Indus Apologetics Journal

Colorado Woman Emerges from Coma After 6 Years, Later, Returns to Unconsciousness: Says doctor of her awakening, “This is a miracle. This is all mystical and I can’t explain it.”

Station KKTVout of Denver, Colorado, has published a report on Christa Lilly who, after falling into a vegetative coma six years ago, suddenly re-awakened.  Lilly’s neurologist, Dr. Randall Bjork, said: “This is a miracle. This is all mystical and I can’t explain it.” Back in November 2000, the Colorado Springs native suffered a heart attack and stroke, and was diagnosed as being in a “vegetative” state, with open eyes. She was kept alive by a feeding and hydration tube while unconscious, according to a report by LifeSiteNews. On Sunday, Christa awoke and began talking.

Christa spoke with reporters during the time she was awake, saying, “I think it’s wonderful. It makes me so happy.” She was having trouble re-learning to speak, but was reportedly “eating cake.” Then, on March 7th, Christa Lilly relapsed into her unconscious state, just as suddenly as she had awoken. [© Breaking Christian News 2005-2006]

Archaeologists Find Remains of Natives and Puritans in Preacher’s Cave
“Fascinating” discovery: In 1647 a Puritan group that called themselves the “Eleutherian Adventurers” left Bermuda to find a place where they could practice religious freedom. (Note: Eleutherian is from the Greek word “freedom”). The group encountered a storm which caused their ship to wreck. Led by William Sayles, the adventurers found their way to shore and took refuge in what would later be called Preacher’s Cave. A religious service was held every year following in the cave for the next 100 years on the anniversary of the day that God led the group to safety in what they believed to be the Promised Land.

Now, a group of archaeologists in Preacher’s Cave unearthed the remains of 11 people—five Lucayans (original Native American inhabitants of the Bahamas) and six Eleutheran Adventurers, including a baby. According to a report The Nassau Guardian, the team headed by Chief Archaeologist Bob Carr, traveled to the cave expecting only to find artifacts from the Lucayans, Eleutheran Adventurers and African slaves, instead they found much more. One tourist from Massachusetts who’d visited, reportedly described the scene as “fascinating.” [© Breaking Christian News 2005-2006]

A Laugh-a-day Helps Keep Sickness Away: “It helps reduce stress hormones like cortizol and adrenaline, and plumps up immune system activity by increasing interferon, T-cells and white blood cells.”

A video report on WebMD maintains that laughter is not only “good for the soul,” but studies have shown it to be advantageous to your physical health as well. “Research shows laughter can improve your health,” says the report. “It helps reduce stress hormones like cortizol and adrenaline, and plumps up immune system activity by increasing interferon, T-cells and white blood cells.”

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Christian Graduate Student Doesn’t Back Down After Professor Refuses to Grade Her Paper on Post-Abortion Syndrome in Women: “Christian students do not forsake their constitutional right to express their faith-based views the minute they step on a university campus.”LifeSiteNews reports Dr. Laura Dreuth Zeman, a professor at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, has backed down from her refusal to grade a Christian graduate student’s paper on post-abortion syndrome in women, allowing the student to complete the course and graduate.

“To the best of my knowledge, Christine Mize’s paper has been graded by Dr. Dreuth Zeman today and the grade is being posted to the university’s Records office,” Dr. Mizan R. Miah, the director of the School of Social Work at SIU told LifeSiteNews. “The student surely will be notified soon.” The Christian graduate student, Christine Mize, reportedly turned to the ADF Center for Academic Freedom for assistance. “Christian students do not forsake their constitutional right to express their faith-based views the minute they step on a university campus,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Amy Smith. [© Breaking Christian News 2005-2006]

Tens of Thousands Participate in Archaeological Digs Near Ancient Capital of Edom Every Year: “People find so much that they get skeptical and think that we planted some of it. But this isn’t Disneyland, this is real.”  The AP has reported that between 30,000 to 50,000 people each year pay to participate in archaeological digs in ancient tunnels in Israel’s Beit Guvrin National Park near Jerusalem, and hundreds of thousands have participated in the experience since the project began 25 years ago.

