Fall out from the war on Christmas 2010 is still working its way through the courts—and the elementary schools.

Barrett Elementary Center banned a fifth-grade student from handing out Christmas party invitations to her schoolyard friends last Christmas. The party was held at the student’s church, and the Pocono Mountain School District took exception. The district’s policies that prohibit any speech promoting Christianity on campus as a reason to put a stop to the student’s good cheer.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a lawsuit against Pocono Mountain School District officials Friday on behalf of the student.

“Christian students and churches shouldn’t be discriminated against, censored, and excluded in public schools because of their beliefs,” says ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman. “Disallowing a fifth-grade student’s invitation to a Christmas party just because it takes place at a church is simply unconstitutional, especially when Halloween parties and promotional events for businesses and other community groups indiscriminately receive a free pass.”

The student wasn’t passing notes in class. To the contrary, the fifth-grader was distributing the invitations to class mates before the bell rang. There was nothing overtly promoting Christianity on the invitation, which offered kindergarteners through sixth-graders read: “Admission and all activities are free! Face Painting, Ping Pong, Foosball, Cup-Stacking, Games, Prizes, Puppets, Music, Snacks, and more!”

A mob of Muslim extremists overpowered police to get to Christians sharing the Gospel.

Voice of the Martyrs, Canada recently reported that 17 students were on a short-term mission trip at the tail end of February in Oma village, Ethiopia. The students, from Meda Welabu University, went to the Muslim village distributing Bibles and striking up conversations with villagers.

As students were handing out Gospels and talking to Muslims, one of the villagers began to argue with the believers. His rage became so overwhelming that a mob began to attack the young students.

The mob of Muslim extremists began shouting “Allah Akbar,” which means in English, “Allah is greater.” They beat the students with rods and threw stones at them. Government militia attempted to protect the students but were overpowered by the mob.

The mob attempted to set the Christians’ car on fire, but failed, and the students were able to get away.

Currently, the students are praising God that no one was killed. They are, nonetheless, distraught that such a thing would happen in a country that guarantees freedom of religion. Ethiopia is #43 out of 50 countries on the Open Doors’ World Watch List of the highest concentration of persecution.

Pray that the 17 students would find their strength in the Lord at this time and would not be discouraged by such blatant persecution. Pray that the extremists would have a change of heart and might even read the distributed Bibles. Pray that the students’ work would bear fruit, that the Lord would knock down the dark strongholds in Oma, Ethiopia, and that many lives would be transformed.

Even as news emerges of Hindu extremists attacking the Koya tribal Christians in villages in a remote area of India, the Indian Express is reporting that violence has erupted in Peshawar.

No, it’s not over religion. It was over, of all things, a kite-flying argument.

Peshawar is the capital of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, an Islamic state.

A Hindu man was reportedly killed—and two women injured—when Hindu and Christian families exchanged fire over the recreational event on Sunday, the Indian Express reports.

Could tensions in the Christian community be rising to violent proporations in Pakistan after the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s only Christian cabinet member in Islamabad on Wednesday? Are Hindu extremists the next threat to Christianity in Asia? What is going on in Pakistan?

Despite its status as a majority Christian nation, the danger is rising in Ethiopia.

Earlier this week, Charisma News reported that a Muslim mob attacked Christian missionaries in the Oma village. And last month Ethiopian Muslims sent a clear message to believers in Besheno: “Convert, leave the city or face death.”

Now, church buildings and evangelists are being targeted for attack. Indeed, thousands of Muslims have razed five churches and the homes of two evangelists in Asendabo, Ethiopia in recent days. International Christian Concern (ICC) reports that Muslim attackers continued to burn down churches even after federal police were brought in.

“We urge Ethiopian government forces to send reinforcement to protect the Christians in the city of Asendabo from the Muslim attacks,” says Jonathan Racho, ICC’s regional manager for Africa. “We ask Christians around the world to prevent any further attacks by calling the Ethiopian officials in their countries and asking them to protect the Christians and their property.”

