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A Saudi court has ruled in favor of the public display of a crucifix, despite a Kingdom-wide ban on Christian symbols. The only proviso is that a beheaded human body has to be attached to it: RIYADH (Reuters) – A Saudi court of cassation upheld a ruling to behead and crucify a 22-year-old man convicted of raping five children and leaving one of them to die in the desert, newspapers reported on Tuesday. The convict was arrested earlier this year after a seven-year old boy helped police in their investigation. The child left in the desert after the rape was...

In the April 23, 2008 online-edition of The New York Times, Timothy Egan wrote a post on the Outposts blog claiming that the way polygamy is practiced today by members of the FLDS sect in Eldorado, Texas is the same as it was practiced by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in the 19th century. While most people know that Mormons abandoned the practice of polygamy at the end of the 19th century, it's also important to understand that the conditions surrounding the practice of polygamy in Texas today bear little resemblance to the plural...

What is a Christian? A Christian is one whose sins are forgiven, Who possess eternal life and knows it, In whom the Holy Spirit dwells, He is accepted in and associated with a risen and glorified Christ, He believes the Bible as the sole authority and revelation from Almighty God, He has broken with the world, is dead to sin and to the law, He finds his object and his delight in the Christ who loves him and gave Himself for him, he seeks God's will for God's glory and for whose coming he waits everyday of his life. Take...

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:3-5)

Top Stories for Thursday, November 12th, 2009: Here is a choir- loft view of the altar at the Church of St. Agnes, St. Paul, Minn. On November 2, the parish commemorated All Souls Day with a Latin High Mass. The 1,200 Mass participants heard Mozart’s R­equiem sung by the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale, founded by the parish’s Msgr. Richard J. Schuler ( 1920- 2007) in 1956. Bishop- elect Paul Sirba of Duluth, Minn., a “ son of the parish,” concelebrated the Mass with Fr. John Ubel, pastor of St. Agnes. Fr. Ubel served as homilist. Fr. William Baer and...

Where is the hardest place in the world to be a Christian citizen? North Korea, perhaps? Saudi Arabia? According to Lars Widerberg of Intercessor's Network, it is the nation of Somalia. There are thought to be no more than a thousand Christians in a resident population of 8 million people, with perhaps a few thousand more in the diaspora. The Islamist Shabab militia, which controls most of southern Somalia, is dedicated to hunting these remaining Christians down and eliminating every one of them. Christian men attend mosques on Fridays, so as not to arouse suspicion. Bibles are kept hidden. There...

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.” - Psalm 33: 12 On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights fined the Italian government for having crucifixes in its schools. It’s yet another example of oversize, secular bureaucracies pitted against the most natural forms of agreement, in this case the nation. The European Court of Human Rights ordered that the government pay 5,000 Euro ($7,390) to Soile Lautsi, a mother of two who claimed that public schools in her northern Italian town refused eight years ago to remove...

There is much talk and discussion today about helping the poor and downtrodden here in the USA. The only true way to help individuals break free from the tyrannical cycle of poverty, however, is a Conservatism that is rooted in Biblical, Judean/ Christian truths and absolutes. Such values bestow upon these individuals a sense of reality and purpose in what otherwise would be a meaningless, “burned out” existence. Historically, Judean/ Christian values have been the only true advocate and hope for the poor since the fall of man (see Genesis 3:17-19). The word charity - as taught in the Bible...

Rome, Italy, Nov 6, 2009 / 02:58 pm (CNA).- Speaking to Vatican Radio on Tuesday, Cardinal Franc Rode shed more light on the reasons behind the ongoing apostolic visitation of female U.S. religious orders, saying that a “secularist mentality” and a “feminist spirit” evident in the communities were among the factors leading to the visitation.The apostolic visitation was launched earlier this year with the stated aim of helping strengthen religious communities in the U.S., which are suffering from a sharp decline in vocations.In his Tuesday interview with Vatican Radio, Cardinal Rode said “some criticism arrived from United States and...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue speaks to the way Catholics and Muslims are treated in the upcoming film, “2012”:When we got word recently that the movie “2012” depicts the Vatican being blown up, along with the famous statue from Rio, Christ the Redeemer, we were unmoved. Why? Because this occurs during the end of the world in a massive destruction. This kind of sensationalism, we reasoned, is standard fare for director Roland Emmerich: he is the guru of the “blow ‘em up” genre of movies. But now we’ve learned that while Catholics get theirs, Muslims are spared. Out of fear,...

