The Oregon Faith Report - Faith News from Oregon

Judy Dippel, Eugene Author
The Art of Authentic Friendship: Real Women, Real Challenges, Real Solutions

Within each of us are God-given gifts and talents, as diverse as the gifts under a Christmas tree. Can you imagine the impact on the world if each of us decided, today, and throughout 2009, to unwrap our natural abilities and begin to take every opportunity to use what we’ve been given? All too often our gifts and skills remain boxed up, because we feel insecure or incapable of allowing our personal and distinctive strengths, shape, size or color to be seen by others, ignoring the purpose and impact of utilizing our gifts.

We can and should use our gifts and fulfill our passions, but we must first recognize them—then we must be willing to unwrap them, and take a risk to let them be seen by others! I challenge you to make that your New Year’s resolution.

By Portland Archdiocese,

The Portland Archdiocese is in compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People

The Archdiocese of Portland was found to be compliant with The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2008 after submitting information for the data collection audit. The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People was adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in June 2002, and revised and renewed in June 2005. It provides policies and procedures for the protection of children. The notification of compliancy was sent in a letter to Archbishop John G. Vlazny from The Gavin Group, Inc., an independent group of auditors.

Georgene Rice of KPDQ-FM interviewed Christopher C. Horner who is a Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and is the author of *Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud and Deception to Keep You Misinformed.  Below are some of the highlights:

Georgene: [Global warming] is an issue that we were supposed to have reached consensus on. The decisions were supposed to have been made based on science, and yet there are questions—legitimate questions—being raised about what many of our decision-makers are saying about global warming and our need to respond to it.

Christopher: Yes, well one of them is “it’s been cooling for a decade” and that’s at odds with all of the climate computer models which is what the entirety of this movement is premised in. They are not premised in observations. We did warm one degree Fahrenheit after the end of the little ice age but that’s what happens at the end of cooling periods, of course, and then we had a three-decade-long cooling from the forties to the seventies that resulted in a panic and then it warmed for two decades and that ended 1998.

National Faith News Update:

CAROL STREAM, Ill., Dec. 17 /Christian Newswire/ — Christian Music Today, the online music website for ChristianityToday.com, has published its selections for the Best Christian Albums of 2008, an annual list that is regularly one of the year’s most-read articles on the site.

“As we went back into the process of selecting the year’s best albums, some of our panelists expressed initial concern that there weren’t enough great releases in 2008,” says online music editor Russ Breimeier. “They quickly changed their tune after the nominations came pouring in and we whittled our way down from 40 albums to a top 12.”

Christian Newswire/ — A Fox News poll reveals most Americans say “Merry Christmas.” The poll taken December 9-10 shows 77% of Americans prefer “Merry Christmas” as opposed to saying something with less meaning.   The poll found that larger numbers of Republicans (87%) say “Merry Christmas”, but Christmas numbers were lower with Democrats at 72%.

“I feel better when someone greets me in a store with ‘Merry Christmas’ because Christmas is about the birth of our Savior Jesus”, says Steve Krotoski who leads Pray Daily America, a ministry that prays for America daily at www.PrayDailyAmerica.com.

By Joe Bonham,

This is the second week in a row that my church had to be cancelled due to weekend snow and ice. Through much teeth gnashing I am inclined to ask God, “why do you treat Sunday’s so?” God’s answer is probably something like, “Why did you build the church on a hill?”  Snow is never good on Sundays, especially in Oregon where there is a severe lack of salt and plowing. Even in other more rigorous states churches have to pay extra unbudgeted funds to clear their parking lots while offerings simultaneously take a big hit.

By Jeannie St. John Taylor
Oregon Author of Culture-Proof Kids

An Oregon author I know has spoken at conferences from New Mexico to Florida and presented programs in public schools in Michigan and Illinois. But the Portland Public schools she has approached rejected her out of hand – even though she offered to speak at no charge and schools customarily pay big bucks to get author-speakers.

