EmbracingTruth - Articles

Ga. Governor Prays for
Rain Amid Drought

ATLANTA (AP) - As Georgia
descends deeper into drought,
Gov. Sonny Perdue has ordered
water restrictions, launched a legal
battle and asked President Bush for
help. On Tuesday, the governor will
call on a higher power.

He will join lawmakers and ministers
on the steps of the state Capitol
to pray for rain.

While public prayer vigils might
raise eyebrows in other parts of
the nation, they are mostly
shrugged off in the Bible Belt,
where turning to the heavens for
help is common and sometimes
even politically expedient.

"Christianity has more of a place in
the culture here than in some other
region," said Ray Van Neste, a
professor of Christian studies at
Union University in Jackson, Tenn.
"And it's only natural, in a way, for
the public to pray for rain."

Perdue won't...Continue story...

Is prosperity a blessing from
God, or a crime?

ATLANTA � In the Rev. Dollar's
chapel last week, a man in jeans and
a baseball jersey bowed his head and
opened his wallet. In front of him, a
woman in nursing scrubs leaned on
her Bible to write a check. And when
the congregation stood up in prayer,
some -- speaking in tongues --
waved collection envelopes in the
air.

Creflo A. Dollar, senior pastor of
World Changers Church International,
preaches that God will reward the
faithful with material riches. It is a
gospel that has won the flamboyant
preacher a 25,000-strong
congregation -- and a Rolls-Royce, a
multimillion-dollar mansion and a
private Gulfstream III jet.

Now a Senate committee is
investigating whether Dollar and
leaders of several other
mega-churches have illegally used
donations to fund opulent lifestyles.

In a move that some contend could
violate...Continue to read...