Author: Gordon Govier

CHICAGO (BP)–A coalition of legal and pro-family groups asked the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals July 7 to reverse a lower court ruling and declare the National Day of Prayer constitutional, asserting that the district court’s decision amounted to "an act of hostility to religion." The 28-page friend-of-the-court brief was filed nearly three months after U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb (of Madison) ruled that a congressional statute setting aside the first Thursday of May each year for the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional and amounts to a government establishment of religion. The Justice Department, which has the responsibility…

COMMENTARYOn June 28th, the U.S. Supreme Court—in a bitterly divided 5–4 vote—upheld a public university’s right to enforce an "all-comers" antidiscrimination policy against a student group affiliated with the Christian Legal Society (CLS). As president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA—and as a former professor of law—I have concerns about how this decision may impact our 860 chapters and other campus ministries.

COMMENTARYThis past weekend Chicago, along with many other US cities, celebrated Gay Pride with a parade. As a part of the weekend, Nathan and a group of over 30 Christians from various Chicago churches went to demonstrate at the Gay Pride Parade with the Marin Foundation.Their demonstration was much different, though.While the most vocal “Christian” presence at the parade was in the form of protesters with “God Hates Fags” signs, Nathan and a team from the Marin Foundation took a different approach… they chose to apologize.

Do you ever wonder what happens to that $35 you donate every month to a child sponsorship organization? Are you a little skeptical that the money you give is actually going to sponsoring a child instead of a mismanaged nonprofit? If that’s you, I’m with you. A couple years ago, I had convinced myself the money I was giving each month wasn’t actually reaching the child whose picture I had picked out years earlier, so I canceled my sponsorship. It turns out I was wrong, and it hit me like a ton of bricks two years later.

The White House invited four of the country’s top evangelical pastors to attend President Obama’s speech on July 1st calling for immigration reform. The move is a testament both to the importance the issue has come to assume in the evangelical world–including among leaders who have battled Democrats on social issues like abortion and gay marriage–and to the White House’s eagerness to enlist evangelicals to help to counter conservative opposition to the idea of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrations already in the U.S.

Americans see the Fourth of July as the time to celebrate their nation’s freedom. But some say it’s also an excellent time to remember the faith that made them free.

USA (MNN) ― An audio Scripture project is underway for the Native American Hochunk Nation in the Midwest. The Hochunks, also known as the Winnebago, are original residents of the Great Lakes area, particularly Wisconsin and Illinois.

A Christian radio station is canceling its sponsorship of a large Christian music festival in Oshkosh because of one of the speakers.After some Wisconsin church pastors notified the organizers of Lifest about their concerns that Jim Wallis, an author and editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine, was giving the keynote speech on July 9, De Pere-based Christian radio station Q90 FM pulled its sponsorship, which included free advertising and a booth at the July 7-11 event.

In 1993, Bruce Marchiano starred as Jesus in The Visual Bible: Matthew, bringing lightness and humor to a role that many viewers embraced, saying they’d never seen the Lord portrayed in so human a manner in film.Matthew was supposed to be the first of many films covering all 66 books of the Bible, each using dialogue taken verbatim from Scripture. Acts came a year later, also with Marchiano playing Jesus (and James Brolin as Simon Peter).

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press released a new survey this week that looks at the year 2050. Of note to followers of the Belief Blog is 41% of people surveyed believe Jesus is coming back by the year 2050.