Even as anti-gay crusader George Rekers admits he traveled to London and Madrid for 10 days with a gay escort named Jo-Vanni Roman, Rekers denied having sex with the 20-year-old.  Rekers also denied being gay.

The Miami New Times reported that Rekers found Roman on the gay escorting site RentBoy.com.

Roman was paid $75 a day, plus travel expenses.  Part of his job was to give Rekers daily sexual body massages.

However Rekers, a Baptist minister and proponent of gay-to-straight conversion therapy, said on his blog that he had recently had surgery and required someone to help him carry his luggage.

After interviewing several people Rekers claimed he hired Roman, and only learned of Roman’s profession halfway through their trip.

According to the Miami Herald, Roman said Rekers hired him through Rentboy.com, a gay-sex website.  Roman described Rekers as a “very kind family-values man.”

He told Miami New Times about the nude massages but said “Rekers never asked for full-on sex and expressed no interest in attaining orgasm.”  On Anderson Cooper’s AC360 television program Roman said that Rekers had asked him not to talk about the massages.

Rekers was a co-founder in 1983, along with James Dobson, of the Family Research Council (FRC).

He is also a board member of NARTH, a group that believes homosexual desires can be “cured” with therapy.  He authored the book, “Growing Up Straight: What Families Should Know About Homosexuality.”

FRC president Tony Perkins said in a statement that, “FRC has had no contact with Dr. Rekers or knowledge of his activities in over a decade.”

The statement added, “…while it’s extremely disappointing when any Christian leader engages in the very activities that they “preach” against, it’s not surprising. The Scriptures clearly teach the fallen nature of all people. We each have a choice to act upon that nature or accept the forgiveness offered by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.”

NARTH, on their website said, “We are always saddened when this type of controversy impacts the lives of individuals. ..At this difficult time for the families and individuals involved, we extend our sympathies. We also wish to reiterate our traditional position that these personal controversies do not change the scientific data…NARTH continues to support scientific research, and to value client autonomy, client self-determination and client diversity.

A new survey by LifeWay Christian Resources indicates that most Millenials are not religious and are leaving churches, although many consider themselves to be spiritual.

Youth are walking away from Christianity and the Christian church, opting instead for spirituality.

Millenials are defined as those born from 1980 to 1991.  They are aged between 18-29 years old.

Of the total surveyed, 65 percent said they are Christian; 14 percent atheist or agnostic; 14 percent do not favor any religion; and 8 percent mentioned affiliations with other religions.  Seventy-two percent said they are more spiritual than religious, the Christian Post reported.

Among those who said they were Christian were the following findings, the Christian Post reported:

Of those who claimed to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ

• 15 percent have deeply committed personal relationships with Jesus Christ.
• 81 percent of those who trust Christ as Savior agreed strongly that Jesus is the way to Heaven.
  • Most of those who trust Christ as Savior described themselves as more spiritual than religious.
  • Half of those who trust Christ as Savior do not go to church every week.

Of those who identified themselves as Christians

• 56 percent rarely or never read the Bible.
• 38 percent rarely or never pray by themselves.
• 44 percent agreed strongly that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
• 26 percent agreed strongly that salvation is through God’s grace alone.
• 25 percent agreed strongly that the Bible is the written word of God and is totally accurate in all that it teaches.
  • Most agree that churches are relevant.
  • 28 percent strongly agree that churches are relevant today.
  • 67 percent do not go to church every week.

Of the total respondents

• One-third said they made a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that is still important to them today.
• One-fourth agreed somewhat that their personal relationship with Jesus Christ is important in their life today.
• 30 percent strongly believe Jesus Christ was sinless.
  • Most believe that no one really knows about life after death.
  • 74 percent say they are more spiritual than religious.

The USA Today quoted Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay as saying that should this trend continue, “The millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships.”

The findings correlated with a 2007 LifeWay survey of teenagers who drop out of church, as well as with a February survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life which also indicated that Millenials are dropping out of church.

The survey, which was conducted mainly by phone in August 2009, involved 1,200 participants and has a margin of error of +/-2.8, myFOXla.com reported.

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.

“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet,” Hawking tells BBC News.

Hawkings, in the BBC interview said, “The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like.”

