Lodi: Facebook Users Rally For God

“We hope that pastors from all over California will bring their church buses, their people to simply pray in Jesus’ name.” – Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt.

Jamie Soriano of FOX40 News reports:

LODI – It’s a tradition the Lodi City Council has had for decades. It starts each meeting with a prayer which often calls on Jesus.

“This whole issue has taken on a life of its own,” said Lodi Mayor Larry Hansen.

Groups advocating the separation of church and state are calling on the city council to ban prayer from its meetings. Now that debate has hit the internet on sites like Facebook.

“Facebook has been very helpful because it attracts the young people. We want young people who are full of energy who love Jesus,” said Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt of Colorado Springs. He’s organizing a rally ahead of next week’s council meeting and is spreading the word via Facebook. …more

Lawsuit: H.S. coach fired by Muslim principal for student conversion

A former high school wrestling coach filed a federal lawsuit Monday against a Dearborn, Mich., high school and its Muslim principal a year after being fired.

Gerald Marszalek, who coached wrestling for 35 years, claims his contract with Fordson High School was terminated because of his association with a Christian volunteer coach, who the principal accused of converting a Muslim student to Christianity.

“We are getting a glimpse of what happens when Muslims who refuse to accept American values and principles gain political power in an American community,” said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of Thomas More Law Center, which filed the lawsuit on the former coach’s behalf.

The law firm is suing for violation of constitutional rights to free speech and exercise of religion, and Michigan laws against discrimination. Marszalek is seeking his back pay, injunctive and declaratory relief, damages, and to be reinstated as coach of the wrestling team.

Conflict arose more than three years ago when Marszalek’s volunteer assistant, Trey Hancock, held a summer wrestling camp where a Muslim camper converted.

According to Thomas More Law Center, Fordson High School principal Imad Fadlallah punched the student who converted and told him he had disgraced his family.

Fadlallah ordered Marszalek to ban his assistant from the school and all wrestling events.

Hancock, a pastor of the Dearborn Assembly of God, said last year that he never mixed religion with sports.

But complying with the school, he stopped his work as an assistant.

Hancock, however, had a son on the wrestling team and attended the wrestling meets to support his son. A Muslim parent complained to the principal that the coach didn’t do enough to keep Hancock away from the students, Marszalek explained to FoxNews.com last year.

After the wrestling season ended, the school did not allow Marszalek, also a Christian, to reapply to his coaching position.

“Failure to renew coach Marszalek’s contract had nothing to do with wrestling and everything to do with religion,” Thompson said.

The city of Dearborn has a large Muslim population. An estimated 30,000 of its 98,000 residents are Muslims, according to Thomas More Law Center.

By Nathan Black, Christian Post

Hindu radicals attack team of evangelical Christians

Gospel media team attacked in India’s Tamil Nadu state

TAMIL NADU, INDIA (ANS) — A Gospel media team was attacked by a group of Hindu radicals at Erode, a village in Tamil Nadu last Wednesday.

According to a news release on All India Christian Council’s (AICC) website, the team consisting of 10 members was badly harassed and then later taken forcibly to a temple nearby for further humiliation.

At the temple they were made to lie down in the hot sun and pay obeisance to the deity. AICC also reported that they were kicked all over their bodies for allegedly indulging in “conversion” activities in the area.

The Hindu radicals seized all the gospel literature from the team and set it on fire. The group also damaged their team vehicle, according to AICC.

A Christian who was passing by saw the incident and informed the police, according to the report. The police rushed to the spot and rescued them from further consequences. All the team members were provided first aid with the help of local doctors.

The website reported that the team members were then allowed to go. One of the team members had to be taken to hospital for treatment of injuries.

The team members have been working in this area for the last eight months.

The All India Christian Council has condemned the attack on the media team and sought action against the culprits.

By James Varghese, ASSIST News Service

‘California, Stand Up for Jesus’ rally set for Lodi

The Lodi City Council in Northern California is considering a vote to ban use of the name ‘Jesus’ from public prayers offered before city council meetings as the result of an atheist group’s lawsuit threat.

