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When fires swept through Harbison Canyon near San Diego on October 25 and 26, they destroyed almost half of the roughly 450 homes in the community. Though the fire destroyed his own home, pastor Mark Mueller of Emmanuel Christian Church, the canyon's only church, worked with community leaders to counsel people, provide temporary shelter, and help people rebuild their lives.

Although 9 of the congregation's 25 families lost their homes, Emmanuel joined Skyline Wesleyan Church to set up a relief camp and provide food and water. Several larger churches, including Shadow Mountain Community Church, adopted other area communities and committed to rebuilding Emmanuel Christian's chapel.

The assistance has been an opportunity for evangelism. "The fact that the larger body of Christ came in and lent so much help is showing people the side of Christianity some of them didn't know about," Mueller said.

First Baptist Church of Mira Mesa saw flames as close as a half-mile away. On October 29, between the first and second service, church members took food planned for a pastor appreciation lunch to the Mira Mesa shelter.

The wildfires across Southern California killed 22 people, destroyed more than 3,600 homes, and left charred an area comparable in size to Rhode Island.

Rob Moll, with Baptist Press

Roy Moore, the Alabama chief justice who defied a court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument in the state court building rotunda, has been removed from office.

On November 13 Alabama's Court of the Judiciary voted Moore out after weighing ethics charges argued by Attorney General Bill Pryor, who prosecuted Moore. "I did my duty," said Pryor, whose nomination to a federal judgeship is stalled by Senate Democrats. "I will lose no sleep over this."

The decision hinged not on the legality of the Ten Commandments display but on Moore's defiance of a judicial order. "In defying that court's order, the chief justice placed himself above the law," said Chief Judge William C. Thompson.

Moore installed the 5,300-pound monument in the judicial building in August 2001. Two years later, he publicly declared he would not remove it even though a district court had ruled he should. An appeals court had affirmed the lower court ruling, and the Supreme Court refused to hear his case.

Moore has promised to appeal the decision. "We fought a good fight," he said. "We kept the faith. But the battle is not over. The battle to acknowledge God is about to rage across the country."

Religion News Service

Benny Hinn and German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke are reportedly among several Christian leaders bilked of more than $160 million dollars. The FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Texas State Securities Board accused an organization called IPIC International and five individuals—including Torsten Henschke, former executive director of Bonnke's Christ for All Nations ministry—of running a massive Ponzi scheme.

"The defendants deceived investors, promising to generate investment returns that would benefit Christian ministries through merchandising and manufacturing businesses," the SEC says in a press release. "But in fact, according to the Commission, the defendants invested little, if any, of the investors' money in that way, and instead used it to make ponzi payments to other investors and support their own extravagant lifestyles by purchasing items such as homes, a [$2.3 million] yacht, and a [$1 million] helicopter."

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January 2004, Vol. 48, No. 1