Christian Aid Worker Killed

A Taliban spokesman said the woman killed in Afghanistan was targeted for preaching Christianity.

[10.20.08] A Christian aid worker was shot dead in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday on her way to work. A Taliban spokesman told the Associated Press (AP) the woman was targeted because she was spreading Christianity.

“This woman came to Afghanistan to teach Christianity to the people of Afghanistan,” spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told the AP. “Our [leaders] issued a decree to kill this woman. This morning our people killed her in Kabul.”

A dual South African and British citizen, Gail Williams, 34, had worked with SERVE Afghanistan for two years, assisting special-needs students in Kandahar and Kabul, where she moved recently because it was believed to be safer.

Williams died almost immediately after two men on a motorcycle shot her in the body and leg, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary told the AP. The men fled the scene, but the Taliban took responsibility for the attack. Williams’ body was taken to a hospital and her next of kin were notified.

A representative from Britain-based SERVE—Serving Emergency Relief and Vocational Enterprises—said its workers were not evangelizing. According to its Web site, the organization exists to “express God’s love and bring hope by serving the people of Afghanistan, especially the needy, as we seek to address personal, social and environmental needs.”

In a statement posted on its Web site, SERVE said Williams was “a person who always loved the Afghans and was dedicated to serving those who are disabled. Needless to say we are all in shock.”

“Gayle will be remembered as one of the inspiring people of the world who truly put others before herself,” read a post at the site. “She was killed violently while caring for the most forgotten people in the world; the poor and the disabled. She herself would not regret taking the risk of working in Afghanistan. She was where she wanted to be—holding out a helping hand to those in need.”

In recent months, Taliban insurgents have increasingly targeted aid workers in an attempt to spread fear and undermine support for the Afghan government. In August, Taliban insurgents killed three female aid workers and their Afghan driver outside Kabul in the bloodiest single attack on humanitarian workers in recent years, the Telegraph reported.

Fireproof Book No. 1 Bestseller

The Love
Dare, originally written only as part of the movie Fireproof, soared to No. 1 on the New York
Times best-seller list recently.

[10.17.08] The Love Dare, a book that was a focal point of the movie Fireproof, shot onto the top of The New York Times Paperback Advice best-seller list the week of Oct. 10.

Released Sept. 28, the marriage book written by the film's co-producing brothers Stephen and Alex Kendrick—which debuted at No. 4 on the list—has 600,000 copies in print, and was in its fifth printing.

The Love Dare has also been ranked in the top 10 best-seller lists of CBA and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

Meanwhile, Fireproof placed No. 10 at the weekend box office. The surprise hit drama—which stars Kirk Cameron as a firefighter who seeks God to save his marriage—earned an estimated $3.1 million from 875 theaters, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

The movie, which has made $16.9 million since it debuted at No. 4 the weekend of Sept. 26, has finished in the top 10 during its first three weeks. According to Fireproof's Web site, more than 90 new theaters will be added Oct. 17 for a total of 905 screens. –Christian Retailing

3,000 Christians Flee Iraq

At least 13 people have been killed this month in a wave of concerted attacks
against Christians in Mosul.

[10.16.08] More than 3,000 Iraqi Christians have fled the northern city of Mosul in
the face of a new wave of attacks against the minority religious
community.

At least a dozen Christians were killed in October alone, the latest being
Christian music-store owner Farques Batool, who was gunned down at work Sunday,
according to the Associated Press (AP). His teenage nephew also was injured in
the attack.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which have left Mosul
neighborhoods littered with the remnants of bombed homes. But local leaders
blame al-Qaida in Iraq, which remains influential despite the surge of U.S.
troops in May.

“We are the target of a campaign of liquidation, a campaign of violence,”
Chaldean church leader Louis Sako said, according to the AP. “The objective is
political.”

Many Iraqi Christians left with just the clothes on their backs to take
refuge in the mostly Christian villages of Nineveh Plain. Others are crossing
the border into Syria or Turkey. Observers say the flight has created
significant humanitarian needs.

