Today’s Headlines:

MINSK CHURCH IN OLD COWSHED ORDERED TO SELL AT LOW PRICE

BOMBING, FUEL SHORTAGES DISRUPT LEBANESE SATELLITE MINISTRY

CHRISTIANS IN INDIA SPEAK OUT AGAINST ANTI-CONVERSION LAWS

RADIO MINISTRY IN INDONESIA HELPS CHURCHES EXPAND

SCHOLARS: MUSLIM ‘END-TIMES’ BELIEFS FUEL MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT

Today’s Top Stories:

MINSK CHURCH IN OLD COWSHED ORDERED TO SELL AT LOW PRICE

A church in Minsk, Belarus, may be forced to sell the disused cowshed it uses as a meeting place due to a court order requiring the sale as early as mid-August. The 1,000-member New Life Church has been caught in a circular argument of bureaucratic red tape where different government offices are each contradicting the other as to how the church is violating any laws or building ordinances. In the latest hearing, no evidence justifying the court order was presented. The church’s lawyer, Sergei Lukanin, said there is only one more chance to appeal the ruling, and it will likely be rejected as well. The court has ordered the cowshed be sold for the equivalent of US$17,497, a sum estimated to be 35 times lower than the building’s true value. Before acquiring the cowshed, the church was denied permission to meet in all public facilities large enough for the church. (Forum 18 News Service)

BOMBING, FUEL SHORTAGES DISRUPT CHRISTIAN SATELLITE TV MINISTRY

Bombing in Lebanon is threatening the operations of the SAT-7 Christian satellite television network, which broadcasts Arabic programming around the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Europe from studios in Beirut. Several programs were canceled last week, but hope remains that the ministry can reopen this week. As yet no staff members have been injured in the bombings, but damaged roads and the shortage of fuel are preventing staff members from reaching their workplace. SAT-7 USA Executive Director Debbie Brink said, “We urge all Christians in America to pray that God will protect our staff and studio in the Middle East and that He will use this terrible situation to cause more people in the region to seek Him.” (Mission Network News/Assist News Service)

CHRISTIANS IN INDIA SPEAK OUT AGAINST ANTI-CONVERSION LAWS

Christians in India have reacted strongly in protest of new anti-conversion legislation passed by lawmakers in central India’s Chattisgarh state. The law requires official approval of any religious conversion a month in advance with paperwork from both local officials and the priest doing the ceremony. Officials reserve the right to simply deny the request for conversion. Similar laws are pending in other Indian states. Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian Congress, has voiced her party’s strong opposition to any such anti-conversion laws. Chattisgarh Christian Forum General Secretary Arun Pannalal voiced his dissatisfaction and said, “We will also go to the highest court if necessary to challenge this draconian law.” Outspoken author Rajendra Sayal called the bill “part of the larger fascist agenda of the right-wing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) which considers Muslims, Christians and communists to be the biggest enemy of the Hindu state.” India has struggled with the emotionally charged issue of conversion since before attaining independence in 1947. (WorldWide Religious News/Assist News Service)

* Radio programs in 17 languages air to India from HCJB World Radio-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra. The programs are produced at the ministry’s studios in New Delhi, India.

RADIO MINISTRY IN INDONESIA HELPS CHURCHES EXPAND

While Indonesia is still reeling from the potent natural disasters that have rocked this island nation in the last few years, Christian radio broadcasts continue to share Christ’s hope. Words of Hope is broadcasting nightly programs in the languages of Macasar and Bugis, 30 minutes in each language seven nights a week. Far East Broadcasting Co. airs the programs via shortwave, but a local AM station is also carrying the programs. “[The AM]

has really added to the response,” said Lee DeYoung, Words of Hope’s vice president for broadcasting. “Pastors have told us that the broadcasts are bearing fruit and that they are proving to be a help to them in building their churches.” Indonesian laws prevent churches from legal registration until 75 families sign their names on registration certificates. Until that time, meeting locations must rotate weekly. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with local partners to establish more than 14 local Christian radio stations across Indonesia since 2004. Broadcasts from HCJB World Radio-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra also encourage listeners nationwide. In addition, HCJB World Radio has helped with relief efforts since the Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake/tsunami and subsequent quakes that devastated parts of Indonesia.

SCHOLARS: MUSLIM ‘END-TIMES’ BELIEFS FUEL MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT

Middle East experts say that Muslim beliefs about the “end times” are fueling the conflicts in the region. Scholar William Wagner, a professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, says, “Both Islam and Christianity have a very well-defined eschatology, or period of the last days. Both of them cannot be correct.” A majority of Muslims believe the “12th Iman” or Mahdi, an Islamic messianic figure, was placed in hiding until the day of judgment. There is much dissent among Muslim factions as to who this savior figure will be and where and when he will return. Some factions even believe this Mahdi may be Jesus. However, almost all Muslims agree that in order for this day to arrive, Israel must be destroyed. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been cited by various news sources as not only believing in the eventual return of the Mahdi, but that the return is near and that it is the responsibility of the Iranian government to prepare the country for his return. To this end, Ahmadinejad has vowed to rid Iran of Christianity and all other offensive non-Islamic influences and practices. Persecution against Christians has increased under his direction. (Baptist Press/Assist News Service)