The rise of Asian Christianity

Section of the Great Wall of China

As the risk of generalizing, it will come as no great revelation to anyone who has spent much time with Asian Christians that they are people of prayer and passion for souls. So it's not surprising to see so much in the news lately about the rise of Asian Christianity, including its missionary thrust. Part of this is due of course to the hostage situation in Afghanistan, but this has really only spotlighted the trend in Korean and other Asian missions work for a wider audience.

This week's National Catholic Reporter featured a column called The uphill journey of Catholicism in China, which discussed the massive growth of Pentecostal and Charismatic groups in China, while noting the relative lack of success of Roman Catholics here.

Perhaps the most remarkable burst of religious energy is in China's Pentecostal Christian population. At the time of the Communist takeover in 1949, there were roughly 900,000 Protestants. Today, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, which puts out the much-consulted World Christian Database, says there are 111 million Christians in China, roughly 90 percent Protestant and mostly Pentecostal. That would make China the third-largest Christian country on earth, following only the United States and Brazil.

The Center projects that by 2050, there will be 218 million Christians in China, 16 percent of the population, enough to make China the world's second-largest Christian nation. According to the Center, there are 10,000 conversions in China every day.

Religious data is notoriously imprecise in an officially atheistic state, and not everyone accepts these eye-popping estimates. In the 2006 update of his book Jesus in Beijing, former Time Beijing bureau chief David Aikman put the number of Protestants at 70 million. Richard Madsen, a former Maryknoll missionary and author of China's Catholics, told me he would put the number still lower, at 40 million. That's in line with the CIA World Factbook, another widely consulted resource.

Various reasons are suggested for the relatively slow growth of Catholicism, but the writer, reporter John L. Allen, Jr., suggests the answer lies in the Pentecostals' expectation of the miraculous.

How would a "Christianized" China affect the region - and the world? Allen says,

By universal consensus, China is an emerging global superpower. Its economy grew at an average annual rate of 9.4 percent over the last 25 years, and today has a GDP of $11 trillion, making it the second-largest economy in the world after the United States. Foreign companies have poured more than $600 billion into China since 1978, far eclipsing what the United States spent rebuilding post-war Europe in the Marshall Plan. China now has a middle class of 200 million people, 80 million of whom are quite well-off. The country exports more in a single day than it did in all of 1978.

How things shake out religiously, therefore, is of tremendous strategic importance, even for people who don't feel any particular spiritual stake in the result. If Christianity ends up at around 20 percent of the population, for example, China could become an exponentially larger version of South Korea (where Christians are between 25-50 percent of the population, depending upon which count one accepts) -- a more democratic, rule-oriented, basically pro-Western society. On the other hand, if dynamic Muslim movements create an Islamic enclave in the western half of the country, with financial and ideological ties to fundamentalist Wahhabi forms of Islam in Saudi Arabia, at least that part of China could become a wealthier and more influential Afghanistan. If growing religious pluralism in China becomes fractious, it could mean that a well-armed and wealthy superpower is destabilized by internal conflict, posing risks to global peace and security.

Asia Times columnist Spengler discusses Allen's article in a piece entitled Christianity Finds a Fulcrum in Asia, exploring both the religious and geopolitical aspects:

Where traditional society remains entrenched in China's most backward regions, Islam also is expanding. At the edge of the Gobi Desert and on China's western border with Central Asia, Islam claims perhaps 30 million adherents. If Christianity is the liquidator of traditional society, I have argued in the past, Islam is its defender against the encroachments of leveling imperial expansion. But Islam in China remains the religion of the economic losers, whose geographic remoteness isolates them from the economic transformation on the coasts. Christianity, by contrast, has burgeoned among the new middle class in China's cities, where the greatest wealth and productivity are concentrated. Islam has a thousand-year presence in China and has grown by natural increase rather than conversion; evangelical Protestantism had almost no adherents in China a generation ago.

Read more here.

Photo by Michael Mooney, some rights reserved.

Christian Events in Connecticut This Week (August 6 - 12)

Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church

The following events are taking place in Connecticut this week. For more information, or to add an event to our Connecticut Christian Events Calendar, please visit our website here.

(Ed. note: sorry this information is being released late this week!)

Monday, August 6:
Litchfield County Regional Prayer Meeting (Torrington)

Wednesday, August 8:
Intercessory Prayer (Colchester)
Fairfield County Pastors' Fellowship Lunch (TBD)

Thurdsay, August 9 - Saturday, August 11:
Willow Creek Leadership Summit (via satellite in Bloomfield, Greenwich)

Thursday, August 9:
Prayer in the Park (Hartford)
Regional Prayer Meeting (New Haven)

Friday, August 10:
Men 4 Men Ministries Coffeehouse (Clinton)
"The View From The Top" Youth Leadership Development Summit (New Haven)

Saturday, August 11:
Statewide Intercessors Gathering (Kensington)
House of Grace Community Coffeehouse (Milford)

Miracles in Minneapolis

"As she's approaching the bridge, the Holy Spirit speaks to her to turn off of the freeway and take a different route home. She began to argue with herself. She said 'Pastor Rich I have never heard the voice of the Holy Spirit as loud as I did that day.'"

More on Minnesota miracles here from CBN. (Video interview with Pastor Rich Scherber of Minnesota Teen Challenge.)

Have you heard of other testimonies of God's grace in connection with this tragedy? Share them with us.

Photo by Joshua Nixon, some rights reserved.

What's new at Pray Connecticut?

Summer can be a bit lazy, but exciting things are still happening around here.

First, Pray Connecticut was featured in an interesting article in the August 4th edition of the Connecticut Post called "Cyber Church." Greater Bridgeport area pastors were interviewed for this article about the use of technology and the internet by the church. There's no version of this story on the Web yet as far as we know, but if you spot it let us know.

Thanks to Jamie Fleming at the Post for a fine story!


Second, we've been adding some new and useful things to the site lately:

1. We've added an "Email this" link to the bottom of each article. This will help you to share stories with people. If you enjoy our blog, tell a friend!

2. We also have added a Bookmark Button to the site and to each article. This will enable you to save articles to your bookmarks or to popular bookmark services like Google Bookmarks. You can also share at popular social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, Facebook, Digg, and StumbleUpon. The Bookmark Button looks like this:

3. You can also subscribe to receive our posts by RSS or via e-mail without even needing to return to the site. Look for the orange button in the left-hand column - it looks like this:

4. We've also started running a daily devotional from The Daily Spurgeon. Just look in the left-hand column and you'll find it.


