2 September 2009
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Presbyterians Week Headlines
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[1] Christian Observer Highlights for September 2009
[2] Revised Cybersecurity Act S.773 Still Gives U.S. President “Emergency” Control of the Internet
[3] New Hampshire Court Forces Home Schooled Ten-Year-Old Girl into Public Schools after Girl’s Vigorous Defense of Her Christian Faith
[4] Ten Year Old Bride of Saudi Eighty Year Old Forced to Return to Husband after Ten Days in Hiding
[5] ACLU Spying for America’s Enemies
[6] IRD Report Condemns Christian Denominational Efforts to Appease and Tolerate the Abuses of Radical Islam
[7] Pro-Life Group Representatives Demonstrate on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, during Presidential Vacation
[8] Alameda County DA’s Request for Lifetime Abortion Protest and Sidewalk Counseling Ban against the Rev. Walter Hoye Denied by Court
[9] Boulder, Colorado Late-Term Abortionist Considers People to be “Malignant Eco-tumors”
[10] Calvin College Prohibition of Homosexual Advocacy has Some Faculty in an Uproar
[11] RCA Church Herald Publishes Last Issue
[12] ARP Synod Moderator Appoints Erskine College and Seminary Commission
[13] 8 November 2009 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
[14] Medical Missionary in the Ukraine Seeks Funds for CT Scanner
[15] EPC Youthworker Oasis 30 September–3 October 2009 in Signal Mountain, Tennessee
[16] John Calvin for Today Conference 23-24 October 2009 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
[17] New England Reformed Fellowship Meeting 8 September 2009 in Upton, Massachusetts
[18] Hungarian Mission Team of the Missouri Union Presbytery (PCUSA) Meets 29 August 2009 in Colombia, Missouri
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[1] Christian Observer Highlights for September 2009
New articles in the Christian Observer for September 2009 include:
— Five Out of Work Preachers – Managing Editor’s message concerning the ARP Synod, Erskine College and Seminary, and the ongoing clash of worldviews within the denomination and its agencies;
— William Morrison – The Experience of God’s Faithfulness by the Rev. Paul Carter – The story of late 19th and early 20th century Presbyterian missionary, William Morrison, who preached and lived the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Belgian Congo, and first translated the Bible into the Congolese native language;
— With Eternity in Mind by Art Thompson – A reflection on 19th century missionary to China, Robert Morrison, who first translated the Bible into the Chinese language;
— The Tolerance of Intolerance by Dr. Joe Renfro, Contributing Editor for Education – Today’s double standard of tolerance for Christians verses tolerance for Muslims;
plus, Sabbath School lessons from Assistant Editor, Dr. Robert LaMay, and daily devotionals from T.M. Moore.
+ Christian Observer, 9400 Fairview Avenue, Manassas, Virginia 20110, 703-335-2844, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
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[2] Revised Cybersecurity Act S.773 Still Gives U.S. President “Emergency” Control of the Internet
Cnet writer Declan McCullagh in a 28 August 2009 article reports on a Cnet-obtained excerpt of a draft copy of proposed U.S. Senate bill S.773, the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, prepared by aides to West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, that still provides the U.S. President with emergency power over the Internet and the ability to disconnect private sector computers from the Internet.
Additionally, the bill provides for increased government control over private networks, McCullagh explains: “If your company is deemed “critical,” a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.”
+ CBS Interactive, 235 2nd Street, San Francisco, California 94105, 415-344-2000, press@cnet.com
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The family (divorce) court advocate of a ten-year-old girl homeschooled by her divorced mother recommended that the girl be forced to attend public school after the girl gave the advocate a spirited defense of her faith, and the advocate said that the girl’s defense: “appeared to reflect her mother’s rigidity on questions of faith” and that the girl’s interests “would be best served by exposure to a public school setting” and “different points of view at a time when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief…in order to select, as a young adult, which of those systems will best suit her own needs.” New Hampshire Family Division of the Judicial Court for Belknap County Judge Lucinda V. Sadler approved the recommendation and issued the order on 14 July 2009.
Alliance Defense Fund affiliated attorney John Anthony Simmons of Hampton, New Hampshire, has filed motions and a supporting brief on behalf of the girl and her mother, and commented: “Parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children. In this case specifically, the court is illegitimately altering a method of education that the court itself admits is working. The court is essentially saying that the evidence shows that, socially and academically, this girl is doing great, but her religious beliefs are a bit too sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by, and mixed among other worldviews. This is a step too far for any court to take.”
