Prayer News | Where Christians Pray Through the News

Prayer List: Stampede Kills

A graduation celebration turned into a nightmare when a fight began and a tear gas canister exploded. 500 people were in the Venezuelan club in Caracas and 17 died during the ensuing stampede to escape. The Associated Press reports, “Family members wept and embraced one another after identifying the remains of their loved ones at a nearby hospital.”

Prayer List

* Pray for the Holy Spirit to comfort the families and friends of the deceased.
* Pray for physical healing for the five people injured in the incident.
* Pray for the teenagers detained for allegedly using tear gas in the club to repent of their sins.
* Pray for Christians to provide emotional support for the people impacted by the explosion and stampede.

Unreached People of the Day



Monday: Mwani in Mozambique
Tuesday: Bulang in China

Operation World Prayer Focus




Tuesday: Iceland
Wednesday: India: Andhra Pradesh

Birthday Prayer Lists


Have you prayed for the salvation of all your friends? Why not turn your Facebook friend list into a prayer list? It shouldn't take long to pray for each friend on their birthday.

Some Christians also pray for entertainers, politicians and media personalities on their birthday.

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Berean Research

  • Educational Limbo: How Low Can You Go?
    A few months ago Josh Niemi blogged about what he called “educational limbo.” Niemi believes that when tolerating the amount of moral mischief in their child’s school, each parent has a personal limit of how low they will go before removing them. In his piece he quotes Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis who said the following […]The post Educational Limbo: How Low Can You Go? appeared first on Berean Research.
    - 5 days ago 16 Aug 18, 4:20pm -
  • Farewell, Willow Creek
    Every once in a while progressive-leaning site Patheos has a story worth reading. Like this one titled, Farewell, Willow Creek: Where the “Regular” Churches Can Go From Here, by Jonathan Aigner. I share it here because it captures the frustration held by so many who came out of the seeker-friendly model Willow Creek’s Bill Hybels […]The post Farewell, Willow Creek appeared first on Berean Research.
    - 6 days ago 15 Aug 18, 7:38pm -
  • The New Apostolic Reformation – A Shelter for the Unqualified
    The Bible is absolutely clear regarding the qualifications for a pastor,” says Stephen Colin. In this piece over at Famine In The Land, Colin offers two examples of wolves in sheep’s clothing, Todd Bentley and Mark Driscoll, who have found shelter in the NAR cult, despite the fact that, according to 1 Timothy 3:2-7, both men have disqualified […]The post The New Apostolic Reformation – A Shelter for the Unqualified appeared first on Berean Research.
    - 8 days ago 13 Aug 18, 3:23pm -
  • The fruit of Global Leadership Summit 2018
    “How many of us are saving our best for the next life when all we have is this life?” That’s one of the many nuggets coming from an allegedly Christian conference for Christian leaders. While the event distanced itself from it’s controversial founder, Bill Hybels, it remains a conference lacking in true biblical leadership. And […]The post The fruit of Global Leadership Summit 2018 appeared first on Berean Research.
    - 8 days ago 13 Aug 18, 2:40pm -
  • Getting ‘Unhitched’ from the Old Testament? Andy Stanley Aims at Heresy
    Megachurch pastor Andy Stanley describes the effort to retain much of the Old Testament as “intellectually ruinous and morally debilitating.” Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary & Boyce College, disagrees. He argues that because the Lord Jesus and the Apostles did not “unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish Scriptures” as Stanley urges Christians to do, […]The post Getting ‘Unhitched’ from the Old Testament? Andy Stanley Aims at Heresy appeared first on Berean Research.
    - 8 days ago 13 Aug 18, 2:08pm -

