Deaf In Africa Form Regions First Deaf Church

NORTHERN AFRICA (BP) -- It was the loudest noise 5-year-old Tobutu* had ever heard.

And then he never heard anything else again.

When the explosions of civil war came to Tobutu's African town, they claimed his father, mother, brothers and sisters -- and his hearing. He cried himself to sleep for months in a refugee camp in Sudan, alone and unable to communicate with anyone.

He learned to steal to eat and, over time, to feed his drug addiction. He eventually moved to the Middle East and along the way learned sign language.

But it would be nearly three decades before Tobutu learned the sign that would change his life -- "Jesus." He then learned the sign for "baptism" and wanted to show the world his new life in Jesus Christ.

Tobutu and 21 other Deaf were baptized in the sea and have now formed the first known Deaf church in North Africa and the Middle East.

"There was no fire from heaven, no battle with a giant, no plagues and no opening of the sea like with the miracles that happened in biblical times in the same area. Yet God displayed His miraculous power there once again," said Doc Douglas*, who is familiar with work among the Deaf people of Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Deaf believers exist in other countries in the region but have not yet formed communities of faith, Douglas said.

"We are hoping to train Deaf from several countries next year, so they can plant churches in their own countries," he said. "Deaf people are usually shut out from a lot of information, so learning new things, even about Christianity, is usually of interest. I have found a lot of responsiveness."

Many Deaf people have yet to see the name of Jesus signed, Douglas said.

"There are places where there may be [hearing] churches, but the Deaf have no idea who the 'dead man on a cross' really is," he said. "There are places where the majority of the Deaf live in deep spiritual darkness. The area of Northern Africa and the Middle East, where a plethora of Bible stories took place, remains one of the most spiritually dark places on the globe."

These Deaf are the unreached and mostly unengaged, Douglas said. They are waiting on a message -- and a messenger.
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Texas Teen Walking To Washington D.C While Carrying Cross

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – Junior Garcia was carrying a 12-foot cross along Interstate-30 in Fort Worth and Arlington on Thursday afternoon. He was hard to miss.

“This is my way of showing them Jesus Christ wants a personal relationship with every single one of them,” Garcia said.

The idea came to him last July, when he was attending youth group at the Oasis Church in Saginaw. He said that he realized his Christian walk wasn’t what it should be. “Oh, man, I was going through so much in my life and really searching to see what God had for me, His call on my life,” Garcia said.

“I just felt that separation from Him and felt like it was just time to get rid of worldly desires and focus on Him,” Garcia added.

Garcia remembers the day that it all happened for him. “July 24, 2011. I remember looking up to heaven saying, ‘I’m yours,’” he said. “That day, I decided to take up my cross. And I felt so strong in my heart. And I felt Him tell me where to go and how to go. And that’s where we’re going — Washington, D.C.”

Garcia will have to walk 1,369 miles to get there. With breaks, he hopes to arrive in front of the White House for prayer on July 13.

Garcia is focused and armed with scriptures and inspirational music. He has the full support of his family and church. But at least once, he wondered, “Can I make it?”

“But that’s where my faith comes into play. Just trusting in Him, knowing He’ll be by me every step and that

He’ll strengthen every step,” Garcia said.

His mission calls to mind those of Arthur Blessitt, who began carrying a cross around the world in 1969.

Junior Garcia had never heard of him before. Now, for his trek to Washington, he’s listening to music written to inspire Arthur Blessitt on his pilgrimages.
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Theologian: Christians Should Ground Themselves in Scripture, Not Fads

CHICAGO – Christians need to recognize the primacy of Scripture in their lives and not be drawn to fads, a theologian told CP at the Pastorum Live conference this week.