The program envisages numerous alien species including two-legged herbivores and yellow, lizard-like predators, but Hawking conceded that most life elsewhere in the universe is likely to consist of simple microbes.

Professor Brian Cox, a physicist from the University of Manchester, said in a recently released BBC series Wonders of the Solar System, that organisms could be present under the ice sheet that envelops Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons.

Professor Cox added, “Closer to home, the evidence that life could exist on Mars is growing.  We will only know for sure when the next generation of spacecraft, fine-tuned to search for life, are launched to the moons of Jupiter and the arid plains of Mars in the coming decades,” he told the BBC.

Some Christians agree with part of Hawking’s statement–that visitors from another world could be dangerous–but they do not agree with Hawking about what the creatures actually are.

In response to Erich Von Daniken’s bestseller, Chariots of the Gods, Dr. Clifford Wilson, researched UFOs and the Bible and penned his own bestseller and rebuttal, Crash Go the Chariots.

In the end, Wilson allows for the possibility of some malevolent beings of supernatural origin, but he does not believe they are intelligent life forms from other planets. In fact, Wilson, after his research, concluded he did not believe that life exists on other planets.

The point is further elucidated by Ken Ham who looks to the Bible to explain his viewpoint. In a recent Blog posting, Ham says:

“From an evolutionary perspective, it would make sense to suggest [that intelligent alien life exists]. People who believe this possibility contend that, if life evolved on earth by natural processes, intelligent life must exist somewhere else in the far reaches of space, given the size of the universe and the millions of possible planets…but I believe a Christian worldview, built on the Bible, rejects such a possibility,” he said.

Ham says he  rejects the possibility of rational alien life because, according to the Bible, the Fall of Man and subsequent sin affected all of creation and the only solution to mankind’s sin problem was Jesus Christ.

“Jesus didn’t become a ‘God-Klingon,’ a ‘God-Vulcan,’ or a ‘God-Cardassian’—He became the God-man. It wouldn’t make sense theologically for there to be other intelligent, physical beings who suffer because of Adam’s sin but cannot be saved,” he said.

“Now, regarding animal life and plants, we cannot be so dogmatic because the Bible does not state whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. Based on the passages about the heavens and earth, however, I strongly suspect that life does not exist elsewhere.”

The most populous Islamic nation in the world is experiencing a heavy outpouring of Christianity, TIME magazine noted in latest issue.

Indonesia has some 215 million Islamic believers.  However, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Christianity is Indonesia’s second largest faith and it is growing dramatically in recent years despite outpourings of violence.  In all of Asia, Christianity has some 350 million believers.

Most of the conversions in Indonesia are Pentecostal and Evangelical.  Pentecostalism is considered by many to be the fastest growing faith in the world in terms of conversions (as opposed to births).  It is estimated that by 2050 most Christians will be living in developing nations.

Troubled Past

It is believed that some of the growth of Christianity is triggered by a wave of terrorism and the rise of conservatism among Muslims in Indonesia, which has led to laws that encourage old practices like caning for drinking beer and forcing dress codes for women.

But the move toward Christianity is also seen as an offshoot of the inception of democracy in the country more than a decade ago which led to pluralism and religious conflict.

Despite some adherence to religious freedom, for the past few years dozens of churches and theological academies were destroyed or forced to shut down by Islamic groups.  They accused Christians of trying to steal Muslim believers.  Dozens of local governments have also passed Islamic-based laws that threaten Christian rights.

Last year, the Indonesia Ulema Council, an influential Islamic clerical body, decried Christian proselytization and urged Muslims to guard their faith. “There is a real fear that Christianity is on the march,” says Mike Hilliard, a Scottish minister married to an Indonesian.  They runs an orphanage outside Jakarta that has been targeted by militant Muslims. “Because of this fear, emotions are easily stirred up and mobs can form quickly.”

Although some Christians hold prominent cabinet positions, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has done little to protect religious minorities. Nevertheless, Christians on the street seem undeterred.

Unreliable Statistics

Although local statistics of growth of Christianity in Indonesia may be unreliable, evidence has shown more boldness among the faithful.  For example, in Jakarta megachurches are found in the city, as well as unofficial churches in hotels and malls.  Asia’s tallest statue of Jesus Christ is in Manado city, eastern Indonesia, and Indonesia cable TV has 24-hour Christian channels.