Christian Headlines

Christian Post

Christianity Today

  • God’s Mayor in Guatemala
    Fighting cartels, disease, and poverty, Mayor Jeaneth Ordoñez presides over a safe haven in an otherwise violent region.In the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America, the countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala form a violent triad. The murder rate is higher in this region than in most active war zones. Gangs, cartels, and vigilantes impose their will, taking over or co-opting legitimate police forces and routinely terrorizing average citizens. A recent study identified 54 separate criminal groups in Guatemala alone. For many citizens of this region, fleeing north through Mexico to the US border is a less risky proposition than dealing with daily life in their hometown.In the middle of this violence sits the town of San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán, a picturesque oasis of calm with a population of about 6,000 people. What sets this place apart are the efforts of Jeaneth Ordoñez, the Christian mayor who has united the townspeople in their quest to keep the municipality free of the violence and upheaval that surrounds them.“This is a very special place,” says Eduardo Gallo, a Cuban-born medical doctor whom Ordoñez brought to town to help with health care. “We have the opportunity to improve people’s lives and to do it with love. The mayor has created a remarkable environment.”Ordoñez’s motivation to protect and provide for her people comes directly from her faith. “God has put me in this place and given me a love and desire to serve my people and make their lives better,” she says. “I have faith in God and I love the people.”About two hours outside of Guatemala City, the municipality encompasses a small town and a large rural area where high unemployment means poverty is all too common, as it is throughout the country. But Ordoñez ...Continue reading...
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  • The Maker of the Maker of Middle-earth
    There’s something missing from Oxford’s splendid new Tolkien exhibit.Who was J. R. R. Tolkien? Nearly everyone knows him as the author of two of the most beloved books of the 20th century: The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Many also know him as a member of the Inklings and a close friend of fellow writer and scholar C. S. Lewis. Fewer know Tolkien’s work as a literary critic, a world-class academic in medieval literature, a linguist, an inventor of languages, and a visual artist or realize that he was also a devoted husband and father.Much of this is captured this year in a nearly comprehensive exhibit at Oxford University’s Bodleian Libraries on Tolkien’s life and legacy. “Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth” has been billed as the exhibit of a generation, and it is indeed that. But there’s a glaring omission: any mention of the author’s devout, lifelong Christian faith. Without that piece, we cannot have a true picture of Tolkien.The Missing PieceThe exhibit is certainly the most well-rounded portrayal of Tolkien to date. We see his imaginative capacity expressed in nearly overwhelming abundance, and we see a tender glimpse of his childhood and of his family life with his wife, Edith, and their four children.The aim of the exhibit, as expressed in the catalog book, is “bringing to the public’s attention the fullest picture possible not just of the life and work of a remarkable literary imagination, but of a son, husband, father, friend, scholar and artist.”To that end, it comes close but misses the mark. The exhibit downplays Tolkien’s religious commitment so completely that it is well-nigh invisible. Yet Christianity was a constant presence throughout his life, and not just in a nominal or cultural sense: Tolkien really believed, ...Continue reading...
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  • Is Your Church Ready to Care for Those Reentering Society?
    Churches have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to welcome former prisoners home. Imagine this scenario: You have been locked up in prison for years and are getting ready for your release. For years, you have lived in a place unlike any other in our society. You are in a world where, every moment of every day, you are reminded of the worst thing you have ever done. Your past even haunts you in your dreams.Behind bars, you are not known by your name, but by the number on your prison jumpsuit. After years of being locked up, you have been forgotten by family, friends, and your community. You have not received a visitor or a letter from outside these walls in a long time. You are in a place where violence could be around any corner and decision-making has been stripped from you.For years, this world is all you have known. But soon, you will suddenly be released back into your community, facing a litany of parole conditions and the anxiety of trying to figure out how to transition into life in the outside world without messing up again.This is the experience of thousands of men and women who are released from prison every year.I have been involved in prison ministry for 14 years, and I have never met a prisoner who wasn’t nervous about leaving the prison walls. Some are downright terrified.There are 2.4 million people who are incarcerated in the United States—by far the highest number of prisoners per capita in the world—and 95 percent of them will one day be released to their communities.You may think that once someone has served his or her time, the punishment is complete and he or she is rehabilitated; the person can move on with life with the expectation that he or she won’t get into trouble again.The Challenges of Reentry But the sobering reality is that 67 percent of those who ...Continue reading...
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  • Jonathan Merritt Wants to Reboot Religious Language for the 21st Century
    But his method of restoring “sacred words” to our common vocabulary runs the risk of redefining them.When was the last time you had a spiritual conversation?If recent research is any indication, it’s been a while. Only seven percent of Americans report talking about spiritual matters weekly. One-fifth of respondents had not had a spiritual conversation all year. Surely, self-identified Christians regularly engage in spiritual discussions with friends, coworkers, and family. Right? Sadly, only 13 percent of “practicing” Christians talk about spirituality once a week. As a result, sacred conversations and words such as grace, gospel, God, salvation, faith, sin, and creed are much less common in our day-to-day experience.Unnerving data like these form the backdrop for a new book from religion writer Jonathan Merritt, Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words are Vanishing—and How We can Revive Them, a blend of cultural analysis, linguistic inquiry, theology, church history, and autobiography.Breaking Down and Building UpThe first half of the book builds a comprehensive case for why we need to start over. Utilizing current data, Merritt asserts that for all our proclaimed religiosity, Americans in general—and self-identified Christians in particular—seldom engage in spiritual conversations. He identifies three reasons. First, many Christians are anxious not to give offense. For them, says Merritt, words like “sin and hell have become so negative they lodge in [their] throats.” Second, Christians who are in the regular habit of spiritual conversation develop a kind of insider shorthand bred of familiarity. Thus, certain words get “uttered so often we don’t know what they mean anymore,” and we forget how they sound to those outside of our religious circles. ...Continue reading...
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  • How Evangelistically Effective is Church Planting?
    Church planting is evangelistically effective only to the degree that it is evangelistically focused from the beginning.In 2002, pastor and author Tim Keller published a brief article entitled “Why Plant Churches” that has since become a staple regarding the necessity of church planting. In it, he writes, “The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for 1) the numerical growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and 2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city.”His words echo the oft-quoted claim by C. Peter Wagner in his book Church Planting for a Greater Harvest: “The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches.” Dramatic population increases, the rise of the “nones,” and pervasive church closures would seem to validate this claim, but is it true?The answer is: It depends.Church planting is evangelistically effective only to the degree that it is evangelistically focused from the beginning.From my observation, church planters come in two sizes:1) Those who plant churches “FOR” evangelism,and2) Those who plant churches “FROM” evangelism. At first glance, it might seem like an incidental distinction – but when it comes to evangelistic effectiveness, it is anything but. The former, with an eye toward speedier sustainability, throw everything at gathering a strong launch team, typically comprised of the “already churched.”While this group is usually easier to congregationalize, this association comes with some complications that are difficult to overcome. The ease with which the planter convinces churchgoers to join his ‘better thing’ often correlates with the ease with which they will become discontented and initiate another ...Continue reading...
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Forum 18 News Service

