ETERNAL FLAME NEWS: Oct 11, 2012

Thursday, October 11, 2012

In Solitary Confinement: A Call to Action

Rev. Richard Wurmbrand spent years in prison for his faith in the Lord, but this imprisonment did nothing to temper his determination to spread the Gospel. Upon his release, Richard penned the powerful "Tortured for Christ" book, and founded "Jesus to the Communist World" (later The Voice of the Martyrs), a non-profit organization with a goal to share with the world the plight of persecuted Christians.

"People would believe that it has been only deep suffering. But when I remember that time, I remember it as a glorious time. The bride was in the embraces of the Heavenly Bridegroom. We received his holy kiss, we knew his caresses. It has been one of the most beautiful times of my life."

"You wonder probably why I smile. It is because I wish to convey to you the joy of those who suffer for Christ in Communist Prisons."

"Prison is not hell. In hell there is no water. We have water, rivers of living water."

Richard says we must feel, join, and pray for those in prison. Join with us in praying for Christians currently imprisoned for their faith in Christ by visiting http://www.prisoneralert.com/.

Excerpts from the documentary "Solitary."

Egypt's Brotherhood heads urged jihad for Jerusalem

AFP - The supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi emanated, called on Thursday for a jihad (holy war) to liberate Jerusalem from Israeli rule.
"Jerusalem is Islamic ... and nobody is entitled to make concessions" on the Holy City, said Sheikh Mohammed Badie in his weekly message to supporters.

"The jihad for the recovery of Jerusalem is a duty for all Muslims," he said, stressing that the liberation of the Holy City "will not be done through negotiations or at the United Nations."

READ MORE

Hungrian Immigrant & Business Owner Thomas Peterffy: Freedom To Succeed

Thomas Peterffy grew up in socialist Hungary. Despite the fact that he could not speak English when he immigrated to the United States in 1956, Thomas fulfilled the American dream. With hard work and dedication, he started a business that today employs thousands of people. In the 1970s, Thomas bought a seat on the American Stock Exchange. He played a key role in developing the electronic trading of securities and is the founder of Interactive Brokers, an online discount brokerage firm with offices all over the world.

Mitt Romney meets with Rev. Billy Graham

MONTREAT, N.C. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney met Thursday with Rev. Billy Graham, and the aging evangelist pledged to do "all I can" to help the GOP nominee win the presidency.

Romney went to see Graham and his son, the Rev. Franklin Graham, at the elderly evangelist's mountaintop home in the mountains of western North Carolina.

"Prayer is the most helpful thing you can do for me," Romney told the 93-year-old Graham.
The meeting came just days after Romney told a newspaper he would not pursue abortion-related legislation as president. Romney later insisted that he would be a "pro-life president."

The Republican candidate said Thursday that Franklin Graham, also an evangelical leader, had been helping his presidential bid.

"What you're planning, what your son has shown me, is going to be very, very helpful. And I appreciate that. It's going to be terrific," Romney said near the end of their 30-minute meeting. A handful of photographers and a camera crew witnessed the exchange, though no print reporters were allowed to see any part of the meeting.

Romney adviser Mark De Moss later said Romney and Franklin Graham had been discussing how the younger Graham is doing everything he can "to encourage churches to encourage their people to get out and vote."

The Republican nominee has faced some difficulty making inroads with evangelical voters, in part because some believe his Mormon faith means he is not a Christian. Earlier this year, the younger Graham expressed support for primary rival Rick Santorum, a Catholic. Pressed during an interview on MSNBC, Graham would not say that Romney was a Christian.

"He is a Mormon," Franklin Graham said in February. "Most Christians would not recognize Mormonism ... but he would be a good president if he won the nomination."

READ MORE

Poll: Adult Industry Backs Obama

LOS ANGELES — The adult entertainment industry overwhelmingly favors re-electing Barack Obama to a second term as president, according to the results of a new industry poll conducted by media organization XBIZ.

