Protests erupted in Tunisia’s streets Monday as the prime minister announced a national unity government.
Although the new unity government negotiated with the opposition parties and would appoint ministers of the interior, state, finance and defense from the old ruling party, people still protested the new coalition government.

It took one month for Tunisia–long considered stable–to disintegrate. It started on December 17 when an unemployed graduate set himself on fire. Soon, thousands were in the streets demanding more job opportunities and a higher standard of living.

Police clashed with the protesters for the next nine days, which fueled their outrage at the oppressive regime. On December 28, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali warns protests are unacceptable and those using violence will be punished.

By January 13, the president promises major reforms and promises not to run for office in 2014. A day later, he declares a state of emergency, dissolves parliament, and promises to hold legislative elections within six months.
The violence continues and finally, Ben Ali renounces power, flees to Saudi Arabia, and the Speaker of Parliament is sworn in as interim president and forms a coalition government.

Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs says it’s hard to say what will result from the hurried changes, however, “I don’t think we can anticipate a positive change, at least in the short term. This is a country with less than half a percent of the population as Christian. It’s pretty unlikely that suddenly those believers are going to be celebrated by their government or by their countrymen.”

While it seems that the community of believers is a little larger than thought previously, the attitude of the authorities has changed. Foreign Christian residents experience more inspections and suspect their phones are tapped.

“They have said, ‘We’re not going have a law that is in opposition to Islam.’ It’s unlikely that the new government, whenever that gets situated, is going to change that policy. So I think that we need to pray for the believers.”
According to Open Doors’ World Watch List–a compilation of the top 50 countries where persecution occurs, pastors of expat churches are watched and the materials they use are monitored closely.* Nettleton says, “Voice of the Martyrs is involved, but I can’t say much more than that. Because there are so few Christians in Tunisia, anything we say publicly about what we’re doing there can end up in them being targeted.”

However, Nettleton hopes this situation could lead to open doors for the Gospel. “When there is upheaval, people are thinking about eternity; they’re thinking about important things: What’s worth living for? What’s worth dying for?’ That can be a time when revival strikes. It can be a time when the Spirit of God moves within a country.”

Tunisia ranks 37th (up 5 points) on the World Watch List 2011.

Martin Luther King dominated many of the headlines on Monday. But serious and interesting news was also reported across the World Wide Web. Here are four headlines I found noteworthy as I set out to report on the stories that matter most to Charismatic believers.

A Muslim stormed into an Iraqi hospital and shot a Christian doctor point blank in the head in yet another targeted attack against Christians. Fox News reports.

Meanwhile, Egypt sentenced a Muslim man to death Sunday for killing six Christians and a Muslim police guard outside a church. The New York Times has the full story.

Churches in the D.C. area are still waiting and hoping President Barack Obama will pick a home church. A Methodist Episcopal Church offered a direct invitation. Read more about it in the Washington Post.

Has the King James Bible changed the way we speak? The BBC takes a look at the impact of the KJV on our language over the past 400 years.

While some are moving to politicize the Arizona shootings, others are simply trying to understand it how everyday Joes feel about the way America discusses politics.

A new poll reveals that the public viewed the lack of civility in American politics as a serious problem even before the Tucson shootings.

The PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey found that a whopping 80 percent of Americans say the lack of civil or respectful discourse in our political system is a “serious problem”—and Americans across the religious and political spectrums share this view. Nearly half of Americans (49 percent) said that the lack of civility was a “very serious problem.”

“These survey findings suggest that renewed calls for civility by President Obama and other political and religious leaders will find broad support among Americans across political, religious, and ideological lines,” says Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI.

Fifty-nine percent of Americans believe that people are more divided over politics than they used to be. More specifically, 41 percent of Americans believe the 2010 election was generally more negative than past elections. With Democratic candidates facing significant losses at the ballot box in November, self-identified Democrats were significantly more likely than Republicans to say that the election was more negative, 51 percent and 26 percent respectively, the poll finds.

“Though so many Americans view the lack of civility and respect as a serious problem, few see evidence that America’s political leaders are working to overcome differences,” says Daniel Cox, Director of Research for PRRI. Only 21 percent of Americans believe national political leaders work well together to get things done despite differences.

What’s your take? Have political discussions crossed the civility line in America?

