Washington, DC—Believing firm restrictions on government funded abortions are no longer possible, evangelical left officials are jettisoning traditional evangelical pro-life convictions to back the U.S. Senate version of Obamacare now before the U.S. House of Representatives.

The evangelical left initially sought to consolidate liberal evangelical support behind Obamacare by promising protections against government funded abortions. Now some evangelical left officials are claiming such protections are unnecessary.

A letter sent this week to Congress from some prominent liberal evangelicals claims information about abortion provisions in the Senate health care bill is misleading and urges Congress urgently to support the Senate version of Obamacare. In contrast, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opposes the Senate’s Obamacare, pointing out it lacks the House version’s clear restriction against government funded abortions.

Evangelical signers of the congressional letter include Evangelicals for Social Action President Ron Sider, Sojourners chief Jim Wallis, Florida megachurch pastor and National Association of Evangelicals Board Member Joel Hunter, New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good Chair David P. Gushee, Emergent Church guru Brian McLaren and Glen Stassen of Fuller Theological Seminary.

IRD President Mark Tooley commented:

“For the mostly new Evangelical Left and the old Religious Left, government-imposed health care is a long-time totem for which their activists have toiled across years and decades.

“Politically liberal evangelicals remain anxious to pass the bill, even without the Stupak-Pitts language that some of them previously supported.

“Evangelical Left activists like Jim Wallis desperately want Obamacare despite possible abortion funding.

“For the Evangelical Left, when their espoused pro-life views conflict with messianic hopes for socialized health care, Obamacare wins.

The Institute on Religion and Democracy, founded in 1981, is an ecumenical alliance of U.S. Christians working to reform their churches’ social witness, in accord with biblical and historic Christian teachings, thereby contributing to the renewal of democratic society at home and abroad.

www.TheIRD.org

Washington, DC—A controversial candidate for bishop in the U.S. Episcopal Church has received the necessary approval, according to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Following her December election, the Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool of Baltimore needed to obtain consent from a majority of bishops and diocesan standing committees.

Glasspool will become the first partnered openly lesbian bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion if she is installed as scheduled on May 15.

After the partnered openly homosexual Gene Robinson was installed as Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, bodies of the worldwide Anglican Communion warned the Episcopal Church not to repeat the action. It observed a moratorium on consecration of non-celibate homosexual bishops for a time, but lifted the moratorium at last year’s General Convention.

Jeff Walton, Director of IRD’s Anglican Action Program, commented:

“Glasspool’s election is unfortunate because she has unapologetically taken sexual expression outside of the God-ordained boundary of Holy Matrimony. In the view of the wider Anglican Communion, this practice makes her unqualified to serve in the role of a bishop.

“Glasspool’s election is the next step in the Episcopal Church’s liberalizing trajectory. After revoking a moratorium on the consecration of non-celibate homosexual bishops during its July General Convention, the denomination made clear that it was going to proceed on this route, despite protests from other Anglicans.

“Consent to Glasspool’s election by the Episcopal Church shows how little the U.S.-based denomination cares about what other parts of the global Anglican Communion believe.

“The majority of the Episcopal Church is increasingly practicing a separate faith than what most worldwide Anglicans practice.

“Glasspool’s election and consecration comes at the same time as the Episcopal Church reports steep declines in attendance. Interestingly, the traditionalist Anglican Church in North America (AC-NA) has added 100 new congregations since July.”

Read more at Worldnetdaily.com.

Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries has the unsavory task of tracking these emergent trends. He has a raft of articles on the “Theology After Google” conference that are helpful in tracing the latest methods of the emergent blind who lead the blind. In this article, you can see video of Mr. Jones unveiling his new approach to theology in front of his attendees. In this piece, Ken Silva describes the non-gospel these men represent. Tony Jones is a spiritual rebel, and he is training others in spiritual rebellion under the guise of a new, more relevant approach to Christian theology. It is theology, but be warned. There is nothing Christian about it.

The chief of a law firm that has promised to defend a youth pastor reportedly investigated for driving a runaway Muslim-turned-Christian teen to a bus station says the probe is another “lawfare” case in which Islamists are trying to intimidate critics of the religion.

Ohio authorities are investigating youth pastor Brian Williams for his assistance of Rifqa Bary, 17, who claimed she fled her Muslim parents last year because her father threatened to kill her after learning she had become a Christian. Read story here.

