Page 2661 – Christianity Today (2024)

Day 1, October 29, 2008

Last year, Christianity Today hosted a lively online debate between pastor and author Douglas Wilson (my father), and Christopher Hitchens, popular author and leading atheist. Both authors have a flair for the humorous and the literary, and the popularity of their debate led to its publication as a book (from a Christian publishing house). Is Christianity Good for the World? was released last month, and now both authors are on the road, debating and discussing the topic in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Because of the uniqueness and value of their exchanges, a documentary film crew is following them, led by MTV music video director Darren Doane.

As for me? I’m tagging along. Day one was remarkable. The two men met in the morning over coffee, debated in a town hall-style encounter at the King’s College in the Empire State Building, signed copies of the book in the Union Square Barnes & Noble, and then divided for different events of different flavors in the evening. Hitchens debated Rabbi Wolpe in Temple Emanu-El — said to be the largest Jewish house of worship in the world — while my father addressed the atheist clubs of Columbia and NYU in an event called “Stump the Preacher Man.”

But to be honest, the most interesting moments have all been outside the formal events — discussions over meals, in cabs and elevators. Both men share a love of poetry (over lunch, they gave an antiphonal recitation of “Jabberwocky”), a love of the English language and the well-turned phrase, and have spent a good ten minutes spouting favorite lines from the British writer P. G. Wodehouse to mutual laughter. And both men have a respect for each other — though clearly not for their conflicting opinions of God and the nature of the world.

At the King’s College debate, Hitchens professed disdain for the biblical admonition to “love your enemies,” calling it total nonsense. And yet, as he appears in Christian forums, wrangling with a Christian man, that is exactly what he is experiencing firsthand. The exchanges are heated. No punches have been pulled, and no one is pretending like the gulf between atheism and Christianity is anything but dark and profound. Yet underlying it all, there is an affection shown to him that is just as profound.

Hitchens said he wanted all his enemies destroyed. Wilson countered with qualified agreement, saying that God destroys all his enemies, but doesn’t only destroy them in the traditional way, as understood by man, but also destroys his enemies by making them friends.

Last night, the two will debate “Beauty and the Existence of God” at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

And you will be hearing more from me.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

The debates between Hitchens and Wilson can be found here on Christianity Today‘s website. CT also has a special section on atheism.

Although Christian financial institutions appear to be in better shape than their Wall Street counterparts, a noted Christian investment adviser said everyone has been affected as the economic crisis has shifted from mortgages to interbank lending.

“It’s gone to another level,” said Rusty Leonard, CEO of Stewardship Investment Counsel of Matthews, North Carolina. “Does that mean they’re all going to go bankrupt? No. Most probably have little exposure to the subprime mortgage market. This has been a problem of the hedge fund community and high echelon levels of the investment banking community.”

The Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU) relies on other financial institutions to provide funds for a portion of its loans, said president and CEO Mark Holbrook. With many financial partners holding on to their cash, the credit union has had to curtail some of its lending.

“This reflects what’s going on throughout our economy,” Holbrook said. “Fewer dollars are available between institutions, reducing capital available for businesses and ministries alike.”

As the economy has deteriorated, the ECCU has tightened its credit standards. In addition to requiring higher down payments on property purchases, it is examining applicants’ year-to-year income trends.

Despite these moves, the Brea, California, organization has had a healthy 2008—on an annualized basis, its deposits are up nearly 20 percent.

The Christian Community Credit Union (CCCU) in neighboring San Dimas has also tightened its lending standards, with maximum loans of 80 percent of value for autos and real estate.

Still, president and CEO John Walling said an influx of new and current members are continuing to deposit funds because they value the CCCU’s safety and soundness.

“The problem with the interbank lending does not affect credit unions because we have our own corporate deposit and lending network,” Walling said.

Nor investors base decisions on the vacillations on Wall Street, which saw a pair of near-900-point upswings in October sandwiched around huge losses, Leonard said.

Echoing the advice of sage investor Warren Buffet in a mid-October New York Times column, Leonard is advising his clients to stay fully invested in the stock market.

He insists things will improve despite the likelihood of terrible unemployment statistics and other economic indicators the last two months of 2008.

“We’re looking for brighter times ahead,” Leonard said. “A lot of this has to do with confidence. It’s a crisis of confidence as much as it is a crisis of actual facts. As a long-term investor you don’t enjoying going through the downturns, but they do provide some stunning opportunities.”