Dr. Te-Li Lau, professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, told The Christian Post in an interview that, "If we lose the sense that scripture is authoritative for our lives, then we are going to be buffeted by every wind of the culture."
Another advantage to being grounded in scripture, Lau said, is that it helps unify Christians globally. Conversely, if Christian faith is grounded by issues unique to culture, then other Christians around the world will fail to identify with it.
Lau, who is from Singapore, noted that today Christianity is mostly centered in Asia and Africa.
"We need to be outward looking," Lau advised, not "thinking that America is the center of Christianity, because it's not."
Lau was one of the last speakers of the Pastorum Live conference, hosted by Logos Bible Software at Park Community Church in Chicago. The two-day conference ended on Wednesday.

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Military Suicides Have Increased To Almost One A Day

Christian Broadcasting Network----The number of active-duty service members committing suicide is increasing at a dramatic pace this year, according new statistics from the Pentagon.

Department of Defense statistics reveal that 146 military men and women took their own lives in the first 148 days of this year. That's a 17 percent increase over the same time period in 2011 and a 24 percent increase over 2010.

Reasons for the increase are not clear, but studies have suggested combat exposure, post-traumatic stress, prescription drug abuse and financial problems are contributing factors.

Army data also suggest soldiers with multiple combat tours are at greater risk of committing suicide, although a substantial number of suicides are committed by soldiers who never deployed.

Jackie Garrick, head of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office at the Pentagon, said that the numbers are troubling.

"We are very concerned at this point that we are seeing a high number of suicides at a point in time where we were expecting to see a lower number of suicides," she said.

Experts are still struggling to understand suicidal behavior.

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INDIA Creates the World's Largest Biometric Database

The new biometric database that is now in the process of identifying 1.2 billions citizens of India is very much a precursor to what bible prophecy warns will come for all citizens of the world.
The book of Revelation tells us that every person will be required to accept a "mark" which will both identify the holder as a follower of the Antichrist, as well the mark will allow that person to buy and sell.

ID database forges ahead

The new biometric ID database in India will have various biometric data on each Indian citizen, (iris scan, fingerprints, photographs), and will issue a new unique number to each citizen. It will also make it much simpler for that person to open bank accounts and receive and make payments simply by authenticating themselves using a biometric reading devise, (the reader will scan their iris, fingerprints or face).
We certainly can't be far from the fulfillment of this prophecy, when we hear that 1.2 billion of the 7 billion people on the earth will soon be marked with a new ID which allows them to receive payments and make withdrawals with the wave of a scanned hand or face.

It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. Revelation 13:16-17 (NIV)

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Massachusetts town to vote on $20 fines for cursing in public

MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. –  Mimi Duphily was hanging baskets of pink geraniums on antique street lamps downtown for the Middleborough Beautification and Activities Group when she noticed something else that needed cleaning up -- citizens' mouths.
"The cursing has gotten very, very bad. I find it appalling and I won't tolerate it," said Duphily, a civic leader in the otherwise quiet New England community, which calls itself the Cranberry Capital of the World. "No person should be allowed to talk in that manner."
Soon, Middleborough residents who do could risk a $20 fine.
Duphily, 63, tried scolding the cursers -- whom she describes as young people shouting the "F-word" back and forth -- with a stern, "Hey kids, that's enough!" Then she conferred with the Beautification and Activities Group, which informed the Middleborough Business Coalition, which then called a summit with Middleborough Police Chief Bruce Gates, who now, in his sworn role, is trying to stomp out swears.
He is asking citizens to vote at the annual Town Meeting on Monday to flush potty mouths by granting police the power to issue $20 civil tickets to anyone who publicly "accosts" another person verbally with profanity.
Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/11/massachusetts-town-to-vote-on-20-fines-for-cursing-in-public/#ixzz1xVXrHjfE

Congress Saying Enough Is Enough When It Comes To Banning Bibles And God At Military Funerals

World Net Daily----The Veterans Administration in recent months has tried to prohibit Bibles at its military hospitals and ban the use of the word “God” at military funerals, and now there are members in Congress who say enough is enough.

So HR 2720 has been introduced, stating emphatically that “no official of the federal government, including the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, may interfere with the content and creed of the funeral, memorial service, or ceremony of a deceased individual, as expressed by the last will and testament of the individual or as determined by the family or agent of the individual, as provided under state law.:

The resolution also requires federal officials to provide access to health care facilities, cemeteries and other facilities if access is requested by either veterans or their families.

