FORMER APARTHEID POLICE MINISTER REPENTS AND APOLOGISES TO BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS

Adriaan Vlok, the former apartheid regime’s law and order police minister, recently went to church in Soweto and during the service washed the feet of Reverend Frank Chikane, a person he had sought to kill during the years of struggle in South Africa. The pair took turns to describe Vlok’s apology as a miracle. It emerged that it took Vlok two months to convince Chikane to meet him and hear his apology. This is how Vlok described their first encounter on August 3: “I was so grateful, I cried. There were tears in his eyes too. I looked into his eyes and I saw love. Then he prayed for me.” Speaking at the church, Vlok – described by some sources as “one of the most evil men that apartheid created” – called Chikane’s congregation his “brothers and sisters”. “I feel your pain,” he said. “I am sorry for what you had to suffer. We were fighting here in Soweto. It was a war. But today we’re coming here to pray.” Vlok admitted that he used to “hate your pastor (Chikane)”. “We were fighting each other with guns, hand grenades and poison,” Vlok said. “I thank God for letting me not succeed in killing you.” Vlok described his wife’s suicide in 1994 as the defining point in his life. “It took me 12 years, after the government changed, to come to this point. I had to rid myself of my own pride, my egotism and selfishness,” he said. “I don’t represent anyone else because I stand before the Lord alone.” Vlok sat in the front row in the packed church next to Chikane’s wife. At one point he stood and clapped along to a gospel song. He also joked when being introduced, saying: “You can’t give a microphone to an old politician and expect him to speak for only a minute. It’s not possible.” Chikane maintained that the apology was sincere and that more were likely to follow. “The fact that Mr Vlok has come to make a confession to me and is here with us today is a miracle,” he said. “Some people have told me it’s profoundly historical.” He said that, despite being angry, people should be prepared to “pick ourselves up and move on”. “We must not let the past we’ve defeated dictate our future.” Source: Pretoria News

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ADULT STEM CELLS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS SAY SCIENTISTS

The controversy over whether or not to use aborted embryos’ stem cells for research purposes has raged for years now. Whilst that has been going on the testing of adult stem cells in human trials has been continuing with surprising results. The argument for using embryonic stem cells has been that they are more versatile in growth. However there has yet to be any successful research done with the cells. That is why scientists have decided they need more cells to pursue further research instead of finding an alternative. That alternative may be adult stem cells. In several actual cases patients have received either their own cells or cells from a compatible donor, and are making incredible progress. No human tests have been done with embryonic cells, and very little convincing material has come from test rats either. In one amazing story, Ryan Schneider, born in 1992, was finally diagnosed with cerebral palsy after years of silent agony. He couldn’t speak, and was extremely underweight due to his frustrations. Undergoing therapy using his cells, he finally said his first sentence. He has progressed, and now can operate at the same level as other children his age. In other cases, paralysed patients have begun to regain their body through similar therapy. The evidence in using adult stem cells for repair of the human body is becoming more and more prevalent with each new case. Source: Breaking Christian News

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HINDU EXTREMISTS INTENSIFY PERSECUTION IN INDIA

The president of Gospel for Asia Dr K.P.Yohannan says it appears that Hindu militants have declared an all-out war against Christians throughout India. Recently across that country, Christians have been falsely accused of crimes, arrested, and beaten — all for witnessing to Hindus. The persecution and violence being waged against India’s Christians is not being carried out or sanctioned by all Hindus but is being perpetrated by “extremists in the Hindu religion, like we have in any religion,” Yohannan points out. “They are the ones who are taking the lead like the Taliban,” he says. “But it is not getting easier,” the ministry leader continues. “I tell my brothers and sisters, let’s not be looking for easy times in the days to come, because persecution is definitely on the increase, and it is in the midst of persecution and suffering that we are going to see the kingdom’s work done.” Yohannan notes, Christians in India are standing strong, and the increased persecution has only increased the effectiveness of the church’s witness across the country. “We have more people coming to Christ now,” he says, “especially in places where the worst persecution is taking place.” As the persecution against followers of Christ intensifies in India, Yohannan urges prayer. He asks believers in the free world to pray for Christians facing violence and intimidation from Hindu extremists in India and for believers facing persecution throughout the world.