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

See Walker’s earlier article, “Christian Financial World Sees Silver Lining in Banking Mess” (September 29, 2008).

More news and opinion on the economic crisis is available in our full coverage area.

Rain fell on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before Portland, Oregon's CityFest, an open-air, family-friendly evangelistic festival in downtown Waterfront Park. On Friday, August 22, skies cleared and temperatures rose into the 80s. An estimated 180,000 people thronged the park over two days, listening to Christian music and preaching, and enjoying a variety of activities.

Such attendance at an evangelistic event was notable in one of America's most liberal and least-churched cities; more surprising was the support of openly gay Mayor-elect Sam Adams, who offered warm greetings from the platform. "Regardless of our differences, we have come together," Adams said. Corporate sponsors had signed up too: Wells Fargo, KeyBank, and the Portland Trailblazers, among others.

At a Friday press conference, Adams noted the "odd combination" of a liberal city with evangelist Luis Palau and the faith community. "Here's to odd combinations. May they continue perennially." He said that the physical and social problems of Greater Portland were beyond the resources of city government alone.

The impetus for this odd harmony had been happening all summer. Season of Service united Portland-area churches around five community concerns: homelessness, the medically uninsured, public schools, hunger, and the environment. It drew 25,000 volunteers for projects civic leaders had selected. The two-pronged approach to witness—service matched with proclamation—united churches all over the area and prompted unprecedented support from community leaders.

The festival celebrated Season of Service by offering a potpourri of food, music, and youth-oriented activities for a racially diverse crowd. Christian musicians Kirk Franklin and Chris Tomlin attracted eager fans. Young men crowded demonstrations by X-Games medalists Kyle Loza and Greg Hartman and skateboarder Christian Hosoi. In the Family Fun Zone, inflatable bounce tents, games, crafts, and VeggieTales characters entertained children. Over a thousand homeless people attended the city-sponsored Homeless Connect, receiving haircuts, meals, housing assistance, and a variety of other services from volunteer groups.

The centerpiece came both Friday and Saturday evenings, when evangelist Palau preached from the big stage and invited listeners to follow Jesus Christ. Some 2,000 talked to counselors afterward. Palau Association staffers were reluctant to compare the response with other festivals', noting that at a festival it's hard to reach all those who raise their hands to indicate commitment—nobody "goes forward." Kevin Palau, son of the evangelist, said, "The emphasis isn't how many people got saved. We never know how many people got saved. Only time will tell."

Reversal of Trend

American Christians have been moving away from mass evangelism, stressing church planting and friendship as the best ways to introduce people to the gospel. With Billy Graham no longer conducting crusades, big-splash evangelistic events are more rare. Yet the Portland experience suggests a place remains for large, public evangelism, even in a city as far from the Bible Belt as Portland.

Battered by years of controversy over political and social issues, Portland churches seemed eager for a way to witness in public and still be in harmony with the city. The Luis Palau Association, headquartered in the area, spearheaded an approach called "Festival 2.0."

Palau, an energetic 73-year-old who grew up in Argentina, has preached in both English and Spanish at stadium crusades all over the world. But U.S. crowds were meager. Kevin, one of three Palau brothers who work with their father's association, realized even he didn't want to invite his neighbors to a Palau crusade. "So we said, 'Let's do something that at least the believers will want to do.' " Stadiums felt restrictive, whereas a festival takes place in public space, usually a park or some blocked-off central streets. It's an all-day event with multiple activities. At the first Palau festival, in Portland in 1999, attendance jumped to 90,000. A second festival the next year drew 140,000.

Doing festivals over the next eight years, the Palau Association discovered something more: American churches wanted a witness of service to go with verbal proclamation. Without service, the festival format seemed insufficiently serious, portraying a faith without sacrificial living. In Fort Lauderdale, local leaders focused on foster care. For a 2004 Minneapolis festival, a door-to-door food drive and medical outreach program were added. A Washington, D.C., festival featured an extensive cleanup of inner-city schools. In Houston, community impact teams in multiple neighborhoods launched service projects, many of which continue today.

In Portland, these lessons coalesced. Organizers hoped for 15,000 volunteers; they got 25,000. Six hundred churches oversubscribed food drives, public-school cleanup days, medical and dental clinics, and homeless service events.

