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Hamas hate TV - Nahoul's death and a killer rabbit

A major new survey presents perhaps the most detailed picture we've yet had of which religious groups Americans belong to. And its big message is: blink and they'll change. For the first time, a large-scale study has quantified what many experts suspect: there is a constant membership turnover among most American faiths. America's religious culture, which is best known for its high participation rates, may now be equally famous (or infamous) for what the new report dubs "churn."

According to Pew, 28% of American adults have left the faith of their childhood for another one. And that does not even include those who switched from one Protestant denomination to another; if it did, the number would jump to 44%. Says Greg Smith, one of the main researchers for the "Landscape" data, churn applies across the board. "There's no group that is simply winning or simply losing," he says. "Nothing is static. Every group is simultaneously winning and losing."

An even more extreme example of what might be called "masked churn" is the relatively tiny Jehovah's Witnesses, with a turnover rate of about two-thirds. That means that two-thirds of the people who told Pew they were raised Jehovah's Witnesses no longer are - yet the group attracts roughly the same number of converts. Notes Lugo, "No wonder they have to keep on knocking on doors."

The single biggest "winner," in terms of number gained versus number lost, was not a religious group at all, but the "unaffiliated" category. About 16% of those polled defined their religious affiliation that way (including people who regarded themselves as religious, along with atheists and agnostics); only 7% had been brought up that way. That's an impressive gain, but Lugo points out that churn is everywhere: even the unaffiliated group lost 50% of its original membership to one church or another.

The report does not speculate on the implications of its data. But Lugo suggests, "What it says is that this marketplace is highly competitive and that no one can sit on their laurels, because another group out there will make [its tenets] available" for potential converts to try out. While this dynamic "may be partly responsible for the religious vitality of the American people," he says, "it also suggests that there is an institutional loosening of ties," with less individual commitment to a given faith or denomination. http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080225/us_time/americasunfaithfulfaithful

What are we to make of "churn" in the church today?

In a society that equates bigger with better, where so called "church growth" seminars do land office business, some churches look at people moving on as a problem or even a personal insult.

I can't tell you how many articles I have seen that use words like "combating turnover" and "retention strategies" as if they came from holy writ.

So here's a radical question - Is it possible that "churn" can be a good thing in the life of a church?

I believe it can in three practical ways.

First, there are those who leave the church because they are wolves in sheeps' clothing.

J. Vernon McGee of Through The Bible Ministries http://www.thruthebible.org/ once observed that cults do the church a favor by removing the dead wood! I have seen people leave our fellowship because they spilled the beans that they were either atheists, Wiccans or even denied that Jesus is God. As much as I would love to see such people turn to Christ, if they are stuck in their position, I believe we are better off without them.

Second, there are people who leave the church because they no longer share the vision or direction the Lord is leading a particular body. Perhaps it is because of a lack of confidence in the spiritual leadership that oversees the flock. Maybe it is something as simple as a difference in taste in worship music, or the length of the Sunday sermon. But if a person finds church like listening to fingernails on a chalkboard they aren't doing themselves or anyone else any favors by sitting in the seats with a scowl on their face, or (even worse)standing out in the parking lot creating a grumble group while services are going on.

If we aren't at peace in a fellowship, and we have shared our concerns lovingly and honestly with leadership, perhaps it is time to move on.

The third situation where churn can be a good thing in the church is when it is prompted by a desire to do outreach. Consider this positive parting of the ways described in the book of Acts.

What an incredible, Spirit filled fellowship was meeting in Antioch! Our human nature would instinctively want to keep this group together as long as we could. "We can't have Barnabas and Saul leave! Things just won't be the same!"

Yes. But what would have happened if Barnabas and Saul hadn't taken the Good News to the world? Would you and I have even heard the gospel at all if they hadn't been faithful to leave when God called them?

I see the same phenomenon at work in Calvary Chapel circles. God has raised up some significantly used men of God who were touched, saved and discipled at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa.

