Several Items of Interest

Liberty University Thrives
Virginia's Liberty University is becoming known in higher education circles as a school on the move.  Andrew K. Benton, Peperdine's president, said, "They're viewed as new and pressing forward.  There's a high energy there."  In the almost six years since University founder Jerry Falwel's death, Liberty has doubled its student head count  -  twice.  Liberty is now the largest private, nonprofit university in the country and also the nation's largest university with a religious affiliation.  Financial blessing is evident as Liberty is building a $50 million library, replacing old dormitories, and hoping to place its football team in a conference eligible for NCAA bowl games.   (The Washington Post, March 2013)

Holocaust In North Korea
North Korea has an estimated 200,00 prisoners, and 70,000 of them are Christians, Open Doors reported.  The nation tops Open Doors' list of the worst countries for its brutal treatment of believers.  Two survivors of the country's state gulag testified before the U.N. Human Rights council in Geneva that prisoners are living in Holocaust-like camps, fundamentally "the same as Hitler's Auschwitz."  (One News Now, February 2013)

"Just Pray No!" To Drugs April 6-7
Since April 7, 1991, "Just Pray No!" Ltd. has united millions of Christians from 150 nations and territories around the world in intercessory prayer on behalf of the addicted and their families.  Substance abuse continues to be a troubling issue for America, and April 6-7 is the 23rd annual weekend set aside to pray and fast.  (www.justprayno.org)


North Dakota Second State to Pass Bill Criminalizing Abortions After Heartbeat is Detected
Legislators in North Dakota have passed one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation, criminalizing any abortionist that kills a baby after a heartbeat is detected, the Christian News Network reports.  Senators voted to approve the "Hearbeat Bill" Friday, sending the legislation to Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple for signing Dalrymple, who is  pro-life, has not yet indicated whether he will sign the bill into law.  According to reports, the bill would require any abortionist in the state to check for a fetal heartbeat, which can be detected by medical equipment as early as 12 weeks  -  though fetal developmet experts state that an infant's heart begins beating just 20-25 days after conception. If the abortionist performs an abortion despite the existence of a heartbeat, he or she would face felony charges and could spend up to five years in prison and/or pay up to $5,000 in fines.  The mother would not face any criminal charges.  The bill includes exceptions for the physical impairment or death of the mother, but no exceptions for rape or incest.  "The images and heartbeat from the womb provide strong and overwhelming evidence of  -  at the very least  -  potential life," said Sen.Spencer Berry, a sponsor of the bill.  "And we have been instructed by the Supreme Court to protect that very potential."  North Dakota becomes the second state in the nation to pass the "Heartbeat Bill", legislators in Arkansas voted the week prior to override the veto of their Democratic governor and make the bill state law.
   (Religion Today Daily Headlines, March 19, 2013)

"You can organize marches and make your protests.  It all comes to nothing, and makes not the slightest difference to anyone.  But if you have a large number of individual Christians in a nation, or in the world, then and only then can you begin to expect Christian conduct on the international and national level.  I do not listen to a man who tells me how to solve the world's problems if he cannot solve his own personal problems.  If a man's home is in a state of discord, his opinions about the state of the nation or the state of the world are pruely theoretical."  Martyn Lloyd-Jones