According to the report, “the caves were made in the Hellenistic period, about 2,200 years ago, and are found near Maresha, the ancient capital of the biblical Edom and possible birthplace of King Herod the Great,” Stern said. Stern is quoted as saying that the dig is one of the richest in the world. Ian Stern, director of Archaeological Seminars, which is licensed by the Israeli government to do the dig, said it’s a “Tom Sawyer-ish, paint-the-fence-white kind of a situation.” “People find so much that they get skeptical and think that we planted some of it,” he said. “But this isn’t Disneyland, this is real.” [© Breaking Christian News 2005-2006]

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end; and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” —Psalm 19

A Japanese space telescope called “Hinode” has retrieved some remarkable photos which astronomers are calling “new and unexpected.” “Everything we thought we knew about X-ray images of the Sun is now out of date,” says Leon Golub from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US. Expecting to see a calm region known as the chromosphere, in the outer limb of the sun, astronomers were startled to find a “seething mass of swaying spikes.” In addition, the images showed “giant magnetic field loops crashing down onto the Sun’s surface as if they were collapsing from exhaustion,” which Leon Golub described as “impossible.” As space exploration continues, I believe more and more astronomers and scientists will be amazed at the fantastic universe that God has created.[© Breaking Christian News 2005-2006]

International Experts Agree Male Circumcision Must be Implemented Quickly to Combat HIV
Evidently God knew what He was doing when He made His Covenant with fallen man —Teresa Neumann, BCN. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS have agreed that circumcision should be implemented with other preventive measures to reduce the spread of HIV since three African trials have shown that circumcision halved the rate of HIV infection in heterosexual men. The two organizations stressed that access to the procedure should be “urgently scaled up in the areas with high rates of heterosexual infection and low rates of male circumcision.”

According to the report from the BBC, modeling studies have shown that if male circumcision was more widely available, millions of lives, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, would be saved. Kevin De Cock, director of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organization said: “The recommendations represent a significant step forward in HIV prevention.” Catherine Hankins, UNAIDS, said: “Being able to recommend an additional HIV prevention method is a significant step towards getting ahead of this epidemic. However, we must be clear: male circumcision does not provide complete protection against HIV. [ © Breaking Christian News 2005-2006]

‘Cloning to kill’ bill on way to Iowa governor’s desk: Jim Brown and Jody Brown OneNewsNow.comFebruary 28, 2007

An Iowa pro-life group is lamenting the fact that, in the wake of a bill’s approval in the State House, human cloning will soon be legal in the state. The state’s Democratic governor has indicated he plans to sign the legislation when it crosses his desk. Pre-vote lobbying apparently included a phone call from pro-abortion rock star Sheryl Crow to a member of the Iowa House.

The Iowa House and Senate have passed a bill that repeals the state’s human cloning ban that was established in 2002. The House vote was a close one, 52-46, and followed an even closer Senate vote (26-24). The measure permits “somatic cell nuclear transfer,” also known as human cloning for the purpose of destroying human embryos. Iowa Governor Chet Culver says he looks forward to signing the bill.

Iowa Right to Life president Kim Lehman says the state will now be creating humans as a commodity that will have no respect whatsoever. “The greatest outrage that we have is that the press, the media, the governor, and the Democratic Party at the State House have completely misled [both] a lot of the members in their caucus and … the public,” says Lehman. “They keep saying that we have a ban on stem-cell research in Iowa, which is completely false.”

In 2001, the Iowa House voted 91-1 to ban human cloning and made it a Class C felony. Lehman says many of the House lawmakers who voted to enact the ban at that time were successfully lobbied to change course. She notes one in particular who previously had been solidly in the pro-life corner.

“[Democratic] Representative Brian Quirk was going to vote [against] the bill and got a call [at home] from Sheryl Crow, who evidently is a rock star — I’ve never heard her,” Lehman admits. “She doesn’t even live in Iowa … and she called from California asking him … to support the bill. And this is the kind of pressure these people have been getting.”

The Catholic group Fidelis also is taking issue with Quirk — a pro-life Catholic, according to the group — and his decision to vote in favor of lifting the ban, as well as with the intervention of a pro-abortion rock star.

“[Sheryl] Crow has been a champion of abortion rights, performing at ‘Rock for Choice’ concerts and is a strong supporter of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider,” says Fidelis president Joseph Cella in a February 23 statement. “She is the last person Iowans, particularly a Catholic legislator who claims to be pro-life, should look to when it comes to protecting human life.”

Fidelis contends that were it not for Quirk’s vote — and that of Republican Representative Betty DeBoef, who said she inadvertently cast an “aye” vote instead of a “nay” vote — the bill would not have received enough votes needed to advance to Governor Culver for his signature. The pro-life Catholic group and Iowa Right to Life have launched a radio ad campaign encouraging Iowans to speak out against HF 287 before it reaches the governor’s desk.