HappyNew Year!

HappyNew Year!

Gospel Today celebrates 21 years...serving youwith the relevant news and information...

Gospel Today celebrates 21 years...serving youwith the relevant news and information...

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Same-Sex Marriage Bill Signed in a

Church! by Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr.,

Senior Pastor of Hope Christian Church (Washington, DC area)

Townhall.com Columnist

On Friday, December 18, two historic events occurred. A signingceremony for DC’s same-sex marriage law and a blizzard that blanketed theNortheast and left everyone in the capital physically isolated except for thealmost-too-frequent weather updates on TV and Radio. Ironically, the two eventsbore a strange similarity.

Their similarity was the level of local media coverage along with the real senseof isolation that most citizens felt. We either trust in both these situations that“big brother” is looking out for us or we become concerned and questioning.Concerning the snowstorm, my one-year-old, 4-wheel drive proved to be a greatinvestment. I was at the mercy of no one. Owning a vehicle like this left mefeeling in control and safe despite the 15 plus inches that fell around myapartment. Concerning the city council decision, thousands of people like myselffelt that they were simply at the mercy of the city government. Although I hadno immediate vehicle to ride like the one I referenced concerning the snowstorm,

the feeling of helplessness wasonly temporary. I remindedmyself that even though DCsometimes runs like a bananarepublic or third worldjurisdiction, the democratic

The biggest real losers inthis political drama couldpossibly be the children ofthe next generation.

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process has built in checks andbalances available for the people.

After the signing ceremony, severaltelevision stations asked me theobvious questions: How did you feel?What are your next steps? The firstquestion was easy to answer. I feltthat the people of the District hadbeen disenfranchised and that thebiggest real losers in this politicaldrama could possibly be the childrenof the next generation. I was not upsetor angry, but I was definitelydisappointed in the leadership of thecity. Intellectually, I was notsurprised. Emotionally, I wasappalled at the cynical staging of thesigning. It was more like a PR stunt.Holding the signing in a church whenthe council, with the exception ofMarion Barry and Yvette Alexander,had ignored the voices of bothprominent African-Americanchurches and the powerful RomanCatholic Archdiocese seemeddisingenuous at best.

During his campaign the mayorvisited the Missionary BaptistConference of the DC and Vicinity,where he told them that he did nothave a pastor or attend church on anyregular basis. So why did this mayor

feel compelled to grace the doors of achurch? Was it just politicalgrandstanding? Most people think so.They feel that this move had beenscripted by gay marriage activistswho still are not sure whether themeasure will be overturned byCongress or a referendum.I could not help but think of thehypocrisy of the city council that hadthe audacity to call their new law, DCMarriage Equality and ReligiousLiberty. This terminology hasbecome the typical way such laws areintroduced around the country. Theproponents of same-sex marriagelaws attempt to minimize

The proposed law gives anything butreligious liberty. For Bible-believingcongregations, the law underminesthe very foundational concept ofmarriage. In fact thousands of peoplearound the city found the gesture andsymbolism of using a church as being

What can you do?To find out, contact...High Impact Leadership CoalitionPO Box 505College Park, MD 20741P: 240-845-0388F: 240-845-0382info@hilc.net

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On "Fox News Sunday" yesterday, Fox anchorBrit Hume suggested that Tiger Woods should tradehis Buddhist faith for Christianity if he wants to makea personal comback. When host Chris Wallaceasked the show's roundtable to predict the biggestsports story of 2010, Hume said:

"Tiger Woods will recover as a golfer. Whetherhe can recover as a person I think is a very openquestion, and it's a tragic situation for him. I thinkhe's lost his family, it's not clear to me if he'll be ableto have a relationship with his children, but the TigerWoods that emerges once the news value dies out ofthis scandal -- the extent to which he can recover --seems to me to depend on his faith. He's said to bea Buddhist; I don't think that faith offers the kind offorgiveness and redemption that is offered by theChristian faith. So my message to Tiger would be,'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make atotal recovery and be a great example to the world.'"

After a moment of awkward silence, fellow panelistBill Kristol quipped, "Well, Brit's concerned aboutTiger's soul, which is admirable, but I just made amore straightforward sports prediction, which wasthat he'll come back and win the Masters."

“Tiger should become aChristian!”

