2 November 2011

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] Christian Observer Highlights for November 2011

[2] Former Free Church of Scotland Minister Inducted 29 October 2011 into the Pastorate of a New Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland Congregation in Stornaway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

[3] Church of Scotland Moderator Joins Syncretistic Group to Hear Pope Benedict XVI Speak in Assisi, Italy

[4] Presbyterian Church of Ghana Official Condemns British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Threat to Cut Aid to Countries that Do Not Accept Pro-Homosexual Legislation

[5] Burmese Army Targets Christian Civilians in War on Insurgents - Troops Attack Churches in Kachin State Conflict

[6] Influence of Muslim Brotherhood Within Obama Administration Exposed by Egyptian Writer Dr. Essam Abdallah

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[1] Christian Observer Highlights for November 2011

New articles in the Christian Observer for November 2011 include:

-- Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Lexington, Virginia, Moves to New Building – by Christian Observer Managing Editor Bob Williams – Fifty-nine year-old Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Lexington, Virginia, moves into their new church building after ten years of planning; and,

-- Sex Education and Homosexuality? – by Christian Observer Contributing Editor Dr. Joe Renfro – the Homosexual Agenda as it is being played out in the public schools, and the bullying being done by the homosexual lobby to anyone professing traditional Judeo-Christian tenets of human sexuality;

Plus, regular features including weekly Sabbath School Lessons and Westminster Shorter Catechism lessons by Christian Observer Assistant Editor Dr. Robert LaMay, and Daily Devotionals by T.M. Moore, dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe.

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+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 24450, christianobserver@christianobserver.org


[2] Former Free Church of Scotland Minister Inducted 29 October 2011 into the Pastorate of a New Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland Congregation in Stornaway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

A 31 October 2011 Stornoway Gazette article titled “Minister inducted to New Western Isles Church” reports that on 29 October 2011, former Free Church of Scotland (FCS) minister the Rev. David Karoon was inducted into the pastorate of a new Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland (RPCS) congregation in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland - the first RPCS congregation in the Western Isles of Scotland – and the first RPCS congregation in the Scottish Highlands since 1876.

Mr. Karoon left the FCS after the denomination voted to add uninspired hymns and instrumental music to what had been until then exclusive a capella psalmody.


+ Stornoway Gazette, 10 Francis Street, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis HS12XE, Scotland, 01851-702-687, newsdesk@stornowaygazette.co.uk

+ Free Church of Scotland, 15 North Bank Street, The Mound, Edinburgh, Scotland EH1 2LS, 0131-226-5286, Fax: 0131-220-0597, catherine@freechurchofscotland.org.uk

+ Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, c/o the Rev. Andrew Quigley, RPCS Clerk, Linden House, Westermavisbank Avenue, Airdrie, ML6 0HD Scotland, 01236-753971, SAndrewQ@aol.com


[3] Church of Scotland Moderator Joins Syncretistic Group to Hear Pope Benedict XVI Speak in Assisi, Italy

Church of Scotland Moderator the Right Reverend David Arnott joined with 300 religious leaders including Buddhists, atheists, humanists, Lutherans, Methodists, and a plethora of other nominal Christians and non-Christians in Assisi, Italy, as Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI led a day-long prayer service for world peace.

Mr. Arnott said: “It was a much bigger event on a world scale that any of us thought or imagined it would be and was a wonderful occasion. Repeatedly voices were heard condemning the link between violence and religion.

“True religion is the way of peace. True religion is peace. Not only were there people present from every world church and faith, the Pope had invited indigenous religions from Africa and also non-believers and humanists to take part.

“This was a splendid example of cross cultural co-operation and a paradigm for our own church, where we too need to embrace our society much more fully. We need to learn to co-operate with everyone at every level to build the community and society we wish in Scotland.”

Arnott also visited Rome as a guest of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.


+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722

+ The Vatican, Città del Vaticano, Rome, Italy, 39-6-69-88-35-11, Fax: 39-6-69-88-54-47, Contact Page


[4] Presbyterian Church of Ghana Official Condemns British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Threat to Cut Aid to Countries that Do Not Accept Pro-Homosexual Legislation

A 1 November 2011 Ghana Broadcasting Corporation article titled “Ghana: British PM Under Attack for Gay Rights Comments” reports that the Rev. Dr. Bugri Nagbo, Northern Regional Chairman of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, has condemned recent comments of British Prime Minister David Cameron threatening to cut off aid to countries that do not accept pro-homosexual legislation.