Here’s some additional details on the story: ICC reports that the attacks started on Wednesday after the Muslims launched false accusations that Christians were desecrating the Koran. The situation escalated as 10,000 Muslims shouted “Allah Akbar” (Allah is great) while they burned down five evangelical churches. The government sent the federal police force to protect the Christians after the Muslims burned down the first three churches. But that didn’t stop the attacks. Muslims overwhelmed the police force and burned down two more churches today. ??

ICC reports that Christian leaders in Asendabo are fearful that Muslims will start killing Christians unless the government sends more security forces to contain the Muslim attackers. Government officials detained some Christians and took them to the nearby Jimma town stating that they need to do that for their own security.

Charisma News will report back on this developing story as additional details become available.

What do the rise of Ethiopian Muslims against Christians speak to you?

The assault against parental rights is more than disturbing—it’s downright frightening.

Celebrities like Drew Barrymore and Macaulay Culkin actually divorced their parents by filing for “emancipation” in the courtroom. In other cases, it’s the government infringing on parental rights to homeschool their kids.

In fact, just this week Charisma magazine covered two stories that infringe on parental rights. Christian parents were jailed for denying kids “sex ed classes” in the public school system, and UK court ruled that Christianity is harmful to kids.

With the onslaught against parental rights in Europe, could the U.S. be next? The NRB is working to educate parents about their rights in a new documentary called “The Child: America’s Battle for the Next Generation.” The documentary will air on March 7 at 8 p.m. on the NRB Network.

“Parents and anyone concerned for the family will not want to miss The Child,” says NRB Network President and CEO Troy Miller. “I believe viewers will be shocked to learn about the threats to parental rights in our country and will walk away informed and empowered. We are blessed to broadcast such a well-produced and important program.”

The 30-minute documentary explores the threat to parental authority from excessive government involvement in child-rearing, education and other areas. Noteworthy is the fact that an 18-year-old homeschool student, Grace Tate, along with a production crew of youth aged 15 to 20, created The Child to take an in-depth look at how American law and government is impacting the parent-child bond.

Tate found her inspiration to create the documentary after researching the proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution to uphold parental rights and discovering pervasive attacks against the fundamental relationship between parents and children.

Are you concerned about the issue of parental rights in America?

An advocate for Christians in Pakistan will be laid to rest today, and the government is observing three days of mourning.

Even as Pakistan’s clerics and other senior leaders condemned Wednesday’s assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, Christians took to the streets in Lahore, expressing their ire.

Bhatti was the federal minister of minority affairs, as well as the only Christian in the cabinet. Anger stirred over the lack of protection for those championing the cause of the oppressed Christians.

By Thursday, demonstrations were held across Punjab, where Governor Salman Taseer was murdered in January. Both were outspoken opponents of the controversial blasphemy law, and both had faced down death threats to keep speaking out about the injustices of the law.

However, other politicians may be afraid of speaking out on the blasphemy law, which is now politically toxic and potentially life-threatening.
Peter Howard, Director of Relief for Food for the Hungry, says as part of their response to the flooding last August, they have been partnering with the Interfaith League Against Poverty (ILAP) in the Punjab area.  

The recent events make a challenging environment for their team. “An assassination like this puts a real damper on the kind of work we’re doing as Food for the Hungry, and many other organizations, who are in Pakistan trying to serve the needs of the poor and to bring a message of peace.”

Because Christians have been most frequently targeted by the blasphemy law, could the hostility toward them increase the likelihood of disruptions in their ministry? Howard says, “The risk is there. Our local partner is very savvy and understands the local context and culture. As Food for the Hungry, we try to work locally through partners. They’re being very careful in how they’re going about their work, but they’re also continuing to move forward because the only way to break down these barriers and this mistrust that leads to this kind of violence is to keep engaging.”

Howard adds that people too often confuse Christians with the politics of the country. It makes the requirement for a credible local face (like ILAP) even more important. “One of our goals, again, is to represent the true face of Christianity. I think often people in Pakistan might think of Christians as a political force and as ‘against’ them. We want to show them that we’re followers of Jesus, and we’re there to help.”

Even as the nation reels from the violence and the threat of even more, Howard says their team is moving forward. There’s too much at stake to leave unfinished. Pray for wisdom. Also, “As far as prayer for those who are in Pakistan serving in the name of Christ, [pray for] protection and that Christians will represent truly the message of Christ which is a message of peace, and that Christianity will be separate from politics, because I think that’s when it gets messy.”

