Domains May Have New Extension For Smut

Now, I do not understand why some religious groups feel the proposal to siphon smut to domain extensions of .xxx is problematic! Note the quote below which I made bold in the article, "That did not satisfy religious groups that opposed the dot-xxx domains, fearing they would make pornography even more prevalent online." De-duh? Where have you been folks? Do you think someone puts in "Georgia peaches" and behold, a topless site comes up, or do you think their little (sometimes Christian fingers) type something more prevelant to their sinful intentions? (...well, come to think of it, various "chicken parts" present troubling sites at times...that's besides the point...) I say let these smut artists go to the xxx extension. When you see your computer's cookies loaded with xxx extensions; you know someone is missing it in your household! And don't let it be you. I hope it will spoil some people's plans out there. The article below:


For X-Rated, a Domain of Their Own

SAN FRANCISCO — What if the Web held a sex party and no one showed up?

That’s what could happen now that the agency governing the Internet address system all but approved the creation of a new red-light district on the Web. The problem is that some of the biggest names in online pornography prefer not to be in that neighborhood.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers on Friday agreed to move forward on a long-standing proposal from a Florida company to create a specialized dot-xxx suffix for adult entertainment Web sites. But the plan upset much of the adult entertainment industry. It joined hands with religious groups in lobbying against it, arguing that the new domains would lead to regulation and marginalization.

The alliance “made for strange bedfellows, for sure,” said Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association representing more than 1,000 adult entertainment businesses. The company sponsoring the dot-xxx domain, the ICM Registry, said it had a vision of a red-light district in cyberspace that was a clean, well-lighted place, free of spam, viruses and credit card thieves. Content would be clearly labeled as adult and the whole neighborhood would be easy to block. Anyone offended by pornography could simply stay out.

“It is good for everybody,” said Stuart Lawley, the chairman and chief executive of ICM. “It is a win for the consumer of adult content. They will know that the dot-xxx sites will operate by certain standards.”

That did not satisfy religious groups that opposed the dot-xxx domains, fearing they would make pornography even more prevalent online. And Ms. Duke said that “there is no support from our community” for the plan.

Her organization’s members, which include big industry names like Hustler and Adam & Eve, were concerned that the board overseeing the dot-xxx domain could engage in censorship and that the entire industry could come under increased regulation. “If the board doesn’t like what a producer creates, there is the possibility that they could censor it,” Ms. Duke said. “This will ghettoize our industry and make us a target of regulation.”

Ms. Duke said most of her members planned to continue operating out of their dot-com domains.

But Mr. Lawley is not worried. Online sex is big business, and he expects his company will benefit. Each domain registration will cost $60 a year, with $10 going to a nonprofit organization promoting “responsible business practices” for the industry.

Mr. Lawley said more than 100,000 domains had preregistered. He said he expected that when the dot-xxx domains opened for business, nine to 12 months from now, some 500,000 domains would register, or roughly 10 percent of the five million to six million adult online sites.

But Ms. Duke said many of those were likely to be “defensive” registrations, from businesses that wanted to prevent their names from being hijacked. Mr. Lawley said businesses could ensure that their names were not misused in the dot-xxx world by paying a one-time fee, to be set from $50 to $250.

In giving ICM’s proposal the green light in a meeting in Brussels, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which governs Internet addresses, reversed a 2007 vote to reject the dot-xxx domains, saying the decision was purely based on technical grounds. Peter Dengate Thrush, the agency’s chairman, said it had no interest or stake in the content of Web sites.

“The applicants believe that this will allow people to filter pornography more effectively,” he said. “If they do that and it works, that’s great for them. But that’s not part of our issue.”

The agency now has to negotiate a final contract with ICM. Ms. Duke’s organization plans to continue its fight against the dot-xxx domains.

Asians Feel Neglected In Some Churches

Asian Christians 'feel neglected by Church'
By Dil Neiyyar, BBC Asian Network

Mainstream churches in England are failing Asian Christian worshippers, according to the South Asian Forum.

The organisation was formed in March 2010 in order to better represent the views and needs of Asian Christians and to campaign on their behalf.

It claims many of Britain's estimated 75,000 Asian Christians do not feel welcome in the big churches.

Jagdish Singh from Wolverhampton is one of those who unsuccessfully tried to join his local church.

"They were all staring at me," he told BBC Asian Network. "They seemed to be wondering: 'Where has this coloured man come from?'

"Afterwards, nobody spoke to me except for the vicar. He was standing at the door, shook my hand and asked me who I was but nobody in the congregation spoke to me.

"I went there for a few weeks but felt that I didn't belong there.

"I can speak English perfectly and I went to an English school but, although I had become a Christian, I didn't feel a part of them. To me they didn't look as if they wanted me there."

