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Zondervan Issues Apology for Publishing 'Deadly Viper'

Zondervan President and CEO Moe Gerkins apologized on behalf of the company for publishing Deadly Viper: A Kung Fu Survival Guide for Life and Leadership, a book that uses Chinese characters and images for illustrations.

Gerkins said the company will remove the book and curriculum from stores permanently, according to an email to North Park Theological Seminary professor Soong-Chan Rah.

Rah called for an apology on November 3 on his blog because of what he perceived as insensitivity to Asian culture and to the Asian-American community.

Deadly Viper authors Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite have removed materials from their website, but their Facebook fan page is still up and Zondervan still has two chapters of the book on its website.

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Missing Jesus in Beijing

Timothy C. Morgan tmorgan@christianitytoday.com Asia

President Obama's recent trip to China provided quite a few photo ops. But unlike his presidential predecessors who added worship service attendance at a registered church on their official itineraries, the president chose to steer a pretty wide berth around the burgeoning Christian population inside China.

Leslie Hook of the Wall Street Journal Asia (registration required) observed:

In the northeast part of this city, not far from the old Friendship Hotel, stands a boxy little cinema specializing in anime. A nondescript building on a nondescript thoroughfare, it's hardly a place a tourist would notice, much less a visiting president. Yet had Barack Obama wanted to understand something of the real China, his time would have been better spent here than at the various state dinners, Forbidden City photo-ops, and carefully managed town-hall events that consumed the balance of his trip this week.

The past 12 months have been very difficult inside China for Christians who wish to worship freely and openly, and hazardous to the human rights lawyers to defend them. Recently, China Aid chronicled new government efforts to use civil law to harass and discriminate against Christian worship:

Since the secret directive to dismantle Beijing house churches was issued in August, 2009, Beijing security officials have maintained their relentless campaign against house churches. On Sunday, November 8, Shouwang church members were forced for a second week to meet outside the frozen East Gate of Haidian Park.

It doesn't stop there.

According to China Aid, yesterday, Nov. 19, Public Security officers took a human rights attorney into custody shortly after this lawyer (also a Christian) returned from a visit to the United States. They beat his wife in front of their 7 year old daughter.

While in the US, attorney Jiang Tianyong testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission about the rule of law in China. To come to the US and testify in this way is an act of great moral courage. Jiang testified about one harrowing Sunday at his church:

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Purpose Driven Reality Check

Timothy C. Morgan tmorgan@christianitytoday.com Evangelicalism Earlier this week, Purpose Driven Connection, the partnership between the Readers Digest Association and Saddleback church's Rick Warren, announced a transition to digital online content only, dropping the high-cost print edition.

The final print edition of PDC is due to roll out across the 2009 holiday season. No matter how you look at it, this decision is a hard pill to swallow for Saddleback and RDA.

When RDA and Saddleback first announced their partnership, hopes were (in retrospect) running way ahead of the economic realities of 2009. Since then, RDA has downsized and it is currently wading through bankruptcy proceedings.

The secular press has been rather doubtful from the get-go about a strategic relationship between old media (RDA) and faith-based media (such as Purpose Driven and other mega-church content providers).

Here are comments from a writer for Folio magazine, a trade publication that tracks magazine publishing:

I asked the spokesperson directly if RDA considers the Purpose Driven Connection venture a failure. Of course he said it wasn’t a failure. From an operational point of view, he said that shutting down an otherwise interesting product that doesn’t meet financial criteria “is every bit as important as green-lighting others to go forward.” He also said RDA gleaned “proof of concept” insights into serving a community like Warren’s that’s bound by faith or philosophy.

“We believe that we could take this forward with a community that had a somewhat different characteristic—larger, more open to purchasing memberships, more universal, global, etc.,” the spokesperson said. More open to purchasing memberships. That might be key. This shouldn’t suggest, though, that Saddleback hasn’t had any success from the venture. The church said subscribers to the Daily Hope devotions newsletter have grown to 400,000 since Purpose Driven Connection launched early this year.

