HEZBOLLAH HAS FEW SUPPORTERS AMONG BITTER CHRISTIANS

Source: Compiled by APN from newspaper reports

Wissam Andruous's family home lies in ruins after the war between Israel and Lebanon's Shiite Muslim militia, Hezbollah.Plastic sheeting flaps over a hole where a bomb ripped the side of the house in the Christian village of Ain Ibl in southern Lebanon. Only the mattress springs remain of a charred room where three of his younger brothers used to sleep.

"We are Christians and do not belong to any party," said Mr Andruous, a video technician and father of two, who has a brother living in Sydney. "What if we rebuild this house and they make war again? How can I live with my children here?" he said.

While Hezbollah has claimed victory it is no triumph for many who have lost their livelihood and property in the violence. Although many Shiite Muslims support Hezbollah, members of other communities caught in the crossfire of the war do not.

"How can it be a victory when most of southern Lebanon has been destroyed?" asked Elias Hasrouni, a Maronite Christian. "There is no work, many people have left, many have died, and houses are damaged. Is this a victory?"

Imad Khoury, the head of the local council, said his town is surrounded by Hezbollah missile batteries. Hezbollah is dispensing up to $US12,000 to people who have lost property in the war, but he says he will not accept it. "We don't want to be indebted to Hezbollah," he said.

Residents who fled the town during the war returned to find bloodstains on their couches, or dirty handtowels where Hezbollah fighters had used their toilets. Mr Hasrouni said, "although many locals did not support this war, they could not stop it.

"I do not like Hezbollah and I am disappointed with this war because Israel didn't really do the job, although I really don't believe anyone could disarm Hezbollah." When Israel ended a decades-long occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah assumed control of the rural area.  Its intelligence networks prevailed and people grew fearful of speaking out against them.  

Mr Andruous, who is not interested in politics, wants to leave Lebanon with his young family. Standing in the ruins of his living room he said "I cannot live here any more."

SEVERAL CORE RELIGIOUS BEHAVIOURS SHOWING INCREASE IN PAST DECADE

Source: The Barna Group

New data from the annual survey of religious behaviour and beliefs conducted in the USA by The Barna Group reveals that there has been a significant increase in religious activity in five of the seven core religious behaviours studied by the company.

The most prolific jump in activity relates to Bible reading. Bible readership plummeted to a 20-year low of just 31% in 1995, but  finally returning to the 40% mark in 2000. After several years of stalled growth, increases began again in 2004, continuing through 2006, when Bible readership hit 47% of adults reading the Book during a typical week, other than when they are at church. That is the highest readership level achieved since the 1980s, according to the Barna tracking data.

Church attendance has increased slowly in recent years. While we have not returned to the 49% of adults who attended in a typical week as recorded in 1991, there has been a significant rebound from the 37% recorded in 1996, to 47% in 2006.

Involvement in small groups that meet for Bible study, prayer or personal relationships, other than Sunday school or Christian education classes, has reached a new high in 2006. Currently, nearly one out of every four adults (23%) is engaged in such a gathering during a typical week. A decade ago, one out of every six adults (17%) did so.

Church volunteerism, after experiencing the same mid-Nineties doldrums as most other religious behaviours, has returned to its 1991 level of 27%. Volunteering at a church has been one of the more stable measures during the past 15 years, ranging from a low of 20% to the current high.

Even adult Sunday school attendance has risen in recent years. Once a mainstay of Protestant churches, Sunday school lost its cache in the Nineties, but seems to be on the rebound as evidenced by attendance numbers that reached 24% in this year's tracking survey. That is up considerably from the 17% mark recorded in 1995 and in 1996.

The only two religious behaviours which did not reflect significant change were prayer and evangelism.

Slightly more than four out of five adults (84%) claimed they had prayed in the past week. That has been the case since Barna began tracking the frequency of prayer in 1993.

The research showed that there has been no significant change in the number of people sharing their faith during the past decade, with six out of ten Christians claiming to have shared about Jesus with someone whom they knew to be a non believer.

Barna also pointed out the there has been recent growth in the percentage of adults who are born again and a stabilizing of the percentage of adults who are unchurched. But the researcher cautioned against drawing too many grandiose conclusions from the data, noting that there is often an ebb and flow to such measurements. "If we see stability or even minimal growth in all of these measures over the next year or two, then we can confidently suggest that the U.S. is genuinely experiencing meaningful change in people's religious habits. Until we have such confirmation, which only comes with time, we certainly have a reason to hope that Americans are taking God more seriously, and a motivation for believers to pray more fervently that such a commitment will take root in our culture."

