Thursday, May 10, 2012

Alabama Town Keeps Bible Verse Signs Up Despite Being Told To Take Them Down

Christian Post--A small town in Alabama has decided to put up welcome signs that have Bible verses despite questions about the constitutionality of the signs brought up by a national atheist organization.

Town council members in Sylvania, Ala., voted unanimously on Tuesday to replace the four signs that former mayor Mitchell Dendy had removed two weeks ago before he resigned.

In April, Dendy received a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based atheist organization, which said the local government was using the signs to endorse Christianity and as such they were unconstitutional. The signs said "Sylvania Welcomes You" and "Ephesians 4:5 – One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism."

After receiving the letter, Dendy had the signs removed without the support of the town's council. WAAY in Dallas reports that, prior to his resignation, Dendy was also fired from his job as Dekalb County Jail administrator due to sexual harassment and misconduct allegations.

Max Turner, the current acting mayor of Sylvania, told The Christian Post on Wednesday that the town's council voted unanimously to overturn Dendy's decision so that the signs, or at least ones like them, can be restored to their proper places.

Before the council even had an opportunity to vote on the issue, however, the town's residents took it upon themselves to show how important the signs were to them. Turner says he received about 100 phone calls from upset residents, and other council members received a number of calls as well.

Many residents even put up signs of their own in their yards, Turner says, as a way of showing that they value having the Bible verse on the town's signs.
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School Told To Compromise On Ten Commandments...Leave Out The First Four And You Can Keep Them


One News Now--The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia has sued a county school board in an attempt to have the Ten Commandments removed from a historical display.

Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel says the Ten Commandments are just one of 29 frames in the privately-sponsored display of historical documents on the wall at Narrows High School in Narrows, Virginia. It is surrounded by documents like the Declaration of Independence, the Star-Spangled Banner, and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

Staver does not think the defendants will accept Judge Michael Urbanski's suggested compromise.
"The interesting thing that the judge did during the hearing is ask whether both sides could compromise this case," the attorney reports. "Everyone would live happily ever after if we removed the first four commandments and only had the last six commandments relating to our relationship to one another and removed any reference to God."

He says ACLU litigation against displays of the Ten Commandments began back in 1999.

Read More From One News Now

FDR's D-Day Landing Prayer Act is introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Rob Portman of Ohio


FDR's D-Day Landing Prayer Act is introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Rob Portman of Ohio
Contact: Chris Long, 330-887-1922 
WASHINGTON, May 10, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, the D-Day Landing Prayer Act took another step closer to becoming a reality. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, responding to the wishes of veterans and their families, introduced this legislation which will add FDR's D-Day Landing Prayer in its entirety to the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C., and urged his colleagues to pass it quickly.
Senator Portman made the following statement, "On D-Day, courageous Americans risked and sacrificed their lives to preserve our freedoms and end tyranny abroad," said Portman. "That morning, President Roosevelt asked our nation to come together to pray for the men overseas. His words brought strength and comfort to many during one of the most challenging times for our nation and will forever be etched in our history.

"This bill ensures that FDR's prayer will become a permanent reminder of the sacrifice of those who fought in World War II, and of the power of prayer through difficult times," he added. "I encourage the Senate to take it up and pass it quickly."
Ohio Christian Alliance President Chris Long stated, "This legislation has received broad bipartisan support and is worthy of the Senate quickly taking up the measure and presenting it to President Obama for his signature. The vast majority of WWII veterans and their families support this initiative. Many of these brave men, now in their '80s and '90s, remember clearly President Roosevelt praying with the nation the morning of the D-Day landings. It is only fitting that this wonderful historical presidential prayer be added to the WWII Memorial, honoring those brave men and women who served our country in WWII.
"President Roosevelt's prayer articulated the great crusade that was underway to liberate millions suffering under tyranny. He honored the war effort and paid respect to the fallen and those veterans who fought courageously in the conflict.
"We therefore urge members of the U.S. Senate to follow the example of their Congressional counterparts and support the FDR D-Day Landing Prayer Act and pass this legislation that will allow its inclusion at the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C." 

YouVersion's Bible App Surpasses 50 Million Installs, Increases Bible Literacy with 'Google Era' Features


Launches Now.YouVersion.com to track engagement across the world in real time
Contact: Julie Shutley, A. Larry Ross Communications, 972-267-1111, 214-457-1398, julie@alarryross.com
OKLAHOMA CITY, May 10, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Fifty million people around the globe have installed the Bible App by YouVersion on their mobile device, enabling them to read the best-selling book of all time, anywhere at any time. With features that allow users to share the Bible with their social networks, do daily devotions in line at the supermarket and have instant access to the Bible, The Bible App is moving God's Word from the Gutenberg to Google era.
A Pew Research study released yesterday found that 70 percent of all cell phone owners and 86 percent of smartphone owners have used their phones in the previous 30 days to perform "just in time" activities such as finding a sport's score, getting traffic information or coordinating a meeting. For the 50 million who have installed the Bible App, it is likely they will be using their smart phone for Bible engagement. Since its creation, the YouVersion community has spent more than 22 billion minutes on the Bible App, creating more than 100 million bookmarks, and highlighting more than 80 million verses.
A new webpage on YouVersion.com, now.youversion.com, tracks users' daily engagement with the Bible. Up-to-the-minute statistics display usage of the Bible App around the world -- reading plans started in New Zealand, Bible chapters listened to in Tunisia, bookmarks created in China, and more.
"At every minute of the day, somewhere in the world, people are using the Bible App to spend time in Scripture," said Gruenewald. "Not only are people installing the Bible App in record numbers, they are using it, consistently on a daily basis."
The Bible App offers 294 versions of the Bible in 144 languages. YouVersion.com launched in September 2007 and the Bible app launched in July 2008. The Bible App allows users to bookmark verses; share Scripture through email, Twitter, and Facebook; journal their thoughts; and more.
"Time spent in God's word correlates with a closer relationship with Him," said Bobby Gruenewald, Innovation Leader at LifeChurch.tv. "Our hope is to make it even easier for people to send time in the Word and increase their engagement and understanding of the Bible."
YouVersion and the Bible App were created by a team at LifeChurch.tv in Edmond, Okla., to help increase access and engagement with the Bible. YouVersion is in the top five downloaded apps in the reference category and is the No. 1 downloaded Bible on iTunes. The Bible App has been listed in the all-time top 10 apps for the iPad and the top 50 apps for the iPhone. For more information, visit www.youversion.com/press.
Note to Editors: For more information about YouVersion and the Bible App, please contact Julie Shutley at 972-267-1111 or e-mail julie@alarryross.com.  

A Call for a National Day of Prayer & Repentance


Contact: Rita or Richard Indiveri, 321-264-7205; www.714-project.com
TITUSVILLE, Fla., May 10, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- The 714-project is "A CALL FOR A NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER & REPENTANCE", Asking God to heal our Nation on July 14, 2012, in accordance to 2Chronicles 7:14.
For one day only on July 14, 2012, we are asking the nation to pray for our country, and to ask God to heal our land. 714-project is a massive grassroots effort for all Americans living in the United States.
We have fallen away from God's principles of spirituality and our nation is in a state of decline & decay.

WE NEED TO GET ON OUR KNEES AND ASK GOD FOR FORGIVENESS!
Americans need to ask God to forgive us as a sinful nation and to ask for His blessing to make America great again.

PLEASE HELP SPREAD THIS MESSAGE AND SHARE WITH AMERICA

For more information see www.714-project.com.