WASHINGTON (RNS) — The first handwritten copy of the New International Version Bible sold on eBay for more than $15,000. Zondervan’s handwritten Bible Across America project marked the 30th anniversary of the popular New International Version translation. The Christian publisher…
Women gather to pray, fast for public schools
Moms In Touch International is celebrating its 25th year of encouraging moms to pray for children and schools. What began as one mother’s heart-cry as her children went to public junior high school has expanded to include an estimated 175,000…
As scandal-plagued pastor returns, questions linger about ‘restoration’
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (RNS) — After disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard decided to start holding prayer meetings at his Colorado home, advisers and observers, perhaps not surprisingly, reacted with disappointment. But the fact he’s chosen to host the meetings within…
FAITH DIGEST
‘No more Nazi analogies,’ religious leaders urge. Religious leaders are calling on their colleagues and politicians to keep comparisons to Nazism and the Holocaust out of American public policy debates. The Interfaith Alliance responded to a recent onslaught of references…
Zondervan pulls kung fu book; Is it ‘Rickshaw Rally’ revisited?
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Evangelical publisher Zondervan has pulled a leadership book featuring a kung fu theme after Asian-American Christian leaders led an online protest against its imagery. The book, Deadly Viper Character Assassins: A Kung Fu Survival Guide for Life…
Conscience clauses not just about abortion anymore
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Faced with a request to give an unmarried female patient a prescription for birth control pills, Michele Phillips looked to her conscience for the answer. “I’m not going to give any kind of medication I see as…
Musicians and VeggieTales crew collect gift-filled boxes for children
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Christian recording artists teamed up with talking vegetables to collect 8 million gift-filled shoeboxes for children in more than 100 countries. Since its inception in 1993, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, has sought to…
RIGHT OR WRONG?: Legal vs. ethical
A co-worker insists that just because a workplace guideline is legal does not guarantee it is ethical. I maintain policies are neither legal nor ethical but should be understood as both-and. What do you think? In an ideal world, policies…
Christian students offer liquor-free tailgate parties on Alabama campus
AUBURN, Ala. (RNS) — Setting up on the grassy area outside their dorm, grilling burgers and distributing drinks, the young men known as College Kids Tailgate are like scores of other Auburn students on game day — full of good…
OUT LOUD
“One of the most amazing surprises of the presidency was the fact that people’s prayers affected me.” Former President George W. Bush The former president was quoted by the Washington Post. (RNS) “As Christians, we are asked to believe some…
German court rules against Sunday shopping, cites ‘day of rest’
BERLIN (RNS) — Constitutional provisions that declare Sunday a day of rest mean German merchants will have to significantly rein in the number of days they are open for business, Germany’s highest court ruled Dec. 1. The ruling was prompted…
SECOND OPINION: Is the Emerging Church threat or ally?
The tsunami of change that struck the Western world in the 20th century permanently altered the cultural landscape. The Emerging Church (EC) addresses this postmodern context. Most Baptists will have to jettison some modernist baggage to stay afloat in the…