Dr. Nagbo said that Ghana is a decent and well-behaved country, and that it is imperative that Ghana maintain its sovereignty and not kowtow to pressures to exchange legislation for money. He called for all political parties, religious organizations, and youth groups to stand against such ungodliness, as acquiescence to these pressures will doom the country of Ghana.

Dr. Nagbo additionally said that countries that offer aid to developing countries in exchange for discarding their cultural values, are engaging in racism and in bullying behavior. He too advised the government of Ghana to disregard the comments of the British Prime Minister, as the government would lose its popularity if they were to enact pro-homosexual legislation in exchange for foreign aid money.


+ Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Post Office Box GP 1633, Accra, Ghana, 233-21-786567, Fax: 233-21-773247, dg@gbcghana.com

+ Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Post Office Box GP 1800, Accra, Ghana, 233-21-662511, Fax: 233-21-665594, pcghg@yahoo.com


[5] Burmese Army Targets Christian Civilians in War on Insurgents - Troops Attack Churches in Kachin State Conflict

By Michael Ireland
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

NEW DELHI, INDIA (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) reports that a recent attack on Christians and church buildings by Burmese soldiers in Kachin state showed that Christian civilians are targeted in the military offensive against insurgents.

“Targeting of Christians is not unusual in Burma’s conflict zones,” Nawdin Lahpai, editor-in-chief of the Kachin News Group, told Compass by phone, referring to the Oct. 16 military firing at a church, detention of a priest and four parishioners, and burning of church property in Kachin state.

“The incident reflects the long-time policy of the Buddhist-Burman-majority Burmese government, which discriminates against the ethnic Christian minority,” Lahpai said.

CDN explains that about 90 percent of the roughly 56 million people in Burma (also known as Myanmar) are Buddhist, mostly from the Burman ethnic group.

CDN stated that armed and unarmed ethnic Kachins have struggled for independence or autonomy from successive military-led regimes for decades.

Compass also stated that in the Oct. 16 attack, about 150 soldiers stormed Nam San Yang village in the Daw Phung Yang area of Bhamo District in Kachin state, which borders China, according to Mizzima, a Delhi-based news organization run by Burmese journalists.

Compass added that members of a Catholic church who were preparing for Sunday mass heard gunfire and saw soldiers approaching them. They lay on the ground as the army men opened fire at them. No one was hurt.

The soldiers caught Catholic priest Jan Ma Aung Li and four other men. “They said that all males in the village were people’s militiamen and KIO staff,” Mizzima quoted Aung Li as saying.


+ Assist USA, Post Office Box 609, Lake Forest, California 92609, 949-380-1558, danjuma1@aol.com

+ Compass Direct News Service, Post Office Box 27250, Santa Ana, California 92799, 949-862-0304, Fax: 949-752-6536, info@compassdirect.org


[6] Influence of Muslim Brotherhood Within Obama Administration Exposed by Egyptian Writer Dr. Essam Abdallah

NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Dr. Essam Abdallah, an Egyptian liberal intellectual, today stated in his article published on FamilySecurityMatters.org's website, that the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iranian regime and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Libya and Jordan now comprise what is becoming the greatest Islamist radical lobby ever to penetrate and infiltrate the White House, Congress, the State Department and the main decision making centers of the US government.

Dr. Abdallah says that “all of this is happening at a time when the US government is going through its most strategically dangerous period in modern times because of its need to confront the Iranian Mullahs regime, which is expanding in the Middle East, as well as penetrating the United States, via powerful and influential allies.” He also points out that Islamist dominance is spreading throughout the Mediterranean, and then makes the explosive charge that “These developments wouldn't have happened without the approval of the United States.”

Dr. Abdallah also points out that, at the same time, the visit of Maronite Patriarch (the Maronites are an Eastern rite Catholic Church) Rahi to Washington was canceled while Coptic Christian churches are being destroyed in Egypt, and “Coptic demonstrators are massacred at Maspero in Cairo by the Egyptian military, demonstrating that the goal is to suppress Christians in the Middle East, who are...paying a high price for the revolts of the Arab Spring.” Millions of Iraqi and Middle Eastern Christians are fleeing their homelands as a result of events in Iraq, and some are even facing not only ethnic cleansing but a form of genocide.

In commenting on Dr. Abdallah's article, Carol Taber, President of FamilySecurityMatters.org, said this. “My question to this administration is "Who has orchestrated this mishandling of Middle Eastern policy in a manner that is so dangerous to the interests of the United States? Why do we seem to be siding with Islamist forces that are dedicated to the Islamization of the Middle East, and not to other elements and people who are dedicated to those values America holds dear? And why?”


+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com

+ Family Security Foundation, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, #298, Washington DC 20006, Renee@FamilySecurityMatters.org