Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, December 13, 2010
Please Pray for an old friend of mine.
A California pastor is warning about a "frontal assault" against Christianity in the wake of a planning commission's overwhelming approval of a proposed mosque.
A 25,000-square-foot mosque to be built in Temecula Valley has gained unanimous support from the local planning commission, despite concerns from citizens and critics who say the facility may be a safe-haven for terrorists. William Rench, pastor of neighboring Calvary Baptist Church in Temecula Valley, feels his congregation's attempts to voice their opposition to the planning commission were futile.
"We learned during the course of the meeting that they already had made their decision to approve it, regardless of what the response was going to be from the community," Rench reports. "They had already printed in their record that they had approved it, even before the date of the hearing."
Although the mosque's imam has denied violence, the Baptist pastor explains that his public stance against the project has led some Muslims to label him as "hateful." The mosque, which will be built next door to Calvary Baptist Church, has created a stir among the church body.
"Our congregation remains concerned about the close proximity of a mosque to a facility like ours," Rench shares. "And now we've learned that they're going to not only have their Friday services, but they're going to have calls to prayer during the week...they're going to be there in the [early] mornings...and evenings [for] prayer times, [and] they're going to be having meetings all day Sunday. They're really planning on a frontal assault...with the use of their facility."
A local group has appealed to the city council. Meanwhile, Calvary Baptist Church members plan to continue voicing their concerns.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
PASTOR YANKED FROM CAPITOL OVER “JESUS” PRAYER
Wake~UP
PASTOR YANKED FROM CAPITOL OVER “JESUS” PRAYER
A North Carolina pastor was relieved of his duties as an honorary chaplain of the state house of representatives after he closed a prayer by invoking the name of Jesus.
“I got fired,” said Ron Baity, pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. He had been invited to lead prayer for an entire week but his tenure was cut short when he refused to remove the name Jesus from his invocation.
Baity’s troubles began during the week of May 31. He said a House clerk asked to see his prayer. The invocation including prayers for our military, state lawmakers and a petition to God asking him to bless North Carolina.”
“When I handed it to the lady, I watched her eyes and they immediately went right to the bottom of the page and the word Jesus,” he told FOX News Radio. “She said ‘We would prefer that you not use the name Jesus. We have some people here that can be offended.’”
When Baity protested, she brought the matter to the attention of House Speaker Joe Hackney.
“I told her I was highly offended when she asked me not to pray in the name of Jesus because that does constitute my faith,” Baity said. “My faith requires that I pray in His name. The Bible is very clear.”
When the clerk returned, Baity said he was told that he would be allowed to deliver the day’s prayer – but after that – his services would no longer be needed.
Hackney, a Democrat, and House Republican Leader Paul Stam released a joint statement to FOX News Radio:
“It has been our practice in the North Carolina House of Representatives for many years to request, but not require, that our guest chaplains deliver a nonsectarian prayer. This is intended as a show of respect for all the religions practiced by the members of the House and the people we represent.”
“In this instance, we allowed Pastor Baity to deliver his prayer, without interference, even though it was sectarian in nature. Nonetheless, we will review our procedures and guidelines concerning guest chaplains, and we will make sure we abide by applicable constitutional procedures. The House will adjourn within the next few days, but the results of this review will be publicly available whenever it is complete.”
Baity said he’s not happy with the way he was treated.
“When the state tells you how to pray, that you cannot use the name of Jesus – that’s mandating a state religion,” he said. “They talk about not offending other people but at the same time, if they are telling me how to pray – that’s the very thing our forefathers left England for.”
The Christian Law Association helped Baity draft a letter asking for an apology and an opportunity to return to the state capitol and finish his tenure.
“The First Amendment promises all Americans the free exercise of their religion, which includes the right to pray as their faith requires, even when they are invited to open state legislative sessions with prayer,” attorney David Gibbs told WXII-TV. “We trust that the North Carolina House of Representatives will realize its mistake and will offer Pastor Baity another opportunity to pray without requiring him to use a prayer that is mandated by government.”