'Divided faith'

The South Asian Forum says Asian Christians are setting up more of their own churches in response to this feeling of rejection - a trend mirroring the growth and breakaway of the Afro-Caribbean community.

Ram Gidoomal, chairman of the South Asian Forum, said: "Asian Christians want to join mainstream churches but if they are not welcome they will then form their own fellowship.

"[It will be like] a phenomenon which happened with the Afro-Caribbean community when they came to the country in the 1940s and 1950s with Windrush.

"They found they weren't welcome and they then set up their own thriving churches.

"It is sad and it is a pity that those who are meant to be united by one faith appear then to be divided, that really is a tragedy."

The Asian Calvary Church in Wolverhampton is typical of the sort of Asian churches that have sprung up in response to the difficulties with mainstream churches.

Its meetings were held in cramped living rooms when it started up and now more than 50 people regularly attend a fortnightly service at a redbrick community church, which worshippers hire.

Most of the Asian Calvary Church's service is in Punjabi, along with many of the hymns sung to music played on traditional Indian instruments like the dhol and harmonium.

National conference

Harjeet Singh, a taxi driver from Wolverhampton, is one of the worshippers.

"To the mainstream churches, I would say they should support us so that Asian Christians will have more freedom to worship," he said.

Robin Thomson, of Asian worshipper support group South Asian Concern, said: "There are no official figures for the number of Asian Christian churches in Britain.

"But what we do know is that there are definitely 90 Tamil churches or groups here, so I would say there are at least 200 Asian Christian churches."

Ahead of a national conference of Asian Christians from across Britain in Derbyshire this weekend, the Church of England acknowledges the problem and says it must improve relations with them.

Simon Pothen, Canon Precentor at Chelmsford Cathedral, said: "I think that [being made to feel] welcome is a problem for the Church generally.

"I think probably being Asian and coming to an all-white church heightens the problems of being welcomed."

Victory To Distribute The Message

Christian pastor allowed to distribute literature at Arab festival in Dearborn
By Niraj Warikoo

A Christian pastor is free to distribute literature on the streets at the Arab-American festival this weekend in Dearborn, a federal court has ruled.

A three-judge panel on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency motion that allows Pastor George Saieg, a Christian minister from California, to hand out literature aimed at converting Muslims on the perimeter of the three-day festival that starts tonight.

The court’s ruling on Thursday overturns, for now, a June 7th decision by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Borman that supported the city of Dearborn’s policy, which maintained that Saieg and anyone else must only hand out literature around their booths because of crowd control concerns. The festival is one of the largest Arab-American gatherings in the U.S. and organizers have safety concerns. And so such rules are needed and apply to every one, organizers said. There are other Christian groups that hand out literature from booths at the festival, as do other religious and ethnic groups, they note.

But Saieg wanted to hand out literature in other parts of the festival as well.

The court’s decision is the latest in ongoing tensions between some Christian missionary groups and some Arab Americans. One Christian group said they were bothered last year at the festival by security. And some Arab-Americans say they are harassed by some of the missionary groups.

“This is a victory for the First Amendment and the free speech rights of Christians,” said Robert Muise, an attorney for the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center, which filed suit on behalf of the Christian pastor.

The center announced today the court’s ruling in a press release.

Article: Wells Without Water

Received via newsletter from Andrew Strom/revivalschool.com

WELLS Without WATER
-by Darren Smith.

Western Christianity has become a well with no water! What could be worse to someone dying of thirst, than to finally come upon a well and then discover that it has no water. I think this is a good example of what modern religion does. It puts up a front that looks like it has the answer to life's problems and even offers that to the people. Yet in reality, what they get is a show designed to entertain and get their money. The shame is that the world is thirsty and we are supposed to have Living Water, but when they come to drink they find only an empty well leaving them worse off than before.

2 Peter 2:15-18 addresses this very issue. By abandoning the straight path, they have gone the way of Balaam. Is not the same true today? The way of Balaam is the wide path. Not speaking the Word of God but rather speaking words that profit themselves, not giving the Living Water, but giving out something that tastes good to the carnal Adam.

On a recent preaching trip every church I ministered at people came forward confessing sexual sin, and not just a few but many. Some were even in leadership positions and were counseling people with the very same issues. The thing that brought this out was the Word of God preached without fear and the fact that I am very transparent about the struggles in my own life. This happens every time that I minister, even though I don't go out with the intent - it is just God opening up the chance for Living Water to come and fill the people once they confess their sins and repent.

We have a myth that's been put before the church for so long that people are numb to the Spirit. We have been told that we can make revival happen and that's not true. Revival only comes when the people are broken and they get clean before God. This means exposing the hidden sin in their life and being willing to suffer the consequences of that sin. You can pray for revival for years, but unless the people are willing to get clean it will not come.