Schools refused to invite her to speak as soon as they saw the Christian titles of her books. One school secretary actually slid the author’s brochure across the counter with two fingers as though it was contaminated with anthrax. “We don’t allow religion,” she said.

Medical Teams International sends cholera medicines to help save lives in Zimbabwe
Cholera epidemic, food shortages bring country closer to collapse

(PORTLAND, ORE.—Dec. 19, 2008)  This Christmas, Medical Teams International is delivering critically needed medicines to Zimbabwe, an African country with one of the lowest life expectancies in the world.

More than $381,000 in cholera medicines, antibiotics and pain relievers will be airlifted from The Netherlands in partnership with Dorcas Aid on Dec. 23.  Medical Teams International is collaborating with International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) in Zimbabwe to distribute the medicines to hospitals, clinics and camps for displaced people.

Frontline Ministries and the Exodus Mandate Project (www.Exodusmandate.org) announced today that Dr. Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., is recipient of the 2008 Dr. Robert Dreyfus Courageous Christian Leadership Award.  Established by Frontline Ministries in 2007,  this award honors and recognizes a Christian leader who has exhibited moral courage while advancing Christianity in the culture and life of the nation through his unique contribution to the Church.  This contribution and ministry may be in the face of opposition or run counter to the prevailing culture of church and society.  Chaplain Moore said of Dr. Ray, “Through his extensive and methodical research, Dr. Ray has done more than anyone to give both home school families and society confidence that home schooling is not only an academically but also a socially sound approach to education.  He is respected in both the Church and academia for his thorough research and writing.” 

It was announced this week that Rick Warren and Rev. Joseph Lowery will deliver the prayers at President Elect Obama’s inauguration.  Rev. Joseph Lowery is one of America’s most honored civil rights leader and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. Martin Luther King.   Rick Warren is author of the Purpose Driven Life and the pastor of Saddleback church which is the fifth largest church in America.   It wouldn’t be a political event without controversy as many gay rights groups are protesting Obama’s choice of Rick Warren for his support of California’s Proposition 8 (a defense of marriage amendment) this year.

By Jeannie St. John Taylor
Oregon author of Culture-proof Kids

King Herod tried to ruin my Christmas this year — more than two thousand years after he killed the babies of Bethlehem. Okay, it wasn’t Herod in the flesh. A recent National Geographic article about Herod distressed me, even though the author probably wrote it simply to appear knowledgeable and insightful (and earn a little money) and I think he accomplished all that. Unfortunately, he suffers from the same malady many in our society have fallen prey to: The inability to discern right from wrong.

Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling — Advancing Knowledge Engaging our World Living Portland Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling is partnering with the Muslim Education Trust (MET), a nonprofit organization that promotes greater understanding of the Islamic community through education and outreach initiatives. The partnership will offer two scholarships to students in the Muslim community who wish to become licensed teachers, counselors, or education administrators.

Scott Fletcher, dean of Lewis & Clark Graduate of Education and Counseling, said the partnership with MET is important to the school’s bonds with the Portland community and reflects its commitment to serving a diverse and multicultural society.

This is part of our Best of Radio feature which transcripts some of the best interviews by Oregon’s own religious broadcasters.   On December 4th, Georgene Rice of KPDQ 93.9 FM interviewed foreign policy expert Peter Brooks of the Heritage Foundation on the escalating nuclear tension between Iran and Israel.

Georgene: Israel has said publicly that they will not tolerate a nuclear Iran but I do find it somewhat dubious that they would publish in a newspaper saying “Yes, we’re preparing any minute now to respond.” I mean, there’s a general appreciation of the situation, but I’m not sure that is the forum they would necessarily choose to make their announcement…?

Brooks: Yes, that’s an interesting sort of thing. It also could be—the other side of that coin is that they’re warning the Iranians…and they’re warning others and saying, “Look, we’re going do this at some point and if you don’t change course, this is what’s going to happen.”

