Prayer News | Where Christians Pray Through the News

Prayer List: Mass Starvation Killing Hundreds of Venezuelan Children

Venezuelan selling food in 2012, before the oil prices dropped and the economy failed.

In a heartbreaking news article, The New York Times reports that in 2018 almost 400 Venezuelan children died from starvation at nine public hospitals following emergency room visits.

Dr. Livia Machado told The Times, “Never in my life had I seen so many hungry children.” Dr. Milagros Hernández describes the tragic conditions of her patients, “Children arrive with the same weight and height of a newborn.

Prayer List

* Pray for Venezuela’s starving citizens to receive the food and nutrients they need for physical health.
* Pray for the Holy Spirit to comfort the parents and siblings of children grieving the loss of family members.
* Pray for the physical, emotional and spiritual health of parents, doctors, nurses and other care givers struggling at this time.
* Pray for Venezuela’s political leaders to change their destructive economic policies or be replaced by politicians that will pursue policies that would rebuild the economy.

Unreached People of the Day



Thursday: Magh in Myanmar
Friday: Arab, Jordanian in Canada

Operation World Prayer Focus




Thursday: Global Hot Spots
Friday: The Church Worldwide

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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Baptist Press

  • 586 baptisms one Sunday at McLean Bible Church
    Baptisms were conducted throughout the day at all campuses of McLean Bible Church in northeast Virginia, from 8 a.m. to nearly 7 p.m. with an hour or so afternoon pause. At the end of the Easter 2019 baptism Sunday, at least 586 new believers had symbolically died to sin and risen to a new life in Christ.
    - 2 days ago 23 Aug 19, 8:00pm -
  • High court urged to rectify religious freedom ruling
    The Southern Baptist Convention's church-state entity has joined other religious organizations in urging the Supreme Court to reconsider a nearly 30-year-old decision they say subverted the free exercise of religion.
    - 2 days ago 23 Aug 19, 7:57pm -
  • Girls & boys gain 'world hearts' in mission education
    Mission education for girls and boys seeks "to instill a vision in another generation so they will pass it on."
    - 3 days ago 23 Aug 19, 5:58pm -
  • Tokyo 'vision trips' to introduce Olympics outreach
    Missionaries in Japan are hosting three vision trips in October for those interested in leading mission teams to Tokyo during the 2020 summer Olympics.
    - 3 days ago 23 Aug 19, 3:52pm -
  • When the 'King of Skate' met people with open Bibles
    "The first time on that skateboard, it was love at first sight," Kenya's "King of Skate" Kelvin Murage recounts of a passion now surpassed by a faith that changed his life.
    - 3 days ago 23 Aug 19, 2:49pm -

Berean Research

  • By WHOSE Standard?
    Saints, you’ll want to pay close attention to how the Social Justice Movement has been worming its way into churches of all denominations, but especially into the pews of the Southern Baptist Convention. It’s as if leaders have forgotten that Jesus came as Savior to wipe away our guilt and shame, and are instead demanding […]The post By WHOSE Standard? appeared first on Berean Research.
    - 33 days ago 24 Jul 19, 3:16am -
  • Lou Engel ends “The Call” to usher in Billy Graham’s “mantle”
    Millions of young people around the world are being told that they can soon supernaturally receive the hovering mantle of evangelism from the late Billy Graham, and that this opportunity will be theirs on February 23. Please hear me, Christian, there is no “mantle” from any person dead or alive that we are to activate […]The post Lou Engel ends “The Call” to usher in Billy Graham’s “mantle” appeared first on Berean Research.
    - 28 Jan 19, 9:28pm -
  • Holding on.
    Discernment Ministry. What do you think of when you hear or read that term? Does your nose wrinkle a little? Does your upper lip curl in disgust? A lot of good, solid, caring, sheep-loving discerning writers are being told not to quit their day jobs due to the actions of a few. Whether those actions […]The post Holding on. appeared first on Berean Research.
    - 9 Oct 18, 2:21am -
  • Why we “Mark and Avoid”
    There is a growing trend to dismiss the Bible in a world that says, “you can’t believe a book that’s a couple thousand years old,” as Rob Bell has done. Bell recently made these statements and said that the Church is very close to embracing gay marriage. If you haven’t boldly marked false teachers, people […]The post Why we “Mark and Avoid” appeared first on Berean Research.
    - 5 Oct 18, 7:37pm -
  • Liberation-Not For Everybody
    Youth Testify, a new program launched by Advocates for Youth and the National Network of Abortion Funds is “helping young people advocate for their reproductive rights and reframe the narrative around abortion.” Reframe the narrative? According to Peter Jones, re-framing means that “not a word of warning will be given to young women about the death knell that will forever […]The post Liberation-Not For Everybody appeared first on Berean Research.
    - 2 Oct 18, 4:11pm -

