Even as blind activist Chen Guangcheng suffers malnutrition under house arrest for blowing the whistle on China’s forced abortion practices, the Communist nation continues its persecution against Christianity.

According to a report from ChinaAid, the deputy chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance has been given a two-year labor camp sentence. Pastor Shi Enhao was condemned to two years of what the Communist State calls “re-education through labor.”

Police handed down this extra-judicial punishment, which requires no trial or conviction of a crime. Re-education through labor is often used to punish people who have committed minor criminal offenses or for dissidents and adherents of religious groups, such as house church Christians and Falun Gong practitioners.

Enhao’s large house church is home to several thousand members who meet in various sites around the city. He was charged with “illegal meetings and illegal organizing of venues for religious meetings.” ChinaAid also reports that the police’s Domestic Security Protection Department has ordered his church to stop meeting and confiscated the congregation’s car, musical instruments and choir robes, as well as 140,000 yuan ($21,712.50) in donations.

Enhao’s May 31 arrest by police in Suqian city comes against the backdrop of the Shouwang Church controversy in Beijing. In April, the Shouwang Church decided to meet outdoors despite being evicted from its leased meeting site. Critics of Shouwang’s decision noted that when other house churches have grown too large to meet in one place without making local officials nervous, most have avoided clashes with the authorities by breaking into smaller groups meeting in different locations. As ChinaAid sees it, Shi’s charge and sentence demonstrate that this strategy does not guarantee that the authorities will be appeased.

Enhao and his wife, Zhu Guangyun, are both 55 years old. His 86-year-old mother, Liu Guanglan, requires round-the-clock care, which his wife provides. Enhao’s son, Shi Yongyang, and his wife are both in full-time ministry. Four generations of his family have been serving the church. According to ChinaAid, police have threatened all three of his daughters and their husbands.

For all the talk about the 89-year-old Family Radio Network founder Harold Camping’s end of the world predictions, there’s another elderly radio show host making scandalous headlines these days.

Patrick Kiley, a 73-year-old conservative Christian talk show host, has been indicted in a Ponzi scheme that allegedly involved $194 million in investors’ money, according to Financial Advisor magazine. He and others have been charged with wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, among other offenses.

Kiley broadcasts Follow the Money on the Worldwide Radio network and is heard on more than 200 stations. Kiley says he’s innocent. Financial Advisor reports him as saying he was reading from a script when he told his audience he was a senior financial advisor who advised callers to invest in the scheme.

As Aug. 6 approaches, secular humanist opposition is mounting against Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis.

Last week, the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a federal lawsuit aiming to block Perry from participating in the event at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. Now, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas is asking Perry and other officials to disclose the amount of tax-payer dollars
and other state or local government resources used to promote the
prayer event.

“We are concerned that Gov. Perry is using public office to endorse a
sectarian religious event and to advance specific Christian beliefs,”
says Lisa Graybill, legal director of the ACLU of Texas. “We are seeking
information on the degree to which state resources have been or will be
used for the planning and promotion of this event and for state
officials’ participation in it.”

Under the state’s open records law, government officials have 10
business days to respond to open records requests. The ACLU of Texas
expects a response on or before August 3.

But Perry, who may run for president in 2012, is getting support from fellow politicians and pastors alike.

Governor Paul LePage of Maine has issued a proclamation naming
August 6 as a “Day of Prayer and Fasting for Our Nation.” The Maine
Legislative Prayer Caucus is urging Maine citizens to participate in The Response. And James O. Davis, cofounder of the Billion Soul Network, is convinced that Perry is following the Holy Spirit’s leading.

“We need a sweeping, weeping, reaping revival in America,” Davis says. “The sins
that use to embarrass us now entertain us; the sins that us to amaze
us now amuse us; the sins that use to make us weep now make us laugh;
the sins that use to slink down back alleys now parade down main
street. We will either have revival or face ruin in this generation.”

Despite persecution, three more respected Christian leaders have signed on as co-chairpersons of the Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s The Response: a call to prayer for a nation in crisis prayer event on Aug. 6.

