The 3 - February 25, 2018

This week's edition of The 3 spotlights the death of legendary of evangelist Billy Graham, including some words of tribute from his son, Franklin.  Also, people have been sharing their faith in Christ with those attending the Winter Olympics in South Korea.  And, a teenager in Pakistan is at the center of protests due to allegations related to that country's blasphemy laws.

3 - Pakistani teen arrested under blasphemy laws

Pakistan's blasphemy laws are front and center again in a disturbing story, according to Morning Star News.  An 18-year-old, Patras Masih, was taken into custody.  The report states:

Patras Masih was accused of posting a blasphemous image on a group Facebook page from his phone on Jan. 16, but his father said his son’s cell phone has been in a repair shop since December.

His son told him that a friend had posted a sacrilegious photograph on a Facebook group from his ID a month ago, and that he had no intention of hurting religious sentiments, he said. Under Pakistan’s widely condemned blasphemy laws, intent must be shown for conviction.

His father, Indreyas Masih, stated: “My son is illiterate and works as sweeper at a private bank,” adding, “He has never been involved in any religious dispute with any Muslim in the village. I’m unable to understand why he has been trapped in this case.”

Patras was taken into custody in the midst of strong protests by Muslims in the region. The Morning Star report said that, "Hundreds of Christian families fled their homes in a village near Lahore, Pakistan," and that,"The protesters threatened to burn down the homes of at least 700 poor Christian families, area residents said."  Police dispersed a crowd blocking a main highway by assuring protesters that Patras had been arrested. A local police official is quoted as saying, "“We have deployed some 400 police personnel in Dher village to protect the local Christian community,” adding, “The situation was brought under control late on Monday night when we informed the protest leaders that the accused boy has been arrested and charged with blasphemy.”

2 - Thousands converge on Olympics to share faith

On Thursday's edition of The Meeting House on Faith Radio, I featured a conversation with evangelist Terry Veazey, in South Korea ministering with the International Sports Chaplains organization.  The evangelistic outreaches surrounding the games were featuring in a Religion News Service article appearing on the ChristianHeadlines.com website.  The article estimated some 2,000 missionaries were on hand during the Games - from a variety of faiths.

The article relates:

There is no reliable count of missionaries at Olympics past. But the number of local missionaries here far exceeds previous games, said Marty Youngblood, leader of the Georgia Baptist Convention mission team, who is at his fifth Olympics this year.

South Korea, which is 29 percent Christian, and among whom Protestants predominate, enjoys high levels of religious tolerance. Buddha’s birthday and Christmas are both national holidays.

The report also says:

Myungsu No, a campus minister in Seoul, says his students from the Baptist Student Union use pin trading — a pastime at this and previous Olympics — to spread the gospel. While athletes and spectators trade pins that typically depict a certain country, sport or team, mission groups give away a “More Than Gold” lapel pin, borrowing the slogan a consortium of missionary groups adopted in the 1990s to brand their Olympic outreach.

Veazey had told me that his team was also involved in pin trading.  The story at the ChristianHeadlines.com site also said:

The first weekend of the Olympics, mission groups passed out Christian literature in the Olympic park unimpeded.

Then Olympic park officials posted signs informing visitors that passing out religious material in the park was banned, and any materials found would be confiscated.

Youngblood, of the Georgia Baptist Convention, said he is not concerned. His missionaries are also using the pin trading and only give pamphlets to those who want to learn more.

1 - The world responds to the death of Billy Graham

World-renowned evangelist Billy Graham went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday of this past week.  He was 99 years of age.  Tributes were shared from throughout the world.   Over the weekend, a motorcade carried the earthly body of Mr. Graham from the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove near Asheville to the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, where the body will lie in repose Monday and Tuesday.

The body will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday and Thursday and will be brought back to Charlotte for a funeral service on Friday.

During these times of public viewing, the body will be in a pinewood casket, according to the BillyGraham.org website, that was "crafted in 2006 by inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana, is lined with a mattress pad. On top rests a simple wooden cross the prisoners nailed into place."  The story says:

The plain wooden caskets caught Franklin Graham’s eye during a 2005 preaching engagement at Angola. That’s when he saw the inmates hard at work crafting them, and he soon learned why. The initiative began when then-warden Burl Cain discovered many of the poorer inmates were being buried in cardboard boxes.

As a result, Cain had the inmates construct plywood caskets for themselves and others who couldn’t afford one. In addition to making the caskets, the prisoners—many of them former hardened criminals who are now committed Christians—also pray over them.