But what if Pastor Chuck Smith had said, "No, Greg Laurie. You can't go start Harvest Christian Fellowship. http://www.harvest.org/  We need you here as our pastor of evangelism. No, Mike MacIntosh, you can't reach San Diego with the Good News. http://www.horizonsd.org/  We need you here to market records for Maranatha Music. No Skip Heitzig. You can't go to Albuquerque and start a work that has touched hundreds of thousands. http://www.calvaryabq.org/  You can stay here and be our youth pastor."

You get the picture.

Things would have been awesome at Costa Mesa. But what of all the hundreds of thousands, if not millions who wouldn't have been reached if these men weren't just allowed, but exhorted and encouraged to follow the vision God placed on their hearts?

The goal of the church should never be to make sure "our people" never go anywhere.

The people belong to the Lord, not us.

It should be our goal to be "W.I.S.E" in ministry - To Win people to Christ. To Instruct these new converts in the whole counsel of God's Word. To Send these discipled believers to new areas that need God's touch. And to Encourage each person to find the precise place where they fit in God's plan.

If we do that "churn" will take care of itself.

"have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." (Romans 10:2)

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Scott's Blog - 2/21/08

If It Walks Like a Duck..

Photo provided by the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority.

A security officer at Tampa International Airport found a box cutter hidden in a hollowed-out book on Sunday.

By Thomas W.  Krause of The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 20, 2008

TAMPA - A 21-year-old Clearwater man was arrested at Tampa International Airport this weekend after security personnel found a box cutter in a hollowed-out book, authorities said.

Benjamin Baines Jr.

If convicted, Baines faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for a federal charge of attempting to board an airplane with a concealed dangerous weapon. He is currently serving a 30 day
sentence after pleading guilty Monday to a state misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, airport security ran Benjamin Baines Jr.'s backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter, according to a report from the Transportation Security Administration.

When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled "Fear Itself." The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside.

After Baines was read his rights, he said his cousin had cut away the pages to make the hollow section in the book. Later, reports state, he said he had hollowed it out himself to hide money and marijuana from his roommates.

Baines told officers he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book.
Officers found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible. http://suncoastpinellas.tbo.com/content/2008/feb/20/man-airport-had-box-cutter-hidden-book/

Now we can choose either one of two possible explanations for Mr. Baines' carry on items.

A. He is a misunderstood Comparative Religions/Carpet Installation major who took some study aids along with him on his trip.

B. He is a wanna-be terrorist trying to follow in the footsteps of Mohammed Atta and his pals.

You make the call.

Suffice it to say what was in Mr. Baines heart, made its way into his carry on luggage, which made its way onto an x-ray machine display, which is why Mr. Baines is currently in custody.

The point here is easy to spot. What goes on in the heart inevitably shows up in a life. Jesus put it this way:

And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. (Mark 7:20-22)

Conversely, when God is doing a good work in our hearts, that is also hard to hide.

Not long after I got saved there was a challenging question that made the rounds -"If being a Christian was a crime, would their be enough evidence to convict you?"

Let's hope that our commitment to Christ is just that obvious as we live for the Lord in these spiritually dark times!

Rich divorcee Jocelyn Wildenstein spent a rumoured £2million on cosmetic surgery to keep her husband, but succeeded only in ruining the good looks she was born with.

Changing faces: Jocelyn today and at various stages of surgery going back to the 70s when she first went under the knife fearing her husband would leave her. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=516768&in_page_id=1773

Yikes! What could possibly motivate someone to undergo such a bizarre transformation?

Perhaps it is a failure to understand where true beauty comes from.

What makes a person genuinely attractive? The funny thing is that externals really have a relatively minor role to play in the equation.

When I first got to know my wife Pam, she invited me to come to an open house at her work place. She taught adaptive physical education to severe and profoundly retarded children.

After 10 minutes of seeing Pam go through a typical day on the job I became convinced of two things.

First, I would last about 15 minutes in the high demand environment she had chosen as her profession.

Second, the children she worked with weren't able to understand much. But they did understand who really loved them. And they were all over Pam like white on rice.

That kind of love on display was powerful - and profoundly attractive.

And it gets more beautiful as time goes by.

 If you don't have that kind of inner beauty, the beauty of a heart touched by God's love, you won't find it in a bottle of make up, or in a shot of botox.

