Presbyterians Week Headlines
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The only Ten Commandments monument visible on Capitol Hill has been toppled face-down to the ground by vandals (photo). The 850-pound steel reinforced sculpture sits in the front garden of the Honorable William J. Ostrowksi House on Capitol Hill, the headquarters for Faith and Action, a Christian outreach ministry to top-level government officials in Washington DC. The three-foot by three-foot granite monolith was installed in 2006 after a five-year legal battle with numerous government agencies. The damage occurred sometime between Friday night, 20 September 2013 and Saturday night 21 September 2013. A stolen "For Rent" sign was also stuck in front of the area.
"After all we went through to place this beautiful tribute to God's Law in full view of the Supreme Court and U.S. Capitol buildings, it's heartbreaking to see it in this condition," said the Rev. Rob Schenck, president and lead missionary of Faith and Action. "But we're as determined to repair and re-install it now as we were seven years ago when we did it the first time. The Great Words of Sinai will be seen again here on Capitol Hill."
Reformed Presbyterian minister and Christian Defense Coalition director the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, who collaborated with Schenck and with the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Johnson, pastor of Seaman United Methodist Church in Adams County, Ohio and representative of the Adams County Ten Commandments Committee to bring the monument to Washington DC, said of the vandalism, "Any time a symbol of faith is attacked it must be deemed a hate crime. This is the same as defacing a synagogue or mosque. It's outrageous and must be condemned by all people of conscience."
A 24 September 2013 news conference held by Faith and Action reviewed the discovery of the vandalism and its report to the police, the history of the Ten Commandments Display, and pastor Johnson reported the following facts about the monument vandalism:
-- An eight-man crew, a hydraulic lift, and a truck were required to place the monument.
-- The tablets were installed with a steel reinforcement bar as well as special concrete paste to adhere them to the concrete base.
-- To topple the monument, it would take at least eight men pushing with all their might or someone might have thrown a strap or rope around the display and used a truck to pull it over.
-- The fact that this could happen in the most secure neighborhood in Washington, DC—within ten paces of the Supreme Court police kiosk that guards the justices’ private entrance to the Court—even adds to the mystery.
Pastor Schenk reported that the crime is being taken seriously, and that Faith and Action will use all available means to discover the perpetrators, including a formal request to the Supreme Court for the video from the cameras that line the street. Schenk appealed to those who committed the terrible act to voluntarily identify themselves and told the press that Faith and Action will not press charges against the perpetrators if they will agree to come to a private lunch in the Faith and Action facility and tell the organization what it is about the Ten Commandments they find so offensive that would cause them to commit this crime. They must, however, also allow the organization to tell them why the Ten Commandments are so important.
[Editor’s Note: The editor, who is a friend of both pastors Schenk and Mahoney, and a fellow presbytery member with Pastor Mahoney, commends Faith and Action for their willingness to pursue reconciliation with the perpetrators of this vandalism, and hopes that if the perpetrators identify themselves that Faith and Action will additionally seek to have the perpetrators make restitution for the costs to repair the damage to the Ten Commandments monument, thus following the biblical model for addressing this type of crime (http://americanvision.org/2480/the-biblical-doctrine-of-restitution/#sthash.PqnHb0QR.PVB9uqp5.dpbs).
The editor additionally and respectfully suggests that the term “hate crime” not be used, as it is a synonym for the Marxist concept of a “thought crime”, i.e. a perpetrator should be punished with an additional criminal charge if the judicial authorities deem that the perpetrator’s motivation for a crime involved what authorities determine to be improper thoughts. A “hate crime” or a “thought crime” is but one aspect of political correctness, which the late Paul Weyrich termed “Cultural Marxism”, and is a philosophy completely antithetical to Christianity. All crime and all sin -- all violations of God’s Law demonstrate hatred towards God and/or one’s fellow man.]
+ Faith and Action in the Nation’s Capital, 109 Second Avenue Northeast, Washington DC 20002, 202-546-8329, Fax: 202-546-6864, Info@FaithAndAction.org
+ Christian Defense Coalition, Post Office Box 77168, Washington DC 20013, 202-547-1735, ChristianDefense@gmail.com
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
Reformed Presbyterian and Director of the Christian Defense Coalition the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney will leave for Turkey on Sunday, 29 September 2013 in an attempt to secure the release of Pastor Saeed, the U.S. citizen and former Iranian citizen who has been jailed for one year in Iran.
While in Turkey, Pastor Mahoney will meet with Iranian officials in attempt to secure a meeting in Tehran with President Rouhani and Iranian government leaders to discuss Pastor Saeed.
Pastor Mahoney commented:
"Around the world, every person should be afforded the right to express their faith traditions free from government persecution, harassment and intimidation. No one should have to suffer violence or brutality because of what they believe.
"I am flying to Turkey/Iran in hopes of securing the release of Pastor Saeed who is serving an eight year prison sentence because of his Christian beliefs.
"I will be appealing to the new Iranian leadership which has expressed a desire to have a more open and moderate attitude toward human rights and personal freedoms and work toward building better relationships with their global neighbors.
"On this historic mission, I will not be going as a 'representative of the United States government,' but rather as a faith leader sharing the heart of Christ and calling upon Iran's leaders to show compassion and mercy and allow Saeed to return to his family in America.
"The power of faith transcends governments and leaders and can transform nations and societies. If I have the opportunity to meet with President Rouhani, I will not be speaking to him on a political level but rather as one faith leader to another."