In spite of being in an era of declining industry revenues due to the glut of free content available online and rampant piracy, the majority of adult insiders side with the Democratic incumbent Obama over the Republican candidate Mitt Romney as the 2012 presidential election on Nov. 6 inches closer. The results are based on responses from members of XBIZ.net, the adult entertainment industry’s top social network.

XBIZ asked industry members: “Which candidate would you like elected U.S. president?”
Of the 339 respondents, 68% say Obama, while only 13% favor Romney. Another 14% would like to see “someone else” in the White House, while 5% responded “I don’t care.”

READ MORE

Texas Baptist Universities Sue Federal Government Over HHS Mandate

Two religiously-affiliated academic institutions have filed suit against the Department of Health and Human Services over its controversial "preventative services" mandate.

East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) and Houston Baptist University (HBU) filed the suit on Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Dr. John Mark Reynolds, provost at HBU, told The Christian Post that while the Baptist General Convention of Texas does not have a position on contraception, the suit goes beyond that issue.

"Baptists know that when another brother or sister Christian's religious freedom is transgressed by the state, no citizens are free. It isn't a 'Catholic' issue when religious freedom is transgressed: it is an American issue," said Reynolds.

"If the state can force Catholic charities to transgress their conscience, then the government is on a path to destroy the first freedom: freedom of religion."

Dr. Samuel W. "Dub" Oliver, president of ETBU, told The Christian Post that his university "cannot, in good conscience, comply with the HHS mandate" and that the decision to sue was not "taken lightly."

"We believe that the federal government is obligated by the First Amendment to accommodate the religious convictions of faith-based organizations of all kinds, Catholic and non-Catholic," said Oliver.

Why the Church Can Take on Corruption Despite Its Problems

In a recent lecture on human dignity, the Archbishop of Canterbury made it clear that in his opinion the world at large is not waiting with bated breath to hear what the Church has to say about morality. So why should anyone be expected to take Christians seriously when they launch a global campaign about corruption?

Lectures about morality from Christian communities with a track record in child abuse and bizarre cases where children have been demonized as witches can seem disingenuous. And there is little encouragement in the fact that according to the Status of Global Missions report in 2010, 'ecclesiastical crime' – across all faiths – is on the increase. In 1900 an estimated US$300,000 went missing from religious coffers. In 2010 that figure rose to US$32b and is projected at US$60b by 2025.

Fact and fiction have conspired to paint unpleasant caricatures of pastors pilfering from the offering plate, and preachers growing fat on the sacrifices of their beleaguered congregations. More recently, allegations of theft surrounding the Pope's former butler, Paolo Gabriele has only served to fuel the fallacious ideas which Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code left so vividly in our minds. Many people still harbor images of the Occupy campaign stalking St Paul's Cathedral for months and raising questions about the church's profligate relationship with City banks.

Even so, one of the greatest misnomers about faith is to present it as a panacea of human perfection. As someone once suggested, the Church is like Noah's Ark: smelly on the inside but arguably safer than swimming in the flood tide outside.

On the way to perfection, religion often stumbles in the streets.

And in a world where corruption kills people, undermines enterprise and stifles development, religion cannot wait for its own perfection before it works to clear up the mess.

A Voice for the Voiceless

Forty eight years ago Shirley got into a car and drove from Denver to Boston to have an illegal abortion. She already had one child and couldn't afford another mouth to feed. Too poor to fully provide but to proud for government assistance, Shirley decided that one was enough.

After all, wasn't there already too much pain in her world, too much pain in the world? Even if she decided to keep the baby there was a good chance he/she wouldn't survive in the high crime rate area where she resided. Violence was part of her neighborhood ritual and Shirley was often at the epicenter of it. She couldn't bring another life into her world of pain…or that's what she tried to convince herself of anyway.

To add insult to psychological injury, this unwanted pregnancy was the accidental result of a short term relationship with a guy she hardly knew. So, instead of shaming herself in front of her strict Baptist parents, she escaped to Boston under the guise of visiting relatives. She would take a life and save her life in the process.

But then a voice for the voiceless intervened.

Shirley's relatives in Boston spoke to her on behalf of the baby in her womb. They encouraged her to go through with the pregnancy with the promise that everything would work out just fine.