“We left everything behind us. We took only our souls,” said Ni’ma Noail,
50, according to the Barnabus Fund. Noail is now living in a church.

Mosul is home to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities. Its
Christian population is second only to Baghdad. “The fact that Christians are
now being attacked in the heartland of Christianity is very significant,” said
Canon Andrew White, the Anglican leader of St. George's church in Baghdad. “This
is the place where the people have believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob for 2,700 years. … These are our brothers and sisters, and we must not
forget them.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered an investigation
into the organized attacks and has vowed to protect Christians. Responding to
the violence, police sent 2,500 additional troops into Mosul, the AP said. Yet
Iraqi Christians say they don’t know how long it will be before they feel safe
enough to return to their homes.

The exodus of Christians follows the Iraqi Parliament’s decision to remove
Article 50 from its new provincial election law, which would have reserved seats
on provincial councils for Christians and other religious minorities. Many
Christian leaders feared the clause’s removal would leave minority groups
unprotected from discrimination and harassment.

The violence is the worst against Christians since 2003, when the Iraq War
began and Islamic extremists began attacking Christians and other minority
communities, forcing tens of thousands to flee the nation. Today the number of
Christians in the nation has dwindled from 800,000 in 2003 to roughly 100,000.

The Assyrian Aid Society, which is assisting displaced Christians with food
and other aid, reported that leaflets are being distributed telling Christians
they must leave Mosul or face death. The organization has asked for help aiding
the refugees, saying the number of fleeing families is increasing by the hour,
and a humanitarian crisis is “imminent.”

Ken Joseph Jr., director of AssyrianChristians.com, hopes Iraqi Christians
will not leave the nation for good as a result of the violence. He said
Christians are desperately needed in the Middle East. “Assyrians were the first
group of people to accept the gospel, and they took the gospel to … the
world,” he said.

Because Assyrian Christianity has such ancient roots, doors have opened to
Assyrian missionaries in nations such as China, which severely limits religious
freedom but allows entry to what it considers historic religions, Joseph said.
“I think what the devil is trying to do is destroy this little group,” he told
Charisma, “because they have the key for reaching these tough nations.”
—Adrienne S. Gaines

TV Couple Seeks to Put God First

On Tuesday Zondervan released a new book by Kate Gosselin and her husband,
Jon—who star in the hit reality TV series 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' on TLC.

[10.15.08] Kate Gosselin and her husband, Jon, can’t stop TLC from editing prayers and
references to God out of their hit reality TV series, Jon & Kate Plus
8. But the couple still manages to share their faith with viewers.

“There are many times that we pray, and there are many times we make
reference to God,” said Gosselin, whose book, Multiple Blessings: Surviving
to Thriving With Twins and Sextuplets, released Tuesday. “It is many times
edited out, which is [TLC’s] prerogative. We had a really hard time with that at
first, and challenged them about it. “But then the e-mails starting coming in
where it would say, ‘We knew you were Christians when we went to your Web site,
and we were right.’”

Debuting in April 2007, the Gosselins’ show is the most
watched program on TLC and chronicles their atypical life in central
Pennsylvania, raising sextuplets—Aaden, Joel, Leah, Alexis, Collin and
Hannah—plus twin daughters—Cara and Mady—who are now 4 and 7-1/2 years old,
respectively.

“We don’t have editing rights one way or another,” said Gosselin, 33, whose
family attends an Assemblies of God church. “If you edited all of our faith out
of it and just saw a family—who through thick and through thin is sticking
together in marriage—we always say that is so much better than what you’re going
to see on TV anywhere else nowadays.”

She noted that God has used the show to make a spiritual impact on
fans, including a woman who contacted her family earlier this year because her
daughter had ovarian cancer and her dying wish was to talk to Gosselin.

