Gospel Today 1-4-10

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Same-Sex Marriage Bill Signed in a Church!

by Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr.,

Senior Pastor of Hope Christian Church (Washington, DC area) Townhall.com Columnist

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On Friday, December 18, two historic events occurred. A signing ceremony for DC’s same-sex marriage law and a blizzard that blanketed the Northeast and left everyone in the capital physically isolated except for the almost-too-frequent weather updates on TV and Radio. Ironically, the two events bore a strange similarity.

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Their similarity was the level of local media coverage along with the real sense of isolation that most citizens felt. We either trust in both these situations that “big brother� is looking out for us or we become concerned and questioning.

Concerning the snowstorm, my one-year-old, 4-wheel drive proved to be a great investment. I was at the mercy of no one. Owning a vehicle like this left me feeling in control and safe despite the 15 plus inches that fell around my apartment. Concerning the city council decision, thousands of people like myself felt that they were simply at the mercy of the city government. Although I had no immediate vehicle to ride like the one I referenced concerning the snowstorm, the feeling of helplessness was only temporary. I reminded myself that even though DC sometimes runs like a banana republic or third world jurisdiction, the democratic

The biggest real losers in this political drama could possibly be the children of the next generation.

process has built in checks and balances available for the people.

After the signing ceremony, several television stations asked me the obvious questions: How did you feel?

What are your next steps? The first question was easy to answer. I felt that the people of the District had been disenfranchised and that the biggest real losers in this political drama could possibly be the children of the next generation. I was not upset or angry, but I was definitely disappointed in the leadership of the city. Intellectually, I was not surprised. Emotionally, I was appalled at the cynical staging of the signing. It was more like a PR stunt.

Holding the signing in a church when the council, with the exception of Marion Barry and Yvette Alexander, had ignored the voices of both prominent African-American churches and the powerful Roman Catholic Archdiocese seemed disingenuous at best.

feel compelled to grace the doors of a church? Was it just political grandstanding? Most people think so.

They feel that this move had been scripted by gay marriage activists who still are not sure whether the measure will be overturned by Congress or a referendum.

I could not help but think of the hypocrisy of the city council that had the audacity to call their new law, DC Marriage Equality and Religious Liberty. This terminology has become the typical way such laws are introduced around the country. The proponents of same-sex marriage laws attempt to minimize The proposed law gives anything but religious liberty. For Bible-believing congregations, the law undermines the very foundational concept of marriage. In fact thousands of people around the city found the gesture and symbolism of using a church as being

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During his campaign the mayor visited the Missionary Baptist Conference of the DC and Vicinity, where he told them that he did not have a pastor or attend church on any regular basis. So why did this mayor

What can you do?

To find out, contact...

High Impact Leadership Coalition PO Box 505 College Park, MD 20741 P: 240-845-0388 F: 240-845-0382 info@hilc.net

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“Tiger should become a Christian!�

Fox News Anchor suggests On "Fox News Sunday" yesterday, Fox anchor Brit Hume suggested that Tiger Woods should trade his Buddhist faith for Christianity if he wants to make a personal comback. When host Chris Wallace asked the show's roundtable to predict the biggest sports story of 2010, Hume said: "Tiger Woods will recover as a golfer. Whether he can recover as a person I think is a very open question, and it's a tragic situation for him. I think he's lost his family, it's not clear to me if he'll be able to have a relationship with his children, but the Tiger Woods that emerges once the news value dies out of this scandal -- the extent to which he can recover -seems to me to depend on his faith. He's said to be a Buddhist; I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.'"

After a moment of awkward silence, fellow panelist

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Bill Kristol quipped, "Well, Brit's concerned about

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Tiger's soul, which is admirable, but I just made a more straightforward sports prediction, which was that he'll come back and win the Masters."

President Obama...

Still Under Fire From AP —PLAINS, Ga. - The U.S. Secret Service says it is investigating an effigy of President Barack Obama found hanging from a building in the hometown of former President Jimmy Carter.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told The Associated Press that the large black doll was found Saturday morning along Main Street in the small town of Plains.

Footage from WALB-TV shows the doll was hanging by a noose in front of a red, white and blue sign that says "Plains, Georgia. Home of Jimmy Carter, our 39th President." A witness told the station that the doll had a sign with Obama's name on it.

Mayor L.E. Godwin III says the volunteer fire department was called to take it down. He says he saw the doll but couldn't read the signs. gt

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Also...Just in case your were wondering whether the Obama family attended church services on Christmas while vacationing in Hawaii, the answer is: No, they did not, according to a White House staffer. gt

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Did you know?

Tis The Season of Epiphany In western Christian tradition, January 6 is celebrated as Epiphany.

The term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." In Western churches, it remembers the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King.

In traditional Christian churches Christmas, as well as Easter, is celebrated as a period of time, a season of the church year, rather than just a day. The Season of the Church Year associated with Christmas actually begins with the first Sunday of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas Day. Advent is marked by expectation and anticipation in preparing to celebrate the coming of Jesus.

Christmas begins with Christmas Day December 25 and lasts for Twelve Days until Epiphany, January 6, which looks ahead to the mission of the church to the world in light of the Nativity.

Epiphany is the climax of the Advent/Christmas Season and the Twelve Days of Christmas, which are usually counted from the evening of December 25th until the morning of January 6th, which is the Twelfth Day. For more information: http://www.cresourcei.org/cyepiph.html

Pastor Rick Warren raises $2.4 million in donations After putting word out that his Saddle Back church was facing a $900,000 deficit; Pastor Rick Warren announced at a Saturday service this past weekend, that $2.4 million was brought in.

Accordng to Warren, this total included only money brought in person to Saddleback Church by New Year's Eve. Warren called the donations "amazing" and says the church will start the new decade with a surplus.

Even though Warren campaigned for the ministry, he didnt extend his support to save the print version of the “Purpose Driven Connection” Magazine.

After a highly-touted launch

by Readers Digest, the publisher announced in November that the magazine would fold its print format and go online as of this month.

Don’t miss it!

Tickets online: gospelheritage.org

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the ultimate insult. It is obvious to anyone who has just cursorily looked at it. Naturally, the lawmakers cite 200 hundred clergy (many from the same churches) as a sign that there is some kind of major debate over marriage in Christian circles.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The words of Pastors Dennis and Christine Wiley of Covenant Baptist Church printed in the Sunday Washington Post tell the true story of religious freedom and same-sex marriage in DC. “Our church is the first and only traditional black church in the District of Columbia to perform same-sex unions. We conducted our first two union ceremonies, one gay and one lesbian, in the summer of 2007. The rapid political developments that followed in our nation and our city have made us optimistic that by the summer of 2010, same-sex nuptials will be not only blessed by churches such as ours, but also sanctioned by law in the District.�

In the folklore of our city, especially the church community, they remember the days that Bishop McCollough of the United House of Prayer had enough clout to come out

of his prayer closet and give a midnight endorsement that changed the direction of a city-wide election placing David Clarke into council chairmanship. Others remember that the city council wanted to move the Bible Way Church from their prominent New York Avenue location by invoking imminent domain. After Bible Way Church, who were also the local organizers of Martin Luther King, Jr’s 1963 March on Washington, fasted and prayed, the city suddenly repented of its actions and decided to create what is now known as the Bible Way bend that takes commuters onto I-395.

The lesson the church must take from the boldness of the city council is that we must be prayerful activists. In a democracy, both are needed. gt

March 7-13