Roma Downey: Christians in Middle East want U.S. to find diplomatic solutions in Syria
We did not meet a single Christian leader over there in support of further action in Syria. Not one. They believe such action will only escalate violence against Arab Christians, it will only serve to trigger more fear and violence. We must find another solution. I pray we do. Yes, it’s terrible what is happening in Syria but a violent response would be terrible as well.
I feel compelled upon my return to speak up and share the heart of what I heard over there.
The repeated message was that they don’t feel American Christians understand the Middle East. That we are not listening to those who live there.
Mission Congo: how Pat Robertson raised millions on the back of a non-existent aid project
Its report concluded that Robertson made “fraudulent and deceptive” statements with claims to be ferrying doctors and medical aid to Goma when he was delivering diamond-mining equipment. It accused Operation Blessing of “misrepresenting” what its flights were doing, and of saying that the airstrip at Kamonia was part of the aid operation when it was “for the benefit of ADC’s mining operation”.
Gay rights vs. religious rights: 7 issues to watch
Upcoming battles include whether religious opposition to same-sex marriage constitutes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender and/or marital status; and what happens when a discrimination claim bumps up against an individual’s or institution’s religious freedom.
Social network updates can give us the feeling of having contributed significantly to something of importance when all we have really done is passed on the message to someone else (with a distant hope in the back of our minds that surely someone will do something about it, right?) who has in all likelihood done the very same thing (knowing the people we’re connected to, right?).
Imagine, for a minute, if instead of forwarding the Kony 2012 video clip (or even better, in addition to) those 97 million people had each invited a homeless person into their house for a meal? Or gone down to the local hospital and visited two sick people they didn’t even know? Or taken a piece of paper and written an encouraging letter to someone who is behind bars?
Have we considered that the One who causes each wave to rise and fall and each day to come and go is the same One who designed us to have eternity stamped in our hearts? When we feel the sadness of our quickly passing life, sometimes our instinct is to dismiss these feelings of sorrow into a tidy, cute category that we call sentimentality. But what if, far from it being merely sentimental, these feelings are actually our Creator whispering to us, teaching us about Himself, teaching us about the brevity of our lives.
Well, I’m not going to tell you exactly what words to use. I’m simply going to give you ten questions to ask that I hope will produce the right words and the right way to say them should you ever have to offer criticism to a preacher.
Shhhhhh! German parties appeal to voters’ aversion to noise
In their programs for the September 22 election and to an extent never seen before, political parties are outlining how they intend to make German skies and roads even quieter.
Noise is mentioned 12 times in the CDU’s manifesto, 19 times in the program of her junior coalition partners the Free Democrats (FDP), 38 times in the Greens’ election manifesto, 9 times by the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and 8 times by the far left Die Linke.