Christian Headlines

Christian Post

Christianity Today

  • America Needed Spies During World War II. Many Missionaries Were Ready and Willing.
    They regretted some of what they were asked to do, but they thought defending democracy was worth it.William Eddy was one of the most effective intelligence officers in American history. During World War II, he was among the first to join the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the nation’s first permanent espionage agency. After the war, he helped found the CIA. He was also a decorated veteran of World War I and, in civilian life, an educator, devoted husband, and father. But none of those roles really captures the true William Eddy: Above all, he was a man of God.Eddy was born in Lebanon in 1896 to Presbyterian missionaries. Raised in the Middle East, he became fluent in Arabic and French and went to college in the United States. After earning a doctorate from Princeton, he went on to teach English at the missionary-founded American University in Cairo and later at Dartmouth. With his linguistic abilities and insider’s knowledge of the region, Eddy was recruited to the OSS by William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the founding father of modern American espionage. Eddy became America’s man in the Middle East, helping make possible the Allied invasion of North Africa in 1942. He acted as an interpreter between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Saudi King Ibn Saud at their meeting in 1945, which established the US-Saudi alliance. Yet no matter where he was, Eddy rarely missed a Sunday service.Eddy’s remarkable career—part missionary, part spy—might seem unusual, but as Matthew Avery Sutton shows in his magnificent new book, Double Crossed: The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the Second World War, it was anything but. The wartime role of American missionaries has largely faded from memory, but Sutton’s entertaining and insightful narrative recovers it in full. ...Continue reading...
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  • The Five Heart Hopes: How God Speaks the Love Language of Our Souls
    God speaks into the unique longings deep within each of us.I was a newly married man when I first heard the phrase ‘The Five Love Languages.’The concept put so much into perspective for me, both for myself and for my understanding of how to love my wife. I’m grateful that I encountered Dr. Gary Chapman’s simple little test that has helped me to see why I need ‘words of affirmation’ in order to feel loved. I understand that my words of affirmation to my wife, however, fall flat and that she doesn’t feel love from me in the same way I do.My wife feels my love when I share ‘acts of service’ with her and my son through ‘quality time’ and my daughters through ‘gifts,’ (of course!). The point is that we all need love—we crave it—but we experience it deep in our souls through different ways. Dr. Chapman has helped the world understand this through a simple and powerful construct—the Five Love Languages!I believe that there is an associated concept to the Five Love Languages that can be equally powerful when it comes to helping people experience God’s love. God, in fact, is fluent in our love language and is striving to make himself known to us in a way that is radically oriented around our deepest soul longing.I believe that every single one of us has a love language and that God speaks it to us in a way that we can understand. In many ways, we cry out to God through our love language with what I call our ‘Heart Hope.’A Heart Hope is a specific type of longing that is associated with our love language. It is the question behind the question, the drive that fuels our lives and, as you probably guessed, there are five of them!I believe these Five Heart Hopes drive us and our ...Continue reading...
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  • The Righteous Gemstones Shines Its Satire on a Televangelist Empire
    For Christians, is the irreverent, unrighteous HBO comedy a laughing matter?For most of my life, pop culture and Christianity have resolved to exist separately together.Though Christ figures and spiritual journeys were common enough pop culture tropes, the entertainment I was drawn to didn’t really concern itself with contemporary Christianity. And the Christianity around me stayed in relative cultural isolation, occasionally creating its own “popular culture” of music, literature, TV, and movies.And mostly, this was a beneficial arrangement, a kind of peaceful truce.Recently, though, as our cultural borders are blurring across spheres of society, the separate peace I enjoyed between the church I love and the entertainment I love began to crumble.Growing up surrounded by both Southern Baptist and prosperity gospel principles, I’ve