Eventually, her parents heard that Shirley was pregnant. They got ahold of her and told her that they would help her raise the baby. They begged her to come back to Denver so that they could be there when he/she was born.

Thousands of Youths Flock to Fields of Faith Events Nationwide

Thousands of young people from across the United States shared their faith with their peers on Wednesday as a part of the Fellowship of Christian Athlete's (FCA) seventh annual national Fields of Faith event, which was held at over 400 locations throughout the country this year.

Fields of Faith provides an opportunity for Christian students to invite their friends to faith rallies, which take place at local school athletic fields.

"The impact of Fields of Faith has been incredible in just these past few years," Les Steckel, FCA president and former NFL coach, said in a statement. "It's all about young people in these communities coming together on their school's athletic field and challenging each other to go back to the fundamentals of reading God's Word and coming to faith in Jesus Christ."

Last year, over 160,000 students in 36 states across 475 fields participated in the event. As a result, 8,741 students committed to reading their Bible every day, 5,202 recommitted their lives to Christ and 3,993 put their faith in Christ for the first time.

Fields of Faith was started after an FCA staffer, Jeff Martin, read 2 Chronicles 34 and saw it as a way to help students today with the spiritual battles they're faced with. In that chapter, a young King Josiah gathered his people and had them pledge to obey the scriptures, which changed the culture within his kingdom.

Lisa Coleman, an FCA area representative for Abilene, Texas, says an average of over 7,000 people have attended the local Fields of Faith event each of the last several years. This year's event will feature a live worship band, four students who will share their testimonies and a local pastor, who will invite non-Christian attendees to put their faith in Christ.

How to Respond to an Atheist by Dr. Erwin Lutzer

Nature, nurture both affect kids’ self-control

U. ROCHESTER (US) — Being able to delay gratification—often considered a predictor of a child’s future success—is as much a question of environment as innate ability, a new study shows.

"This study is an example of both nature and nurture playing a role," says Richard Aslin, professor of brain and cognitive sciences. "We know that to some extent, temperament is clearly inherited, because infants differ in their behaviors from birth. But this experiment provides robust evidence that young children’s action are also based on rational decisions about their environment." Here, four-year-old Evelyn Rose of Brighton, New York reenacts the marshmallow experiment. (Credit: J. Adam Fenster/U. Rochester)

For the past four decades, the “marshmallow test” has served as a classic experimental measure of children’s self-control: will a preschooler eat one of the fluffy white treats now or hold out for two later?
Children who experienced reliable interactions immediately before the marshmallow task waited on average four times longer—12 versus three minutes—than youngsters in similar but unreliable situations.

READ MORE

China: 'Save a Girl' Campaign Launched on First International Day of the Girl Child

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 11, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- October 11 marks the first International Day of the Girl Child, as recognized by the UN General Assembly. To coincide with this event, Women's Rights Without Frontiers is launching its "Save a Girl" campaign to end gendercide in China.

Experts estimate that between 160 and 200 million women are missing in the world today because of the sex-selective abortion of baby girls. Because of this gendercide, there are now 37 million more men living in China than women, which gender imbalance is driving human trafficking and sexual slavery not only in China but in many of the surrounding nations as well.

In response, Women's Rights Without Frontiers has launched its "Save a Girl" campaign to end gendercide. According to WRWF President Reggie Littlejohn, "This campaign is a way that people can directly help save lives in China." The campaign is designed to:

Combat Gendercide. WRWF is giving monthly stipends for a year to mothers who are at risk of aborting or abandoning their baby girls. This money helps the mother resist pressure to abort or abandon their baby girls.

Fight Forced Abortion. WRWF gives monthly stipends to help support women who are pregnant without a birth permit and are hiding or running to escape forced abortions.

Littlejohn stated, "We are defeating gendercide and forced abortion, one baby at a time. It's astonishing how little money it takes to save a life. For example, one of our baby girls was born to poor farmers. Her father wanted a son and was pressuring his wife to leave the baby out in the field to die. A WRWF Field Worker called the mother, who said that if we would help her, she would keep the girl. WRWF began giving her a small monthly stipend. Her daughter has become an adorable girl and is now greatly loved by both her parents. Her mother told WRWF: 'You saved my daughter's life. Thanks to you and your organization.'"