Billy Graham's son, Franklin Graham, wrote a tribute to his father that appeared on the USA Today website, as well as on the BillyGraham.org website, entitled, Billy Graham's New Home.  He wrote:

Since 1947, some 215 million people at more than 400 crusades, simulcasts and evangelistic rallies heard my father tell them, “The Bible says, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life’” (John 3:16). Today, he is experiencing what he devoted a lifetime to telling others they could experience if they placed their trust in Jesus Christ.

Franklin recounted a time in his life when he was struggling and not walking with God and how his father had challenged him to surrender his life to Christ, which ultimately Franklin did.  He now heads the ministry that bears his father's name.  Franklin writes that following the Flushing Meadows crusade in New York in 2005, his father wrote a piece at the end of a book that contained the text of the three sermons he preached there.  Franklin writes, "...the purpose of Billy Graham’s life is captured in a single paragraph found at the end of a little book a number of years ago."

“No matter what your problem is,” he wrote, “if you and I could sit down and talk, I would want to tell you one great truth: God loves you, and He can make a difference in your life if you will let Him.

“God loves you so much that He sent His Son into the world to die for your sins. When we open our hearts to Christ, He forgives our sins and comes to live within us by His Holy Spirit. He also gives us strength for the present and hope for the future. This is the message of the Gospel—and this is the message you have read in this book.”

Franklin Graham stated, "If my father could speak or write to us today, he would say the same thing. It was what he lived and breathed—until his very last breath."  

The DeMoss publicity agency reports that, "More than 22 million people have made a commitment to Jesus Christ through a Billy Graham or Billy Graham Evangelistic Association outreach effort."

The 3 - February 18, 2018

This week on The 3, there is the story of a well-known Christian speaker whose invitation to speak at a public university in Oklahoma was withdrawn, then reinstated.  Also, a Michigan church is under fire for offering Biblical hope to young people confused about their gender identity.  Finally, the Vice-President has responded to negative comments about his practice of Christianity on a recent network television show.

3 - Ham back on the menu at a Oklahoma university

Earlier this month, the University of Central Oklahoma reversed a decision to have Ken Ham, the President of Answers in Genesis, speak on its Edmund, OK campus.  The Answers in Genesis website stated:

UCO has reneged on a contract it signed that allowed Ken to give a talk on March 5. Ken’s presentation in the school’s Constitution Hall, titled “Genesis and the State of the Culture,” was objectionable to a campus LGBT group, which put heavy pressure on the UCO Student Association (UCOSA) to cancel Ken’s speaking engagement. In his proposed talk at UCO , Ken would have discussed the two different worldviews and their starting points when interpreting scientific evidence, as he did in his classic evolution/creation debate with Bill Nye “the Science Guy” four years ago.

That was published on Tuesday, February 6.  Just days after that announcement, the school announced it has reversed course again.  The AiG website said last Thursday, February 15:

Today, UCO President Don Betz has invited the AiG president to give his talk, “Genesis and the State of the Culture,” on the Edmond campus.

Ham said, "UCO officials have definitely heard from many concerned state legislators, several local residents, and alumni about the denial of our right to free speech."  He added, "Furthermore, by moving my talk from the evening to the afternoon, we now have the opportunity to reach even more UCO students during the school day. UCO is a commuter campus, and many of its students might not have been able to attend in the evening."  Ham also stated, "I’m thankful for the many Oklahomans who stood up for our constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion."

The website, NewsOK.com did report that:

In his letter on Thursday, Betz said UCO will conduct a presentation on the First Amendment on the morning of Ham's presentation on March 5. The First Amendment session will be at 10 a.m. and Ham will speak at 3 p.m.

Betz said UCO will present a discussion on the contemporary processes of scientific inquiry and evolution on March 6, along with a panel discussion on freedom of expression and freedom of speech "as appropriate to UCO as a teaching and learning institution.

So, Ken speaks, but it does seem the school might be a bit too devoted to try to "balance" out Ham's Biblical views by having these other presentations.  Wonder if UCO would invite someone with a Christian worldview perspective if the university were allowing an atheist lecture.  Or, perhaps to invite a creationist to counter a speaker's Darwinist perspective? Probably not.

2 - Michigan church under fire from lawmakers for Biblical sexuality conference

If a young person is struggling with his or her gender identity, what better place than a church where that person can go to get help, right?  Obviously, that's not the attitude by some in Michigan, where lawmakers have demanded an investigation over what is being called "conversion therapy."

The News Herald states:

A Downriver pastor whose church has come under fire for sponsoring conversion therapy workshops is asking state legislators to withdraw demands for an investigation into his church.

