Apple rejected recently a revised iPhone/iPad “app” of the Manhattan Declaration, a document that upholds Christian beliefs on life, marriage and religious freedom, giving rise to fears of a growing intolerance of orthodox Christianity.

The Declaration’s website said Apple’s move is “appalling,” more so considering that 500,000 people, including Catholic bishops, Orthodox Church leaders and the heads of many major Protestant denominations have already signed it.

Christian leaders who signed the Declaration, which opposes, among others, embryonic stem cell research, abortion and same-sex marriage, include James Dobson, Charles Colson, Albert Mohler Jr., Richard Land and Timothy Dolan, Baptist Press said.

Apple said the content “violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people,” according to Baptist Press.

In its website the Manhattan Declaration wrote, “Apple is telling us that the apps’ content is considered ‘likely to expose a group to harm,’ and ‘to be objectionable and potentially harmful to others.’”

Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said Apple has curtailed civil discourse by removing the app, adding, “It is sadly ironic that a document written out of a growing unease about very real efforts in the culture ‘to marginalize the Christian voice in the public square, to redefine marriage, and to move away from the biblical view of the sanctity of life’ has itself been marginalized by Apple,” Baptist Press reported.

No objectionable content

Apple originally gave the Manhattan Document a 4+ rating, meaning “no objectionable content.” However, it pulled out the app after some 7,700 people from Change.org emailed Apple objecting to its content.

Apple removed the app, despite half a million signatories who supported the app; and rejected the revised version despite 47,000 people who signed online seeking its reinstatement, Baptist Press said.

Change.org called for “supporters of equal rights and the right of women to control their own bodies,” to stand together against the app. In its website, Change.org described the Declaration as “a cattle call for right-wing activists who think the most important issue facing the world is the ‘threat’ of same-sex couples getting married and starting families.”

Land, one of the original editors and signers of the Manhattan Document, wrote in his Baptist Press column, “The declaration does not promote hate or homophobia. Instead, the declaration proclaims that all human beings are loved by God and are worthy of respect.”

Macnn reported that “The actual declaration calls for signatories to …engage in civil disobedience where existing law is in conflict with Christian dogma.” It also noted that “[The document] is completely silent on the topics of war and capital punishment.”

However a review of the actual document at http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/the-declaration/read.aspx shows that the writers of the declaration call on the government and society to “protect and serve every member of our society, including the most marginalized, voiceless, and vulnerable among us.” It also mentions innocent victims of war, children orphaned by war; and decries genocide and “ethnic cleansing.”

Macnn also reported that the document says nothing about divorce and remarriage. However, the document says “the institution of marriage [is] already buffeted by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, [and] is in jeopardy of being redefined to accommodate fashionable ideologies.”

Manhattan Declaration said on its website that they will appeal to Apple’s App Review Board to submit the matter for arbitration.

Colson wrote in his San Francisco Chronicle column, “If the Manhattan Declaration’s positions alone are enough to have its app removed, then I have to wonder whether Apple is considering removing other Bible-based — or even Jewish or Islamic — apps from its store.

“Apple has every right to decide what to offer in its app store and what not to offer. But it is chilling that such a culture-shaping company would so quickly take sides in a debate,” Baptist Press reported._objectionable

Singer-songwriter and record producer Montell Jordan, formerly of Def Jam Records, will hang up his music career next year so that he can become a worship leader in Norcross, Ga.

The star, who is best known for the 1995 mega-hit song, This is How We Do It, is set to earn his license as a minister and to serve at Victory World Church in Norcross, GA, according to AllAccess.

The change is expected to take place early next year, AtlantaGeorgia reported. Other hit songs of Jordan’s include Somethin’ 4 Da Honeyz, Let’s Ride, Talk Show, Get it on Tonite and Friends, Liars and Haters. His last album was released in 2008.

According to AtlantaGeorgia, Jordan is at peace with his choice saying, “It’s just been an amazing career. And, it has been great. But it’s [career change] a calling that’s probably been with me all my life since I was a child. And I’ve known it. A lot of people in the business know it and have the same calling but that leap of faith is difficult.”