Pastor David Nugroho who has a church in Gesing, Indonesia with 400 worshippers, was quoted  by TIME as saying, “People think Indonesia is just a Muslim country, (but) we (Christians) are not afraid to show our faith.”

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.

Seweryn said, “For the Christians here, there is a great chance to step up and help the people work through their grief and suffering. Now is a time to help them in answering some of life’s toughest questions, including the ones about eternity that often surface when events such as this occur.”

Among the dead were Polish president Lech Kaczynsk, his wife Maria, the military’s chief of staff and the heads of Poland’s land forces, navy and air force.  Other dignitaries on board the plane included the national bank president, three military chaplains, Poland’s deputy foreign minister, head of the National Security Office, deputy parliament speaker, Olympic Committee head, civil rights commissioner and at least two presidential aides and three lawmakers, the Polish foreign ministry said.  ­

Many of the leaders killed in the crash were instrumental in the Solidarity movement and the return of liberty and democracy to the country.  They were headed to a ceremony to commemorate the World War II slaughter of Poles that had divided the nation for seven decades and galvanized the beginning of the same Solidarity movement.

Pastor Roberts, who preached in Gdansk, the home city of the Polish president, cited Matthew 10: 39 (HCSB) where Jesus said, “Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it.”

The MBTS leader continued by adding that “there will be a point when life will end for our physical body on this planet. With this in mind, each of us needs to make sure we are living for the correct reasons and the correct person — Jesus Christ — because He offers the hope of eternal life beyond what we experience in this life on earth.”

Roberts said that the time of soul-searching and reflection on these events presents a great time to share the love of Jesus Christ with the Polish populace.

Some 90 percent of the Polish population is Roman Catholic, with 75 percent practicing.  The second largest faith group is Eastern Orthodox at 1.3 percent, then Protestant at 0.3 percent.   The late Pope John Paul II was Polish.

Sources:

http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue9447.html

http://www.poland.gov.pl/Churches,and,Religious,Life,in,Poland,397.html

Question: “Why are there so many religions? Do all religions lead to God?”

Answer:
The existence of so many religions and the claim that all religions lead to God without question confuses many who are earnestly seeking the truth about God, with the end result sometimes being that some despair of ever reaching the absolute truth on the subject. Or they end up embracing the universalist claim that all religions lead to God. Of course, skeptics also point to the existence of so many religions as proof that either you cannot know God or that God simply does not exist.

Romans 1:19-21 contains the biblical explanation for why there are so many religions. The truth of God is seen and known by every human being because God has made it so. Instead of accepting the truth about God and submitting to it, most human beings reject it and seek their own way to understand God. But this leads not to enlightenment regarding God, but to futility of thinking. Here is where we find the basis of the many religions.

Many people do not want to believe in a God who demands righteousness and morality, so they invent a God who makes no such requirements. Many people do not want to believe in a God who declares it impossible for people to earn their own way to heaven. So they invent a God who accepts people into heaven if they have completed certain steps, followed certain rules, and/or obeyed certain laws, at least to the best of their ability. Many people do not want a relationship with a God who is sovereign and omnipotent. So they imagine God as being more of a mystical force than a personal and sovereign ruler.

The existence of so many religions is not an argument against God’s existence or an argument that truth about God is not clear. Rather, the existence of so many religions is demonstration of humanity’s rejection of the one true God. Mankind has replaced Him with gods that are more to their liking. This is a dangerous enterprise. The desire to recreate God in our own image comes from the sin nature within usa nature that will eventually reap destruction (Galatians 6:7-8).

Do all religions lead to God? Actually they do. All but one leads to His judgment. Only one — Christianity–leads to His forgiveness and eternal life. No matter what religion one embraces, everyone will meet God after death (Hebrews 9:27). All religions lead to God, but only one religion will result in God’s acceptance, because only through His salvation through faith in Jesus Christ can anyone approach Him with confidence. The decision to embrace the truth about God is important for a simple reason: eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong. This is why right thinking about God is so critical.