Thanks for your continued support. If you have any upcoming events you'd like us to help you publicize, drop us a line at info@prayct.org.

God bless!
Nick

What about Connecticut's bridges?

In Connecticut of all places, we should not have bridges in a state of disrepair.

Overall, Connecticut's bridges, many of which are pounded by daily interstate traffic far beyond the loads expected when they were built, are rated below the national average, according to a regional policy watchdog group.

While about 26 percent of bridges around the country are rated as deficient, nearly a third of Connecticut's are, the group said.

"The bridge collapse in Minneapolis serves as a tragic reminder that we must invest our transportation dollars in our existing infrastructure, and take infrastructure maintenance very seriously. said Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which used 2005 statistics.

"Other countries invest much more in sustaining their roads, highways, bridges and transit systems — we should follow their lead," she said.

But compared to other states, Connecticut is in relatively good shape when it comes to bridges, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

The 2006 National Bridge Inventory, maintained by the FHA, listed 351 of 4,166 Connecticut bridges as being "structurally deficient" — 8.4 percent of the state's total. Eleven states have a lower percentage.

Typically, a structurally deficient bridge has weight restrictions, including a prohibition on heavy-truck traffic.

More in the Connecticut Post.

Pray Connecticut listed among the State's most influential political blogs

We've been ranked # 19 on Blog Net News's list of Connecticut's most influential political blogs. Although we are not a political blog per se, nowadays it's not easy to separate the political world from the religious world!

Thanks to all our readers and users of our main site for helping us grow!

Courant profiles Peter Wolfgang of Family Institute of Connecticut

The Courant has a profile piece on Peter Wolfgang, who has assumed leadership of the Family Institute of Connecticut from Brian Brown.

Wolfgang's steady voice and earnest, scholarly demeanor are markedly different from the in-your-face style of his predecessor, Brian Brown, who has been the group's public face since 2001.

Brown, who hails from Orange County, California, predicted that Wolfgang's Connecticut roots will serve him well in the land of steady habits.

"Peter has connections around the state," said Brown, who is leaving to take charge of a new group dedicated to fighting same-sex marriage at the national level. "He's very much a go-getter and he's in this for the fight."

We wish Peter all the best as he carries the ball forward for Connecticut's leading pro-family organization!

A window into the occult in Connecticut

Nothing is more common in Connecticut these days than the local New Age shop.

And although she doesn't push it on customers, she also offers Tarot card readings for $5 — for those who can use a little of her intuitive insight.

In a small room lighted by a white candle on a mantelpiece and closed off with a thick drape, she demonstrated her reading ability for a visitor. Through card-reading, she was able to discern a variety of personal information about the subject, such as how old he was when he first got married. Then, having established a base of credibility for her intuitive abilities, she talked a little about his future.

More here (Connecticut Post).

Light blogging

Blogging will continue to be light over the next couple of weeks as we enjoy the summer. Keep praying!

Evangelist Tommie Zito to hold series of meetings in Waterbury

Evangelist Tommie Zito returns to Connecticut for a series of meetings hosted by First Assembly of God in Waterbury. From a press release:

"My prayer is that as we take this gospel truth to Connecticut, individuals will realize that we as a church have been asleep for way too long," Brother Tommie says. "God desires for this state and the rest of the nation to be awakened to the fact that He must be their all."

Each year, Brother Tommie is called to carry out the "American Awakening" in specific regions in an attempt to bring the nation back to the principle it was founded on; One Nation, Under God. Through worship, prayer and evangelism, Tommie Zito Ministries is stirring up people's spirits and impacting entire regions. Pastor James Lilly of First Assembly of God has invited Brother Tommie to continue his mission of waking up the church and crying out to those who are hungry for God and address residents in Waterbury and surrounding cities in Connecticut next week.

Lives will be transformed and hearts renewed at the "Connecticut Awakening." This experience is open to the public and is free to attend. Residents will have the opportunity to witness Brother Tommie's fiery, radical-edge preaching on Sunday, July 29 at 8:30am, 11:00am & 7:00pm and Monday, July 30 - Saturday, August 4 at 7:00pm nightly. Outreach services take place Tuesday - Saturday at 10:30am. First Assembly of God is located at 1263 Thomaston Ave, Waterbury, CT 06704.

Update to Christian search engine site

Our friends at Kingdom Engine have revamped their Christian search engine site with a more pleasant appearance and some useful custom search engines available on a variety of topics such as:

• The Bible
• Apologetics
• Creeds and Confessions
• Spurgeon
• Worship Music
  

You can also add these searches to your own site or blog, if you have one.

As they note, the Web has grown so much that searching for "King David" on Google gives you 84,700,000 results. Custom search engines limit searches to just a few hand-selected sites that deal with the topic you're interested in. They're great for research.

Happy searching!

New Haven launches illegal immigrant ID card program

Has the Mayor put the welcome mat out?

You can find this story everywhere in the Connecticut media, but it's interesting to see the view from abroad, in this case the BBC no less:

A city in Connecticut has become the first in the United States to issue identity cards to illegal immigrants.

New Haven - best known as the home of Yale University - is offering the cards to all its residents, including to some 12,000 undocumented immigrants.

City leaders say the plan will enable immigrants to open bank accounts and make them less vulnerable to crime....

But opponents said the move would encourage illegal immigration.

Bill Farrel, of Southern Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Reform, said: "It's going to be a welcome mat for illegal aliens to come to the region, flood the labour market and dry up working-class and middle-class jobs."

BBC Americas editor Will Grant says the controversial move stands in stark contrast to the approach towards illegal immigrants adopted in other parts of the US.

New laws and proposals in more than 90 cities or counties across the country include prohibiting landlords from renting to illegal immigrants and penalising firms that employ them....

Are there really 12,000 undocumented immigrants in New Haven, a city which ostensibly has a population of only 124,000?

It's this kind of cold, hard number that bothers people, something which IMHO the political leaders of both parties don't understand. In my experience of half a lifetime, most people bear no ill will towards immigrants - especially in Connecticut, where so many of us have immigrant roots through grandparents who arrived between 1890 and 1930. But many people who are not xenophobic or racist feel that society is being completely made over without anyone even asking them for their opinion. Lawmakers castigate the people for being concerned about the lack of security, increase in crime and education costs and so on and so on.

And we may wonder why it is in Connecticut that a city feels compelled to thumb its nose at the Federal government and create a potential magnet for lawlessness.

Will lawlessness breeds lawlessness? Witness New York City's possible issuance of New Haven-style IDs.

Photo by Vanessa Hamtaro, some rights reserved CC2.0.

