Expect something different with the first Life and Faith Tour, produced by veteran concert promoter Ronnie Jackson, NBC13 said.

More than simply another concert, Life and Faith Tour is a whole day, major event with leading Christian celebrities that will have four different shows going on simultaneously, similar to Disney World, NBC13 said.

For music lovers, Jackson has gathered Amy Grant, MercyMe, Point of Grace, Aaron Shust, Shenandoah and others to perform 30 minutes each of their music (Amy Grant and MercyMe will perform for one hour each) on the main stage, NBC13 said.  Read more... (307 words, 1 image, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)

The Catholic Church issued recently a cautionary warning on the first synthetic cell, noting that correctly used, it could be a positive development—but only God can create life.

The Vatican issued the warning after an announcement from the United States that researchers had produced a living cell containing manmade DNA.

The scientist, genome-mapping pioneer J. Craig Venter, said this opens a path for designing organisms that may work differently from how nature intended, according to The Herald, Scotland.

The Church warned scientists of the ethical responsibility of scientific progress and said that the manner in which the innovation is applied in the future will be crucial, according to the Associated Press.  Read more... (442 words, 2 images, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Recent experiments from Newcastle University, England, that create embryos from two mothers and one father, have brought to the fore new ethical issues from pro life advocates, the Christian Telegraph reported.

According to the Christian Telegraph, the experiment seeks to address mitochondrial disease, an inherited illness borne by the mother.

Credit:lumix2004/sxc.hu

One in 6,500 children is born in England with mitochondrial disease, which can lead to muscular weakness, dementia, deafness, blindness and heart failure among others.

The mitochondria in cells get the energy from food and convert it into a form that the cells can use.  Read more... (637 words, 2 images, estimated 2:33 mins reading time)

The recently announced plans by the Vatican to designate a papal envoy to head the Legionaries of Christ renders this powerful, conservative Catholic order directly under Vatican control.

The Vatican made this move after an eight-month inquiry by five Vatican investigators who reported directly back to Pope Benedict XVI about the double life of its late founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the Associated Press reported.

The Vatican report said Maciel had been sexually assaulting minor seminarians and fathered at least three children from two different women—a daughter from what was described as a “stable relationship”, and two sons who are now grown, who admitted to being his children with another woman, according to CNN.  Read more... (538 words, 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

The question about the existence of intelligent life on other planets will rise to the fore once again with the release next month of a new Discovery Channel documentary, Stephen Hawking’s Universe.

In the documentary, the British physicist will give his views on intelligent life in other planets.

Reports say he believes they exist, but warns against making contact with them, according to BBC News.

Space alien. Credit: martin_m2/sxc.hu

Hawking notes that aliens might simply raid the Earth for its resources, then move on.  Read more... (566 words, 2 images, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)

A truck driver who killed a pro lifer and one other man in a Michigan shooting spree was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday.

Credit:sxc.hu/shadgross

In a court hearing, Harlan Drake, 34, was charged with first-degree murder for the deaths of pro life activist James Pouillon, 63, and businessman Mike Fuoss, 61.

Shiawassee County Circuit Judge Gerald Lostracco handed Drake a life term, the automatic penalty under Michigan law.

Drake had also planned that day to kill one other man on the morning of the shootings last September 11, but didn’t know where to find him.  Read more... (426 words, 2 images, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Mandy Smith, the former child-lover and later wife of the Rolling Stone’s bassist Bill Wyman, said recently that the age of consent in Britain should be raised to 18.

Smith said at the currently legal age of consent, which is 16, girls are still emotionally vulnerable, and that even at age 18 some girls are still not ready for sex.  She adds, “You can never get that part of your life, your childhood, back.”

Bill Wyman and his Rhythm Kings Middelburg 27-01-2009/Credit: Jacco Barth

Parliament first established the age of consent in the UK at 13 years in 1875 in response to concerns that young girls were being exploited for prostitution.  Read more... (534 words, 2 images, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

A poll conducted recently in Ireland showed that 70 percent of Irish people would like their constitution to protect the unborn and ban abortion.

The survey, funded by Ireland’s Pro-Life Campaign and carried out by Millward Brown Lansdowne, recorded the opinions of nearly 1000 people aged 18 and older from Jan. 27 to Feb. 6.

The poll revealed that only 13 percent opposed protection for the unborn, while some 16 percent were undecided.

The survey also revealed that respondents were okay with Ireland’s current medical ethics and laws which allow intervention in case a mother’s life is endangered by her pregnancy.  Read more... (258 words, 1 image, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

Warsaw (ENI). Almost two-thirds of Europeans think Christian values are still relevant to contemporary life and are ready to acknowledge the Church’s efforts to promote them, a recent survey carried out for La Croix daily newspaper has found.

“Whether rooted in Christianity or not, Europeans recognise a privileged place for this religion in its Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox forms,” France’s Roman Catholic-linked newspaper commented on 1 April.

“Yet while two-thirds think Christianity’s message is still up-to-date, this isn’t the case for the other third. So, Christianity remains an element marking the religious culture of the Old Continent, but no longer claims exclusivity,” the newspaper noted.  Read more... (527 words, 1 image, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

As Poland mourned the loss of its president and other dignitaries, who died in a plane crash on April 10, two visiting Baptist preachers said that the answer to the country’s mourning is found in the Gospel.

Southern Baptist leaders Philip Roberts and Jerry Johnson of the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary comforted congregations in Gdansk and Sopot respectively, and shared the gospel in the aftermath of the crisis, during their 10-day trip to the country.

Polish flag with black mourning ribbon

MBTS president Roberts and academic dean Johnson were in the country to attend a conference at the Polish Baptist Seminary in Radosc.  They met with Andrzej Seweryn, president of the Polish Baptist Seminary.  Read more... (473 words, 2 images, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)