If not for monetary reasons, I think the loss for RDA is substantial, despite the positive lessons it says it learned from giving it a shot. It has to be tough, especially for a company that’s now steering itself out of bankruptcy, to watch a product it called one of its most important ventures ever fail after only four issues.

I haven't personally talked with Rick himself about PDC. But he strikes all positive notes in his press release, saying:

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Ultra-Orthodox confesses to Ortiz bombing

Timothy C. Morgan tmorgan@christianitytoday.com Israel Update: Nov. 6, 2009.

As noted below, the Ortiz family has now commented about the arrest in the bombing case. Father, mother, and son extend forgiveness to the suspect, Jack Teitel.

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Original post from earlier this week:

A former US Marine who is now an ultra-Orthodox activist in Israel has confessed to security services inside Israel to a bombing that nearly killed Ami Ortiz, son of a Messianic pastor.

See: US-born Jewish terrorist suspected in series of attacks over 12 years.

Here are additional details from the Jerusalem Institute of Justice, a legal defense organization:

The Jerusalem Institute of Justice would like to congratulate the Israeli Police and the General Security Services for their successful apprehension of Yaacov "Jack" Teitel, the self-described "anti-missionary" activist, who confessed to the bombing of Ami Ortiz on April 20, 2008. Besides his violent activities against Messianic Jews, Teitel a 37 year old former US Marine turned ultra-orthodox, admitted to carrying out several other crimes, including the murder of at least two Palestinian Arabs and the bombing of Israel Prize Laureate Prof. Ze'ev Sternhall.

This religious hate crime is the direct result of the daily incitement which is spread without interference by ultra-orthodox extremists against minority groups in Israel, solely because of their faith and religious affiliation. These same extremists, who do not view Israel as a legitimate state because it is not a rabbinical theocracy, purposefully incite violence and persecute innocent citizens simply because these minorities do not fit into their warped definition of who is a Jew. Indeed, the prosecution of Jack Teitel is an important milestone for Israeli democracy.

The sad reality is that shortly before this religious hate crime in Ariel, posters were spread throughout the neighborhood inciting hatred against the Ortiz family, an act which was ignored by the local law enforcement authorities. It is impossible to overlook the fact that Jack Teitel probably received his evil motivation to murder the Ortiz family from those same posters.

I met with the Ortiz family in Israel in 2008 as their son was recovering from his injuries. I will update this entry, hopefully with comments from the family as soon as those are available.

See the CT editorial from last year, Israel Reconciled to All:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/june/12.20.html

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Dobson to Leave Focus on the Family Radio Show

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson will leave the daily radio broadcast at the end of February, the Associated Press reports.

Focus on the Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger told the AP that it was a mutual decision of Dobson and the board, and that more details are forthcoming.

Dobson resigned as president in 2003 and resigned as chairman in February but continued to lead the radio program.

The Colorado-based group laid off 8 percent of its staff in September, including a staffer of "Love Won Out," a same-sex attractions conference series that Focus on the Family handed over to Exodus International.

The AP reported in September that Focus on the Family had about 860 employees, down from a peak 1,400.

Dobson is author of several books, including The New Dare to Discipline.

Univ. of Sheffield Keeps Biblical Studies Dept.

Following student protests, the University of Sheffield in England decided to not close the department of biblical studies.

A review by the pro-vice-chancellor had recommended shutting down the department down after current and 2009-2010 students completed their degrees, citing the loss of staff and declining student demand.

At 8 a.m. today, 1,064 members had joined the Facebook group "Don't shut down Biblical Studies at Sheffield" and a website was created to send the vice chancellor petition letters, several of which were posted on the website. Ben Hurrell, who created the Facebook group, told CT that citing the lack of student interest and staff was "unjust."

"The number of entries last year were capped at eight, but this year's graduates and level three students represent all-time high figures," Hurrell said in an e-mail. "While five senior lecturers have left over the last 2 years, the university has not allowed the department permanent staff to replace them for a variety of reasons."

The university senate was supposed to vote on the department's future on October 7, but after students heard through the students' union and protested, the decision was postponed.

