Five hundred years ago there was a group of Christians living in Europe known as the Anabaptists. These are not to be confused with today’s Baptists, though the groups do share points of common history. The name Anabaptist was not so much a description as it was a condemnation.

The Anabaptists were “anti-baptizers,” scorning infant baptism and a heap of other cherished church doctrines. Because of this, and their refusal to join their faith to the ruling civil powers, they were violently persecuted by governments, Catholics, and Protestants alike.

One such persecution broke out in 1569 in Holland. Yes, there were some fanatics in the Anabaptist tribe, but the simple, compassionate, and innocent Jesus-followers were gobbled up as well, as is always the case. One such innocent was a man named Dirk Willems.

On a winter day a bailiff was sent to arrest Dirk on the charge that he had been holding secret religious meetings in his home and had allowed others to be re-baptized there. Dirk ran for his life with the bailiff right on his heels, throwing himself across a small ice-covered lake.

It held his weight as he ran, and he crossed safely to the other side. But the ice did not hold for his pursuer. The bailiff chasing after Dirk crashed through the ice into the freezing water.

Dirk Willems immediately turned back and rescued the struggling man from the ice. For his kindness Dirk was immediately arrested, and after refusing to renounce his faith, was later burned at the stake.

Now, here is the question asked by today’s Anabaptists: “Why did Dirk Willems turn back?” Put yourself in his vulnerable shoes.

You are running for your life, the air is so cold it can freeze rivers and lakes, but the sweat is running down the small of your back. Your pursuer is so close to snatching you, you can feel his breath on your neck.

Your heart pounds in your chest and your pulse is deafening in your ears, but from behind you still hear a crack and a splash.

There in the icy water is the man who came to take you to your death. What do you do? Do you raise your praise to heaven as God has triumphed over injustice? Do you continue running into the wilderness where eventually your hands will stop shaking and you pray you will see your family again?

Dirk Willems did none of these things. He instinctively, reflexively turned and rescued his enemy, though he knew death would be the price he would pay.

In the words of Joseph Liechty, “It was not a rational choice. It was not an ethical decision. It was an intuitive response. No combination of mental calculations could have carried him back across the ice…The only force strong enough to take Dirk back across the ice was an extraordinary outpouring of love, and the only love I know [like that] is the love taught and lived by Jesus.”

Liechty’s phrase “intuitive response” rings in my ears and pulls at my heart. Can we reach a place in our walk with Christ, that when we encounter hate, suffering, injustice, frustration, or tribulation that our immediate and reflexive response will be Christ responding through us; a place where we don’t have to think about it, we don’t have to plan a response, but supernaturally and instinctively, Jesus comes alive in our hearts.

It’s like going to the doctor and sitting on the examination table. He pulls out that little triangular, rubber mallet and strikes the patient on the knee.

Automatically, the patient kicks. There is no thinking, planning, or fretting. It is reflexive. It is your natural response.

Dirk Willems acted as he did because he had been so spiritually shaped and formed by the person of Jesus, that his response was the only response he was capable of making.

Dirk’s life and identity had been swallowed up in the person of Jesus, and it was Christ who now lived through him. That is why Dirk Willems turned back.

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Christian young people are bringing their passion for change to a U.N. climate conference in Durban, South Africa, eager to learn how to spread the message that God’s creation needs better care.

About 28 youths from church and faith-based organizations on six continents are taking “Youth For Eco-Justice” training during the 17th Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP 17, which runs from 28 November to 9 December.

Organized by Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and World Council of Churches (WCC), the courses include Bible study, workshops, training sessions on communication, campaign management and development of resources, and activities for promoting eco-justice.

“The idea is to bring young people together and impact communities at home. Young people have been demanding in our assemblies that they have to take action and this is the response,” said Roger Schmidt, LWF Secretary for Youth.

Schmidt said that creative young people, are capable of breaking the deadlock in the world in terms of climate change with a new understanding of the connection of justice and ecology.

Njideka Onwunyi, 26, a participant from Nigeria, said climate change is a major concern to Christian youths and the training has come at a time when young people are striving to influence changes in world systems.

“As Christian youths we are increasingly concerned about the ecological crisis and the way humans are treating God’s earth. Planet Earth is in peril and creation is suffering; this calls for a quick action to solve the situation,” said Onwunyi.

Onwunyi said global warming and conflicts over water resources are related to unsustainable and inequitable patterns of production and consumption, hence the need for advocating eco-justice.

“Our communities, especially in Africa and other regions, are really fighting and competing for water, food and land and we need to empower them,” said Onwunyi.

