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8B
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RELIGION
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2005
Life 1B
/ Bible
Planners, churches at odds
a
J
over federal land use law
Norful
Justified by
faith
Gelatians 2:14-21
Justification by Faith Defend
ed
(Galatians 2:14-21)
Provides man’s only hope (w.
15,16)
15. We who are Jews by
nature, and not sinners of
Gentiles.
The word we may refer to
Peter and Paul, to all the
apostles or to the early Jewish
CJhristians in general. All of
these were Jews by nature;
that is, they were bom Jew
ish. Certainly there were
some advantages to being
Jewish, The Jews had a long
experience with understand
ing (jk)d’s law, celebrating
God’s redemption and listen
ing to (jkxl’s prophets of the
coming Messiah, This was all
part of thdr history as (Jod’s
chosen people (See Romans
9:4,5)
By referring to Gentiles as
sinners, Paul is sarcastically
using language that was
being used against the (jen-
tiles. According to Jewish tra
dition, it was not the Gentiles
that were incapable of doing
any moral good. They may do
some good deeds, but since
they don’t have the law, they
cam» .c please (jod. From the
law’s point of view, they were
sinners.
The ai^^ument Paul is getting
ready to make is essentially
the same as his argument in
Romans 2:17-29. Physical
descent has nothing to do
with one’s salvation. (^Jhrist
has come to save aU people.
As Paul teaches in both
Roman and Galatians, the
true “sons of Abraham” are
those individuals who exer
cise faith as he did and are
thus coimted righteous in
(jod’s eyes (Romans 4:11, 12,
20-25; Galatians 3:7, 29).
16. Knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of law,
but by faith of Jesus (Jhrist,
even we have believed in
Jesus (Thrist, that we might
be justified by the faith of
Christ, and not by the works
of the law; for by the works of
' law shall no flesh be justified.
When Paul says. Knowing
that the works of the law does
not justify a man, he is not
speaking of any person in par
ticular but of aU humanity in
genial. He is confident of
this claim, as one who had
one time sought righteous
ness by means of the law
(Philippians 3:6). (Note that
he affirms three times in this
single verse that the works of
law cannot provide justifica-
tioiL) By using the word, we,
he maintains that Peter
knows this too. And Peter
should have been just as con
fident of this truth, given his
e^qieriences with the house
hold of C^omelius and at the
Rease see JUST1FIED7B
Winston-Salem congregation wants to expand facilities
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WINSTON-SALEM - A
federal law designed to
thwart restrictive land
uses is creating tension
between planners in
Forsyth Coimty and
churches that want to
expand to provide day
cares, schools, and other
services.
Cfity and county plan
ning officials for months
have been considering
ways to divide land fairly
between houses of worship
that want to expand and
neighborhoods that want
to stay intact.
One of the proposals
imder review would make
places of worship construct
large buildings at least 40
feet away fix)m property
lines. For some churches,
that margin is now just 7
feet.
The current regulation
allowed St. John’s Luther
an (Dhurch to build a
sprawling family life cen
ter next to a modest ranch
house. But St. John’s could
not have expanded under
the 40-foot proposal,
diurch officials said.
Several chimches with
construction plans are con
cerned about the effect
that any local zoning
changes might have.
Glynis Jordan, the
deputy director of the CXty-
County Planning Depart
ment, said she has
received surprisin^y posi
tive feedback about the
proposed change.
“Something’s got to hap
pen. We don’t want to run
churches out of our neigh
borhoods, but we’ve got to
PHOTO/WADE NASH
Church construction in Winston-Saiem may come to a hauit while the county
and churches battle over a federal law.
do something,” Jordan
said, describing callers’
comments.
Planning officials said
they are trying to strike a
balance between the needs
of neighborhood groups
and those of religious insti
tutions, while bong mind
ful of federal law.
The Religious Land Use
and Institutionalized Per
sons Act was signed in
2000 under the (Jlinton
administration. It pro
hibits zoning laws that cre
ate a substantial burden
on exercising religion. It
also forces local officials to
pursue the least restrictive
means to further a com
pelling government inter
est, such as health and
safety
Religious institutions
have used it as a platform
in lawsuits nationwide to
fight local governments
that they say excessively
restrict how churches and
others may use their land.
Jared Leland, a
spokesman for the Becket
Fund, a nonprofit religious
advocacy group, said it’s
been a necessary shidd for
chinches and has been
used to fight restrictions
on the type of construction
carried out by St. John’s.
See ACCOMMODAT1NG/7B
Angelou to host Christmas pariy celebration
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -Think
ing back over her memories of Christ
mas, Maya Angelou recalls the aroma
in her family’s store in Stamps, Ark.
“My grandmother would take an
orange and almost parboil it ... and
she would stick cloves into die peel
and wrap it up,” she says. Then a
week before Christmas, the oranges
would be, unwrapped and “the whole
store and of course, the house which
was around the store, everything,
would just smell of oranges and
cloves.”
Stirred by the memory, Angelou
almost sniffs the air as she decides
she may make some of those oranges
herself this year.
She’s also serving up another holi
day treat this season, hosting the
Hallmark Channel’s “Celebrate!
Christmas with Maya Ai^elou,”
replete with not only good food, but
also music, lau^to*, memories and a
I shd dose of Angelou’s
I wisdom and philosophy
It airs Friday at 7 p.m.
] and on Christmas Day
O at 1 p.m.
Back in the spring,
when rhododendrons
Angelou azaleas were in
irioom around her home
in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Hall
mark production team “dressed my
house the way it would be dressed for
Christmas, with two hi^ Christmas
trees, and my family and fiiends came
fix)m around in a Christmas mood.”