  • Russia: Third 2018 conviction for Muslim study meetings
    A Krasnoyarsk court handed 27-year-old Sabirzhon Kabirzoda a two-year suspended sentence on 14 August for meeting with others to study his faith using the works of theologian Said Nursi. He is the third such Muslim sentenced in 2018, while trials against two others continue in the same region.
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  • Turkmenistan: Now eight jailed conscientious objectors
    With two jailings in August, eight conscientious objectors aged 18 to 24 are now serving labour camp terms of one to two years. Forum 18 could not reach Human Rights Ombudsperson Yazdursun Gurbannazarova to ask why young men are jailed for refusing military service on grounds of conscience.
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  • Russia: 2017 prosecutions for religious literature - list
    List of 54 known prosecutions under Administrative Code Article 20.29 in 2017 for religious materials which do not incite violence or hatred. 49 resulted in conviction in first instance, with 48 fines and one 2-day jail term. Judges ordered literature confiscated in 20 cases and destroyed in a further 20 cases.
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  • Russia: Prosecutions for religious literature continue
    Individuals and communities face punishment for distributing religious books courts have deemed "extremist". Punishments are mostly fines, but in 2017 a court jailed a Muslim for two days for lending a book to colleagues. 2017 saw fewer prosecutions than earlier, mainly because Jehovah's Witnesses - banned as "extremist" - face potential criminal charges.
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  • Turkmenistan: Conscientious objector's maximum two-year jail term
    Turkmenbashi City Court jailed 19-year-old Jehovah's Witness conscientious objector Mekan Annayev for the maximum two years for refusing compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. Five others have already been jailed in 2018, one in an apparent show trial. Two more young men face trial in August.
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Get Religion

