Church-planting pioneer Billy Hornsby, who worked for more than 30 years with church leaders nationally and internationally, passed away on March 23 after a battle with cancer.

“On March 23, 2011 at 9:44 p.m., our father and friend Billy Hornsby went to be with the Lord. Billy’s passion for God, family, life and leaders around the world will be long remembered,” announced Chris Hodges, founding and senior pastor of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Ala. Hodges is also Hornsby’s son-in-law.

Married for more than 40 years to his wife, Charlene, Hornsby was a published author who directed a nationwide church planting organization, the Association of Related Churches (ARC)—one of the most successful church-planting organizations in the world—and served as the senior European consultant for EQUIP, John Maxwell’s global leadership training organization. Since Hornsby formed ARC in 2000 with a handful of pastors, the network’s congregations have often been recognized among the fastest growing churches in the nation.

Hornsby was a keynote speaker for churches, conferences, and business groups speaking on the topics of team management, leadership and how to maintain productive relationships. Hornsby was also the guest editor of the March/April issue of Ministry Today magazine, in which he shared ARC’s strategy for church growth.

In February, Hornsby spoke at the Church of the Highlands during a service that honored his life and ministry. You can view Hornsby’s emotional message here, in which he discusses how the cancer had taken over his body—“but the gospel is true to the end,” Hornsby said. “[Jesus] has taken the fear out of death. In all my struggles, I have not had one moment of fear the whole time.”

The Church of the Highlands is holding a memorial service to celebrate Hornsby’s life on Monday, Mar. 28, at 6:30 p.m. The church will provide a live video stream of the service from the Highlands website.

“In lieu of flowers we are asking that donations in Billy Hornsby’s name be made to the Association of Related Churches (ARC) or to a special fund that has been set up for his wife, Charlene Hornsby,” Hodges says.

A package exploded outside of Jerusalem’s central bus station on Wednesday, killing one and wounding at least 39. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Before the terror attack, Palestinian militants targeted southern Israel late Tuesday and early Wednesday with the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with airstrikes targeting a Hamas training camp in Gaza, killing three and wounding five.

“Since we established the government, we have had a clear stance on our security measures and have stated that we would take severe action against terror should it become necessary,” said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We have had two years of quiet and peace, I think all of Israel’s citizens, especially those in the North and the South have learned to appreciate the blessing and quietness of this time. The ability to walk in the streets without fear, to enjoy the fruits of feeling safe. Now there are forces trying to disrupt this quiet. They are testing and examining our level of determination and our level of strength and staying-power.

“They will find that the government, the IDF and the people of Israel have an iron strong desire to protect Israel and her people. We will react strongly, with responsibility and intelligence, and determination against those trying to break this quiet. We will protect the safety that Israel has enjoyed for the past two years.”

Israel stands ready for war. But Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby has “asked Israel to exercise self restraint and warned it against rushing into a military operation in Gaza.” According to a Reuters report, Elaraby also warned others from “giving Israel any excuse to use violence.”

Initially, some Israel watchers were uncertain how the White House would respond. On Wednesday, Obama condemned the bombing in Jerusalem, as well as the rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in recent days.

“Together with the American people, I offer my deepest condolences for those injured or killed. There is never any possible justification for terrorism,” Obama said. “The United States calls on the groups responsible to end these attacks at once and we underscore that Israel, like all nations, has a right to self-defense. We also express our deepest condolences for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza yesterday. We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to do everything in their power to prevent further violence and civilian casualties.”

In the face of an online petition and hundreds of complaints, Apple on Tuesday night pulled an iPhone application widely known in secular circles as the “gay cure” app.

Exodus International, a Christian ministry that works to help people struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction break free, launched the app last month. Apple initially approved the app, which provided mobile access to information available on the ministry’s Web site.

“We are extremely disappointed to learn of Apple’s decision to deny equal representation in the public square,” says Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International. “Discrimination of thought and belief obstructs essential dialogue and authentic diversity.”

The drama started when Truth Wins Out, a non-profit group on a mission to fight anti-gay religious extremism, targeted the app. Two Wins Out launched an online petition at to persuade Apple to remove the application from its App Store. The petition saw more than 150,000 digital signatures in just two days.

“Apple made a wise and responsible decision to dump an offensive app that demonized gay and lesbian people,” says Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out. “The real winners today are LGBT youth who are safer and less at risk for receiving Exodus’ malice and misinformation.”

Apple told Exodus International’s Web developer that the company deemed the app “offensive to large groups of people” and therefore removed it. Now, Exodus is encouraging people to contact Apple and ask them to recognize the diversity of beliefs within its customer base.