The world’s eyes shifted from the revolution in the Middle East to the broad daylight assassination of Pakistan’s only Christian cabinet member in Islamabad on Wednesday. Hundreds of protesters flooded the streets of Islamabad demanding justice.

Before escaping the scene of the crime—and after firing as many as 30 bullets at Shahbaz Bhatti’s vehicle—the assassins made sure the world knew why the Federal Minister for Minorities was targeted.

Indeed, leaflets left behind made it clear that Bhatti was paying the price for opposing Pakistan’s blasphemy law that makes criticizing Mohammed or Islam a crime punishable by death.

In an interview with the Pakistan Christian Post last month, Bhatti said he had received threats. “I received a call from the Taliban commander, and he said, ‘If you will bring any changes in the blasphemy law and speak on this issue, then you will be killed,'” Bhatti told the newspaper. “I don’t believe that bodyguards can save me after the assassination (of Taseer). I believe in protection from heaven.” And in a recent interview with the BBC, Bhatti had said he was “ready to die for a cause” as a Christian.

President Obama condemned the attack immediately, as did Dr. Fehmida Mirza, Speaker and Faisal Karim Kundi, Deputy Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan. In separate statements both Pakistani government officials expressed their profound grief and sorrow over Bhatti’s murder and called on law enforcement agencies to apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice.

Meanwhile, the Christian community is shocked and enraged at the assassination.

“This is a terrible tragedy. Shahbaz Bhatti was my friend, and I am shocked and deeply grieved by his death. He was one of the most courageous men I know,” says IRD Religious Liberty Director Faith J.H. McDonnell. “Bhatti spent his life as an advocate for Pakistan’s beleaguered Christians and other minorities that live in the misery under Pakistan’s Islamic supremacism. Now, with his murder, the Christians and other vulnerable minorities are left with no voice in the government of Pakistan. For Bhatti’s sake, we must be more vigilant than ever to intercede for them.”

Shahbaz is the second high ranking government official to be killed for opposing blasphemy laws. On January 4, Islamists murdered Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province, for criticizing the country’s blasphemy law and calling for the release of Asia Bibi.

“It is heartrending to receive this news, but it is unfortunately not unexpected. The last time I was with Shahbaz in 2010, I asked him about his security and if the Islamists were closing in,” says Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern (ICC). “He had lived under the cloud of this eventuality for many years and he knew he was on borrowed time. He was a close friend of ICC and started working with us helping Pakistan’s persecuted Christians in the 1990’s. We will dearly miss him. He courageously defended the rights of persecuted Christians in Pakistan despite living under the constant threat of death. He died as a martyr for a cause he believed in.”

Dr. Carl Moeller, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, called the assassination a cowardly act and another blow against religious tolerance for Christians and all minorities in Pakistan. As he sees it, Muslim extremists are determined to purge the country of anyone supporting the release of Asia and the possible repeal of the blasphemy laws.

“Unfortunately, Pakistan is becoming a country of martyrs,” Moeller says. “I plead for Christians to unite in prayer for the situation in Pakistan and the toll it is taking on Christians and other minorities. God answers prayers in a mighty way—just last week Christian aid worker Said Musa was released from prison in Afghanistan after concerted prayer.”

Moeller says some of the prayer requests include:

• Comfort for the Bhatti family in this time of mourning for loss of a loved one
• New Christian leaders will rise up to the fill the vacuum of the assassinations of Bhatti and Taseer
• Christians will not let fear dominate their lives, but remain strong in the faith
• The perpetrators of the assassinations will be brought to justice, and the Lord will work in their hearts to seek forgiveness
• Blasphemy laws in Pakistan and in other Muslim-dominated countries will be overturned.

The Pakistani Taliban and Al-Qaeda are rumored to be responsible for the slaying of Bhatti, who worked to defend the rights of Christians and other non-Muslims, as well as Muslims victimized by the blasphemy law.

What would you do if your parents were arrested for keeping your little sister out of sex ed classes? That’s just what happened to Heinrich and Irene Wiens.