Dr. Dobson speaks out against Harry Potter

Dr. James Dobson

The Chairman of Focus on the Family has spoken out against the Harry Potter series in order to correct a statement made in a Washington Post article to the effect that he actually favored it:

This is the exact opposite of Dr. Dobson's opinion — in fact, he said a few years ago on his daily radio broadcast that "We have spoken out strongly against all of the Harry Potter products." His rationale for that statement: Magical characters — witches, wizards, ghosts, goblins, werewolves, poltergeists and so on — fill the Harry Potter stories, and given the trend toward witchcraft and New Age ideology in the larger culture, it's difficult to ignore the effects such stories (albeit imaginary) might have on young, impressionable minds.

More here. The Post will issue a correction.

Massachusetts looks at troublesome effects of casinos in Connecticut

Are casinos really glamorous?

What??? There are negative effects to having casinos? I'm quite sure I've never heard of this.

Oh, but our neighbors to the north are looking at hard quality of life numbers while they think about a casino in Middleborough, Massachusetts.

Over the last six years , calls to the Ledyard Police Department, a short drive from the Foxwoods Resort Casino, have almost tripled, according to local authorities. And in Montville, where Mohegan Sun is located, calls to police are up 38 percent overall since 1997.

Arrests for drunken driving have risen in both towns -- up from 38 to 87 in Ledyard since 1991 and from 39 to 113 in Montville since 1997. But the big reason for the increase in police calls, according to both departments, is not casino- related vices, but the sheer volume of people passing through these towns every day, creating more opportunities for problems just by being there.

Traffic is up as much as 275 percent near the casinos -- a source of frustration for many residents. With the traffic, though, has come job growth. And with the job growth have come developers scooping up land and immigrant families seeking steady employment at the casinos as janitors, cooks, and dealers.

Together, these changes have altered life in Ledyard, population 15,215 , and Montville, population 17,019 -- and in the surrounding region. Some say for the better, others for the worse. Either way, with two casinos rising into the sky just 10 miles apart, it is impossible not to notice.

Actually, doubling or tripling the amount of drunken driving would seem to be a problem, but what do we know? More here from the Boston Globe.

Christian Events in Connecticut this week (July 23 - 29)

The following events are taking place in Connecticut this week. For more information or to add an event to our Connecticut Christian Events Calendar, please visit our website here.

Wednesday, July 25:
Intercessory Prayer (Colchester)

Thursday, July 26:
Prayer in the Park (Hartford)

Saturday, July 27:
Solid Rock Cafe Christian Coffeehouse, featuring Victoria James Norris (North Haven)

Congressman Shays refuses to give a non-apology apology

U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays

From The Courant:

After a profanity-laced altercation with a Capitol police officer - during which he reached to touch the officer's nametag - U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays Friday apologized Friday for acting "in a way I know was not appropriate."

The 4th District Republican said in a statement, " I take full responsibility for this incident and want to ensure it does not reflect negatively on the officer in any way." Capitol police did not respond to requests for comment.

The good part of this story is that Rep. Shays did not do what so many politicians do, which is give the old "non-apology apology." According to the Courant story, Mr. Shays said, "...I know I clearly could have handled the situation with the officer in a more professional and respectful way, and I regret I did not do so." We applaud this statement on the Congressman's part - it's a good example in this day of weaselly press releases.

Doug Hartline in concert in Redding, Sunday July 22

Doug Hartline in concert.

Doug Hartline will be holding a free concert this Sunday on the Green in Redding, at 10 Lonetown Road, from 6-8pm. The event is very casual. Bring lawn chairs, food, kids, etc.

Doug's CD’s “Simple Gifts” “ A Gentle Presence” “It’s Nice To Be Home” and “From The Heart” demonstrate his ability to write strong, memorable, melodies, which combine with a flowing optimistic breeziness. The music might be considered jazz with strong folk influences such as The Beatles, Steely Dan, James Taylor, and Pat Metheny. Critics have described his sound as buoyant, soulful, bright, and positive.Doug has explored presenting his music in different formats such as with jazz dancers and in contemporary church services, which subsequently drew attention from The New York Times in a feature article.

To purchase Doug's two most recent CDs go to: www.itunes.com or www.cdbaby.com and search “Doug Hartline.”

Christian Events in Connecticut This Week (July 16 -22)

The following events are taking place in Connecticut this week. For more information or to add an event to our Connecticut Christian Events Calendar, please visit our website here.

Monday, July 16:
Litchfield County Regional Prayer Meeting (Torrington)

Wednesday, July 18:
Intercessory Prayer (Colchester)

Thursday, July 19:
Mickey Robinson (West Haven)
Prayer in the Park (Hartford)

Friday, July 20:
Mickey Robinson (West Haven)

Saturday, July 21:
Christian Coffeehouse (Danbury)
Cityfest (Waterbury)
Mickey Robinson (West Haven)

New Churches Added to the Connecticut Church Map

We're happy to announce that the following churches have been added to the Connecticut Church Map:

New Haven: Christ Presbyterian Church

Tolland: River of Life Christian Fellowship

If you'd like to add a church, please write us at info@prayct.org!

Top Christian Books for 2007 announced by the ECPA

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced its Christian Book Award (formerly Gold Medallion) winners for 2007. Here they are:

Christian Book of the Year: Ever After (Even Now Series #2), by Karen Kingsbury

Bible: Archaeological Study Bible: An Illustrated Walk Through Biblical History and Culture, Edited by Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Duane Garett

Bible Reference and Study: The IVP Atlas of Bible History, by Paul Lawrence

Children & Youth: Sexy Girls: How Hot Is Too Hot?, by Hayley DiMarco

Christian Life: What Jesus Demands from the World, by John Piper (Spanish version here)

Fiction: When Crickets Cry, by Charles Martin

Inspiration and Gift: Pearls of Great Price: 366 Daily Devotional Readings, by Joni Eareckson Tada

Bible upheld once again by archaeology

I knew it all along.

The sound of unbridled joy seldom breaks the quiet of the British Museum's great Arched Room, which holds its collection of 130,000 Assyrian cuneiform tablets, dating back 5,000 years.

But Michael Jursa, a visiting professor from Vienna, let out such a cry last Thursday. He had made what has been called the most important find in Biblical archaeology for 100 years, a discovery that supports the view that the historical books of the Old Testament are based on fact.

Searching for Babylonian financial accounts among the tablets, Prof Jursa suddenly came across a name he half remembered - Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, described there in a hand 2,500 years old, as "the chief eunuch" of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon.