“I felt very insecure about calling her,” Gosselin recalled. “She was a
young mom, same age as me, and she had two young kids. I fought it for a few
days. … I knew that God was telling me, ‘You must call her, you have no choice,
you need to.’

“And so one night, I talked to her,” she added. “I was so inspired by
her. She was an amazing woman who found humor in everything. … As she laid on
her deathbed, I was able to lead her to the Lord that night. I knew I needed to
do it and she was very accepting. She went to heaven less than 24 hour
later.”

Gosselin stayed in touch with the woman’s mother, who ended up taking
care of her daughter’s small children. “A few months later, the grandmother
called me, and the 7-year-old found out that he was dying of cancer,” she
recounted. “It’s so horribly awful, and he passed away this summer.

“I was able to lead him as well as the grandmother to the Lord. I never
would have met them any other way, and that is how God chooses to use us. Three
people coming to the Lord through our show is all worth it.”

The Gosselin family are media darlings, appearing on Dr.
Phil, the Today show, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good
Morning America. Zondervan released the Gosselins’ book, Multiple
Blessings: Surviving to Thriving With Twins and Sextuplets.
Meanwhile, the couple speaks in churches—a ministry that has increased with the
growing popularity of Jon & Kate. But having a reality show also
means the Gosselins seem to live in a fishbowl.

“If you’ve seen our show, anytime that I lose my temper, I
just don’t like to see it,” Gosselin said. “It’s hard, but we’re being real, and
that was the goal of our show. … It’s an amazing story that we have eight
healthy, beautiful children, but it’s not all hearts and flowers and happy,
smiley, giggly all the time. I don’t care what family you are. That is not real.
If that’s what you’re seeing, it’s not real all the time.”

Having up to eight TV crewmembers filming at their house for
sometimes 12 hours also presents spiritual challenges for the family. “The
greatest challenge is putting God first all the time, our family second and not
allowing work or the demands of the show to tear us apart,” said Gosselin, who
has been called “the busiest mom in America.”

“I firmly believe that the enemy’s main goal is to rip us
apart as a family,” she continued. “We have felt ourselves being pulled that way
because critical people—Christians included—will say: ‘[The show] will tear your
family apart. Why are you doing this?’

“And our answer to that is, ‘We believe this is where God
wants us to be, what God wants us to do.’ It is a daily struggle, but any job
would be. We assess each situation, asking God for His help in each decision. We
will keep our eyes on Him, although we are not perfect.” —Eric
Tiansay

Comment

Summit Calls Nation to Prayer

The event hosted by the National Day of Prayer Task Force comes on the heels of
a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Day of Prayer.

[10.14.08] The National Day of Prayer Task Force is calling the nation to “get back to
the heart of prayer” during its 2008 National Day of Prayer Summit, which begins
Friday.

In a video promotion, organizers say prayer is the key to curb declining
morals and face the threat of terrorism, war and immorality. The weekend event,
hosted at the World Prayer Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., is based on 1
Thessalonians 5:17, which encourages Christians to “pray without ceasing.”

The summit (ndptf.org) will kick off with a
solemn assembly of repentance, which is being facilitated by Dick Eastman,
president of Every Home for Christ. A concert of prayer at the Focus on the
Family headquarters will follow, targeting the seven centers of
power”—government, military, media, business, education, church and family.

Workshops on prayer also are being offered, but organizers say the event is
meant to “lift the United States before the Lord at this critical juncture in
history,” wrote task force chairwoman Shirley Dobson in a statement about the
event.

“The welfare of our beloved land hangs in the balance, and it's imperative
that believers unite in fervent and consistent prayer,” Dobson wrote. “We will
also beseech God for His wisdom, guidance, and intervention as we look ahead to
the November elections. And, we will seek the Lord's anointing upon our
country's seven centers of power.