Fox News Anchor suggests

Also...Just in case your were wonderingwhether the Obama family attended churchservices on Christmas while vacationing inHawaii, the answer is: No, they did not,according to a White House staffer. gt

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From AP —PLAINS, Ga. - The U.S. Secret Servicesays it is investigating an effigy of President BarackObama found hanging from a building in thehometown of former President Jimmy Carter.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan toldThe Associated Press that the large black doll wasfound Saturday morning along Main Street in thesmall town of Plains.

Footage from WALB-TV shows the doll washanging by a noose in front of a red, white and bluesign that says "Plains, Georgia. Home of JimmyCarter, our 39th President." A witness told thestation that the doll had a sign with Obama's nameon it.

Mayor L.E. Godwin III says the volunteer firedepartment was called to take it down. He says hesaw the doll but couldn't read the signs. gt

President Obama...Still Under Fire

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Subscribe to Gospel Today Magazine...gospeltoday.com or call 770.719.4825

Want your ad to appear in Gospel TodayMagazine or Gospel Today’s EZINE? Call us

today! Low rates, maximum impact!

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Did you know? Tis The Season of Epiphany

In western Christian tradition, January 6 iscelebrated as Epiphany.

The term epiphany means "to show" or"to make known" or even "to reveal." InWestern churches, it remembers the coming ofthe wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christchild, who by so doing "reveal" Jesus to theworld as Lord and King.

In traditional Christian churchesChristmas, as well as Easter, is celebrated asa period of time, a season of the church year,rather than just a day. The Season of theChurch Year associated with Christmasactually begins with the first Sunday of Advent,four Sundays before Christmas Day. Advent ismarked by expectation and anticipation inpreparing to celebrate the coming of Jesus.Christmas begins with Christmas DayDecember 25 and lasts for Twelve Days untilEpiphany, January 6, which looks ahead to themission of the church to the world in light of theNativity.

Epiphany is the climax of theAdvent/Christmas Season and the TwelveDays of Christmas, which are usually countedfrom the evening of December 25th until themorning of January 6th, which is the TwelfthDay. For more information:http://www.cresourcei.org/cyepiph.html

Pastor Rick Warrenraises $2.4 million indonations

After puttingword out that hisSaddle Back churchwas facing a$900,000 deficit;Pastor Rick Warrenannounced at aSaturday service thispast weekend, that $2.4 million wasbrought in.

Accordng to Warren, this totalincluded only money brought inperson to Saddleback Church byNew Year's Eve.

Warren called the donations"amazing" and says the church willstart the new decade with a surplus.

Even though Warrencampaigned for the ministry, he didntextend his support to save the printversion of the “Purpose DrivenConnection” Magazine.

After a highly-touted launchby Readers Digest, the publisherannounced in November that themagazine would fold its print formatand go online as of this month.

Don’t miss it!Tickets online:

gospelheritage.org

the ultimate insult. It is obvious toanyone who has just cursorily lookedat it. Naturally, the lawmakers cite200 hundred clergy (many from thesame churches) as a sign that there issome kind of major debate overmarriage in Christian circles.Nothing could be further from thetruth.

The words of Pastors Dennis andChristine Wiley of Covenant BaptistChurch printed in the SundayWashington Post tell the true story ofreligious freedom and same-sexmarriage in DC. “Our church is thefirst and only traditional black churchin the District of Columbia toperform same-sex unions. Weconducted our first two unionceremonies, one gay and one lesbian,in the summer of 2007. The rapidpolitical developments that followedin our nation and our city have madeus optimistic that by the summer of2010, same-sex nuptials will be notonly blessed by churches such asours, but also sanctioned by law inthe District.”

In the folklore of our city, especiallythe church community, theyremember the days that BishopMcCollough of the United House ofPrayer had enough clout to come out

of his prayer closet and give amidnight endorsement that changedthe direction of a city-wide election -placing David Clarke into councilchairmanship. Others remember thatthe city council wanted to move theBible Way Church from theirprominent New York Avenuelocation by invoking imminentdomain. After Bible Way Church,who were also the local organizers ofMartin Luther King, Jr’s 1963 Marchon Washington, fasted and prayed,the city suddenly repented of itsactions and decided to create what isnow known as the Bible Way bendthat takes commuters onto I-395.

The lesson the church must take fromthe boldness of the city council is thatwe must be prayerful activists. In ademocracy, both are needed. gt

March 7-13