In a news conference held Thursday afternoon in Lansing, Pastor Jeremy Schossau joined other pastors in urging State Reps. Adam Zemke (D-Ann Arbor) and Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Twp.) to withdraw their demands for an investigation into Schossau’s church for offering a workshop that provides biblical answers on identity and sexuality.

The church is called Metro City Church, and the website article stated that it would be holding "a six-session program titled 'Unashamed Identity Workshop.'" The article says:

Hosted by the church, in partnership with Forge Ministries, the workshop is for those born as girls, between the ages of 12 and 16, who are struggling with thoughts that they’re transsexual, bisexual, gay or any other orientation.

Protestors have shown up at the church, which has been receiving threats.  The News Herald article also says:

Randy Wilson, Family Research Council’s national field director for Watchman on the Wall, said during the news conference that he views the church as increasingly coming under attack.

“I want to thank Pastor Jeremy Schossau for his leadership,” Wilson said. “Metro City Church is a place that is governed by the precepts and principles of God’s word and is compelled by the love of God.”

Schossau said people have always gone to their spiritual leaders for advice.

“Pastors have always done this and we will continue to do this,” he said. “And, we don’t need the government to tell us what we can and cannot say. And, we do not need the government to tell us what kind of advice we need to give, or a license to give that advice.”

At the Family Research Council website, the pastor is quoted as saying: "This is all coming from a tolerant loving community? An open-minded community that seeks to be understood and wants to understand others?" He added, "That is crazy."

FRC has posted a "petition demanding that Rep. Camilleri and Rep. Zemke withdraw their call for an investigation and respect the church's freedom to teach what the Bible says about sexuality."

1 - Vice-President responds to negative comments about his Christianity

To put the recent squaring off between the ABC television program The View and the Vice-President of the United States into perspective, I want to go back to a story at the Huffington Post website featuring a video from the Oprah Winfrey Network.  The featured topic of the article was Omarosa Manigault Newman, formerly of the Donald Trump TV show, Celebrity Apprentice, former a White House staff member, and a contestant most recently on Celebrity Big Brother. The article says:

As Omarosa’s fame grew, so did her opportunities, allowing her to travel the world doing missionary work. One of her stops, West Africa, is where her life changed.

“I found myself alone in an orphanage… There was a child there, and she had HIV/AIDS and she was dying,” Omarosa recalls. “And it was at that moment, looking into the face and the eyes of this dying child that I received my call to ministry.”

How does she know she received a call to ministry?  I would say that such a call would indicate a clear direction of the Holy Spirit.  After all, as she says, referring to her critics, "They underestimate the power of God’s ability to transform a person’s life...In the blink of an eye, God can come into your situation and turn your life around.”

Now, fast forward to her comments on Celebrity Big Brother a few days ago, and I quote from a Todd Starnes article on FoxNews.com:

"As bad as you think Trump is, you would be worried about Pence --- everyone that is wishing for impeachment might want to reconsider their life," Omarosa said in a clip from "Celebrity Big Brother."

"I am Christian. I love Jesus, but he thinks Jesus tells him to say things," Omarosa told her fellow contestants.

Starnes writes, "Well, that bit of news was more than Behar and the other gals on 'The View' could stomach."  Co-host Joy Behar said, "It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you." That’s called mental illness, if I’m not correct, hearing voices..."

What?  So, there is a stream of thought that God doesn't speak to or direct His people by His Spirit.  I have a hunch we're not talking audible voices here.

Well, Behar did backtrack a bit, according to Starnes, saying, "I think Mike Pence, say what you want about him and his religiosity. I don’t think he’s mentally ill. Even though he is saying he hears voices I don’t think he’s that crazy..."

On C-SPAN, Pence stated: “To have ABC maintain a broadcast forum that compared Christianity to mental illness is just wrong,” adding, “It is simply wrong for ABC to have a television program that expresses that kind of religious intolerance.”

Starnes also wrote:

Pence said on C-SPAN that his faith is the most important thing in his life.

“My faith sustains me in all that I do,” he said.

The vice president said “The View” hosts insulted the “vast majority of the American people who cherish faith.”

“It demonstrates how out of touch some in the mainstream media are with the faith and values of the American people that you could have a major network like ABC permit a forum for invective against religion like that,” he said.