The summit comes just weeks after the Freedom From Religion Foundation
filed a lawsuit in a Wisconsin federal court challenging the law that created
the National Day of Prayer. The suit claims that national and state leaders’
calling citizens to pray violates church-state separation. President Bush, White
House Press Secretary Dana Perino and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle were named in the
lawsuit. Although the National Day of Prayer Task Force is a nongovernmental
organization, Dobson is also named in the lawsuit, which describes the task
force as “a willful participant with state and federal officials in joint action
that violates the Establishment Clause.”

Comment

Christians Mark 'Succot' in Israel

The Feast of Tabernacles events are expected to pour $18 million into the local economy.

[10.13.08] More than 7,000 Christians are expected to descend on Jerusalem this week
for the 29th annual Feast of Tabernacles celebration sponsored by the
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ). The gathering, which began
Monday and runs through Sunday, is considered the largest annual tourism event
in Israel and is expected to pour $18 million to $20 million into the local
economy.

“Our Christian pilgrims are coming up to Jerusalem once more to join the
Jewish people in marking this traditional feast of joy,” said the Rev. Malcolm
Hedding, ICEJ executive director. “But their presence here at this particular
time also constitutes a major statement of solidarity with Israel as it
confronts the growing threat of a nuclear Iran, while also bringing a major
financial injection into the local economy at a very critical moment.”

Although most feast events will take place at the International Convention
Center Jerusalem, the annual Jerusalem March will take participants into the
streets Wednesday, where they will wave colorful flags and publicly acknowledge
their solidarity with Israel.

The Succot celebration, the Jewish name for the feast, comes at a time when
Israel faces an alarming threat from Iran, whose president has called for the
annihilation of the Jewish nation. At a press conference Thursday, ICEJ leaders
will announce the uniting of top Christian and Jewish leaders and organizations
behind a global campaign launched by ICEJ last month to indict Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for incitement to commit genocide against Israel.

Some 60,000 Christians from 128 nations signed petitions that the ICEJ
presented to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon days before Ahmadinejad was to address the U.N. on Sept. 23.

“Christians today [sense] an inescapable moral duty to earnestly speak out
whenever another genocidal campaign threatens the Jewish people,” Hedding said
in September. “We are concerned that just such a genocidal campaign is taking
shape in the form of Iran’s repeated threats to eliminate the Jewish state and
its quest for the nuclear means to carry out these threats.”

On Sunday, feast participants will visit the Sderot area, which has been an
ongoing target of Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, to dedicate
portable bomb shelters, or the city of Efrat to participate in interfaith
dialogue at the new Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation,
founded by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin.

In tandem with the ICEJ event, Messianic leaders Barry and Batya Segal,
founders of Vision for Israel, will mark the Feast of Tabernacles by hosting the
Succot Celebration this week. In addition to the Segals, speakers include Bible
teacher Lance Lambert, 24/7 prayer leader Tom Hess, Messianic
pastor Zvi Randelman and revivalist David Herzog.

Comment

Lakeland Revival Officially Ends

After a major scandal and dwindling crowds, the Lakeland Outpouring
concluded Sunday.

[10.13.08]The Lakeland Outpouring’s final meeting was held at Ignited Church on
Sunday—six months after Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley launched daily meetings
in the small Lakeland, Fla., community and left without warning Aug. 11 in a
cloud of scandal.

“None of us knew how long this would last,” said Ignited Church senior
pastor Stephen Strader, who announced on a blog Oct. 2 that, with the outpouring
ending, he intends to set up a global apostolic base in Lakeland. “Ignited
Church has had a vision [for] an International Apostolic Center. The Lakeland
Outpouring has catapulted our vision forward.”

Strader said with the support of “dozens of major leaders” for his
apostolic center, he envisions a place for hosting conferences, special events
and training workshops. He also announced the creation of Ignited Network of
Ministries (INM), an initiative to connect Ignited Church with Lakeland-spawned
revivals worldwide.