The Wiens didn’t want their four kids to attend a mandatory play and four school days of sex ed because the teaching offered what they considered an extremely permissive view of sexuality. So they kept the kids home.

The result: the Wiens were sentenced to more than six weeks in prison for refusing to pay a German court-imposed fine. As ridiculous as it sounds, the story isn’t all that unusual. Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has four similar cases going. In fact, Iren is the 10th Christian parent imprisoned. Heinrich already served his time.

ADF attorneys are working to get the Iren out of jail. ADF attorneys filed an emergency order on Thursday with the European Court of Human Rights, calling for the mother’s immediate prison release.

“Parents, not the government, are the ones ultimately responsible for making educational choices for their children, and jailing them for standing on this universal right is simply unconscionable,” says ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska. “Irene Wiens was well within her rights under the European Convention of Human Rights to opt to teach her children a view of sexuality that is in accord with her own religious beliefs, instead of sending them to four days of classes and an interactive play that she found to be objectionable. These types of cases are crucial battles in the effort to keep bad decisions concerning parental rights overseas from being adopted by American courts.”

During the period in June 2006 when the Wiens kept their kids home from school, the parents taught them Christian values on sexuality. But that wasn’t good enough for school officials. In June 2008, the parents were fined about $3,250, which they subsequently refused to pay.

School officials allege that the purpose of the compulsory play “Mein Köper Gehört Mir” (My Body Is Mine) was to introduce preventative measures for sexual abuse. Yet ADF attorneys argue that the play and sexual education lessons also promoted a very permissive view of sex and sexuality that strongly contradicts the Wiens’ Christian beliefs. The Wiens’ argue that no scientific proof exists that the programs deter sexual abuse, but that they rather teach children to become sexually active by instructing them to observe their inner feelings of sexuality, ultimately teaching that if something feels good sexually, then it is an acceptable practice.

ADF attorneys argue in their application of appeal filed with the European Court of Human Rights in Wiens v. Germany that the state violated the Wiens’ parental rights under Protocol 1, Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights, Articles 4 and 6 of the Grundgesetz, German basic law, and other binding international treaties.

Stress. There have been so many books written on the topic you could literally fill a library—Amazon offers more than 32,000 books on the sore subject!

There are Christian books, secular self-help books, stress-reduction workbooks—even a Stress Management for Dummies book—all written by the “experts” from just about every angle under the sun.

I’ve read enough of those 32,000-plus books on stress to tell you about what anxiety does to the body. I know the common stress reduction techniques 10 ways from Sunday. I’ve taught on stress from the pulpit. I can parrot the Scriptures we’re supposed to confess when stress comes knocking on our doors. I get it.

And guess what? I still get stressed out some days.

Monday is a good example. I was stressed out trying to meet the deadline for my new book about “victorious Christian living.” My Christian designer was just as stressed out trying to finish the cover to my liking. It was a ridiculous scene. And I’m not too proud to admit it. (If you’ve arrived, pray for me because most days stress still knocks on my door—and some days I still let it in.)

I figured I wasn’t the only born-again, blood-bought, Spirit-filled believer who gets stressed out now and again. So I put a prayer call on my Facebook page. It went something like this: “Anybody willing to admit they are stressed out? If that’s you, comment or like this status and I’m going to launch out in prayer.”

I was amazed at the response. Hundreds of stressed out saints wanted prayer. Others reached out to me privately for prayer because they didn’t want to publicize their stressful situations.

What were they stressed out about? Some were simply exhausted. Others were stressed out over finances. Still others were stressed out over health issues.  The list goes on and on. It seems even the most spiritual Christians are pros at stressing out.

What’s going on? It doesn’t take a Ph.D. or even a prophet to see the problem. We’re wrestling in our own strength instead of resting in Christ. Truth is, the devil isn’t stressing us out. Our boss isn’t stressing us out. Our family isn’t stressing us out. Not even our finances are stressing us out. Beloved, we’re stressing ourselves out.

That’s right. You are stressing yourself out, my friend, because you aren’t trusting in God. (Don’t get mad at me. I’m trying to help you!) The hustle and bustle and circumstantial chaos has won your attention. Your eyes are no longer on Jesus, so instead of perfect peace you are living with chronic stress. You can’t blame anybody around you for being stressed out—and only you can make a decision to end the vicious cycle.

