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• AT LEAST 45 CHRISTIANS KILLED IN NIGERIA
• SURVEY REVEALS HOW PORNOGRAPHY IS POISONING CHRISTIAN HOMES
• HOW PERSISTENCE AGAINST THE ODDS OVERTURNED SEX WEEK AT YALE UNIVERSITY
• INCOMING SPANISH PRIME MINISTER TO REPEAL ANTI-FAMILY LEGISLATION OF PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT
• COMPANY HALTS WORLD’S FIRST TRIAL OF USING EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS
• TWICE ABANDONED BABY IS ANSWER TO COUPLE’S PRAYER

AT LEAST 45 CHRISTIANS KILLED IN NIGERIA

Fulani Muslim herdsmen along with Muslim soldiers have killed at least 45 ethnic Berom Christians in Plateau state in the past week, Christians in this northern-central Nigerian town said. Smaller attacks beginning on November 20, reportedly over allegations by Fulani Muslims of cattle theft preceded an attack on a Barkin Ladi church on November 23 that killed four Christians, and an assault the next day left 35 Christians dead in Barkin Ladi and nearby Kwok village, according to area Christian leaders. Church attendance was decimated last Sunday as thousands of Christians left the area.

“Christians are fleeing the town because we have no guns to fight back,”said one woman trying to leave Barkin Ladi. “Muslims have guns, and they have their soldiers fighting for them, so we have no choice but to leave town.” Almost all churches in the town cancelled or held reduced worship services on Sunday (November 27), the first after the crisis was contained. Plateau state has been long hit by ethnic property conflicts fuelled by anti-Christian sentiment. In March 2010 ethnic Berom Christians, who are predominantly farmers, suffered attacks from Fulani nomads who graze their cattle on the Beroms’ land, resulting in hundreds of deaths.

In the attack on Thursday (November 24), the Fulani Muslims were shouting”Allahu Akbar [God is great]. At about 9 a.m. that morning, the Muslims’call to prayer was made at the Izala mosque. Shortly after that, hundreds of armed Muslims invaded the town from all directions, attacking and killing Christians and burning their properties. An attack on a Church of Christ congregation in the Sabon Layi area of Barkin Ladi the previous night resulted in a further four Christians being killed. Muslims soldiers reportedly took sides with their fellow Muslims and were shooting and killing Christians. Whilst soldiers guarded mosques in the town, none were sent to watch over churches.

Emmanuel Kyesmen, secretary of one of the affected congregations, said the government has been slow to address security concerns.”One of the leaders of the Muslim community in Barkin Ladi, is responsible for arming Muslims to attack Christians, and whilst this has been brought to the attention of security agencies, no one seems to take the necessary steps to check him,” Kyesmen said. The Barkin Ladi church, whose regular worship service usually attracts about 270 people, was a ghost of itself on Sunday,with only 42 members able to muster the courage to show up. The service lasted no more than 15 minutes, as they only prayed and left.

“As a church, we have become targets of attacks,” Kyesmen said. “Our pastors and members are being killed by Muslims, while thousands of others have become refugees in their fatherland. There is the urgent need for the Nigerian government to find a lasting solution to this problem.” Religious conflict has been growing in Plateau state since 2006, he said, with numerous investigating committees instituted to investigate and report on the immediate and deeper causes, he said. “But the surprising thing is that none of these reports has been implemented, and no individual has been made to face the wrath of the law,” Kyesmen said.

Most Christians who live in Muslim areas have to get soldiers to accompany them before they get their few belongings to leave the town. They have to pay the soldiers at least US$12 to escort them to their houses to get a few belongings before moving out of the town. Muslims have been moving into the farms belonging to Christians and are destroying crops. “This is to chase us out of the town and make us homeless, and at the same time starve us todeath, since we now have no food to eat,” one Christian said. Several people fleeing the town asked, “When will the killing of Christians in Nigeria stop?”

Source: Compass Direct News

SURVEY REVEALS HOW PORNOGRAPHY IS POISONING CHRISTIAN HOMES

Most pastors believe pornography has adversely impacted the lives of their church members, but almost half cannot estimate what percentage of their congregation views porn. That is the finding of a recent survey by LifeWay Research of 1,000 American Protestant pastors. When presented with the statement, “Pornography has adversely affected the lives of our church members,” 69% of pastors surveyed agree. That includes 42% who strongly agree and 27% who somewhat agree. Nine % somewhat disagree and 8% strongly disagree. Fourteen per cent do not know or preferred not to answer.