Days after Bentley told his Fresh Fire Ministries (FFM) staff in August
that he and his wife were separating, the 10,000-seat air dome used for the
revival meetings was taken down. Bentley resigned his position at Fresh Fire,
stepped down from public ministry and faded from the public eye.

It was his FFM board in Abbotsford, British Columbia, that later announced
that Bentley had confessed to an inappropriate relationship with a female staff
member. At the time, a senior board member told Charisma that Bentley’s
alcohol consumption also had “crossed the line.”

Rick Joyner, founder of MorningStar Ministries in Fort Mill, S.C., has
since taken the lead in helping Bentley find healing and restoration. Joyner
appeared on the platform in Lakeland in June when Bentley publicly submitted
himself to the oversight of apostolic leaders Bill Johnson, John Arnott and Ché
Ahn.

Joyner told Charisma that Johnson and Texas pastor Jack Deere would
assist him in Bentley’s restoration. He admitted that the process would not be
easy. “Todd does have some serious issues he must deal with, and he knows it
more than anyone,” Joyner said.

Observers say that worldwide, via GOD TV and the Internet, Bentley’s
involvement in the Lakeland Outpouring sparked genuine renewal among Christians
despite criticism of his theology and character stirring among some charismatic
leaders.

Bentley’s faith and exuberance impressed seasoned, prominent revivalists
while his wild tactics often tempered the enthusiasm of other leaders. When
praying for healing, the tattooed evangelist was known to hit the sick in the
stomach with his knee in a move more common among wrestlers than preachers.
Bentley even recounted kicking a woman in the face in an act of “obedience to
the Lord.”

Yet, with the exception of a few ministers, many charismatic leaders chose
to overlook Bentley’s peculiar methods for the sake of what they saw as “fruit.”
They claimed the revival stirred many Christians worldwide to pursue God with a
renewed hunger.

“Personally, I believe that the Lakeland Outpouring was another wave of
revival like Toronto and Brownsville,” said Los Angeles-area pastor Ahn,
referring to the Toronto Blessing and the Pensacola Revival, both of which
occurred during the 1990s. “Each wave has its own life span.”

Johnson, senior pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, Calif., told
Charisma that many people were deeply saddened over the revelations of
Bentley’s moral failings, “but people have also come to grips with the fact that
it was never about Todd, it is really about God.”

“The impact of the Lakeland Outpouring is quite significant on a global
level,” Johnson said. “There are fires of revival all over Europe that are the
direct result of what God was doing in Lakeland.”

The reason so much of Europe was impacted by what occurred in Lakeland was
largely because daily meetings were broadcast on GOD TV, a satellite-based TV
network with millions of viewers in 200 nations.

More than a month after Bentley’s problems became public, GOD TV
co-founders Rory and Wendy Alec issued a statement defending the outpouring and
Bentley’s work in Lakeland. “[Todd] was consistently and unrelentingly
criticized, maligned [and] persecuted,” they stated. “The attacks grew
increasingly violent, and the heartbreaking thing was that so much of it came
from the church.”

The couple said they would never regret airing the Lakeland Outpouring
because tons of e-mails from people claiming to be healed, transformed or
revived inspired a “fear of the Lord” that motivated them to continue the
broadcasts. “It was not a mistake,” the Alecs said. “It was not by mistake. We
believe it was a clear instruction from the Lord” to air the meetings.

The network plans to broadcast other offshoots of Lakeland, including
current revival meetings in Dudley, England.

As repercussions of the Lakeland Outpouring continue spreading across the
globe, leaders who are ministering to Bentley said they are not overly concerned
with seeing him quickly return to public ministry. “The focus is not of Todd the
evangelist; it is on Todd the person,” Johnson said. “We want him healed up, not
because of what he can do, but because God loves him and treasures him as a
son.” —Paul Steven Ghiringhelli

Comment

Violence Continues in India

At least 60 people have died in the unabated,
anti-Christian violence that broke out in August.

