Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
In today's edition:
- Evangelist: We Need Dose of Persecution
- Australians Returning to Church through Fear of Terrorism, Climate Change
- Christian Author Says UN Resolution against Criticism of Islam a Farce
- Johnny Hart, Christian Creator of 'B.C.' Comic Strip, Dead at 76
Evangelist: We Need Dose of Persecution
The best thing that could happen to Christians in New Zealand – and the Western world in general - is a good dose of persecution, says a pastor who was at the heart of a significant revival among the Gypsies of Britain in the early 1990s, ASSIST News Service reports. Roy Warren, a consultant for the Baptist Union of New Zealand, says too many Christians put church in a neat box. “If revival came, it would be an inconvenience to them, they would not be happy with it,” he says. “For me, revival is where God moves in such a way that he changes communities. It’s not a case of more people going to a church – that’s renewal. Revival is changing cultures and whole communities.”
Australians Returning to Church through Fear of Terrorism, Climate Change
A report on DailyIndia.com states: "Australians in recent years are attending Church services in large numbers, as fears of impending terror attack and the growing impact of global climatic change have prompted many to find solace in religion. Recent reports of Islamic terrorists planning to carry out bombings in different Australian cities have led faithful to seek guidance from their religion, and people are giving a second thought to their absent or misplaced religious beliefs. The 2006 census of Australia, due out later this year, is expected to show an increase in church attendance." The Archbishop of Sydney echoed the sentiments.
Christian Author Says UN Resolution against Criticism of Islam a Farce
According to OneNewsNow.com, a Christian author says the United Nations' call for a global prohibition on the public defamation of Islam is "a joke." The resolution "expresses deep concern at attempts to identify Islam with terrorism, violence and human rights violations." Dave Hunt, author of Judgment Day! Israel, Islam and the Nations, says the statement affirms the world will tolerate anything except truth. "These hypocrites have the audacity to complain and riot and kill because of some mild cartoons -- really very mild -- in a Danish newspaper." Hunt feels no credence should be given to the resolution passed by the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Johnny Hart, Christian Creator of 'B.C.' Comic Strip, Dead at 76
The Los Angeles Times reports that Johnny Hart, creator of the popular Stone Age comic strip "B.C.," which generated controversy in recent years with themes that at times reflected Hart's evangelical Christian beliefs, died Saturday of a stroke. He was 76. "B.C." has been syndicated since 1958. Following a conversion in the 1980s, Hart began imparting Christian messages in his strip, especially at Christmas and Easter, causing some non-Christians readers to complain. In a 1999 interview with the Washington Post, Hart let his stance be known with quotes such as: "Jews and Muslims who don't accept Jesus will burn in hell," "Homosexuality is the handiwork of Satan," and "The end of the world is approaching, maybe by the year 2010." Hart's Easter 2001 strip caused many papers to stop publishing "B.C." It showed a menorah morphing into a cross, with some of Jesus' words during the Crucifixion.