Dennis Fuqua, a Palau staffer who also organizes prayer summits nationally for International Renewal Ministries, notes that in every city he knows, "God is stirring the church to serve." Just as God began to restore worship 20 years ago, Fuqua suggests, so today God is restoring service to the church.

Indeed, many Portland churches were already involved in service. But it was different doing it all together. "Portland being an anti-church culture," says Rick McKinley, pastor of Imago Dei, a well-known missional church, "Christians have felt that they have had to protect themselves. That posture creates a chasm."

Service bridged the chasm between city and church, and also between the churches. "If the mission is to build up the city of Portland," McKinley says, "I'm not competing with other churches. We need each other."

A Divine Coincidence

The cleanup of Roosevelt High School exemplifies those broken-down walls. The project began when Palau team members contacted Wilson W. Smith III, a Nike shoe designer who also leads worship at a large local church, SouthLake Foursquare. Smith invited another Nike employee, Michael Bergmann, to join him for a planning discussion. On the way to the meeting, Michael received a call from a friend, Rich Recker, who had recently been hired at Roosevelt to bring community support to the school. "Rich asked Michael, 'Can you help me?' " Smith remembers. It seemed like a divine coincidence that the call came on the way to a meeting of Christians looking for ways to help their city.

SouthLake Foursquare is an affluent suburban church 20 miles south of Roosevelt's depleted neighborhood. (Because many students are poor, the school serves three meals a day, and 79 percent of its students qualify for government services.) Kip Jacob, SouthLake's senior pastor, endorsed the idea that the church would take on cleaning up the school. It had just three weeks to organize the day. Missions and outreach director Kristine Summer found the most difficult task to be working within the school bureaucracy. Some school representatives were resistant to hundreds of church people invading their school. Summer said, "It took a lot of humility and patience to stick with it and say, 'We are going to follow their policy.' "

The target was 500 volunteers, though Jacob expected a turnout more like 300. On the day, June 21, a thousand people showed up—a third of the church. The high-energy volunteers painted, landscaped, and cleaned inside and out, making a rundown school shine. Principal Deborah Peterson says that summer-school students kept running up to her and saying, " 'Miss Peterson, we are so lucky! Why do you think they are doing this for us?' It was like they had won the lottery." One teacher said she had been at Roosevelt for 17 years, and no one had ever cleaned her windows.

Walls between church and school vanished, Summer says. "They want to do it again. They love it!" Over the summer two more workdays took place. Other city schools have begun to inquire whether SouthLake could help them, too. Nike has jumped into plans to refurbish Roosevelt's athletic facilities.

Altogether, churches participated in 278 projects over the Greater Portland area. Sixty-two public schools received 5,100 volunteers for school cleanup days. Two hundred churches participated in Compassion Clinics, free one-day medical and dental clinics that also offered free lunches and some social services. Working under the leadership of Compassion Connect, a local nonprofit, 1,155 volunteers provided free medical or dental care to 1,846 people and fed 2,300.

Pastor John Bishop of Living Hope Church parked a semitrailer on church property and challenged his congregation to fill it. "I told them, 'I'm not asking you to go to Costco and buy the food. I want you to knock on your neighbors' doors.' " The trailer load—45,000 pounds of food—went to local food banks.

Portland is matching 1,200 homeless women and their children with mentors supplied by 78 area churches. The city supplies the first and last months' rent, along with training and coordination for the volunteers.

It wasn't just churches. Wells Fargo Bank set a goal of 10,000 employee volunteer hours donated to the community. In 2009, it plans to double that as part of the annual Season of Service.

'Stereotype Busters'

Tom Krattenmaker, associate vice president at Lewis & Clark College and a self-defined religious progressive, speaks enthusiastically about the Palau Association's openness. "They have been stereotype busters," he says. A regular contributor to USA Today, Krattenmaker has chastised progressives and secularists for their close-mindedness on religion. He says, "I see the desire to reach out and connect stronger on the evangelical side of the equation" than among his progressive colleagues. Asked about unabashed preaching at the festival, he says, "I think people need to put up with a little discomfort and allow evangelicals to talk about Jesus, because it's important for the free expression of their faith."

The CityFest initiative came from Christian leaders, but Portland civic leaders showed remarkable willingness to embrace it. Perhaps most interesting was the collaboration over abortion. Planned Parenthood is normally one of the agencies offering services at the city's Homeless Connect events. The city quietly agreed to leave it out for the festival; Palau in turn chose not to include anti-abortion advocacy. Some pro-life advocates were angry that their cause was not included in the festival, says Kevin Palau, but staffer Alan Hotchkiss explains, "We want to draw a circle around Jesus Christ. We don't want to distract from that."