INDONESIA - CHURCHES TO ABANDON NOMADIC CELL GROUP SYSTEM

Source: Intercessors Network

A local council in West Java has warned several congregations to abandon their "nomadic" cell group system, which allows limited numbers of Christians to meet together in private homes. In letters to the churches, the council has warned Christians to stop meeting in buildings that were converted some years ago into permanent-though unregistered-worship facilities.  

 A joint decree issued in 1969, by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, requires all religious groups to seek permission from neighbours and district officials before they build or establish a place of worship. Since Christians are a distinct minority in Indonesia, the decree has made it virtually impossible to secure church permits.

Pray God will keep the Christians strong in their faith and guide them to places where they can continue to meet and worship.

Pray their witness of love and peace will lead many to seek their Lord and Saviour.

Pray the Holy Spirit will enlighten Muslim authorities to the reality of Jesus' love for them.

POLL SUPPORTS CLAIM THAT BRITAIN IS STILL A CHRISTIAN NATION

Source: The Telegraph UK

The vast majority of Britons think that Christian values are good for the country even if they do not personally believe in God, according to a recently released survey.  The report noted that 74 percent of those questioned said that children should be brought up with Christian values and 71 percent agreed that Christianity should continue to be taught in schools.  A full 27 percent of the population also reportedly said that they still regarded the Bible as a reliable guide to how they ought to live. The poll will encourage those who argue that Britain remains an essentially Christian country despite growing secularism.  

Joel Edwards, the general director of the Evangelical Alliance, one of the organizations who conducted the poll, said the results show that "millions of people recognized the positive benefits of Christian values.  Forgiveness, respect, hope and trust are rooted in the Christian faith and they are the antidote to a culture that is being railroaded into an individualistic, rights-orientated mentality," Mr Edwards said.

BIBLE READ FOR 90 CONTINUOUS HOURS ON LAWN OF UNITED STATES CAPITOL

Source: Breaking Christian News

In a lead up to a week of prayer for the nation the International Bible Reading Association (IBRA) recently held the 17th annual U.S. Capitol Bible Reading Marathon. "I believe God is using this vision to call this nation back to the simplicity of God's Holy Word, the Bible," remarked Rev. Michael Hall, pastor of the Peoples' Church, and executive director of the IBRA. "All of the participants -- workers, organizations, churches, legislators, and clergy -- come here for one reason alone, to honour the Bible, God's Word, by reading it without comment or interruption from beginning to end."

The marathon ended with the reading in unison of the last two chapters of Revelation.  Prayer stations were made available throughout the entire 90 hour event, for people to lift up intercession for the U.S.A.

CITY AMAZED BY GIRL'S FORGIVENESS FOR MAN WHO PARALYSED HER

Source: Breaking Christian News

Five-year old Kai Leigh of Roxbury, Mass. was paralysed at the age of three by a stray bullet shot by Anthony Warren. In an "emotionally wrenching" victim-impact statement, members of her family reportedly told a Suffolk Superior Court judge that the shooting had changed their lives forever, but had also shown them the value of forgiveness. Many spectators in the court broke down in tears as Kai said she wanted to forgive Warren for what he did to her.

Tonya David, Kai's mother and a devoted member of Jubilee Christian Church, said ''We live in a world today that seems to want people to be bitter and angry, but I don't want bitterness and anger in my life, and I don't want that for Kai Leigh. We are Christians. I tried very hard from the depths of my soul to hate Anthony, but it wouldn't come out."

Television footage played nationwide showed David hugging Warren, 29, after he apologized for shooting her daughter and just before he was sentenced to 13 to 15 years in state prison. ''I whispered in his ear: 'Here is your chance for a new beginning. Don't let God down,' " said David.  

Asked by a reporter why she forgave the man who shot her, the 5 year old Kai said 'I know he didn't mean to do it."

''This is a city known for grudges," said the Rev. William Dickerson of the Greater Love Tabernacle in Dorchester. ''One of the great acts of Christianity is being able to forgive, and Kai Leigh is the quintessential ambassador of forgiveness." Mayor Thomas M. Menino, grandfather of a 5-year-old girl himself, said he was "stunned" by Kai Leigh's message of forgiveness. It really sends a message, especially to young people, that, yes, sometimes you do have forgive when a wrong has been done to you".