“Most pastors know pornography’s poisonous effects,” LifeWay Research President Ed Stetzer said. “They’ve seen it destroy marriages, wreck lives and warp America’s moral compass.” When asked to estimate the percentage of men in their congregations who view pornography on a weekly basis, 43% are unable to respond. Of those able and willing to estimate, a majority (62%) say less than 10%, 24% say 10-24%, 10% say 25-49% and 4% say 50% or more.The results are similar when pastors are asked about the women in their churches. Forty-four per cent are unable to estimate the percentage of males in their congregations who view pornography on a weekly basis.

Of those who are able, 87% say less than 10%. Ten per cent say 10-24, and 3%say 25-49%. Zero per cent say 50% or more. Statistics from other studies, however, suggest that pastors may under estimate pornography’s effect on their congregants. According to the Education Database Online, 43% of people who use the Internet visit pornographic websites. Some 40 million Americans are regular visitors to porn sites, with pornographic downloads representing 35% of all Internet downloads. Of the 40 million regular visitors, 33% are women. A full 70% of men age 18-24 visit porn sites monthly.

“Though pastors know generally that pornography is harmful, many may not realize that it is coming into the homes of their members,” Stetzer said.”Large numbers of church attendees are included in the nearly half of all Internet users who visit porn sites. We were surprised that so many were unable to estimate considering how pervasive pornography is inside the church. If a third think that less than 10% of the men are looking at porn and almost a half aren’t sure, we may very well have a lack of awareness of porn’s presence. Studies show that committed Christians engage pornography less, but the issue is still a big one that the church must face.”

“The church has been given all that is needed to address sexuality from a biblical perspective,” Stetzer recently wrote in a blog at EdStetzer.com, where he serialized an article he wrote for the Assemblies of God Enrichment Journal. In that series, called “pornification,” Stetzer called for more awareness and clear biblical teaching on the issue. “Scripture clearly teaches God’s plan for sex. Yet we stumble awkwardly past the issues. If the church refuses to address the issues not only do we become irrelevant, but we leave the conversation open to others who feel more free to do so.”

Source: Charisma News

HOW PERSISTENCE AGAINST THE ODDS OVERTURNED SEX WEEK AT YALE UNIVERSITY

According to research, by the time American girls graduate from college,   the vast majority will have had sex without the benefit of marriage.   Many will be engaged in high-risk sexual behaviours, including having multiple partners and sex under the influence of drugs or alcohol. This may be shocking, but sadly it’s no surprise, given the sexual culture on many campuses. Take, for example, Yale University. For the past several years, this elite Ivy League institution has supported a student-initiated event called Sex Week at Yale, which is described as “a campus-wide interdisciplinary sex education program.

“This is not Sex Ed 101. The Yale Dean of Student Affairs has e-mailed students about the wonders of “glorious consensual sex.” The university itself says that Sex Week at Yale, scheduled for next February, “has prominently featured titillating displays, ‘adult’ film stars, and commercial sponsors of such material.” So if that’s how the grown-ups at Yale approach human sexuality, can you imagine how the students feel? Well, not altogether. A group of brave young people at Yale is bucking the sexual trend. Calling themselves Undergraduates for a Better Yale College, they’re cleaning up the campus.

Yale’s sexual culture has been dysfunctional, to say the least. Rape, harassment, the objectification of women, and simple disrespect have caused even The Yale Daily News to admit that “the project of reforming Yale’s sexual culture is a formidable one.” But Undergraduates for a Better Yale College is challenging the kind of thinking and world view that allowed Yale’s sexual culture to go so badly off the rails.”We believe,” they say, “that the heart of the problem is . a paradoxical attitude that both trivializes sex and is obsessed with it.” They add, “It is obsessive – and pathetic – to be as consumed with sexual curiosity as our campus so frequently is.”

Strong words, but they are also backing them up. Opposing Sex Week at Yale, these students set up a website,  betteryale.org, placed advertisements in the alumni magazine and in the student newspaper, and challenged campus officials. And that’s not all. They are organizing fun, wholesome and healthy alternatives – such as True Love Week, Great Date Night, and Better Yale dances. And, they are winning! Under pressure from Undergraduates for a Better Yale College and other groups, the Yale administration has backed down, removing its support for the “sex week” and kicking it off campus. That’s amazing! It is a small victory but small victories add up!

