Kentucky

A Kentucky Senate Education Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would set up guidelines for Bible courses to be taught in public schools.

The committee members unanimously approved legislation that calls on the Kentucky Board of Education to establish parameters for an elective course on the Bible that focuses on the Christian Holy Book’s influence on literature, art, music, morals, oratory and public policy. The proposal says the course must adhere to federal and state laws about religious neutrality.

Sen. David Boswell, the chief sponsor of the bill, said he believes the legislation is constitutional because the Bible would not be taught from a religious standpoint but from a literary one. Teachers will be teaching, not preaching, from the Bible, he maintained. more >>

Thousands of women from around the world were challenged to upgrade their faith as they face battles and see the world shaken.

"We have entered perhaps the most challenging time we have [ever] faced," said Jane Hansen Hoyt, president and CEO of Aglow International. "We are seeing the kingdoms of this world shaken. [God's] warning us to become established in the kingdom that cannot and indeed will never be shaken."

Algow's 2009 Worldwide Conference in Louisville, Ky., drew a diverse crowd of women as well as men from countries where dozens of Aglow chapters are active. The transdenominational ministry is one of the largest international women's organizations with local groups in 170 nations. more >>

A Kentucky law that requires the state Office of Homeland Security to stress "dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth" was struck down as unconstitutional on Wednesday.

Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate said the 2006 law violates the federal and state constitutions prohibiting the establishment of an official religion.

"Even assuming that most of this nation’s citizens have historically depended upon God by choice for their protection, this does not give the General Assembly the right to force citizens to do so now," Wingate wrote in his ruling. more >>

In the days leading up to their annual meeting, Southern Baptists are echoing the same sentiment – we can do more together than we can do apart.

This week in Louisville, Ky., thousands of leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention are again hoping to confront and end the infighting and renew their mission for reaching people, particularly in the United States.

"I do believe we're in a critical moment in the SBC," said Dr. Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, in an interview featured on Baptist21, a blog run by young Southern Baptist leaders. more >>

The controversial Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., has brought out its special Christmas display, which will run until Jan. 4.

The centerpiece of the museum’s “Bethlehem’s Blessings” presentation is a live outdoor nativity scene featuring human actors in each of the Christmas story roles, as well as sheep, donkeys, and camels, which all come from the museum’s own petting zoo.

Visitors to the museum grounds will also be treated to hayrides, seasonal lights and decorations, holiday food, and special events and activities for children. Special Christmas exhibits inside the museum include the Planetarium presentation, “The Bethlehem Star.” more >>

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The museum exhibits are taken from the Old Testament, but the special effects are pure Hollywood: a state-of-the-art planetarium, animatronics and a massive model of Noah's Ark, all intended to explain the origins of the universe from a biblical viewpoint.

The Creation Museum, which teaches life's beginnings through a literal interpretation of the Bible, is claiming attendance figures that would make it an unexpectedly strong draw less than a year and a half after it debuted. More than a half-million people have toured the Kentucky attraction since its May 2007 opening, museum officials said.

For creationists — Christians who believe the Bible's first chapter of Genesis is the literal telling of the universe's start — the museum is a godsend. Many have returned with family and friends, some from faraway states arguing it's one of the few with a Christian worldview. more >>