World Impact Ministries / Peter Youngren

This article was published in the St.Catharines Standard.

The 34 year old pastor, Yousef Nadarkhani, father of two, sits waiting in an Iranian prison. His execution could be at any moment. His crime? Apostasy against Islam.

Last Thursday, in what some are calling a miracle, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on a resolution calling for Pastor Nadarkhani’s release. Both the White House and the State Department made statements earlier in the week. The World Evangelical Alliance and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada have called on the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take action. Whatever is going to be done must be done now.

This article was published in the St.Catharines Standard.

Chances are you’ve already heard about the four minute video “Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus”, produced by 22 year old Jefferson Bethke from Tacoma, Washington. It has gone viral, approaching 18 million views on Youtube in just over three weeks. Last month I wrote about Justin Bieber’s tattoo depicting Jesus, Tim Tebow’s prayers on the football field, and Hollywood actor Gary Busey beating an Indian drum, invoking the name of Jesus during a guest appearance on ‘Celebrity Wife Swap’. My point was that Jesus keeps showing up in unlikely places, and now here we go again.

This article was published in the St.Catharines Standard.

Jesus seems to be popping up in the most unusual news stories. I was scrolling the television listings the other day and came by ‘Celebrity Wife Swap’, a show I’ve never watched, but the names Ted and Gayle Haggard caught my attention. Ted and Gayle are acquaintances of mine. After their ‘scandal’ broke (if you haven’t heard about it, I won’ bore you with the sordid details), when most of the church would have nothing to do with them, I had the opportunity to spend a few hours encouraging them, that God is gracious and He gives people a second chance.

This article was published in the St.Catharines Standard.

For decades the “prosperity gospel” has been a hot topic of debate within the evangelical movement. Lately it has caught the attention of the secular media, including the Guardian in the UK and ABC News. As far back as 2006 Time magazine featured the, so called, Prosperity Movement in a piece entitled “Does God want you to be rich?” Lately it is the indictment on fraud charges by Brazilian prosecutors against prosperity preacher Bishop Edir Macedor has caught the attention of the news media.

This article was published in the St.Catharines Standard.

Earlier this month, on a Thursday morning, Linda Gibbons arrived at a Toronto Morgentaler abortion clinic that is “protected” by law from pro-life activity within 500 feet. Linda, who believes women have the right to receive pro-life counsel before having an abortion, began walking back and forth on the sidewalk, quietly and without interfering with anyone, while carrying a sign depicting a baby and the words, “Why mom? When I have so much love to give?” It didn’t take long for two sheriffs and six police officers to surround Linda, and off she went in handcuffs.

This article was published in the St.Catharines Standard.

Mayor Rob Ford is breaking with a 13-year tradition of Toronto mayors marching in the Gay Pride parade. He announced he was going to the cottage for the weekend, and neither Ford, nor his staff, have explained why he doesn’t plan to attend any of the Gay Week activities.

Tomorrow is the day. Billboards around the world have proclaimed “Judgment Day May 21, 2011”. The “prophet” making the prediction is 89 year-old Harold Camping, president of the California-based Family Radio with 150 broadcasting outlets. Camping’s last prediction for the end of the world was September 1994, and we all know how that one turned out.

In this article, Pastor Peter uses a recent political hot potato to show that there is peace and rest in Jesus. This article was written for the Saturday edition of the St. Catharines Standard. - Nathan Thurber

Last week Prince Edward Island’s Transportation Minister suggested that God had struck down the Leader of the Opposition, Olive Crane, after she introduced a bill to allow year around Sunday shopping. As a pastor I’m obviously against Sunday shopping. After all, if people didn’t have the option to go to the mall there might be a higher attendance in church. The alternative, of course, is to have such a meaningful Sunday service that people prefer church to the shopping center.

Best known for her gothic novels, most notably, “Interview with a Vampire”, Anne Rice renewed her childhood allegiance to Christianity ten years ago.  Her memoir, “Called out of Darkness; A Spiritual Confession”, released in 2008, was touted as a testimony of her return to the faith.  A couple of weeks ago Ms. Rice wrote on Facebook, “In the name of Christ I refuse to be anti-gay.  I refuse to be anti-feminist.  I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control…In the name of Christ I quit Christianity and being a Christian, Amen.”