noticed the ethical fluidity that Christians can apply to money and wealth. Earlier this year, an Instagram account called “PreachersnSneakers” generated a firestorm of reaction when it highlighted certain evangelical pastors and their taste for expensive and culturally fashionable footwear. And for years, a similar ire has surrounded pastors who pay for private jets and mansions.And now, this corner of the evangelical world—which sometimes feels like satire being played out in real life—has made its way to HBO, in its new series, The Righteous Gemstones.Starring Danny McBride, Adam Devine, Edi Patterson, and the incomparable John Goodman, The Righteous Gemstones is a heightened look at a family of evangelical royalty. Think the Kennedys, but less polished, more Southern fried, and strategizing Jesus instead of politics.As the series opens, they’ve just returned from a mission trip to China and they are settling in ...Continue reading...
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  • Your Home Is a Legacy in the Making
    Christie Purifoy invites us to join God in cultivating places of beauty and peace.For years, my friend Kristin privately prayed for a garden with “one towering oak tree,” where she and her husband might create a place for others to rest and retreat. When they recently purchased a home in their native Southern California, the land surrounding it surpassed her own secret desires. Their new home sits on acres of land with lush succulent gardens and is lined with over a dozen mature oak trees. Kristin and her husband envision a property where they might raise their family, but they also want to create space for pastors and writers to connect with God beneath the shelter of thick branches and green leaves. They hope to build a legacy on the land and become rooted as wide and deep as the towering oaks that surround them.When I heard their story, my first instinct was to reach into my bag and press the book I’d been reading into Kristin’s hands. I resisted only because my copy of Christie Purifoy’s book, Placemaker: Cultivating Places of Comfort, Beauty, and Peace, was already covered in inky scribbles. I’d underlined and starred far too many passages (and taken far too many notes) to make this gift a welcome one.In Placemaker, Purifoy explores themes of rootedness and belonging and, as the title suggests, she writes of cultivating places of rest and retreat, of spaciousness and peace. She also muses on the secret life of trees. “A longing fulfilled is a tree of life” Purifoy writes, and Kristin’s new home with its towering oaks comes to mind.Casting Seeds of LoveEach chapter of Placemaker is named for a wood or a specific tree: Saucer Magnolia, Silver Maple, Penn’s Woods, Pine Tree, and so on. “What is placemaking?” she writes. “It ...Continue reading...
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  • Beyond the Outrage: Helping Christians Be Their Best
    I have a new six-week study guide to help you navigate our increasingly polarized culture.We live in a culture saturated in anger, polarization, and tribalism. Every day, there is a new event that ignites a firestorm on social media, in our community, and even across the dinner table.These cycles seem to be getting shorter and more intense with each passing month. For reference, go and look at the headlines in newspapers from a year ago. The stories that evoked mixtures of shock and vitriol are distant memories even as the scars and broken relationships from the insults hurled remain.It is not that these events weren’t important. For many, these events had a massive impact even as the rest of the world moved on.Rather, it seems our world only knows one way to respond to issues so as to treat them as significant: outrage. Nuance, empathy, and exchange are interpreted as weakness. The only way we can convey the importance is by shouting over the crowd. Secure within the echo chambers of our carefully crafted social media feeds, our society seems to be unnervingly willing to demonize anyone outside their walls.Temptations to RageFaced with this anger, it is alarming to watch how easily Christians willfully—if not gleefully—join in. When the volume begins to rise, we match the intensity. More than outliers, I’m convinced we’ve become progressively desensitized to the way we casually and broadly dismiss others. Rather than heed James’ warning, we are quick to anger, refuse to listen, and reserve our love for those who pass certain litmus tests.As I argued in Christians in the Age of Outrage,Outrage is motivated by a desire to punish or destroy rather than reconcile and refine. It is frequently accompanied by hubris and a confidence in its judgement, categorically rejecting any nuance. ...Continue reading...
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Forum 18 News Service

