| Show RELIGION Religion Editor 625-422- 3 www standard net Standard-Examine- r Theaters Saturday ©sms® antes pmer on Top of Utah churches host Alpha courses By LORETTA PARK SlancWtl txamteur ttev Burwu oe Cravens felt like he needed more In his tire than Just basketball ”1 needed a dose of something other than the world of college basketball which can be all consuming" said Cravens the Weber State University head basketball mid-wee- k conch Cravens and his wife lilnda enrolled in a course at the Community United Methodist Church for those who wanted to know more about Christianity The course is colled Alpha or what some call Christianity 101 said Claudette Kothwoll director of spiritual growth at Community United Methodist in Washington Terrace The Cravens were with 13 others who wanted to build their relationship with God Community United Methodist church offered the course for the first time this spring "Thera were so many uestions that 1 had like why o I believe In Jesus” said Karen Zdep Donna Cloxton of Roy said she enrolled "because I needed more every day spirituality in my life" The course was "very down to earth" Donna Cloxton said (SiwisfiDsmifiy and helped her when her son Ralph Cloxton lost his feet in train accident recently "Anyone can benefit from it whether they arc highly or religious whatever 'Mkmnn Cloxton said Alpha was a concept started at the Holy Trinity Brampton church in london in 1977 Almost 3 million people In many Christian denominations have now attended worldwide including nearly 500000 in the United vStateSs where work began in IWo Both those totals have doubled the past doubt truth of Exodus Some say story of Moses is more legend than truth 10 time plagues against Egypt On Passover Sunday Rubbl David Wolpe raised that provocative question before 2200 faithful at Sinai Temple on the west side of lzs Angeles He minced no words “The truth is that virtually every modern archeologist who has investigated the story of the Exodus with very few exceptions agrees that the way the Bible describes the Exodus Is not the way It happened if it happened at ail” Wolpe told his congregants Wolpe's sturtllng sermon may have seemed blasphemy to some In fuct however the rabbi was merely telling his flock what scholars have known for more thnn a decade Slowly and often outside wide public purview archeologists are radically reshaping modern understandings of the Bible kSee EXODUS3D statue of A bird (above) decorates one of 1 8 terraced gardens of eucalyptus gnarled olive trees flowers and Ivy at the Bahai shrine on a hillside In the northern coastal Israeli town of Haifa Followers of the Buhal faith will celebrate completion of the gardens In May A partial view (below) of one of the gardens A Bahai Gardens offer peace to all Faith offers tranquility in a hot spot By JASON KEYSER of a Tlw Associated Pres nhet Israel a vision of prophet workers pruned and clipped grass and shrubs down a hillside in front of a shrine - a symbol of peace and tranquility In a land where both are scarce Inside the silent dim room of the serene shrine a few Buhal faithful meditated cross-leggeheads bowed eyes closed and hands clasped above the tomb of one of their prophets The completion of 18 gardens of euculyptus and gnarled olive trees flowers and ivy marks the realization HAIFA gold-dome- d d vision of the Buhaulluh Followers faith believe he was sent to lend humanity into an age of universal peace In a place where more than 450 people have been killed In months of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians that hope can seem far away Iran Hessaml 50 a pilgrim from Vancouver Canada prayed inside the shrine perched on the slopes of Mount Carmel overlooking this Mediterranean port city "1 prayed for pence of the world" she said following a line of pilgrims smiling ut two Arab couples taking wedding photographs in the gardens "I am praying not only for the Bahai people but all the people century-ol- d SALT LAKE CITY - At a special meeting Tuesday night William E Moody president o! the First Church ot Christ Scientist in Boston highlighted a renewal ot interest in prayer and spiritual practices on health More people today are questioning profound issues about the meaning ot human existence and at the same time are seeking a means ot healing that not only improves one s bodily health but also provides deeper spiritual purpose In lite" Moody said Moody has been a Christian Science practitioner tor 25 years and has most recently served as editor ot the Christian Science magazines The meeting tor the Utah Idaho area was a celebration ot the spiritual healing taking place In contemporary society and specifically addressed the healing role and mission ot tire local church and Individual Christian Scientists in their communities The Ogden church holds services at 780 E 24th Street The church also maintains a Christian Science Reading Room In Its church building ' the curly 1980s James Q Wilson a study to try and a trend or factor that determined crime Was there anything about American social conditions that could cause or Influence crime? He made several discoveries While most believed that crime is related to poverty Wilson found this was not true He found that during the Great Depression for example there was rampant poverty - tens of millions of people out of work - yet crime actually dropped How about the rapid Increase of populations in cities where newcomers almost overwhelmed natives? The middle of the nineteenth century was a period when those who had grown up In the country were migrating to the cities for Jobs and greater opportunities Again Wilson found that the crime rate actually fell Why? While there are no simple answers Wilson concluded that from the 1850s to the 1920s despite all the environmental and economic pressures Industrialization brought to America a of the world Buhal believe in unity and diversity" Hessaml was born in Iran but left after the Islamic revolution in V79 promoted by rules that prevented her children from going to sclirxrt because their mother was 1 Buhal About 130 years earlier one of the religion's founders the Bab - who foretold the coming spiritual awakening evidenced by church attendance and the growth of Christian ministries was the greatest fuctor In the decrease of crime He further noted that In the good economy of