TEEN BIRTH RATE LOWEST SINCE 1946

This is excellent news! Read the whole article here:

The birth rate among adolescent and young teen girls in the United States fell sharply in the 1990s, hitting a 58-year-low in 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Monday.

CDC researchers said the drop in births among girls aged 10 to 14 might be a sign that programs emphasizing abstinence and other forms of birth control were having an impact on this high-risk group.

They noted that the downward trend in births occurred despite a rise in the number of girls in this age group.

"A number of surveys have shown that in recent years fewer teenagers are sexually active, and they seem to be acting more responsibly," said Fay Menacker, a CDC statistician and one of the authors of the study.

APOLOGETICS CONFERENCE REPORT

I'm still recovering from the weekend of activities surrounding the Apologetics Conference. Friday night was awesome. Over 1,100 souls braved driving in the rain to hear Dr. Norm Geisler, Dr. Ergun Caner, and Hank Hanegraaff. Each of them were uniquely relevant to the times in we find ourselves.

Dr. Geisler gave a detailed and colorful overview of the first principles of sound rational thinking as the basis for good apologetics. Dr. G is a gifted storyteller and the audience loved hearing about his debates over the last three decades with atheists, liberalist, humanists, materialists, naturalists, and pantheists.

Next up was Ergun Caner, a converted muslim Turk who is on the faculty of Liberty University in Virginia. I laughed til I thought I would split! He backed up his hilarity with sound theological challenges to not backdown from challenging islamist with the truth of the gospel.

The evening ended with a wonderfully encouraging presentation by Hank Hanegraaff, host of the nationally syndicated Bible Answer Man radio show. He passionately spoke on the Resurrection and how because of it, the apostles and followers turned the world upside down. It was a rich evening indeed.

I'll share more about the all day Saturday session soon.

WCC HONORS ARAFAT SLAPS ISRAEL

Yes, sirree, folks, our good friends at the World Council of Churches have decided to honor Arafat, while at the same time dissing Israel. You can read the entire article here:

In a letter sent to the Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei', the director of WCC's International Affairs Commission, Peter Weiderud, said his Geneva based organization believes "President Arafat will be remembered for bringing the Palestinian people together and for his unique and tenacious contribution to the cause of establishing their national home."

The official stressed the WCC, the "largest inter-church body in the world" will "ask God's comfort for the members of his family in this time of deep grief." Weiderud said "the WCC Churches of the Holy Land" honor Arafat's "commitment to their place in the Palestinian society" and he lashed out to Israel's "occupation" of Palestinian territories.

"His path has now ended, amid the rocks and thorns of occupation, at a distance from the goal he sought. As he is laid to rest the world will see - from the location of his final resting place - how far the Palestinian people must still travel together,” he added in the letter seen by BosNewsLife.