  • newHoly ghost in Alabama: NYT interviews white pastor friend of Rosa Parks, neglects to ask about his faith
    "Bombed by the K.K.K. A Friend of Rosa Parks. At 90, This White Pastor Is Still Fighting."That really nice headline atop a recent New York Times story certainly grabbed my attention.When I clicked the link, I expected to read — at least a little bit — about the pastor's faith.Amazingly, I didn't.The Times managed to avoid a single detail about how the minister's religion influenced his approach to civil rights. This, friends, is what we at GetReligion refer to as a "holy ghost."The haunted piece opens compellingly enough: MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Rev. Robert S. Graetz was virtually alone among Montgomery’s white ministers in supporting the bus boycott that helped galvanize the civil rights movement. That’s when the bombings began. As the white pastor at an all-black Lutheran church in Alabama in the 1950s, Mr. Graetz was just 28 years old when he became a recurring target for the Ku Klux Klan. “The noise awakened us,” Rosa Parks, who was a neighbor of the Graetz family, wrote of a 1957 attack. In the brief, handwritten document, Mrs. Parks described decades later how she and her husband went quickly to the Graetz family’s home after the bombing. The area had been roped off by the police. “They said we could not enter. Rev. Graetz spoke to me and said, ‘Come in Brother Parks and Mrs. Parks,’” she added. “We went and offered to help. We began sweeping the floor and picking up.”Keep reading, and the Times offers more details on the document written by Rosa Parks and the Graetz family's plans to donate it to historically black Alabama State University.
    - 2 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 9:55pm -
  • newDoes the race card work? Christian school bans long hair for boys, including dreadlocks
    It would be hard to imagine a click-bait story that features more unfortunate stereotypes about race and religion than the USA Today report about the young Florida student who was forbidden to enroll in a small Christian school because of his dreadlocks.Turn up the social-media heat under this headline: "Florida school receiving death threats after turning away 6-year-old with dreadlocks."Actually, the Washington Post piece on the same topic went one step further by putting everyone's favorite religion F-word in the headline: "A little boy with dreadlocks enrolled at a fundamentalist Christian school. It didn’t go well."Let's stick with the USA Today piece, which is more compact and less sensationalistic. Here is the overture: A private Christian school in Florida is facing backlash after a 6-year-old black child was turned away on his first day of class because of his dreadlocks. Clinton Stanley Jr. was all set for his first day at A Book’s Christian Academy, but when he arrived, he was denied entry because of his hair. His dad, Clinton Stanley Sr., expressed his frustration in a now-viral video on Facebook Monday. “My son just got told he cannot attend this school with his hair,” he said in the video. “If that’s not bias, I don’t know what is.”The question hovering in the air is simple: Is this a case of racial bias at a predominately white Christian school? Hold that thought, because there is a crucial fact here that probably belongs in the lede -- especially with the Post using "fundamentalist" in its headline.But first, consider this factual question: Was the dreadlocks card played as a racial ace in this case?As it turns out, the school's policy is clear. USA Today notes:
    - 7 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 4:27pm -
  • newCultural or doctrinal conflicts: What's the difference and does it matter to journalists?
    Here’s my question for the week. Which is the stronger glue -- tribal, meaning culturally reactive, religious expectations or religion rooted in deeply and thought-out transpersonal conviction?I ask because it seems to me that these days, and maybe this has alway been the case, tribal religious affiliation is at the root of many, if not most, of the religiously-colored conflicts in the world today.For journalists, the question becomes, how do you tell the difference between the two, and does it really matter if you're only trying to report body counts and similar traditional journalistic metrics for measuring conflict severity?My take? I think it does matter because it can mean the difference between labeling the institution of religion itself as the cause of human conflict. Or, as I believe, recognizing that humanity's myriad shortcomings as a specie is the better explanation so many of our institutions, including religious one, become fatally corrupted over time.Walt Kelly nailed it when his cartoon character Pogo famously exclaimed, slightly abbreviated here, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” I can’t reword it any more succinctly.I started considering these questions — again — while sloshing my way through yet another week of international, religion-linked, depressing news.This is the initial story I hold responsible for my current state of mind.
    - 10 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 1:00pm -
  • The must-cover 'Big Ideas' at heart of the complex Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis
    First we had the tsunami of clergy sexual-abuse news linked to the life and times of former cardinal Theodore "Uncle Ted" McCarrick.Now we have a second wave of digital ink following the devastating -- especially for those who had not followed this scandal for nearly four decades -- Pennsylvania grand-jury report (full .pdf here). After the report, there was an obvious story that had to be covered.Priests from coast to coast had to face their people in Sunday Mass. What would they say? How would people react? This was one Sunday when it was clear that editors had to tell a reporter to go to church and take careful notes.Ah, but which church? And, once again, journalists faced horrifying questions about which details to publish, drawn from this vision of clerical hell. After all, some of the crucial details were clearly X-rated. Others were sure to bring down the wrath of activists -- those inside and outside these newsrooms -- with axes to grind linked to this explosive topic (sex with children, teens and seminarians).Thus, the world's most powerful newsroom, the one that editors nationwide look to for editorial guidance, did its own version of the "angry Catholics at Mass" story. We are talking about The New York Times, of course. Here is the overture. Please read carefully: Some Catholic priests offered fiery homilies, telling parishioners their anger at the sex abuse detailed in last week’s grand jury report was justified, even necessary. Others asked the faithful to pray for the abusers. And some said nothing about the scandal on the first Sunday since the release of the report that detailed 70 years of child sex abuse by hundreds of priests in Pennsylvania. Regular worshipers at Sacred Heart Church in Lyndhurst, N.J., and visitors from around the globe at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue packed the pews and listened intently to what church leaders had to say about the sex abuse revelations that continue to pain Catholics and haunt the church. Church leaders found themselves in a difficult but sadly familiar position, as they faced their congregations. Except this time they grappled with the unique breadth and horrific details outlined in a grand jury report that ran for nearly 900 pages. The report accused 300 priests of abusing more than 1,000 victims and cataloged ghastly assaults, like that of a priest who raped a young girl in a hospital after she had her tonsils removed.Now, flash back a few days to an earlier post: "A time for anger? Some Catholic bishops worked hard to limit exposure of their sins and crimes." This post focused on the very first Times article reacting to the grand-jury text.
    - 1 day ago 20 Aug 18, 9:05pm -
  • Trinity Western University caves on sex and marriage, but no one calls them on it
    I’ve been reporting for some time now on the legal woes that Trinity Western University has been having with its bid to be the first Christian law school in Canada. Like many other Christian colleges, it has a doctrinal covenant students must sign that includes a promise to abstain from sex outside of traditional marriage.LGBTQ rights folks decided that this doctrinal stand was rampant discrimination and were successful at dislodging TWU’s bid, even as the battle went to the country’s highest court.Then Trinity moved the chairs around a bit this past week.  The best-written article on this change was from the National Post with a head reading: “Still seeking law school, Trinity Western drops sexual ‘covenant’ for students." It ran along with a sympathetic YouTube video about TWU, which appears with this blog post. A Christian university in British Columbia that lost a Supreme Court battle to create an evangelical law school has dropped its controversial requirement for all students to sign a contract that forbids any sex outside heterosexual marriage. Many observers, including some who intervened in the court case, saw this as a preliminary step toward a renewed push for an accredited law school. Trinity Western University, in Langley outside Vancouver, first announced plans to offer legal degrees in 2012, only to find itself locked in litigation with law societies in Ontario and B.C., which refused to accredit it. The school’s new motion, passed last week but only released Tuesday, reads: “In furtherance of our desire to maintain TWU as a thriving community of Christian believers that is inclusive of all students wishing to learn from a Christian viewpoint and underlying philosophy, the Community Covenant will no longer be mandatory as of the 2018-19 Academic year with respect to admission of students to, or continuation of students at, the University.” The decision removes the primary problem considered by the Supreme Court in its June decision, which was the mandatory nature of the “Community Covenant.” Further down, you get the school’s denial that the change was done with ulterior motives.
    - 1 day ago 20 Aug 18, 4:33pm -

Mission Network News

  • Somalia sees bloodiest terror attack in country’s history
    https://www.mnnonline.org/news/somalia-sees-bloodiest-terror-attack-countrys-history/Somalia (MNN) -- Over 300 people were killed in Somalia's bloodiest attackThe post Somalia sees bloodiest terror attack in country’s history appeared first on Mission Network News.
    - 17 Oct 17, 4:00am -
  • Emergency medical flight gets conjoined twin infants to life-saving surgery
    https://www.mnnonline.org/news/emergency-medical-flight-gets-conjoined-twin-infants-life-saving-surgery/DRC (MNN/MAF) -- Conjoined twins saved through ministry’s medical flightThe post Emergency medical flight gets conjoined twin infants to life-saving surgery appeared first on Mission Network News.
    - 17 Oct 17, 4:00am -
  • Christmas short-term mission opportunities!
    https://www.mnnonline.org/news/christmas-short-term-mission-opportunities/Int'l (MNN) -- Short-term mission trip opportunities this ChristmasThe post Christmas short-term mission opportunities! appeared first on Mission Network News.
    - 17 Oct 17, 4:00am -
  • The faces and stories behind World Food Day
    https://www.mnnonline.org/news/faces-stories-behind-world-food-day/International (MNN) -- On World Food Day, ministry spotlighting long-term solutionsThe post The faces and stories behind World Food Day appeared first on Mission Network News.
    - 16 Oct 17, 4:00am -
  • State elections draw near in India, spark anti-Christian sentiment
    https://www.mnnonline.org/news/state-elections-draw-near-india-spark-anti-christian-sentiment/India (MNN) -- Christians are being watched closely The post State elections draw near in India, spark anti-Christian sentiment appeared first on Mission Network News.
    - 16 Oct 17, 4:00am -

