Holy Spirit

For eight years, Revolution Square has been center stage for the Sandinistas--a space in downtown Managua filled by the ruling party's supporters for each official pronouncement on its revolutionary course. But Sunday the square was occupied, for the third day in a row, by another crowd and a different message. The spellbound audience, 25,000 strong, belonged to Jimmy Swaggart, the first big-time American evangelist to hold a revival in Sandinista-run Nicaragua.

And on the seventh day, God created a tablet computer. A group called Family Christian is offering what it calls the world's first Christian tablet -- dubbed the Edifi. "We wanted to be able to offer our customers the ability to use our Holy Bible application, which has 27 different English translations of the Bible," the aptly named Brian Honorable, Family Christian's technology supervisor, told FoxNews.com. "It goes along with our mission: trying to get people closer to God. " The Android-based device is manufactured by South Korea's Cydle.

Drawing new believers to the church is the central issue at the Catholic Renewal Convention, a charismatic rally expected to draw more than 13,000 people this weekend to the Anaheim Convention Center. The three-day event, which opened Friday, is evidence of the growing foothold of the charismatic movement in the Roman Catholic Church, which has suffered in recent years from a priest shortage as well as a dwindling number of congregants.

Sunday is Pentecost, the most important day in the Christian calendar after Easter and Christmas. Unlike those two well-known holidays, Pentecost -- commemorating the arrival of the Holy Spirit -- is not widely observed, even by many Christians. "How do you wish anybody a happy Pentecost?" asked the Rev. Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary and an Episcopal priest in Pasadena. "They have Christmas cards galore, Easter cards to some extent. But Pentecost cards?"

Not many novelists would dare to begin a book with a purported Christian gospel written in a pompous and stilted tone "reminiscent of the Byzantine church historian Eusebius." With footnotes, no less. But then few novelists would attempt so ambitious a novel as Wilton Barnhardt's "Gospel," (St. Martin's Press; $24.95), which weighs in at nearly 800 pages, spans 17 locales, moves in and out of the first and 20th centuries and is so chock-full of religious history and lore as to require an index.

Sunday is Pentecost, the most important day in the Christian calendar after Easter and Christmas. Unlike those two well-known holidays, Pentecost -- commemorating the arrival of the Holy Spirit -- is not widely observed, even by many Christians. "How do you wish anybody a happy Pentecost?" asked the Rev. Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary and an Episcopal priest in Pasadena. "They have Christmas cards galore, Easter cards to some extent. But Pentecost cards?"

And on the seventh day, God created a tablet computer. A group called Family Christian is offering what it calls the world's first Christian tablet -- dubbed the Edifi. "We wanted to be able to offer our customers the ability to use our Holy Bible application, which has 27 different English translations of the Bible," the aptly named Brian Honorable, Family Christian's technology supervisor, told FoxNews.com. "It goes along with our mission: trying to get people closer to God. " The Android-based device is manufactured by South Korea's Cydle.

Rebel Ugandan priestess Alice Lakwena is in a Kenyan prison, but her Holy Spirit Movement marches on, still pitting its faith in magic weapons against well-armed Ugandan soldiers. At least two separate groups have sprung up to pursue her bizarre crusade against the Kampala government. Lakwena, 28, led about 7,000 religiously inspired rebels to their deaths in hymn-singing assaults on government forces in 1987.

In a split certain to send tremors throughout Pentecostal Christianity, a controversial Canadian congregation known for its ecstatic worship style that became known worldwide as the "Toronto blessing" has been ousted by its Anaheim-based parent denomination. Pastor John Arnott of the Airport Vineyard Fellowship in Toronto said he was told last week by the Assn.

Some faith adages roll off the tongue, like "God helps those who help themselves." But that particular saying is not biblical and, in fact, violates a primary scriptural teaching that only God determines a person's destiny, according to religion analyst George Barna. To see how many people would agree with the saying, Barna included it among 14 statements in a survey of religious beliefs conducted recently by his Oxnard-based research organization.

He was new on the job, working after midnight, sweeping through the Gersten Pavilion dust. "Then I saw him," Shelton Lorick said. It was a shadowy figure in the upper deck. Lorick shouted for it to leave. It silently refused. Lorick, a longtime Marine, dropped his broom and jogged upstairs. When he arrived, the figure was gone. A couple of days later, again after midnight, Lorick had locked up the gym and was walking away. "Then I heard somebody bouncing a ball inside," he said.

Sometimes ballet is all about longing for the divine, without being the least bit divine, which does not make for a good evening of dance. If you think of the latest offering of mixed works by the ballet-oriented local company La Danserie as a gathering place where the hopeful came to worship, it was one that provided only the outline of a dance sanctuary.

Some faith adages roll off the tongue, like "God helps those who help themselves." But that particular saying is not biblical and, in fact, violates a primary scriptural teaching that only God determines a person's destiny, according to religion analyst George Barna. To see how many people would agree with the saying, Barna included it among 14 statements in a survey of religious beliefs conducted recently by his Oxnard-based research organization.

Drawing new believers to the church is the central issue at the Catholic Renewal Convention, a charismatic rally expected to draw more than 13,000 people this weekend to the Anaheim Convention Center. The three-day event, which opened Friday, is evidence of the growing foothold of the charismatic movement in the Roman Catholic Church, which has suffered in recent years from a priest shortage as well as a dwindling number of congregants.

These days Dublin is not the "dirty old town" of the Irish love ballad. It is a city of commercial confidence, the trendy young, BMWs and mobile phones. The boomtown of the new Ireland does its best to contradict the tales our grandparents told of Irish want and desolation. Even Frank McCourt's Limerick, in "Angela's Ashes" the grayest of Irish towns, is now doing its best to reverse the picture of melancholy, congenital want, hunger in the bone.

In the heart of the Sacramento Valley, where 49ers flocked to mine a mother lode of riches 150 years ago, Christian believers are proclaiming a new and godly gold rush: The Holy Spirit, they claim, is miraculously transforming porcelain crowns and silver fillings into gold. Never mind that they can't seem to prove it. Disregard the dental records that contradict some of their claims.

Like a ripe peach, you can't know its deliciousness until you taste it. That's one description given of that strange religious phenomenon--speaking in tongues. It has spread extensively among Christians these days, but it remains a bafflement to those who do not do it. It is also a mystery to those who do. But they say it is great.

Sometimes ballet is all about longing for the divine, without being the least bit divine, which does not make for a good evening of dance. If you think of the latest offering of mixed works by the ballet-oriented local company La Danserie as a gathering place where the hopeful came to worship, it was one that provided only the outline of a dance sanctuary.

A serene 10-acre retreat, set down like a paradox in the middle of Encino in a well-to-do-neighborhood. The grounds are lush with oaks and pines, roses and birds of paradise, fruit trees and isolated garden paths and duck pond.