Friday, February 13, 2004

WASHINGTON (BP)--Scientists have cloned human embryos and nurtured them to a new level of maturity, suggesting the possibility of bringing to birth a cloned child, according to a new report.

The same researchers in South Korea also brought forth a colony of embryonic stem cells from one cloned embryo -- another apparent first, The Washington Post reported.

The development appears certain to intensify the controversy surrounding human cloning and embryonic stem cells.

Congress is battling over whether to adopt a comprehensive ban on human cloning in this country, and the White House appears prepared to resume an attempt to secure an international prohibition on all forms of cloning. These efforts are going on as scientists globally seek to perfect the cloning of human embryos and some groups pursue the birth of the first cloned child.

The debate over stem cells -- the primitive cells that can develop into a variety of tissues, with the promise of someday producing treatments for some debilitating diseases -- also remains intense. President Bush has continued with his 2001 ban on federal funding of research on new embryonic stem cells.

The South Korean scientists, affiliated with Seoul National University, deny they are interested in bringing cloned embryos to term, saying they are seeking to produce medical remedies, according to The Post. While many scientists and other observers contend they favor research cloning but oppose cloning intended for reproduction of a baby, pro-life ethicists condemned the latest development and pointed out the researchers already have produced children. More...

Thursday, February 12, 2004

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--Sound doctrine that produces sound ethics for the spread of the Gospel is the foundation on which churches must stand, David Dockery said Feb. 11 at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.

Dockery, president of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., said his message from Titus 2:1-10 is an important one for Christians because it goes against the notions of individualism and self-sufficiency so popular in American life.

"We have become lost in our own self-preoccupation," Dockery said, referring to the trend toward isolation of life in America today. "Titus 2 takes us in a very different direction than our culture."

The church today needs to stand united on sound biblical doctrine that will inform its actions, Dockery said, and it should do so with the motivation of bringing honor to Christ. More...

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (BP)--Returning to where he first attracted national attention, evangelist Billy Graham will hold his seventh crusade in the Los Angeles area July 29-Aug. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Nostalgically, Cliff Barrows read a letter of acceptance from Graham during an "Announcement Celebration" Feb. 9 in the Henrietta Mears room of First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. Barrows pointed to a photo of Graham and Mears, director of religious education at the church years ago, above a fireplace in the room. Mears had opened her home for prayer, encouragement and personal invitations to many actors during that first crusade in 1949 in Los Angeles.

"Billy loves Los Angeles," Barrows told Baptist Press. "His desire before his time is over is to hold a crusade on the West Coast and one on the East Coast." More...

(AgapePress) - A new book provides a Christian doctor's perspective on depression.

Dr. Harold Koenig, a psychiatrist and member of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, has contributed his medical expertise and spiritual insights to a work that is being hailed by physicians as the definitive book on depression. The book, entitled New Light On Depression: Help, Hope, and Answers for the Depressed and Those Who Love Them (Zondervan, 2004), examines what leads to the problem of depression, a disorder that affects more than 19 million Americans a year. More...

Monday, February 09, 2004

(AgapePress) - Dave Alan Johnson and Gary R. Johnson, creators/producers of the PAX network's Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye and Doc, intentionally use their two hit series not only to entertain, but also to evangelize.

The Johnsons grew up in Buffalo Center, Iowa, population 1,000. They consider Hollywood their mission field. "We look at everything we do as our mission," Dave says. "Definitely, we use our shows as evangelistic tools." In a recent exclusive interview, he and his brother, Gary, cite a couple of major turning points in their careers.

First, about 10 years ago, 200,000 AFA Journal readers sent them a much-appreciated deluge of encouraging letters when their NBC series Against the Grain was slated for cancellation. It didn't keep the series on the air. In fact, it ended before its first season concluded. Still, Dave says the AFA mail campaign created a big turning point for him. It challenged him to look for ways to incorporate his Christian faith into his work.

"That was when Dave brought me out here [to Los Angeles], to work on that show," says Gary. "I think it's gotta be the most letters anybody's ever gotten on any show -- at least until e-mail came along."

"Before that," Dave says, "we were out here and we were believers. But that was one part of our lives -- and then we had a job. It was during the Against the Grain process that I realized those things are not to be separated." More...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--President Bush supports a constitutional marriage amendment and it is only a matter of time -- perhaps only a few days -- before he says so publicly, congressmen and pro-family leaders say.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Feb. 6 quoted Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, as saying that Bush had told him that he supported a marriage amendment. Bush reportedly made his remarks to Republican members of Congress during a retreat in Philadelphia Jan. 31.

Cornyn said he asked Bush if he supported the amendment. "He said he does," Cornyn told the newspaper. "He was crystal clear to Republican legislators last Saturday in Philadelphia."

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said he was told the same thing by Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Feb. 5.

"Sen. Frist confirmed that for me at the [National] Prayer Breakfast," Land told Baptist Press. "[Bush has] endorsed an amendment and he's endorsed the Musgrave language." More...