By Associated Press July 8, 2005, 7:38 PM EDT NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Evangelist Billy Graham's daughter was arrested and charged with domestic abuse after witnesses told police she choked her husband in a parking lot, authorities said. Virginia Graham Foreman, 59, spent a night in jail after the July 1 confrontation outside a shopping center, police said. She was charged with misdemeanor domestic abuse and released the following day. Three witnesses told police that Foreman pushed her husband and grabbed him by the throat, authorities said. A Volusia County judge who presided over Foreman's first court appearance said Chad Foreman told police that witnesses had "just misunderstood what was going on between them." No one answered the phone at the couple's home on Friday. Billy Graham, 86, concluded a three-day revival meeting in New York City last month that he indicated could be his last.

By Sola Odunfa BBC Focus On Africa magazine In late April, scores of giant billboards and thousands of wall posters all over Lagos proclaimed the first of three days of divine miracles and healing for at least six million Nigerians - but at the end of the third day, there was more bickering over money than praise to God for mercy received. The vehicle of the expected wonders of the Holy Spirit was the UNited States-based evangelist Benny Hinn, who flew into Nigeria in a Gulfstream private jet with a large retinue that included his bodyguards. He was received at Lagos airport in a motorcade of Hummer jeeps and other expensive cars. The deaf would hear, the blind would see, the lame would jump and walk, barren women would conceive, the jobless would gain employment, and the enemy - both seen and unseen - would be vanquished. Mention any problem - physical, spiritual, economic - Hinn had come with the instant solution. But things did not go well. Expenditure About 300,000 people attende...

By Bobby Ross Jr. The Christian Chronicle June 21, 2005 Apologetics Press, the Montgomery, Ala.-based church organization that has waged a quarter-century battle against atheism and the theory of evolution, has fired its longtime director, Bert Thompson, amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Interim executive director Dave Miller said the organization, which has a $1 million annual budget, intends to proceed “undaunted by Satan.” “We are deeply grateful for Dr. Thompson's longstanding warfare against the sinister doctrine of evolution, with his eloquent affirmation of the biblical account of Creation,” Miller wrote in an open letter to Apologetics Press supporters. “Truth is truth, even if those who defend it eventually succumb to personal sin,” Miller wrote. In a separate letter, elders of the Palm Beach Lakes church, West Palm Beach, Fla., urged friends of Apologetics Press to stand behind the organization. That congregation had overseen Thompson and Apologetics Press for 18 mon...

By Kate Connolly in Berlin (Filed: 20/06/2005) A Romanian Orthodox priest who faces a murder charge after ordering the crucifixion of a young nun because she was "possessed by the devil" was unrepentant as he conducted a funeral mass for his alleged victim. Father Daniel Corogeanu, 29, said that the nun had been "possessed by the devil" and was "beyond salvation" in life. He claimed that from the religious point of view, the crucifixion of Maricica Irina Cornici, 23, was "entirely justified", but admitted that he faced excommunication as well as prosecution, and was seeking a "good lawyer." The nun was found dead last Wednesday, gagged and chained to a cross, after nuns from her order, the Holy Trinity, called for an ambulance in the remote mountain village of Tanacu in north-eastern Romania. During a short funeral service at the weekend attended by 13 nuns who showed no emotion, Father Corogeanu said: "God has performed a miracle ...

This is not "new" material, most visitors here have already seen it, and I believe it originated from here: http://www.jhuger.com/kisshank.php . There you can also download a .pdf version to carry with you and a nicely "sanatized" version (no cuss words) for distribution to your easily offended fundy relatives and friends. Anyway, if you haven't seen this before, enjoy. This morning there was a knock at my door. When I answered the door I found a well groomed, nicely dressed couple. The man spoke first: John: "Hi! I'm John, and this is Mary." Mary: "Hi! We're here to invite you to come kiss Hank's ass with us." Me: "Pardon me?! What are you talking about? Who's Hank, and why would I want to kiss His ass?" John: "If you kiss Hank's ass, He'll give you a million dollars; and if you don't, He'll kick the shit out of you." Me: "What? Is this some sort of bizarre mob shake-down?" Jo...

This is a large file so click here to see the video .

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer Mon Jun 6, 7:33 AM ET link Religious devotion sets the United States apart from some of its closest allies. Americans profess unquestioning belief in God and are far more willing to mix faith and politics than people in other countries, AP-Ipsos polling found. In Western Europe, where Pope Benedict XVI complains that growing secularism has left churches unfilled on Sundays, people are the least devout among the 10 countries surveyed for The Associated Press by Ipsos. Only Mexicans come close to Americans in embracing faith, the poll found. But unlike Americans, Mexicans strongly object to clergy lobbying lawmakers, in line with the nation's historical opposition to church influence. "In the United States, you have an abundance of religions trying to motivate Americans to greater involvement," said Roger Finke, a sociologist at Penn State University. "It's one thing that makes a tremendous difference here." The polling was ...