Chambers notes that Apple provides hundreds of apps specific to the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community and has made the Gay Christian Network’s podcasts available on its iTunes store.

“Ultimately, this issue comes down to what we, as a culture, believe about equality and the freedom to express our beliefs,” says Chambers. “It is our hope that Apple will reconsider its decision and allow our organization to be part of the ongoing conversation about the challenging issues many face today.”

This isn’t the first time Apple has caved in to pressure to remove Christian-oriented apps. In November, Apple removed the application submitted by The Manhattan Declaration, a group of Christian leaders who support biblical teaching on marriage, as a result of pressure from gay activist groups.

Apple could not immediately be reached for comment, but the iPhone-maker did publicly acknowledge in news reports that it pulled the app because it “violates developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people.”

Damage from Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear meltdown may rise to $309 billion—that’s equal to four times the damage of Hurricane Katrina.

Meanwhile, radiation from the compromised Fukushima nuclear plant has already seeped into the food supply as workers continue trying to cool the reactors.

The death toll from Japan’s earthquake now tops 9,000. And there is continued talk about the ripple effect on the economies of the world.

Few charismatic believers doubt we are living in the end times, but there are open questions searching for credible answers: Was the earthquake the judgment of God as some claim? What about the Mayan 2012 end-of-the-world prophecy? Previous generations expected the Lord to come in their lifetime—what’s different this time?

Charisma magazine caught up with Steve Wohlberg, director of White Horse Media and author of 25 books, including Surviving Toxic Terrorism and End Time Delusions, to discuss these issues from a biblical perspective.

Charisma: In our last segment, you mentioned God allowing the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Did God merely allow it, or was it the judgment of God?

Wohlberg: Using biblical terminology, we could say these kinds of events are judgments. But that doesn’t necessarily mean God has directly caused them. Many times, God allows things to happen. He certainly has His hand on the planet. Sometimes He just withdraws His protection.

Some judgments are direct from God such as Sodom and Gomorrah. God sent fire from heaven and destroyed those cities. There are other times when God’s judgments occur because He allows things to happen that He had previously held back. Humanity’s sin just keeps on going so He finally stops protecting people. 

Charisma: What about the Mayan calendar and the 2012 end of the world predictions? What’s your take on that?

Wohlberg: I believe that Dec. 21, 2012 is a very important date. The reason for that is because my little daughter, her name is Abigail Rose, will turn five on that date. That is her birthday. To me, that is the only significance of that date. I don’t think the Mayans had it straight. Their culture was corrupt. There’s a whole lot of controversy about whether they even did predict that Dec. 21, 2012 would be the end.  It was simply the end of their calendar.

Charisma: It seems like every generation, at least in the last few generations, felt like the Lord was about to return. What’s the difference this time?

Wohlberg: It’s bigger now, and to me that’s the difference. I’m sure in Noah’s day people said, “Noah has been preaching for 121 years about the flood. My dad wondered if the flood was going to come and it didn’t come. And his dad wondered if the flood was going to come and didn’t come. I don’t know if it’s ever going to come.” Finally, the flood did come. It really did come. So the Lord is going to come whether in this generation or another generation.  At some point, the Bible says in Hebrews, “He that is coming will come and will not delay.” 

The most important thing is for us is to be ready—to be in a right relationship with Jesus. I think we should be hoping Jesus comes back. Paul said in Titus 2:13 that we should be looking forward to the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ. I think a Christian’s attitude should be, “I want Jesus to come.” That’s the way the Book of Revelation ends. Right there, it says, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.”

Read part one of this interview: Is Japan Disaster Another Apocalyptic Sign?

Photo courtesy Samaritan’s Purse.

An unknown number of civilians were killed on Tuesday in the fight between Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and opposition forces.

According to Reuters, Gaddafi’s tanks shelled Misrata—the last rebel-held town in the west—on Tuesday night. The Associated Press reports that Gaddafi’s forces had been patrolling the streets in Misrata, filling the city with tanks and snipers all day. Four children were killed in a civilian car.

The situation is growing increasingly grave for Libyan civilians. A Libyan dissident was in touch with his father who lives in Misrata. He told the Associated Press that people are living off canned food and rainwater tanks and have virtually no access to communications or electricity.

The fluid situation continues to change and grow from minute to minute. attacks have added to the fighting, but it is unclear how long they will remain. Many are beginning to suspect that the conflict may be slow in ending.

Libyan civilians are no doubt frightened and increasingly desperate. SAT-7, a satellite television service for Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, is doing its part to encourage them in the name of Christ.