Angelou’s immediate relatives—
including her son, Guy Johnson, and
great grandchildren, Caylin and
Brandon— are at the gathering, but so
are members of what she cqlls her
“extended family,” including singer-
songwriters Nicholas Ashford and
Valerie Simpson, whose voices and
musical skills add to and accompany
the impromptu chorus of Christmas
songs and carols sung during the
course of the party
The couple stopped by the Santa
Monica hotel where Angelou was
staying on a recent visit to Southern
California.
They echo each other in saying
Angelou is “all about celebrating,” so
there was no difficulty at all in creat-
Please see ANGELOU’S/7B
God to be placed on Alabama car tags
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONTTOMEFY. Ala. -
The phrase “(jod Bless
America” would be added
to Alabama’s already
crowded license plates if a
bill proposed by a state 1^-
islator becomes law
State Rep. Steve Hurst,
D-Munford, has prefiled a
bill in the Alabama House
that would require most
Alabama car tags to
include the phrase “(jod
Bless America.” Some spe
cialty license plates and
motorcycle tags would be
exen^it.
Hurst said he got the idea
when the saw the words
"God Bless America” on a
specialty prisoner of war
car tag.
“I thought why dealt we
do the same thing for all
the tags in the state of
Alabama. That will let all
the people in America
know that we are a Bible
Belt state,” Hurst said.
The phrase comes fix)m
the Irving Berlin song “(jod
Bless America ” The song.
was made famous by singer
Kate Smith and since the
Please see GOD/6B
revamps an
already
good work
Sniolde Norful
Nothing Without You
Special Edition
Various Producers
EMI 0ospel
Smokie Norful has joined the
ranks of those who feel like t
they need to fix a CD that’s
already hit the market.
That’s not a bad thing
because it seems to work. Secu-1
lar aitists revive sagging sales ^
with this marketing ploy, so
why ndt gospel? ‘Nothing VTth-
out You” was good enough as it
was, but now it’s packaged with
a DVD and extra songs.
The revamped package
works. The DVD was actually
recorded before the CD was
originally released. Norful
introduced some of its songs to
a live audience who seemed to
receive each enthusiastically
There is a lot of talking
between most of the songs that
could have been left out but at
least it’s interesting informa
tion, The performances are
very good. Norful doesn’t have
a lot of stage presence, maybe
because there’s not a lot of him.
This is a little man. But the
soimd that comes out of his
diminutive fi*ame is incredible.
Norful mixes gospel and jazz
phrasing with relative ease.
Norful likes the contemporary
stuff but can sing the mess out
of traditional gospel. “I Know
The Lord Will Make A Way”
and “Amazing Grace” are cer
tainly highli^ts. But the con
temporary songs carry the
most weight. ‘Worthy” is pow
erful while “Continuous Grace”
is as soothing as anything I’ve
heard.
The DVD’s bonus material
includes a live performance of
“O Holy Night” and‘T Need You
Now” video.
The CD includes two new
songs. Work It Out” is fium a
Ramsey Lewis gospel-jazz pro
ject. “He Knows” isn’t available
on anything else. Both are
worth adding this package to
your collection.
Ratings
Clasair;
Excellent
Good
Fair
Why?
No stars - Amess
Church News
The deadline for church calendar is 5 p.m. on
Fridays. Fax your announcements to (704)
342-2160 or e-mail your announcement to
cheris. hodges(^ thechariottepost. com
Ongoing
New (Dutreach/Hoskins Community is seek
ing donations of tuikeys for Christmas Din
ners. Dcxiations are being accepted at 3900
Gossett Ave. Fca* more information call Pastor
Brenda Stevenson at (704) 398-1777.
December 8
Divine Praise and Deliva*ance Ministries
will host its first Youth in Action Prophetic
CJcnference through Friday The services will
be held nighf^y at 7:30 p.m at Remnant Out
reach Ministries, located at 3819 S. TVyon St.
There will be praise dancers, choirs and speak
ers. For more information, call (704) 492-2566
or (704) 492-1337.
December 9
The Hickory Grove North Worship Depart
ment presents “An Angri’s Story” a cosmic
Christmas. The production centers around
b^-selling author Max Lucado, who imaginpa
the spiritual conflict surrounding the coming of
Christ. Tickets are $15 and include dinner.
Show timpg are 7 p.m Friday and 6 p.m on
Sunday For more information call (704) 531-
5333.
December 11
Our Children’s Memorial Walkway will hold
its annual memorial service at Frazier Park,
located at 1201 West Fourth St., to remanber
children who have departed fium this life. This
service is specifically aimed at giving grieving
people of all faiths and races the chance to
come together in a place of life rather thamat a
cemetery to remember their loved ones.
The event begins at 3 p.m
• The DeiX^on of Children and Youth at
Friendship Missionary Baptist will hold Wor
ship at The Y-”For the Soul Survivors” Middle
and Hi^ School Students; Community Wch*-
ship Experience/Fun Day The event is 9 a.m-
1 p.m. and fi^. Fot* infermation, caU (704) 392-
5475.
• The Trustee Board of Greater Gethsemane
AME Zion Church will celebrate its annual
day at 3 p.m The Rev. Jimmy Griffin Shiloh
AME Zion Church will be the guest speaker.
December 18
The United for Christ Inspirational Mass
Choir will be in concert at 5 p.m. The concert
will be held at the Haven of Rest Baptist
Church, 2435 TbomeyAve.
• University Paik Baptist Church presents
“Christmas: It’s All About Love,” a dramatic
presentation at The Park South 13733 Lan
caster Hi^way
Pineville. Show timpta are 3:30 and 7 p.m.
Admission is fi:ee.