  • KAZAKHSTAN: Years of intrusive questioning
    A Muslim complains of six years' intrusive police questioning about his faith: "These are my personal beliefs they are asking about." The Interior Minister denied that police questioned Yerlan – most recently on 20 July - because of his faith. The Interior Ministry says 23,000 are on a register of adherents of "destructive religious movements". Rights defender Yevgeny Zhovtis says no such category exists in law.
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  • GEORGIA: Who needs a Religion Law?
    Many religious communities and human rights defenders strongly oppose Georgian government plans for a restrictive Religion Law. Instead, they call for resolving freedom of religion and belief problems by implementing recommendations made by the Council of Religions under the Public Defender.
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  • KAZAKHSTAN: Officials try to force registration signature withdrawals
    Officials harassing founders of religious communities, possibly trying to block applications to exist. In May 2019 police began harassing Oskemen's New Life Church founders as it sought re-registration. Officers visited several late at night, threatening one woman in her late 70s. Aktau's Hare Krishna community has faced similar harassment.
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  • TAJIKISTAN: Pensioner faces up to 10 years' imprisonment
    The criminal trial of 68-year-old Jehovah's Witness Shamil Khakimov in Khujand resumes on 20 August. He faces up to 10 years' imprisonment for "inciting religious hatred", charges he denies. Prosecutors claim materials confiscated from him and others contained "features of extremist activity". The investigation revealed a 2016 state "expert analysis" by three Imams claiming the distribution of a Tajik Bible translation causes "confrontation".
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  • KAZAKHSTAN: Eight jailed for up to eight years
    An Almaty Judge jailed eight Muslims for between five and a half and eight years for participating in a WhatsApp religious discussion group which the KNB secret police claimed promoted "propaganda of terrorism" or "inciting hatred". The men denied the charges. The ninth man is due for trial later as he is suffering serious heart problems.
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Get Religion