Countries represented by the participants include: the United States, Venezuela, the United Kingdom, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Palestinian Territories, Nigeria, Myanmar, Malawi, Kenya, Indonesia, India, Hungary, Georgia, Canada, Brazil, Belarus, Australia and Argentina.

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WASHINGTON — A star-studded array of political and religious leaders — from President Obama to rock legend Bono to AIDS activist Kay Warren — came together Thursday (Dec. 1) for World AIDS Day to call for an entirely AIDS-free generation by 2015.

The speakers at the event, called “The Beginning of the End of AIDS,” said that the science and medicine needed to eliminate AIDS already exists; all that is needed is for governments and individuals to fully commit themselves to that goal.

“Make no mistake, we are going to win this fight,” Obama said to the crowd at The George Washington University.

The event was sponsored by ONE and (RED), two anti-AIDS organizations co- founded by U2 frontman Bono.

The activist rock star said he started the organizations after seeing how people in Africa, simply because of where they lived, could not get the AIDS treatment they needed.

“To me, I felt it was a justice issue, and it challenged the very idea of equality and civilization,” Bono said.

Warren, wife of California megachurch pastor Rick Warren, called on religious congregations to do more in the fight against AIDS.

“Every church can care and support. Every church can help with HIV testing. … Every church can unleash volunteers to serve,” she said.

Warren founded the HIV/AIDS Initiative at Saddleback Church, one of the first programs of its kind at an evangelical church. In the last seven years, she said, it has become a model for other churches to follow.

“It’s not even like this is an add-on, or it’s nice, or it’s something that people can just do if they have time — this is the mission of the church. That’s why we don’t turn it over to anybody else,” Warren said.

Also present was Dan Haseltine, lead singer of the Christian rock band Jars of Clay, who founded Blood:Water Mission, a campaign to fight the AIDS and clean water crises in Africa.

Haseltine acknowledged that churches have not always been at the forefront of AIDS activism, noting a 2002 poll that showed only 3 percent of the evangelical community was willing to donate money to support children orphaned by AIDS.

Nevertheless, he thinks evangelicals are warming up to the idea of helping people with AIDS.

“At an event like this, the fact that the faith community has even been invited shows that they’re becoming a very formidable part of the process of real change,” Haseltine said.

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church and its partners are responding to Thailand’s worst floods in decades in and around its capital, Bangkok, and asking for support for relief aid to the victims.

“Please remember the flood victims in Thailand and the work of the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) in your daily prayers,” said Prawate Khid-arn, acting manager of the Office of CCT Policy Management in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The CCT is a partner of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Reuters news agency reported on Oct. 25 that at least 366 people have been killed since heavy monsoon rains started in July. Flooding has affected 2.5 million people and could swamp more of densely populated Bangkok, if water flowing from the north and heavy rain causes canals to burst their banks.

Khid-arn reported that CCT teams have distributed 1,200 relief bags that include rice, water, dry food and some medicines, to victims in central Thailand and there are plans to return to the affected areas this week.

For long-term rehabilitation, he said, ecumenical organizations such as Church World Service, Norwegian Church Aid, and the Christian Conference of Asia met with the CCT in Chiang Mai on Oct. 14. Khid-arn then reported that the CCT had approved an additional 200,000 Baht, or about $6,000, for humanitarian assistance.

“What makes us happy is that various people ― office workers, students, artists, singers, teachers, medical doctors, nurses and volunteers ― express sympathy and do the best in solidarity with the victims,” Khid-arn said.

Tearfund reported that CCT has been distributing water and more than 1,000 cooked lunches and dinners to 500 people each day. At one house, food was delivered to the second floor, where as many as 23 people had taken refuge.

Church World Service, a U.S.-based Christian relief organization which is responding as a member of the ACT Alliance, said, that CWS-supported members of CCT’s team are also distributing food in Bangkok.

The PC(USA) is a member of both CWS and the ACT Alliance.

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This one is so cool, I can hardly stand it. Project 7 is such a simple concept and yet hard to describe fully in short piece, but I’ll do my best. In a nutshell, Project 7 has created a line of everyday consumer goods that give back to seven areas of need. If you purchase a canister of coffee beans, you also end up giving a donation to some wonderful charities worldwide.