Baity said he is still stunned by what happened.
“You would expect this somewhere else – Cuba, Saudi Arabia,” he told FOX News Radio. “You would never anticipate this happening in the United States of America.”
In a word – the pastor said – the decision is “anti-Christian.”
Todd Starnes is a FOX News Radio reporter and author.
Related posts:
- Does Your State Love Jesus?
- National Day of Prayer Uproar
- Boy Sent Home for Sketching Jesus
- Elderly Told Not to Pray Before Meals
- PETA and the Giant Jesus
- Atheists Go After God and Billy Graham?
- The Status of John Lennon’s Jesus Prophecy
- Jesus and Pom-Poms Don’t Mix
- Brit Hume, Tiger Woods and Jesus
- Are We Still One Nation, Under God?
Tags: anti-christian, berean baptist church, culture war, fox news radio, foxnews.com, north carolina, ron baity, Todd Starnes
Read more: http://radio.foxnews.com/2010/07/09/pastor-banished-from-capitol-over-jesus-prayer/#ixzz0tIORJP6E
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Austin Bans City Employee Travel To Arizona
From my inbox - jeff
Resolution In Response To Immigration Law
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Where is this stuff headed???
By Steph Davidson
An eight-year-old Massachusetts boy was suspended from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after drawing a figure of Jesus Christ nailed to the cross.
The second-grader drew the crucifix after his teacher asked children to sketch something they associated with Christmas. But the boy’s father said he then got a call from the elementary school informing him that his son had created a violent drawing.
“When she told me he needed to be psychologically evaluated, I thought she was playing,” the boy’s father told the Taunton Daily Gazette.
The drawing in question shows Jesus on a cross with Xs in place of his eyes to symbolize death.
The man, who asked for his name not to be published to protect the child, said his son gets specialized reading and speech instruction at school, and has never shown any tendency toward violence.
“He’s never been suspended. He’s eight years old. They overreacted,” he said.
The child drew the picture shortly after taking a family trip to see the Christmas display at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, a Christian retreat site in Attleboro, Mass.
Toni Saunders, a non-profit educational consultant, said the boy’s father reached out to her for help after trying to have his son moved to another school because “he’s traumatized by everything that has happened.”
“I’ve had kids suspended for idiotic things before, but I’ve never had to deal with anything like this,” said Ms. Saunders.
Ms. Saunders said the boy was kicked out of Lowell L. Maxham School on Dec. 2 and not allowed back until Dec. 7, after he received a psychiatric evaluation. The evaluation found nothing to indicate that he posed a threat to himself or others.
“I didn’t understand why this was so important to them, why it violated the school code of violence in their handbook. It just didn’t make sense,” she said. “It was just the drawing, and I don’t know how that turned into violence.”
The school’s zero-tolerance for violence policy and a general lack of common sense are to to blame, Ms. Saunders said.
“It’s time that we shine a light on what we’re doing to our own children, and stop it, because our children’s imagination is being assaulted. It’s not right. I can’t imagine that this would’ve happened 20 years ago. It wouldn’t have. People would’ve patted him on the back and said, ‘Isn’t that wonderful.’”
Angela Smithson’s son Cullen was suspended from his Taunton school in June 2008 for drawing what his teacher considered to be a violent image. The teacher filed a criminal complaint against the 10-year-old boy over the picture, which shows him, a gun and a figure labelled as the teacher with a bullet wound. The district attorney’s office chose not to pursue the charges.
Ms. Smithson said it was horrible that no one tried to speak with the eight-year-old child and his father before they suspended him. She experienced the same problem when the teacher refused to speak with her regarding Cullen’s drawing.
“I have no idea why they would think that that’s a violent drawing. Even if I didn’t know what it was, and you know, I took a look at it, you can tell it’s Jesus on a crucifix ... there’s nothing wrong with that picture. Nothing should have happened. I really feel bad for this family,” Ms. Smithson said.
Phone calls to the school principal and superintendent were not returned.
National Post
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