Rock on! Exactly what San Fran needs.

Evangelical teens rally against the culture

More than 25,000 evangelical Christian youth landed in San Francisco for a two-day rally at AT&T Park against "the virtue terrorism" of popular culture, and they were greeted by an official city condemnation and a clutch of protesters who said their event amounted to a "fascist mega-pep rally."

"Battle Cry for a Generation" is led by a 44-year-old Concord native, Ron Luce, who wants "God's instruction book" to guide young people away from the corrupting influence of popular culture.

Luce, whose Teen Mania organization is based in Texas, kicked off a three-city "reverse rebellion" tour intended to counter a popular culture that he says glamorizes violence and sex. The $55 advance tickets for two days of musical performances and speeches were sold out, but walk-up admission was available for $199.

After stops in Detroit and Philadelphia in the next few weeks, Luce wants to unleash a "blitz" of youth pastors into the communities to do everything from work with the homeless to find new ways to bring others to Christ. He challenged youth leaders to double the size of their groups in the next year.

And then he plans to return to San Francisco next year to chart their progress.

That's bad news to Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who told counterprotesters at City Hall on Friday that while such fundamentalists may be small in number, "they're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco."

Luce didn't flinch in the face of the counterprotest. The author, host of the "Acquire the Fire TV" cable television program and a President Bush appointee to a federal anti-drug-abuse commission, wants teens to find Bible-based solutions for the spread of sexually transmitted disease, teen pregnancy, drug abuse and suicide.

The villains, Luce said, range from the promiscuity and "sexualization" of young people on MTV and the popular online meeting hub MySpace.com to a corporate culture that spends millions trying to woo the under-21 crowd.

Battle Cry will try to bring them back to God through two days of religious rockers, speakers and the debut of what Luce called a Christian alternative to My Space.com.

"This is more than a spiritual war," Luce said. "It's a culture war."

Military metaphors abound in Luce's descriptions of the struggle. He tells young people of how "an enemy has launched a brutal attack on them." At a pre-Battle Cry rally on the steps of City Hall, Luce told his mostly teenage audience that "terrorists of a different kind" -- advertisers -- were targeting them and that they were "caught in the middle of the battle."

"Are you ready to go to battle for your generation?" he asked, and the young people roared "yes!" and some waved triangular red flags flown from long, medieval-looking poles.

Luce's approach has been praised by conservative leaders from the Rev. Jerry Falwell to Fox News commentator Sean Hannity. Much of the statistical backing for the horrors Luce sees on TV is provided by the Parents Television Council, which is funded by conservative foundations such as the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

Those alliances weren't lost on the 50 protesters representing a rainbow of San Francisco's left -- from abortion-rights advocates to anti-war activists to atheists -- who staged the counterprotest.

"There is a real intolerancy to homosexuality in a lot of these organizations," said Peter Cobb, an organizer with Not In Our Name.

Earlier this week, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution condemning the "act of provocation" by what it termed an "anti-gay," "anti-choice" organization that aimed to "negatively influence the politics of America's most tolerant and progressive city."

Luce said it was the first time one of his events has been officially condemned.

A Battle Cry invitation to teenagers made plain the symbolism of gathering in San Francisco for a pre-event rally at "the very City Hall steps where several months ago, gay marriages were celebrated for all the world to see."

Same-sex marriage "is another sign of the end of times," said Sherilyn David, referring to the apocalypse that some fundamentalist Christians believe is foretold in Scripture. The 22-year-old San Jose administrative assistant came to Battle Cry with 15 other young Christians.

Christian Gallion, a 15-year-old in town with his Assembly of God youth group from Humboldt County, shrugged off being called "fascists" by counterdemonstrators.

"It doesn't bother me," Gallion said. "It's a beautiful city, and we don't have anything against the protesters."

His youth pastor had no interest in engaging in political debates.

"I'm not here to hate anybody," Scott Thompson said. "This isn't about Bush or gays or anything other than being here to worship together."

That's not how some liberal leaders saw it.

"Even if it is done by a Barnum & Bailey crowd with a tent and some snake oil, I think we need to pay attention to it," said Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who authored the condemnation resolution. "We should not fall asleep at the wheel."

Separated by barricades and six feet of neutral sidewalk in front of City Hall, the two sides traded amplified calls to arms.

On one side of the barricade was girl carrying a sign that said, "Instead of porn, show us Godly relationships." On the other, a woman held one that said, "I moved here to get away from people like you."

As Battle Cry organizers walked through the crowd of young people telling them, "Don't engage with them," one rain-soaked counterdemonstrator yelled, "And next time, come back in summer."

Luce said they will.

"We're going to be back here in a year, to see what kind of progress we've made," he said.

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Unacceptable - Apostate Christianity

By David Roach
Baptist Press

WCC assembly demonstrates 'spirit of antichrist,' prof says

Recognizing the Holy Spirit in other religions, tolerating homosexual marriage and denouncing the U.S. war on terror were among the views advocated at the 9th World Council of Churches Assembly Feb. 14-23 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Founded in 1948, the WCC describes itself as "the broadest and most inclusive among the many organized expressions of the modern ecumenical movement, a movement whose goal is Christian unity," according to the group's website. The WCC has 347 member denominations in more than 120 countries, including most of the mainline Protestant denominations in America.