Same-sex relationships go against Scripture and morality, according to a letter mailed Monday by members of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bessemer City. The congregation recently drafted the letter stating its disdain for a resolution passed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. “We are writing to express our disappointment with the recent Churchwide Assembly’s approval of the resolution to allow gay and lesbian pastors,” the letter states. “We also disapprove of the resolution to find ways for congregations to recognize same-gender relationships.” The 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted in August to open the...

LARAMIE - Forty years ago, 14 black University of Wyoming football players were kicked off the team for wanting to wear black armbands to protest The Jesus Christ Church of Latter-day Saints' policy of not calling black men into its priesthood. But on Tuesday, members of the "Black 14," as well as others involved in the situation, returned to Laramie for a panel discussion to both remember and teach about an incident that's little known among young people and is still a sore subject among many who lived through it. On Oct. 17, 1969, on the eve of the Cowboys'...

A priest in the Diocese of Scranton has been removed as administrator of three Throop parishes after he inadvertently displayed four photos of what a diocese spokesman called "minimally attired adult males" before the 8 a.m. Mass at St. Bridget's Church on Oct. 25. The Rev. Edward P. Lyman was using his personal computer to project an informational DVD about the diocesan Annual Appeal fundraiser when he accidentally showed the "inappropriate personal photographs" that were stored on his computer, according to a diocesan statement read at the Throop Masses on Sunday. Diocese spokesman William Genello said the photos were not...

As the original perpetrators for your initial story about a possible UFO sighting in Penparc, we write in reply to last week’s article. In the light of the revelations by Ben Giles that it was he and his family launching giant Chinese lanterns on both dates in question, it would seem likely that in this case we may have been mistaken. However, that does not diminish the fact on a worldwide basis, since 1947 – the year of the famous Roswell incident in the USA – there have to date been five million (and raising) documented sighting of UFOs –...

‘Brother’ Antonio Cordova, leader of the group “Alpha and Omega”, which defends the existence of creatures in other planets, said: “Peru is a prophetic land and the place chosen by aliens to communicate with humans.” The this group mixes together ‘Christianism, socialism, a vegetarian diet and beings from another planet”, and has now organized the” Fourth International Congress of UFOlogy’ in the Peruvian capital, gathering contactees and researchers from countries like Chile, Ecuador or Brazil. Antonio Cordova, was named as “Trustee of the Divine Celestial Science” and at an interview with international media, remarked the importance of Peru as the...

Emily's List spends millions of dollars supporting the campaigns of pro-abortion rights women. They advocate for complete and unrestricted access to abortion. EMILY's List boasts that they are the largest political action committee (PAC) with more than 100,000 members. Since its founding in 1985, EMILY's List has raised over $240 million and claims to have helped elect 80 pro-choice Democratic women to the U.S. House, 15 to the U.S. Senate, and nine women Governors to state houses. Pro-abortion women candidates benefit greatly when landing an endorsement from Emily's List. For the 2007-2008 election cycle, Emily's List raised $43 million to...

Some Effingham County Lutherans are leaving their churches in an effort to disassociate with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the country. The breakaway group known as Lutherans for Bible Based Beliefs announced new worship services for those who disapprove of the national church's vote in August to allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy. Alan B. Zipperer said he helped organize the group to give people who disapproved of the ELCA's decision a place to feel comfortable. "There are so many dissatisfied people at several churches around Effingham County, we...

Hi, let me clear your doubt about animal gods..... It is said that . Thousands of years ago, the deamons and humans used to pray god and posessed powers. Some of them posessed dangerous powers and tried to destroy the world. They while asking for the boon,, they askid like no, human or a god should be able to kill them. Since god cannot take his word back. In order to protect the world, He came in different forms to kill those different daemons. The gods wich hindus prays like ganesh and hanuma are mentioned in the hindu bookd even...

The film, The 13th Day, distributed in North America by Ignatius Press, continues to earn rave reviews from viewers. Sr. Helena Burns, FSP, who authors the "Hell Burns" blog, writes: This is a triumph of a film. And I don’t think I’ve ever used that word for a film before. “The 13th Day” was screened here at the 1st Annual John Paul II Film Festival in Miami: http://www.jp2filmfestival.com/. British producer Natasha Howes (birthday: May 13, feast of Our Lady of Fatima) was present. I was prepared not to like this film, and very apprehensive about not liking it because...

On Thursday Afternoon, November 5, 2009, 12 pro-lifers were arrested inside or outside in the hall at Nancy Pelosi's office at #235 Cannon office building. They entered, with two complete copies of the bill - all 2,000 pages (4,000) - and proceeded to rip it up, page by page, and strew it on the floor...

