The Oregon Faith Report - Faith News from Oregon

By Traci Scott, Faith Reporter

Oregon recently played host to two successful “Night to Honor Israel” events, which are sponsored by Christians United for Israel, a coalition of more than 250,000, and have been held in 95 cities since 2006. “Night to Honor Israel” is a non-conversionary tribute to the nation of Israel and the Jewish people of the world. Its purpose is to promote respect and understanding between Christians and Jews and to emphasize the things that we hold in common, rather than accent our religious differences.

Los Angeles (June 25, 2009) — Sociologists, historians, and economists have been diligently mining the mounting evidence for how and why religion, especially Christianity, is flourishing globally and succeeding in the U.S. despite secularist predictions.  “Reasons abound for how and why ‘God is back.’ But there appears to be an evident theme,” says J.P. Moreland, Biola University’s Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and one of the most distinguished philosophers of religion in North America. “Religion, and especially the Judeo-Christian worldview, stubbornly resists explanation by the worldview of naturalism and her elites, which empowers secularism. Consequently, genuine religious phenomena are helping to falsify secularism and the process of secularization.”  Moreland, an award-winning author and seasoned cultural observer, expands upon his vast corpus of philosophical writing and research in a recent book about how naturalism fails to give us satisfying explanations concerning basic human facts.

By Randy Alcorn
Eternal Perspectives Ministries, Sandy Oregon

Author of Bestselling book, Heaven

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has joined a long line of leaders, both secular and Christian, who have committed adultery.  Someone suggested, in light of this, that I post about fleeing and resisting sexual temptation. First, consider this from God’s Word: “Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.” (Proverbs 6:25-29).

Notice that both men and women are held accountable for adultery. It is never an excuse that someone tried to seduce you, but you should always be on your guard against seduction, including the media seduction that lures us toward impurity.

I vividly remember meeting with a man who had been a leader in a Christian organization until he committed immorality.

CARROLLTON, Texas, June 26 /Christian Newswire/ — The newly elected Indian government, led by the moderate Congress party, is taking a strong stand against anti-conversion legislation that has restricted religious freedom in the nation. They plan to block bills introduced in a number of states by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This is very encouraging news for Christians and other minorities in the nation. Dr. K.P. Yohannan, president of Gospel for Asia, gladly welcomed the news of the Indian government’s recent stand.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (PG-13):
By Catholic Film Reviews.org,

Overlong, mindlessly violent action adventure sequel in which a college freshman (Shia LaBeouf) and his girlfriend (Megan Fox) assist a group of friendly, shape-shifting alien robots as they battle to defend humanity against the designs of a hostile horde of similar creatures. Derived from the back story of a line of Hasbro toys, director Michael Bay’s globe-trotting explosion fest offers only a modicum of human interest amid the thunderous special effects. Also shown in Imax. Pervasive action violence, brief rear nudity, brief nongraphic nonmarital sexual activity, drug use, occasional rough and crude and some crass language, and frequent sexual references. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L—limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling.

One Dollar From Each Consumer Purchase Will Go Towards The Pink Ribbon Girls, a Nonprofit Organization Dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness, Education, Early Detection, and Support.  May 2009, San Francisco: HarperOne, publisher of the NRSV, announces the publication of The Pink Ribbon Bible (HarperOne; September 2009; $24.99; ISBN 9780061917448) in time for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.

Beautifully packaged and portable, this limited edition Bible was developed for the 11,000 young women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the next year, and the more than 250,000 women under the age of 40 already living with this disease.