+ Alliance Defense Fund, 15100 North 90th Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260, 800-835-5233, Fax: 480-444-0025
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[4] Ten Year Old Bride of Saudi Eighty Year Old Forced to Return to Husband after Ten Days in Hiding
The ten year old bride of an eighty year old Saudi Arabia man was forced, after hiding at the girl’s aunt’s house for ten days, to return to her eighty year old husband.
The husband defended his actions, saying: “My marriage is not against Sharia. It included the elements of acceptance and response by the father of the bride.”
The Islamic prophet Muhammad is said to have married his wife A’isha when she was six years old, and consummated the marriage when A’isha was nine years old.
A 28 August 2009 article in the English language NIS News Bulletin says that Netherlands Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders has submitted questions to the Dutch cabinet asking Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen if he shares the view that “this man is behaving like a pig, just like the barbarous Prophet Mohammed, who married the six year old girl Aisha,” and Wilders is asking Verhagen to summon the ambassador from Saudi Arabia to express the minister’s repugnance at the marriage of a ten year old girl to an eighty year old man.
+ Fox News, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036, 888-369 4762, Fax: 212 462 6127, yourquestions@foxnews.com
+ Answering Islam, dialog2007@answering-islam.de
+ Netherlands Info Services, Oude Vlijmenseweg 287, 5223 GM ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, 31-73-690-1531, Fax: 31-73-691- 0172, info@nisnews.nl
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[5] ACLU Spying for America’s Enemies
The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) in a 28 August 2009 report cites a recent Washington Post article about American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sponsored researchers that are part of the defense team for terrorists detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, secretly taking pictures of covert American Central Intelligence Agency operatives, including outside the agents’ homes, which were then shown to jihadi suspects tied to the 11 September 2001 attacks in order to identify the interrogators.
AINA asks: “Where is the concern for the safety of these American officers and their families? Where’s the outrage from all the indignant supporters of former CIA agent Valerie Plame, whose name was leaked by Bush State Department official Richard Armitage to the late Robert Novak?”
+ Assyrian International News Agency
+ The Washington Post, 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington DC 20071, 202-334-6000, Contact Form
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[6] IRD Report Condemns Christian Denominational Efforts to Appease and Tolerate the Abuses of Radical Islam
The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) President Mark Tooley released a 28 August 2009 email titled “Methodist & Other Church Pacifists, Defending America, and Radical Islam,” which takes several mainline denominations and a few evangelical denominations to task for their pacificism and appeasement toward, and their embracing of Radical Islam, including emergent church expert Brian McLaren’s joining in Islam’s Ramadan fast this year in solidarity with McLaren’s Muslim friends.
Tooley elaborates: “A lot of Christian elites want to ignore the reality of radical Islam. In their minds, Muslims are only the victims of Christian and Western misdeeds, starting with the Crusades. These church officials prefer apologies and atonement, while ignoring the plight of persecuted Christians and others (including moderate Muslims) who suffer under radical Islam today.”
Tooley continues: “Ironically, church liberals who oppose “violence” by the state demand an ever larger coercive government to provide for virtually every human need, most recently health care…” and notes that “…United Methodist chief lobbyist Jim Winkler insists skeptics of government health care are either racists or motivated by greed!”
+ Institute on Religion and Democracy, 1023 15th Street Northwest, Suite 601, Washington DC 20005-2601, 202-682-4131, Fax: 202-682-4136, info@theird.org
+ United Methodist Church, 7178 Columbia Gateway Drive, Columbia, Maryland 21046, 410-309-3400
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Representatives from the Christian Defense Coalition, Operation Rescue, Expectant Mother Care, and the Coalition for Life, traveled to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts on 27 August 2009 in order to remind the vacationing U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama that abortion is not healthcare, and that there is no vacation from human rights, social justice and the truth.
Reformed Presbyterian minister and Director of the Christian Defense Coalition the Rev. Pat Mahoney stated: “We are traveling to Martha’s Vineyard to publicly remind the President that abortion is not health care and not one penny of public monies should be spent on paying for abortions.”
“We think it is important during this national debate on health care, that President Obama embrace social justice and human rights for all. We do not want the President to turn health care, which is supposed to heal and bring comfort to those in need, into something that destroys and diminishes innocent human life.”
“Our activities will remind President Obama there is no vacation from human rights, social justice and the truth. We prayerfully ask him that while he is spending [US]$30,000 this week to be with his children that he would make the same commitment to protect America‘s children and end the violence of abortion.”
