulting tension threatens to divide the fellowship. But Aragorn, the group’s leader, suggests that if one of them must face this indignity, they will all go blindfolded. Legolas the elf protests: "Alas for the folly of these days! Here all are enemies of the one Enemy, and yet I must walk blind, while the sun is merry in the woodland under leaves of gold!"

"Folly it may seem," says Haldir. "Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dais Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him." . . . read more

Imagine

In The Great Awakening, I wrote,

Imagine something called Justice Revivals, in the powerful tradition of revivals past but focusing on the great moral issues of our time.

Imagine linking the tradition of Billy Graham with the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr.

Imagine a new generation of young people catching fire and offering their gifts, talents, and lives in a new spiritual movement for social justice . . . read more

How could there be more than 30 million people infected with a lethal virus, and I not know even one of them? How was it possible that there were 12 million children orphaned by this horrible virus, and I couldn't name a single one? Those questions sent me on a search to discover God's heart for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS; within a very short time, I became seriously and permanently disturbed. . . . read more

from history

April 28, 1789: In the South Pacific, a band of hedonistic sailors stages the famous mutiny on the Bounty. The mutineers then sailed to uninhabited Pitcairn Island, where they soon fell into drinking and fighting. Only one man and several women (taken earlier as slaves) and children survived. The man, Alexander Smith, discovered the ship's neglected Bible, repented, and transformed the community. The Bible is still on display in a Pitcairn church.

April 29, 1380: Italian mystic Catherine of Siena dies from exhaustion brought on by her efforts to bring unity to the church. Her visions, experienced since childhood, and her persistent pleading led Pope Gregory XI to return the papal seat to Rome from Avignon, France (see issue 30: Woman in the Medieval Church).

April 29, 1607: English settlers establish the first Anglican church in the American colonies at Cape Henry, Virginia.

April 30, 304: The last and most punishing anti-Christian edict during Roman Emperor Diocletian's reign is published. The ensuing carnage was so horrific that it was said even the coliseum lions got tired. The man behind the edict,Augustus Galerius, finally issued an edict of toleration on April 30, 311—just days before dying of a disease known as "being eaten with worms" (see issue 27: Persecution in the Early Church).

April 30, 1562: Two ships carrying 150 Huguenot (French Protestant) immigrants arrive off the coast of northeast Florida. The settlers established a colony at Parris Island, South Carolina, but abandoned it two years later due to a lack of supplies (see issue 71: Huguenots).

May 1, 1873: Missionary-explorer David Livingstone dies. Responsible for "opening up" central Africa and for popularizing missions to that continent, Livingstone himself only made one convert—who later backslid. Still, he is widely considered one of Christianity's missionary heroes (see issue 56: David Livingstone).

May 2, 1507: Reformer Martin Luther is consecrated a priest, a role in which he would serve for 13 years before being excommunicated (see issue 34: Luther's Early Years).

May 2, 1507: Reformer Martin Luther is consecrated a priest, a role in which he would serve for 13 years before being excommunicated (see issue 34: Luther's Early Years).

May 3, 1675: A Massachusetts law goes into effect requiring church doors to be locked during services. Officials enacted the law because too many people were leaving before sermons were over.

May 3, 1738: English preacher George Whitefield, the most famous religious figure of the 1700s, arrives in America for his first of seven visits. In his lifetime, Whitefield preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million hearers (see issue 38: George Whitefield).

May 3, 1861: The Southern Congress approves a bill installing chaplains in Confederate armies. The American military did not normally employ chaplains, but they became a permanent fixture during and after the Civil War. Between 100,000 and 200,000 Union soldiers and approximately 150,000 Confederate troops converted to christianity during wartime revivals (see issue 33: Christianity & the Civil War).

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