PE News

  • newA Call to Healing
    Couple plants church in Illinois town scarred by family murders.
    - 11 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 12:30pm -
  • AG Church Destroyed by Fire
    A fire consumed Fair Oaks Assembly of God's main building and new sanctuary addition in McCrory, Arkansas, late Friday night.
    - 1 day ago 20 Aug 18, 4:53pm -
  • Overcoming Senior Despondency
    AG chaplain engages grieving elderly, helping them to find a new purpose for living.
    - 2 days ago 20 Aug 18, 6:00am -
  • SEU Announces International Educational Partnership
    Southeastern University will open its first international extension in Uganda in partnership with The Christian Hall at Watoto Church.
    - 4 days ago 17 Aug 18, 2:52pm -
  • Youth Training Ground
    Experiences with kids helps church planter in fruitful launch.
    - 5 days ago 17 Aug 18, 6:00am -

Persecution Blog

  • Missionary Pilot Shares The Rest of the Auca Martyrs' Story
    Growing up the home of missionary parents in Ecuador, Gene Jordan has always known the story of five men—Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian—who gave their lives in the jungle to reach an isolated Indian...      Related StoriesNate Saint Memorial School: End of an EraVOM Radio: "When We Say Yes to God"Missions: "Safety Is Not Our Primary Goal" 
    - 24 Jul 17, 4:06pm -
  • After Arrest, "I Was Terrified"
    “Dr. Andrew” is working to share the gospel in the Middle East, but he hasn’t always had a heart to share Christ’s love with Muslims. Growing up in a nominal Christian family, Andrew was harassed by Muslims his whole life....      Related StoriesBeing a True Vessel for God's UseMissionary Pilot Shares The Rest of the Auca Martyrs' StoryVOM Radio in Central Asia 
    - 27 Jun 17, 10:07pm -
  • Being a True Vessel for God's Use
    “Brother Matthew” is a pastor and church planter in South Asia, working among Muslims to share the gospel. After threats against his life and an attack on his brother, he was encouraged by family members to leave his country. He...      Related StoriesVOM Radio in Central AsiaAfter Arrest, "I Was Terrified"Openness in Pakistan? 
    - 7 Jun 17, 4:56pm -
  • VOM Radio in Central Asia
    "Tanya" is a Christian worker in Central Asia, living and ministering in a country where she must always be cautious about what she says openly and who she says it around. Listen to hear how Christians in the former Soviet...      Related StoriesBeing a True Vessel for God's UseMissionary Pilot Shares The Rest of the Auca Martyrs' StoryAfter Arrest, "I Was Terrified" 
    - 9 May 17, 7:17pm -
  • Nate Saint Memorial School: End of an Era
    The end of an era comes next month. In August 1985, I clutched my mom’s hand and squeaked my rubber flip-flopped way down the gravel path from the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) “base” to the cinderblock Nate Saint Memorial school....      Related StoriesMissionary Pilot Shares The Rest of the Auca Martyrs' StoryVOM Radio: "When We Say Yes to God"Missions: "Safety Is Not Our Primary Goal" 
    - 27 Apr 17, 8:14pm -

Religion News Service

  • newCatholics seek encouragement as World Meeting of Families opens in Dublin
    DUBLIN (RNS) — On the agenda of the triennial event, which began Tuesday (Aug. 21) and runs through Sunday, are workshops on topics ranging from domestic violence and migration to incarceration and personal technology.The post Catholics seek encouragement as World Meeting of Families opens in Dublin appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 2 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 9:03pm -
  • newPHOTO ESSAY: On Eid al-Adha, Muslims celebrate submission to God
    (RNS) — Muslims around the world are greeting one another with the Arabic phrase 'Eid Mubarak' to wish each other a blessed holiday.The post PHOTO ESSAY: On Eid al-Adha, Muslims celebrate submission to God appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 4 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 7:55pm -
  • newFour things the church must do to respond to sex abuse
    (RNS) — The church should practice what it preaches by confessing its sins in greater specificity, doing penance and committing to never letting this happen again.The post Four things the church must do to respond to sex abuse appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 4 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 7:36pm -
  • newA pocket watch turns back the clock on Jewish life aboard the Titanic
    (RNS) — Sinai Kantor's watch, which goes on the auction block Saturday (Aug. 25), is a relic of the broader but little-known Jewish experiences aboard the British passenger liner that sank in 1912.The post A pocket watch turns back the clock on Jewish life aboard the Titanic appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 4 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 6:59pm -
  • newWorld Youth Day Cross and Icon visit Miami
    PORTLAND, Ore. – The official World Youth Day (WYD) Cross and Marian Icon, entrusted to the youth and young adults of the world by Pope St. John Paul II in 1984, will make a multi-city tour of the United States; including Chicago, Miami, Houston, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. The Cross and Icon will travel […]The post World Youth Day Cross and Icon visit Miami appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 5 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 6:29pm -

