Bishop Larry Benfield, head of the Episcopal Church in Arkansas, said he supports President Barack Obama’s decision to back same-sex marriage — and said gay marriage should be legal in Arkansas, too.

“Contrary to the North Carolina decision, civil marriage of same-gender couples will one day be seen as good for society. I look forward to the day when such marriages occur in this state so that we can live with one another in a spirit of equality and justice,” he wrote in a statement/

The rest of Bishop Benfield’s comments are available below:
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The head of the Assemblies of God, the nation’s largest Pentecostal body,accused President Barack Obama of “twisting Scripture” to defend gay marriage and said the “pro-homosexual, pro-abortion president” is advocating conduct that is “immoral” and “under the judgment of God.”

The church’s statement is reprinted, in its entirety, below: Read the rest of this entry »

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Painter of Light Thomas Kinkade died on Good Friday at age 54.

The artist was kind enough to give me an interview in late 2008, and we spoke about religious art, Christianity and the role of faith in his paintings and in his life:

“I always say I’m a man of deep faith, but I’m also a bit of a universalist. I want to live life in a nonjudgmental way. I try to speak in a very inclusive way about faith issues. I try to embrace people of all different faiths. You know, God will sort out at the end of the day what’s the prerequisites and the requirements for His elect group. But I think what matters in the human condition is that we exude the kind of unconditional love that Christ exuded.”

Thomas Kinkade
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
December 13, 2008

Complete interview below…
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By a 4-3 vote, the Arkansas Supreme Court Thursday ruled that high school teachers have a constitutional right to have sex with their students as long as the students are 18 and give their consent.

“The fundamental right to privacy implicit in our law protects all private, consensual, noncommercial acts of sexual intimacy between adults,” the court said, quoting from an earlier Arkansas case.

Preventing a teacher from having sex with a willing 18 year old student “infringes on [the teacher's] fundamental right to privacy,” the court ruled.

The opinion is posted on the Supreme Court’s website.

(Once you’re there, click on Paschal v. State).

This decision was written by Chief Justice Jim Hannah. Justices Paul E. Danielson, Donald L. Corbin and Courtney Hudson Goodson also voted to throw out Arkansas’ ban on high school teacher-student sex.

Upholding the statute were Justices Robert L. Brown, Jim Gunter and Karen Baker.

In his dissent, Brown described the majority’s analysis as “wrong…preposterous…”

The idea that high school teachers have a “constitutionally protected fundamental privacy right to have sexual contact with an 18-year-old student at the school where he teaches is absurd,” Justice Baker wrote.

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The failure of Florida officials to arrest and charge George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin reveals “profound failures of our justice system,” the United Methodist General Board of Church & Society declares.

The church’s announcement is below: Read the rest of this entry »

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Mitt Romney’s campaign claims it’s within 1 point of winning the Alabama Republican presidential primary on Tuesday.

So they’re looking for volunteers with non-Bostonian accents to make phone calls this weekend.

“Folks in TN, NC, GA, and VA” — in particular — are being recruited to dial up Alabama, Politico reports.

With superior financial resources and organization, Romney is working hard to make a break-through in Dixie, USA Today reports.

“I am learning to say y’all, and I like grits and things,” he told a Mississippi audience Thursday. “Strange things are happening to me.”

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By Frank Lockwood
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
March 5, 2012

NORTH LITTLE ROCK — A North Little Rock church celebrated its 100th birthday by giving away $100,000 Sunday to central Arkansas schools and charities. Then it collected $160,000 in offerings to build Assemblies of God churches across communist Vietnam.

“We chose to celebrate God’s faithfulness to us by sharing God’s love with others,” pastor Rod Loy said, explaining what motivated people at First Assembly of God North Little Rock to give away so much money.

When a church is 100 years old, Loy said, “What you expect is a church living in the past, stuck in its traditions, increasingly irrelevant. That’s what you expect. That’s not what we’re experiencing.”

Instead, the congregation is “enjoying the greatest days in our 100 year history … We’re the opposite of worn-out and tired. We have a fresh vision, we have a new energy. We have a sense that God has greater things in store.”

First Assembly was originally an independent Pentecostal church and is two years older than the Assemblies of God, which was founded in 1914, in Hot Springs.

One of the largest, fastest-growing Assemblies of God congregations in the country, with average weekly attendance of about 3,000, the North Little Rock church has given millions of dollars to world missions in recent years…

The rest of the story is available for Arkansas Democrat-Gazette subscribers at arkansasonline.com

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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — In stories on the death of Whitney Houston sent Feb. 12 and 13, The Associated Press incorrectly reported the name of a song she sang in an upcoming movie. The title of the song is “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” not “Her Eyes on the Sparrow.”

“His Eye is on the Sparrow” is a familiar song for those who love the gospel music genre.

