By Ray Charles Istre
Was Jesus ugly? The Bible seems to indicate that he might have been…
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Isaiah 53:2 (New International […]

Which of the American Idol contestants are Christians? Of course it’s hard for us to know with much certainty… Some of them might be believers, but choose not to make it apart of their publicly known profile. Others may claim to know God (like 80% of Americans), but never have known a personal relationship with […]

This just in from International Christian Concern (www.persecution.org):
Saudi $20 Million Promotes Islam while Covering Over Persecution against Christians
(December 16, 2005) - Saudi Arabian Prince Allaweed’s $20 million donation to Harvard and Georgetown for Islamic studies and to promote Islamic/Christian understanding is an act of supreme hypocrisy and duplicity. Perhaps the only thing more shameful than […]

I received this as a forwarded “viral” email today. It’s obviously a one-sided perspective, but nevertheless seems to contain some truth about the beliefs behind Progressive Insurance, and I feel the ACLU is Anti-Christian to the point that we should not support organizations who support the ACLU. This is from Donald E. Wildmon […]

(2005-11-22) The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has just become informed that Jakarta authorities are stepping up plans to protect Churches against bombings during Christmas holidays, but are making no progress and even abetting other forms of persecution against Christians across Indonesia.
Police in Jakarta are taking an inventory of […]

I recently watched the movie The Five People You Meet in Heaven, on DVD. I have not read the book, but after seeing the movie I’m sure the book is good too.
It’s a made-for-TV movie from 2004, but when you watch it without commercials it really doesn’t feel like a TV movie. I would […]

First of all, let me give a disclaimer about this blog entry. As you may know, part of the mission of this “ugly blog” is to break the stereotype of Christians being fanatic arguers who all use their blogs primarily as a means to rant about hot button issues like abortion and evolution. Well today […]

This actually happened four days ago, I saw it as a Yahoo headline the day it happened. However, with the recent interest in brother Ferdie Flores and persecution I decided to post this story as a reminder of the persecution that goes on everyday and is often unreported in our media. The Yahoo (AP) version […]

I received this notice via email:
—————————-
A missionary in East Timor, Ferdie Flores, is to be executed by beating tomorrow (Monday).
—————————-
I found this page on the web and believe it is the same missionary:
http://www.fbc-misawa.org/missionaries/Flores.htm
Please pray! I’ve created a place to post prayers online at:
http://www.prayway.com/prayer/index.php?showtopic=1691

Yesterday we launched Local Church Forums on PrayWay Global Prayer Community. I’m very excited about this new feature which I believe is inspired by God as a new step for this ministry. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, but yesterday I was contacted by Brenda from Grass Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church […]