Donors advised to find other ministries to support while questions of finances, unfounded claims of healings, nontransparency and other issues addressed MATTHEWS, N.C. – Wall Watchers, through its donor empowerment Website www.MinistryWatch.com , has issued a Donor Alert for Benny Hinn Ministries/World Outreach Church (BHM). Benny Hinn Evangelist Benny Hinn is controversial for his frequently aberrant - and at times heretical - theology, his unorthodox practices, and his false claims. Nevertheless, large numbers of people who indentify themselves as Christians follow - and, often, appear to worship - this preacher. Book: The Confusing World of Benny Hinn Research resources on Benny Hinn Wall Watchers’ CEO Rusty Leonard explained, “Recent facts and allegations aired on NBC DATELINE – coupled with MinistryWatch.com’s previous concerns about the self-serving ‘prosperity theology’ taught by Benny Hinn – has caused MinistryWatch.com to recommend that donors prayerfully consider red...

The name of the Lord may no longer be taken in vain in the Dutch village of Staphorst. Staphorst, in the so-called Dutch "bible belt" of eastern towns where religion holds sway, approved a ban on swearing by 13-4 council votes. But the caveat that swearing is not banned when it is an expression of the constitutional freedom of speech may make it difficult to punish offenders. "A ban on swearing can be seen as a signal," the council's proposal said, adding a change in moral values was needed to address the underlying problem. Past swearing bans in bible-belt villages were declared in violation of the right to free expression in 1986. One other town has such a ban -- Reimerswaal, in the southwestern province of Zeeland. The Dutch association against swearing, which runs national billboard campaigns to admonish the bad-mouthed Dutch, says the Bible outlaws swearing. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guilt...

sent in by Timotheus email: elpoeta at dmailman dot com During my time as a fundamentalist inerrantist christian, I subscribed to various apologetic newsletters, most of which I still continue to receive. Prior to the beginning of my journey to deconversion, I greatly enjoyed reading this material, and eagerly anticipated receiving and devouring each issue for the purpose of defending the faith. These collections of propaganda I have amassed include news journals from Koinonia House Ministries (Chuck Missler), Answers in Genesis (Ken Ham), Times Square Church Pulpit Series newsletters (David Wilkerson), and Harvest Ministries (Greg Laurie), to name a few. At the time, I was unaware of any criticism of the ideas expressed in these mailings, and had no reason to doubt the truthfulness and accuracy of them. I truly believed that the holy spirit was working through these men to help equip christians to "be prepared to give an answer for the hope you have...." (1 peter 3:15)...

Recently former Christian minister and author John W. Loftus contacted me and sent me a copy of his new book, “From Minister to Honest Doubter: Why I Changed My Mind.” Let me start off by stating categorically that this book is an absolute “must have” for anyone who has left the Christian faith or is having serious intellectual doubts about the Christian religion. While the book starts out explaining some of his experiential reasons for leaving Christianity, the 216-page volume goes far beyond a mere personal testimony and dives deeply into the elemental contradictions and concerns that weaken the underpinning of “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 1:3) Most readers will not find Loftus’ book one that can be adequately absorbed in an evening. Written in the style of a collegiate thesis, the plethora of scholarly works referenced in this publication places it amongst the better resources for the honest student. To do the volume justice one must be willing to ...

see all three episodes at Channel102.net This is a large file. If you have a broadband connection, no problem If you are on dial-up, I'd recommend passing it by. Right-click (PC) or Ctrl-click (Mac) to save file: download

provided by Edward T. Babinski 1) PROMINENT CHRISTIAN EVOLUTIONISTS 2) CHRISTIAN WEBSITES THAT DEFEND EVOLUTION 3) E-MAILS FROM PROFESSORS WHO ARE CHRISTIAN EVOLUTIONISTS 4) HUMAN EVOLUTION (CREATIONISTS MAKE ADMISSIONS) ~~~~~~~~~ 1) PROMINENT CHRISTIAN EVOLUTIONISTS DR. RICHARD G. COLLING Dr. Colling is a fundamentalist Christian and chair of Biology at a fundamentalist Christian college, and also author of Random Designer: Created From Chaos To Connect With Creator. According to Dr. Colling, "It pains me to suggest that my religious brothers are telling falsehoods" when they say evolutionary theory is "in crisis" and claim that there is widespread skepticism about it among scientists. "Such statements are blatantly untrue," he argues. "Evolution has stood the test of time and considerable scrutiny... What the designer designed is the random-design process," or Darwinian evolution, Colling says. "God devised these natural laws, and uses evo...