Penny Nance, president and CEO of Concerned Women for America; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; and Frank Wright, president of the National Religious Broadcasters, have been appointed to serve. Previously announced co-chairpersons include Dr. James Dobson and his wife,
Shirley, Rev. Sammy Rodriquez, Dr. Tony Evans and Dr. Richard Land.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed suit in federal court to stop the prayer event, saying it violates the religious freedom article in the First Amendment. But the opposition is only spurring charismatic leaders to press harder for God’s will.

“At stake are our very freedoms. This has gone to a whole new level,” says Steve Riggle, senior pastor at Grace Community Church. “Let’s rise to this challenge and massively respond. Just maybe, this will spark a movement across this nation that will be a massive spiritual tsunami of genuine repentance, humble dependence and another great awakening.”

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Should New York’s clerks be forced to issue same-sex marriage licenses? That’s the subject of a legal memo the Alliance Defense Fund circulated Friday.

The memo assures New York State municipal clerks responsible for issuing marriage licenses that the law does not require them to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs. In other words, clerks can delegate the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses to someone else.

“No one should have to choose between their religious beliefs and their job. The law—and New York’s highest court—affirms this fundamental principle of freedom,” says ADF Senior Counsel Brian Raum. “It’s outrageous that officials are threatening criminal prosecution for clerks who exercise their lawful right to delegate the issuing of same-sex ‘marriage’ licenses, especially when the law requires the accommodation of their religious beliefs. We encourage all clerks to affirm their rights under New York State law.”

As Raum hinted, the memo was circulated in response to threats from top officials of the Empire State to charge clerks who decline to issue such licenses with a criminal offense—forcing clerks to decide between their career and their faith. When New York’s new definition of marriage takes effect on July 24, many clerks will be confronted with the conflict between surrendering to a new job requirement and adhering to their own religious beliefs.

After New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed same-sex ‘marriage’ into law, he admonished clerks. “You don’t get to say, ‘I like this law and I’ll enforce this law,’ or ‘I don’t like this law and I won’t enforce this law’—you can’t do that. So if you can’t enforce the law then you shouldn’t be in that position.”

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice reflected a similar stance, declaring that “the law affords no discretion to public officials charged with granting marriage licenses. … Therefore, any such refusal may be subject to criminal prosecution.”

Even though New York’s Marriage Equality Act contains extremely narrow religious exemptions, it is devoid of any individual conscience protections.  However, “New York’s Human Rights Law requires employers to accommodate those [religious] beliefs unless it places an undue hardship on the employer,” the ADF memo to municipal clerks states.

ADF attorneys contend that delegation is not an undue burden because Executive Law § 296(10)(a) explicitly allows a municipality to delegate a clerk’s duties concerning marriage licenses to a deputy clerk or any other municipal employee—giving it no reason to deny a clerk’s request.

Thousands of Christians are in Washington, D.C., this week to stand up and speak out for Israel at Christians United for Israel’s annual Washington Summit.

This year’s summit comes in the wake of President Obama’s comments in May suggesting that the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps.

On Tuesday night, Summit goers and others will gather for “A Night to Honor Israel,” an expression of Christian solidarity with the State of Israel and the Jewish people. A Night to Honor Israel is also being broadcast live on the Daystar Television Network at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Speakers include Pastor John Hagee, founder and national chairman of Christians United for Israel, Ambassador Michael Oren, the State of Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., and radio and TV personality Glenn Beck.

Numbers Don’t Lie. That’s the name of a new social media campaign the National Black Prolife Coalition just launched.

The campaign aims to expose what the coalition has defined as the number one killer of African-Americans: Planned Parenthood and urban abortion clinics.

“Pro-abortion groups cry racism and misogyny because they know they can’t speak to the facts,” says Ryan Bomberger of The Radiance Foundation, the organization that created the video series. “They’ve tried to remove our TooManyAborted.com billboards and crush free speech instead of halting over 363,000 innocent lives needlessly crushed in the black community.”

The second installment of a three-part video series, entitled: “NUMBER ONE KILLER” was released on Tuesday. The video reveals how abortions in the black community outnumber all other causes of death combined. For example, New York City, the home of Planned Parenthood, aborts nearly 60 percent of all black pregnancies, according to the coalition’s research.