Now, Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center has written a letter to the President of ABC News, which appears on the Newsbusters website.  He also took View co-host Sunny Hostin to task, saying that she had called the Vice-President's Christianity "dangerous."  He cited other examples of ABC programming that exhibited a bias against Christians.  Bozell stated:

But now you, Mr. Goldston, have the opportunity to right this wrong. Apologize on behalf of ABC. Require Ms. Hostin and Ms. Behar as individuals to apologize. Bigotry against any group is hateful and ugly. Unfortunately, anti-Christian bigotry seems to be the last acceptable bigotry. A simple unqualified apology will go so far. Our country is so divided right now, why make things worse? By apologizing you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

The 3 - February 11, 2018

The most recent edition of The 3, featuring three relevant stories to the Christian community, contains the story of an island nation that has reversed its legalization of same-sex "marriage."  Also, a baker in California who did not wish to provide a cake for a same-sex wedding received a positive court ruling from a state court recently.  And, the Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the state's law requiring abortion clinics to have transfer agreements with local hospitals in case of emergencies.

3 - No more legalized same-sex marriage in Bermuda

That holy grail of political correctness and tolerance, same-sex marriage, may be beginning to tarnish.  Last week, I commented on a recent survey that showed that the comfort level for non-LGBT people around those identifying as LGBT has waned a little bit.

Now, according to Liberty Counsel, an island nation that once legalized same-sex marriage has now reversed course.  The legal advocacy organization's website states:

The governor of Bermuda signed a law that reverses an earlier ruling and the nation will no longer recognize marriage between two people of the same sex. The law, known as the “Domestic Partnership Act 2017,” passed the legislature by a 2-1 margin in both the Bermuda House and Senate. It will allow domestic partnerships for same and opposite sex couples, but will no longer permit same-sex couples to be married. The Bermuda Supreme Court in May 2017 issued an opinion in favor of same-sex “marriage,” but that opinion was met by opposition.

Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, said, “The people of Bermuda recognize the folly of redefining marriages and reversed the ruling of their Supreme Court..."

2 - California baker receives positive court ruling in case of gay wedding cake

The track record of artistic business owners going to court to defend their right to refuse to provide services for a same-sex wedding or ceremony has not been very encouraging, and currently, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering the case of a Colorado baker who, based on his religious convictions, declined to provide a cake for a same-sex wedding celebration.

So, it is somewhat surprising that a judge in California has ruled in a favor of a baker in that state who was in a position to do what Jack Phillips did in Colorado and Aaron and Melissa Klein did in Oregon. According to a Baptist Press story:

Tastries Bakery owner Cathy Miller's freedom of speech "outweighs" the state of California's interest in ensuring a freely accessible marketplace, Judge David R. Lampe said in his decision in the Superior Court of California in Kern County, one of the state's 58 trial courts.

According to the article:

Lampe, in his decision, wrote that both freedom of speech and a nondiscriminatory marketplace are laudable and necessary but said the facts of the case favor Miller. The state's complaint, based on the Unruh Act, which prohibits discrimination based on both religion and sexual orientation, lacks the merit to succeed, Lampe said.

Baptist Press stated that the judge wrote, "The State asks this court to compel Miller to use her talents to design and create a cake she has not yet conceived with the knowledge that her work will be displayed in celebration of a marital union her religion forbids," adding, "For this court to force such compliance would do violence to the essentials of Free Speech guaranteed under the First Amendment..." 

The story says that, "The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing had sought a preliminary injunction to force Miller to either bake wedding cakes for homosexual couples or stop selling wedding cakes..."

1 - Ohio Supreme Court upholds state law requiring abortion clinics to have transfer agreement with local hospital

There's good news on the pro-life front from the state of Ohio, where the state Supreme Court ruled against two abortion clinics who wished to be exempted from a state law that required clinics to have a transfer agreement in place with an area hospital within 30 miles driving distance, in case of a complication from the procedure.

The Dayton Daily News reported on the story:

In a 5-2 ruling, the court determined that Capital Care Network of Toledo violated the rule, and that the Ohio Department of Health was within its rights to revoke the clinic’s operating license.

“Now that this issue is settled, Ohio Right to Life expects that this abortion clinic in Toledo will be closed immediately by the Ohio Department of Health,” Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said in a written statement.

In the second case, according to the article, "Preterm Cleveland, Inc. versus Kasich, the court ruled in a 5-2 decision that the clinic did not have standing to challenge the state’s decision to embed abortion restrictions into the state budget bill adopted in 2013. "  As the story pointed out, the clinic failed to show that it had "suffered harm."

The article gave some background on the regulations:

The 2013 state budget bill included restrictions that require abortion clinics to have written transfer agreements with local, private hospitals, and that doctors determine if there is a detectable fetal heartbeat — and inform the woman — before performing an abortion.

