Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
In today's edition:
- Graham Heads to Japan for Crusade
- Converts in Turkey Charged under Speech Law
- Christian Arrested at Healing Festival in India
- A New Generation of Adults Bends Moral and Sexual Rules to Their Liking
Graham Heads to Japan for Crusade
Rev. Franklin Graham says his ministries present the same gospel everywhere, whether it's to Muslims in Pakistan or to Buddhists and Shintoists in Japan. AgapePress reports the evangelist is flying to Asia for a three-day crusade in Okinawa that starts Friday. He hopes it will attract U.S. military personnel as well as the island's Japanese residents. In Pakistan, Graham's Samaritans Purse ministry continues to provide relief in Muslim areas still recovering from last year's devastating earthquake. He says his ministry teams declare from the start that they are evangelical Christians and ask whether they can share their faith or at least respond to questions about Jesus. Graham says "God opens up the doors," and his teams have always been allowed in.
Converts in Turkey Charged under Speech Law
A Turkish prosecutor slapped criminal charges against two converts to Christianity earlier this month, accusing them of “insulting Turkishness,” inciting hatred against Islam and secretly compiling data on private citizens for a local Bible correspondence course, Compass Direct News reports. Hakan Tastan, 37, and Turan Topal, 46, joined the ranks of 97 other Turkish citizens hauled into court in the last 16 months over alleged violations of the country’s controversial Article 301 restricting freedom of speech. If convicted, the accused men could be sentenced from six months up to three years in prison. “It’s all lies,” Topal told Compass. “Someone is trying to make us look like a Christian tarikat [banned religious sect].”
Christian Arrested at Healing Festival in India
Police last Friday (October 27) arrested a 25-year-old believer for “causing communal disharmony” after Hindu extremists harassed him for selling Christian literature at a healing/evangelistic rally in the eastern state of Orissa. According to Compass Direct News, Baliguda Police showed up to arrest Amit Kumar Raul after a group of Hindu extremists harassed him at the booth where he was selling literature at the festival in Gudripadri village, near Udayagiri town, in Kandhamal District. The Hindu Jagaran Samukhya extremists found a book entitled Oh, You Hindu, Awake at Raul’s stall and began shouting and waving the book in the air. They cursed and repeatedly slapped Raul, and soon afterward a group from another Hindu extremist group, Sangh Parivar, brought police to the booth. Officers arrested Raul under the Indian Penal Code, section 153(A), for “causing communal disharmony.”
A New Generation of Adults Bends Moral and Sexual Rules to Their Liking
The Baby Boomer generation placed its unique stamp on the nation, including its application of morality. But how is the subsequent adult generation – the Baby Busters – reshaping the nation’s norms regarding morality and sexuality? How does their lifestyle compare to biblical standards? The latest update from The Barna Group examines the lifestyles and perspectives of adults who are in their twenties and thirties, and provides challenging insights about the imprint Busters are putting on morality. The project analyzed 16 different areas of moral and sexual behavior and found that Busters’ lifestyles took a less traditional – some would say less moral – path on 12 of those 16 areas. The study also explored 16 different perspectives regarding morality and sexuality, finding that Busters’ views are less conventional than that of their predecessors in 13 areas. In none of the 32 facets of lifestyle or attitude were Busters more likely to possess a conventional moral position when compared with the older crowd of “pre-Busters.”