The proposal came about because of a series of events that took place last year where veterans and their families were prohibited from exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

It was then that officials at Walter Reed Medical Center issued a regulation telling families they would not be permitted to bring in Bibles to read to their loved ones. The memo stated that “no religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.”

When news of the ban was made public, the hospital quickly backpedaled and rescinded the policy.
Just this week, on the anniversary of D-Day, Kelly Shackelford, president and chief executive officer of Liberty Institute, testified before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs about the importance of the bill.

It was May of last year that Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit against federal officials after Arleen Ocasio, of the Houston National Cemetery, attempted to edit and censor a prayer that was to be offered by Pastor Scott Rainey at a Memorial Day service. Ocasio told Rainey that his prayer needed to be submitted to her for approval and its contents needed to be “non-denominational.”

While Liberty Institute was presenting its argument to the court, officials learned of several other instances where religious freedom was being suppressed.

Ocasio had instituted a policy titled, “Houston National Cemetery Honor Guard Guidelines.” The guidelines required volunteer honor guards to omit any and all religious elements from their rituals, unless the family specifically requested otherwise.

“Instead, they could only do what she described as the ‘four core elements,’ the folding of the flag, the presentation of the flag, the rifle salute, and the playing of taps,” Shackelford said. “Ocasio stated that the VFW District 4 Honor Guard members could not provide texts of prayer to the family for consideration.

She also stated that if family members wanted a certain prayer read, they would have to submit the prayer to the cemetery in writing and cemetery officials would then give the prayer to the VFW District 4 Honor Guard to read.”

A representative from the cemetery went even further and told the VFW District 4 Honor Guard that they would not be permitted to conduct the burial ritual because the word “God” was included.

“The cemetery representative did state that they could say the Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm since the word ‘God’ is not included in those texts. When questioned regarding the source of the authority for these pronouncements, the cemetery representative responded ‘by my supervisor’s orders.’”

While it could seem as if the guidelines were reasonable since it claims the family can request the full burial ritual, Shackelford says the reality is that families were denied that right.

“At least on three occasions, cemetery officials interfered with families of deceased veterans in their making arrangements for burial service,” he said.

James Haycraft, Geri Lakey and Lisa Ward, representing families of deceased veterans, each claimed the cemetery interfered with and precluded their wishes in honoring their loved ones.

“Mr. Haycraft’s brother did not receive the burial service he desired, being prohibited from having the VFW honor guard perform the entire VFW burial ritual. In the case of Ms. Lakey, cemetery officials attempted to stop her husband from receiving the entire VFW burial ritual. But for the actions of her husband’s VFW post commander (a former judge), his final wishes would have been thwarted,” he testified. “Ms. Ward had to have her husband’s burial service at a private funeral home rather than the Houston National Cemetery so that the honor guard could perform the entire VFW burial ritual, as she desired. Nevertheless, because of the cemetery’s restrictions, her desire to have the service at the cemetery was denied.”

In December, the VA settled the lawsuit by agreeing to stop interfering with the religious content of military funerals and to censoring the speech of clergy at any type of ceremony.
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Study Suggests There Are Risks To Same Sex Parenting

Two studies released Sunday may act like brakes on popular social-science assertions that gay parents are the same as — or maybe better than — married mother-father parents.

“The empirical claim that no notable differences exist must go,” University of Texas sociology professor Mark Regnerus said in his study in Social Science Research.

Using a “gold standard” data set of nearly 3,000 randomly selected American young adults, Mr. Regnerus looked at their lives on 40 measures of social, emotional and relationship outcomes.

He found that, when compared with adults raised in married, mother-father families, adults raised by lesbian mothers had negative outcomes in 24 of 40 categories, while adults raised by gay fathers had negative outcomes in 19 categories.

Findings like these contradict claims that there are no differences between gay parenting and heterosexual, married parents, said Mr. Regnerus, who helped develop the New Family Structures Study at the University of Texas.

