Dr. D. James Kennedy, RIP

Headlines are reading today that a "megachurch pastor" has died. In the current climate that tells most people all they need to know, I suppose, but it's hard to overemphasize the impact of the ministry of Dr. Kennedy over the last several decades. An unfriendly-to-Christians article in Rolling Stone a couple of years ago called him "the most influential evangelical you've never heard of."

That pretty well sums it up. The scourge of leftists and squishy Christians, Dr. Kennedy upheld without fear or compromise a Christian vision of America at a time when it was vanishing from memory. In this regard he held the fort for the next generation of believers, which seems to be less ashamed of what made America great and will certainly advance that vision.

New Church Added to Connecticut Church Map

We're happy to announce that we've added New Life Christian Center in New Hartford to the Connecticut Church Map.

Know a good church that should be on the map? Write us at info@prayct.org!

What does Connecticut believe?

Apparently we're not in Kansas any more:

It's not that people in the state aren't religious - 62 percent said religion was an "extremely important" or "very important" part of their lives.

But even the state's most devout residents draw a clear line between religion and politics: 51 percent of those who said religion was "extremely important" to them said religious leaders should stay clear of politics.

"One of the things that make Connecticut distinct is that even the most religious residents believe that religious leaders shouldn't get involved in politics," said Monika McDermott, research director of the center and an assistant professor of political science at UConn....

The survey provides further evidence of just how different Connecticut's political culture is from that of the bulk of the nation. A Newsweek poll of 1,004 Americans conducted in March found that only 32 percent of the respondents said religion has too much influence on public policy - and 31 percent believe it has too little influence. Only 17 percent of Connecticut respondents said religion has too little sway.

The results don't surprise David A. Roozen, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford Seminary. Though evangelical Christians are the dominant voice of religion in American politics these days, their views are sharply out of step in a socially liberal state such as Connecticut, he said.

"Here in the Northeast, we're blue states," he said. "The perception of religion in politics is that it's this conservative, reactionary evangelical Christian movement. ... That's not our religion."

I hadn't noticed! See more here at The Courant.

More on Connecticut's abortion clinics

Peter Wolfgang at FIC graciously quoted our story yesterday about Planned Parenthood and has done an admirable job digging further into the netherworld of Connecticut's abortion clinics and what happens after the "procedure" is over.

People seldom have the taste for a real examination of all the various businesses that surround the trade in abortion. This is understandable. But reflexive politics shouldn't keep the public and its representatives from looking again - and looking hard.

Read the rest of the FIC Blog story here.

Will States ever prosecute Planned Parenthood facilities for violations?

Disturbing and yet apparently all too common:

Police investigating a kidnapping and sexual abuse case in Connecticut have confirmed that a Planned Parenthood abortion business did an abortion on a 15 year-old girl who is the victim. The news is the latest in a string of cases across the country where abortions have been used to cover up cases of sexual abuse.

That sad saga continues, complete with the revelation, gruesome to me, that abortion centers apparently keep remains long enough to allow DNA testing, but another large question is whether statutory rape statutes are being taken seriously enough by officials and electorates. Does the value they assign on easy abortion on purely ideological grounds outweigh the State's interest in protecting teen (and pre-teen) girls from predation?

Will anyone draw the proper conclusions from the circumstances of the Gault case?

For more on the problem, read this story from the National Catholic Register.

"Under the Fire Of God" in New Haven

Carlos Annacondia

New Haven will be the scene of the annual Evangelical Parade on Saturday, September 8, with the theme Under the Fire of God. This is beyond a bilingual event - it's a multilingual event, with prayer being offered in 10 different languages! Pastor Jose Champagne of Holy Mount Church of God of Prophecy says:

This is completely a community and family event. This event commences with a March lead by the leaders and ministers of God in unity and it culminates with a Great Concentration in the Green Park of New Haven in front of the City Hall with a free concert and a powerful message from the Word of God.

The featured speaker is renowned evangelist Carlos Annacondia.

For more information, write: connecticutparacristo@hotmail.com.

Seven Great Resources for Connecticut Homeschoolers

Should you homeschool? Maybe this young lady's parents should have...
Hat Tip to Judy Aron

Even though it has taken off like a rocket in recent years, the very thought of homeschooling can still be very intimidating. And lack of information can breed paralysis, too. There are lots of questions. Am I capable of teaching my kids? How much will it cost? What are the legalities? Do homeschoolers sit around in calico dresses watching Anne of Green Gables? What are all the pros and cons?