Just this year, Dobson gave 2009 Miss USA 1st runner-up Carrie Prejean the same treatment. To her credit, she had spoken out against same-sex marriage during the pageant, yet she seemed to have no moral dilemma when it came to posing for some prurient photographs. Dobson praised her for the former and had little to say about the latter, holding her out as a fine example of Christian womanhood who had been martyred by the media. I was still program director at a Christian station at that time, and we were given a choice between airing the Prejean interview or...

Sr. Verónica Berzosa Madrid, Spain, Nov 5, 2009 / 01:51 pm (CNA).- A 43 year-old prioresses has revolutionized an old Poor Clares convent in Spain, turning it onto a magnet for dozens of young professional women.Sister Veronica joined the Poor Clares Convent of the Ascension founded in 1604 in Lerma (Spain) at at time when it was going through a vocations crisis.  It was January 22, 1984, and Marijose Berzosa - Sr. Veronica's name prior to entering the convent - decided, at age 18, to leave behind a career in medicine, friends, nightlife and baketball."Nobody understood me. There were...

Writings of the Fathers of the Church  Alexander of Alexandria (Saint)   - Epistles on the Arian Heresy and the Deposition of Arius Alexander of Lycopolis   - Of the Manicheans Ambrose (340-397) (Saint) (Doctor)   - On the Christian Faith (De fide)   - On the Holy Spirit   - On the Mysteries   - On Repentance   - On the Duties of the Clergy   - Concerning Virgins   - Concerning Widows   - On the Death of Satyrus   - Memorial of Symmachus   - Sermon against Auxentius   - Letters Aphrahat/Aphraates (c. 280-367)   - Demonstrations Archelaus   - Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes Aristides the Philosopher   - The Apology Arnobius   - Against the Heathen Athanasius (Saint) (Doctor)   - Against the Heathen   - On the Incarnation...

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD." ~Lamentations 3:21-25

Forty years ago, BYU and Wyoming met at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyo., for a football game that turned out to be much more than a game. It was October, 1969 -- a turbulent time in American history, with demonstrations and protests abounding around the country, sparked by the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War. So when 14 black Wyoming football players decided to wear black armbands for the game against BYU -- to protest what they considered to be "racist practices" of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns and operates BYU -- and...

Please keep my son Gabriel and I in your prayers as we work here in China. Here are some updates. Denny China Diary Entry #4 November 03, 2009 "Don't you hate it when you go to wash some clothes in the bathroom sink and the sink falls off of the wall and shatters on the floor at your feet? Only in China. I think I should forget the room deposit!" Posted: 04:58 AM China Diary entry #3 November 03, 2009 (Nov.1)The children are very curious around us in these areas. The roads to get here were mostly dirt and rough....

Conservative leaders today are rejoicing over the out come of last nights 2009 election victories that have taken place. Many of the conservative leaders and their base are touting that they can see the light at the end of the tunnel and our optimistic. Last night’s victories are quite encouraging in light of the past shellacking that conservatism and the Republican Party have taken but they are the last struggling convulsions of a nation on the precipice of total collapse. The absolute reality is that the conservative, optimistic ideal cannot support the excessive weight of the current crises and realities...

An invitation to enter into the rest of the Lord—Pray with real intent—The Spirit of Christ enables men to know good from evil—Satan persuades men to deny Christ and do evil—The prophets manifest the coming of Christ—By faith miracles are wrought and angels minister—Men should hope for eternal life and cleave unto charity. Between A.D. 400 and 421 1 And now I, Moroni, write a few of the words of my father Mormon, which he spake concerning faith, hope, and charity; for after this manner did he speak unto the people, as he taught them in the synagogue which they...

Eldorado, Texas » Attorneys will hear closing arguments Thursday in the trial of a polygamous sect member whom the state alleges sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 2004. Fifty-first District Judge Barbara Walther told jurors Wednesday that "we are getting very close" to the final stage of Raymond Merril Jessop's trial and asked them to bring a packed suitcase in case lengthy deliberations require them to be sequestered. The state is expected to recall at least one witness -- a Texas Ranger who was the lead investigator in April 2008 when authorities raided the Yearning For Zion Ranch and uncovered...

Denver, Colo., Nov 2, 2009 / 06:39 pm (CNA).- Stressing that “there is very little time to act,” Bishop James Conley, the Auxiliary Bishop of Denver, told CNA in an exclusive interview on Monday that now is the time for President Obama to prove his critics wrong and show them that he really meant it when he said abortions would not be funded in the health care reform bill. Bishop Conley added, “If we don't demand honesty from our public officials and responsiveness to the serious concerns of the Catholic community, nobody will do it for us -- and we,...

