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Vandal Damages Church, Leaves Dog To Die POSTED: Sunday, April 5, 2009 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The congregation at the Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church were challenged to show their forgiveness at Sunday services -- two days after vandals did thousands of dollars of damage to their place of worship. Someone broke in through a plate glass window, sprayed graffiti on walls and damaged a piano. The vandal entered with a pit bull and police believe both got hurt while inside because there was human and animal blood all over the church. When church members discovered the vandalism, the dog was still...

(IsraelNN.com) Muslim fundamentalists, aligned with Al Qaeda, bombed a Christian bookstore and two Internet cafes in Gaza on Saturday following previous attacks on churches as part of its religious crusade to replace the secular Fatah faction. The "Sword of Islam" terrorist group took responsibility for the bombings of Internet cafes and music stores, which they consider an offense to the Muslim religion because they represent Western society. The same group has issued warnings to Gaza women not to hang out in Internet cafes. The Swords of Islam has bombed more than a dozen Internet cafes in several weeks and destroyed...

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church found themselves outnumbered Sunday when they arrived to protest the funeral of U.S. Army Spc. Chris Sitton. A phalanx of flags held by more than 100 Patriot Guard Riders and volunteers stood between them and the grounds of Montrose High School, as people chanted the Pledge of Allegiance and more than 20 police officers monitored the scene. But Sara Phelps said she didn't care what others thought. "These people hold patriotic pep rallies for these dead soldiers and this is the time to tell them, 1. Don't worship the dead. And, 2., Don't worship...

By BosNewsLife Special Correspondent Eric Leijenaar with BosNewsLife News Center JAKARTA/AMSTERDAM (BosNewsLife) -- About 30 local officials backed by Muslim militants closed down a Baptist church in Bandung, the capital of the tense Indonesian province of West Java, investigators confirmed Thursday, August 10. On July 16 the group interrupted the Sunday worship service of the Batu Zaman Baptist Church and demanded to see an official permit, reported Open Doors, a Netherlands based organization investigating reports of persecution of Christians.

The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters from a fundamentalist Kansas church filed an invasion-of-privacy suit against the demonstrators Monday. It is believed to be the first lawsuit brought by a soldier's family against Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., whose members routinely demonstrate at military funerals around the country. Members' demonstrations in Colorado prompted lawmakers to approve -- and the governor to sign -- a bill banning protests within certain distances of funerals. Snyder, 20, died March 3 after an accident in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. The church has inspired dozens of...

History and religion lift boys in downtown Detroit heritage tour http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060521/NEWS01/605210727 http://tinyurl.com/pzwed Scouts explore beauty, diversity and freedom BY DAVID CRUMM FREE PRESS RELIGION WRITER May 21, 2006 Detroit often draws visitors for sports, casinos and music, but on Saturday 200 people headed downtown for a rare opportunity to glimpse some of the crown jewels of Detroit's religious heritage. "It's great to be involved in any first, and today is our first-ever Boy Scouts of America Walk with God in Detroit," Ron Pelley, a Scout leader from Allen Park who coordinated the event, told the crowd of scouts and adult...

Pastor Davis pleads guilty By Stephenie Steitzer Post staff reporter ADVERTISEMENT Rev. Larry Davis, pastor of First Baptist Church of Cold Spring, Ky., pleaded guilty this morning to charges that he lied on a loan application and evaded paying his taxes. Davis appeared before U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning in Covington and pleaded guilty to two counts of a seven-count indictment. Davis' sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 17. He faces between 24 and 30 months in prison with no chance of parole. He remains on bond. The preacher - who was among those who helped bring the Billy Graham...

The sign may be controversial, but the Rev. Gene A. Youngblood said it is researched and speaks the truth. "Islam is evil and believes in murder," reads the sign at the entrance of First Conservative Baptist Church and the Conservative Theological Seminary on St. Augustine Road in Jacksonville. "Jesus teaches peace." References to specific Quranic and biblical verses accompany the statement, which Youngblood said are meant to serve as a warning to society. "I am of the opinion, based on enormous research of the Muslims' own books, that Islam is the most vile, wicked, evil danger facing the world today,"...