So why is this such a problem? For one thing, many of the people in leadership are bound up in this very sin. It's estimated that 70% of pastors struggle with Pornography and the sad thing is they feel like they can never confess, therefore, they never come clean and Living Water cannot flow from the well that they tend. This must be exposed so people can get free. This sin is so easy to conceal that before long the person that is bound up in it can justify their bad behavior. I know I have been bound by this sin and only found freedom with deep repentance and confession.

It is the same in marriage. Many have sin in their marriage and will not come clean so grace can heal. Instead they move into coexistence that brings no glory to God and eventually they end up in affairs and broken marriages are the result. The divorce rate is the same in the church as it is in the world for this very reason. Trust me, sexual sin is just as bad in the church as it is in the
world. Everywhere I go, this is a huge problem and I get many emails dealing with the same thing from all over the world.

We must address this now and very publicly so people can get free and we can see God move in His Body. 2 Peter 2:17 says these people are springs without water. It's time we become a well of Living Water for a thirsty world to drink from to become whole. To do this we need to go through a purification process by the Holy Spirit!!

Can you think of anything worse than dying of thirst and coming upon a well and finding out that even though it looks like a well and has the bucket to draw with, there is no water there to drink.

If you are clean, start praying that a wave of repentance comes upon the church. If you are not clean, repent and confess and get clean. We need the Living Water to flow through this world and it is not God who is holding it back, it is us.

Racist Arsonist Agrees To Plead Guilty

Guilty Plea Expected in Mass. Black Church Arson
By MARK PRATT, Associated Press

BOSTON – One of the three white men who allegedly torched a predominantly black church in western Massachusetts because they were angry with President Barack Obama 's election has agreed to plead guilty, a person familiar with the investigation says.

Benjamin Haskell is scheduled to appear in federal court in Springfield on Wednesday for a change of plea hearing, according to federal court documents filed Friday.

Haskell , 23, of Springfield, had previously pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges. A person informed of the plea change told The Associated Press that Haskell will plead guilty . The person asked not to be named ahead of the hearing.

Haskell's attorney and the U.S. Attorney's Office did not immediately return calls Friday.

Haskell was one of three men charged in connection with the fire that destroyed the Macedonia Church of God in Christ in Springfield in the early morning hours of Nov. 5, 2008, just hours after the presidential election . The church was under construction at the time, but almost complete. It had about 300 members, 90 percent of whom were black, according to federal authorities.

Thomas Gleason Jr., 22, and Michael Jacques, 25, have pleaded not guilty to charges of violating civil rights , damaging religious property because of race, color or ethnic characteristics, and using fire to commit a felony.

According to an FBI affidavit, investigators were led to the suspects by an informant they allegedly told they set the fire. They were arrested in mid-January.

When the informant asked Haskell why they did it, Haskell said "because it was a black church," according to the affidavit. Haskell also allegedly said he thought Obama would be assassinated.

The defendants allegedly told investigators they walked through the woods behind the church, got in through a side window and doused the inside and outside with about five gallons of gasoline. The fire left little more than a metal frame and resulted in minor injuries to three firefighters.

Lawyers for Jacques and Gleason tried to get their confessions thrown out as evidence, claiming they were scared and made false statements because law enforcement officials yelled at them and threatened them over several hours.

A federal judge denied that motion late last month.

Haggard Starts A New Church

1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

*This new church's theology is bound to be linked in some way to the NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) crowd. Ted Haggard has been a part of this movement for some time. Watch out folks and head into another direction...Last time I checked my bible, the mediator was Jesus Christ...not an super apostle. Article seen from Religion News Blog posted directly below concerning Haggard's latest church.

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Ted Haggard To Start New Church in Colo. Springs
By DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard said Wednesday that he will launch a new church from his Colorado Springs home, 3 1/2 years after he resigned from his ministry amid an embarrassing and devastating sex scandal.

"This is my resurrection day," he declared.

Haggard said his new venture would not be a megachurch like New Life Church, the congregation he founded in 1985 and then left in 2006 after a male prostitute said Haggard paid him for sex.

Haggard said he doesn't know how many people will attend his new church, but he said the ordeal he and his wife, Gayle, went through has prepared them to help others.

"I have an incredible heart for broken people," he said. "I think we're qualified to hold people's hands" in times of trouble.

Haggard made his announcement outside his home, a two-story, brick-fronted structure with a large barn, a swimming pool and white-fenced corrals on Colorado Springs' north side, not far from New Life Church. Wearing an open-neck shirt and jeans, Haggard sounded both optimistic and chastened, calling himself a repentant sinner and a broken man who believes he can still help others.