"The vice chancellor has said that he feels the faculty handled consultation with staff and students so badly that it cannot justify a closure," Holly Taylor, education officer for the students' union, said in an e-mail this morning.

Taylor said that the the faculty will draw up plans for the department, including new staff appointments.

Collin Hansen contributed to this report. Another report will be forthcoming.

Judge to Order Christian Convert to Return to Ohio

A judge in Orlando said today that he plans to send Rifqa Bary back to Ohio. Bary, a 17-year-old who fled to Florida because she believes her Muslim family would physically harm her for converting to Christianity.

Florida police found no evidence that her family would harm her and her mother's evangelical lawyer believed her Sri Lankan parents were right. Bary left for Florida on a bus in July to stay with husband and wife pastors she met through a prayer group on Facebook.

The judge said today that her parents must provide immigration paperwork and that she can continue her education through a Florida online school. A representative from the children's services in Ohio said a foster home has been identified for Rifqa in that state, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the judge said he expects Bary to return to Ohio by October 27.

New Testament Chair of ESV Committee Will Join NIV Team

Ever since last year's gathering of the Evangelical Theological Society, Today's New International Version translator Mark Strauss and English Standard Version translator Bill Mounce have been friendly but public sparring partners.

"The ESV seems to me to be overly literal—full of archaisms, awkward language, obscure idioms, irregular word order, and a great deal of 'Biblish,'" Strauss wrote in his ETS paper, "Why the English Standard Version Should not become the Standard English Version."

"While the content of the paper was helpful, I am afraid that it only increased the gap between the two 'sides' of the debate," Mounce replied on his blog. "There has been a lot of hurt and damage done toward people on both sides of this debate (e.g., someone shot a bullet through a TNIV and mailed it to the publisher), and I got the feeling that Mark was getting tired of being attacked. I would be tired if I were in his shoes. He kept saying that the ESV has "missed" or "not considered" certain translational issues. While I am sure they were not intentional, these are emotionally charged words that do not help in the debate. They are in essence ad hominem arguments focusing on our competence (or perceived lack thereof) and not on the facts."

At the annual ETS meeting next month, Mounce will give a rejoinder, "Can the ESV and TNIV Co-exist in the same Universe?"

That title was published before Zondervan announced that it would cease publication of the TNIV and would launch a new version of the New International Version in 2011.

"In light of the recent announcement, I am tempted to stand before the ETS crowd, read the title, answer, 'Evidently not,' and sit down," Mounce recently wrote. "Do you think that type of humor would go over in an academic setting?"

Now Mounce has even more fodder for joking about his paper. Yesterday, he announced that at Strauss's invitation he will be joining the Committee on Bible Translation, which is updating the NIV.

"I don’t want anyone to think that I am unhappy with the ESV or that I am 'jumping ship.' I am not. I thoroughly enjoy reading and studying from the ESV. But ... I strongly believe in different translation philosophies, that there is not a 'One Size Fits All' and that the translator’s responsibility is to be consistent with that stated philosophy. So I have no trouble looking at the NIV’s translation philosophy and working within those guidelines."

Still, Mounce has been critical of Strauss's emphasis on colloquial English (which is, broadly speaking, the emphasis of the CBT). "To confine 'English' to a colloquial form does not give due credit to the true breadth of language," Mounce wrote. "Whose colloquial English? Someone from southern California, dude? Or someone from Texas? The deep south? New English? ... Time and time again on the ESV translation committee I was shocked to find how different we all heard words depending on the subculture to which we belong (or is it, 'we belong to')?"

Mounce, who has been an employee of NIV publisher Zondervan since July (he works on BibleGateway), suggested that he might push for less gender-inclusive language in the 2011 NIV than the TNIV contained. (The ESV's usage of "men" and "brothers" rather than "people" and "brothers and sisters" was one of its selling points.)

"My biggest concern [in joining the NIV team] was the gender language, and the mishandling of the TNIV rollout that has been such a problem, and how that could happen again," Mounce wrote. "You should know that I have been absolutely assured that the gender language is truly on the table for discussion, and since so much of the committee has changed, it is not a forgone conclusion as to how this committee will vote. Without that assurance, I could not have joined.