Jordan announced his plans on the day before Thanksgiving through Twitter. He wrote, “I often have spoken of my Christian belief and faith throughout my R&B career, yet this is my official retirement letter,” according to the Toronto Sun.

Jordan told AtlantaGeorgia, “The teaching at that church is very strong and it’s very real. It’s a practical, multi-cultural church, multi-generational. You’re there worshipping with different people of different nationalities, different ages and that’s my idea of what heaven really looks like.”

Jordan also told AtlantaGeorgia that he was okay with using his fame and charisma as a singer to lead more people to God, adding, “I’ve travelled all over the world and I know there are a lot of people out there who are hungry for God and I think I have an opportunity not just to reach people who know God, but also people who don’t know God.”

Jordan said that he will perform a goodbye concert on New Year’s Eve, his last secular concert before taking up the role as worship leader with Victory, the Toronto Sun reported.

The gypsy people are being viewed as fertile ground for ministry, with potential to make great strides in spreading Christianity in Europe.

Gypsies are largely populated in Romania and Bulgaria. However in their own countries they face harsh discrimination that has lasted through centuries, causing many of them to migrate to other countries in Europe, Christianity Today said.

But in other European countries things are no better. Recently, France evicted thousands of gypsies and sent them back to imminent poverty in their own land. In Romania, many gypsies have no birth certificates and no marriage licenses, CBN News said.

Beni Lup, an attorney and regional director of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries told Christianity Today that the emerging vastness of Christian witness among the gypsy population, however, can be a significant source of change in a continent that had long rejected them.

The fact that they are mobile also poses possibilities for Christian gypsies to evangelize wherever they are. Lup said, “I think the Romani witness that is emerging—as it gets written down [and] people understand what is going on—[will be seen as] a moment in world religion,” Christianity Today reported.

Europeans have long viewed gypsies as thieves and deceivers, Lup said. Many gypsies as they turn to Jesus become hopeful that their testimony will affect others, even as their own lives change, according to Christianity Today.

No upward mobility in Romania

Kevin Hoy, founder of The Smile Foundation, has worked in Romania for a decade. He said the ethnic group has no chance of upward mobility even after living in their country for up to 20 years, CBN News reported.

Some 500 gypsies for example live in the village of Salard, one of Romania’s poorest neighborhoods where homes are made of mud bricks that crumble easily. Hoy attributes their situation to prejudice just as much as lack of education opportunities, CBN News said.

And yet such seeming hopelessness has led many gypsies to turn to Jesus. In 2009 the “Toflea miracle” occurred, where 500 gypsies—the largest baptism in Romanian history—took place, CBN News said.

The following year hundreds more from the village turned to Christ, CBN News said.

Hoy’s first project in Romania was in Tileagd village where he helped to set up a school, a neighborhood store and a church where many gypsies received Jesus, CBN News said.

Preaching without words

Hoy says in Romania the gospel is best shared without talking. He told CBN News, “In an educated society preaching the word is fundamental. But many of the people we are dealing with here are uneducated. We could talk to them all day long and they would not be able to grasp what we are trying to say. Practical evidence of God’s love is what the people need.”

Gypsies are usually Orthodox or Catholic, depending on which country they are born in. However, they don’t practice their faith. Pentecostals and evangelicals are making great inroads as a result, Christianity Today said.

Thomas Acton of the University of Greenwich in the U.K. specializes in Romani studies. He told Christianity Today that gypsies have “nativized” the gospel. “It’s not a foreign ideology; it’s the gospel that has taken on Romani colors. When you hear [a] Romani translation of the Bible, it sounds like it was written yesterday.”

It’s not the YMCA any more, it’s just the Y.

And from Texas to Tennessee, people have something to say about it.

New YMCA logo/ YMCA of the USA

Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association said to the Star-Telegram, “The YMCA was founded because the founder, George Williams, realized boys need Christ to become grown men. By removing Christ or Christianity from their title, they’re just taking another step away from their original mission.”

Others expressed a similar concern that the name change would imply a lessening of the Christian aspect of the organization.

James Reed, a 24-year member from Tennessee said, “Is this a way of becoming more politically correct?” Volunteer TV reported.