"When the crash came in my personal life, it was so incredibly embarrassing and heartbreaking," he said. "It broke me. And I'm still broken, some."

Haggard said a television documentary on the birth of his new church was a possibility but nothing was certain.

At his new church, Haggard said he will teach that God intended marriage to be a monogamous union of a man and a woman. But he said heterosexual marriage was just one ideal in a long list of things God wants people to do, including pray, be healthy and stay monogamous.

He also said the biblical ideals are sometimes hard to live up to.

"Earth is not heaven. And here on Earth, sexuality is very complex and very confusing," he said.

"There is a complex process people have to go through between their personal beliefs and their own ideals that they themselves fail at, and I am a glaring example of that," he said.

In an interview with The Associated Press after his announcement, Haggard said he was in counseling from the time of his 2006 downfall until recently, dealing with both his sexual identity and the feelings of shame and embarrassment that followed the scandal.

Without offering any specifics on the allegations against him, Haggard said his counselors told him he is heterosexual but that his behavior was influenced by a childhood incident when he molested by an adult male.

Haggard said he takes responsibility for his actions as an adult and does not mean to use the molestation as an excuse. He also said he did not want to imply that homosexuality was caused by childhood trauma.

"I don't know what goes on with the homosexual and what makes a homosexual a homosexual. I don't know dynamics there and I don't judge it," he said.

He said counseling helped him reduce the emotional impact of the childhood encounter.

"I remember all of that. I just don't have compulsive thoughts or actions because of it," he said.

Haggard told the AP that after his downfall, he doesn't feel qualified or entitled to return to the ministry, but that he feels compelled to do so by love for others. He cited conversations he had this week with a woman fighting drugs and with an unmarried couple expecting their second child.

"I'm certainly not going to say no to people (who need help) because of my personal shame. I've got to overcome my personal shame and be willing to help somebody that knocks on our door," he said.

Haggard said the new church won't compete with others in Colorado Springs, noting that many people in the city of 375,000 don't attend any church.

Enmity With The World

James 4:4
O you who are false to God, do you not see that the friends of this world are not God's friends? Every man desiring to be a friend of this world makes himself a hater of God.

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Enmity With The World
A.W. Tozer

Christian Aid Groups Face Trouble In Afghanistan

2 Christian aid groups suspended in Afghanistan
By ROHAN SULLIVAN (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan authorities suspended two Christian foreign aid groups on suspicion of proselytizing in the strictly Islamic nation and said a follow-up investigation would include whether other groups were trying to convert Muslims.

U.S.-based Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid will not be allowed to operate while the allegations, aired Sunday on Afghan television, are investigated, said Mohammad Hashim Mayar, the deputy director of the Afghan government office that oversees nongovernment organizations.

An investigation commission including officers from the National Security and Interior Ministries had been appointed, he said.

Both organizations denied the allegation, and Mayar said officials did not have any evidence of proselytizing beyond the television report.

"They are investigating whether the groups were proselytizing or not," Mayar said. "They will report back and also assess what is the impact of closing these NGOs. The investigation will include whether other groups or individuals are involved."

Norwegian Church Aid Secretary-General Atle Sommerfeldt said in a statement that his organization has a firm policy of not attempting "to convert people to another religion" in all countries where it operates.

Maurice Bloem, deputy director of programs for Church World Service, said in a statement his organization does not proselytize, in accordance with the code of conduct for NGOs.

Bloem said Church World Service has worked inside Afghanistan since 1979, always in partnership with local Afghan organizations, and has been serving half a million people of different faiths there. He said its mission is to assist the Afghan people.

Proselytizing is illegal in Afghanistan, as it is in many Muslim countries. It is a hot-button issue for many Afghans sensitive to the influence of the scores of foreign aid groups operating in the country to help it recover from decades of war.

The television report, which interviewed local police saying they had heard rumors of the charities' proselytizing, triggered a demonstration by several hundred students at Kabul University on Monday.

The group shouted death threats toward foreigners who seek to convert Muslims and demanded the government expel anyone who tried, said Mohammad Najib, a professor at the school who witnessed the protest.

The group blocked the road outside the university's main gate for more than an hour before the demonstrators moved off peacefully, Najib said. Police stood by but did not intervene.

Church World Service is a cooperative ministry of more than 30 Protestant and Orthodox denominations in the United States and works in more than 80 countries. It is headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana.

Norwegian Church Aid, which is tied to Norway's Lutheran state church and receives financial support from the Norwegian government, operates in about 125 countries, providing long-term development and emergency response aid, according to its website. It said it has been working in Afghanistan since 1979.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ragnhild Imerslund said the ministry had scheduled a meeting Monday between Norway's ambassador to Afghanistan and Afghanistan's minister of economic affairs to determine the nature of the allegations.