"I am not expecting 'brother and sister' to go away (nor should it, given the NIV’s translation philosophy), and thankfully 'humankind' never occurs in the NIV/TNIV. What an ugly word! But 'mankind' continues to be used as a generic term in English, as does 'man.' I know there are people who disagree with this point, but the fact that it is used generically over and over again cannot truly be debated; the evidence is everywhere. ... But who knows where the NIV 2011 will go and how I will vote."

Hispanic Leader Calls Immigration Resolution 'A Tipping Point'

On Thursday, the board of the National Association of Evangelicals endorsed without dissent a resolution that urges comprehensive immigration reform by the U.S. government. The resolution summarizes the biblical principles that should guide the needed change, but it stops short of endorsing any specific policy proposal. Read the Religion News Service coverage elsewhere on our site, and the resolution itself.

Presenters for the Capitol Hill press conference that followed the vote on the resolution included NAE president Leith Anderson (who reminded those present that Jesus was a refugee), national director of the Vineyard USA Berten Waggoner, president of Elim Fellowship Ronald Burgio, and president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) Samuel Rodriguez.

The NHCLC serves 15 million Hispanic Christians and is an affiliate organization of the National Association of Evangelicals.

I asked Sam a copy of his press conference statement to share with CT's readers:

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Tweeting the Gospel: Rob Bell Tries Again

In an interview with Rob Bell earlier this year, CT senior managing editor Mark Galli asked the Mars Hill Bible Church pastor how he would present the gospel on Twitter. Bell replied:

I would say that history is headed somewhere. The thousands of little ways in which you are tempted to believe that hope might actually be a legitimate response to the insanity of the world actually can be trusted. And the Christian story is that a tomb is empty, and a movement has actually begun that has been present in a sense all along in creation. And all those times when your cynicism was at odds with an impulse within you that said that this little thing might be about something bigger—those tiny little slivers may in fact be connected to something really, really big.

In his response, Bell provoked a fair bit of criticism in the blogosphere (as he did again last week when he told The Boston Globe, “I embrace the term evangelical, if by that we mean a belief that we together can actually work for change in the world, caring for the environment, extending to the poor generosity and kindness, a hopeful outlook. That’s a beautiful sort of thing.”)

But Galli pointed out that he was cheating anyway. His answer was a lot more than 140 characters. "You can't really tweet the gospel," Bell replied.

Well, last night, Bell gave it a second shot on his Twitter feed: "The gospel is the counterintuitive, joyous, exuberant news that Jesus has brought the unending, limitless, stunning love of God to even us."

At 117 characters, he even left enough to retweet.

Free Webinar with Christian Smith

When? Tuesday, October 6, 10 a.m. CST
Where? CT's Webinar Page
Why? Because when else will you have a chance to have a conversation with Christian Smith?

If you haven't yet read Christianity Today's interview with sociologist Christian Smith in the magazine's redesigned October 2009 issue, tune in for the live version, tomorrow morning at 10 CST.

I will be speaking with Christian — professor at the University of Notre Dame and director of its Center for the Study of Religion and Society — about his latest research on young adults. Souls in Transition, The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults in America is the follow-up to his and Melinda Lundquist Denton's groundbreaking 2005 book, Soul Searching. We will talk about the social and religious instincts of Americans ages 18-29, a group sociologists have coined emerging adults (and one that Christian profiled in his 2007 Books & Culture cover story). Christian and I will also discuss ways the church can root emerging adults in Christ at a time they are most likely to leave all things religious.

Join us for an informative, lively conversation, and come prepared with your own questions for Christian.

Manila's Christians Use Facebook for Disaster Reports

CT news tmorgan@christianitytoday.com Missions Thursday, 9 p.m., CDT. Christianity Today news received this eye-witness, first person account from a Christian leader in Manila, where local officials are still counting the dead from the lethal weekend typhoon Ketsana:

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By Rheea Hermoso-Prudente, Manila, Philippines.

