UK: Churches respond to challenge of domestic abuse

15/12 Evangelical Alliance | Churches donate £6.5 million pounds every year towards tackling domestic abuse, as well as counselling 71,000 victims and providing up to 370,000 nights of accommodation, a new survey has indicated in the run-up to Christmas - the most violent time of year in the home.

The Evangelical Alliance, which surveyed 230 of its member churches on domestic abuse, found that 81% of churches feel they have a responsibility to address the issue in their communities.

Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, said: "Domestic abuse is a huge problem in this country, but it is an issue churches often find difficult to tackle. We are encouraged that so many churches are seeking to respond in practical ways and we hope that more will be motivated to engage further.

"Domestic abuse often increases at Christmas, so we would particularly encourage churches to be ready to respond at this time."

The survey found 30% of churches give an average of £540 a year to charities supporting victims of domestic abuse, while 43% of churches also donate gifts such as food, toys and clothing to refuges. If these figures are typical of churches in the UK, including an adjustment for church size, then the UK church provides £6.5 million to domestic abuse charities and organisations a year.

More than half of churches (55%) are providing counselling to victims of domestic abuse - to a projected total of around 71,000 people per year in the whole of the UK. Twenty-two percent of churches have also counselled perpetrators of domestic abuse.

Sixteen percent of churches have provided on average 290 nights accommodation each year to victims. Again, if this is typical of UK churches, we can estimate that churches provide approximately 370,000 nights' accommodation per year to those suffering domestic abuse.

USA: Oral Roberts Dies:

Dan Wooding, Assist News | Dr. Oral Roberts, a legendary evangelist who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th century, died today (December 15, 2009) in Newport Beach, Calif., due to complications from pneumonia. His son, Richard, and daughter, Roberta, were at his side. The founder of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and Oral Roberts University was 91.

A news release from A. Larry Ross Communications said that there will be a private family internment. Arrangements for a public memorial service in Tulsa are pending and will be announced soon.

“Oral Roberts was the greatest man of God I’ve ever known,” Richard Roberts said. “A modern-day apostle of the healing ministry, an author, educator, evangelist, prophet, and innovator, he was the only man of his generation to build a worldwide ministry, an accredited university, and a medical school.

“Beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, he was not only my earthly father; he was my spiritual father and mentor. The last member of his generation in the Roberts family, he had a passion to bring healing to the sick.
“His name is synonymous with miracles. He came along when many in Christendom did not believe in the power of God and His goodness. Oral Roberts was known for sayings such as ‘God Is a Good God,’ ‘Expect a Miracle,’ ‘Release Your Faith,’ and ‘Plant Your Seed for a Harvest.’ ..."

When 'real world data' fails....

One News Now | A leading global warming skeptic is scoffing at Al Gore's latest dire prediction that the polar ice cap may disappear in five years.

 Al Gore has told the U.N. climate conference that new data suggests that the Arctic polar ice cap may disappear in the summertime as soon as five to seven years from now.  Gore said polar scientists told him Sunday that the latest data "suggest a 75 percent chance the entire polar ice cap will melt in summer within the next five to seven years."

Marc Morano, executive editor of the website ClimateDepot.com, () says Gore typically appeals to authority by using scary predictions when "real world data" fails him. "This is just following along those lines.  Al Gore knows that the Arctic ice has now gained the size of one and a half Texases in the last two years - since the summer of 2007 when it was at its low point - and he knows that's no longer alarming to people, so he's got to ramp up the fear factor," Morano notes. "And the best way to do it is through virtual data - just come up with a scary prediction years down the road and use it as though it's some kind of evidence of a catastrophe."

USA: Custody battle a stage for homosexual agenda?

One News Now |The clash in a Vermont-versus-Virginia lesbian custody case has found its way back into court

 Lisa Miller was involved in a Vermont civil union with Janet Jenkins. The former birthed a daughter, Isabella, and after the relationship between the two women ended, Miller, a born-again Christian, moved to Virginia with the child. Jenkins soon sued for custody rights.

A Vermont court recently ordered Miller, the biological mother, to turn her daughter over to Jenkins, and Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel argued before a Virginia court that the Vermont court order should not be honored.

"This case pits Virginia and Vermont against one another with regards to the marriage laws, and Virginia has some of the strongest marriage laws in the country recognizing only marriage between a man and a woman and also banning and making void...any civil union or right arising from a same-sex civil union," explains Staver.
 
No found record shows that Jenkins has had any contact with the child over a period of several years, so Staver concludes the true purpose of the lawsuit is to force recognition of homosexual unions on states where it is not legal.

"This, I think, is not so much about wanting to have Isabella because of a parent-child relationship, but literally to have her only as a political trophy of the homosexual agenda," he contends.

Vision to America: Stop Obama's radical transformation of America

AUSTRALIA: Training tomorrow's leaders

There is a great need in this nation to assist those students and recent graduates who demonstrate a high potential to become influential leaders for Christ across strategic areas of our nation including politics, law, media, science, education, arts and philosophy.
The Compass program, an eight-day course in Christian worldview, aims to address this need.

The inaugural program kicks off this Sunday with 40 students at the University of Queensland. For more information and to register interest for 2009, please go to www.compass.org.au .

Lyle Shelton
National Chief of Staff , Australian Christian Lobby