Prof Jursa, an Assyriologist, checked the Old Testament and there in chapter 39 of the Book of Jeremiah, he found, spelled differently, the same name - Nebo-Sarsekim.

Nebo-Sarsekim, according to Jeremiah, was Nebuchadnezzar II's "chief officer" and was with him at the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, when the Babylonians overran the city.

The small tablet, the size of "a packet of 10 cigarettes" according to Irving Finkel, a British Museum expert, is a bill of receipt acknowledging Nabu-sharrussu-ukin's payment of 0.75 kg of gold to a temple in Babylon.

The tablet is dated to the 10th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, 595BC, 12 years before the siege of Jerusalem.

Evidence from non-Biblical sources of people named in the Bible is not unknown, but Nabu-sharrussu-ukin would have been a relatively insignificant figure.

"This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find," Dr Finkel said yesterday. "If Nebo-Sarsekim existed, which other lesser figures in the Old Testament existed? A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power."

Read more here in the Telegraph (UK).

New church added to the Connecticut Church Map

We're happy to announce that we've added St. John's Episcopal Church in New Haven to the Connecticut Church Map.

If you'd like to suggest a church for inclusion, write us at info@prayct.org. Thanks!

Vatican affirms that other churches not true churches

In a move which won't do much for ecumenical relations, the Vatican has released a document in which it has reasserted the position that other churches aren't really churches at all because they do not accept the primacy of the Pope.

A 16-page document, prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict used to head, described Christian Orthodox churches as true churches, but suffering from a "wound" since they do not recognize the primacy of the Pope.

But the document said the "wound is still more profound" in the Protestant denominations -- a view likely to further complicate relations with Protestants.

"Despite the fact that this teaching has created no little distress ... it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'Church' could possibly be attributed to them," it said.

"The Call" rocks Nashville

Lou Engle prays for America in this clip:



And in this one you can experience some of the worship:



From Baptist Press:

"America is a sleeping nation. We have casually and nonchalantly let things slide and get worse," said Morgan Blount, a staff member of The Call from Dallas. "We are calling for young people in this country to wake up and take a stand, to pray about our world instead of just complaining about what's wrong with it. We are calling them to take action and believe that the Lord can change things."

Prayer is the key to spiritual awakening, said Adam Thomas, a staff member of The Call from Louisville, Ky.

"This weekend was about prayer, whether you are Baptist or Catholic or Church of Christ. We believe that prayer changes things," Thomas said. "Our desire is to see God come back on the scene like He did in the 1800s, when there was a great awakening that shut down entire towns with the power of God.

"I believe that a movement of prayer is going to unlock these things for America. We believe history belongs to the intercessors. Ezekiel 22:30 tells us God is looking for a company of people who will stand in the gap in prayer so the country will not have to be destroyed. We want to be like the widow in Luke 17 who kept pressing the judge until he gave her what she wanted."

As midday temperatures soared near 100 degrees, worshipers lifted their hands in prayer. The stadium floor was sectioned off for those who wanted the freedom to prostrate themselves or kneel in prayer.

Many of those in attendance had fasted for up to 40 days in preparation. Prayerwalkers left Nashville's Centennial Park at 7 a.m. and made their way in silence through downtown to the stadium.

To symbolize their desire for America to return to a covenant relationship with God, three couples simultaneously exchanged marriage vows late in the afternoon.

Organizer Lou Engle, who initiated The Call in Washington, D.C., in 2000, chose the date -– 7/7/07 -– because seven is the biblical number of covenant.

"In the Old Testament, the cult of Baal was identified with violence and death, sexual promiscuity, pornography and promiscuity," said Dutch Sheets, senior pastor of Springs Harvest Fellowship in Colorado Springs, Colo. "We are here today to confess our nation's sin and ask God to renew His covenant with us. This stadium is a courtroom today. We have filed for divorce as a nation from the spirit of Baal, and we are petitioning God for custody of our children."

Christian Events in Connecticut This Week (July 9 -15, 2007)

Renowned worship leader and recording artist Kent Henry comes to Manchester this weekend.

The following events are taking place in Connecticut this week. For more information or to add an event to our Connecticut Christian Events Calendar, please visit our website here.

Wednesday, July 11:
Intercessory Prayer (Colchester)
Fairfield County Pastors' Fellowship Lunch (TBD)

Thursday, July 12:
Regional Prayer Meeting (New Haven)
Prayer in the Park (Hartford)

Friday, July 13:
Men 4 Men Ministries Coffeehouse (Clinton)
Kent Henry (Manchester)

Saturday, July 14:
Gospelation 2007 (New Jersey)
Statewide Intercessors Gathering (Kensington)
Grace Community Coffee House (Milford)

Sunday, July 15:
Kent Henry (Manchester)

New York Times covers Bristol Episcopal controversy

“I’m ashamed to be an Episcopalian,” said Father Helmandollar, who has a certificate in Anglican studies from Yale Divinity School and two master’s degrees. He said he grew up the youngest of seven children in West Virginia coal country, and lived on the streets for two years after dropping out of ninth grade. A father of three, he spent 20 years in the Navy and 17 more as a military contractor before pursuing a career in the clergy.

He said he was dismayed that the church’s philosophy of inclusion did not seem to extend to conservative factions like his own, complaining, “It includes everybody except us.”

“In the last 50 years, as society has changed, the church has changed,” he added. “It has become more revisionist and more liberal.” While he could accept those changes on theological grounds, he said, the recent quarrel over sexuality “has turned out to be the tripwire.”

With the showdown looming, banners made by parishioners have been taken down from Trinity’s nave for safekeeping, and Father Helmandollar has packed up some books he kept in his office. Bank accounts and valuables, he said, have been left alone until an agreement or court order decides their fate.

Read it all here.

Pray For America Today: The Call

Today's the day!

Church for Men

You've seen the pews and maybe you've seen the statistics: in the American Church the population is mostly female. How can this be fixed? Now there's something called Church For Men. Before you laugh, watch this video (3m 42s):



What do you think?

What is the impact of gambling in Connecticut?

The State is going to find out:

Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Mohegan Sun casino pump about $445 million into the state’s general fund each year.

“The casinos over the last five to 10 years have been a stable segment of the state budget,” Robert Genuario, Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s budget director said.

However critics says state officials have taken the money and ignored the negative consequences of legalized gambling.

In May, Special Revenue Executive Director Paul Young said the last study cost about $400,000, and it now will cost more than $700,000 to hire experts to gauge “the good, the bad and the ugly” of legalized gambling.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the legislature conducted gambling studies every five years. The last study was done in the mid-1990s and published in 1997, only a few years after Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun had opened.