Project 7 was founded in 2008 by “social capitalist” Tyler Merrick and his wife Taylor in Southlake, Texas. The Merrick’s goal was to turn the seven deadly sins upside down. For example, instead of focusing on a person who is gluttonous, focus on helping the person who has nothing to eat. The seven areas of need are:

1. Heal the Sick
2. Save the Earth
3. House the Homeless
4. Feed the Hungry
5. Quench the Thirsty
6. Teach Them Well
7. Hope for Peace

Tyler says, “We’re not asking you to buy more stuff, just to change the way you buy.” The product line includes:

• Coffee (Organic and fair trade),
• Bottled Water (local water and bio-degradable material)
• Sugar-Free Gum (Each flavor is tied to a different cause)
• Sugar-Free Mints (Made with reusable and resalable tubes)
• T-shirts (Made from five plastic bottles, organic cotton and eco friendly inks)

Project 7’s 2011 nonprofit partners are:

• A Child’s Right
• Blood: Water Mission
• Camfed
• Children’s Hunger Fund
• DTJ
• Invisible Children
• Partners in Health
• Plant with Purpose
• Restore International
• Samaritan’s Purse
• Trees for the Future
• Trees, Water and People
• World Vision

In addition to purchasing Project 7 products online, you can also find many of products at participating stores including Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Hastings, The Food Emporium and many more – over 3,000 stores nationally.

Grab Bag Sale
You can sample for yourself Project 7’s best products with a grab bag available online. For $25 you’ll receive 1 canister of coffee, 1 pack of gum, 1 tube of mints, 1 bracelet and 1 t-shirt – a $50 value.

There’s plenty more to read online at Project7.com including Tyler’s story, how to get involved with local projects and more.

Continue reading Website of the Week: Project 7 – National Christian Pop Culture | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/christian-pop-culture-in-national/website-of-the-week-project-7#ixzz1QzNfgShx

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Joyce Kilmer once said that only God can make a tree. However, a team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently constructed (not created) an “artificial leaf.”

The scientists, led by Daniel Nocera, got their cue from the chemistry of the leaf, and came up with a silicon cell that has the ability to split water into its basic components of hydrogen and oxygen, in this producing energy, not unlike photosynthesis in the chloroplast of leaves, Daily Tech reported.

Nocera told Digital Trends, “The artificial leaf shows particular promise as an inexpensive source of electricity for the homes of the poor in developing countries. Our goal is to make each home its own power station.”

In this way, homes in villages in Africa and India would—if the technology is perfected—have access to affordable energy, Digital Trends said.

As of now, there is an upside and a downside to the device. On the upside, Nocera said his “artificial leaf” is 10 times more efficient at photosynthesis than a leaf. On the downside, it only works for 45 hours, Digital Trends reported.

It does not have the ability to self-replicate, heal from damage, or generate from the soil on the ground, Daily Tech said. Ergo, the artificial leaf doth not a tree make.

Still, it has the potential to raise the efficiency of solar power, according to Daily Tech. In appearance, the “artificial leaf” looks like a playing card in shape and size, but it is thinner, Digital Trends said.

When placed in a gallon of water under the bright sunlight, theoretically it is expected to be strong enough to power a house in a tropical country for a day, Digital Trends reported.

The “artificial leaf” does this with the use of a nickel-cobalt catalyst that was invented by Nocera, which interacts with metal ions, according to Daily Tech. In this way the hydrogen and oxygen can be stored in a fuel cell.

Solar leaf

Nocera’s “artificial leaf” is an improvement on the “solar leaf” that was invented 10 years before by John Turner from the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, Daily Tech said.

The “solar leaf” depended on expensive and rare metals. Similar designs through the years were either less efficient or too expensive, Daily Tech reported. Nocera’s “artificial leaf” by contrast is more efficient and made of components that are much cheaper.

The only problem now is, the fuel cells where the “artificial leaf” will store the excess hydrogen and oxygen for later use is expensive. However, if a similar breakthrough is reached in finding an alternative to the fuel cell, then the entire structure could be mass produced, Daily Tech said.

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A small village in Haiti is enjoying prosperity, education and spiritual wealth because of a Christian ministry that was founded in 1999.

The village of Gramothe, one hour away from Port-au-prince, today has schools, a clinic, a church, water system and homes—a great change from 10 years before, when all they had were five voodoo temples, The Christian Post said.

In 1999, Willem Charles founded Mountain Top Ministries which challenged voodoo in the village where there was no clean water, not enough jobs, and no hope at all, according to The Christian Post.

Give Your Best, a book authored by Andrew DeWitt, tells the story of Charles. DeWitt told The Christian Post, “There are pockets in Haiti that are actually transforming from poverty and voodoo to prosperity and Christianity.”

Charles grew up in a one-room home with nine other people. However, he grew up to become a CNN interpreter, and helped to convey to the world the chaotic presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, according to The Christian Post.