Looks like Young may be starting a whole new trend. Webcams in bedrooms might replace plexiglass pulpits soon, actually. Cutting-edge pastors can read their borrowed sermons while wearing their Sponge Bob jammies, and congregations can stay at home in their own jammies to watch it online. Remember that you read it here first.

NEWARK, Calif., March 10 /Christian Newswire/ — Digital Praise® Inc, the leader in Christian-themed, family-friendly entertainment software and currently under pending merger agreement with Left Behind Games (OTC: LFBG), today announced it has entered into a strategic relationship with Stryper, the top- selling Christian metal band. Together, Digital Praise and Stryper intend to develop new products leveraging the band’s top live performance recordings.

“This is our first opportunity to license music directly from a top Christian artist,” said Tom Bean, President and CEO of Digital Praise. “It is unbelievable to be working with Stryper, the first openly Christian heavy metal band to gain recognition in the mainstream music world. The idea of creating the first band-specific expansion packs for our guitar and dance games is another first for Stryper.”

“Since 1984, Stryper has always been a band on the cutting edge that has broken down barriers,” said Dave Rose of talent agency Deep South Entertainment, which represents Stryper. “During their 25th Anniversary World Tour, legions of loyal Stryper fans have been coming out to experience the energy of their favorite Stryper songs performed live. So it’s exciting that Digital Praise is planning on merging the world of interactive games and the live Stryper experience. Both Stryper and Digital Praise are once again on the cutting edge of technology and music. We’re thrilled to be involved.”

Digital Praise is excited to be working with Stryper and has already started working with many of the live Stryper recordings.

About Stryper:
Looking back over the last 25 years, Stryper is considered a groundbreaking act by all accounts. Since the band’s label debut in 1984, the quartet has sold more than 8 million albums worldwide. The first Christian rock band to enjoy decided success in the mainstream market, Stryper’s RIAA certified platinum 1986 magnum opus To Hell with the Devil is listed among the “100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music” as designated by CCM Magazine. One of the most mesmerizing stage acts still today, Stryper received tremendous exposure on television’s MTV and VH1, paving the way for more faith- fueled bands to be considered for airplay. “We attribute so much of our success to God,” Stryper founding member Michael Sweet says unashamedly. “He has orchestrated this band, and His hand has been on it from the beginning. We often ask Him, ‘Why did You choose us?’ We are just average guys who He has continued to use in amazing ways.” For more information about Stryper and the upcoming tour, visit www.stryper.com.

About Digital Praise Inc.
Digital Praise is a developer of family-friendly Christian entertainment software for personal computers and other devices including iPhones. The company produces, publishes and distributes titles for families who enjoy interactive entertainment software with principled character-building themes and “just good clean fun.” On February 25, 2010, Left Behind Games, Inc. (OTC: LFBG) announced that it has entered into an agreement to merge with Digital Praise, making Digital Praise its wholly-owned subsidiary. Pending SEC approval, the transaction is anticipated to close in Q2 of 2010. For more information, visit www.digitalpraise.com…

When Jesus says, ‘Take, eat. This is my body that was broken for you,’ He says, I want my body in you. (Pause . . . shouts and claps) I want my blood in you. And every time you celebrate this rite, it is a reminder that you belong to me, and I belong to you. And he said, ‘I will drink no more wine until I drink it new with you and the kingdom of God. Communion is the most romantic ordinance. Eh, Eh, Eh. (He laughs. Pause . . . the audience shouts and claps.) It is the most romantic ordinance between two lovers.

The folks from Leadership Network are into innovation in a big way. And they have something shiny and new. It’s called Monvee.

Remember, Leadership Network is the organization that helped infect the church with the twin blights of Seeker Drivenism and Emergence Christianity. Leadership Network has marketing clout, and knows how to use it. Monvee could be huge.

One of the problems with the Church Growth Movement’s seeker-driven approach to mass-producing disciples is that it has largely failed to consider how to make disciples who are growing into spiritual maturity in Christ. When the most mature members of your own congregation tell you that they are ‘not being fed’, there’s a problem. And when the mainstream media writes that ‘megachurches like Saddleback are market-driven, with transcendence not on the menu’, and worse, describes you as the ‘butt end of Christianity’ using the words ‘bland, cheerful, dull’, the scary prospect of irrelevance beckons. And with irrelevance comes that worst nightmare of the Church Growth CEO pastor – stagnant or shrinking congregations. Read the post here.