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Scott's Blog - 2/19/08

When Answers Elude Us

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Scott's Blog - 2/18/08

Notes From the Under-the-Weather

Dr Rowan Williams: 'We have to think about the rule of law in a society of overlapping identities'

The Archbishop of Canterbury caused consternation yesterday by calling for Islamic law to be recognised in Britain.

He declared that sharia and Parliamentary law should be given equal legal status so the people could choose which governs their lives.

This raised the prospect of Islamic courts in Britain with full legal powers to approve polygamous marriages, grant easy divorce for men and prevent finance firms from charging interest.

His comments in a BBC interview and a lecture to lawyers were condemned at a time when government ministers are striving to encourage integration and stop the nation from "sleepwalking to segregation".

In his lecture, 57-year-old Dr Williams said that "we have to think a little harder about the role and rule of law in a plural society of overlapping identities".

He added that it would be possible to develop "a scheme in which individuals retain the liberty to choose the jurisdiction under which they will seek to resolve certain carefully specified matters, so that power-holders are forced to compete for the loyalty of their shared constituents.

"This may include aspects of marital law, the regulation of financial transactions, and authorised structures of mediation and conflict resolution."

The archbishop attempted to distance himself from the extreme legal systems run in Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, where adultery can be punished by death and women who behave independently risk harsh punishments.

"Nobody in their right mind, I think, would want to see in this country a kind of inhumanity that sometimes appears to be associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states - the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well," he said. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23436203-details/Adoption+of+Islamic+Sharia+law+in+Britain+is+'unavoidable'%2C+says+Archbishop+of+Canterbury/article.do

But if Islamic courts were instated in Britain, what would prevent them from progressing to the point of making a judgment like this one?

TEHRAN -- A young Iranian man has been sentenced to hang for repeatedly drinking alcohol which is strictly banned in the Islamic republic, the Etemad newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old, identified only as Mohsen, was handed down the death penalty by a criminal court after being found guilty of drinking alcohol for a fourth time, the daily said.

"The defendant in this case has been sentenced to death and the official notification will be given soon," it quoted Judge Jalil Jalili as saying.

"According to article 179 of the Islamic penal code, if someone drinks twice and is punished for it on each occasion he should be executed on the third offence," Jalili said.

Mohsen was punished for drinking alcohol three times in May, June and October 2006. In the latest case, he was arrested for drunken and disorderly behavior on the street, the daily said.

The young man had expressed his repentance in a letter, but the judges of Branch 72 of Tehran penal court sentenced him to death.

The usual punishment for a single drinking offence is 80 lashes, according to Iran's penal code which is based in Islamic sharia law. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20080206-117193/Iranian-faces-execution-for-drinking-alcohol----report

Dr. Williams indicates that a form of "Sharia-lite" would do wonders for "diversity". But where would Britain draw the line?

Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute, said: "I am appalled that the head of the Church of England is advocating that parts of sharia law should be introduced into British law.

"The idea that you can have the moderate bits without the nasty bits coming along at a later time is naive."

Tory backbencher David Davies, an Anglican, said: "I am astounded. Dr Williams is a nice enough man, very intellectual, but he has clearly lost the plot.

"He's one of the most influential Christian prelates in the world and he's supposed to be standing up for Christianity.

"What he's doing is abandoning his own religion. If people come to this country they should be prepared to compromise their own traditions to fit in with the host country.

Tory cohesion spokesman Baroness Warsi, a Muslim herself, said: "The archbishop's comments are unhelpful and may add to the confusion that already exists in our communities.

"Freedom under the law allows respect for some religious practices.

"But let's be absolutely clear. All British citizens must be subject to British laws developed through Parliament and the courts."

The politicians in Britain can clearly see the potential dangers involved in "where" one draws the line on this issue. But there is a far more important question lounging about here like an elephant in the living room - Why?

Why not allow Sharia law?

Why do you feel your laws are better than the laws of Islam?

How can you deny this group the right to put alcohol drinkers to death? After all, they are very sincere in their beliefs.

And if Britain allows separate courts and legal systems for Moslems, why not Jehovah's Witnesses, or Scientologists, or idol worshippers, or head hunters?

The fact is that British Law is founded on a very significant foundation - absolute truth.

There are standards of right conduct that are not found by majority vote, or a desire to avoid offending a pressure group.