Let's pray for a complete picture.

Tags: Christian, Connecticut, Foxwoods, gambling, Mohegan Sun

Cal Thomas defends anti-islamist comments

This is different from making anti-Islamic comments. I hope we can make the distinction. Please pray for the gathering of Muslims in Hartford this weekend.

JesusFest 2007 coming up this weekend

Reminder:

JesusFest 2007 is a free, all-day RAIN OR SHINE Christian Country Fair, Music & Arts Festival on Saturday, July 7 from 11 am to 9 pm. There will be plenty of activities planned for everyone, from little tykes to senior citizens!

For complete information, visit: www.JesusFestCT.org

Pray Connecticut launches new web site design

Stop in and visit our main site at www.prayct.org, where we've just completed a new design which will make our site fresher and easier to use! All your favorite features are still there, just with less clutter. Thanks for your continued support, which has helped us to grow significantly over the past six months.

Connecticut Episcopal Bishop defrocks priest

Bishop Seabury would have a hard time figuring this one out.

What was this man of the cloth's crime? Did he steal from the collection plate? Or, perhaps, was he found drunk and disorderly on a public street, unshaven and snarling? Did he, one wonders, leave his wife and family for a man and begin a homosexual and very public relationship with him, expressing a desire for legal marriage between two men?

Actually no: in this priest's denomination, that last one qualifies you to be made a bishop.

The pastor in question is the Rev. Donald Helmandollar of Trinity Episcopal Church in Bristol. The Courant explains:

The pastor of a Bristol parish that voted itself out of the Episcopal Church in May has been removed from ministry by the Connecticut Diocese, and church members have been given until July 8 to vacate their building.

Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith said the Rev. Donald Lee Helmandollar "renounced his orders" and was deposed - the equivalent of being defrocked - on June 13 by the clerical members of the diocesan standing committee. Smith said he has since written to leaders at Trinity Episcopal Church informing them that the diocese intends to take over the property July 8.

The diocese's decision to claim the property was not unexpected: The same scenario is playing itself out in other parts of the nation as the Episcopal Church grapples with the fallout from the 2003 election of the openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire.

That decision has united conservative congregations in the U.S., such as Trinity, with like-minded African churches that believe the Episcopal Church's liberal position on homosexuality goes against the Anglican beliefs inherited from the Church of England.

Trinity was the first parish in Connecticut to split with the wider Episcopal Church. The congregation voted in January to join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a self-described mission of the conservative Anglican Church of Nigeria, but a formal announcement of the split didn't come until May 27.

Trinity has since hired a lawyer and intends to fight the diocese's order to vacate the property, Helmandollar said Friday. He also said he has continued to lead worship services in the church, despite being notified by Smith that he is no longer a priest in the Episcopal Church.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church says that the numbers of those leaving the Church is small. She is probably right. Many of those who are concerned over biblical orthodoxy left a long time ago for more welcoming shores. Those that are leaving now are those who felt led by God to hang in and fight to turn the ship around before it heads over the falls.

Tags: Connecticut, Christian, Christianity, Episcopal, Anglican, Bristol

Get ready for your summer missions trip

The excellent site called Heal Your Church Web Site is out with a great article entitled Maximize Your Summer Missions Impact With Disruptive Technologies. The big idea: instant updates and even live reporting from that missions trip are now available. What more can churches be doing to connect congregations with the field other than showing PowerPoint slides (or regular slides) the week after everybody get home tired and tanned? The writer says:

In my line of work, individuals measure ‘tech time’ in terms of ‘dog years,’ meaning one multiplies by a factor of 7.

This means that if you’re are returning to a missions field with the same technological mindset you perhaps traveled with in 2003, then basically you’re hitting the road with know-how that’s 28 years in the past … which for those of us old enough to remember what it was like back then … your digital thinking is ‘disco-era’ … and nobody wants that!

That's a good warning, and it's followed by practical suggestions. Read more here.

Warrior Poetes in Meriden this Friday

Musical group The Warrior Poetes will be at the Fusion Youth Center this Friday, June 29, 92 Main Street, Meriden, CT. For details contact Pastor Rob Dennis at (203) 630-3012 or write him at pastorrob@fusionlive.org

Gospel tent meetings begin tonight in Somers

The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite invites you to a series of Gospel Tent meetings at the Four Town Fairgrounds, 56 Egypt Road in Somers. There will be a cappella hymn singing and gospel preaching as multiple Mennonite Fellowships from Canada and North Eastern US will be gathering. The meeting begin tonight and run though Sunday, July 1, starting at 7:15 each evening.

More on armed citizen patrols in New Haven

The Christian Science Monitor has more here on the ongoing controversy regarding citizen patrols in New Haven.

"We used to get a lot of grants to help [with community policing] – a couple million dollars a year. But we lost those grants over the last six years," says Chief Ortiz. He explains the war on terror came at a price to community policing efforts that allowed officers enough time to work small beats and get to know the residents and their concerns. "The country shifted its focus. Like Cyclops with one eye, it took its eye off" community policing, he says.

Good news from Iraq?

We don't sail into these waters too often, but military historian and author Victor Davis Hanson tells us in National Review why there is reason for optimism in the Middle East.

Please remember to pray for our military and for the families of those who have made such great sacrifices. The Hartford Courant has a special section here featuring the Connecticut servicemen and servicewomen who have lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Obama attacks the Religious Right

(Is there a Religious Left? Just wondering.)

FIC's Peter Wolfgang nails this one, which I'm sure wasn't difficult for him:

...Obama is peddling one of the cultural Left’s most deeply held lies here. Christian conservatives are not the aggressors in America’s culture wars, we’re the ones playing defense...

The cultural Left thinks the grassroots rebellion that has risen up against their assaults on faith and family is simply the result of “so-called leaders” cynically manipulating a malleable public. That says more about the Left’s own low regard for their fellow Americans than they realize.

Catholic Bishops assail "Plan B" as an attack on religious liberty

...which it surely is.

The bishops in this heavily Catholic but pro-choice state say the legislation, already signed into law by the Republican governor, could force Connecticut's four Catholic hospitals to perform what they consider chemical abortions.

An attorney for the hospitals said they are considering state or federal legal action claiming the new law that takes effect Oct. 1 infringes on their constitutional rights.

“If the religious liberty of a Catholic hospital can be violated on this issue, what's next?” asked Bridgeport Bishop William E. Lori. “Will the law insist that Catholic hospitals further violate their ethical standards by performing abortions on demand? Or will the law someday force Catholic hospitals to euthanize those deemed not fit to live?”

