CP World Report: Crisis in Syria, Christians Imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, Same Sex Marriage

By World Report, The Christian Post in partnership with Crossroads, Wednesday, February 15, 2012

An update on the Crisis in Syria: The UN General Assembly has taken up the issue of the bloodshed in that country after the Security Council failed to act. Britain's Ambassador says the Syrian people feel the U.N. has shamefully abandoned their cause.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the besieged Syrian city of Homs is over 400 in the last ten days. Now activists have reverted to the age old practice of using carrier pigeons to communicate with each other about their needs for supplies, medicine and food.

Here's our persecution roundup: the Church of England pressuring the U.K. government to aid religious minorities in Nigeria. Iranian authorities invaded another house church and arrested 10 Christian converts. No one knows their whereabouts now. 35 Ethiopian Christians imprisoned in Saudi Arabia while reportedly being pressured to convert to Islam. A Russian missionary group issued a warning against a potential forthcoming crackdown on evangelical Christians and other religious minorities in Russia.

Arguments were heard in a Massachusetts Superior Court over a lawsuit filed by an atheist couple against the Acton Boxborough Regional School District. It's because they believe their three children are being discriminated against because a pledge of allegiance contains the phrase "under God" and it is being said every day in Massachusetts public school classrooms under state law.

The bill legalizing same sex marriage has been signed into law in Washington by the Governor of that State. Churches are not required to perform same sex marriages under the bill. And in New Jersey, the Senate voted 24-16 in favor of a similar bill. Still, the battle there is not over yet with the possibility of Governor Chris Christie vetoing the bill, followed by a state referendum.

The author of the best-seller Sexperiment and Fellowship Church pastor Ed Young… believes that Christians who fail to satisfy or sexually deprive their spouse are sinful; and will one day be held accountable. His new book, "Sexperiment" states that husbands or wives who constantly say "no" are not only putting a spirit of rejection on their marriage, they are interfering with their fellowship with God.

IN SPORTS

Jeremy Lin is fast becoming the Tim Tebow of basketball. The devout, outspoken Christian scored more points in his first three starts with the New York Knicks than any other player in NBA history. And now Jeremy Lin has gone from virtual unknown to superstar both in the U.S. and in his native Taiwan. Richard Roth looks at the "Linsanity" sweeping the world of professional basketball.

And last night the New York Linsanity grew on Valentines day, after Lin made the winning three-point shot with half a second to play, lifting the New York Knicks to a 90-87 win over the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Center. Lin credits all his gifts to God. Even his Twitter profile states, "to know Him is to want to know Him more."