Today's Creation Moment

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    - 9 days ago 12 Aug 18, 11:46am -
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    - 33 days ago 19 Jul 18, 5:09pm -
  • Today’s Creation Moments Email Sign Up
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    - 37 days ago 16 Jul 18, 12:07am -
  • THE CLASSIC WORK BY IAN TAYLOR
    BUY THE BOOK, GET A FREE DVD!   You already know Ian Taylor as the host of the Creation Moments radio program. But did you know he is also the author of the classic work on the history of Darwinism, its role in today’s social ills and the part it will play in creating a one-world government? Even today, you can find earlier editions of In the Minds of Men on eBay for $100 or more. But now you can get the revised and expanded hardcover edition for only $34.99! Plus, we’ll also send you – free of charge – the DVD God of Wonders! BUY THE BOOK … In the Minds of Men: Darwin and the New World Order 6th Edition Revised and Expanded  In the Minds of Men covers such diverse fields as history, geology, medicine and physics … yet the author has been careful to provide clear but entertaining reading, full of human interest and packed with valuable insights. With its extensive footnotes, more than 180 illustrations, full index and complete bibliography, the book is one you’ll turn to again and again in the coming years. Interest level: High School-Adult  $34.99 Hardcover 518 Pages Buy The Book GET A FREE DVD! ($19.99 VALUE) FREE WHEN....
    - 37 days ago 15 Jul 18, 9:43pm -
  • Radio Archive
    Current Volume: Volume 190 Volume 189 Volume 176 Volume 163 Volume 150 Volume 137 Volume 188 Volume 175 Volume 162 Volume 149 Volume 136 Volume 187 Volume 174 Volume 161 Volume 148 Volume 135 Volume 186 Volume 173 Volume 160 Volume 147 Volume 134 Volume 185 Volume 172 Volume 159 Volume 146 Volume 133 Volume 184 Volume 171 Volume 158 Volume 145 Volume 132 Volume 183 Volume 170 Volume 157 Volume 144 Volume 131 Volume 182 Volume 169 Volume 156 Volume 143 Volume 130 Volume 181 Volume 168 Volume 155 Volume 142 Volume 129 Volume 180 Volume 167 Volume 154 Volume 141 Volume 128 Volume 179 Volume 166 Volume 153 Volume 140 Volume 127 Volume 178 Volume 165 Volume 152 Volume 139 Volume 126 Volume 177 Volume 164 Volume 151 Volume 138 Volume 124   Each transcript has been written by Pastor Paul Bartz and designed to present a simple truth which upholds Biblical witness about the work of our Creator. Foreign translations of the broadcast are provided on the following websites: www.hcjb.cz– Creation Moments in Czech www.scienceandapologetics.org – English and Russian www.littlesamaritan.org – Creation Moments in Romanian
    - 43 days ago 9 Jul 18, 6:49pm -