The poor record of American Christians when it comes to understanding and resisting the abortion culture leads me to think that those will indeed be the next steps. Evangelicals and Catholics historically "do not play well together" but even the efforts of their combined leadership has not sufficed to place many obstacles in the way of our society's embrace of death.

Connecticut-based Christian band suffers bus fire

The New Haven Register couldn't resist resorting to puns in reporting on the bus fire suffered by the band Holy Fire. But it was no laughing matter. Read the story and then consider helping out:

Fortunately for Holy Fire, not all was lost.Most of their equipment, such as amplifiers and instruments, was in a trailer towed behind the incinerated bus. It was largely undamaged and the contents are mostly salvageable.

However, clothes and other personal belongings were lost in the fire. That’s why any donations to the band would be "greatly appreciated," members said.

For more information about helping the band, call 203-887-3141 or write to the band’s central office at 2340 State Street Hamden, 06517.

More on Facebook

Thanks to Peter Wolfgang at the FIC Blog for publicizing the new group for Connecticut Christians on Facebook.

Check it out!

Can you be both a Muslim and a Christian?

No, of course not.

But a Seattle Episcopal priest, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, is now claiming to be both.

Joe Carter at Evangelical Outpost demolishes this sort of nonsense by reminding us:

While she rejects such orthodox Christian beliefs as the Trinity and the divinity of Christ, she believes that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected. This belief is, as she readily admits, in conflict with the teachings of the Quran. When it is pointed out that she has violated the law of non-contradiction, Redding responds, "That's something I'll find a challenge the rest of my life."

Of course there is no "challenge" in reconciling the two views since they are completely incompatible. The matter is not one of challenge but of impossibility. The law of non-contradiction is non-negotiable. Just because one wants to feel that the two religions are ultimately compatible does not make them so.

It would be easy to dismiss Redding's unsophisticated beliefs as the confusions of a rather dim dhimmi. But this Episcopalian Muslim is representative of the muddled understanding of pluralism that pervades American culture....

Truth is incompatible with non-truth, which is why we must reject all self-contradictory claims made by others and root them out of our own belief systems. In rejecting contradictory thinking we accept an uncomfortable truth: true tolerance sometimes requires being intolerant of willful stupidity.

This is exactly so. When will people drop the pretense of calling themselves Christians when they refuse to acknowledge the core doctrines of the faith - and most especially who Jesus is?

Ted Baehr talks about "Jesus Almighty"

Dr. Ted Baehr of Movieguide writes this about films... and faith:

People of faith and values are concerned about the collapse of culture. Recent polls from Cornell University and Barna Research found that only one out of 10 children keep the faith and values of their parents. Further studies have shown that this is because parents are not engaged in teaching their children cultural wisdom.

The mass media, however, is advertently or inadvertently teaching children their values, and even when these values are not inflaming lust, greed, violence, ambivalence, and envy, they are all too often undermining the sure salvation that is available only through Jesus Christ. And, all too often, caught up in the publicity machine of the Entertainment Industry, the church and its associates such as Christian magazines, radio and television are promoting the movies and entertainment that undermine its future and true faith and values.

Much has been said about post-Christian culture. Europe is a sad example. There are more Muslims in Europe than there are Protestant Christians. Why does this matter? Because eternal life in the Kingdom of God is only available through Jesus Christ, and if we truly love our neighbor, then we do not want him or her lost forever. According to surveys, fewer and fewer children understand this.

Although we don’t want to be hard on the compelling movie characters Bruce and Evan, who should be commended for helping the audience understand a lot about humility, faith and obedience to God, it is clear that the view of salvation and the view of God presented in the movies featuring “Bruce Almighty” and “Evan Almighty” do not adhere to the Truth. For example, although “Evan Almighty” contains a reference to “alpha and omega,” the Book of Revelation’s designation of Jesus Christ’s divine nature, the movie scrupulously avoids any other identification of its God character with Jesus Christ.

The Truth is, however, that salvation is found in none other than Jesus Christ. When God became flesh as one of us, it is only as Jesus Christ. When God appears to Moses or anyone else, it is as Jesus Christ. He is the Truth, the Way and the Life. In that sense, it is important to note that the Hebrew word for Truth means, “to reveal.” Jesus Christ alone reveals completely and totally who the almighty triune God is.

These winsome movies and many others scrupulously avoid the Truth that Jesus Christ is God and that God has a name – Jesus Christ. They present God as a clown of a thousand faces or as just one of us in a manner that is reminiscent of Henotheism at best and Buddhism and Hinduism at worst. In fact, the watered-down view they present of God contains more pre-Christian, unattainable, works-oriented religious views than the clear representation of the very good news that salvation is available to all mankind though the free gift of Grace paid for by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That said, people who know the Truth will not be hurt by this, but children of all ages may buy the lie that God is just a sweet old man. Witnessing to them may not get at the root confusion, and therefore too many of them will fall into the 90 percent of children who drift away from the only Truth that can save their eternal souls.

It is interesting that movies don’t mind using the word "God," "Buddha," "Mohammed," or the names of the saints, but they carefully and politically correctly avoid the positive mention of Jesus, unless, of course, they are taking his name in vain, even though they would never take the name of Buddha, Mohammed, or others in vain. What significance does this have? It shows the almighty power of the name of Jesus because it is only in the name of Jesus, through his death and resurrection, that anyone and everyone can be saved.

Therefore, while we appreciate and applaud allegory, incarnational theology, Jesus types and Christ types, as found in family movies such as “Evan Almighty,” the true story that the church should shout from the housetops and proclaim in every media is “Jesus Almighty.”

After all, there is no other God and no other name through which we can be saved.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . .

“No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

-- John 1:14,18

Well said.

From: Assist News.

The Contradictions of Connecticut - The Pocket State

For cities its size, Stamford is a very safe place. How safe? Safe enough to be the 9th safest city in the country. And, what's more:

Stamford was the second safest among 26 cities in the Northeast with populations of at least 100,000, trailing only the town of Amherst, N.Y. Bridgeport ranked 25th and Hartford ranked 26th among Northeast cities in that category.

But all is not rosy even in Stamford:

Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy said he was pleased with the ranking but said the police department faces a new challenge in keeping Stamford among the elite during a budget crisis.

"How do you continue to do that in light of the resources?" Malloy said. "We're all scratching our heads over that question."

The department has cut overtime spending, taken officers out of the detective bureau and reduced the number of on-duty patrol officers to cope with budget cuts slated for 2007-08.

The city's violent crime rate has climbed five years in a row, including double-digit percentage increases in 2005 and 2006, city records show.