Rain—even the kind that drums incessantly on our galvanized iron roofs with a deafening beat for days on end—is no big deal in the Philippines. Floods are also taken in stride. So Ketsana’s persistent downpour didn’t cause any alarm. We just expected the usual traffic and the usual flooding in the usual areas.

Then came status updates on Facebook, from friends not in the normal flood areas. “Our basement is flooded. Water is chest-high. Goodbye car!” “For the first time in 30 years my lola’s house in Merville is flooded!” “Trapped in our house in Makati.”

Pictures and videos appeared next: chocolate-colored water rampaging through trendy Eastwood City; the pedestrian underpass in the central business district of Makati, filled to street level with water; a van slowly sucked down a vortex on Katipunan; drenched families huddled together on the roofs of their houses, raging river just a foot below; people everywhere else, struggling through chest-to-neck-deep water, holding their bags and their babies aloft. The speed of the events blindsided everyone.

Calamities, like rain and floods, are nothing new in the Philippines. But Ketsana was wreaking havoc just a few kilometers from us, on people we know; people who worked, had fellowship, had fun with us. For the first time—for my generation of youngish urbanites at least—a calamity struck so close to home. Or in some cases, struck our homes.

I could only imagine the terror my friend, her husband and young son felt as they watched the water rise rapidly inside their house while they struggled to push their door open, against the raging current outside. My other friend went to work that morning and left her baby and nanny in their home in Marikina. By afternoon, she lost contact with them. What desperation she must have felt, knowing that their village was submerged, yet not knowing what happened to her family.

My husband, daughter and I, though trapped in our subdivision, were safe and dry. We could only monitor updates online with a growing sense of helplessness and worry.

Yet from the disaster emerged stories of courage, sacrifice and hope. Stories of how an 18-year old man saved 30 lives before losing his own. Of a young man, trying to save his belongings, took his neighbors to safety instead. Of families opening their homes to total strangers, sharing what little food they had left.

The outpouring of aid happened quickly as well. As rapidly as disaster updates spread through Facebook, so did updates on how and where to help. Victory Christian Fellowship in The Fort (www.victoryfort.org), where we attend, had a relief operations center up by the evening of Saturday. Other Victory Christian Fellowships around the metro, and other churches too, had their own relief programs.

It amazes me, this resilience and generosity of the Filipinos that come out in times of great need. If you listen to stories of the victims, yes, they talk about their loss. Mostly, they speak of hope.

In the aftermath of Ketsana, I stand with my fellow Filipinos as we praise Him in the storm.

Click here for a powerful slide show of the devastation.

Christianity Today editors have received a number of reports from mission agencies in the region. ACTION Philippines reports:

As of September 30, there are 304 dead and almost 400,000 sheltered in schools, churches and evacuation centers. At least 1.9 million people have been adversely affected one way or another.

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Relief Groups Respond to Typhoon Ondoy

Today, relief groups, many of them Christian, are raising funds for emergency relief work in the aftermath of the deadly typhoon in Metro Manila, Philippines.

Here is a heart-breaking You Tube video:

Operation Blessing reports:

Disaster relief specialists Operation Blessing International (OBI) are responding to Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana), which dumped 13.5 inches of rainfall --an entire month's worth-- in just six hours, leaving the city 80 percent flooded. News reports confirm over 100 deaths so far and many people are stranded on rooftops throughout Manila as roadways are submerged. An estimated 300,000 residents are displaced. OBI has an office in Manila and has worked extensively in the Philippines for over a decade. Under the direction of Dr. Kim April C. Pascual, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Operation Blessing International Philippines, the charity has earned the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) of the Year by the Philippines government for 4 out of the last 6 years.

Dr. Kim, whose own home is underwater, is on the ground directing the relief and recovery operations. Currently, OBI teams are moving quickly to:

* Mobilize food and water distributions
* Deploy medical teams to hardest-hit areas
* Partner with local groups to begin flood clean-up and recovery efforts

Already, OBI teams have been able to feed more than 5,000 affected residents and will continue to expand relief efforts to reach more victims.

