Easter Weekend Prayer Vigil.  We’ll end our 21-Day Worship Campaign with a Prayer Vigil.  Help us keep our Prayer Room occupied from 9:30 a.m. on Good Friday (April 14) to 9:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday (April 16)!  Commit to one hour, beginning at the bottom of the hour (for example, 9:30-10:30).  We especially need help filling those late-night and early-morning hours!  Sign up this Sunday or contact Jami Dismukes at the church office (345-3771) or by e-mail to ask about available hours.  When you sign up, we will give you directions to the Prayer Room and instructions on working your hour.

Interesting Links:  Like many Christians, I have been riveted to the Afghanistan trial of Abdul Rahman, who is threatened with death for converting from Islam to Christianity 15 years ago.  As of this writing, the court has set him free but the majority of his Islamic countrymen still think he should be killed.  I think the comments at the “Rhymes with Right” blog are worth reviewing, as well as last week’s articles by Tony Perkins, Nina Shea.  The tepid and belated response to the Rahman case by American political leaders has frustrated Christian conservatives like Chuck Colson.  So far, there’s been no comment from the Austin Area Interreligious Ministries.  “Remember my chains,” Paul wrote in Colossians 4:18.  Abdul Rahman and hundreds of thousands like him around the world would ask the same of us.

What do you think of “Indentured Families,” an article in this week’s Weekly Standard?  Allan Carlson argues that “social conservatives” have been ignored by the GOP and may be ripe for reconsidering which party has their best interests in mind.

Also, did you read about the trouble at Amazon.com over their search engine?  The company has various automated suggestions to correct spelling errors and display related items.  These are based on computer algorithms of other users' activity.  Type in plaque, for example, and Amazon asks, "Did you mean: plague?"  But the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice complained to the company that when you typed in abortion, Amazon asked, "Did you mean: adoption?"  Wow!  Is there a (holy) ghost in the machine?

Also, see What Wives Want.  Girls may "just wanna have fun," as Cyndi Lauper once sang.  But when girls become wives, they want love and support like what country heartthrob Randy Travis says: "forever and ever, amen."  The article interviews psychologist Bill Harley, a veteran marital counselor and author of "His Needs, Her Needs," who says, “What I spend most of my time doing is training men how to make women happy.  If you want a woman to be in love with you, [meeting her top five emotional needs] are the things you have to be trained to do and do well, and she will follow you to the ends of the earth."

Speaking of family life, this article says that children and teenagers who are exposed to sex through the media are more likely to engage in sexual activity than those who are not, according to new research.  Well, duh!  Also, it was sobering to read “Lives of Quiet Turbulence,” covering an extensive study of the grown children of divorce.  If you’re between 18-35, a fourth of you saw your parents split up, and 60 percent of your own marriages end in divorce.  What can Hillcrest do to help?

Finally, the CS Monitor has a good article about what Christians are doing to prepare for the upcoming film release of “The Da Vinci Code.”  Be praying for our 3-week series, “The Da Vinci Code Breakers,” following Easter.