Recommended Resource:
Jesus Among Other gods by Ravi Zacharias

Question: “Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important?”

Answer:
The resurrection of Jesus is important for several reasons. First, it witnesses to the immense power of God Himself. To believe in the resurrection is to believe in God. If God exists, and if He created the universe and has power over it, He has power to raise the dead. If He does not have such power, He is not a God worthy of our faith and worship. Only He who created life can resurrect it after death, only He can reverse the hideousness that is death itself, and only He can remove the sting that is death and the victory that is the graves (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). In resurrecting Jesus from the grave, God reminds us of His absolute sovereignty over life and death.

Second, the resurrection of Jesus is a testimony to the resurrection of human beings, which is a basic tenet of the Christian faith. Unlike all other religions, Christianity alone possesses a founder who transcends death and who promises that His followers will do the same. All other religions were founded by men and prophets whose end was the grave. As Christians, we take comfort in the fact that our God became man, died for our sins, and was resurrected the third day. The grave could not hold Him. He lives, and He sits today at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul explains in detail the importance of the resurrection of Christ. Some in Corinth did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and in this chapter Paul gives six disastrous consequences if there were no resurrection: 1) preaching Christ would be senseless (v. 14); 2) faith in Christ would be useless (v. 14); 3) all the witnesses and preachers of the resurrection would be liars (v. 15); 4) no one would be redeemed from sin (v. 17); 5) all former believers would have perished (v.18); and 6) Christians would be the most pitiable people on the earth (v. 19). But Christ indeed has risen from the dead and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep (v. 20), assuring that we will follow Him in resurrection.

The inspired Word of God guarantees the believer’s resurrection at the coming of Jesus Christ for His Body (the Church) at the Rapture. Such hope and assurance results in a great song of triumph as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:55, Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

How do these concluding verses relate to the importance of the resurrection? Paul answers, …you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (v. 58). He reminds us that because we know we will be resurrected to new life, we can suffer persecution and danger for Christs sake (vv. 29-31), just as He did. We can follow the example of the thousands of martyrs through history who gladly traded their earthly lives for everlasting life via the resurrection.

The resurrection is the triumphant and glorious victory for every believer. Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose the third day according to the Scripture. And, He is coming again! The dead in Christ will be raised up, and those who remain and are alive at His coming will be changed and receive new, glorified bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important to salvation? It demonstrated that God accepted Jesus sacrifice on our behalf. It proves that God has the power to raise us from the dead. It guarantees that those who believe in Christ will not remain dead, but will be resurrected unto eternal life. That is our blessed hope!

Recommended Resource:
The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary Habermas.

Originally here.

Imagine Being This Close To Jesus Christ, And Yet So Far

We are in Luke Chapter 22. It is the Passover, a most holy and sacred time for every Jew, for every Israeli, and we read that Satan entered Judas Iscariot. He was one of the twelve, one of Jesus men; yet, his heart is open to evil. The enemy of our souls needs only a very narrow gap through which to squeeze, and once he gets in, havoc follows.

Unsurrendered sin takes over. Judas was the man who would never call Jesus LORD. He would call Him, Master and Teacher, but Lord, NO. You can question a man who is only a master. You can disagree with a teacher, but you never argue with the Lord. When Jesus is LORD, there has to be total surrender and obedience.

Judas was playing with fire in more ways than one. We cannot toy with sin and think we can control it. The only one thing we can do with sin is acknowledge it, and confess it, and get it washed away and forgiven, or it might powerfully spring to life.

Verse 4. Judas went to make plans as to how he could betray Jesus. He chose to be in company he should never been in. He was with the wrong crowd. It was not that he fell into wrong company. He chose wrong company, and that is the same today.

We do not fall into wrong company. We choose it. We decide.

Turn to the first Psalm and read of this basic spiritual principle. So often I have been told that so-and-so fell into bad company and that is what went wrong. No. We choose our company, and we need to teach our people that. They need to be made aware of this vital truth.

For Judas it was too late, and they were delighted. No wonder. Now they had somebody to do their dirty work for them, and it was someone on the inside.

Over these next hours Judas became a pathetic tool of hell, and soon he ends up hanging himself. He was leading a double life and it was discovered. He was found out. He appeared to be the same as the other disciples, but he wasn't, and soon it became obvious. Some things you cannot hide.