The campaign also gives stipends to women who are fleeing forced abortions.

Find out more about the Save a Girl Campaign here.

Read the Resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly - International Day of the Girl Child here.

Christian Newswire

Jubilee Campaign Law of Life Project Fights for Women's Right to Informed Consent Before Their Abortions

On Behalf of Women Harmed by the Lack of Informed Consent Before Their Abortions Jubilee Campaign Law of Life Project's Attorneys Take Their Case for a Woman's Right to See Her Ultrasound to the Oklahoma Supreme Court

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., Oct. 10, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Yesterday, representing American Victims of Abortion, including Oklahoma women, attorneys for the Jubilee Campaign's Law of Life Project, and the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, representing the State of Oklahoma, jointly filed their opening brief-in-chief with the Oklahoma Supreme Court, appealing a district court decision finding unconstitutional under the Oklahoma Constitution a law requiring abortionists to show and explain ultrasound images of an unborn child to the mother before obtaining her full informed consent perform an abortion.
This law, enacted by the Oklahoma Legislature in April 2010, requires abortionists to give women the opportunity to see and hear their child via ultrasound before giving their informed consent to an abortion. The evidence gathered in this case demonstrates that the abortionists affected by this law already use ultrasounds in the course of performing abortions, but don't usually share the information with the mother prior to their abortions.
Abortionists in Oklahoma filed suit challenging the law almost immediately after it was enacted, making seven arguments as to why they believe the law is unconstitutional. The Law of Life Project, on behalf of American Victims of Abortion, who intervened in the case, working in conjunction with the attorneys for the State of Oklahoma, filed more than 1700 pages of evidence, including the expert testimony of Oklahoma doctors, demonstrating why each of the abortionists' seven claims was erroneous.
The district court judge ignored the evidence, however, and ruled that the law was unconstitutional under the Oklahoma Constitution because it was an invalid "special law" -- that is, it improperly addresses only abortion procedures, as opposed to other surgical procedures. As the brief-in-chief appealing that decision explains, "[u]nderstood in its most basic terms, the district court, in error, ruled that the Oklahoma Constitution forbids legislation requiring women to receive meaningful medical information -- information currently being obtained by [the abortionists] through pre-abortion ultrasounds that these providers require and routinely perform." The court ignored the ample evidence submitted which demonstrates that abortion is a unique medical procedure because it involves the termination of human life, and thus cannot be compared to any other surgical procedure -- a fact that the Oklahoma Supreme Court has noted in other cases.
In his March 28, 2012 Order consisting of only three paragraphs, the district court judge dismissed the case, refusing to consider any party's (even the abortionists') arguments on the other issues raised by the complaint. After the judge refused to reconsider his decision, the Attorney General's Office and American Victims of Abortion are now asking the Oklahoma Suprme Court to reverse the district court's judgment and let the law go into full effect.
On appeal, the Law of Life Project argues that, not only did the district court judge err in finding that the Ultrasound Act was an unconstitutional special law, but that, in fact, all the evidence clearly demonstrates that the Act is wholly valid, and is not unconstitutional under any of the abortionists' seven reasons for challenging the law.
Sam Casey, General Counsel for the Jubilee Campaign's Law of Life Project, stated:

To learn more about the Law of Life Project's involvement with this case, please see here.
About the Jubilee Campaign's Law of Life Project
The Law of Life Project is a public interest legal organization dedicated to legally defending the right to life and dignity of the human being from biological conception until natural death in all matters worldwide where such a defense is required. Jubilee Campaign is an international charitable organization that seeks to be a "voice for the voiceless" promoting the human rights of all, particularly women and children in countries which imprison, terrorize or otherwise oppress them. www.lawoflifeproject.org

Contact: Samuel B. Casey,
703-624-4092 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 703-624-4092 end_of_the_skype_highlighting cell,
202-587-5652 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 202-587-5652 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Christian Newswire