Author name: Todd Shearer

The story of 9/11 survivors will be welcome in New York City after all.

The
New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation has agreed to grant a
request from the Christian Action Network to permit the showing
of a film made about 9/11 survivors in a number of city parks leading up
to the 10th anniversary of the tragic attacks of 9/11.

The decision came just two weeks after the
American Center for Law and Justice sent a demand letter urgingc ity officials to permit the film to be shown or face a possible
lawsuit.

In an effort to prevent states’ rights from being curtailed by
partisan interests, members of Congress and thousands of Americans are
speaking out on Planned Parenthood funding.

The American Center for Law and Justice is urging a
federal appeals court—on behalf of 41 members of Congress and more
than 25,000 Americans—to uphold an Indiana law prohibiting federal
funding of abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.

“Planned Parenthood receives more than $350 million a year in taxpayer funds. Indiana’s decision to no longer use federal money to fund the nation’s largest abortion provider is not only a constitutionally sound decision, but one we hope is implemented in other states across the country,” says Jay Sekulow, ACLJ chief counsel. “Indiana and other states have the constitutional authority to determine how they spend federal funds.”

Photo courtesy of American Center for Law and Justice

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) says the ACLU has no
legal standing to challenge an Ohio courtroom display containing the Ten
Commandments. In a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court,
the ACLJ contends that an appeals court erred in its decision declaring
unconstitutional a judge’s poster on legal philosophy that included the
Ten Commandments.

“The Supreme Court has a perfect
opportunity to make it clear that a governmental affirmation of moral
absolutes, symbolized here by the Ten Commandments, does not violate the
Constitution,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ, which is representing Judge James DeWeese in DeWeese v. ACLU. “It’s
time for the high court to set the record straight: the display by
Judge DeWeese is a constitutionally-permissible method of explaining his
legal and moral philosophy – the same philosophy embraced by our
founders.”

Bill Bright gets a hug from his wife, Vonette, after receiving the 1996 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion on March 6, 1996. (AP Images/Marty Lederhandler)

Campus
Crusade for Christ in the U.S. is changing its name to Cru. The new
name will be adopted in early 2012. The U.S. ministry hopes the new name
will overcome existing barriers and perceptions inherent in the
original name.

“From the beginning, Bill (Bright) was open to changing our name. He
never felt it was set in stone. In fact, he actually considered
changing the name 20 or 25 years ago,” says Vonette Bright, who co-founded Campus Crusade for Christ with her husband. “We want to remove any obstacle to people hearing about the most important person who ever lived—Jesus Christ.”

The new name
and identity was unveiled to 5,000 staff Tuesday who were gathered at the
ministry’s biennial U.S. staff conference in Ft. Collins, Colo. The
news was met with enthusiasm and excitement.

The American
Center for Law and Justice convinced a federal district court to
block enforcement of New York City’s recently adopted ordinance
targeting crisis pregnancy centers. The measure, scheduled to take
effect on Thursday, has been blocked by a preliminary injunction issued in
response to a challenge made by the ACLJ in a federal lawsuit.

“This
is a resounding victory underscoring what we have argued all along—this law that forces crisis pregnancy centers to adopt and express views
about abortion and contraception that they strongly disagree with is
constitutionally flawed,” says CeCe Heil, senior counsel of the ACLJ.
“The court clearly understood that this law punishes pro-life
advocates. We’re confident that this law will never see the light of day
and that the constitutional protections afforded to crisis pregnancy
centers will be safeguarded.”

History’s most-translated film, JESUS, is now available in a unique translation. Instead of being in a different language, the new short film uses the Japanese animé format to tell the story of Jesus in a visual presentation familiar to Internet-savvy cultures.

My Last Day, premiering worldwide online April 21, is the first professionally produced Christian movie ever done in animé, Japanese-style animation. Seven years in the making, the nine-minute movie frames the story of the crucifixion through the eyes of the thief crucified next to Jesus of Nazareth.

Barna Group research shows that less than half of Christian teens explained their beliefs to someone else with different faith views in the last year-but thousands of Christian college students spent their Spring Break defying those statistics.

In March, 2,985 U.S. students participated in Campus Crusade for Christ’s annual Big Break outreach-four week-long events in Panama City Beach, Fla., designed to train and empower students to share their faith.

“I wasn’t very supportive of evangelism, which is why I’m not sure why I decided to go on the trip in the first place,” says a Big Break participant in a follow up survey.