Thanks, in part, to its traffic-generating domain name, is one of the most visible Bible resources online. Now, has a fresh new look with a redesign of its Web site.

“This effort is all about putting the Bible into the hands and hearts of a global audience,” says Stacy Fornara, CEO of , “Our Christian Web site has grown from 172,000 unique visitors per month in 1997 to over 1.5 million today without much promotion. We have invested significant resources to continuously gift the Bible and provide cutting-edge online resources; our overall goal is to positively impact worldwide exposure of the Bible.”

What’s new and improved? Interactive content communities are at the heart of the new design. The communities aim to attract and retain all age groups, diverse peoples and a broad range of cultures.

Some of the new sections include a children’s corner with interactive games, video and audio, including content from VeggieTales and ZonderKidz. Then there’s the section for configuring Interactive Prayer Postcards via U.S. mail, the Daily Bible Reading, Prayer Rooms, Daily Devotional Calendar, Bible Passage Lookup, and Bible Basics.

If you read the January issue of Charisma magazine, then you know Charisma Media is celebrating the “Year of the Bible.” As the year unfolds, we’ll continue to explore new translations, new mediums—and new delivery models.

What are your favorite online Bible resources?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a
social conservative. At least that’s the way one of his surviving
family members is characterizing him on the 25h anniversary of the
holiday that bears his name.

MLK’s
nice, Dr. Alveda King, director of African American Outreach for
Priests for Life, says advice columns her uncle wrote for Ebony magazine in 1957 and 1958 reveal a man who today would be regarded as a social conservative.

“In
advising men and women on questions of personal behavior 50 years ago,
Uncle Martin sounded no different than a conservative Christian preacher
does now,” says King. “He was pro-life, pro-abstinence before marriage,
and based his views on the unchanging Word of the Bible. Today, Planned
Parenthood would condemn Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as part of the
‘religious right’.”

In advice
columns written for the African American-oriented magazine, MLK told a
young man who had impregnated his girlfriend and refused to marry her,
resulting in a “crime,” that he had made a “mistake.” He urged another
reader to abstain from premarital sex, noting that such activity was
contributing “to the present breakdown of the family.”

“Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man of peace, justice, and most of all a
man of God,” King says. “Were he alive today, he would be working to
secure peace and justice for those in the womb and healing for a nation
that is still pained by over 50 million missing lives.”

Have you read any of those original Ebony magazine columns?

As MLK parades get under way from coast to coast to honor the slain civil rights icon, more than 40 African-American religious and political leaders gathered this morning at the Freedom Baptist Church in Hillside, Ill. to contest what they see as a misrepresentation of King’s legacy and civil rights.

The group has taken issue with the recent passing of a “civil unions” bill in Illinois has been heralded by some lawmakers as a win for civil rights—and others have even suggested that King’s civil rights interests would have included homosexuality.

“Skin color is not analogous to behavior,” says David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute. “To equate homosexuality to race is offensive and perverts the noble cause of a great man and an important movement in our history.”

The Illinois Family Institute points to a recent Illinois house floor debate on the issue of civil unions. The group reports that both State Representative Careen Gordon and State Representative Greg Harris exploited a flawed analogy by comparing same sex marriage to interracial marriage.

In essence, the group argues, they are claiming that opposition to discrimination based on an immutable, non-behavioral, morally neutral condition like race is equivalent to homosexuals’ fight to normalize and institutionalize deviant sexual relations. Gordon described the passage of the civil union bill as doing “God’s work.”

Pastor Al Cleveland, Bishop Michael Love, Dr. Hiram Crawford, Apostle Stephen Garner Dr. Eric Wallace and many others are working together with the Illinois Family Institute to, as they see it, set the record straight.

Gordon and Harris could not immediately be reached for comment.

Do you agree with these African-American leaders? Is MLK’s legacy being twisted?

In a move to commemorate the 1786 day when the State of Virginia adopted Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, President Barack Obama has proclaimed Jan. 16 as “Religious Freedom Day.” Jefferson’s document was the root of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing freedom of religion in America.

In the proclamation, Obama cited the right of Americans to worship and practice any religion or no religion at all. He also noted his administration’s defense of the cause of religious freedom around the world and condemned attacks on any people of any belief.