The lyrics are by Civilla Durfee Martin and the music is by Charles H. Gabriel. Growing up, my Assemblies of God hymnal featured many of Gabriel’s pieces, including “Send the Light”, “I Stand Amazed in the Presence” and “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart.”

But “His Eye is on the Sparrow” is the song that left a real imprint on history. The great Ethel Waters sang this song in her 1952 movie “The Member of the Wedding” and at Billy Graham crusades from coast to coast. She borrowed the song’s title and used it for the name of her autobiography.

Mahalia Jackson sang it.

Here’s a great version by Gladys Knight.

Or there’s Lauryn Hill and Tanya Blount, singing it on the soundtrack to Sister Act 2.

Now, we’ll have Whitney Houston singing “His Eye is on the Sparrow” as her musical valedictory on the soundtrack to “Sparkle.” And I have no doubt that she’ll give a performance worthy of Mahalia, Ethel and Gladys.

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The top-selling pop star and actress was 48 years old.

AP has more details here.

I saw Whitney Houston sing in Boston in probably September of October of 1985 at the Berklee Performing Arts Center. I was on the sixth row and it was my very first real secular concert (A weekend at Jesus Northwest doesn’t exactly qualify…)

She had such a glorious voice, and she hadn’t yet become a Superstar when I saw her. I think “You Give Good Love”, her debut single, had peaked at #3 and “Saving All My Love for You” had just been released. That song went on to hit #1, the first of something like 7 straight #1 singles.

Her debut album, “Whitney Houston” spawned 3 #1 songs in all, including “How Will I Know.”

Her sophomore effort, “Whitney”, included 4 #1 songs.

Yes, she had a glorious voice. And she was beautiful. Her biggest hit came on “The Bodyguard” soundtrack, a re-recording of a Dolly Parton song — “I Will Always Love You.” But she also hit the Top 40 simply by singing the National Anthem. She was that good.

After her marriage to Bobby Brown, her life seemingly spiraled out of control. I think she had a concert on HBO in the fall of 1997 and it was a disaster, and gospel great Shirley Caesar was there singing with her, looking chagrined and embarrassed and concerned. That’s my memory of it anyhow.

She starred in “The Bishop’s Wife” with Denzel Washington and produced a soundtrack that was half good and half great. The half-great part was the gospel part. She recorded “Joy, joy” with the Georgia Mass Choir and that’ll always be my favorite Whitney Houston gospel song. But she sounded awfully good singing Dottie Rambo’s “I Go to the Rock” and “I Love the Lord, He Heard My Cry.”

I always hoped that she’d put together an album that was 100 percent gospel. I would’ve played it til the disc wore out.

Back in 2009, Houston had her first new album in ages. Her voice was no longer perfect. The years and life had taken their toll. But she had a single, “I Look to You” that was truly a gospel anthem. The song wasn’t slick and shiny. It had grit and gumption, mixed with what sounded to me like pain and unconquered faith. And it looked possible, at that moment, that her life might be headed for a happy ending.

Now, it’s hard to see any happy endings at the end of this story. Whitney Houston was just 48.

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A few weeks ago, Mitt Romney said: “I’m concerned about the poor in this country.”

But that was South Carolina in January and this is February. Today, on CNN, the presidential candidate said:

“I’m not concerned about the very poor.”

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Old wine? New wine? Who knows? But you could sure smell it on his breath, law enforcement officials state.

The TV preacher’s Mercedes Benz was going 93 mph when police spotted him. So who is this modern-day A.A. Allen?
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My guess? “Self-deportation.”

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What a surreal day in the world of politics. While Rick Perry was endorsing Newt Gingrich for president, Newt’s ex-wife was spilling the beans about their nasty breakup.

Best-selling Christian author Tim LaHaye recently endorsed Gingrich, but after reading the latest allegations, it’s entirely possible that the former House Speaker will be Left Behind by South Carolina’s Christian conservative voters.

Meanwhile, certified results released today, show Rick Santorum WINNING the Iowa caucuses — though the race is so close, Republican party officials have decided to call it a draw.

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Mitt Romney, speaking in South Carolina about his income, told the crowd: “I get speakers’ fees from time to time, but not very much.”

So, how much is “not very much”?

a.) $27,500 per year?
b.) $82,500 per year?
c.) $192,500 per year?
d.) $275,000 per year?
e.) “Not very much” more than $300,000 per year?
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This just in. Interior Secretary Salazar says a controversial paraphrase of a quote by Martin Luther King which appears on his national monument will be fixed.

Precisely how it will be fixed is unclear, the story says.

The monument quotes King as saying: “I was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness.” But Arkansas native Maya Angelou says the paraphrase makes King look like “an arrogant twit.”

Having seen the wording myself, I’m convinced it won’t be too difficult to patch up the error. There’s not room for King’s entire quote, but it would be easy to change it to say either:

“He was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness” or simply “A drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.”

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