In a proposal drawn up before Christmas, lawmakers in Poland have proffered legislation that would name Jesus Christ as the honorary king of Poland. The proposal, slated for a vote sometime in early January, has found backing both with the ruling Law and Justice party and the League of Polish Families as well as the opposition Peasants Party. However, the law has failed to win support from the country’s powerful Catholic Church. Church backing is seen as critical to passing the law, but several bishops have criticized the law, saying parliament should stay out of religious affairs. “Christ doesn’t need a parliamentary resolution to be the king of our hearts,” said Tadeusz Pieronek, a member of Poland’s episcopate and rector at Krakow’s Papal Academy of Theology. “These lawmakers would do better to look after their constitutional prerogatives and let religious institutions and the Church do our work,” he added. The Virgin Mary was declared honorary queen of Poland by King John Casimir 350 years ago. That legislation has not been criticized by the Catholic Church. (BosNewsLife/Associated Press)

* Radio CCM, HCJB Global Voice’s partner ministry in southern Poland, operates 24-hour-a-day FM radio stations in five cities, making gospel broadcasts available to more than 3 million residents. The ministry also received approval of a broadcasting license in June for Chorzów, potentially reach 1.5 million people in the metro area. A Christian satellite radio network to link the Polish stations and expand the ministry is planned. Programs also air via the Internet (www.ccm.pl).

2 PASTORS KILLED IN SEPARATE ATTACKS IN SOUTHEASTERN AFRICA

Two separate attacks in southeastern Africa have left two pastors dead. Pastor George Hilby Lukonge, a Pentecostal pastor from Denmark, was beaten to death by attackers just a few yards from his residence in Entebbe, Uganda, on Friday, Dec. 29. The attackers apparently attacked him as he was returning home, then took his keys, entered his residence and robbed his house. Neighbors discovered his body the following morning. Entebbe Police Criminal Investigation Department Chief Stanley Owor said, “They hit him on the head with a big stick. He had a big wound on the head and was lying in a pool of blood a few meters from the house.” In a second incident, Pastor Berrington Madaza, 41, was murdered in an apparent car hijacking on Christmas Day in Umtata, South Africa. Madaza was forced into the trunk of his car in Umtata by two men. His damaged car was later found abandoned near a hotel, said police spokesman Nondumiso Jafta. Madaza sustained a single bullet wound, and police are sending a pistol found in the car for ballistic testing. (Assist News Service/Salem Voice Ministries)

* HCJB Global Voice has worked with local partners to plant local radio ministries in six South African cities: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pinetown, Roodepoort and Badplaas. HCJB Global Hands also helps with projects such as the Living Hope Community Center (a ministry of partner King of Kings Baptist Church) near Cape Town.

MINISTRY HELPS GRANDPARENTS PASS DOWN CHRISTIAN VALUES

To aid grandparents in creating spiritual bonds with their grandchildren, Pastor Cavin Harper founded the Christian ministry called Christian Grandparenting Network (CGN). Statistics show that nearly 6 million children are now being raised by grandparents throughout the U.S. Census Bureau numbers show this number has increased by 76 percent from 1970 to 1997. With this in mind, Harper believes it is vital for grandparents to reclaim their special role within the Christian family and pass Christian values down to the new generation. “A goal and objective [of CGN] is to really challenge grandparents to be intentional in their role,” said Harper. “And when I say intentional, I mean intentionally effective grandparents who are going about helping their grandchildren know and follow Christ wholeheartedly anywhere.” (Agape Press/Religion Today)

10 WORST PERSECUTORS MAKE ICC’S ANNUAL ‘HALL OF SHAME’ AWARDS

The human rights group International Christian Concern (ICC) has released its annual Hall of Shame Awards detailing the world’s top 10 violating nations as far as persecution of Christians. The list shows the growing trend of Islamic nations becoming the main source of persecution as opposed to communist countries in the past. The highest ranking example of this is Iraq where the unintended and little-reported consequence of the war has been to bring more pressure on Christian communities. Similar trends in radical Islam have taken hold of the Horn of Africa in countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. ICC has ranked the world’s worst persecutors (in order) as North Korea, Iraq, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Iran, Eritrea, China, Vietnam and Pakistan. ICC publishes the list as part of its ongoing publicity of persecution worldwide. ICC President Jeff King said, “Persecution must and can be fought. Religious persecution must be named and shamed on an international level.” (Christian Newswire)

RESEARCH REINFORCES WORSHIPERS’ VIEWS OF SPEAKING IN TONGUES

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found scientific data that backs up Christian worshipers’ perceptions about speaking in tongues. The scientists took brain images of five healthy, active, churchgoing women as they were speaking in tongues and compared them to images taken while they were singing. The images showed the women’s frontal lobes, which are the willful, thinking part of the brain, and the brain’s language centers were both quiet while the women were speaking in tongues, indicating something else was in control. “The amazing thing was how the images supported people’s interpretation of what was happening,” said Dr. Andrew B. Newberg, the lead researcher and director of the university’s Center for Spirituality and the Mind. “The way they describe it, and what they believe, is that God is talking through them.” The new findings contrasted sharply with images taken of other spiritually inspired mental states such as meditation which is often a highly focused mental exercise, activating the frontal lobes. (The New York Times)

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