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.

Barbara Wentroble to speak in Uncasville Sunday, June 10

Noted speaker and author Barbara Wentroble will be ministering Sunday, June 10 at Fruitful Harvest Ministries, 505 Old Colchester Road in Uncasville. Service is at 10:00 AM. No registration is required. For more information call (860) 848-3277.

Barbara has written well-known books such as Prophetic Intercessionand You Are Anointed.

Backyard Festival Comes to Greenwich

Mid Point Cafe announces the 2007 Backyard Music Festival at Harvest Time Church in Greenwich, Saturday June 9th. This event will feature six great Christian music groups ranging from rock to rap to soul to gospel. In addition to musical acts on the main stage, there will also be children’s activities, fresh food from the grill, and iced coffee drinks.

Musical guests include: SilOam Band, Tyrone Birkett, Brothers Inc., NuSoul Generation, Craig Crawford and Sam Cintron.

General admission is free; parking is $10 per vehicle. Gate opens at 12 noon. For information, contact Harvest Time Church at (203) 531-7778, or visit: www.midpointcafe.com.

Are Connecticut Homeschoolers Under Attack?

Judy Aron of Consent Of The Governed has been blogging about homeschooling and the challenges homeschoolers are facing in our State. Remember the pray for homeschoolers and their parents.

Judy's right when she says it's ironic to see this group come under fire while winning all the spelling bees every year.

Prayer for Connecticut's Youth

Churches and individual Christians should urgently consider establishing regular prayer for the youth of our State. Every day seems to bring more and more disturbing cases of violence and abuse committed against our young people.

• A 15-year-old girl, missing for a year, is found locked away in an Edgar Allan Poe type secret room hidden under a staircase and blocked from view in a West Hartford house.
  

• Three East Hartford men were in Hartford Superior Court to face charges of various assaults. Two of the three were charged with offenses against children and two with offenses against mentally retarded persons.
  

• A Vernon man already facing charges for allegedly having sexual contact with five minors was charged with new internet sex charges.
  

• Another man pled not guilty to charges that he was soliciting sex from an undercover officer whom he thought was a teenage girl and whom he planned to meet in Stamford.
  

• A 66-year-old man is arrested in Watertown for allegedly assaulting a child.

I am incredulous over the fact that all these stories were reported in a single day, in a small State. When are we going to wake up and admit that pornography is creating a generation of dangerous predators who are totally inflamed with lust - and who are not content to merely view, but to act out what they see and think about?

When will we enforce the obscenity laws of the State and of the United States?

Enough is enough.

Bristol parish becomes part of Nigerian Church

Trinity Episcopal Church in Bristol, one of the "Connecticut Six," has become part of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. This is truly a momentous story:

Trinity Episcopal Church in Bristol, as of Sunday, became part of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, said Trinity's rector, the Rev. Donald Helmandollar. The convocation is a self-described mission of the Nigerian church serving Episcopalians who hold traditional beliefs.

"We have remained with the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church has demonstrated, continues to demonstrate, that they are walking apart from the communion," Helmandollar said.
Trinity and five other parishes had sued Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith in 2005 seeking several million dollars in damages. They say he violated their civil and property rights after they tried to break away from his authority because he supported the election of Gene Robinson, bishop of New Hampshire. A federal judge dismissed the case last year and the parishes are appealing.

Some parishes in Virginia have aligned themselves with the Nigerian church.

The Episcopal Church has splintered since the 2003 consecration of Robinson. The denomination has adopted a general acceptance of gays.

Helmandollar said the congregation voted nearly unanimously to make the move because its members see the Episcopal Church abandoning "the orthodox tenets" of Christian belief.

So says the AP, but you have to love the ridiculous headline: "After schism, Connecticut church becomes ally of Nigerian sect." Given that there are probably more Anglicans in Nigeria nowadays than in Merry Olde England itself, I'm not sure whether to chalk up that kind of thing to ignorance of religion, ignorance of the facts on the ground, or patronizing. There's also the sneer factor of putting the phrase "the orthodox tenets" in quotes.

And they say the mainstream media doesn't "get" religion!

Bristol native under police guard in Turkey

Please pray for this brother, a Bristol, Conn. native and Christian worker, as he and his family attempt to move out of the nation of Turkey for their own safety. In the wake of anti-Christian persecution and murders, all Christians in the Middle East need our support and prayers.

Have those intolerant Christians finally met their match?

There are few people more frightening in our society than the intolerant Christians. As we all know, Christians (especially those benighted souls who actually read and believe the Bible) are a font of all sorts of societal ills. Their intolerant and bigoted ways have oppressed millions of freedom-seekers throughout the centuries. And if we're not careful, their insistence on biblical morality could bring our society back to those dark days of a couple of years ago, before there were even civil unions.

Is there any force more destructive to personal rights than these Christians?

I hate to scare our readership, but apparently our media has learned that there are other religions in the world capable of inflicting harm on people - and they do it using their religion as justification!

One particular religion has been making news in some country called Malaysia, where a woman who had converted to Christianity (?) could not have this decision legally recognized by the government. Leaving aside for the moment the question of why a country would even require that a person's religion be legally recognized, this seems rather intolerant. Even Time magazine seemed a bit troubled by this.

It also seems from the news that people who follow this other religion have special cities where no one other than believers is allowed to go under pain of arrest. (Not even Jerry Falwell could have pulled that one off!)

I'm a little confused because I would expect our media and our leaders to be alarmed at this kind of intolerance. They are probably just too busy worrying about the intolerant Christians and will probably tackle this other group later. Hopefully this other group doesn't have any harmful intentions towards Western countries.

First the Christians and now these people, whoever they are.

What's the world coming to?

Rally for Marriage brings out 300 to Hartford

Yesterday's Rally for Marriage brought out an estimated 300 people - on a Wednesday morning no less, according to the Family Institute of Connecticut. We give thanks for the representation from our elected representatives, which, according to the FIC, included Rep. Marilyn Guiliano (R - Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Westbrook), Al Adinolfi (R - Cheshire, Hamden, Wallingford), Vincent Candelora (R - East Haven, North Branford, Wallingford), Bruce Morris (D - Norwalk) and T.R. Rowe (R - Trumbull).

Channel 8 has some reporting here, and there's an AP story here which quotes FIC's Brian Brown on the need for a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage. Many media outlets seem to have ignored this story altogether.