Staff counsel for Americans United for Life, Rachel Busick, joined me on The Meeting House on Friday to share insight and analysis.  You can listen to or download the interview here.

The 3 - February 4, 2018

This week in The 3, spotlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, there are over a dozen house church leaders in China who are apparently in the custody of the government there.  Also, there was a brave faith statement made by an abused former gymnast.  And, the U.S. Senate failed to approve a bill that would protect unborn children at 20 weeks from being aborted.

3 - Chinese house church leaders apparently in government custody

The organization ChinaAid reports that 14 house church leaders in China have apparently been apprehended and imprisoned, according to a press release on the Christian Newswire website. Bob Fu, the President of ChinaAid, is quoted as saying, "This massive, enforced disappearance of 14 peaceful church leaders shows the Communist Party has no regard to rule of law and its citizens' religious freedom rights. The Chinese government should be absolutely held accountable for this incident and immediately disclose the whereabouts to the families and their churches."

These house church leaders have "vanished" from the Zhejiang province, where, according to the press release, "Christians have faced harsh persecution and discrimination in the past few years, as the province has been the focal point of a cross demolition movement and a follow-up surveillance camera installation movement."

As of last Thursday, there had been no announcement of what the charges are.

2 - Christian perspective on display in Nassar trial

John Stonestreet said in a recent Breakpoint testimony, "It was the most amazing courtroom testimony I’ve ever heard. And if you haven’t heard it yourself, you need to."

He was speaking of the words spoken in court by Rachael Denhollander, a former gymnast who was abused by a physician named Larry Nassar. Stonestreet said, "A year and a half ago, Rachael bravely filed a police complaint that has ultimately led to his conviction on sexual assault charges and a prison sentence of 40 to 175 years."

I quoted from an article from Esther O'Reilly of The Stream in a recent Front Room commentary - the article quoted these words from Denhollander as she issued a statement against her abuser, the final courtroom statement.  Rachael said to Nassar:

Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you.

I pray you experience the soul-crushing weight of guilt, so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me — though I extend that to you as well.

A Christianity Today article from which I quoted featured a Q&A with Rachael about her involvement in speaking out on behalf of sexual abuse victims in the Church.  She had mentioned in her victim impact statement that she had "lost her church," and she elaborated:

The reason I lost my church was not specifically because I spoke up. It was because we were advocating for other victims of sexual assault within the evangelical community, crimes which had been perpetrated by people in the church and whose abuse had been enabled, very clearly, by prominent leaders in the evangelical community. That is not a message that evangelical leaders want to hear, because it would cost to speak out about the community. It would cost to take a stand against these very prominent leaders, despite the fact that the situation we were dealing with is widely recognized as one of the worst, if not the worst, instances of evangelical cover-up of sexual abuse. Because I had taken that position, and because we were not in agreement with our church’s support of this organization and these leaders, it cost us dearly.

Rachael Denhollander represents someone who has delivered a powerful, thought-provoking message and set a strong example for the Church, challenging Christian believers to seek to minister effectively to those who have been abused.

1 - 20-week abortion ban defeated in Senate

The Charlotte Lozier Institute, which is affiliated with the Susan B. Anthony List, shares these observations about the development of an unborn child at 20 weeks after fertilization:

Babies as young as 20 weeks post-fertilization can survive and thrive with appropriate care and treatment...

Unborn babies are treated as patients by fetal surgeons, and receive pain medication...

Unborn babies can feel pain by 20 weeks post-fertilization or earlier.

Despite this medical evidence that has shown that a child at 20 weeks can feel pain in the womb, 46 U.S. Senators voted against a bill that would prevent a child at that stage of development from being aborted.  51 voted in favor, but that fell short of the 60 necessary to move the bill forward.

Penny Young Nance, President and CEO of Concerned Women for America, stated:

“The United States calls itself a champion of human rights but is one of only seven nations to allow abortion after 20 weeks when it has been proven that babies feel extreme pain. Today, we continue to align ourselves with countries such as China, North Korea, and Vietnam."

As Penny acknowledged on a recent Meeting House program, Alabama Senator Doug Jones voted against the bill.  On the CWA website, she said:

“Senators like Doug Jones (D-Alabama), Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota), and Claire McCaskell (D-Missouri), who represent states where voters overwhelmingly support life, will have much to answer for in their next election. 

“Today, these senators had a chance to stand for life. They chose to vote against life. They had a chance to defend the dignity of both children and their mothers. Instead, they voted without regard for the most vulnerable among us."