[10.10.08] The violence against Christians in India is headed into its eighth week
despite the deployment of thousands of national and state law enforcement
troops. According to local sources representing the All India Christian Council
(AICC), countless rural-based police officers have ignored India's Supreme Court
mandate to register all complaints and are turning away Christians attempting to
report cases of violence perpetrated by Hindu extremists.

“The death tolls are climbing, but less than 100 are confirmed,” pastor and
AICC Regional Secretary Madhu Chandra said. “Perhaps this is why the Orissa
attacks haven't gained international attention [regarding] the worst violation
of the freedom of religion in any democracy in recent history. … This is clearly
terrorism and ethnic cleansing, but few Indian leaders are admitting it.”

At least 60 people have died since the violence broke out in Orissa state
on Aug. 24, a day after Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, Kandhamal district
leader of the militant nationalist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), was gunned
down with four of his comrades. Saraswati is believed to have instigated the
violence last December that reportedly destroyed 105 churches and 730 Christian
homes.

Maoist rebels took responsibility for the assassinations, and the AICC
immediately published a letter denouncing the murders. But Hindu radicals still
blamed Christians for the attack and used the killing to incite violence against
them. The violence has continued unabated since then, with hundreds of churches
destroyed and thousands of Christians’ homes burned.

“The Hindu militants are afraid because many thousands of ordinary Hindus
are accepting the Lord as their savior,” wrote an Orissa pastor who asked to
remain anonymous for fear of reprisal in an update to his ministry’s overseers.
“Christianity in India is [growing] … and this alarms the Hindu militants who
think that one day India will become a Christian nation.”

The pastor said the central government has done little to stop the
violence. Dead bodies dot the roadside, he said, and many Christians have fled
to the forest. “They have nothing now,” he said. “Everything has been burned
down by the wicked people. Hundreds of Christian villages have been
deserted.”

The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that in Orissa’s
Kandhamal district, militants gang-raped a nun, stripped the priest naked and
beat him brutally. They then attempted to make him a human torch, but their
matches, dampened by the rain, did not light. Police arrived in time to save the
two.

In Tiangia village, also in Orissa, four men attempting to defend their
church against attackers were killed, and one of them reportedly was cut into
pieces, local media reported. As the terrorists burned houses of Christians, a
paralyzed man, unable to escape, was burned to death.

At a Catholic-run orphanage, a mob locked the priest and a 20-year-old
female nurse in separate rooms and set the building on fire. The priest
survived, but the young woman burned to death. Ten of the orphans fled to the
jungle, while 12 suffered burns.

The violence remains most severe in Orissa, but the attacks have spread to
several other states, including Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh
and Jharkhand. Observers say the attacks stem from the recent rise of Hindu
nationalist movements, including the militant Bajrang Dal and VHP, which want to
see India maintain a Hindu identity. Archbishop of Delhi Vincent Concessao has
called for the Bajrang Dal and the VHP to be banned, saying the extremist groups
wanted to eliminate Christians from Orissa, Tribune News Service reported.

Although many of the early attacks were against prominent Catholic
ministries, Christians of all denominational backgrounds have been affected, as
well as Hindus who refuse to join in the attacks, Compass Direct News reported.
The EFI listed more than 30 affected ministries, including the Assemblies of
God, Believers Church (Gospel for Asia), the Indian Pentecostal Church and the
Orissa Missionary Movement.

“Outside the metropolitan areas of Bangalore and Mangalore, innocent
Christians live in fear since coordinated attacks on churches on Sept. 14,” said
John Dayal, AICC secretary general. “Police are ordering village churches not to
hold Sunday worship services and even requiring them to submit ‘licenses’ to
hold prayers.”

According to Compass Direct, more than 300 people had been arrested in the
last month. Christian leaders attributed the arrest of 46 people within two days
last week to the new state Director General of Police Manmohan Praharaj, who
succeeded Gopal Chandra Nanda after he retired on Sept. 30.

