Local

States opt out of paying for abortion in health care

Concern over federal funding of abortion in the health care reform law has prompted several states to move toward opting out. Tennessee is the first state to get a bill to its governor. It prohibits taxpayers from funding abortion. Lawmakers in Georgia, Oklahoma, Virginia and Louisiana are all considering similar measures. Mary Harned, staff counsel with Americans United for Life, said AUL has model legislation ready for states to use, and many are taking advantage. “There are currently 15 states that are actively working toward getting this done,” she said, “and at least another 11 that we know of who […]

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Teen Birth Rates Down, Abstinence Credited

Teen birth rates in the U.S. have recently declined after increasing in 2006 and 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The 2008 numbers show the rate declined by two percent among girls 15-19. The largest decline occurred among 18- and 19-year-olds, at four percent. Valerie Huber, executive director with The National Abstinence Education Association, said, “A positive trend begun a decade ago can continue.  We should redouble our efforts to help teens avoid all the consequences of sexual activity, including teen childbearing.” President Obama eliminated all funding for abstinence-centered education in his 2011 budget. However, due largely to […]

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The act of service

Years back, I remember being asked by one of the pastors in my church if I would like to serve in a capacity that would include a certain level of leadership responsibility.  Along with that position, I would be given a title as well as some tasks to carry out in our church body.  Being given a new opportunity to serve the Lord in ways I never had before was both humbling and frightening.  Would I live up to the standards of those who had served before me?  Would I be effective or would I fall flat on my face?  […]

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Jesus owns you!

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” was a #1 pop hit in the late 1980s.  And why not?  Everyone wants to be happy!  Those who are not happy do everything within their power to stifle their feelings of discontent.  Many go the way of materialism.  Some pour themselves into climbing the career ladder.  Others numb their senses and emotions with alcohol or drugs.  Still others step outside the boundary of marriage and misuse and abuse God’s gift of sexual intimacy.  Sadly, it is not only unbelievers who engage in these activities, but also the blood-bought members of the body of Christ.  Such […]

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A word of caution for elected officials

Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, said that from both the right and left, “Whenever one side has power, they want to believe, they have a will to believe, that the public has validated every jot and tittle of their program.” This kind of radicalism does not sell to the American population, he said. Lowry spoke to students at The King’s College in New York City on Feb. 23, 2010, as part of the college’s Distinguished Visitor’s Series. Lowry began to report on the Washington political scene as a new employee at National Review during the so-called Republican Revolution of […]

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California vote on legalization Marijuana

If a referendum to legalize marijuana passes in California on Nov. 2, how long will it take for the idea to travel 2,000 miles east and take root in North Carolina? It may sound like a hypothetical math question missing a detail or two, but in truth it’s an issue that Tar Heel residents must take seriously. Medicinal marijuana use has already been proposed and may gain momentum as drug laws across the land become more liberal. Those pushing for legalized pot secured enough signatures late last month to put the matter on the California ballot this fall, and already […]

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Group Considers ‘Dot-XXX’ Domain

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is considering establishing a “dot-xxx” domain for pornography. Family advocates say this will only worsen the problem of addiction and family breakdowns caused by Internet pornography. This is the third time ICANN has considered a dot-xxx domain. The initiative was stopped before due to strong opposition worldwide. Patrick Trueman, formerly chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, said the domain would only increase the amount of porn on the Internet and make it more available. “There is no evidence that the public wants or needs this […]

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Heart2Heart Senior Outreach of S FL

Heart2Heart Senior Outreach of South Florida will officially launch its Life on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 9, which is also the beginning of National Nursing Home Week. Several events to celebrate Mother’s Day are planned for local nursing homes by churches partnered with Heart2Heart Senior Outreach: Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, Christ Church of Fort Lauderdale and Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. By uniting churches to work together to meet the spiritual needs of the elderly in nursing homes, Heart2Heart Senior Outreach hopes to ensure that each resident in a South Florida long-term care center has regular and consistent one-on-one visitation, with […]

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How to really help the poor

Most Christians today acknowledge that caring for the poor is a biblical requisite. The primary debate among them is over how we can best fulfill this mandate, which more than 2,000 verses of Scripture prescribe. For example, a group of evangelicals who call themselves “Red Letter Christians” contends that the charitable activities of individuals, churches and parachurch organizations are insufficient to accomplish what God expects us to do to aid the poor and oppressed. These mostly politically liberal Christians argue, therefore, that the government must partner with the church to help the poor in ways that go beyond the sacrificial […]

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Food For The Poor organizes releases

As a child cries from hunger, desperate parents painfully search for food to save their children from death. If caught stealing a chicken to feed their family, parents in developing countries such as Haiti will be imprisoned, without first appearing before a judge or receiving a prison sentence. Sometimes by the time they are tried, they have spent years longer in jail than their prison sentence requires. Food For The Poor will help release approximately 73 nonviolent offenders in developing countries in time to spend Holy Week with their families. The prisoners were incarcerated due to their inability to pay […]

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