PRESS RELEASE

Lodi Mayor Larry D. Hansen fears a lawsuit by atheist groups if he doesn’t silence Christian prayers, and has requested to hear your public opinion. The clerk and city council members have scheduled a public debate (and possibly a vote) on Aug. 5.

Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt of The Pray in Jesus Name Project is the organizer of a prayer event/rally on the day of the public hearing.

The prayer rally is scheduled for outside on the Carnegie Forum steps at 6pm, Wednesday, 5 August 2009, before debate at 7 pm. Klingenschmitt will lead the rally with many California pastors. (Pastors please call “Chaps” right now at 719-360-5132.)

Pastor Everett Robinson of The Will Of God Christian Center will lead coordination efforts on the ground. (Bus coordinators and volunteers please call Pastor Robinson at 707-333-1282.)

Carnegie Forum is located at 305 W. Pine Street. Zip code: 95240

Take action nation-wide! Sign the online petition, receive email updates and alerts (optional): http://tinyurl.com/JesusPetitionLodi

“California, it’s time to take a stand for Jesus.” — Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt (“Chaps”)

Contact: Chaplain Klingenschmitt, 719-360-5132, chaplaingate@yahoo.com; Pastor Everett Robinson, 707-333-1282, ambassadorev@yahoo.com

Photo: Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt at White House.

Press release available on ChristianNewsWire.

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Cuba: Pastor receives 6-year prison sentence; home confiscated

Rights group says Cuban prosecutors tried to charge leader with ‘human trafficking’

CUBA (ANS) — A Cuban evangelical pastor has been sentenced to six years in prison despite reports that he was falsely charged due to his leadership role in the ‘Apostolic Reformation.’

Pastor Omar Gude Pérez’ home will also be confiscated as part of the sentence, according to a news release from the UK-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

Pastor Gude Pérez was initially detained on May 2, 2008 and was in prison awaiting a trial date for over a year, CSW reported. State prosecutors initially attempted to charge Pastor Gude Pérez with ‘Human Trafficking.’

The CSW report continues: “Although these charges were dropped in March 2009 after a court in Camaguey ruled there was no evidence, Pastor Gude Pérez was still not released from prison.”

In mid-April new charges of “Falsification of Documents” and “IIlicit Economic Activities” were filed. The prosecution’s petition also accused the pastor of ‘counter-revolutionary conduct and attitudes.’

Pastor Omar Gude Pérez’s wife, Kenia, has informed CSW that false documents and testimonies were presented in court.

“CSW has also received reliable information indicating that more than 20 other church leaders were temporarily arrested and threatened in the last two months. Some were detained just before Pastor Gude Perez’s court hearing in May, indicating an attempt by the authorities to prevent a show of support for the pastor at his hearing,” reported the human rights organization.

“There has been an increase in reported violations of religious liberty since Raul Castro took power in early 2008, and the heavy sentence handed to Pastor Gude Pérez follows a pattern of mounting state hostility towards religious groups. For example, for the past nine months Reverend Roberto Rodriguez, a denominational leader, based in Placetas, has also been subjected to ongoing legal proceedings on trumped up charges. Last week he received a fourth citation commanding him to present himself to the local courts.”

CSW states the legal harassment of Reverend Rodriguez and his family began after the Interdenominational Fellowship of Evangelical Pastors and Ministers in Cuba (Spanish acronym; CIMPEC) withdrew from the Cuban Council of Churches (CCC) in October while under Reverend Rodriguez’s leadership.

CSW further went on to explain that the ‘Apostolic Reformation’ group is comprised of independent self-governing non-denominational churches, and as it is outside of traditionally and officially recognized denominations, the fast-growing group is viewed with suspicion by the government.

Alexa Papadouris, CSW’s Advocacy Director said: “In light of the evidence given by CSW’s partners, we strongly condemn Pastor Omar Gude Pérez’s prison sentence and call on the Cuban Government to immediately investigate and review his case. We urge the Cuban authorities to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and remind them of the protections, in particular religious freedom, laid out in the that document.”

CSW specializes in promoting religious liberty and works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs.

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Theresa Malinowska, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0)78 2332 9663, email theresamalinowska(@)csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

Photo: Pastor Omar Gude Pérez. (CSW)

Article originally published by ASSIST News Service. Reported by Michael Ireland.