Police responded to 393 violent crimes last year, up from 353 in 2005 and 305 in 2004 - a 29 percent increase over two years.

The increase outpaced the nationwide jump in violent crime over the last two years. Violent crime in the United States increased by 2.3 percent in 2005 and 1.3 percent last year after declining consistently for nearly a decade.

Experts have blamed the trend on declining federal aid to police departments and rising youth violence.

Well, there are problems - and then there are problems. Would Mayor Malloy swap his problems for Hartford's? Or Bridgeport's?

Stamford was the second safest among 26 cities in the Northeast with populations of at least 100,000, trailing only the town of Amherst, N.Y. Bridgeport ranked 25th and Hartford ranked 26th among Northeast cities in that category.

In case you're wondering, New Haven typically doesn't report numbers to the FBI. They are perhaps too busy at the moment subverting Federal law by legitimizing illegal immigration. Whatever your views on that, what does this teach the next generation about lawlessness? I frankly find it disturbing. And, to even ask the question about how many crimes are being committed by illegal immigrants is to invite accusations of racism and xenophobia.

More to the point, what does it say about us as a people that Connecticut is the Pocket State - a pocket of money here, a pocket of poverty there, a pocket of safety here, and pocket of real danger there? How long can this be a viable model?

I could have linked to stories about the crime in Hartford (four killings in one weekend) but I don't know which one to pick.

Join Connecticut Christians on Facebook

Facebook has been taking off as a way for people to connect and communicate. If you don't know, Facebook started out as something for students but has recently exploded to become the #6 website in terms of traffic - it is already viewed more than eBay!

With this in mind, we started a "Connecticut Christians" group on Facebook a few days ago. This will be a great way to meet and connect with Christians in our state and share news, events, prayer requests and all kinds of things. (And no, it's not a dating service!)

Just click on the Facebook badge in the right-hand column (the one with a picture of yours truly) and help us build a better online community of Christians in Connecticut - people are already joining!

Tags: Connecticut, Christian, Christianity, Evangelical, Charismatic, facebook

New church added to the Connecticut Church Map

We're happy to announce that we've added the Franklin Congregational Church to the Connecticut Church Map.

If you're only going to have one church in your town (population = 2,000), it may as well be a good one. ;)

Christian Events in Connecticut this week

Bob Weiner

The following events are taking place in Connecticut this week. For more information or to add an event to our Connecticut Christian Events Calendar, please visit our website here.

Monday, June 18:
Teen Challenge New Haven Golf Classic (New Haven)
Litchfield County Regional Prayer Meeting (Torrington)

Wednesday, June 20:
Intercessory Prayer (Colchester)

Thursday, June 21:
Prayer In The Park (Hartford)

Sunday, June 24:
Bob Weiner (West Haven)

Franklin church breaks away from UCC, goes independent

The Norwich Bulletin has run an interesting piece on the Franklin Congregational Church, which recently elected to leave the United Church of Christ. Its pastor is Al Stewart:

He was working in Waterbury when he agreed to become pastor of the Franklin Congregational Church only if it left the United Church of Christ [UCC], a denomination he felt had become too politically involved and very liberal, particularly in its support of same-sex marriage and homosexual ministers....

In the time leading up to the split, Stewart said the Connecticut Conference of the UCC sent a letter to Franklin members to try to discredit his qualifications as a minister.

Eastern Regional Minister, the Rev. Lois Happe, declined to comment on the letter.

"It's always sad when a church feels they are no longer able to sustain their connection to the United Church of Christ," she said.

Happe said though the UCC nationally supported same-sex marriage, it encourages individual congregations to act autonomously in their position on the issue.

"There is a diversity of opinion on how to regard interpretations of Scripture," she said, noting the issue of homosexuality has caused rifts in many mainline denominations.

Of course there is a diversity of opinion: Romans 1 is now considered hate speech.

Connecticut's economy taking more hits

The Workforce Alliance claims that we're losing our status as the richest and best-educated State:

Between 1999 and 2005, the median household income statewide fell from $69,750 to $67,165 a year.

Between 1989 and 2004, the number of jobs nationwide increased 24 percent, but Connecticut lost 2 percent of its jobs over the same period. Connecticut ranked dead last among the 50 states in both population and job growth between 2000 and 2005.

Also this week came the news that Proctor & Gamble will close its Stamford office by 2010, with a loss of hundreds of jobs to the local economy.

Please pray for our economy and our business and governmental leaders.

If you like old-fashioned preaching . . .

If you like old-time preaching, visit this new blog, The Daily Spurgeon. Spurgeon was called "The Prince of Preachers," and was the greatest preacher of his day. This new blog gives you a snippet of Spurgeon every day but Sunday. (Spurgeon would have liked that!)

Massachusetts will uphold gay marriage for now

Massachusetts legislators narrowly defeated today a measure which would have allowed voters to vote directly on the question of same-sex marriage. Fifty votes were needed but only 45 voted in favor of the measure. Read an AP story here.

This is obviously a deeply disappointing day for pro-family advocates in Massachusetts. Please continue to pray for this situation.

Pray urgently for Massachusetts

Massachusetts State House in Boston

Please pray for our neighbor to the north as Massachusetts faces a Constitutional Convention. New England Concerts of Prayer states:

Once again, thank you for your powerful prayer support for the Massachusetts Marriage Amendment. The amendment must now pass a second vote by the Legislature in the Constitutional Convention which is scheduled for 1:00 pm, Thursday, June 14. In order for the Amendment to appear on the Massachusetts ballot in November of 2008, it must receive 50 votes and we currently have 57 legislators who are on record to vote for the amendment.

The new Senate President, Therese Murray, who presides over the Convention, has publicly stated that she will ask for a vote on June 14 though she herself will vote against it. Powerful forces, including the governor, attorney general, and house speaker are now pressuring the state legislators to vote against it. Newspaper reports cite that Governor Patrick will offer high paying patronage jobs to legislators to change their votes. Even U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and DNC Chairman Howard Dean have been calling our legislators twisting arms for the gay lobby. On top of all this, our opponents, MassEquality, have launched a $750,000 media campaign leading up to June 14 designed to change the votes of our legislators.

Click here to watch an important Prayer Alert video from PrayTV (Windows Media file).

New church added to Connecticut Church Map

We're happy to announce that the following church has been added to the Connecticut Church Map:

Easton: Covenant Church of Easton

Connecticut Churches Support Katrina Rebuilding Efforts

Numerous Connecticut churches have been active in helping communities and churches in the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The New London Day recently ran a nice piece about Calvary Chapel of Uncasville's efforts in Hancock County, Mississippi.

