AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER * ATHEIST RECOMMENDS GOD - A POWERFUL TESTIMONY OF THE IMPACT OF LIVES LIVED FOR CHRIST * CHRISTIAN THINKERS IN ENGLAND URGE RETURN TO BASIC BANKING PRACTICE * U.S. SUPREME COURT SHUTS DOOR ON CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION ACT * GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST DOPING IN SPORT SUBJECT TO LEGAL CHALLENGE * UPCOMING PRAYER MEETING COULD BE THE LARGEST EVER HELD IN CANADA * IRAN MORE HOSTILE TO CHRISTIANS * GEORGE BEVERLY SHEA TURNS 100 ----------------------------------------------- ATHEIST RECOMMENDS GOD - A POWERFUL TESTIMONY OF THE IMPACT OF LIVES LIVED FOR CHRIST "As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God. Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa's biggest problem - the crushing passivity of the people's mindset." What kind of atheist is this? Matthew Parris, Times writer, award-winning author, and former Member of Parliament, is not your typical atheist. It is unusual for an atheist to write favourably about faith. What led Parris to his surprising conclusion? Parris grew up in Africa, and returned recently to do a story on a development organization, Pump Aid, which helps provide clean water to rural communities. The organization is secular, but several of its African representatives are devoted followers of Jesus. Their character evoked memories for Parris: "Travelling in Malawi refreshed a belief I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God." "I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christianity makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular and government organisations and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good." Parris' conclusion, based on observations across Africa, resonates with statements Jesus made "Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" Parris emphasizes Christianity's impact on the individual. "Christians were different he observed. Their faith seemed to "liberate and relax them." They exhibited a liveliness and directness that seemed absent in traditional African life. The Christian workers he met stood out for their honesty, diligence and optimism. He said tribalism fosters an attitude of fear. Christianity he said emphasised a direct, personal relationship with God which encourages individuality that in turn casts off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates." Whoa! Christianity engenders individuality and frees the mind? Is this the same Christianity that some criticize for breeding a herd mentality among undiscerning followers - something like "a crushing groupthink"? Actually, it isn't. Parris describes a form of Christianity based on a personal relationship with God. He observes that such Christianity "smashes through" the traditional collective mindset. No surprise. Jesus overturned Temple tables and blasted religious leaders for supplanting God's ways with their own. Criticisms of Christianity/religion as mind-enslaving and heart-hardening, misguided thinking or misplaced devotion, are swept away when God becomes personal to a believer. By the admission of a confirmed atheist, Christianity changes African hearts, lives and communities for the better. Source: The Times of London ----------------------------------------------- CHRISTIAN THINKERS IN ENGLAND URGE RETURN TO BASIC BANKING PRACTICE Calls for a return to basic banking and an economy propelled by values rather than greed have been made in London, one of the world's financial capitals, at a conference of Christian thinkers examining the current economic crisis. "We face today a choice between a political economy based on greed and consumption and a way of life which is based on a sustainable and just relationship with our neighbour," the Rev. Bob Fyffe, general secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, declared. The session was organized by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, an ecumenical umbrella organization that groups all the major churches in the United Kingdom and Ireland. John Ellis, treasurer of the United Reformed Church who previously worked for the Bank of England, pointed to one major bank's relative success in weathering the current storm. "It is fairly safe to assert that HSBC [bank] has been the most robust during the recent economic troubles. It is also safe to assert that the chairman of HSBC is an Anglican priest. Is that a coincidence?" he asked. Ann Pettifor, director of the Christian climate change campaign, blamed usury and easy credit for the crisis. Usury is the exalting of money values over human and environmental values. Capital and globalization are based on the principle that there are no boundaries. But the problem is "law needs boundaries," said Pettifor. Investment banker John Reynolds, who chairs the Church of England's Ethical Investment and Advisory Group, advised: "Ethical pressure must be applied both on companies and stake holders at the same time." Paul Clifford, head of theology at Christian Aid, described the conference as "an example of the practical kind of way we can work together in the future towards building a more sustainable economy." Source: Ecumenical News International, London ----------------------------------------------- U.S. SUPREME COURT SHUTS DOOR ON CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION ACT Editors comment: At a time when Australia is considering a charter of rights, the following two stories have thrown the spotlight on the problems of a ‘rights driven’ culture and the way the strident upholding of particular ‘rights’ can be to the detriment of society and the rights of others. A plan to protect children from internet pornography has been blocked by the US Supreme Court as a violation of free speech. The move by the highest court, which let the ruling stand without comment, could mean the end of the US Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which was passed by Congress in 1998 but never enforced. The law in question required that website operators use credit cards or adult access codes and personal identification numbers to keep minors from seeing harmful pornography. Violators faced up to six months in prison and fines of as much as $US50,000 ($75,323) a day. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was one of the first groups to file legal challenges to COPA on the grounds that it violated the First Amendment right to free speech. "It is not the role of the government to decide what people can see and do on the internet," ACLU senior staff attorney Chris Hansen said in a statement. "Those are personal decisions that should be made by individuals and their families." ACLU legal director Steven Shapiro added that the government "cannot reduce adults to hearing and seeing only speech that the government considers suitable for children." Leslie Harris, president the Centre for Democracy & Technology (CDT), also praised the Supreme Court. "We applaud the court's decision which ends the government's quixotic and wasteful 10-year effort to impose an unconstitutional censorship standard on Internet content," Ms Harris said. COPA was intended to prevent minors from accessing pornographic content on the web but it ran into immediate and repeated legal challenges on free speech grounds. Source: Agence France-Press ----------------------------------------------- GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST DOPING IN SPORT SUBJECT TO LEGAL CHALLENGE A group of 65 Belgian athletes, cycling, footballers and volleyball players have asked a court to rule on whether a rule, which requires athletes to provide anti-doping authorities with advance notice of their movements, is in breach of European Union privacy laws. Without such information, drug-testers would be unable to locate athletes for no-notice, out-of-competition tests. The challenge could have far wider ramifications for the World Anti-Doping Agency, who have recently extended such regulations to individuals playing professional team sports. It is understood that two further legal challenges are being put together by an umbrella group of footballers' unions. The new code, which came into force on Jan 1, requires all athletes on the drug-testing register to make themselves available to drug-testers for one hour a day between 6am and 11pm, three months in advance. Any changes have to be notified online, by email or by text message. Athletes who are not where they said they would be when a drug-tester arrives are recorded as having missed a test. Three missed tests in 18 months result in a one-year ban. A Brussels-based lawyer who is representing the Belgian group, said the regulations infringed Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which concerned an individual's right to privacy. But a spokesman said the new rules were the result of lengthy consultations with all stakeholders and no athletes had expressed any concerns about their privacy. He added: "These regulations are one of the most effective means of deterrence and detection of doping and are an important step in strengthening athlete and public confidence in doping-free sport." Source: Agence France-Press ----------------------------------------------- UPCOMING PRAYER MEETING COULD BE THE LARGEST EVER HELD IN CANADA On February 21st, Canadians from all across Canada will gather in St. John's, Newfoundland, for TheCRY, a grass roots interdenominational and intergenerational initiative emphasizing prayer, worship and fasting for the spiritual welfare of Canada. A press release from TheCRY organizers said that indications from the attendance of CRY rallies of the past ten months—Edmonton, Ottawa/Gatineau, Iqaluit and Toronto with a total on site turnout of over 10,000—point to the St. John's rally possibly being the largest prayer meeting in Canadian history. The first CRY was held in 2002 in Ottawa where 10,000 gathered in peaceful prayer in response to the negative consequences of "the sexual revolution, the new age movement, secular humanism, and the women's movement which has transformed into the modern day pro-choice movement." At the St. John's event participants will be asked to focus their prayer on the current political and economic upheaval in the world, as well as for unity and revival in the church, family and life issues, sexual morality, and a return to ethical behaviour in government. TheCRY organizers expressed their concern that Canada and the world are at a pivotal point in history: "Canada is in a very significant time of history where our prayer and actions will affect the nation for generations to come.""A new, and significant, element is being added to TheCRY St. John's," TheCRY press release adds, with "mass television media, GOD TV, which has a potential audience of half a billion, broadcasting TheCRY live throughout many nations of the earth." Source: LifeSite News ----------------------------------------------- IRAN MORE HOSTILE TO CHRISTIANS U.S. President Obama’s desire for engagement with Iran is likely to do little to change Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s guile for the U.S. He blames the West for the growth of Christianity in Iran and is taking action. Jeff King with International Christian Concern says Iranian believers are arrested, beaten and tortured. “Parliament is looking to push an apostasy law with life sentences and death sentences for Muslims who convert to Christianity. This isn’t posturing. This is real stuff." King believes he knows why Iran is taking this action. “They see the youth slipping away, and they don’t know what to do. And so Ahmadinejad has said, ‘I’m going to stop Christianity. I’m going to crush it.’ And I think he’s going to find out what most world leaders find out when they try to do that: they actually spread Christianity and actually increase it exponentially.” King says this oppression will cause the church to be creative in their outreach. Pray for Iranian believers to be strong in their faith as they face political Source: Intercessors for America ----------------------------------------------- GEORGE BEVERLY SHEA TURNS 100 Billy Graham's famed bass soloist, George Beverly Shea, turned 100-years-old on February 1st. A private party and concert at the Billy Graham Training Centre, was held and included dinner, cake and a musical tribute to him. Source: The Charlotte Observer
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