No, we can’t blame our stress response on the devil, but often times he works overtime to weary the saints with circumstances that get our goat. We need a greater revelation of the grace of God. We need to meditate on Scriptures about the peace of God. And we need to rely on one another to pray for us when we are so stressed out we can’t verbalize a petition. Never be too proud to ask for prayer.

Let me conclude with an apostolic instruction from Paul, a man who had more opportunities to get stressed out than most of us will face in a lifetime.

I mean, think about it. Paul five times received 39 lashes from the Jews. Three times he was beaten with rods. Once he was pelted with stones. Three times he was shipwrecked. He spent a night and a day in the open sea. He was constantly on the move. He was in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from his fellow Jews, in danger from gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false believers. That’s not to mention the time he spent behind bars sitting in sewage.

Paul had every natural reason to be stressed out. Yet in all this we don’t hear Paul complaining to Timothy about how his back ached, how tired he was, how hungry he was, how scared he was—or anything else. He was confident that God would lead him into triumph—and He did.

So what would Paul do in the face of a printer deadline? What would Paul do in the face of sickness and disease, financial lack, cranky bosses, or family problems? Pray, believe, rejoice and rest. Here is Paul’s time-tested advice:

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life” (2 Cor. 11:24-26, The Message).

So, with that in mind, what will you do the next time you get stressed out? Keep it simple. Pray. Thank Him. Remember that you belong to Christ. And walk in the peace that passes all understanding. When you do, you’ll be a witness to a stressed out world—and they’ll want what you have.

Jennifer is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including Fervent Faith. You can email Jennifer at [email protected] or visit her web site at www.jenniferleclaire.org.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi launched an air raid on eastern Libya yesterday. Bombs fell on the area of Brega and on military camps on the outskirts of Adjabiya.

Oil installations in Brega appear to have been switching hands between pro-Gaddafi forces and rebel forces off and on. At one point, rebels believed they had forced Gaddafi supporters out, but another bomb was dropped mid-celebration.

Libya has been in an uproar for weeks. Anti-Gaddafi protests have led to air strikes on protesters, military personnel have fled the country, Tripoli is now surrounded by military tanks, and rebels across the country are armed and ready to fight.

The number of deaths associated with the weeks-long, violent uprising in Libya are unclear. Thousands of people are trying desperately to flee the country.

In a speech yesterday morning, Gaddafi threatened that thousands of Libyans will die if the U.S. or NATO interfere in the country. He continued to blame all uprisings on al-Qaida and still refused to step down.

In the midst of tragedy, however, hope has broken through, thanks to radio programming. HCJB Global president Wayne Pederson says, “The satellite provider we have from Europe beaming into North Africa has been able to stay on the air. Other satellite signals have been blocked, but the Lord has enabled us, for our radio signal, to continue 24/7 into the households of North Africa and the Middle East at this time.”

And it’s a good thing, too. HCJB broadcasts are able to reach 1.5 million households a week–that’s roughly 8 to 10 million people–across North Africa and the Middle East. In the midst of disarray, millions are being comforted by God’s promises.

“We feel that God has preserved our signal so that we can continue to bring hope, and encouragement, and teaching to people who are wondering, ‘What in the world is going on?’ and ‘Is there hope?’ and ‘Is there love in this world amongst all the violence?'”

HCJB is taking every opportunity they can to provide that hope and love in Libya, but also across the whole region. Countries have been turned upside down in a day, but it has resulted in openness and opportunity.

“We don’t know how this is going to end up, but we have a window of opportunity now for a few weeks, months–maybe years–that we can go in with the Gospel with this new-found freedom,” says Pederson. “However, we’ve gone from dictatorship to anarchy, and we don’t know where it’s going to end.”

The church is silently growing across North Africa and the Middle East. Believers are carrying the hope of Christ into the darkest of areas in times of deepest uncertainty, and people are responding. Pederson says the ministry receives text messages daily from people who say they have committed their lives to Christ.

Praise God for this growth! Pray for an end to these trials, as well.