Dr. Kim said, "This is Hurricane Katrina of the Philippines. Almost a month's worth of rainfall has submerged riverbank cities like Marikina and Pasig, and buried neighboring cities and provinces under ravaging floodwaters, putting the whole region under a state of calamity."

Other relief groups include:

World Vision

Google list of relief agencies

This list will be updated,.

Jennifer Knapp Returns

Jennifer Knapp, who sold over a million albums in the late 1990s and early 2000s before abruptly stepping away from Christian music in 2004, is making a comeback.

Several weeks ago, she updated her official website, which had been stagnant for years. And her MySpace page has, for several weeks, included notice of a single show coming up next Friday in Los Angeles with another CCM veteran, Phillip LaRue.

Knapp's management confirmed to CT recently that she was making music again. "After a well needed hiatus, Jennifer has started writing/recording again and playing select shows," said her manager, Dave Hopper. CT's requests for an interview with Knapp were denied, though Hopper said she might grant one later.

This afternoon, Knapp made her first official statement on the matter on her website, starting off a brief entry with the words, "Yes, it’s true. I am the REAL Jennifer Knapp and I’ve been doing a little music lately."

Knapp wrote that she keeps running into old friends who are asking all sorts of questions about her "comeback." "We've been flooded with e-mails and phone calls simply by putting up a humble little homepage. So much for my little holiday. It’s looking very much like it may be over."

She didn't say why she left music in the first place (in 2004, she told Relevant that she was tired of touring one record while recording the next, and "it got to where I was just doing shows to support the record, rather than having a record support the heart of the people I was supposed to be serving"), but she did say she spent much of her time away "traveling mostly."

She wrote: "I have wasted too many days sulking about how strange life is and many more discovering just how truly beautiful people can be. My experiences have been both wildly exotic and extraordinarily mundane. But mostly I will say that I have had a chance to get my feet under me. I took that time to discover more about myself and my own faith without the veil of expectations to a cause. Without writing a novel at this point, I’ll just say that I’m starting to think that I might actually be a songwriter, musician, or artist of some kind . . . So, maybe I should do something about it?

"I know that many of you have persisted at hope that I would return to music. Why you have wanted or even cared has been one of the greatest mysteries to me, at the same time, a complete and utter blessing as it has always been. Thank you for your support. I can only hope to repay you with what you have waited for . . . music."

And to whet fans' appetites, Knapp has posted a new song, "Letting Go," on her MySpace page.

Personally, I'm thrilled about this news, and am somewhat bemused that Knapp is surprised that people "even cared" about her absence. I think she's one of the best things to have happened to Christian music in the last 15 years, and her albums are among my favorites. And I had the privilege of getting to know her a bit back in the 1990s when we worked together on a regular column (a few samples) for what was then Campus Life magazine (the now-defunct Ignite Your Faith), and have always enjoyed her honest, direct, sometimes even in-your-face approach to life. (A lot like me!) That outlook came through loud and clear in her music, which was as honest and confessional as anything you'd hear on Christian radio. Her music has always been good for the soul, and her return is good for it too.

Evangelical Attorney: Christians On Wrong Side Of Rifqa Fight

Jeremy Weber jweber@christianitytoday.com Islam Now that controversy over the fate of Rifqa Bary -- the teenage Christian convert who ran away from her Ohio home fearing her Muslim parents would kill her -- has reached Elian Gonzalez proportions, many evangelicals may be tuning out the never-ending headlines.

But don't miss this one.

Craig McCarthy was the Orlando attorney representing Rifqa Bary's mother until Sept. 3. He is also a committed evangelical. And, contrary to those who have mobilized around Rifqa's cause, McCarthy believes her Sri Lankan parents are in the right.

McCarthy is "happy that the child knows Jesus." But he is concerned that "many Christian conservatives have allowed themselves to adopt a narrative and thus reach conclusions ... prematurely" -- to the extent that their evangelistic zeal has led them to spread false information.

The core of his message: "Please recognize that the Lord is not so powerless as to need people to hide information, to embellish facts, or to give false witness in order to advance Christ's kingdom."

Read it all here.

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