Nick Fish, a city commissioner who oversees Homeless Connect and other social-service programs of the city, says, "We are maturing as a community. I don't want to dwell on our differences. Let's emphasize our common values. We need all hands on deck. For too long we have viewed the faith community with suspicion." When asked whether activist critics might raise a stink about the city working with churches, he pointed out that the mayor, the mayor-elect, and the housing commissioner all stand firmly in support of the alliance. "If you come against it, you have to deal with us."

The festival crowd pledged to provide 24,000 volunteers next year. The Palau Association seeks to integrate Season of Service into all of its festivals—including scheduled outreaches in the U.S., Mexico, Chile, and Scotland.

A Unified Public Witness

Luis Palau remains old school. He admits that he was a reluctant convert to the festival format, if only because it meant preaching to an audience that is constantly in motion. The Season of Service also makes him itchy, for fear that the verbal proclamation of the gospel will become neglected. "We run the risk of going full circle and becoming like the liberals. We mustn't water down the gospel because we are having lunch with politicians. I'm committed to preach the blood of Jesus and the cross of Jesus."

Yet his personal friendliness brought on the Season of Service. Mayor Tom Potter likes to tell the story of Palau asking, "What can we do for you to help our city?" A mayor rarely hears that kind of question, Potter says, especially from someone who actually follows through.

Palau was pained by the way politics had skewed the public perception of Christians. "Antagonism was real. They thought we were nuts, and we acted like nuts," he says. Palau wasn't the only one feeling the pain. "Kevin said, if we don't do the Season of Service, there will be no festival. Half the churches won't do it. They are tired. The pastors are discouraged."

By the time of the festival, that discouragement was gone. An enormous crowd heard Palau, watching him on huge video screens. He preached on the plight of the fatherless, telling of his own struggles after his father died. God, Palau said, wants to be our Father. "God will change our names. He will call us children of God. He wants to adopt us into his family. … If your conscience troubles you, receive Jesus. Through his blood you will be forgiven forever, and ever and ever."

The dynamics of other cities may be different. Churches may be unwilling to submerge controversial issues like abortion or hom*osexuality, and civic leaders may not choose to make public cause with churches. Portland, however, has found a way for Christians to live in harmony with their city while being themselves—people who make a unified public witness in word and deed.

Tim Stafford is a senior writer for CT.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

The Luis Palau Evangelistic Association has more information about its ministry.

Other Christianity Today articles about Luis Palau include:

Beach Blanket Rebirth | Luis Palau to take Fort Lauderdale spring break festival nationwide. (January 16, 2003)

Downtown Evangelism Makes a Comeback | Luis Palau "tweaks" crusade model into evangelistic festivals. (December 21, 2000)

Evangelistic Circus in a Box | Festival con Dios links with Palau organization to expand work of proclamation. (October 1, 2002)

Palau Crusade Last in Hong Kong? | Evangelist Luis Palau, holding the last evangelistic crusade in Hong Kong before the British colony reverts to Chinese sovereignty, preached a message of hope to those facing an uncertain future. (May 19, 1997)

Indian Christians have been accused of offering illegal inducements for conversion. Some followers of Jesus have paid a high price indeed. An account by Anand Mahadevan, however, talks about a heart that has been strangely warmed.

When I was 19, a Christian friend with whom I used to play cricket invited me to his house for prayer. If he had invited me to a pub, or party, I would have gone too. At his home, he and his sister prayed for me. It was a simple yet delightful conversation with God that lasted all of five minutes. I don’t remember it verbatim, but they articulated a prayer of blessing on my life, future, career and family. It was a simple affair – no miracles, no angels visiting. All they did was utter a deep human cry out to the creator God and His only son Jesus Christ. When they said Amen, I felt in my heart a desire to follow Jesus.

There is no doubt—we live in troubled times. It may feel hard to concentrate on your spiritual life when you face financial challenges, when the world seems to be in turmoil.

You may find that the children you work with and minister to are also stressed. We know of two families, friends we’ve developed through our kids’ sports activities, who are losing their homes to foreclosure. Another friend is out of work, and has been for six months. Every time he’s on the verge of getting a job, it seems, the company he’s talking to will announce a hiring freeze.