the roaring '20s crime actually rose Why? Because os Wilson concluded "the educated classes began to repudiate moral uplift and Freud's psychological theories came Into of the prophet Bahaulloh - was shot to death In Iran along with 20000 followers Islamic clergy apparently felt threatened by the growing popularity of the religion A few years later Bahaullah wus exiled from Iran to Acre near Haifa in what was then Ottoman-rule- Palestine See GARDCNS2D nwin because they with their forefathers did not remain faithful to my covenant" But "tills Is the covenant I will will make put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts " This was the new covenant Christ Instituted with his death According to Wilson there was only one maor factor against rising criminality In America That which gives a man the power to say "no" to a destructive or criminal behavior pattern that lie is enslaved to Only the (tower of God can chunge his heart and give him a new one Others may argue nlxiut the Influence of various factors and try to figure out what went wrong But Christ can change a man from the Inside out Only lie can change our desires from self fulfillment to doing what I le wants The best part of the process Is that when your heart Is changed you enjoy doing what God Intended ull along and society Is lifted and bettered one soul at a time Torn Mourhtme Is the pastor for Hoy lllhlc Chart h 1 vogue" Simply put parents no longer believed In restraining their children's sinful Impulses but rather sought to develop their "naturally gxd" personality Could such a simple factor as spirituality determine the entire direction of a society? While this may be an overstatement It was Wilson's conclusion A complete understanding of crime and criminal behavior Is seldom simple yet the solution according to the Bible Is not complicated Man's need Is not his environment or fircatest but his nature He Is not as bad as he could be but he Is powerless to overcome the evil Inside BOSTON The letter had the threatening tone ot a bill collector but it wasn t trom a credit card or utility company demanding past due payments It was trom a church Nearly hall the members ot tire Holy Tabernacle Church of Qod In Christ Apostolic received letters warning them to pay tithes to the church or else get booted according to The Boston Ulobe Altreda Moore the church s executive secretary wrote to more thnn 200 congregants telling them they ware late In paying tlthoB She warned members they had 30 days to make payments by check or money order "Please be advised that you are In default in the payment ot tithes to tire Holy Tabernacle Church ot Qod In Christ Inc for a period in excess ot 90 days" the newspaper quoted tire letter as saying The letter warned that It the money Isn't paid 'all privileges of membership in lire Church will be immediately " suspended "My spirit ust kind ot broke' sand Sandra Smith Cosby a daughter ot the church s founder who received the letter last month "Our job is to bring people In not kick people out" she said Paying titties is a tradition in some churches that comes trom an Old Testament exhortation to give the church 10 percent ot one s earnings The loiter was the latest problem In a power struggle at “Holy Tab" a Dorchester Pentecostal church The church which once had 400 congregants and eight choral" groups was founded 35 years ago by Joe L Smith ttre church s only pastor until tils death Inst year 1 Is it really the economy that determines crime statistics? Id regional meeting Letter demands tithe from members It’s one of the greatest stories ever told: A baby Is found In a basket adrift in the Egyptian Nile and Is adopted into the Pharaoh's household He grows up as Moses rediscovers his roots and leads Ills enslaved Israelite brethren to freedom after God sends down and parts the Red Sea to allow them to escape They wander for 40 years In the wilderness and under the leadership of Joshua conquer the land of Cunnnn to enter their promised land For centuries the biblical account of the Exodus has been revered as the founding story of the Jewish people sacred scripture for three world religions and a universal symbol of freedom that has inspired liberation movements uround the globe But did the Exodus ever actually occur? II loot Moody speaks at two years Some 17 (too congregations participate "1 was totally blown w ay by the experience - the learning 1 have the fellowship in believed Jesus but always now 1 know that through Jesus all of my sins are forgiven and I'm totally loved by him" Zdep said "It was an entertaining religious journey" said Joe Cravens Ills wife I hula said the course helped her grow in her awareness of the world and Scholars Lot Angelo April him without God's help While intending to do good he lacks the power to fulfill what he knows he ought to do And the only complete and adequate solution to eta) crime Is to change the heart of the criminal But this Is something only God cun do The prophet Jeremiah predicted a coming time when God's old covenant would oe replaced by a new one This new covenant would be written on man's heart and on his mind Was there something wrong with the old one? It God’s people was Ineffective could not keep it God told Jeremiah "It will not be like the covenant I midc e i rf Magazlnos run controversial ads NEW YORK Six national magazines are running a controversial ad about Holocaust survivors whose lives were transformed by Jesus Hut maor television and cable networks refused to air commercials on the same theme according to ttre evangelical group sponsoring the campaign The ads wore created to announce ttre free otter ot a documentary called "Survivor Stories" Hie stories of seven Holocaust survivors who went on to become - followers ot Jesus The sponsoring organization is Jews for Jesus group which aims to bring Jews to Christianity Network executives banned (lie promotion tearing the subject matter would spark protests by Jewish groups according to David Drlokner executive director of Jews for Jesus ' Full pago ads offorlng “Survivors Stories" free to the public are being carried this week In Time Newsweek U S News & World Report Now York Magazine and The Now Yorker The promotion began last week In Talk and People magazines and Rolling Stone also planned to publish It Standard Sxnmlnor staff and wlra services 3 |