Instead, “[C]hildren appear most apt to succeed well as adults when they spend their entire childhood with their married mother and father, and especially when the parents remain married to the present day,” he wrote.

Mr. Regnerus‘ study of 2,988 people ages 18 to 39 — including 175 adults raised by lesbian mothers and 73 adults raised by gay fathers — marks the first research from the new data set, which initially included some 15,000 people.

The second study, also in Social Science Research, takes a critical look at the basis of an oft-cited American Psychological Association report on gay parenting.

The APA brief says, “Not a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents.”

After looking at the 59 studies that undergird this assertion, however, “The jury is still out,” said Loren Marks, an associate professor at the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana State University. “The lack of high-quality data leaves the most significant questions [about gay parenting] unaddressed and unanswered.”

Problems with the APA-cited studies were their small size; dependence on wealthy, white, well-educated lesbian mothers; and failure to examine common outcomes for children, such as their education, employment and risks for poverty, criminality, early childbearing, substance abuse and suicide. Instead, the APA studies often looked at children’s gender-role behaviors, emotional functioning and sexual identities.
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Church Fights City To Give Temporary Housing To Homeless Families

ALHAMBRA - A local church is fighting city zoning and fire codes that Alhambra officials say bar it from being part of a program to house homeless families.

Representatives from Alhambra's First Baptist Church say they want to join with 13 other local host churches in the Family Promise Program, which asks them to host three to five homeless families for one week four times a year as part of the church's charity work.

Alhambra officials say the church cannot house the families because it would be considered a homeless shelter. Based on an ordinance passed by the City Council in June, 2011, First Baptist is not located in an area zoned for a shelter, Director of Development Services Mary Swink said.

Pastor Lee Hamby said the church has been trying to work with the city for months to get clearance to participate in the program, but at a meeting in May were told that doing so would violate city laws.

But Hamby said the city's actions and zoning laws violate the church's First Amendment rights and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.

"The church historically - not just our church, but churches in general - helps people that are poor, who are homeless," Hamby said. "Every case law on this has been ruled in favor of the church based on freedom of religion."

The Family Promise Program is a national nonprofit, founded in 1986, and the San Gabriel branch was founded two years ago by Hamby and Pastor Ken

Fong of Rosemead's Evergreen Baptist Church. While the families rotate between 14 host churches to sleep in, during the days they use the program's resource center to find employment and housing.

Hamby said his church has always helped the homeless, but Family Promise seemed like a more effective way to get them back on track.

"We saw this as a way to really help families go from temporary homelessness back to permanent housing and work and not just be a Band-Aid," Hamby said.

Despite the setback, since the program began in October 2011 First Baptist has twice hosted families using rental apartments and other churches instead of their own. Hamby said he still plans to house families for a third time this month, but will have to put them up in a hotel because of the city's restrictions.

Alhambra City Manager Julio Fuentes said he is willing to work with the church and Family Promise to find a different place to house the families, but that doing so in the church is not legally an option because of both zoning and fire codes.

Fire Chief Bill Walker agreed that the church's building would have to undergo serious alterations to be fire-code compliant for housing families.

"You still have to follow the building and the fire codes to house people," Fuentes said. "You just can't make makeshift housing without obviously adhering to the proper building codes because safety is still an issue."

Fuentes said the city is not against organizations that help the homeless, and said it spent more than $500,000 last year on homeless programs.

But San Gabriel Valley Family Promise Board President Karen Roberson said she thinks hosting the families is no different from a sleepover for the church youth group or an overnight prayer service.

She said she never thought to ask for city permission, and that the other cities she has worked with have shown support for the program. The host churches stretch from Pasadena to Rosemead, including First Baptist Church of Pasadena, South Pasadena Christian Church, Sierra Madre United Methodist Church and Mission Valley Free Methodist Church in San Gabriel.

The cities of Rosemead and Monterey Park have given Family Promise grants, Roberson said.

"Generally we don't ask permission because this is a mission ministry of the churches," she said. "This is part of what churches do." 
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