The children in your care face these pressures too—watching their parents fight about money, seeing their father unemployed, having to move out of their home because their family can no longer afford the rent or mortgage.

It would be easy to give in to fear in times like these. But I want to encourage you with the commandment most often repeated in the Bible: “Do not be afraid.”

What is the opposite of fear? Courage, right? But where does courage come from? It comes from the true opposite of fear, which is love. Joshua 1:9 says “Be strong and courageous, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” That relationship of love, the presence of the LORD, Yahweh, will enable you to be courageous. If we are brave, we are not so for bravery’s sake. We are brave for the sake of another—whether a loved one, our country, our people. Courage flows out loving, and out of knowing that we are loved. Our courage is inspired by that which we value.

What will equip us to minister in times when we ourselves might feel afraid? We need to become aware of what’s going on in our hearts. Do we listen to the voice of fear, or the voice of love? Do we believe in scarcity or abundance?

In my book Listen: Finding God in the Story of Your Life, I wrote:

“The voice of fear whispers that there is not enough—certainly not enough money or stuff, but on a deeper level it also claims that there is not enough love. And that the world is so dark and such a mess that any effort to let the light shine through is just futile. There just is not enough love or joy or purpose. Believing in scarcity will take us to a bleak place—a place where we start to think that if there is a bit of love and joy, there’s not enough, so if someone else has those things, then there will be less for everyone, especially me. The universe’s supply of love and joy and purpose will be depleted. There is simply not enough of anything.

“The voice of love, on the other hand, says there is plenty. Come to the table where God is serving a feast. God is love and power and joy, and God is limitless. So the power and creativity and love and joy is limitless; and in fact, by listening to God’s voice of love, we receive, and in so doing we create. We spread this love and power and joy by simply receiving it and realizing there’s enough to share.”

The Bible says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

In other words, fear and love are opposites. So we must choose which will rule our hearts. And that choice will affect not only our relationship with God, but our ability to love others. We cannot give away what we don’t have.

One of the greatest gifts we can give the children we care for is the gift of being a safe person. We want our classrooms to be safe places for children, but are we safe people? It’s hard to be a comfort to others when you are ruled by fear. The safest people, when it comes to relationships, are people who listen to the voice of love enough to know that they are beloved. That enables them to see others in the same way.

Henri Nouwen wrote, “The greatest gift my friendship can give to you is the gift of your Beloved-ness. I can give that gift only insofar as I have claimed it for myself.”

Before you can communicate God’s love to the children you minister to, you must know it in your own life. You are God’s beloved, and that perfect love drives out fear. And enables you to call forth the beloved-ness of every person you encounter.

Listen to the voice of love. And as Jesus so often told us, “Do not be afraid.”

Keri Wyatt Kent is the author of six books, a retreat leader and speaker. Learn more at www.keriwyattkent.com, or connect with her on Facebook.

© 2008 Keri Wyatt Kent

I’m proud to be an evangelical. I think we do many things well.

Some will roll their eyes at those first two statements. Why? Criticizing evangelicalism is fashionable and evangelicals have joined the fashion, sometimes with apocalyptic fervor. I wonder if the relentless critique of (sometimes hardheaded) evangelical pastors, theologians, and authors–not to mention blogs and internet sites–is not the place we ought to urge the beginnings of reform. I’m sure that most critics have their heart in the right place: they want evangelicalism to be more biblical and more robust. (I hope those are my motivations in my own critiques.) But there sure are a lot of critics. This is what I mean:

Some evangelicals think evangelicalism is not Reformed enough because it has lost touch with its Reformed roots. Some think evangelicalism ignores its Wesleyan heritage. Indeed, it would not be hard to find an evangelical survey that omits John Wesley. Some think we have fallen prey to political parties. Others think we need to recover the liturgy and lectionary, while others think we need to re-embrace the lost heritage of the Great Traditions of the classic creeds. Some think evangelicals have forfeited intellectual rigor as a populist movement, while others think evangelicals have become far too theological, creedal, and intellectual. Some think we have failed to preach prophetic texts and have lost enthusiasm for the Second Coming while others disparage every attempt even to suffer such literalism. Some think we’d be much better off if we were all charismatic, while others think charismatics are not real evangelicals. Some think we need to be more socially active while others raise the red flag at the first sign of the social gospel.