United Methodist News Service

World Magazine

  • newCalifornia lawmaker and wife indicted
    A federal grand jury indicted Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and his wife, Margaret Hunter, on Tuesday for allegedly using $250,000 of campaign funds for personal expenses and filing false reports to cover the spending. The charges, including wire fraud, falsifying records, campaign finance violations, and conspiracy, are the culmination of a year-long U.S. Department of Justice investigation. The 48-page indictment lists spending from 2009 to 2016, including a family vacation to Italy, private school tuition, dental work, and video games. The couple is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in San Diego on Thursday morning. Hunter represents the staunchly Republican 50th District of California, once represented by his father, Duncan L. Hunter.Image: Category: CongressArticle Title: California lawmaker and wife indictedKeywords: CongressCaliforniaCrimeCourtsPoliticsAuthor: Kiley Crossland
    - 7 mins ago 21 Aug 18, 11:20pm -
  • newIllegal immigrant charged in Iowa student’s murder
    Police have charged a man in the United States illegally with first-degree murder in the death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts. If convicted, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Tibbetts, 20, was last seen jogging near her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, on July 18. Authorities found her body covered with corn stalks Tuesday morning in a field outside Brooklyn. Investigators said they used surveillance video, which showed Tibbetts jogging near Rivera’s car, to track him down.Image: Category: CrimeArticle Title: Illegal immigrant charged in Iowa student’s murderKeywords: CrimeCourtsImmigrationAuthor: Kiley Crossland
    - 2 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 9:56pm -
  • newCohen pleads guilty, implicates Trump in campaign finance violations
    Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon to federal charges, including campaign-finance violations, tax evasion, and making a false statement to a financial institution. The campaign finance violations stem from hush money payments Cohen made to pornographic film actress Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.In his guilty plea, Cohen, who was known as Trump’s “fixer,” did not specifically name the president or the two women but said the payments were made “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office” and intended to influence the election, both of which are a crime. Daniels and McDougal have both claimed Trump had extramarital affairs with them, which he denies, and the amounts and dates of the payments mentioned in the plea deal line up with payments made to Clifford and McDougal.As part of his plea deal, Cohen faces four to five years in prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 12.Image: Category: CourtsArticle Title: Cohen pleads guilty, implicates Trump in campaign finance violationsKeywords: PoliticsWhite HouseCampaign 2016ElectionsScandalsAuthor: Kiley Crossland
    - 2 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 9:44pm -
  • newManafort found guilty on eight counts, mistrial declared on 10 others
    UPDATE: The jury in the Paul Manafort case has found President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman guilty of eight of 18 criminal counts. In a note to U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, jurors said they had not reached consensus on the 10 remaining counts, and Ellis declared a mistrial on those counts. Manafort’s conviction includes five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of failing to file foreign bank account reports. The jury deliberated for four days before announcing their verdict.OUR EARLIER REPORT (2:23 p.m.): The jury in the financial fraud trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort asked the judge Tuesday what to do if it could not reach a verdict on a single count in the case. Manafort faces 18 felony counts of tax evasion and bank fraud stemming from payments he received for advising Russia-backed politicians in Ukraine. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III read a formal instruction that encouraged the jurors, now in their fourth day of deliberations, to continue until they reached a unanimous consensus. Ellis said he was not yet prepared to ask the jury where they stood, but if they cannot reach an agreement on a single count after continued deliberation, he will have to decide whether to accept a partial verdict. Manafort’s trial is the first to arise from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but the alleged crimes happened before Manafort served as Trump’s campaign chairman.Image: Article Title: Manafort found guilty on eight counts, mistrial declared on 10 othersKeywords: CourtsCrimePoliticsElectionsCampaign 2016RussiaWhite HouseAuthor: Lynde LangdonKiley Crossland
    - 2 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 9:04pm -
  • newBlood and guns
    Blood and gunsMoviesGratuitously violent “Mile 22” bombs with meaningless plotMoviesBob BrownThe good news is that “no animals were harmed” in the making of Mile 22. The bad news is that depictions of violence against human beings splatter the screen from start to finish. The new film (rated R for strong violence and foul language throughout) frolics in spinning kicks, grenade blasts, gunshots to the head, and even an admittedly ironic beating death using pieces of a hospital bed. Adding insult to injuries, Mile 22 sidesteps the moral tightropes and political intrigues that protagonists navigate in some worthwhile action thrillers.Mark Wahlberg plays James Silva, the leader of a small team of CIA operatives stationed at the American Embassy in a large (fictional) Southeast Asian city. His group must transport Li Noor (Iko Uwais), supposedly a local cop, from the embassy to a waiting plane 22 miles away. In exchange for asylum in the United States, Noor says he’ll provide the code to unlock a computer disc that contains information on the whereabouts of stolen cesium. The missing radioactive material could wipe out several American cities.The 22-mile route won’t be a Sunday drive, of course. Regional authorities and their federal colleagues want Noor, and they send a pack of gun-slinging motorcyclists after Silva’s team. And then there are the Russians, doing what they do best: A high-altitude plane full of laptop-clacking Russian spies are hacking communications between Silva’s team and Bishop (John Malkovich), the team’s intelligence guru, who’s wired into the city’s traffic cameras. What exactly the Russians want with Noor is the film’s single interesting question. (More on that below.)Silva’s team includes Sam Snow (former UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey) and Alice Kerr (Lauren Cohan). No cast member delivers a bad performance, but the characters have little appeal. Kerr spends much of the film locked in a video spat with her ex-husband via an expletive-blocking phone app (“Family Wizard”) specially designed for expletive-spitting exes. Really. And Silva’s barrage of insensitive comments leads his colleagues to debate whether he’s “bipolar,” “manic-depressive,” or simply a jerk. Wahlberg tries to carve his visage on the Mount Rushmore of wisecracking law-enforcement movie tough guys, but he lacks the grit of Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry), the charm of Bruce Willis (Die Hard), and the comic timing of Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon).Does the Russian angle save the film? Unarguably, Russians remain the last remaining foreign bad guys allowed in cinema by political correctness. (I’m pretty sure it’s even still OK to refer to them as “Russkies” onscreen.) Even though the Cold War ended dozens of Oscars ago, Russians continue to antagonize American movie heroes, flying those hulking pea-green military planes and threatening terror from the skies. Mile 22 is no exception. But the short film ends abruptly, apparently setting up a sequel: The explanation for the Russians’ involvement makes for one of the lamest finales in recent memory.Did I say no animals were hurt?MoviesMovies
    - 3 hours ago 21 Aug 18, 8:40pm -