Rev. Chandler speaks out — at last Rev. Chan Chandler, who has refused to publically comment on church incidents after a religion/politics debate heated up at East Waynesville Baptist Church, told the Baptist Press (BP) Tuesday afternoon he has “never endorsed any candidate” and said his focus has always been issue-oriented, not based on political preferences or affliations. “This never has been about politics,” Chandler told the BP. “It’s always been about whether the Bible applies to the entire life of a Christian.” Chandler spoke briefly with The Mountaineer Sunday and promised the controversy, which he called a “great misunderstanding,”...

The minister of a Haywood County Baptist church is telling members of his congregation that if they're Democrats, they either need to find another place of worship or support President Bush. Already, the Reverend Chan Chandler has ex-communicated nine members of East Waynesville Baptist Church. Another 40 members have left in protest. During last Sunday's sermon, he acknowledged that church members were upset because he named people, and he says he'll do it again because he has to according to the word of God. Chandler could not be reached for comment today, but says his actions weren't politically motivated. One...

The Liberals howled at "Justice Sunday." Way too 'uppity' of Senator Frist to speak about a political issue, a majority rules vote on judges, from a Baptist church in Kentucky and simulcast to over 1,000 other churches — when the church isn't predominately Black! Conservatives condemned Democrat hostility to 'people of faith' and not one of their church leaders was a practicing homosexual. That Religious Right is not supposed to speak out in public. Or serve as judges. Or get elected. Or even vote. But millions did in '04. Liberals hate that and covet the votes. Liberals just don't understand...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Believers must exercise their Christian citizenship beyond the ballot box to halt activist judges and secularist senators who are robbing Americans of their religious liberty, R. Albert Mohler Jr. told a nationwide audience April 24 during “Justice Sunday” at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky. Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, was one of several speakers at the event, which was designed to mobilize Christians to action against judicial filibusters, which Democrat senators have used to block 10 of President Bush’s appellate court nominees. In most of the cases, senators objected to the nominees' pro-life views. The...

With great sorrow, but also with great joy, I attended the funeral this week of Dusty Rhodes in Highlands, North Carolina. Dusty was born in Georgia, but was working in the coal fields of western Kentucky when World War II broke out. He went into the service, did his duty. After the war, his new skills earned him a job with the telephone company. One of his first assignments brought him to Highlands, to install the new rotary phone service. There were several young women who handled all the calls on this small, operator-driven system. Dusty’s efforts put them out...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 12 — Several men believed to be American citizens have been taken into custody here during the past few weeks on suspicion of being linked to Al Qaeda, senior Pakistani officials said today. The Pakistani officials said most of the men had been picked up along with other suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban members in joint American-Pakistani raids in the country's remote tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan. They said they believe that the men form a disjointed network of disaffected Westerners who converted to Islam and have been drawn to militant causes, fighting alongside Al...

By MATT MILLER Daily Journal staff writer mmiller@thejournalnet.com Nov. 17, 2003 Services for Tuzla Baptist Church are often conducted in secret in members’ homes. When a new member is baptized, sometimes the ceremony is performed in a bathtub. That’s because Tuzla Baptist Church is in Bosnia, a war-torn, heavily Muslim country that was part of the former Yugoslavia in southeastern Europe, near the Adriatic Sea. It’s one of a few Christian churches in the country. Concordia Lutheran Church in Greenwood is helping them from thousands of miles away. For almost a year, the 400-member congregation has collected and sent money,...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ABP) -- "Our church will thrive as long as the River of Life flows in our midst and as long as our feet are firmly planted on a mountain called 'Calvary,' " declared the pastor of the first non-Catholic church west of Texas, during the recent celebration of the congregation's birth 150 years ago. Pastor Steve Taylor's words were reminiscent of those of the church's first pastor, Hiram Walter Read, who said, "Deo Volente (God willing), it is here to stay so long as the Rio Grande flows and the adjacent mountains abide." "Occasionally it does us good...

Forty-three Southern Baptist missionaries lost their jobs in May because they refused to sign a controversial faith statement that opposes women pastors and says wives should "graciously submit" to the servant leadership of their husbands. Susie and David Dixon, missionaries in Madrid, Spain, received notice on Susie Dixon's birthday that they had been fired, after 15 years of service. "I felt like I was excommunicated from the denomination I had been nurtured in all my life," Susie Dixon said in a telephone interview from Madrid. "I've gone through the whole gamut of emotions -- grief and anger and denying this...