Other successes Charles enjoyed before founding MTM, according to The Christian Post, included joining Haiti’s national soccer team, plus personal success as a businessman.

Charles started MTM in Gramothe because it was the village on the hill across his childhood home. He knew that 90 percent of its people were jobless, and the teacher in the tiny school had only a third-grade education. Villagers walked a mile to get drinking water from a river where they also bathed and laundered their clothes, The Christian Post said.

Today, there are spigots near the homes of the villagers delivering clean water, reducing disease, and enabling farmers to plant year round instead of depending on rain, increasing their produce fourfold, The Christian Post reported.

Changes with MTM

Today villagers can save money to remodel their homes, and children study up to 12^th grade at the village’s Christian school. According to The Christian Post, a high school diploma is deemed a huge feat in Haiti.

In the book Charles says, “What Haiti needs is freedom and security. Along with that, education will bring jobs, which will bring overall prosperity,” The Christian Post reported.

Voodoo culture

A former colony of France, Haitian slaves of the French colonizers were required to become Catholics. However, the people instead incorporated the Catholic icons into their voodoo religion, according to The Christian Post.

In the book DeWitt wrote, “As a result, Catholicism has a different meaning to the people here in Haiti. In some ways it is synonymous with voodoo.” Charles understood this, and through MTM villagers learned to let voodoo go, The Christian Post said.

For example, a man in the village complained to Charles about the rats in his home which bit his children leaving sores on them. Charles raised money to build the man a new house and told him to keep it clean, according to The Christian Post.

He also told the man, “Voodoo is like the old house. It’s full of a bunch of spirits that are just like rats. You’ve seen the damage the rats do to your children. Voodoo does the same thing to our spirit. But God is a jealous God. He won’t allow any voodoo at all in your life,” The Christian Post reported.

The Christian Post noted that Haiti has had a succession of corrupt rulers and some 200 years of near chaos. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, rendered even poorer with the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Quoting DeWitt, The Christian Post noted that Haiti could still reshape itself into a new, prosperous country. DeWitt said, “If MTM can display the village of Gramothe as a model for other villages to follow, then all over Haiti villages can do what we are doing, and we can defeat generational poverty village by village.”

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A Christian wife and mother in Pakistan has been sentenced to death by hanging for blasphemy.

Asia Bibi, 45, was also fined some $1,135—about two and a half year’s earnings for a farm worker—for saying defamatory statements about the Prophet Mohammed, according to Christian Today.

Bibi denies the charges and said that she is being persecuted for her faith. According to the Telegraph, Christians in Pakistan are routinely discriminated against and harassed.

The Telegraph said that human rights groups and Christian organizations have condemned the verdict and are seeking a repeal of the blasphemy laws. Supporters of Bibi said that she will appeal the sentence of the local court in Sheikhupura, a town near Lahore in Pakistan.

Andy Dipper, chief executive of Release International, said he was shocked to learn of the local court’s ruling. Christian Today reported that Bibi had been hoping to be acquitted so that she could be back with her husband and children.

Dipper told Christian Today, “Although Asia has great courage, her dreams of release have vanished now. Please pray for her encouragement, strength and protection.”

Ashiq Masih, the husband of Bibi, said he could not yet tell their two younger daughters of the ruling. He told Telegraph, “They asked me many times about their mother but I can’t get the courage to tell them that the judge has sentenced their mother to capital punishment for a crime she never committed.”

Bibi has been kept in isolation in prison since June last year, according to Telegraph.

The trouble began when Bibi, a field hand who worked with other women, was told to fetch drinking water. However, some of the Muslim women refused to drink the water because it was brought by a Christian, making it “unclean,” the Telegraph reported.

Christian Today reported that some of the women workers tried to make Bibi renounce her faith. Bibi told them that Jesus died for the sins of all men, and asked the women what Muhammad did for them.

The women, offended, struck Bibi repeatedly, and a group of men locked her in a room. Release International told Christian Today that a mob abused and beat her and her children.

According to the Telegraph, the police were pressured by the Muslim mob, some of whom were clerics, to register a blasphemy case against Bibi. Human rights often say the law is used to discriminate against religious minorities, including some three million Christians in Pakistan.

Ali Hasan Dayan, of Human Rights Watch, told Telegraph that Pakistan’s constitution guarantees many rights which are inconsistent with the blasphemy law. He said that oftentimes the law is used to settle scores that are not even related with religion.

Release International has launched a petition to end Pakistan’s blasphemy law and said the death sentence against Bibi would set a dangerous precedent for other blasphemy cases, Christian Today reported.

To sign Release’s online petition, go to www.releaseinternational.org/current.