But when liberal clergy like Rowan Williams deny the authority and inerrancy of the Bible, truth is reduced to a game of "You go your way, I'll go mine."

It isn't a new error.

The Bible details one of the saddest periods of Jewish history in the book of Judges. Israel, in the Promised Land would be blessed by God. But soon their blessings became more important than the Bless-er. They would forget about God, and the Lord would allow them to go their own way. Unfortunately, without God's help, they soon found themselves being brutally oppressed by the surrounding nations.

There was one sad spiritual condition that fueled this destructive fire.

We may very well be seeing the same principle in play in our day. The head of the Church of England has no real idea what truth really is all about. The increasingly militant Moslems in Britain have no such sense of self doubt.

Ultimately this is where relativistic thinking leads both societies and individuals. Without a moral compass based on timeless truth, right and wrong become a question of opinion polls and population charts.

Britain is being asked a question - Why do you believe your values are true?

Unless they return to God for their answer, they may lose those values, and even the very nation they value - forever.

The annual country persecution list ranked North Korea in the No. 1 spot for the sixth year in a row. There were more arrests of Christians in the country in 2007 than in 2006, according to Open Doors.

In North Korea, considered by many the most repressive regime, citizens are strictly banned from worshipping any other gods beside those enforced in the state religion – a personality cult revolving around current dictator Kim Jong Il, and his deceased father, Kim Il Sung.

Moreover, Christianity is considered a serious threat to the regime’s power and there are many reports of Christians being publicly executed, tortured or imprisoned indefinitely simply because of the discovery of their faith.

It is estimated that there are at least 200,000 underground Christians and up to 400,000 to 500,000 believers secretly practicing their faith in North Korea. At least a quarter of the Christians are imprisoned for their faith in political prison camps, from which people rarely get out alive, according to an Open Doors local source.

“It is certainly not a shock that North Korea is No. 1 on the shame list for the sixth year in a row,” said Carl Moeller, President/CEO of Open Doors USA. “There is no other country in the world where Christians are being persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner.”

In second place behind North Korea is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia where fundamentalist Wahabbi Islam dominates society and oppresses believers. Under the kingdom’s strict interpretation of Islamic law, apostasy (conversion to another religion) is punishable by death if the accused does not recant.

Following close behind in third is Mideast neighbor Iran. Although Christians are officially recognized as a religious minority, believers regularly face discrimination and persecution.

Islam is the predominant religion in six of the top 10 countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Maldives, Afghanistan, Yemen and Uzbekistan.

The World Watch List ranks countries based on the intensity of persecution Christians face for actively pursuing their faith. The list is compiled based on answers to 50 questions covering various aspects of religious freedom from Open Doors’ indigenous contacts, field workers and persecuted believers.

Open Doors encourages Christians to join its prayer campaign for North Korea and participate in North Korea Freedom Week, April 27 - May 3.

2008 World Watch List

1. North Korea
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Iran
4. Maldives
5. Bhutan
6. Yemen
7. Afghanistan
8. Laos
9. Uzbekistan
10. China http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080205/31086_Top_10_Worst_Places_to_Live_as_a_Christian.htm

It is interesting that we would tend to see a persecution rich environment as "the worst place to live".

I wonder if Jesus would feel the same way?

Consider the words of encouragement He offered to a group of suffering believers in a place called Smyrna.

Of the seven churches Jesus addressed in Revelation, Smyrna stands out in a significant way. Jesus doesn't have a single word of correction for them. In fact he tells them that all appearances to the contrary "you are rich".

Waiting for them was a reward so amazing, so mind blowing we find it hard to fully comprehend - the crown of life.

The principle here is pretty easy to spot.

Think about your own life for a moment. We all love times of peace and prosperity, and God certainly knows that we need them.

But in all honesty, doesn't the most lasting, the most valuable, the most significant growth in our relationship with God happen when we come face to face with adversity, trials and tough times?

I most admit that more than once I have felt that going through the valleys of life was "the worst place to live as a Christian". But looking back I can see those were precisely the times that my trust in the faithfulness of God, and my compassion for those on the losing end grew like no other.

No wonder James wrote:

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