Today’s Headlines:

CAR BOMB EXPLODES NEAR CHRISTIAN TV NETWORK’S STUDIOS IN LEBANON

CHRISTIANS IN MYANMAR FACE GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS, FAMINE

EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT RELAXES BUILDING REGULATIONS FOR CHURCHES

FIJI’S CHURCHES URGE FORMATION OF BODY TO MONITOR RELIGIOUS SECTS

STUDY: ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF CHURCH CHANGING RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE

Today’s Top Stories:

CAR BOMB EXPLODES NEAR CHRISTIAN TV NETWORK’S STUDIOS IN LEBANON

A massive car bomb exploded near a Christian satellite network studio in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 12, killing four people, including Christian journalist Gebran Tueni who was also a member of the Lebanese parliament. “We have a studio in Beirut with about 25 employees there,” said SAT-7’s David Harder in the Middle East. “As some were on their way to work and some had already begun their day, a huge explosion went off about 1,000 yards from the studio. It shook it. People inside were very concerned.” While none of their staff members were injured in the blast, one of the staff members was only about 30 feet from the blast which covered his car with broken glass. A series of bombings, assassinations and a change in government have all hit the country hard in the last nine months. Harder said he does not think SAT-7 was targeted in the bombing. “It just happened to be in the same area, and there have been many bombs around there. It’s a predominately Christian part of Lebanon, and that’s where a lot of the bombings have been going off lately.” (Mission Network News)

CHRISTIANS IN MYANMAR FACE GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS, FAMINE

In Myanmar (Burma) in recent weeks government restrictions on Burmese Christians have increased, especially in rural areas. Ministry leaders report closing of house churches, small churches, Bible seminaries and colleges. Bible schools have been ordered to close down and new schools are not allowed to be built. Such restrictions come amid an apparent country-wide tightening of control by Burma’s military government. Christian Aid reports that much trade with foreign countries has been stopped, and consequently inflation is skyrocketing in this already poverty-stricken country. In addition, reports are emerging of drought and famine. One missionary writes, “The rainfall is very irregular this year. Farmers cannot plant their rice fields. Within this year, we believe, many people will die of hunger. Diseases are plentiful in rural areas because of drought and intense heat. Prices of medicines rose fourfold within months. (Christian Aid Mission)

EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT RELAXES BUILDING REGULATIONS FOR CHURCHES

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak eased long-controversial restrictions on church repair last week. His decree allows churches to implement basic repairs without waiting for government approval. For major church renovations, governors must now process requests within 30 days and can only reject an application by producing detailed reasons for the decision. However, many Coptic Christians remain skeptical of the decree’s vague wording, as well as its failure to resolve fundamental inequality between the construction of mosques and churches. “This decree will solve almost 80 percent of our problems: rebuilding old churches,” said Safwat El-Baiady, president of the Protestant Churches of Egypt. “But we have to be very frank, it doesn’t solve all our problems.” (Compass)

FIJI’S CHURCHES URGE FORMATION OF BODY TO MONITOR RELIGIOUS SECTS

Fiji’s mainstream churches are calling for a watchdog to be set up to monitor the formation of any new religious sects in the country. It follows the ban on controversial South Korean evangelist Sun Myung Moon, last week and the recent registration of a cult in the Wainibuka district. Fiji live reports the Fiji Council of Churches, which has the Methodist Church, Catholics, Anglicans and six other Christian denominations as its members, wants the independent body to be set up by the government soon. The council’s general secretary, Rev. Ledua Kacimaiwai, says someone from the government should be responsible for monitoring the activities of religious groups. (WorldWide Religious News/ABC News)

STUDY: ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF CHURCH CHANGING RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE

A growing number of Americans no longer view a local church as their primary religious meeting place. A study by the Barna Group shows that new forms of religious experience and expression — such as house churches, marketplace ministries and cyber-churches — are becoming the norm for millions of people. The U.S. has more than 300,000 Protestant congregations and some 20,000 Catholic parishes that have been the primary gathering place for Americans for most of the past century, but the new research shows that more than 50 million adults now practice their faith through a variety of divergent faith models. Barna discovered that discontent with congregational churches, changes in lifestyles and a burgeoning desire to get closer to God have caused many people to seek new ways of being in community with God and other God-seeking people. In 2000 most of the nation’s organized religious activity took place at or through local churches. Today the action is shifting to newer forms of corporate religious commitment. The Internet serves as the foundation for interactive faith experiences for more than one out of every 10 adults, although most of them use it in tandem with another form of corporate religious experience. (Religion Today/Barna Group)