In its pursuit of unity, the WCC has advanced an agenda that includes opposing wars and weapons systems, criticizing free markets, promoting a worldwide redistribution of wealth and seeking common ground with non-Christian religions.

"The World Council of Churches has long been a boutique of paganism in Christian garb," said Russell D. Moore, senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. "This year's assembly happenings, including the recognition of 'the Holy Spirit' working in non-Christian world religions, only continues the downgrade.

"Regenerate believers across the world, whatever their denomination or communion, recognize the sprit of the World Council for what it is: the spirit of antichrist," Moore said. "The only differences between the WCC of today and the WCC of the mid-twentieth century are first one of degree and second one of relevance. No one listens to the World Council of Church anymore, and for that we should be thankful to God."

HOLY SPIRIT IN OTHER RELIGIONS

"The church is called to discern the signs of the 'hidden' Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit in other religions," WCC central committee moderator Aram I said in his report to the assembly, according to a release by the Institute on Religion and Democracy.

Speaking on the need for unity among Christians, Aram, the Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia (one of the Lebanese church's four major leaders), said a divided church cannot offer a credible witness to the world.

To reach the world, he advocated "a church beyond its walls" that is "liberated from its self-captivity" inside "dogmatic, ethical, theological, ethnic, cultural and confessional walls." Aram went on to suggest that the Holy Spirit operates in non-Christian religions.

"According to biblical teachings, God's gift of salvation in Christ is offered to the whole humanity," he said. "Likewise, according to Christian pneumatology, the Holy Spirit's work is cosmic; it reaches in mysterious ways to people of all faiths."

Changes in the church and the world demand that Christians adopt new approaches to ecumenical organizations in the 21st century, Aram said. He noted that inter-religious dialogue can help believers get away from an "exclusivist, monological and self-centered self-understanding" and "look at the basics of our faith in a broader perspective."

Aram's comments on other religions were absent from the WCC's official news release on his report, which focused on Aram's call for Christian unity.

U.S. denominations represented at the WCC included the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Episcopal Church and various African-American Baptist and Methodist denominations.

HUMAN SEXUALITY WORKSHOP

Any sexual act that is done with an attitude of love and respect is morally legitimate, regardless of whether it occurs in marriage, said Erlinda Senturias, a Filipino member of the WCC's "international reference group" to guide the council's conversations regarding human sexuality.

Senturias made her comments Feb. 18 in a workshop on the WCC's recent dialogues about sexuality. When a young Irish man in the audience asked whether it was acceptable for him to engage in sexual relations with his girlfriend, Senturias offered a clear answer.

"A sexual experience is a spiritual experience," she said, according to an IRD report. "If it is done in a spirit of mutual respect and love, it is a very beautiful experience -- whether you are married or not."

George Mathews Nalunakkal, a Syrian Orthodox priest from India spoke against "conservative" views of human sexuality.

"When this appeal to the Bible in a literal way is combined with natural law," he said, "it leads to exclusive and conservative positions." He also objected to "statements that reflect a rather negative anthropology, where man is seen as a 'fallen' creature."

In the same workshop, Sara Baltodano of Costa Rica presented a summary of conclusions reached by regional WCC meetings in Costa Rica and India. The presentation stressed the importance of "sexual rights."

"Sexual rights are also human rights," the summary said. "Right and responsibility go together. This does not mean that we promote sexual rights without the attendant responsibilities of being non-abusive within relationships, and faithful within whichever configuration of relationship one chooses to be in."

Alan Wisdom, IRD interim president and reporter from the assembly, said Baltodano's comments reveal a low view of traditional marriage between a man and a woman.

Her remarks "revealed the attempt to dethrone marriage from its traditional place at the center of Christians sexual ethics," he said. "Instead Baltodano's summary would affirm 'whichever configuration of relationship one chooses to be in' –- not exactly a biblical category of thinking, or even a clear rational category."

Archbishop Desmond Tutu expressed the WCC's pluralistic thinking in a Feb. 20 address on unity.

"Bush, bin Laden, all belong, gay, lesbian, so-called straight -- all belong and are loved, are precious," he said.

Wisdom said that moving forward, the WCC is facing issues of survival, not just relevance.

In America and elsewhere, mainline denominations continue to suffer in influence while orthodoxy is growing; if the WCC persists in trying to rally churches around the agenda of western liberals instead of around biblical orthodoxy, it faces the prospect of extinction, he said.

"The question is where the WCC will find any unity," Wisdom said. "The continued pursuit of the political agendas of the Western left--a rapidly declining contingent in the global church--will relegate the council to accelerating irrelevance. But a reappropriation of the orthodox and evangelical Christian faith that is growing in so many African, Asian and Latin American churches would promise a much brighter future."

Wisdom did not speculate on whether the WCC had the will to abandon liberalism and ecumenicalism for the evangelicalism that is driving Christian movements worldwide.

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