  • newIs it OK to pray for President Donald Trump’s defeat?
    BRAD ASKS:      I think Trump is a bad president. Is it right of me to pray for his defeat?THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER:Let’s turn Brad’s question around. Will it be proper for others to pray for the defeat of the Democrats’ 2020 nominee? Does this change the answer?The president has provoked the most ferocious pro-and-con political emotions in our lifetimes, so prayers inevitably result. That’s because prayer is a virtually universal phenomenon.We all know the phrase ‘foxhole religion” about desperate situations. How many hardened unbelievers find themselves offering sincere prayers when their child is in the emergency room?  Even under ordinary circumstances, Pew Research polling shows 55 percent of Americans say they pray every day, while an added 21 percent pray regularly but less frequently. Even one-fifth of those without any religious affiliation or identity pray daily!There are countless accounts of favorable responses to prayer, yet how do we understand the many prayers left unanswered? Why do bad things happen to good people despite their prayers? Why do good things happen to evil people who never pray? What happens when, as with election 2020, people pray simultaneously for opposite results a la President Lincoln on the two sides in the Civil War: “Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other.”Mysteries abound. A veteran minister’s newsletter says after a “physical breakdown” and full medical testing last year, doctors concluded he was “exhausted by stress and worry.” He indeed faced major difficulties, but the diagnosis surprised him because he was praying so earnestly. He finally realized “I was simply worrying in the presence of God,” which “wore me out.” His health gradually improved after he learned to relax and simply pray for “strength to persevere,” with “peace in the assurance that God has heard me.”These are among the most complex matters of the human heart, as ancient as the Bible’s Psalms and Book of Job (which provide us no neat formulas).
    - 13 hours ago 25 Aug 19, 7:00pm -
  • Podcast thinking: Millions of Americans have decided that 'religious' equals 'Republican'
    I am so, so sorry to repeat a story that will be oh-so familiar to longtime GetReligion readers. Honest, I apologize in advance.But sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. The subject material requires it.In a way, that’s the Big Idea at the center of this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (click here to tune that in) which returns to one of the biggest religion stories of the late 20th and early 21st centuries — the rise of all of those religiously unaffiliated Americans that headline writers like to call the “Nones.”That’s a religion story. No doubt about it.But it has political implications. No doubt about it.Why is that? Because sometimes ancient religious beliefs have strong political implications in the modern public square.So where are we going to start, once again? Set the the WABAC Machine for the summer of 2008, when a circle of journalists — mostly from Africa and Asia — met in the old Washington Journalism Center seminar room to discuss how religion and politics collide in modern America. The speaker was scholar-pollster John C. Green of the University of Akron and, at that time, the Pew Researcher Center. The line-graph that he drew on the whiteboard that day was packed with insights that would show up in the seismic 2012 Pew study on the rapid rise of the “Nones.”As I wrote, several years ago here at GetReligion: On the right side of the American religious marketplace, defined in terms of doctrine and practice, is a camp of roughly 20 percent (maybe less) of believers who are seriously trying to practice their chosen faith at the level of daily life, said Green. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, there is a growing camp of people who are atheists, agnostics or vaguely spiritual believers who define their beliefs primarily in terms of the old doctrines that they no longer believe. This is especially true when it comes to issues of salvation and sex. As the old saying goes, on these issues these spiritual-but-not-religious believers reject all absolute truths except the statement that there are no absolute truths.This is a natural home for large numbers of the religiously unaffiliated, especially the young.
    - 2 days ago 24 Aug 19, 2:00pm -
  • Is a new centrist coalition possible? Don’t underestimate the Vatican’s power In Italian politics
