Peace

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted Wednesday that the leaders of the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority were “serious” about a peace deal, despite no visible evidence that the closed-door negotiations were going well.

“They are getting down to business and they have begun to grapple with the core issues that can only be resolved with face-to-face negotiations,” Clinton said Wednesday morning to reporters.

“I believe they are serious about reaching an agreement… This is the time and these are the leaders and the United States will stand by them as they make difficult decisions,” she added. more >>

The head of the world’s largest evangelical body on Wednesday spoke for the first time with the pastor behind the planned Sept. 11 Quran burning.

Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, CEO and secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance, tried to dissuade Dr. Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., from following through on his controversial plan, which has sparked protests overseas and prompted pleas from U.S. government officials.

Tunnicliffe, whose organization represents 420 million evangelicals, said Jones seemed a “bit ambivalent” about going through with the event but did not say anything new. The evangelical leader offered to fly down to Florida on Friday – one day before the event – to speak to Jones and his congregation. more >>

The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan said Monday that a Florida church’s plan to burn Qurans on Sept. 11 could be detrimental to American troops overseas.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan,” said Gen. David Petraeus in a statement. “It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."

There are about 140,000 U.S. and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan. more >>

The nation’s largest evangelical body is urging the Florida church behind “International Burn A Quran Day” to cancel its plans.

Plans to burn Islam’s holy book on the ninth anniversary of Sept. 11 shows “disrespect” for Muslims and would only “exacerbate tensions” in Christian-Muslim relations worldwide, stated the National Association of Evangelicals on Thursday.

“It sounds like the proposed Quran burning is rooted in revenge,” said NAE President Leith Anderson, in a statement. “Yet the Bible says that Christians should ‘make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else’ (I Thessalonians 5:15).” more >>

As U.S. and South Korean forces engage in war games off the east coast of South Korea, back in the United States Korean-American Christians are drawing attention to the problem of stateless North Korean orphans.

California-based Korean Church Coalition for North Korea Freedom said while it may be “appropriate” or even “necessary” to hold the joint military exercises in response to North Korea’s recent aggression, Congress should also demonstrate “moral clarity” by passing the North Korea Orphans bill (H.R. 4986 and S. 3156).

H.R. 4986, also known as the North Korean Refugee Adoption Act of 2010, is sponsored by Congressman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and was introduced to the House of Representative in March. The bill addresses the problem of stateless children from North Korean mothers who live in China and other Southeast Asian countries by proposing inter-country adoption by U.S. citizens. more >>

More than 4,000 Christian Zionists gathered in Washington, D.C., this week to send a pro-Israel message to members of Congress.

The fifth annual Christians United for Israel Washington Summit brought together everyday Christians, politicians, Orthodox Jews, and evangelical leaders on July 20-22 to show solidarity with Israel and to lobby federal lawmakers on behalf of the Jewish state.

At the “Night to Honor Israel Banquet” on Wednesday night, speakers raised concern about the cool relationship between the Obama administration and Israel. CUFI founder John Hagee, a controversial pastor known for his staunch Zionist view and end time prophecies, called on the crowd to stand by Israel’s side and fight against her enemies. more >>