Source: Agape Press

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SEVEN OUT OF TEN AMERICANS MAKE A DECISION TO FOLLOW JESUS BUT FEW SHOW COMMITMENT

A recent survey by George Barna and The Barna Group, revealed some interesting characteristics among Americans who say they are Christians. While 72 percent claim to have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, a commitment to the church and community seems much more elusive. According to Barna’s findings: Fewer than one out of every five adults firmly believes that a congregational church is a critical element in their spiritual growth and just as few strongly contend that participation in some type of community of faith is required for them to achieve their full potential. When it came to the question of improving the world and making others’ lives better, a minority of 44 percent strongly affirmed that commitment. However, among religious groups, those categorized as “Revolutionaries” (those who have a very strong sense of purpose for their life, pray and read the Bible regularly and who consider their faith to be very important) led at 59 percent, in a commitment to “personally make the world and other people’s lives better.” By comparison, atheists and agnostics showed the least interest in that commitment, at 27 percent of those surveyed. Fifty-four percent of Americans said they are “committed to having a deeper connection with God” and that they would “do whatever it takes to get and maintain that deeper relationship.” Out of that number, African Americans led the way with 8 out of every 10 black adults saying they were committed to cultivating a closer relationship with God. George Barna commented on the statistics saying, “Americans are willing to expend some energy in religious activities such as attending church and reading the Bible, and they are willing to throw some money in the offering basket. Because of such activities, they convince themselves that they are people of genuine faith. But when it comes time to truly establishing their priorities and making a tangible commitment to knowing and loving God, and to allowing Him to change their character and lifestyle, most people stop short. We want to be ‘spiritual’ and we want to have God’s favour, but we’re not sure we want Him taking control of our lives and messing with the image and outcomes we’ve worked so hard to produce.” “Even though the Bible is unambiguous about the importance of experiencing God through a shared faith journey, and Jesus’ example leaves no room for doubt about the significance of involvement in a faith community, Americans remain unconvinced of the necessity of the collective faith experience. Developing a biblical understanding of the pre-eminence of community life will take intentional leadership, strategic action and time.” Source: Barna Research

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WOMEN CITE EXPERIENCE TO SUPPORT ABORTION BAN

Women who have had abortions are now fighting to outlaw the practice and as their numbers grow so does their influence. “The women are coming forward. They’re feeling like there’s hope,” said Leslee Unruh, president of the Abstinence Clearinghouse and a key player in the approval of new legislation in South Dakota outlawing abortion. 99 percent of almost 2000 women surveyed who had an abortion said their experience had caused them pain, emotional damage and health problems. Many say their side of the story has been ignored in the broader abortion debate until recently. “It’s not a popular voice … but it’s one that needs to get out,” said Karen Bodle. Mrs. Bodle had an abortion at age 18 and for years afterward, “suffered from chronic depression, feelings of shame and worthlessness” as well as miscarriages and troubled pregnancies. “I was in denial over the truth of abortion for over 20 years,” said Mrs. Bodle, who feels she was “lied to and deceived” when she was told that the foetus wasn’t a baby and that the abortion would allow her to fully live her life. “I believe that information still is denied to women,” she said. The new abortion law is being aggressively challenged — opponents are collecting signatures to allow citizens to vote to overturn it in a November referendum. They say it endangers women’s health and violates their right to make private medical decisions. Mrs. Unruh, who also had an abortion that effected her negatively, said women who lobbied state lawmakers in support of the ban are trying to combat the ballot effort by taking a bus across South Dakota to tell their abortion stories. “It’s very new for these women to stand up,” Mrs. Unruh said. The women who support banning abortion say they know not all women share their negative experiences. But Cynthia Collins, who had her first abortion as a 19-year-old and then took a “downward spiral,” said the nation has “only heard one side” of the debate. “We were sold a lie that abortion is a good thing, and when we find out that it’s not, we’re told to be quiet,” said the Louisiana resident, who also told her story to the task force. That mentality is finally starting to change, she said, and “as those voices are heard, then we’re going to see the true picture.” Source: The Washington Times

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GLOBAL WARMING A NATURAL CYCLE SAYS NEW STUDY

Global warming may not be as dramatic as some have predicted, according to Duke University scientists who have announced that “the magnitude of future global warming will likely fall well short of current highest predictions.” Reportedly supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, the Duke researchers said that while some studies predicted that the Earth’s temperature could rise as much as 16 degrees in this century, their estimates show that the chances that the planet’s temperature will rise even by 11 degrees is only 5 percent, which falls in line with previous, less-alarming predictions that meteorologists made almost three decades ago. With all the politicizing, the frenetic hand-wringing and often outrageous doomsday predictions swirling around human existence destroying the planet, the Duke research, however, “found substantial ups and downs in the Earth’s temperature before modern times, countering other studies that confine noticeable temperature increases to the industrialized era. Marked climate change in other centuries resulted from volcanic eruptions and other influences said the Duke findings. Although her study found that the Earth is, indeed, warming, Gabriele Hegerl of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, discounts dire predictions of skyrocketing temperatures. The report’s findings, which will be published in the journal Nature, details the teams conclusions based on “thermometer readings over the past century, along with ‘ancient climate records,’ including tree-ring studies and ice-core samples that revealed hot and cold spells and airborne particulates over a 700-year period. In addition, they created 1,000 computer-based weather simulations for the past 1,000 years.” “Ancient and modern evidence suggest limits to future global warming”, the study concluded.

Source: The Washington Times

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September 2006