Covenant Church of Easton just wrapped up a fundraiser for a church in Phoenix, Louisiana.

Harvest Time Church in Greenwich is preparing to send a large team to Chalmette, Louisiana.

We salute these churches and urge Connecticut believers to support the ongoing efforts to rebuild this area which is still shattered.

Waterbury's kids in trouble

And in Waterbury, they're thinking of holding back some 2,000 schoolkids for truancy. That's not a typo... 2,000 schoolkids. I can't imagine the chaos this will create:

School officials are making no apologies saying that there were warnings and notifications of the new policy. Now schools will have to make room for those that are repeating grades.

"A lot of them are at the high school level and they will be repeating because they are getting incompletes so it will be difficult for us, but we have to do what we have to do," said Chairman of the Board of Education Patrick Hayes.

Channel 30 shows us an even tougher side of Mr. Hayes:

"These kids shouldn't be advancing -- end of discussion, unless I hear otherwise," Board of Education President Patrick J. Hayes Jr. said Monday. "It would make a mockery of the whole system."

Some 2,025 students have missed 18 or more school days -- 10 percent of the total school year. Most of those absences in the 18,200-student district were among high school students.

School officials adopted the tougher policy last year after noting the number of excuses at the end of the year. An average of 1,500 students missed school each day last year and officials were concerned too many absences were being waived by principals.

Those are indeed disturbing numbers and we want to continue to pray for Waterbury's kids and educators.

In New Haven, armed patrols... and more murders

When people perceive, rightly or wrongly, that their government cannot or will not defend them from criminals, the people will take such measures as they think expedient to defend themselves. So we were not surprised to see that armed citizen patrols are arising in the Elm City. According to Channel 30:

The group calls themselves the Edgewood Park Defense Patrol and they claim police aren't doing enough to keep them safe.The armed group said they patrol the streets from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. They said the mission was prompted by a vicious attack on a rabbi Sunday night. The group said they all legally bear arms and just want their neighbors to feel safe.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano issued a statement saying,” I believe that individuals that carry weapons with the intent of enforcing their view of appropriate behavior in the neighborhood is a recipe for disaster.”

Now Channel 8 reports this morning that the Guardian Angels are coming in:

The founder of the Guardian Angels is coming to New Haven Thursday to help patrol the city's Edgewood Park area.

Speaking by phone on Good Morning Connecticut, Sliwa said he's been counseling Rabbi Dov Greer, who started an armed patrol around the park following a weekend mugging.

Sliwa says he will bring in an unarmed, inter-racial patrol.

This news is overshadowed (or should be at any rate) by the murders of two more men yesterday. Read the New Haven Register here for information and background on the tensions in the community.

Please take time today to pray for New Haven, its leaders, and its churches.

More on prayer for Connecticut's youth...

Watertown police have arrested seven men in the Waterbury for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old boy. Among those arrested were a former police lieutenant, a prominent businessman, and a judicial marshal.

In Stratford there is an uproar over an alleged sexual assault by one boy on another in a public school. Sadly, there's almost no shock value to these stories any more - except that in this case both boys were only 6 years old! Christine from The Thinking Mother blog has more on this.

Kids need to be protected - and the only way to do that is to root out of society the things that are influencing people, particularly men, to act out these behaviors.

Is anyone going to step up to the plate and begin to explain in loud detail the facts about what repeated exposure to pornography does to people's minds and brain chemistry? It is imperative that we begin to address obscenity at the roots at the problem.

New Church Added to the Connecticut Church Map

We're happy to announce that the following church has been added to the Connecticut Church Map:

Manchester: Church of the Living God

JesusFest 2007 coming on July 7

It's that time again: JesusFest, Connecticut's popular Christian festival, is returning to the Tolland County Agricultural Center in Vernon on July 7. It's a free, all-day "Christian Country Fair, Music & Arts Festival" and you won't want to miss it!

Some great speakers and musical acts will be featured on the main stage, as well as other anointed musicians in the Coffeehouse Cafe, plus a Kids' Barn and Theater , free workshops and more.

For a full schedule of the day's events, visit JesusFest's website here.

Christian Events in Connecticut This Week (June 11-17, 2007)

The following events are coming up this week... for more details please visit the Connecticut Christian Events Calendar!

Wednesday, June 13
Intercessory Prayer (Colchester)

Thursday, June 14
Prayer in the Park (Hartford)
Regional Prayer Meeting (New Haven)

Friday, June 15
Watchmen on the Wall Seminar (West Haven)

Saturday, June 16
Christian Coffeehouse (Danbury)
Watchmen on the Wall Seminar (West Haven)

Schools delayed in wake of bomb threat

Across Litchfield County schools are delaying their opening this morning by 90 minutes in response to a bomb threat received by phone yesterday at a State police barracks. According to Channel 8:

The caller did not indicate what high school or what town. Hours after the call was made, the following school districts in Northwest Connecticut decided to put off the opening bell by 90-minutes:

• Torrington Public Schools including Oliver Wolcott Technical High School
• Litchfield Public Schools
• Plymouth School District
• Regional School District #6
• Regional School District #10
• Regional School District #12
• Regional School District #15
• The Arch Bridge School in Bethlehem
• Hartland School District
• Watertown Public Schools
• Thomaston School District
• Explorations Charter School in Winsted
• New Milford School District, no AM kindergarten

"We want to insure schools were safe and do a walk through at every school and be sure that any possible threat is eliminated before we bring students or staff in," said Litchfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dominick Vita.

As we've commented recently, we need to step up our level of prayer for our youth.

Should politicians be moral?

State Senator Louis DeLuca


New London Day columnist Charles E. Potter, Jr. gives a sad recitation of the alarming breakdown of morality among our public servants of late. Then, commenting on the guilty plea of State Sen. Lou DeLuca, he says:

One more thing: DuLuca [sic] has said he will not resign his office. Good.

We, the people, should have the privilege of kicking him out, so as to deliver a message that we, the people, demand a change in the moral fiber of the leadership of this great state. And if we, the people, don't demand his ouster, then shame on us, for failing to do so would constitute acceptance of his arrogant, bullying behavior, and that of those who went bad before him.

It seems that only a few years ago we were told that competence in office was what mattered, not morality. In 2 Samuel 23:3, King David said that "He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." We don't elect political leaders to be preachers or theologians. King David knew that, but he also knew they should fear God - a heart attitude that would serve as an inward brake on poor behavior.

That's an old-fashioned idea whose time is, I hope, coming again.