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Christian Defense Coalition, 202-547-1735, 540-538-4741
+ Operation Rescue, Post Office Box 782888, Wichita, Kansas 67278-2888, 800-705-1175, Fax: 916-244-2636, info@operationrescue.org
+ Expectant Mother Care, Post Office Box 134, Bronx, New York 10470, 718-884-9210, Fax: 718-504-4761, SlatteryNY@aol.com
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On 24 August 2009, Alameda County, California Judge Stuart Hing denied the District Attorney’s request to have the Rev. Walter Hoye forever banned from exercising free speech rights within 100 yards of the Family Planning Specialists (FPS) abortion clinic in Oakland, California. Judge Hing concluded that the court lacked jurisdiction to impose the injunction, because Mr. Hoye’s conviction and sentence are already on appeal.
Attorneys for Mr. Hoye were not sure if the court ruling will put an end to the District Attorney’s efforts to keep Mr. Hoye from offering help to women considering abortion at FPS. Life Legal Defense Foundation-affiliated attorney Mike Millen said: “These political prosecutions are quirky. It is not clear whether they are willing to spend more tax dollars chasing a pro-lifer whom even [abortion clinic] escorts admit is a kind, gentle man.”
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Life Legal Defense Foundation, Post Office Box 2105, Napa, California 94558, 707-224-6675, Fax: 707-224-6676, info@lldf.org
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[9] Boulder, Colorado Late-Term Abortionist Considers People to be “Malignant Eco-tumors”
Boulder, Colorado late-term abortionist Dr. Warren Hern has written published material that describes man as a “malignant eco-tumor.” When asked by an Esquire reporter to explain himself, Hern replied: “I do think that helping people control their fertility is highly consistent with helping people be responsible citizens of the planet. If somebody misunderstands it or tries to distort it, I don’t give a [bleep]. I’m sorry, I’m living in this country because I can say what I think.”
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, Post Office Box 25382, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, 866-787-9947, lsn@lifesitenews.com
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[10] Calvin College Prohibition of Homosexual Advocacy has Some Faculty in an Uproar
Calvin College sent employees the week of 17 August 2009 a memorandum from the Board of Trustees stating that it is unacceptable for faculty and staff to advocate for homosexual issues and same-sex marriage. A faculty meeting the week of 24 August 2009 was attended by forty-three percent of the faculty, and concern was expressed at the “top-down” imposition of the policy versus the usual “bottom-up” approach beginning in one of the university’s many committees.
+ Michigan Live LLC, 339 East Liberty Street, Suite 210, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104, feedback@mlive.com
+ Calvin College 3201 Burton Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 49546, 616-526-6000
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[11] RCA Church Herald Publishes Last Issue
The Church Herald, the Reformed Church in America (RCA) magazine published since 1944, concluded its publication ministry with the combined September/October 2009 issue, after the decision of the 2009 RCA General Synod to cease publishing.
The RCA is exploring the many resources for disseminating information available on the Internet, and has established a presence on Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, the publication RCA Today is being moved to a printed format and will be published two or three times per year.
+ Reformed Church in America, 4500 60th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49512, 800-968-6065, questions@rca.org
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[12] ARP Synod Moderator Appoints Erskine College and Seminary Commission
Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) 2009 Moderator of Synod, the Rev. Dr. John Richard de Witt, retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, South Carolina, has appointed the members of the Erskine College and Seminary commission formed at the direction of the June 2009 ARP General Synod meeting.
The commission members are:
— John R. de Witt — Moderator, ARP General Synod
— William C. Marsh — Pastor, Christ Community Church, Greensboro, North Carolina
— Paul T. Mulner — Pastor, Sandy Plains ARP Church, Tryon, North Carolina
— Gordon S. Query — Past Moderator, Elder, First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina
— George Samuel Robinson — Elder, Oconee ARP Church, Seneca, South Carolina
— Roger N. Wiles — Pastor, Covenant of Grace ARP Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
— Kenneth B. Wingate — Elder, First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina
— Steve Maye, ARP Synod Vice-Moderator, advisory member.
The 2009 ARP General Synod voted [p.46] “to instruct the Moderator of Synod to form a special commission to investigate whether the oversight exercised by the Board of Trustees and the Administration of Erskine College and Seminary is in faithful accordance with the Standards of the ARP Church and the synod’s previously issued directives…the commission is directed to report back to General Synod no later than the 2010 meeting of General Synod with a report and the commission’s findings and recommendations.”