sent in by The Happy Humanist An excerpt from "Introduction to Psychology" 4th ed. by James W. Kalat: "Beginning with the Renaissance period in Europe, people began looking for scientific explanations for the phenomena they observed. One of the key points of this Scientific Revolution was a shift toward seeking the immediate causes of an event (what led to what) instead of the final causes (the ultimate purpose of the event in an overall plan). Scientists analyzed the motion of objects in terms of pushes and pulls, and other laws of nature. That is, they made an assumption that everything that happens has a cause, or determinant, in the observable world. Is the same true for human behavior? We are, after all, part of the physical world. Your brain and mine are made of chemical compounds subject to the same laws of nature as anything else. According to the determinist assumption for human behavior, everything we do has a cause. Clearly, at least some of those causes...

Recently an article was posted with a link to an audio "Does God Exist" debate...which really sucked (the Atheist was very ill-prepared, etc). So, I went searching for some better ones, and found a web site with tons of good stuff. The website URL is: http://www.rctr.org/ap5.htm In particular, there is a good "Does God Exist" debate located here (in four parts): 1) http://server.firefighters.org/fernandes/36004.mp3 2) http://server.firefighters.org/fernandes/36005.mp3 3) http://server.firefighters.org/fernandes/36006.mp3 4) http://server.firefighters.org/fernandes/36007.mp3 Just a little pre-info about the debate: The Atheist debater is Dan Barker, author of Losing Faith In Faith. This debate should be fun for all of us at Ex-Christian.net to listen to, that is, if you post either this message, or the information pertaining to the links contained in this message. Thanks, Bimmu

NCPC's Paul Manata debated Derek Sansone on the topic “Does The Christian God Exist?” on Friday April 22, 2005. The debate was hosted by North City and moderated by Gene Cook, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in San Diego. Recordings of this event are available for purchase ($2 for Audio CDs and $5 for DVD). See Shawn Dollar to request a copy. Derek Sansone was raised a Roman Catholic in Syracuse, New York. At age 29, in 2001, he “became a born again Christian” and was an ardent student of theology, church history, philosophy and apologetics. In the spring of 2004, Derek declared himself an atheist. He represents the philosophical position of strong atheism and has participated in many debates with Christians. Paul Manata is an ex-atheist who became a Christian in 1999. He has lived in California for 27 of his 29 years. He is a member of North City Presbyterian Church. Paul is a student of reformed theology, philosophy and apologetics. Paul takes classes at Bahnsen Theological Se...

from WKYC-TV Cleveland, OH JACKSON TOWNSHIP -- A Stark County man thinks he may have a miracle sitting in his garden. He says images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary mysteriously appeared on two of his garden rocks this week. It’s hard to miss the Hartman’s house in Jackson Township. It’s surrounded by a white picket fence. And it has a beautiful garden complete with a miniature train track. It was in the garden that Robert Hartman said he made a miraculous discovery. Hartman says he was “tinkering around” when he saw the image of Virgin Mary on a rock. Then another stone caught Hartman’s eye. He says it bears an image of Jesus. He says it’s a sign from god. The other thing that’s so interesting about these rocks is that one of them has a dark patch. It’s actually a film or oil-like substance. And it has a very distinctive smell. In fact, it smells like flowers. Hartman’s mother, Ethel, told Channel 3 News the night before the images appeared, a mysterious flash of light awakened her. “It ...

© 2005 Tim Simmons Contrary to what Christians claim, one can never reclaim the years the locusts have eaten. Time lost is time lost. There is no time machine. I often recall the times in my youth that I now consider to be wasted and wish I could somehow get back that time. Not all idle time was wasted but how many times did I hit the replay button on my Super Nintendo system? Most people don’t dwell on the past and I suppose that isn’t a bad thing but often it is a good thing to look back with the advantage of hindsight and see if you can piece together some truths that may help guide your future. The saying that those who forget the errors in history are bound to repeat them is true. Am I wasting time typing this? If I didn’t have an overall goal then it’s possible. Perhaps it falls under the category of therapy. If you can postpone the urge to yell “hypocrite” for a moment, I’d like to make my point. How much total time has been wasted in prayer since Christianity began? ...