Some think evangelicalism is on its deathbed and that the only way forward is the emerging movement, while others think the emerging movement is dancing with the devil. Some think seeker services are the cat’s meow, others the end before the end. The worship wars get at least two responses: a hearty, dismissive “Get over it!” and a “Dig in your heels because if we give in here we will slide down the slippery slope!” For some, prohibiting entrance of women into ministry is the litmus test for fidelity, while for others it’s so utterly obvious that opposition is Luddite. Some today draw swords to affirm complementarian male-female relationships in the home and the church, while others think of the issue, “Times have changed.”

Yes, we can always do better. But I’ve got a question for you: What do you think (we) evangelicals do well? I will mention a few–more could be listed–but I’m asking you to speak up in the comments section, because this is a post for evangelicalism.

We are good at being properly ecumenical. Evangelicalism is a movement and not a denomination. We align ourselves with others–all others, in fact–who embrace the gospel. Because of this conviction, evangelicals are found working across denominational lines, forming parachurch organizations united around a common gospel theology, and joining hands in public with whoever wants to work with us. A genuine evangelical transcends her or his denomination in the unity only the gospel can bring. Think Christianity Today and John Stott.

We are good at urging everyone to experience the new birth. The irreducible minimum of evangelicalism is the gospel and the need to respond to it and the work of God through the new birth. So, we preach the gospel and we evangelize with that goal in mind. We pray that God will anoint our lives and our words so that others might be born from above. Think Billy Graham and the urgings of youth leaders.

We are good at recognizing the importance of theology. Evangelicals believe the Bible and in the hard-fought conclusions of Christian orthodoxy. And we believe those ideas really do matter. What we believe is more than what we happen to think. We believe the truth of God can be put into living statements for our day. Think Carl Henry and our publishing houses.

We are good at the need for personal transformation. Evangelicals expect Christians to be good and to be holy and to be loving and, if they are not, we know there’s something wrong. We stare at the pages of the Bible that call for moral transformation in the power of the Spirit, and we believe it can happen today. Think Dallas Willard and the spiritual formation movement.

Yes, we can do better. I wish a recognizable woman’s name would have come to mind for two of those categories. But we are doing well.

What do you think we do well? Here’s the test: Can you affirm what we are doing well without saying one critical word? Try it. I think we’d all like to hear what you have to say.

A little over half (53 percent) of Protestant pastors plan to vote for John McCain compared with 20 percent who plan to vote for Barack Obama, a new poll suggests. A full 22 percent were undecided in the LifeWay Research poll conducted October 10-28.

Sixty-six percent of self-identified evangelical pastors plan to vote for McCain while 13 percent are for Obama and 19 percent are undecided. A recent Pew Center survey suggested that 67 percent of evangelicals plan to vote for McCain while 24 are for Obama.

Among mainline pastors, 36 percent plan to vote for McCain, 37 percent support Obama, and 24 percent are undecided.

Fifty-three percent of Protestant pastors said that they have personally endorsed candidates for public office this year, but outside of their church roles. Less than 3 percent said that they have endorsed candidates during a church service this year.

This is what surprised Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, a polling organization associated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

1. Self identified “mainline” pastors not more pro-Obama (they were split).

2. A sizeable minority of pastors are still undecided.

3. A majority [of] pastors endorsed candidates outside of their church role.

If you watched the three presidential debates, you might have felt a little déjà vu. Don’t worry. You weren’t losing your mind. This video shows how closely the presidential candidate stick to their scripts.

Update: Thursday, 30 October, 2008; 13:00 CDT

Americans love their new cellphones and laptop computers, and I'm no different. But few of us can truly appreciate our piece of the puzzle in the bigger picture of what we see unfolding in eastern Congo, one of the world's most dysfunctional places.

While Americans have been worrying about their investments, the weak economy, and global economics, the city of Goma, DR Congo, has been sliding toward renewed violence for weeks. Goma is critical in this region of Africa because it has evolved into a staging ground for the United Nations' huge peace-keeping force and for much humanitarian work.

Here's the latest off the news wire:

The rebel general besieging Congo's eastern provincial capital Goma said Thursday he wants direct talks with the government about ending fighting in the region and his objections to a $5 billion deal that gives China access to the country's vast mineral riches in exchange for a railway and highway. Laurent Nkunda told The Associated Press in a telephone interview he also wants the urgent disarmament of a Rwandan Hutu militia that he accuses of preying on his minority Tutsi people.