By Faith Reporter,

Four NW Restaurants are teaming up with Open House Minsitries for a “Operation Dinner Out” campaign to raise funds for their downtown Vancouver homeless shelter.  These restaurants are stepping up their charitable actions at a time when many Oregon restaurants have witnessed a steep 40% decline in sales.  The restaurants involved are Chevy’s (Vancouver Mall), Sweet Tomatoes (Mill Plain), Macaroni Grill (Clackamas Town Center), and Burgerville (hwy 99).  They are donating  percentage proceeds of their meals to customers who visit their establishment on January 15th at designated times.  See the coupons and times/locations here.

Spokeswoman Pamela Schram commented “These businesses were not looking at competition but rather how to help people in their own community in a time of need”.   The help Open Arms provides just increased as they are witnessing shelter traffic rising with the declines in the economy.   Pamela was hopeful as she stated “Even with the increased traffic we are doing more with less.”

Recurring Giving Provides Churches with Valuable Online Tool to Increase Giving Church Community Builder (CCB) Adds Recurring Giving Functionality to its Already Powerful Online Church Management Solution.

Church Community Builder (CCB), the original web-based church management solution, has announced that their customers can now offer members and donors the option to schedule automated ongoing contributions through a newly released Recurring Giving feature. Members of the church or ministry community can now schedule repeating contributions directly from a checking account or credit card on a customized basis, including weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual payments. Additionally, church leadership will be able to track these scheduled gifts throughout the year, increasing the level of predictability with which they can forecast future contributions.

By The House of Ruth,
A ministry helping unsupported young women,
Support them here

My life before coming to the House of Ruth was very disturbing. I’m not your typical pregnant teenage girl. By age 24 I’d been married, had children and tried to make the best out of an abusive relationship. At one point my husband threatened my life with a knife. That’s when I knew I had to separate from him. I raised the children alone for 3 months. One day I returned home, after leaving my children in the care of a relative, to find out that my husband had taken them away. At that moment my world completely shattered. Feeling hopeless and abandoned by God my life spiraled downward. I didn’t even want to live.

Our Choice: Be Part of the Agony, or Part of the Answer
By Paul Coughlin,
Oregon author of No More Christian Nice Guy

“If you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t.  You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.” ~Jesus (Mark 9:42 THE MESSAGE)

Now it’s time to turn our attention to the theater’s audience.  We tend to micro-focus on bullies and who they target without considering that most bullying wouldn’t take place if not for the captive audience that both feeds a bully’s ambitions and also sometimes becomes his accomplices.

They are the bystanders, the coat-holders who, by failing to act courageously, provide bullies their tacit approval.  Again, by and large, victims are most children’s second-least-favorite classmates (after bullies).  The bystanders don’t yet realize, though, that coming to the aid of classmates is also a tangible act of self-protection (from potential later violence).  Worse, many of them actually encourage tormentors to punch harder and longer, to write another humiliating line in an instant message, or to write one more rumor in a notebook.

By Medical teams International,

(PORTLAND, ORE.—Dec. 5, 2008)   A leading evaluator of faith-based ministries has named Medical Teams International one of its top 30 “Shining Light” charities.  MinistryWatch.com compiles its annual list from nearly 500 of the largest nonprofit Christian organizations in the U.S., looking at financial transparency, fiscal efficiency, program effectiveness and clear identification as a Christian organization.

“Medical Teams International is truly one of the ‘best of the best,’” says Rusty Leonard, founder of MinistryWatch.com.  “We are pleased to recognize Medical Teams International as a ministry that goes well beyond the minimum.”

By Beaver Believer, Portland

In Washington’s capitol, in Olympia, the Freedom from Religion Foundation was successful in placing a placard next to the nativity display.  The sign has generated national attention, including heated discussion on the Bill O’Reilly show.   Here is the story link and below is the wording on the placard.

“At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.
There is only our natural world.”
Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”