Christians in China
Many of China's churches are overflowing, as the number of Christians in the country multiplies. In the past, repression drove people to convert - is the cause now rampant capitalism?
It is impossible to say how many Christians there are in China today, but no-one denies the numbers are exploding.
The government says 25 million, 18 million Protestants and 6 million Catholics. Independent estimates all agree this is a vast underestimate. A conservative figure is 60 million. There are already more Chinese at church on a Sunday than in the whole of Europe.
The new converts can be found from peasants in the remote rural villages to the sophisticated young middle class in the booming cities.
November

Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as Holiday Trees which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to write and recite on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane  Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'
In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing yet?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
October

Abortion vote MP Nadine denies being a fundamentalist
A Tory MP pushing for changes to abortion councelling services today denied she was a "religious fundamentalist".
Nadine Dorries told MPs she had received death threats for seeking to stop abortion providers such as Marie Stopes offering advice. She wants independent counselling.
She denied that her amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill is evidence of growing Christian influence in the Tory party.
"Like 73 percent of the country I am Church of England, I do have Christian beliefs, but I am not sure when that became a crime," Ms Dorries said. "Iam pro-choice."
As MPs prepared to vote on the issue, shadow public Health Minister Diane Abbott said the Government had shown "total disregard for women and families" after originally appearing to support Ms Dorries's idea but then changing tack.
September

Kate confirms her faith for the big day
Kate Middleton has been confirmed into the Church of England in a service conducted by the Bishop of London.
She chose to have the Rt Rev Richard Chartres - who confirmed Prince William when he was 14 - perform the service in front of her family at St James's Palace.
The service confirmed her as a committed Christian and involved the bishop marking a cross on her forehead with oil. Miss Middleton wanted to be confirmed "because of her own personal journey into faith" rather than as a recognition of the royal family's status in the Church, it is claimed.
April

Sacked Christian loses tribunal case
A Christian who was dismissed by Wandsworth Council after suggesting that a women with an incurable illness "put her faith in God" has lost his legal claim. The London South employment tribunal said Duke Amachree, a homelessness prevention officer, was "fairly dismissed".
August

Reunited at last with 'dead' daughter,
the mother called Miracle
A mother has been reunited with the baby she thought had been killed in the earthquake that hit Haiti six months ago.
Marie Seignon, whose middle name is Miracle, cuddled little Landina in London, where the girl was brought for life saving treatment after being pulled from the rubble.
The 26 year old, who had been told her child was dead after a baby of the same age was found following January's quake, was tracked down by a charity which paid for her daughter's treatment.
Yesterday, she wept with joy as the pair were reunited at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, saying 'My feelings were very, very strong. But when I saw her, i was amazed. I couldn't believe she was alive, this is a very happy moment.'
Landina was just two months old when the quake struck Port au Prince, destroying the hospital where she was in intensive care, being treated for burns.
July

Bosses of HSBC donate £2.5 million bonuses to charity
The chairman and chief exceutive of banking giant HSBC today donated nearly £2.5 million of their bonuses to charity.
Chairman Stephen Green, a well known philanthropist and Church of England lay minister, has given £1.9 million in shares, while Mike Geoghegan, his chief executive, gave £500,980.
The donation from Mr Geoghegan is in addition to his decision announced this year that he would give his £4 million bonus for last year to charity.
Mr Green's donation represents the entirety of his bonus shares paid under a long-term incentive scheme that has just kicked in from 2008.
April

Pact with God
The multi-millionaire founder of Kwik Save is to fulfil a "pact with God" he made as a struggling young man and donate half his fortune to the Church.
Manx-based Albert Gubay, 82, a life-long Roman Catholic who was born in Wales, has placed his business empire, valued at £600m, into a trust. The money will be passed into a charitable foundation on his death.
He founded the Kwik Save supermarket chain and has property developments in Liverpool and Manchester.
Mr Gubay, originally from Rhyl, Denbighshire, is ranked 107th on The Sunday Times Rich List in 2009, with a £480m estate.
Half of his money will go to causes identified by the Roman Catholic Church, with the other half to go to good causes selected at the discretion of the trustees.
March

God shaped my career: Police Chief
Northern Ireland's new chief constable claims thet God called him to the region's top job.
Born-again Christian, Matt Baggott said he felt his entire career in the police had been mapped out by a higher power. In an interview the 51 year old father of three explained how is faith had influenced his and his wife's joint decision to apply for the top job.
March

Letters to God - Film
In Cinemas from early April
Inspired by a true story. A young boy fighting cancer writes letters to God, touching lives in his neighborhood and community and inspiring hope among everyone he comes in contact. An unsuspecting substitute postman, with a troubled life of his own, becomes entangled in the boy's journey and his family by reading the letters. They inspire him to seek a better life for himself and his own son he's lost through his alcohol addiction.
To see a preview of the film click on the link below.
http://www.letterstogodthemovie.com/

Ringo: I've finally found God
RINGO STARR has revealed after decades of searching, he has found God. The former Beatle, 69 said his spiritual side was 'more prominent' on his new album Y Not. He added: "Being on this quest for a long time, it's about finding yourself. For me, God is in my life. The search has been on since the Sixties"
February