If I were interested in homeschooling, where would I go for dependable information? Here's a list of some top resources for Connecticut homeschoolers and those wondering whether they should take the plunge:

• CT Homeschoolers Inclusive (Yahoo Group)
  

• CT Homeschool Network
  

• Homeschoolblogger.com
  

• HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association)
  

• HSLDA's analysis of Connecticut Homeschooling Law (PDF)
  

• TEACH (The Education Association of Christian Homeschoolers)
  

• Don't forget Judy Aron's great blog, Consent of the Governed!

Gay marriage hearings at the Connecticut Supreme Court

Listen here to the story, and continue to pray for the Supreme Court to exercise godly wisdom.

What do teenagers really want?

As we head back to school many are touting as good news the results of a recent MTV/AP poll showing what teens really think and want:

Religion and spirituality are an integral part of happiness for most American young people. 44 percent say that religion and spirituality are either a very important or the single most important thing in their lives, with more than one in ten reporting the latter. And those for whom religion and spirituality play a bigger role in life tend to be happier. 80 percent of those who say spirituality is the most important thing in life say they are happy with life in general, compared with 60 percent of those who say that spirituality is not an important part of life at all.

This is comforting, and Christian groups should take heed:

Bob Waliszewski, director of Focus on the Family's Plugged In magazine and Web site, said teens want sustenance for their souls.

“It’s no surprise to find out that kids are searching. Many of them consider themselves ‘spiritual’ – I say that in quotation marks. It doesn’t say that they are Christians or evangelicals. But they are wired by God to seek after a Creator.

“I think one of the things that this study could help lead to is more openness, especially on campus, for student-led groups exploring Christianity.”

Read more here from Citizen Link.

Our 500th post

To hit 500 posts is a big milestone for us, especially when so many blogs start every day - something like 175,000.

Most blogs have precisely the same number of posts before dying a lingering death on the Web: 1!

So thanks for your support! Continue to support the growth of the "Christian Web" and pray that God's people continue to find creative ways to reach people in this technological age.

Rally for Liberty in Hartford on September 12

From the Family Institute of Connecticut comes this notice:

On Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. FIC will hold a Rally for Liberty on the east grounds of the state capitol in Hartford. Please come to show your support for marriage protection and for self-government! Please also forward this message to every pro-family state resident you know and encourage them to do likewise!

We want to encourage the Supreme Court to do the right thing. The Court should not take it upon themselves to undemocratically impose a radical redefinition of marriage-our most precious social institution-on all of society. They should let the people decide!

Church Map update: map is fixed

Thanks for your patience. By the way, to submit a church, just drop us a line at info@prayct.org.

Map update

We're experiencing a problem with our Church Map not showing pointers, which we will try to get squared away as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience - we know it's the most popular page on our site and we'll try to have it fixed straightaway.

State Senate votes to investigate one of its own

From Capitol Watch:

The Senate unanimously voted today to create a bipartisan committee that will recommend if Sen. Louis C. DeLuca of Woodbury should face disciplinary action for conspiring with a trash hauler to threaten his granddaughter's husband.

DeLuca, a Republican who pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit a threat, was one of three senators who spoke during the brief, solemn debate. He left the chamber before the vote, barred by Senate rules from voting on a measure that directly affects him.

“The course of action that we take today is not easy, but it is necessary, and we do not embark upon it lightly,” said Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn.

No indeed. Equal time from a leading Republican by way of Channel 8:

One of DeLuca's Republican colleagues, Senator David Capiello of Danbury, has called for his resignation for the good of the Senate.

"Frankly, I'm concerned about Senator DeLuca and his family and what he will be going through. This is not going to be a good time for anyone involved," said Capiello.

Senator Lieberman speaks before Christian Zionist organization

I'm not sure how this one got past me (especially because it was heavily blogged by the political left) but I have been mighty busy since returning from vacation...

CNN has an interesting profile of an Orthodox Jewish woman named Sondra Oster Baras who speaks to Evangelical groups to raise support for Israel - part of Christiane Amanpour's upcoming series called "God's Warriors." Noted there was Sen. Lieberman's support for Christians United for Israel. From the article:

A recent poll found that 59 percent of American evangelicals believe Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates 85 million evangelicals believe God tells them to support Israel -- more than six times the world's Jewish population.