Here is the text of Obama’s proclamation:

Our Nation was founded on a shared commitment to the values of justice, freedom, and equality. On Religious Freedom Day, we commemorate Virginia’s 1786 Statute for Religious Freedom, in which Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion.” The fundamental principle of religious freedom—guarded by our Founders and enshrined in our Constitution’s
First Amendment—continues to protect rich faiths flourishing within our borders.

The writ of the Founding Fathers has upheld the ability of Americans to worship and practice religion as they choose, including the right to believe in no religion at all. However, these liberties are not self-sustaining, and require a stalwart commitment by each generation to preserve and apply them.

Throughout our Nation’s history, our founding ideal of religious freedom has served as an example to the world. Though our Nation has sometimes fallen short of the weighty task of ensuring freedom of religious expression and practice, we have remained a Nation in which people of different faiths coexist with mutual respect and equality under the law. America’s unshakeable commitment to religious freedom binds us together as a people, and the strength of our values underpins a country that is tolerant, just, and strong.

My Administration continues to defend the cause of religious freedom in the United States and around the world. At home, we vigorously protect the civil rights of Americans, regardless of their religious beliefs. Across the globe, we also seek to uphold this human right and to foster tolerance and peace with those whose beliefs differ from our own. We bear witness to those who are persecuted or attacked because of their faith. We condemn the attacks made in recent months against Christians in Iraq and Egypt, along with attacks against people of all backgrounds and beliefs. The United States stands with those who advocate for free religious expression and works to protect the rights of all people to follow their conscience, free from persecution and discrimination.

On Religious Freedom Day, let us reflect on the principle of religious freedom that has guided our Nation forward, and recommit to upholding this universal human right both at home and around the world.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2011, as Religious Freedom Day.

I call on all Americans to commemorate this day with events and activities that teach us about this critical foundation of our Nation’s liberty, and to show us how we can protect it for future generations here and around the world.

The strange animal deaths continue.

According to the AP, California wildlife officials are trying to figure out what caused the death of more than 100 birds found clustered together off Highway 101.

Meanwhile, The Daily Mail is reporting up to 300 dead birds found on the side of an Alabama highway. And Grackles have been found dead by the hundreds in Louisiana and Kentucky. Finally, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting a bizarre scene on a Chicago Lakefront, where Canadian geese and mallard ducks are eating dead or dying gizzard shad.

Are these animal deaths really all that unusual? Or is the media just picking up on every incident now in a quest to drive ratings? Are they prophetic or just coincidental?

Read our earlier story “Are Mysterious Bird and Fish Deaths Prophetic?” for more answers. Then let me know what you think.

What is secular media reporting about the Christian world this week? Here are some interesting stories worth reading as we head into the weekend.

Iran has arrested about 70 Christians since Christmas in a crackdown
that demonstrates the limits of religious tolerance by Islamic leaders
who often boast they provide room for other faiths, the Associated Press
reports.

Israel is inviting tourists to retrace the footsteps of the Virgin Mary, officials said Tuesday, in the latest campaign to bring Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Check out the full story in ABC News.

Even before the earthquake that devastated Haiti a year ago, Chris and Kelli Wilson felt a strong urge to build an orphanage. Learn more about their work in Haiti in The Beacon News.

Ahwatukee musician Thomas P. Morrissey is debuting film this weekend that he produced with some impressive help. The film will benefit starving children. Check out the rest of the story in .

Endangered Species. Those two words are at the heart of a new campaign that aims to raise awareness of the abortion of African-American babies.

The statistics are troubling. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the black abortion rate is three times that of whites and twice as high as all other races combined. 

“The impact of abortion in the African-American community is the Darfur of America,” says Walter B. Hoye II, president of the Issues4Life Foundation. Hoye’s research shows 50 million babies have been aborted since 1973, 18 million of which are African-American.

The Issues4Life Foundation is launching the campaign in partnership with The Radiance Foundation to shed light on California as the nation’s apportion capital of the U.S., with 208,000 abortions taking place in 424 abortion clinics. Seventy billboards stating “Black Children Are An Endangered Species—” are being placed throughout Los Angeles.

Dr. La Verne Tolbert, a former board member of Planned Parenthood says, “In California, children are targeted for abortions through school-based clinics and school-linked clinics, which are family planning clinics on or near school grounds. Girls are taken off campus to a Planned Parenthood clinic, where abortions are performed without parental consent or notification.”