“When will our black leaders take an honest look at these numbers, become outraged and do something to stop the abortion deaths of our beautiful black babies?” asks Arnold Culbreath of Protecting Black Life. “The numbers don’t lie. Abortion takes a tremendous toll on our women, our men, our families and our future.”

With a $1 billion annual budget and $1 billion in assets, Planned Parenthood has historically targeted African-Americans with birth control through population control efforts, the coalition argues.

“This campaign should be liberating for the leaders and everyone concerned,” says Dr. Alveda King, director of the African American Outreach for Priests for Life. “After all, the truth sets us all free. If our leaders haven’t sold us out, this is their opportunity to stand up for life.”

As you read this, I’m in Washington, D.C., where I am every time this time of year for Christians United for Israel’s Washington Summit.

CUFI founder and Pastor Israel John Hagee told me that registration is up 1,000 more than it was last year due to the concerns people have about President Obama’s declaration to return to Israel’s 1967 borders.

If you’re in the Washington, D.C., area, there still may be time to get a ticket to attend the Night to Honor Israel Banquet on Tuesday night, July 19. If you’ve never been to one, it’s a wonderful event to attend.

Click here for more information on Christians United for Israel’s sixth annual Washington Summit, to be held July 18-20.

Click here to watch the Night to Honor Israel Banquet live online starting at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday night, July 19. The Night to Honor Israel will also be shown on the Daystar Television Network at the same time. Click here for Daystar’s stations.

Relentless. That’s how some might describe the Roswell Independent School District. That’s because the New Mexico system appears to be on a mission to squash the Word of God on its campuses, according to a lawsuit Liberty Counsel filed.

The suit alleges the Roswell Independent School District retaliated against a Christian group called Relentless, punishing and suspending its members for buying and giving fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts with Bible verses to each of their teachers.

The students went to great lengths to share the Word of God. The closest Krispy Kreme shop was in Texas. Some members of the group drove almost six hours round trip, stayed overnight, got up at 3 a.m., filled their car’s back seat with fresh doughnuts and got back to school on time to deliver the doughnuts. When they handed out the doughnuts, a Scripture verse was included. One student was immediately sent home and two others were forced to spend a Saturday morning sitting alone in the classroom for four hours as a punishment.

“Some teachers are worried about their students giving them bullets, and this school suspends students over a Bible verse! These students are living their Christian beliefs by showing kindness,” says Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University School of Law. “It is outrageous that the Roswell school officials are mean to these students solely because they are hostile to their Christian faith.”

In the past these students have handed out sandwiches, hot chocolate and candy canes to the student body and faculty. They helped staff with the trash and fellow students with their lunch trays and also distributed rocks with affirming words like “U are wonderful” painted on one side and “Psalm 139” on the other. However, the school has allegedly bullied and suspended students who were exercising their freedom of religion by distributing abstinence wristbands and plastic models of babies at 12 weeks gestation, bringing attention to the life of the unborn.

When the plastic babies were handed out, school officials allegedly said, “It’s time to shut this down. Some people are getting offended.”

That morning, one student had decided to take her own life because of her past decision to abort. When she received a model baby with the Scripture, “You are fearfully and wonderfully made,” she cried and prayed with the students and her life was saved, both physically and spiritually with the forgiveness of God.

However, the students were then pulled out of class and instructed to cease their “Christian” acts, because they had made their point.

It’s the second week of Morality in Media’s month-long “Be Aware: Porn Harms” National Awareness Campaign. This week, the group is holding events that focus on how pornography harms children.

“Many children are getting addicted to pornography
because U.S. pornographers are providing free, obscene, illegal porn to
kids online. Sadly, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder refuses to
enforce federal obscenity laws which would protect children,” says Patrick Trueman, president of Morality in Media. “The average age in
which children first view pornographic material is 11 years old and for
many it is earlier.”

Each week of the campaign emphasizes a specific way
pornography proves itself to be detrimental: pornography addiction,
harms to children, links to sex trafficking and violence against women,
respectively.

“This week’s events focus on one of the most disturbing
aspects of pornography,” says Dawn Hawkins, Morality in Media’s executive director and
director of the Be Aware: PORN HARMS campaign. “Many child
pornographers start with an interest in soft-core adult pornography, but
over time turn to harder, more deviant porn and this leads the way to
child pornography and molestation.”