While nobody will be surprised if the university allows it back in some restructured form, this cultural skirmish shows what can happen if advocates for moral standards break the spiral of silence and realize that they can accomplish great things.   It is but a small victory, but small victories add up. Remember, Yale University is one of the most influential institutions in America. If it can happen at Yale, it can happen anywhere.

Source: Chuck Colson, Radio Commentator and Author

INCOMING SPANISH PRIME MINISTER TO REPEAL ANTI-FAMILY LEGISLATION OF PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT

Spain’s Popular Party won an historic conservative victory in the recent Spanish election giving the ruling Socialists their worst defeat in 30years.   While acknowledging that the dismal state of Spain’s economy was a factor in the election, World Congress of Families Managing Director Larry Jacobs noted the significant impact of family issues. “Over the past 8 years of socialist rule, the previous government targeted Spanish family and moral virtues – liberalizing and promoting divorce, instituting same-sex marriage and adoption, creating easy access to abortion, lowering the age of consent, eliminating parent’s rights, and mandating pro-homosexual education in the schools.”

This led to massive demonstrations earlier this year when more than 150,000 people marched through the streets of Madrid to protest the then Government’s abortion law, which allows abortion on demand up to the 14th week of gestation, up to 22 weeks in cases of rape, foetal abnormality or risk to the mother’s health, and up until the moment of birth if the unborn child has a serious or incurable illness. In an interview prior to the election Spain’s incoming Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, promised his Party would repeal the new law and return to the previous law, which allowed abortion only in cases of rape, foetal deformity and danger to the mother’shealth, if it won the election.

Rajoy also pledged repeal of Spain’s controversial “Education for Citizenship and Human Rights Program” which indoctrinates students in the world view of homosexual activists. Jacobs added, “We hope the return of Spain to more family friendly policies will spread to other Western European nations. Their economic woes are rooted in anti-family policies, resulting in some of the lowest birth rates in history. World Congress of Families VI to be held in Madrid next year will map strategies for a renaissance of the natural family and help educate the new leaders in Spain and throughout the world.”

Source: World Congress of Families

COMPANY HALTS WORLD’S FIRST TRIAL OF USING EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS

Biotech company Geron has shelved the world’s first trial of embryonic stem cell treatment. The company reportedly blamed high costs, red tape, and “uncertain economic conditions” as reasons why they pulled out. Some however are questioning if the reason the company went belly up is because they found they were unable to produce the “miracles” they had promised from the use of embryonic stem cells. Indeed, Stephen Kelsey, Geron’s chief medical officer, was quoted as saying that so far patients had shown neither significant side effects nor any improvement in their condition from the use of these cells.

Pro-life leaders describe the news as “surprising” and a confirmation of long-held doubts about the value of embryonic stem cells. Pro-life ethicist Wesley J. Smith called the news involving Geron “huge.” Mailee Smith, an attorney with the pro-life Americans United for Life, wrote at the Americans United for Life website: “Clearly, investors don’t want to put money into research that will not pay off. We can hope it is the bell toll for unethical and unproductive embryo stem cell research. But,” she adds, “It will not have a devastating impact on the field of ‘stem cell research’ as a whole.”

Source: The Daily Mail

TWICE ABANDONED BABY IS ANSWER TO COUPLE’S PRAYER

In March last year a baby named Emma Grace was born prematurely in Miami with a serious heart condition requiring surgery. The birth mother, a young drug user, gave Emma up for adoption. Then, the adoptive mother backed out of the adoption at the last moment when she discovered Emma’s health condition and realized she couldn’t afford to give the baby the care she needed. Enter cardiac surgery nurse Daniel Monroe and his devout Christian wife Elizabeth. For years, they had tried to have children, with Elizabeth longing for a daughter. On her last birthday, before Emma was ever born, Elizabeth confessed to having had a “hissy fit” with her Maker.

“God, I want you to give me my baby girl,” she insisted. Three months later, Daniel called from work to tell her about the orphan baby. Elizabeth was certain her prayers had been answered. Since then, there have been other health issues and complications with Emma Grace, but Daniel and Elizabeth are undeterred from becoming her adoptive parents. “We are 100% committed to this child,” said Daniel.     “I truly believe that God has put her in our path because we can make a huge difference in her life,” added Elizabeth. “She had a very rough start. I want her to be so showered with love that she doesn’t think twice that somebody gave her up and somebody said: No, not for me.”

Source: Fox News

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