How Can I Say There is No God When All Around Creation Calls

"How can I say there is no God when all around creation calls," sings Brian Doersksen as you view amazing BBC Planet Earth footage in a video produced by The Branch Church in Texas.

Take a break; watch this video on the Flourish Blog. It's a worship experience; a visual and audio illustration of Romans 1:20.

Leading Evangelical Climate Change Critic Apologizes

Global warming denier and the lead evangelical debater on the topic apologized for extreme and distasteful promotional copy printed about his workshop at the Family Research Council Values Voter Summit this weekend.

Rusty Pritchard and I attended the workshop; Rusty writes about Cal Beisner's mea culpa (and his gracious words).

--Jim Jewell

ChildVoice Helps Heal Two Former "Wives" of LRA's Jospehy Kony

Among the previously abducted child mothers at the ChildVoice center in Uganda are two former wives--kidnapped at ages 8 and 10--of LRA leader Josephy Kony. Article on the girls in The Guardian in the UK, and soon on BBC.

Likely the Most Diverse Christian Pastors’ Conference in History

More than 40 Christian leaders and pastors from every continent will teach evangelistic and networking strategies at what certainly must be the most denominationally and internationally diverse pastors’ conference in history: Synergize 2, January 19-21, 2010 in Orlando, Florida.

The speakers represent some 115 million congregation members in their local churches and organizations. The Synergize 2 Pastor Conference presenters will teach on mobilizing leaders, multiplying disciples, and maximizing ministries.
The diversity starts with the co-sponsors: Leon Fontaine of Winnipeg, Canada; James O. Davis of Orlando, Florida; Suliasi Kurulo of Suva, Fiji; and Jonathan Falwell of Lynchburg, Virginia.

Is God Boring? Not so, says James O. Davis in Gutenberg to Google

“The power of the presentation is derived by the person who gives it. If the preacher is boring to the congregation, people will think God is boring.”

From Gutenberg to Google by Dr. James O. Davis

Sinful Preaching? From Gutenberg to Google by James O. Davis

“I have become convinced of what I learned in my first year of seminary, that it is a sin to bore people with the Gospel.” From Gutenberg to Google, by James O. Davis

LifeQwest Still Saving Street Kids in Mongolia

When my wife and I visited Mongolia in 2004 with LifeQwest founders Jerry and Susan Smith, we were shocked by the unimaginable conditions for the homeless and indigent, primarily because of the dangerous cold. We were also greatly impressed by the holistic care that LifeQwest was providing to orphaned, abandoned, and unwanted children in Darhan, in the northern reaches of the country.

I wrote about LifeQwest and Mongolia in Christianity Today:

"It's been a dark time in Mongolia following the change of government and the collapse of the economy," a local Christian pastor told me. "People have had little consideration for each other, so when we demonstrate the love of Christ for others, it is noticeable, and it makes a difference."

In Darhan, 15 youngsters swarm visitors at an apartment as a newly rescued child joins their family of orphans and abandoned children. The bounding children are animated and healthy, and they practice their English on anyone who will listen. They are the residents of one of five children's homes run by LifeQwest. Although the homes are officially full, missionaries never turn away a child whom police have swept from the streets.

Their new sister is a 4-year-old girl with closely cropped hair and an earnest, hopeful look. She didn't know her name, so she received the name Shanea, which means "new." Shanea was with a group of children in the market, an open-air series of fruit and sundry stands in a greasy and cluttered area that looks like the back lot of a factory. Shanea's mother abandoned her.
Fortunately, this group of Mongolian Christians brought her to a place where she will be cared for, nurtured, and loved. There are huge societal ills to cure, but in the lives of rescued children and the efforts of a young national church, the journey to a Mongolian morning has begun.”

The ministry is still going strong. Jerry and Susan report that LifeQwest is still involved in work with orphaned and abandoned children, as well as ministry initiatives that touch the lives of Mongolia's sick and elderly. They tell us that they are now feeding 344 babies and mothers twice daily in six different centers.

--Jim Jewell