“Bring Your Pieces to Church” Sunday

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clipped from americanvision.org Imagine the following scenario: At church this Sunday, while reviewing the list of announcements and upcoming events for your church, your pastor added, “Oh, and don’t forget: on Sundays we have our regular target practice. Make sure to bring your rifles. Make sure to bring your pieces to church.” Absurd, right? Not so. It used to be the American way. For example, a 1631 law in Virginia required citizens to own firearms, to engage in practice with them, and to do so publicly on holy days. It demanded that the people “bring their pieces to the church. We are further brainwashed into thinking (and feeling) that guns are somehow dirty and evil, and that Christians should have nothing to do with them. In this view, we have departed from the Scriptures, Christian legal history, as well as America’s Christian history. But we should also begin to exercise our inviolable rights. Every able Christian should own a firearm, and each should seek instruction and training in how to use them.

Interfaith movement gains new strength

FaithHouse is probably the only multireligious church in the country, but its jumble of faiths and practices is becoming less unusual in today's religious marketplace.

clipped from www.washingtontimes.com 1 of 1 This is the first in a series of reports that will look at new efforts — driven largely by American faith leaders — to bridge old divisions among the nation's and the world's believers. NEW YORK | When FaithHouse Manhattan has its twice-monthly interfaith gatherings, the guest list is a carnival of religious belief and creed. An Islamic Sufi dervish greets you at the door, but the program director, an Episcopalian, makes the announcements. A rabbi, a female Muslim and a Seventh-day Adventist share leadership of the meeting. Oranges, nuts, apricots and hamentaschen, a Jewish holiday pastry, were offered as snacks. Participants put on costumes to act out the biblical story of Esther. It involves unlikely alliances, such as when one of the most conservative Christian pro-life groups staged a news conference on Capitol Hill in September applauding a Muslim prayer service on the Mall.

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10 Texas church fires under investigation

clipped from www.usatoday.com Pastor Carl Samples says his flock's faith hasn't wavered, even after their sanctuary was destroyed in the latest in a string of East Texas church fires that authorities say were deliberately set. "I think it's drawn us closer together. It's just kind of increased our faith," said Samples, whose Dover Baptist Church was a total loss but for the steeple that survived the blaze Monday night. Investigators with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined state and local fire officials this week in sifting through the charred remains for clues at Dover and at another church 3 miles away, Clear Spring Missionary Baptist Church, which was reported on fire a short time later. Both churches serve a rural area outside Tyler, Texas. "They were big ones. They're not to the ground, but they'll be total losses," he said.

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