By Oregon Family Council,

96% of churches surveyed offer Marriage and Family support
94% offer practical aid for People in Need
93% offer Personal Growth and Development assistance
92% are engaged in meaningful Community Service
87% extend their ministry through National and International Outreach
74% actively provide Recovery ministries

All too often the debate surrounding religion in public life centers on issues like allowing a nativity scene on public property or prayer around a public school flagpole.  Yet, lost in this discussion is the critical truth that churches make a tremendous contribution to the lives of individuals, families and the greater community. That’s why the Oregon Family Council Education Foundation sponsored a research project called, The Good Neighbor Church in Society Survey.  In March 2009, over 2000 churches received surveys.  Of these, 352 churches from more than 50 denominational affiliations, and every corner of the state participated.

From the London Telegraph,

Lenny Kravitz: “It took years to get it right. To actually do it, and really try to walk the walk and not just talk it. It’s not like it’s not important – I think sex and intimacy and all that is very important. It’s just that I’m going to do it with my wife.” He laughs. “And not everybody else.”

Telegraph Newspaper: This summer, not long after he turns 45, it will be four years. The final trigger came after a night in the Carlyle Hotel in New York. (His apartment was under renovation.) “I was doing my normal thing and I was with somebody, and I remember waking up in the morning thinking, ‘What am I doing?’ It’s not that I was all over the place.

Medical Teams International,

Medford-based Mercy Flights Air and Ground Ambulance did what it always does when a call for help comes in. It jumped to respond. Only this time, the call came from Sri Lanka and its fledgling Emergency Medical Services (EMS) program. Tigard-based Medical Teams International has been working for three years in Sri Lanka to develop EMT’s and ambulance services.  Since the devastating Tsunami of 2004, a strong Oregon connection has been built with participating emergency services agencies and paramedics.

by Lindsay Perna
Religion News Service

WASHINGTON — President Obama committed to comprehensive immigration reform Friday (June 19) at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in a speech that was laden with religious language but short on policy specifics. “We know there is much more work to be done to extend the promise of a better life to all our children and grandchildren,” Obama said. “In all that we do, we must be guided by that simple command that binds all great religions together: Love thy neighbor as thyself.”  Many of the Latino religious leaders at the breakfast, as well as several prominent members of Obama’s faith advisory council, have been lobbying in recent weeks for substantial immigration reform.

By Traci Scott, Faith Report

Scott Russell remembers almost nothing from the afternoon six months ago when the Woodburn police chief nearly died.   On December 12, he and two officers responded to a bomb threat at a local bank. The bomb was discovered in some bushes, but the officers thought it was a fake and took it inside to work on it. The explosion critically injured Russell, who lost his right leg, and killed State Police Senior Trooper William Hakim and Woodburn Capt. Tom Tennant. As with much of the bombing, he instead focuses on what lies ahead, Russell said in his first interview with reporters since the bombing. “Deep down inside, my belief is that I have a bigger mission to fulfill,” he said. “There’s a lot left for me to do.”

Rolling Hills Community Church Pastor steps down after 31 years of incredible growth.
By Traci Scott,

Dale Ebel, founding pastor of Tualatin’s Rolling Hills Community Church, recently stepped down in his role as senior pastor after 31 years of service.   Today, between 2,700 and 3,200 attend the two Sunday services.   Ebel is a native Oregonian and a resident of West Linn since 1978.  In 1975, Ebel was returning to Oregon for graduate work at Portland’s Western Seminary when he sensed a call to start a church.  After he finished his Master of Divinity degree, four families who were friends of the Ebels asked him to be their pastor.  Together, they established Rolling Hills Community Church in February, 1978, at first meeting in family homes.  They then rented a public elementary school in Lake Oswego for six years before moving into their current Tualatin location in 1984.

NEW BOOK: I Did It His Way:  A collection of B.C. Religious Comic Strips is

(Nashville, Tenn.) The talented creator of B.C. and co-creator of The Wizard of Id, Hart delighted comic-lovers since 1958 with his quick wit and simple humor. After his well publicized conversion to Christianity in 1977, Hart began to use his faith as catalyst for his comics, despite the controversial reception of his new faith by the industry. Now, for the first time, I Did It His Way provides a collection of B.C. comics on religious themes.

