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Articles and commentary from Thursday, August 10.

1. Christians to be executed so Bali bombers can be, too

The execution of three Indonesian Christians for their part in murdering more than 200 Muslims during religious fighting in 2000 has become politically tied to the execution of the Bali bombers of 2002. "Two government officials said that for political reasons, it would be very difficult for the government to proceed with the execution of the Bali bombers, if it did not first execute the Christians," reports The New York Times.

But the trial of the Christians was less than fair. The trial was marked by troubling "irregularities," said David McRae, a specialist on the Poso violence at the Australia National University in Canberra. Another expert, Sidney Jones, director of the International Crises Group office in Jakarta, said, "It seems giving the death penalty in this case is just extraordinarily over the top."

2. Christians in Lebanon shocked they're bombed

From the U.K.'s Telegraph:

"A 15-minute air raid soon after dawn yesterday on the attractive port of Jounieh destroyed the complacency of the Christians and served to turn them against the Israelis. The capital of Lebanon's Christian heartland is unused to such violence.

"Even during the 15 years of the 1975-1990 civil war, when Christian and Muslim militias sowed destruction across the country, Jounieh survived unscathed—a party zone of nightclubs and beach resorts 10 miles from Beirut."

3. Bill Hybels, always taking stock

This Chicago Tribune profile of Bill Hybels celebrates the many ways in which the influential pastor has not only changed the direction of evangelicalism, but has also changed his church and himself. In the 1990s,

the church's growth also took a professional and personal toll on Hybels, who had married his longtime sweetheart in 1974 and quickly had children.

By 1990 he felt he had to recharge. Piloting a borrowed sailboat, he renewed a lifelong love of the water and spent more of his summers reconnecting with his family and with God.

In 1994 about a quarter of the church's staff and a third of the lay leadership left, saying they were burned out by the church's fast pace and lack of personal touch. The exodus inspired Hybels to further examine his management style and his expectations. After a long discussion with his wife, he bought a sailboat of his own and started spending his summers at a cottage in South Haven, Mich.

And now, Hybels is changing his approach to race relations and international ministry. "Hybels has contemplated his wife's vision of expanding Willow Creek's global outreach. After a trip to Africa, she challenged her husband to respond to the AIDS crisis there by providing medical and hospice care. Hybels has also used the downtime to develop his vision of building a more multicultural church. Last year he and seven pastors from predominantly white, black, Latino and Asian evangelical churches around Chicago began meeting monthly to collaborate on a community service project," the Tribune reports.

4. Christian school versus U. of California suit to proceed

The University of California lost its effort to dismiss several allegations brought against the university system by a Christian high school. "The plaintiffs—Calvary Chapel Christian School of Murrieta, several of its students and a group representing 4,000 Christian schools nationwide—filed suit last summer accusing UC of discriminating against them by setting admissions rules that violate their freedom of speech and religion," reports the L.A. Times.

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August (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50