The past 12 months have been noteworthy for the number of Roman Catholics elected or appointed to top political posts, and yesterday's election results kept the streak going. The winners of the two biggest races, gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey, are Catholic Republicans who appear to be committed to their faith. Virginia's governor-elect, Bob McDonnell, has talked about his Catholic upbringing shaping his political views. New Jersey's governor-elect, Chris Christie, and his wife send their kids to parochial schools. The relatively new heads of the two major political parties are both Catholics whose lives have been deeply influenced...

Responding to “many news reports” and “various inquiries” about the apostolic visitation of institutes of women religious in the United States, Cardinal Franc Rodé, prefect of the Congregation of Institutes of Religious, released an English-language statement on November 3. He said that the visitation’s purposes are to “encourage vocations and assure a better future for women religious” and “promote the Catholic identity and vibrancy of life of women religious.” “For many years,” he said, “this dicastery had been listening to concerns expressed by American Catholics-- religious, laity, clergy and hierarchy-- about the welfare of religious women and consecrated life in...

On September 29th 2008 my wife and I and our oldest grandchild waited patiently in a nearby park while our newest grandchild was about to be born. That Monday, several hundred miles to the east, America’s financial community was literally given its economic walking papers as Wall Street delivered crushing economic news. That day Dow Jones plunged 777 points and the market lost an incredible 1.2 trillion in market value -- the largest single-point plunge in America’s history. It withered main street America retirement plans, college savings plans, and housing mortgages. Each successive week brought an escalating tidal wave of...

On October 30, atheist Christopher Hitchens appeared on Dennis Miller’s Internet radio show condemning Mother Teresa, yet again. Here is one of his choice statements: “The woman was a fanatic and a fundamentalist and a fraud, and millions of people are much worse off because of her life, and it’s a shame there is no hell for your bitch to go to.” Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded today: I once told Hitchens that one of the real reasons he hates Mother Teresa has to do with his socialist ideology: he believes the state should care for the poor, not...

A think tank has compiled and analyzed reports of the harassment, intimidation, and “gross expressions of anti-religious bigotry” shown in reaction to the successful passage of Proposition 8. If partisans of marriage redefinition continue to increase in power, the analysis warns, those who seek the preservation of marriage as a union of man and wife may risk paying a price legally, socially and economically. The Heritage Foundation’s Oct. 22 report “The Price of Prop 8,” authored by researcher Thomas M. Messner, said that many individuals and institutions who defend the nature of marriage as a union between a man and...

I can't help but like Kathy Shaidle, the scrappy author of a Canadian blog called Five Feet of Fury. I've always had a weakness for people who tell you exactly what they think and never bother to mince words, and Shaidle is all that.   One of the most forthright critics of Canada's Tyranny of Nice and a courageous proponent of free speech in the face of a Nanny State, she's had her share of suffering, as have we all, but she is not the sort of person to demand that everybody Observe the Pieties on her behalf, and...

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The western North Dakota bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America says congregations are wrestling with a national church policy that allows gay and lesbian people to serve as pastors or in other church leadership positions. Bishop Mark Narum, who leads 192 congregations that make up the Western North Dakota ELCA Synod, said he met with pastors of those congregations this month. He described it as a "wonderful open conversation." "But there is a whole group in the middle of the church wrestling over, 'What does it mean to be faithful?'" he said. "An important...

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan has condemned The New York Times -- blasting the Gray Lady and its columnist Maureen Dowd for what he says are examples of unfair, prejudicial and just downright mean anti-Catholicism. Dolan used his blog last Thursday on the Archdiocese of New York's Web site to rail against the Times a day after the paper refused to print his critique as an op-ed piece. He singled out Dowd -- a poison-penned, Pulitzer winner and former Catholic-school girl -- for "the most combustible," "intemperate and scurrilous" "diatribe" she wrote on Oct. 25, which "rightly never would have...

Just got hold of the latest issue of the magazine my old alma mater in Spain sends me regularly. A feature about a movie actor, now also a producer, immediately got my attention. First, a magazine that tries to be serious in character would normally not talk about actors and celebrities. Second, though I’ve heard of the story before in a tangential way, I thought it would just have a short shelf life, just a flash in the pan, you know. In short, the article broke my guiding principles. It deserved to be read. And I did. Now, I feel...