“[W]e have gone way off course in terms of honoring creation. You are graduating to the most amazing, stupefying challenge ever bequested to any generation. The generations before you failed. They didn’t stay up all night. They got distracted and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every moment of your existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. “ — Paul Hawken

Commencement: Healing or Stealing? By Paul Hawken
University of Portland Commencement Address 2009.
Watch The Video Here,

When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” No pressure there.  Let’s begin with the startling part. Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation… but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, civilization needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

Expert roundtable explores how churches are easing the strain

CAROL STREAM, Ill.,  — Your Church magazine recently surveyed nearly 1,100 church leaders to better understand the ways their churches spend money and prioritize budgets, as well as their views of the current economic situation. The results of the survey reveal an increasing gap between income and projected expenses for churches. According to the survey results, tithes and offerings, which comprise an average of 87 percent of the average church’s budget, have declined for 40 percent of the churches surveyed within the past six months. At the same time, 32 percent say budgets have increased between 2 to 10 percent over last year’s expenses.

By Rick Johnson,
Better Dads Ministry, Oregon

Seek justice, Encourage the oppressed
Defend the cause of the fatherless
Plead the case of the widow
Isaiah 1:17 (NKJV)

In the first part of this series we looked at what authentic masculinity was not—now let’s look at what it is. I am optimistic that there is a new kind of masculinity taking hold in this country. Men want to lead more rewarding lives and are recognizing that living for others is the path to true satisfaction.

Catholic Movie Reviews: Year One PG-13. Ramshackle road comedy in which two misfit hunter-gatherers (Jack Black and Michael Cera) set out from their prehistoric village and encounter a series of biblical figures, including Cain (David Cross), Abraham (Hank Azaria), Isaac (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and the elite of Sodom (most prominently Oliver Platt). Director and co-writer Harold Ramis’ lumbering journey is fuelled by sophomoric humor and smug irreverence. Profane treatment of scriptural figures and practices, pervasive sexual and some scatological humor, implied premarital sexual activity, at least one use of the F-word, much crude and crass language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O—morally offensive.

By Randy Alcorn
Eternal Perspectives Ministries, Sandy Oregon
Author of Bestselling book, Heaven

As I mentioned a week ago in my blog on giving and debt, I’m going to set aside Wednesday blogs specifically for question and answers. If you have a topic you’d like to see me address in a Q & A, feel free to post that in the comments. Because it is a once a week blog, I won’t be able to get to every topic, but I’d enjoy hearing what some of you are wondering about.

This week I’m continuing to address questions about giving that I answered on the Revive Our Hearts website. (Related to giving, check out this blog post from my friend Matt Guerino, about how God used a high schooler and a homeless man to inspire God’s people to give generously to His work in Sudan.)

From BeliefNet: “Tyson Boardman sits before the computer screen at the LDS Missionary Training Center, discussing Mormonism with Jason and Travis in two Internet conversations at the same time. Why do people say Mormons aren’t Christian? What does it mean to be baptized for the dead? How do Mormons view Jesus? Why do you have a prophet? Answering these and many other Mormon-related queries is Boardman’s full-time assignment…Boardman is part of a pilot program that calls on Mormon missionaries to attract new converts to the faith via the virtual world, rather than the traditional, face-to-face approach.
The portal into this world is www.mormon.org, a Web site the church established in 2001 primarily aimed at curious outsiders — a complement to www.lds.org, which is mostly for members and the news media.” Continue article

Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights: The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has banned member stations from carrying new religious TV programs; the few existing ones can continue. Catholic League president Bill Donohue reacts to this news:The stated reason for censoring new religious programming goes like this: (a) a ban on sectarian programming has been in place since 1985 but was never enforced, (b) PBS started to review its rules last year when the transition to digital TV was being contemplated, and (c) PBS expressed concerns that having religious programming may imply official endorsement. None of these reasons is persuasive.