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A group of Christians have managed to wed their two passions–Jesus Christ and surfing–to spread the good news to people on the beach.

Christian Surfers, a worldwide organization with 23 chapters and some 3,000 members in the U.S. uses surfing as a tool for spirituality, The Florida Times-Union reported.

The organization, which began in the U.S. in 1984, also operates in 27 countries. Their strategy is not confrontational. They don’t pass out tracts on the beach or preach along the shore. Instead, they use surfing as a means to bond, then to draw others into a more wholesome lifestyle, The Florida Times-Union said.

Dean Plumlee, 41, is the national director of Christian Surfers USA. He told The Florida Times-Union, “These [surfers] are people who spend a good portion of their life in nature, in creation, and because of that they know that there is a divine creator who has awesome power. Surfers don’t fit into organized religion and are looking for something. … We connect surfers to Jesus. We’re really kind of a missions agency.”

The culture of surfers has long been linked to rebellion, drugs and alcohol. But Plumlee told The Florida Times-Union, “Normally, surfers are spiritual people. But the (drugs and alcohol) …leads to brokenness and pain, and in the surfing world there are a lot of broken people.”

The Christian Surfers can be easily mistaken to fit the stereotype, since many have tattoos and long hair. “[But] we don’t worry what everyone else thinks,” Plumlee told The Florida Times-Union.

According to their website, Christian Surfers want to see every surfer touched by Jesus. Primarily evangelistic in intent, they submit their surfing to Christ rather than just indulging in their passion for the sport.

They are interdenominational, and they minister primarily through building relationships with people first. They are also volunteer based, according to their website.

How does one relate surfing to Jesus? Plumlee told The Florida Times-Union, “For us, where Jesus and surfing intersects is like making Kool-Aid. You put all that powder in the cup, and you pour water in, and whatever’s in the cup mixes with the water … and in our life Jesus isn’t the accessory. He’s the water,” The Florida Times-Union reported.

Plumlee concluded, “So whatever we get into, Jesus gets into with us … he’s a part of everything we do, and this surf community is a highly spiritual community,” The Florida Times-Union said.

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Israel denies it, Jordan ignores it, and a green group claims that the water of the Jordan River where Jesus is believed to have been baptized is unsafe.

The ecology group Friends of the Earth Middle East claims that the Jordan River is polluted on the sides of both Israel and Jordan. Both countries claim their side of the river is where Jesus was baptized.

Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of Friends of the Earth Middle East said water baptisms should be banned from the popular tourism sites, “For reasons of public health as well as religious integrity,” RNS said.

The river is polluted because of large amounts of sewage and fecal bacteria that is pumped into it from the West Bank, Jordan and Israel, the AP said.

Mira Edelstein of Friends of the Earth Middle East said, “The state of the river at the moment is really dire,” Voice of America said.

However the Israeli government disagrees. They said that tests conducted on Tuesday in the Qasr al-Yahud (Israel side of the Jordan River) showed the pollution levels are less than a tenth of their Health Ministry’s accepted standard, the AP said.

A Civil Administration and Nature and Parks Authority spokesman said the waters are safe for bathing and claimed they hold routine tests every three months of what is viewed as Christianity’s third most sacred site, Ynet said.

Some 100,000 Christians visit Qasr al-Yahud annually and oftentimes they hold water baptisms there, the AP said. However many tourists have begun to go to the Jordanian side instead, because of the pollution reports, Ynet said.

Bromberg has asked that all ceremonies on both sides of the river stop until pollutants are removed. Qasr al-Yahud falls within an Israeli-controlled military zone. Israel closed the baptismal site for one day, but reopened it immediately after. Jordan never closed its side of the river, nor did the Jordanian government respond to the environmental group’s report, RNS said.

Bromberg said, “Our call is to halt baptisms on both sides of the river. It is exactly the same polluted water,” RNS said. Israel is constructing sewage treatment plants that should terminate waste flow into their side of the river by 2011, the AP said.

However environmentalists feel that will not suffice. Noting the growing population, climate and constant water shortage, they feel only increasing water flow into the river will help. Edelstein says 98 percent of the water that should enter the river is diverted for agriculture, drinking and domestic use, and only two percent is left, VOANews said.

Edelstein said this was discovered when the green group recently did a study that was conducted in a regional fashion, with the help of Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian experts, VOANews said. This is why the waters of the Jordan River have shrunk dramatically, the AP said.

The fresh water flow is diverted to Syria, Jordan and Israel, Bromberg says adding, “If the same thing were happening to a Jewish or Muslim holy site there would be a public outcry,” RNS said.

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