One of the most successful Jewish fundraisers, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, raised $39 million last year from Christian Zionists to fund human services and humanitarian work in Israel and the settlements.

Christian Zionists often converge on Washington by the thousands to lobby members of Congress in support of Israel.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Connecticut, was among the speakers at last month's convention of Christians United for Israel.

"There are a lot more Christian Zionists in America than Jewish Zionists," the former Democratic vice presidential candidate told the group. "The support of Christian Zionists today is critical to Israel's security and strength and to America's security and strength."

I think this is becoming one of the key issues of the next several years. Are there many real Zionists left in American government? By that I mean are there any who are willing to publicly base their support for Israel on Zionism of any kind?

New church added to Connecticut Church Map

We've happy to announce that Huntington Chapel of Shelton has been added to the Connecticut Church Map!

Check out the map here.

More on Trinity Episcopal Church in Bristol

Thanks to the sharp-eyed anonymous reader who alerted us to the fact that the Episcopal Diocese lawsuit against Rev. Helmandollar and church vestry members was mentioned today in the Bristol Press. (Link unavailable.) Other folks are now picking it up as well:

Hartford Courant (an AP story which was also picked up by Channel 3 and some newspapers)

Channel 8

Channel 30

I'm sure we'll be hearing about this one for months to come. I'll be interested to see just how deeply the Connecticut courts want to enmesh themselves in matters of church governance. Oddly, there are actually sections of our State statutes (see Sect. 33-266) dealing with the polity of the Episcopal Church:

The manner of conducting the parish, the qualifications for membership of the parish and the manner of acquiring and terminating such membership, the number of the officers of the parish, their powers and duties and the manner of their appointment, the time of holding the annual meeting of the parish and the manner of notification thereof and the manner of calling special meetings of the parish shall be such as are provided and prescribed by the constitution, canons and regulations of said Protestant Episcopal Church in this state.

Here's my short list of questions:

• Will the State follow this statute, and is it even constitutional for Connecticut to have legislated in this manner?
• What if the Episcopal Church has severed itself from the Anglican Fellowship worldwide?
• What if Bishop Smith has acted improperly in taking this step?
• In other words, should a Connecticut Superior Court judge be deciding this or should the Episcopal or Anglican bishops?

Connecticut Episcopal Bishop reportedly sues priest, church members

In the latest chapter of this saga, the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut has reportedly brought a lawsuit against the Rev. Donald Helmandollar and ten other persons for trespass and other claims. Although I might have missed it, but I haven't seen this hit the media outlets yet. However, a PDF copy of a civil complaint brought in New Britain Superior Court has been posted on the Connecticut Six blog.

It's quite possible that the mainstream media is unaware of the suit because the suit papers have not been returned to the Court yet. Under Connecticut practice, a lawsuit papers are first served upon the defendants and only then are they filed in the Court. The lawsuit bears a return date of September 11 and would not technically be pending in the New Britain Superior Court until a couple of days after that. For this reason suit papers are sometimes served on people as a negotiating tactic in hopes the persons sued will wish to avoid going to Court altogether.

Stay tuned...

At last! Something left and right can agree on.

Holes in bridges: bad!

The best social program we ever had was the DAD

In the office of the DAD they had phones like this one

The DAD.

That's not an acronym. It's Dad. Your Pop. The Old Man. He was the best social program we ever had, back in the day when we had them - and only one, mind you, not two.

In an article entitled Urban Pathology And Distance, Don Pesci nails it:

If the root cause of urban pathologies is to be found, as some analysts have suggested, in partial family structures – single parent households abandoned by fathers, or those in which fathers never were present – then a solution to the pathologies must include a restoration of more adequate social structures.

What is the possibility that architects of social policy, including politicians and legislators, will in the future dedicate themselves to writing laws and policies that encourage the formation of traditional family structures, remembering that such legislation must include sanctions that discourage less successful forms?

To ask the question is to answer it. There are many powerful political interests arrayed against such a restoration, and politicians are not celebrated for an excess of courage in opposing powerful and politically well connected interests. Children in the cities are the victims of such timidity, not to say cowardice; and however much money is thrown their way, they will continue to be victimized by a system of sanctions and rewards that is blissfully unconcerned with families and convinced – despite clear evidence to the contrary – that it is possible for a village to raise a child in the absence of honorable, loving and working fathers.

Bingo. Read the whole thing here.

Photo by Bill Gantz. Some rights reserved.