“We want to show the church in action, the church responding, the church praying, and the church doing things to bring God’s light and His hope and His love in these kinds of situations,” explains David Harder, communications manager for SAT-7. SAT-7 has done likewise in other countries experiencing unrest, and is asking the church to be the main encouragers of believers living in Libya and other volatile countries.

“As we around the world are watching the events very closely in Libya—but also in Bahrain where demonstrations have been quashed, and things are happening in Yemen and also in Morocco and Algeria—we’re watching these things very closely,” Harder says. “But we’re allowing the Arab church in the region to speak into the situation; to speak about their hopes, their prayers, their concerns, and how followers of Jesus should react to these kinds of things, whether they’re in the midst of them or whether they’re watching from nearby.”

SAT-7 consistently calls all of its viewers to prayer for Libya and for the believers who have been isolated there. SAT-7 is also in touch with churches who are responding right on the ground. Harder says several churches are helping Libyan civilians at the Tunisian and Egyptian borders. SAT-7 teams on the borders have been able to cover how churches are responding.

The violence and uncertainty occurring in Libya are frightening at best, but SAT-7 is providing hope to those who are able to access it, along with a vital call for prayer. SAT-7 boasts nine to 10 million viewers—an enormous potential for prayer.

Harder says, “Pray for a quick and just resolution for the situation in Libya, and that, throughout the region, the results of these events would be for greater freedom for all people—especially for the sake of the cause of Christ.”

Planned Parenthood remains in the crosshairs of pro-life advocates, but there’s a new twist in the battle for life—and the Empire State is the battleground. Pro-life pregnancy centers are under legal attack in New York City.

A new law threatens non-medical, pro-life centers with hefty fines and the risk of shut down if they don’t post signs and publish the New York State Department of Health’s view in their ads. The signs must be bilingual and posted in multiple places. The viewpoint that must be included: The health department encourages women to go somewhere else.

“To ensure that women are fully informed of the services provided by pregnancy service centers, this bill requires the centers to inform their clients whether they have a licensed medical provider on staff and disclose whether they provide certain pregnancy-related services or not,” said Mayor Bloomberg at a public hearing on local laws last week. “This bill also requires centers to provide confidentiality protections for their clients’ personal and health information.”

Failure to post the signs can result in fines of up to $1,000 for the first day of violation and up to $2,500 for each day thereafter. After three days of violation within a two-year period, the commissioner can shut down the center with the assistance of police. Other parts of the law allow for additional fines and even imprisonment.

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed suit against New York City, representing
pregnancy care centers in the most recent ruling. None of the laws affect abortionists, such as Planned Parenthood. In other words, abortion centers don’t have to publish any disclaimers from the health departments in their ads. Two federal courts have issued injunctions against similar bills in Maryland.

“Pregnancy centers, which offer real help and hope to women, shouldn’t be punished by political allies of the abortion industry,” says ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “Attacks on pregnancy centers are an ideologically motivated attempt to distract from the growing national scandals in the abortion industry. For years, abortionists have preyed on women and girls for profit. Now pro-abortion politicians are trying to give women fewer choices.”

The New York City law defines a “pregnancy services center” as any facility with a primary purpose of serving women who are or may be pregnant and offers ultrasounds or medical exams, or “has the appearance of a licensed medical facility.” According to the ADF, the law’s “appearance” definition is broad enough to cover homes that serve homeless, abused, and abandoned women but don’t function as pregnancy centers.

ADF is representing two centers and a maternity home in the lawsuit, Pregnancy Care Center of New York v. City of New York, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. M. Todd Parker of Moskowitz & Book, LLP, is local counsel.

“At a time when New Yorkers believe the city’s abortion ratio to be too high, it’s absurd to see the city work with pro-abortion groups to ensure that the public is ‘protected’ from the ‘threat’ of these compassionate, caring, nonprofit groups that exist specifically because they oppose harm to women and their babies,” says Bowman. “The same cannot be said for Planned Parenthood.”

In what was supposed to be a move toward democracy, Egypt voted on constitutional amendments over the weekend. The vote appears to pave the way for Islamic extremists to take over a youth-inspired freedom-seeking revolution.

More than 14 million Egyptians, or 77.2 percent of eligible voters, chose to accept proposed constitutional amendments, which were drafted by lawyers and judges Egypt’s military sponsored.

The new amendments would limit the presidency to two four-year terms and ease restrictions on independent political party participation, according to the Wall Street Journal. The former works to prevent a dictatorship. The latter, however, could open the door to political rule by organizations that sponsor terrorism.

The Muslim Brotherhood was among the groups that supported the amendments, which signal to many onlookers that Egypt could be heading for a more extremist future. By contrast, many youth movement leaders—the very group that launched the revolution— opposed the amendments.