The Christian Defense Coalition is additionally working with the American Center for Law and Justice and Naghmeh Abedini (Pastor Saeed's wife) on a prayer vigil and public witness scheduled in front of the White House on Thursday, 26 September 2013 at 2:00 p.m. The prayer vigil will be on the closed portion of Pennsylvania Ave. NW in front of the White House across from Lafayette Park.
26 September marks the one year anniversary of Pastor Saeed's imprisonment, and over seventy-five prayer vigils are being held in America and around the world calling for his release and praying for religious freedom.
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Christian Defense Coalition, Post Office Box 77168, Washington DC 20013, 202-547-1735, ChristianDefense@gmail.com
Internet Evangelist and the founder of Liveprayer.com the Rev. Bill Keller says that Pope Francis, the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, along with FOX News Host Bill O'Reilly, are both an embarrassment to Jesus and Christianity.
Pope Francis recently stated in an interview, "The church has grown obsessed with abortion, gay marriage and contraception," adding that, "I have chosen not to talk about those issues." His rationale for not dealing with these critical spiritual issues the Bible clearly calls sin is that he wants the church to be more inclusive.
On his TV program, Keller stated, "There is nothing wrong with the church reaching out to those who are not followers of Jesus Christ. That is one of the churches greatest missions. However, you don't do that by being silent on sins that are not only destroying the nation, but individual lives." Keller went on, "The only reason the sins of homosexuality and abortion are spoken of more than other sins is because those who deny Christ and the Truth of the Bible by supporting these sins have forced society to accept these choices as normal and acceptable behavior. Have you ever been to a thieves pride parade?"
Keller, who over the years has publicly debated homosexual and gay rights advocates as well as those who support the legalized murder of innocent babies, says that it has been the silence of Christians which has allowed the sin of homosexuality and the murder of approximately 4,000 babies every twenty-four hours to become an acceptable part of our culture.
Keller also stated that there is no such thing as an "LGBT community," since nobody is born a lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or someone other than the sex God created them as. Keller says, "Just because someone has CHOSEN to engage in unnatural, unhealthy, perverted sexual acts with people of the same sex, both sexes, or have tried to change the gender God created them as, only makes them people in bondage to sin like those who choose to abuse alcohol, drugs, or any other addictive and destructive behavior people choose to engage in."
Keller has publicly lambasted MSNBC and their on-air talent, especially the one he calls "the faux Reverend" Al Sharpton and CINO (Catholic In Name Only) Chris Matthews, for supporting, glorifying, and cheerleading for special rights for people who choose to engage in sexual perversion, the attempt to re-define God's Holy Institution of Marriage and the family, as well as those who advocate for the legal murder of innocent babies under the guise of "women's health issues."
Keller said in a recent interview, "You can't go on mainstream TV and share with people the love of Jesus or the Gospel, but you can applaud and support people who choose to engage in perverted sexual acts and those who choose to kill their baby. During the Sandy Hook tragedy there was endless talk by President Obama, those in his administration and his media minions about the poor children. What about the approximately 4,000 'poor children' who are slaughtered every twenty-four hours in this nation?"
Keller, who has appeared numerous times over the years on the FOX News program "The O'Reilly Factor," recently lambasted host Bill O'Reilly for calling Christians who believe the Bible to be God's inspired, inerrant Word "Bible thumpers," a common pejorative used to demean Bible-believing Christians. O'Reilly ignored Keller's US$10,000 offer to debate the issue with the FOX audience deciding who the winner would be, hiding under his desk as he mocks those who refuse to come on his program O'Reilly has stated often he does NOT believe the Bible to be literally true, but a book of allegories and good moral stories.
Keller has warned that O'Reilly's upcoming book, "Killing Jesus" will be full of his perverted theology which Keller describes as a mix of liberal Catholicism and New Age mysticism. Keller went on to state that nothing demonstrates O'Reilly's theological ignorance more than the premise of his new book on why Jesus was killed. On his FOX News program in March O'Reilly stated, "I'm researching killing Jesus. Do you know why Jesus was killed by the Romans? You don't know and you shouldn't know because it was about taxes, taxes!"
Keller replied, "Jesus was not killed because of taxes or for inciting some sort of tax revolt. Quite the opposite. He clearly taught the people to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. It was the Jewish religious leaders who plotted to kill Jesus since he was interfering with their 'business,' much like most of the church world today is little more than a business. They allowed Jesus to admit He was God, which according to Jewish Law was a blasphemous statement, and than used the Roman occupiers as their instrument to kill Jesus."
Keller concluded, "Theologically, the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus was born ultimately to die on the cross as the one-time perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.” Pope O'Reilly's' flawed theology will only help lead the masses astray, since the better percentage of the last two generations have never been to church and less than ten percent of those who do go to church have ever read the entire Bible cover to cover. It will also give the enemies of Christ, especially those in the Godless media and people like Christ-hater Bill Maher, ammunition to justify their rejection of Biblical Truth and that faith in Jesus is the only plan of salvation."
Keller ended by saying, "O'Reilly in his arrogance and theological ignorance doesn't understand that the killing of Jesus was ultimately about one thing, God's one and only plan to redeem fallen man in order that His creation could have an eternal relationship with their Creator!"
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ The Vatican, Città del Vaticano, Rome, Italy, 39-6-69-88-35-11, Fax: 39-6-69-88-54-47, Contact Page
+ Fox News, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036, 888-369-4762, Fax: 212-462-6127, yourquestions@foxnews.com