    he Tiber River cuts through Rome in the shape of a serpent, splitting the ancient city in half.On one side is the Vatican, home to the Catholic Church with the large dome of St. Peter’s Basilica looming over the city’s skyline. Directly across from the Vatican is Palazzo Montecitorio, seat of the Italian parliament. It is a place many Italians despise because it houses bickering politicians.These two forces, within miles of each other, yet far apart in so many other ways, could come into renewed conflict over the coming weeks.Italy’s government was plunged into chaos this past Tuesday when the nationalist-populist coalition that had struck fear across the European establishment fell apart. It means that Italians could be going to the ballot box once again in late October. It’s also a sign of how powerful the Catholic Church remains, mostly behind the scenes, in helping to determine the country’s political outcomes.Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing party known as The League, triggered the political tsunami after he abandoned the anti-establishment Five Star Movement in an effort to force a no-confidence vote and provoke new elections. Ahead of the vote, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that he was resigning, which officially brought the coalition to its knees.The developments of the past week have left a power vacuum that will be filled either in the upcoming elections or if the Five Star Movement creates a ruling coalition with the center-left Democratic Party and several other smaller political factions. Salvini, who had served as the country’s interior minister and deputy prime minister, is pushing for a vote.Salvini’s 40% approval rating — considered high for a country known for its very fractured political system — could very well get him elected prime minister. At the same time, traditional conservatives, led by billionaire-turned-politician Silvio Berlusconi and his Forza Italia party, have seen support eroded as voters increasingly flock to the League.That these political parties, largely rejected by the electorate last year, want to join forces and stop the anti-immigrant League should come as no surprise. Undoubtedly, the Catholic Church will be rooting for such an outcome, favoring a French-style centrist coalition.
    - 2 days ago 23 Aug 19, 9:00pm -
  • Friday Five: RNS staff hirings, LA Times death, Messiah Trump, Pete Buttigieg's faith, Chick-fil-A
    There’s news concerning that $4.9 million Lilly Endowment Inc. grant that will fund 13 new religion journalists at The Associated Press, Religion News Service and The Conversation.RNS announced this week that it has hired three new journalists related to the grant: Roxanne Stone as managing editor, Alejandra Molina as a national reporter and Claire Giangravè as Vatican reporter.In other Godbeat news, the Los Angeles Times reported on the death at age 76 of K. Connie Kang, a pioneering Korean American journalist: Connie Kang covered religion in her final years at The Times. After leaving the paper in 2008, the deeply devout Christian decided to become a minister. She graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2017 and shortly after passed the U.S. Presbyterian Church’s ordination exam. Her dream was to build a Christian school in North Korea.Finally, if you’re interested in how a leading religion journalist approaches her job, check out this podcast featuring the New York Times’ Elizabeth Dias.Now, let’s dive into the Friday Five:
    - 3 days ago 23 Aug 19, 4:22pm -
  • Israel faces a possible turning point on 17th of September, with religion at the heart of it
    While rehashing the Miftah-inspired — www.miftah.org — feud between U.S. Muslim Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib and Israel, U.S. and international media should also be focusing on Israel’s September 17 elections. Vivian Bercovici, Canada’s former ambassador to Israel (in 2014-16), sees a dangerous internal split perhaps unmatched since modern Israel was founded in 1948 – or even since the 1st Century.Media without bureaus in Israel (and that’s most of them) should be planning coverage by in-house staffers or freelance experts before and/or after the vote. They will benefit from Bercovici’s opinion piece in the summer issue of Commentary magazine and Marcy Oster’s objective roundup on the tangled parties and pols for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.Israel, of course, faces endless conflict with Palestinians. But there’s an increasingly troublesome internal struggle involving a minority of “ultra-Orthodox” Haredim (a term meaning those who “tremble” before God), currently 12 percent of the population and growing steadily. (They are distinct from the equally devout Hasidim and the less rigorist modern Orthodox.)The conflict centers on exemption from the military draft for 130,000 Haredi men who study Torah and Talmud full-time. Bercovici, an attorney living in Tel Aviv, contends that the resulting burden on the national population is divisive, unfair and has become ‘financially and ethically unsustainable.”Journalists must note: There is no way to escape the religious issues linked to these conflicts.The system dates from a compromise by the first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who exempted the tiny band of 400 such students to soften resistance by the Orthodox who believed modern Israel should not be founded before the Messiah appeared (as depicted in Chaim Potok’s classic 1967 novel “The Chosen”).
    - 3 days ago 23 Aug 19, 1:00pm -