“The referendum, while it was free of fraud, was not free of ‘influence’, especially by the Muslim Brotherhood and the religious trend in general,” Suleiman Gouda, a liberal commentator, wrote in the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper. “The mosques were used by these groups to influence the voters.”

Elections are set to be held within months. Analysts says there could be a showdown between the Muslim Brotherhood’s newly-formed Freedom and Justice Party and the National Democratic Party of Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down on Feb. 11 in the midst of the revolution.

What will be Egypt’s fate in the wake of the elections?

Concerns are mounting over the economic fallout of Japan’s triple disaster scourge.

Damage assessments are just beginning, but some areas are so fragile that the assessors can’t get close enough to investigate. It is clear, however, that the destruction will rise into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

For some of the survivors, rebuilding is far off in the future, and the immediate concerns involve restoring heat, electricity, running water, and finding shelter, food and communications.

The official death toll nationally rose to 8,277 on March 20, with 12,272 still missing. Nearly 500,000 people are homeless.

Aid is most effective purchased from inside the country, but that often requires an established network for both getting the supplies and for distribution.

Asian Access has that ability. They’ve also received a $1 million matching gift pledge to help meet the spiritual and physical needs of those who have been impacted the most.

This gift and the funds given to match the pledge will help them achieve their mission for Asian Access/Japan “to unite the church” and “extend the transforming power of the Gospel.”

A2 is working with 400 pastors and 1800 churches–approximately 20 percent to 25 percent of the congregations in Japan–to help meet the spiritual and physical needs of several communities across the nation. They’re also partnering with CRASH–a ministry of Grace Church which has grown into the largest Christian coordinating agency.

Details are still coming in, but A2 estimates nearly 300 churches were in the tsunami-impacted areas. They’ve launched a disaster response team for CRASH to set up a relief base in the affected areas. A few churches are already serving as shelters and are receiving those who have been left homeless.

Even as the world waits and watches to see if the storms of revolution will hit Saudi Arabia—riot police there arrested protesters on Monday—Christians working in Saudi Arabia are actively suffering for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Muslim nation.

According to International Christian Concern (ICC), two Indian Christians were arrested and beaten in Batha, Riyadh, then sentenced to 45 days in prison. Vasantha Sekhar and Nese Yohan were accused of proselytizing in the name of Jesus. However, ICC contacts in Saudi Arabia believe the duo was arrested to keep them from practicing Christianity privately in their home.

ICC reports that Sekhar’s and Yohan’s apartment was ransacked while they sat in prison awaiting trial. One of the men has reportedly lost his job and will be expelled from the country when he is freed from prison. The other is awaiting information about his legal and employment status post-arrest.

“These two Christians have faced false charges and false evidence,” says Logan Maurer, ICC Advocacy Director. “The Saudi government continues to engage in an array of severe violations of human rights as part of its repression of freedom of religion.”

Indeed, Saudi Arabia has a long history of below-the-radar Christian crackdowns. In 2004, 28 Indian workers were arrested in Messriam for practicing Christianity, according to ICC. The charges were dropped, but in 2010 they were reintroduced. One Christian was deported, and one has been arrested.

In another case, ICC reports 16 Indian workers were arrested in February 2008. The workers were released after three days. In 2010, eight of the 16 chose to leave Saudi Arabia, but three were issued deportation orders and expelled.

A fifth grade student with cerebral palsy just wanted to glorify the King of kings—but the Los Angeles Unified School District blocked the youngster’s praise.

Here’s the background: Superior Street Elementary School Principal Jerilyn Schubert told the student’s mother that the song We Shine was “offensive.” Schubert insisted the so-called offensive lyrics violated the “separation of church and state” and had the gall to suggest the child choose a song that “does not say ‘Jesus’ so many times.”

Now, the district is back pedaling on the talent show rules. Just hours before the talent show curtains dropped, the district changed the policy that was threatening to silence the fifth-grader’s voice.

“Christian students shouldn’t be censored at public schools just because district officials consider religious speech to be offensive,” says Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel David Cortman. “The school district is doing the right thing by changing its policy to protect students’ constitutionally protected rights so that censorship of religious speech no longer occurs during student activities.”

In question was the school district’s bulletin that reads, “Student speakers at student assemblies and extracurricular activities such as sporting events or talent shows may not be selected on a basis that either favors or disfavors religious speech.”

Although mention of the name of Jesus was offensive to the superintendent, songs about murder were deemed acceptable. Indeed, school district officials approved talent show songs like “Freak the Freak Out,” and “Eye of the Tiger,” with lyrics stating that “we kill with the skill to survive.”