Planned Parenthood has been a part of Abby Johnson's life for the past eight years; that is until last month, when Abby resigned. Johnson said she realized she wanted to leave, after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. "I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it," said Jonhson. She handed in her resignation October 6. Johnson worked as the Bryan Planned Parenthood Director for two years. According to Johnson, the non-profit was struggling under the weight of a tough economy, and changing it's business...

From the comments section: In my other life (the life that pays my salary), I am sinfully proud of my ability to correctly use terms and to grasp semantics. David Swartling, who is my secret hero, has made it impossible for me to ever again use the phrase "simple majority." I now, belatedly, grasp the difference between "vision" and "visions." I'm laughing out loud. Perhaps this distinction could be made into a YouTube video... Sincere thanks for your good work for this church, and a big shalom to you.

This weekend’s feedback is in response to a number of queries about the Church of England (Anglicans) officially apologizing to Darwin. However, they don’t speak for all attenders of this church, since many of them are still faithful to Scripture and are appalled by their ‘leaders’. There are numerous mistakes in the article by the official CoE representative, a Rev. Dr Malcolm Brown, on the official CoE website, and Jonathan Sarfati replies point-by-point...

A disturbing though came to me that I can't counter the way I would like to. My thought is this: What if life was like a ride at Disneyland? Maybe we have been spirits waiting in line for a body just like people wait in line for an amusement ride. Worldly life is then like a rollercoaster ride where nothing is ultimately real. Good and evil are just part of the ride and may not even be part of the spiritual world. What's important to the spirits is that you get a body. And anything can happen to you: short...

MURRIETA, Calif., Nov. 2, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Left Behind Games Inc. (OTCBB:LFBG), dba Inspired Media Entertainment, a leading publisher of Christian video games, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Lenox Hill Partners of New York to assist in identifying 12 potential acquisition candidates in the next six months. Troy Lyndon, CEO, says, "Although we are pursuing our own internal growth, we are also seeking to expand the business through strategic acquisitions. Of the 12 acquisition candidates, it is our hope to find at least one that will align with our goals and enhance our profitability. Specifically,...

Psalm 72:12-14 He will Take Care of the Helpless and Poor when they Cry to Him; For they have No One Else to Defend them. He Feels Pity for the Weak and Needy, and will Rescue them. He will Save them from Oppression and from Violence, For their Lives are Precious to Him.

It's hard to tell in the quiet of a colour-splashed autumn morning, but Redeemer Fellowship Church is trying to set roots in a rough neighbourhood. For churches, anyway. Until this new church opened last month, its 19th-century Congregational church building in suburban Watertown was empty for nearly two years. Just across the street, a closed Baptist church is filled with condos. So is a former Catholic church a kilo-metre away. Dead churches are a familiar story in New England, which recent surveys indicate is now the least religious region in the United States. But some see opportunity in a place...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Charleston is going by its full name again. Since August, a black cloth had hung over the word "Lutheran" on the church's sign on Corridor G. It was Pastor Richard Mahan's way of protesting the vote by leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to allow gays and lesbians in lifelong, monogamous relationships to serve as clergy. The church removed the cloth a little more than a week ago. In its place, a new symbol hung for about a week: A sign that stated "Reclaiming the Name" in red letters, under...

At Lighthouse Church of All Nations in Alsip, the congregation can get more than just prayer at the Sunday worship services. If a lucky -- or "blessed and highly favored" -- churchgoer is in the right seat, they can also receive a cash prize. At each of the three Sunday services, the Rev. Dan Willis pulls a number of one seat from a bag and the worshiper in that seat wins a cash prize. Two of the churchgoers win $250 and the third gets $500. The church gives away $1,000 each Sunday, Willis said. The cash prize is part of...

After the Pope, the Secretary of State, and the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the most influential man at the Vatican-- #4 on the overall list-- is the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. That congregation supervises the selection of bishops for dioceses all around the world; it's easy to see why the office is so important.The prefect today is Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. By reason of both tenure (he's just passed 9 years in that office) and age (he turns 76 in January), he is overdue for retirement. The prelate who succeeds him will...

The early 21st century stands as a period of profound moral confusion. On the one hand, mothers and doctors are permitted to crack open the skulls and suck out the brains of nearly-born babies with government sanction under the banner of partial birth abortion. Should these very same people hike into the woods and crack open a bald eagle egg, they could face serious prison time. It would therefore seem that contemporary society is marked by two seemingly contradictory extremes—- that of extreme license and that of excessive control. However, upon closer inspection it could be concluded that these conditions...