Oh what some people will do for money, but they do not keep their gains for very long. No, they cannot keep these kinds of riches for very long; just a few hours in this case; maybe a few years in some other cases.

Let this be a solemn warning to each of us. We dare not try to live a double life. We dare not try to play with fire. We will get burned. Make no mistake about that.

Unconfessed sin has a way of exploding, and it can damage us in all kinds of ways, and seldom is it superficial. It certainly was not superficial in the case of Judas.

Originally here:
Word from Scotland

Author bio:
Alexander “Sandy” Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness – on the Moray Firth Coast – not far from the Loch Ness Monster!

Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.

Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40 a.m., New Orleans time, at wsho.com.

"Resurrection of the Christ" will focus on the hours just before and after Jesus' return from the grave.

Indie film producer and director Billy McKay, alongside director Jonas McCord (“The Body,” 2001, starring Antonio Banderas), is set to take the reins of “Resurrection of the Christ,” according to weekly entertainment magazine “Variety.” Armed with a $20 million budget, the religious drama is scheduled for a ten week shoot on location in Morocco, Israel and throughout much of Europe, beginning in July.

The film is being hailed as the sequel to Director/Producer Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ,” which has raked in an astonishing $611 million worldwide since its release, according to Box Office Mojo. “Resurrection,” however, has no official ties to “The Passion” and will not share any of the same actors or parent production companies.

Screenwriter Dan Gordon will be penning the film’s screenplay and script, which will focus on the “power, greed and ambition of those involved in the crucifixion—Pontius Pilate, Herod, Caiaphas and Judas,” according to “Variety” and reports from “The Christian Post.”

McKay, who was one of the three producers behind “Billy: The Early Years” (2008), told “Variety” Magazine, “It’s as much about the key players as it is about Jesus. We want to bring in the ‘Gladiator’ dimension of the first century against the political milieu of the time.”

There has been no official cast list released. “Resurrection of the Christ” will be distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films of “Amazing Grace” (2006) and “Fireproof” (2008) fame and is slated to release Easter weekend 2011.

At ibelieve.com, Franklin Graham (in association with Christianity.com) asks “Can We Find 1,000,000 to Proclaim ‘I am a Christian’?”

How does he want you to do it? By signing a petition.

A personal message from Graham on the site says, “At a time when God’s truth is being attacked on all sides, now more than ever, Christians need to take a stand and declare their faith in Jesus Christ. I’m Franklin Graham and I want to encourage you to join the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Christianity.com in declaring your faith.”

Sounds good, right? Are you ready to join the 110,000 or so who have signed the petition?

I’m not.

Even though Graham does a good job of selling this petition, I’m not sure why anybody would want to sign this.

Let me explain. I’m a Christian. I have been a Christian for the past decade, and I don’t have anything against Franklin Graham or the Billy Graham Evangelical Association.

I just don’t understand the difference signing this petition makes.  It just seems like something else to do…another box to tick in a numbers game.

And then, since there’s the confusion about what goes for Christianity these days, could you really trust the signatures you got?

Although 76 percent of Americans claim to be Christian, recent studies show that they pick and choose their beliefs like they are at a spiritual buffet.

Nearly one-quarter dabble in astrology and believe in reincarnation even though astrology is forbidden in the Bible (See Deut. 18:9-12), and one of the distinguishing features of historical Christianity is the denial of reincarnation.

As much as I hear and see Franklin Graham proclaiming Jesus on television and when he comes to town with a crusade, I know he wouldn’t want people who are looking for cool points with Jesus or those who actually need to be converted signing his petition.

And therein lies the problem.

When you have a petition that will accept anybody calling himself a Christian, the chaff is bound to slip in with the wheat.

Christianity and Christ deserve more than statistical Christianity.

If the petition urged Christians to take action by becoming Biblically literate, so that they would know what offends God and what doesn’t or if it called American Christians to live holy lives, I would be all for it because then it would mean something.

It wouldn’t seem like an “I’ve got more people on my side than you’ve got on your side” sort of thing.

It would be a rallying cry for Christians to consecrate themselves before the God they profess to serve.