The new interim President of Ukraine is the speaker of the
Ukrainian parliament; a novelist; a former news agency head; and a Baptist
pastor – in a country where evangelical Christians are in the minority compared
to the Orthodox church. The European
Baptist Federation made a statement which stopped short of describing the
recent Ukrainian revolution as a Christian revolution, but said that “people
started crying out to God and even the TV media spoke about the role of the
church and quoted Scriptures.” The new president recently called on the country
to “lift up in prayer” the issue of internal separatism.
David Yonggi Cho, the pastor of the world’s largest
Pentecostal church, has been convicted of breach of trust and corruption by a
South Korean court. In 2002, the church bought shares in Yonggi Cho’s son’s
media company at a price far above market value. Yonggi Cho was identified as
an “accomplice” who directed that the transaction be dealt with as quietly as
possible. Yonggi Cho was given a suspended prison sentence and fined $4.7
million; his son was jailed for three years.
The proposed law in Arizona that allowed businesses to
refuse service to gays if it was based on “sincerely held religious beliefs”
passed both houses of Arizona’s legislature. However, criticising the bill
became a cause célèbre for gay activists across the country, and with Arizona
hosting the Superbowl in 2015, the state was particularly sensitive to attacks
on its reputation. The State governor vetoed the bill; however, the existing
law which affords the same protections to the religious beliefs of public
employees remains in place.
A Danish court has declared that animals that are
slaughtered according to Muslim and Jewish customs must be stunned before being
killed – even though both religions require the animal to be conscious. In
effect, the court has decided that animal rights are more important than
freedom of religion.
In cinema news, the film “Noah” is now eliciting more
positive reactions from Christian commentators. One said, “Yes, there are a few
extra characters introduced, but the overall message is exactly that of the
Bible.” He also commented favourably on the scenes showing the construction of
the Ark.
In sport, a recent article listed Premier League footballers
who are active Christians, while discussing why the most famous seem to need to
hide their faith. The list included Daniel Sturridge, Javier Hernandez, Steven
Pienaar, Anton Ferdinand, and Wayne Rooney.
And finally, a Christian medical dispensary in California
that offers free Bibles and healing prayer alongside its medicinal products is in
dispute with the federal Government. However, the dispute is not over its
Christian practices – it’s over the fact that the dispensary’s primary medical
product is cannabis (which is now legal to sell in California for medical
purposes), and the Internal Revenue Service is denying certain tax deductions
on the basis of old anti-drug-trafficking laws. The proprietors became familiar
with medical uses of cannabis after both the father and daughter were treated
with it; then the father, who was on Social Security, was praying one day and
he says that God spoke to him and said, “Open a pot shop.”
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