Granted, Nkunda casts himself in a positive light here. That is but one part of a complex story. This new conflict in eastern Congo has a deeply economic element. Global demand for scarce minerals means certain raw materials that don't require huge mining operations lend themselves toward smuggling.

The concept of "blood diamonds" has captured the imagination of film-makers. It's much harder to address the same issue with coltan and cobalt. But it's true. Coltan is used in cell phones and laptops. Cobalt is extensively used in batteries. In some cases, the products of small-scale, illicit mining operations in eastern Congo and elsewhere end up in manufacturing plants in Asia and the West.

If you are doubtful about this new reality, consider the following development. China has cash in hand seeking trade agreements in an amazing number of African states, in search of oil, minerals, and other natural resources to supply its plants in the manufacture of consumer electronics and many other goods.

Here's what the BBC had to say recently:

"China is hungry for minerals and Africa has rich reserves of cobalt and copper," says Li Xiao Dong, who runs the factory. "Africa is full of opportunities – it's just like China when we started opening up a few years ago." Africa's minerals are vital for China. For the Communist Party the bags of minerals stacked up in the Huayou factory warehouse mean social stability. China has a billion people who want a better life. They want to buy TVs, cars and fridges. China simply does not have enough natural resources of its own to meet their needs. So, in order to keep its people happy and stable, it has to get its raw materials – oil, copper, zinc, cobalt – from abroad. And Africa has what China needs.

The bottom line is that the struggle in eastern Congo is far from over. If it reignites the simmering tensions between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority throughout this region of Africa, even Hotel Rwanda itself would not be 100 percent safe place.

There are Christian missions and churches throughout this region. Click here for the 2006 CT cover story on Congo.

Jim Wallis called for an apology from Focus on the Family founder James Dobson for the fictitious letter posted on Citizenlink.com.

Focus on the Family Action, the political arm of Focus on the Family, posted a letter that pretended to look back on an Obama administration. The writer suggested that certain events had happened, including terrorist attacks on four cities.

Jim Wallis responds:

“In a time of utter political incivility, it shows the kind of negative Christian leadership that has become so embarrassing to so many of your fellow Christians in America,” he writes. “Such outrageous predictions not only damage your credibility, they slander Barack Obama who, you should remember, is a brother in Christ, and they insult any Christian who might choose to vote for him.”

And Wallis isn’t the only one upset. There’s also a satire piece. The Matthew 25 Network calls it “blatant fearmongering,” and more than 2,000 people have joined a Facebook group called “A Christian Bipartisan Rejection of Focus on the Family’s Letter from 2012.”

“As you can see, Focus on the Family Action has abandoned reasonable appeals and resorted to shameless tactics of fear mongering. They have abandoned the belief that voters can make informed decisions and have instead appealed to fear as their fundamental motivator.

“As Christians, we stand appalled and ashamed at such tasteless demagoguery. We believe that civil, educated, and compassionate dialogue should and can occur with the active engagement of our faith, but believe that Focus on the Family Action has, in this letter, stepped far outside of reasonable boundaries into pure sensationalism. We believe that such thoughtless expressions coming from an organization that purports to represent Evangelicals continues to mar our legitimacy and voice in the public arena, and damages our basic Christian witness.”

The list of things proposed in the letter includes:

-Terrorist attacks on four cities

-Israel is hit by a nuclear bomb

-Euthanasia becomes commonplace

-The Supreme Court becomes liberal

-Churches lose their tax exempt status for not allowing gay marriages

-p*rnography openly displayed

-Gun ownership restricted and inner-city crime rises,

-Home schooling becomes restricted and families move to Australia and New Zealand

-Conservative talk shows shut down

-Christian publishers forced out of business

-Power blackouts because of environmental restrictions

-Boy Scouts shut down

-Russia occupies four countries

-Bush officials jailed or bankrupt

Focus on the Family Action defended its letter yesterday after a CNN reporter described the organization as “religious extremists.”

Gary Schneeberger, vice president of media and public relations at Focus Action, has worked in the media for 25 years. He said Feyerick’s report “definitely signals a new level of marginalization by the mainstream media of groups like us that stand for biblical truth.”

“We can’t control what the media want to call us,” he said. “All we can do is continue to stand for the truth. The Bible makes it clear that when you stand for Jesus and His righteousness, those kinds of things will come.”