Molly Clark, a member of five years said, “Why would they do that? Because this organization was founded on Christianity. Its goal is to minister. The fact that they may take that name out makes me think maybe it’s becoming more secular,” Volunteer TV reported.

Since many people know the YMCA as the Y, a volunteer coach at a Texas Y is indifferent about the new name. More important to him is the foundation, the mission statement, and how the Y carries out its task to communicate with the public, Star-Telegram said.

Despite the differences of opinion about the name change, the YMCA said its name change was one way of revitalizing its image and promoting understanding of the operation’s main mission: improving the mind, spirits and bodies of young people.

To reflect the name change, the organization’s logo has morphed as well. The new logo is svelter, more modern and colorful, and it also, according to the YMCA Group, is more vibrant and expresses the diversity of the people to whom the organization caters.

New logo notwithstanding, the organization will still be legally called the YMCA and will form a part of The Heritage YMCA Group title, the Naperville Sun said.

Some 100 faith leaders across Virginia urged recently senators Jim Webb and Mark R. Warner to endorse far-reaching climate change legislation as a moral imperative.

The effort, spearheaded by Virginia Interfaith Power & Light, gathered the signatures of the faith leaders from five religious traditions—Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Unitarian Universalism and seven denominations of Christianity, Episcopal Life said.

The Virginia Interfaith Power & Light, a nonprofit organization, promotes energy conservation due to climate change; and seeks to help faith groups see their role as stewards of creation, according to their website.

The VIPL letter said, “As religious leaders from across the Commonwealth, we are writing to express our alarm at the state of environmental stewardship here in Virginia, and nationwide.

For us as people of faith, this is an issue of basic fairness and justice; not only because we are called to care for creation, but because of who will be harmed most by inaction: the poor and voiceless,” Episcopal Life reported.

The letter said that landfills and toxic plants are generally placed in low-income communities, causing health problems and perpetuating the cycle of poverty, the Richmond Times-Dispatch said.

The letter sought legislation in the Senate that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

It also said, “In affirming the moral need for climate legislation, we are mindful that this may raise the cost of basic goods, so we also ask that any such legislation include social safety-net provisions for families that are already struggling,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch said.

However, the Senate may not take up the legislation this year, the Richmond Times-Dispatch said.

Webb is traveling in Asia this week, while Warner is traveling in South America. The letter was presented to their staffs. However, a spokesman said Warner “is fully on board for energy independence and climate-change legislation,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch said.

Will Jenkins, a spokesman for Webb, said: “Senator Webb appreciates the input of these leaders on this important issue. The United States should pursue energy policies that include conservation, renewable and efficient energy technologies, and the expansion of our domestic energy resources in a safe and secure manner,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch said.

The first Psalm begins with the word “blessed.”

One godly man had described it as an introduction to Psalms, which he called God’s hymnbook.

Whenever we hear the word “blessed,” the thought that comes immediately to our mind is of a “person who is perfect and self sufficient, having all things and is in need of nothing.”

But in the Holy writ, this word is used in an entirely different context. It is used in relation to the word of God.

Many Old Testament saints are called “blessed” in the Holy Scriptures.

In the Psalms and the gospels the word “blessed” is recorded several times. It is further clarified in Revelation 1:3.

But we, the believers, are a congregation of blessed men and women, who are elevated to the height and pinnacle of it.

We are a blessed people.

This truth was made clear by the apostle Paul, while writing to the Ephesians (1:3; 2:7). A picture of our highly exalted position today can be viewed there.

The entire joy of the blessed man in Psalm 1 is centered in the law of the Lord.

He rejoices in God’s word as a man who happened to find a great booty (Psalm 119:162).

It is a matter of great importance for us to know what the source and object of our joy is. Is it in the pleasures of the world? If so, it is only momentary.

It is a joyful experience to find delight in God and His Word day and night. People who do so are compared to “a tree by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in the right season; its leaf also shall not wither.”

Just as trees render selfless service by providing carbon dioxide and fuel, men blessed by God are obliged also to serve selflessly.

Let us labor without any desire for benefits; God is the rewarder. The root of such shall be established in the word of God. They receive nourishment from it for growth and maturity.

That will also cause blessings to many.