+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Center, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729
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[13] 8 November 2009 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
8 November 2009 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOPPC).
IDOPPC organizers explain: “There are many countries in the world today where Christians are martyred for their faith. The world watched in horror the unbridled violence that was unleashed on Christians in Orissa state, India last year. There are other places in the world, such as North Korea, where acts of persecution take place, but we often don’t see or hear the full story. Brother Andrew of Open Doors once said, “Our heroes are not with us simply because they are in prison.”
“The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is a time set apart for us to remember thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who suffer persecution, simply because they confess Jesus Christ as Lord.”
+ Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance, 32 Ebenezer Place, Dehiwela, Sri Lanka, Contact Form
+ Open Doors USA, Post Office Box 27001, Santa Ana, California 92799, 949-752-6600, Fax: 949-752-6442, usa@opendoors.org
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[14] Medical Missionary in the Ukraine Seeks Funds for CT Scanner
Dr. Istvan Komjathy is a medical missionary, rehabilitating a clinic/hospital in Beregova, Munkacs, Ungvar, Ukraine.
Dr. Komjathy has requested that his sponsoring church raise funds to purchase a General Electric CT Scanner to further equip the medical facility for which he has already purchased a twelve-lead ECG machine and an ultrasound machine.
Contributions can be sent to:
1st Hungarian Reformed Church of Pittsburgh, 221 Johnston Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15207;
Donors are requested to write “CT scanner for Beregszasz” on the memo line of the check.
+ Dr. Istvan Komjathy, 38-09-34-38-40-70
+ Calvin Synod, C/O Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig, Bishop, 7319 Tapper Avenue, Hammond, Indiana 46324, 219-931-4321, kkludwig@aol.com
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[15] EPC Youthworker Oasis 30 September–3 October 2009 in Signal Mountain, Tennessee
The 2009 Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) Youthworker Oasis is scheduled for 30 September through 3 October 2009 at the Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.
The EPC Youthworker Oasis exists “to provide a context for EPC youth workers…to come together in order to step off the front lines of ministry for a time of finding refreshment for their souls, reconnecting with family, sharpening their edges, gaining new life & ministry perspective, finding recreation and, of course, drawing closer to Christ.”
Registration is available on the Youthworker Oasis website.
+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 North Laurel Park Drive Suite 567, Livonia, Michigan 48152, 734-742-2020, Fax: 734-742-2033, webmaster@epc.org
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[16] John Calvin for Today Conference 23-24 October 2009 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
The John Calvin for Today Conference is scheduled for 23-24 October 2009 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The conference speakers are Dr. Brian J. Lee, pastor of Christ Reformed Church in Washington DC; Stephen M. Arrick, pastor of Covenant Reformed Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; William Boekestein, pastor of Covenant Reformed Church in Carbondale, Pennsylvania; and Mike Conroy, elder at Grace Fellowship Church in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania.
+ United Reformed Churches in North America, C/O Mr. Bill Konynenbelt, 5824 Bowwater Circle Northwest, Calgary, Alberta T3B 2E2, Canada, 403-286-0521, Fax: 403-286-0759, urcna@shaw.ca
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[17] New England Reformed Fellowship Meeting 8 September 2009 in Upton, Massachusetts
The New England Reformed Fellowship will meet 8 September 2009 at Immanuel Chapel in Upton, Massachusetts, from 9:00 a.m. until noon, with muffins and coffee available starting at 8:30 a.m.
The scheduled speaker is Doug Vickers, author of The Immediacy of God, who will ask and answer the question: “How can fallible men write infallible and inerrant words?” Vickers will be giving copies of The Immediacy of God to anyone attending who would like one.
+ New England Reformed Fellowship, c/o David Green, Pastor, Cornerstone Church, 14 McKinley Avenue, Beverly, Massachusetts, 01915, 978-927-8134, david.dovedge@gmail.com
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The Hungarian Mission Team of the Missouri Union Presbytery (MUP) (Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)) met 29 August 2009 at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Colombia, Missouri.
Team member Vicki Schildmeyer explains: “For twenty-five years [MUP] has partnered with the Hungarian Reformed Church [HRC] to support church growth and Christian education. In these years, MUP financial support has been especially relevant to Christian education, in earlier years with the revitalization of the Seminary at Sarospatak, and more recently to provide teachers’ salaries and maintenance for schools of the Reformed Church of sub-Carpathian Ukraine….The work of the HRC Mission Team, and other mission ministry teams are open to all churches and members of [MUP].
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
+ Reformed Church of sub-Carpthian Ukraine
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