The AICC reported that 315 villages have been damaged, 4,640 Christian
houses burned, 149 churches destroyed and 53,000 Christians left homeless as a
result of the violence.

Christian organizations and human rights have staged protests and organized
prayer efforts, calling for an end to the violence. In late September, five U.S.
representatives, led by Republican Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri, introduced a
resolution condemning the violence in India and calling on the Indian government
to stop the attacks and address its root causes.

Bridget S. Kustin, communications specialist for the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom, said Christians should urge their congressional
representatives to support the resolution, which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs, and call for a similar measure to be introduced in the
Senate.

“India is invested in its international image, so pressure coming from
abroad will have an impact,” Kustin said. “[Christians] can make sure there is
continual international pressure.”

In the meantime, Christians are urged to pray for believers in India. “We
covet your earnest prayers for the state of Orissa,” the Orissa pastor said.
“Please stand with the bleeding church in Orissa, India.” —John M.
Lindner

Comment

Billy Graham Film Debuts Friday

The film dubbed Billy: The Early Years—about the genesis of Billy Graham's ministry—opened on 282 screens in the Southeast and Texas Friday.

[10.10.08] Billy: The Early Years—about the genesis of Billy Graham's
ministry—hit 282 screens in the Southeast and Texas Friday.

Directed by Robby Benson, the film stars Armie Hammer (Veronica Mars,
Flicka) as the young evangelist and takes viewers through Graham's early
years, as he meets his future wife, Ruth, and forms a friendship with Charles
Templeton. In addition, the film features performances by Martin Landau,
Stefanie Butler, Lindsay Wagner and country singer Josh Turner as George Beverly
Shea.

Rated PG for thematic material—including some disturbing images, brief
language and smoking—Billy has received lukewarm reviews.

“Hot on the heels of Fireproof—a Christian drama that briefly cracked
the box office top 10—comes this earnest, sometimes amateurish biography,”
The St. Petersburg Times observed. “Billy has the shallow look of
a TV movie and performances smacking of ham.”

The Orlando Sentinel said that Hammer “has so little of the
evangelist's fire. He lacks those scary-intense eyes that made you believe he
believed your very soul hung in the balance. … A bland leading man in a movie
without much of a biographical spark to it makes for a dull sermon indeed.”

Barry Landis, founder of the film's marketing company Landis Entertainment
& Media Partners, said the movie producers had no official input from the
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). However, he added that Graham's
family members do have copies of the film and that Graham's eldest daughter,
Gigi, has expressed her support and enthusiasm. BGEA President Franklin Graham,
though, recently criticized the film.

To coincide with the movie, Thomas Nelson will release the film's
adaptation—Billy: The Untold Story of a Young Billy Graham and the Test of
Faith That Almost Changed Everything by William Paul McKay and Ken
Abraham—on Oct. 28. The film's soundtrack released Oct. 7.-Christian Retailing

Comment

Watch the trailer.

Female Presidents, Not Pastors?

The secular press has been probing conservative Christian leaders of late about
how they can support a woman for vice president but prohibit her from
leading a church.

[10.09.08] Just as the politics-in-the-pulpit debate escalates, so has the issue of
women in leadership roles—particularly within certain church
denominations—resurfaced since Republican presidential candidate John McCain
selected Sarah Palin as his running mate.

A few weeks ago, more than 100 LifeWay Christian Bookstores pulled from its
shelves an issue of Gospel Today that featured five female pastors on
its cover reports the Associated Press (AP).

Now many Southern Baptist leaders and pastors are facing questions from
secular media on how their denomination can endorse a woman for political office
but not allow her to lead a church.

“There's no disconnect or inconsistency whatsoever,” said Richard Land,
president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission to the
AP. “We don't go beyond where the New Testament goes. Public office is neither a
church nor a marriage.”

Southern Baptist pastor and Family Research Council president Tony Perkins
told the Religion News Service that, “An elected official is not a spiritual
leader—and that's what the Scripture speaks to.”

Comment on this article