Harvest Crusade 2007 delivers the message

(Harvest)

Saturday night was “Amplify” night at the Harvest Crusade at Angels Stadium, meaning worship music geared to the young at loud decibels. I was there when P.O.D. screamed “We are, we are…the youth of the nation” to a crowd of 42,000. Yes, hip-hop and Christian lyrics are here to stay….for awhile anyways.

I was also there, when Greg Laurie urged people to commit to Jesus…and more than 4,000 young and old did Saturday, packing into the outfield grass.

Laurie’s message was simple, direct and to the point…come to Jesus!

- Alexander, TheScroogeReport.com

Over 102,000 Pack Angel Stadium for ‘Born-Again’ Experience

By LILLIAN KWON
The Christian Post

An estimated 102,000 people attended the 18th annual Southern California Harvest Crusade in Anaheim, Calif., over the weekend while nearly 33,000 more showed up via live webcast.

It’s become an annual tradition for some “So Cal” families as the evangelistic crusade at Anaheim’s Angel Stadium is one of the only crusades that has run for 18 years. And every year thousands return for the hottest Christian bands and up-to-date messages from evangelist Greg Laurie, who reminds them of the brevity of life.

“What are you doing with your life?” Laurie asked the large crowd Saturday night from the center of the baseball field. “What are you living for? What’s going to happen to you when you die?”

Read Full Story

Presidential Campaigning ‘God Talk’ Misses the Point

Voter beware! Take a look at the best news story (The Christian Post below) I’ve seen so far on presidential candidates “God Talk”…and might I add, take a critical look at that “Feel-good Talk” as well. Most candidates will try and make you feel good at all costs…even if it means dishing it out by the shovel fulls!

-Alexander, TheScroogeReport.com

Democrat presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, speaks to supporters during a rally prior to a private fund raising event Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007, in Park City, Utah. (AP)

Presidential ‘God Talk’ Not Enough, Says Evangelical Leader
It’s the Issues That Matters
By MICHELLE VU
The Christian Post

WASHINGTON – Nearly all Americans would agree that faith is playing a prominent role in the current presidential race. Yet an evangelical leader contends that Christians should be more concerned about where the candidates stand on issues, than the amount of “God Talk” from each presidential hopeful.

“I appreciate that the candidates are taking a risk when they talk about their faith,” said Prison Fellowship Ministries President Mark Earley in a commentary last week.

“The problem is that all of this ‘God Talk’ misses the point: what Christians want – or should want – is a candidate who shares their moral and culture concerns, not just their religious vocabulary.”

Talks about God and personal testimonies of faith have been a bipartisan affair at a number of debates and forums so far this year.

“All the Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls have been grilled on their religious beliefs,” The Associated Press recently pointed out. “Most seem eager to talk publicly about their faith as they actively court religious voters.”

Democratic candidates, who previously shied away from religious talk, have been sharing openly about the importance of their Christian faith to woo evangelicals – voters who have been more often associated with the GOP not because of political allegiance but because of shared values.

Individuals such as former presidential candidate and current Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean has especially urged his party’s contenders to pay particular attention to a new generation of evangelical voters who care about faith but are also concerned about social issues such as poverty, global warming and immigration reform.

Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) have both reportedly hired strategists to reach religious voters, according to AP.

But PFM’s Earley argues that “God Talk” is not enough.

He pointed out that while the candidates increasingly talk about God to court Christian voters, they are also appealing to pro-abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood.

Top tier candidates such as Clinton, Obama and current Republican frontrunner former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani are all pro-abortion and support gay rights.

“It’s difficult to imagine positions more at odds with the motivations of the very evangelical voters they’re trying to court,” commented Earley. “Protecting the lives of unborn children has been the cornerstone of politically active Christians for the past thirty years.”

Moreover, the abortion issue is important to the general American public. Overall about 40 percent of all registered voters said abortion is very important in their vote for president, according to a recent poll by Pew Research Center.

Earley concluded: “It’s hard to know which is worse: that candidates think that talking about religion will make evangelical Christians forget why they care about politics – or that they might be right.”

L.A. Times: stretching to find the good in public school Bible classes

Although factual, this Los Angeles Times story has a negative tone to the Bible-in-public-schools debate by certainly not embracing the Bible as literature programs. The article is very different than the often quoted and emailed timeline about the downward spiraling of morals and indicators since the Bible was pulled from schools in the 60’s. But that is the challenge in proclaiming the Good News to an unbelieving world.

Does the Bible have a place in public schools? I would say it does have a place over many things already in the school system….by a longshot!

- Alexander, TheScroogeReport.com

Does the Bible have a place in public schools?
New legal mandates and the rise of two national curricula are driving a surge in the number of classes — and the debate over how they’re taught.

By SEEMA MEHTA
Los Angeles Times

It looks like a scene out of Sunday school — students in a southern Orange County classroom huddle over Bibles as teacher Ryan Cox guides them in analyzing the relationship between God and Satan.

“If God is supposedly omnipotent, if he exists and is all-powerful, why let the serpent in the Garden” of Eden? Cox asks. “Why let him hurt Job? Why let him tempt Jesus?”

But this lesson, at Aliso Niguel High School in Aliso Viejo, is one of the growing number of Bible classes being taught in public schools across the nation.

There is broad agreement across the social, political and religious spectrum, and most important the Supreme Court, that the Bible can be taught in public schools and that knowledge of the Bible is vital to students’ understanding of literature and art, including “Moby-Dick,” Michelangelo and “The Matrix.”

But battles are raging in statehouses, schools and courtrooms over how to teach but not to preach.

Read Full Story