World Watch Monitor

  • Sunni Arabs ‘helped drive out’ Mid-East Christians
    Amid the push by Iraqi government forces to retake Mosul from Islamic State (IS), some former inhabitants of Christian villages in the Nineveh Plains and northern Syria are refusing to go back because they believe their former Sunni Muslim neighbours were complicit in driving them out, says Middle East analyst and former journalist, Patrick Cockburn, in News Deeply. Christians returning to Nineveh believe Sunni Arab villagers were complicit in “taking their houses, killing and raping people,” he says.Cockburn adds that, in Syrian towns occupied by IS, Christians believe their Sunni Arab neighbours were similarly cooperating with IS and that returning Christians might drive Sunnis out in turn. There’s a “real, very high level of friction and hostility on the ground, which I think is going to be extraordinarily difficult to reverse”, he says.“A longer-term and very dangerous shift in both Iraq and Syria is that communities in general can’t live together any longer.”In November Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana, a priest in the Assyrian Church of the East and head of CAPNI (Christian Aid Program Northern Iraq), said that defeating IS won’t guarantee Christians’ return. “What are the guarantees that it will not happen again?” he asked, noting that Iraqi Christians had been targeted not only since IS’s sudden appearance in 2014 but since the US-led invasion in 2003, after which he said the fabric of Iraq “was broken”.In the decades before IS, more than a million Christians left Iraq, which had turned increasingly hostile towards them, the minority population felt.
    - 13 Mar 17, 1:01pm -
  • ‘Freedom of religion or belief must be protected’
    Countries around the world are urged to act now to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion or belief by a UN expert.The Special Rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed, made his appeal at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, as he set out his priorities for the mandate of freedom of religion or belief, which he took up last November.Mr. Shaheed expressed concern about a rise in the number of incidents of violence - for religiousreasons - by extremist groups, vigilante mobs and others.“State and non-State actors, alike, continue to impose restrictions, or limitations, and engage in targeted harassment, intimidation of, or discrimination against religious minorities, unrecognised religious communities and dissidents, who are often confronted with threats to their freedom, safety and security,” he said.“I am particularly alarmed by continuing reports of mass atrocities and violence that threaten the very existence of religious minority communities, including some groups that have existed for over two millennia.”Mr. Shaheed pointed to a number of mechanisms for the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief that have already been developed, and for which consensus among states already exists. He said his agenda for the next three years would be focused on the implementation of these state obligations.The Special Rapporteur stressed that policies adopted to enhance the capacity of security forces to combat terrorism by limiting fundamental rights (such as freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly) often have dire consequences for the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief.He welcomed efforts to promote that right at national and international levels by governments, parliamentarians, national human rights institutions, human rights and faith-based organisations, and educational institutions.
    - 10 Mar 17, 6:39pm -
  • Iraq urged to allow UN investigation into genocide
    International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has called upon the Iraqi government to allow a UN investigation into the treatment of Yazidis by the so-called Islamic State (IS), reports Reuters.A year ago, the UK Parliament joined US Secretary of State John Kerry, the US House of Representatives, the EU Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in describing the actions of IS (or Da’esh) as genocide. In June last year, UN experts reported that IS militants seek to destroy the Yazidi group, whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions, through murder, sexual slavery, gang rape, torture and humiliation that amounts to genocide.Some religious leaders and other sources, including Vienna-based legal counsel Ewelina Ochab, believe that the campaign of genocide also extends to Christians. Prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, there were 1.4 million Christians in the country. Today there are thought to be fewer than 200,000. World Watch Monitor reported in May last year that Christianity “could disappear” from Iraq and Syria withinfive years, according to Catholic sources. Britain is drafting a UN Security Council resolution to establish an investigation, but Clooney said the Iraqi government needs to send a letter formally requesting the inquiry before the council can vote.Clooney, who represents Yazidi victims of IS, told reporters, “We do want to see an investigation take place with the cooperation of the Iraqi authorities, but ultimately if that support is not forthcoming in terms of real action, then the UN has to think of other ways in which to achieve accountability.”Since 2014, when IS took control of parts of Iraq, Yazidis and Christians have been under severe, and often violent, pressure with many Christians being given four options: to leave, convert to Islam, pay the jiyza (tax), or be killed. A report last October highlighted this accelerated targeting of “disproportionately suffering” Middle East Christians.
    - 10 Mar 17, 1:08pm -
  • Iranian mother and son Christian converts arrested
    An Iranian mother and son who converted to Christianity have been arrested in the north-western province of West Azerbaijan. Anousheh Reza-Bakhsh (known as Veronika) and her son Soheil (known as Augustine) were arrested on 20 February at their home in Urmia, the provincial capital. Mohabat News reports that it is the first known arrest of Christians in the city since 2008. Urmia, with nearly 700,000 inhabitants, is famous for housing the Cathedral of St. Mary the Mother of God, whose origin dates back to the 16th Century. Middle East Concern (MEC) reports that the mother and son, who had become Catholics, were baptised in Istanbul in August last year, after which they returned home and “continued to read and learn about the Christian faith”. Christian material was reportedly found at their home, as Augustine, reported to be a psychology student, had been “a keen follower of online Christian theological training programmes and Christian satellite TV channels”, according to MEC. There has been no further update on their whereabouts or safety, though they are believed to have been taken to an intelligence office of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. They are both reported to have health issues. Iran, which is no. 8 on the 2017 Open Doors World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to live as a Christian, continues to monitor and persecute Christians across the country. Often, detainees are subject to psychological and physical harm by the authorities. Iranian and European human rights and religious rights organisations have urged the international community to use new opportunities for trade with Iran since the nuclear agreement to hold the government there to account over its treatment of Christian converts.
    - 9 Mar 17, 3:23pm -
  • Pope: ‘Persecutors don’t care about denominations’
    Pope Francis has urged all Christians to pray for fellow believers who are persecuted for their faith, saying that “those who persecute them make no distinction between the religious communities to which they belong”.“How many people are being persecuted because of their faith, forced to abandon their homes, their places of worship, their lands, their loved ones!” Francis says in the video that shows three representatives of different denominations: Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox – standing as if in a police line-up accused of a crime. “They are persecuted and killed because they are Christians,” the Pope continues, adding, “I ask you, how many of you pray for persecuted Christians?”The one-minute video, which also includes images of broken religious statues and a burnt-out church, is the latest to be produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and contains his prayer intention for March: the support of persecuted Christians through prayers and material aid from all the Churches.Francis has spoken frequently about an “ecumenism of the blood” to emphasise that persecution is affecting many parts of the Church and should be met with ecumenical solidarity.
    - 8 Mar 17, 2:31pm -