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

  • newSEU Enrollment Continues to Climb
    Southeastern University has seen enrollment increase by nearly 1,000 students this year as its extension sites continue to increase.
    - 4 hours ago 26 Aug 19, 12:00pm -
  • Fine Arts Family Benefit
    Rap artist comes into a relationship with Christ as a result of connecting with youth ministry.
    - 2 days ago 23 Aug 19, 8:00pm -
  • Inner-City Replanting
    Crisis intervention inspires vision for launching church in urban setting.
    - 4 days ago 22 Aug 19, 3:00pm -
  • Teen Climbs Mountains for Speed the Light
    Drew Marbut, 15, followed God's leading in climbing five towering volcanoes in the Andes Mountains for Speed the Light.
    - 4 days ago 22 Aug 19, 3:00pm -
  • This Week in AG History -- Aug. 22, 1936
    John Hall was miraculously filled with the Spirit and he and his wife, Cuba, went on to be historic AG missionaries in Africa for decades.
    - 4 days ago 22 Aug 19, 12:00pm -

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 StoriesVOM Radio: "When We Say Yes to God"Nate Saint Memorial School: End of an Era"Holy, Holy, Holy" in a Sudanese Prison 
    - 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 Stories"Holy, Holy, Holy" in a Sudanese PrisonPetr Jasek: God Opened the Prison DoorMiddle East Christians "Standing in the Fire" 
    - 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 Asia"Holy, Holy, Holy" in a Sudanese PrisonAfter Arrest, "I Was Terrified" 
    - 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 Use"Holy, Holy, Holy" in a Sudanese PrisonPetr Jasek: God Opened the Prison Door 
    - 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" 
    - 27 Apr 17, 8:14pm -

Religion News Service

  • Photos of the Week
    (RNS) — This week’s gallery includes the Religions for Peace conference in Germany, the largest new mosque in Europe, and more.The post Photos of the Week appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 2 days ago 24 Aug 19, 1:29am -
  • Rev. William Barber calls on Democrats to host debate on poverty, racism
    (RNS) — The progressive activist and pastor called on Democratic Party leaders to do more to address the concerns of poor and low-income Americans.The post Rev. William Barber calls on Democrats to host debate on poverty, racism appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 2 days ago 23 Aug 19, 10:41pm -
  • Glamour and unattainability is out. Spiritual refreshment is in
    (RNS) — Today’s advertisements are designed to evoke different and more numinous emotions: spiritual well-being, an inward journey, a moral sensibility. We’re buying the very things that organized religion used to provide us for free.The post Glamour and unattainability is out. Spiritual refreshment is in appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 3 days ago 23 Aug 19, 6:41pm -
  • Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, announces the appointment of NT Wright as their Senior Research Fellow
    OXFORD, England — Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, today announces that the Wycliffe Hall Council intends to appoint NT Wright (The Rt Revd Prof Nicholas Thomas Wright) as Senior Research Fellow, as of 1 October 2019. NT Wright is currently Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at St Mary’s College, St Andrews in […]The post Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, announces the appointment of NT Wright as their Senior Research Fellow appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 3 days ago 23 Aug 19, 5:19pm -
  • Why Trump — and some of his followers — believe he is the Chosen One
    (RNS) — Trump’s two announcements this week reveal why some evangelicals see him as 'God’s Chosen One' — a King Cyrus-like figure, anointed by God to save America from cultural collapse.The post Why Trump — and some of his followers — believe he is the Chosen One appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 3 days ago 23 Aug 19, 4:56pm -

Today's Creation Moment

  • Recurring Donations

    - 10 Apr 19, 5:10pm -
  • Radio Archivo
    Current Volume: Volumen 196   Volumen 196 Volumen 195 Volumen 194 Volumen 193 Volumen 192 Volumen 191 Volumen 190 Volumen 189 Volumen 188 Volumen 187 Volumen 186 Volumen 185 Volumen 184 Volumen 183 Volumen 182 Volumen 181 Volumen 180 Volumen 179 Volumen  178 Volumen 177 Volumen 176 Volumen 175 Volumen 174 Volumen 173 Volumen 172 Volumen 171 Volumen 170 Volumen 169 Volumen 168 Volumen 167 Volumen 166 Volumen 165 Volumen 164 Volumen 163 Volumen 162 Volumen 161 Volumen 160 Volumen 159 Volumen 158 Volumen 157 Volumen 156 Volumen 155 Volumen 154 Volumen 153 Volumen 152 Volumen 151 Volumen 150 Volumen 149 Volumen 148 Volumen 147 Volumen 146 Volumen 145 Volumen 144 Volumen 143 Volumen 142 Volumen 141 Volumen 140 Volumen 139 Volumen 138 Volumen 137 Volumen 136 Volumen 135 Volumen 134 Volumen 133 Volumen 132 Volumen 131 Volumen 130 Volumen 129 Volumen 128 Volumen 127 Volumen 126 Volumen 125 Volumen 124 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
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United Methodist News Service

  • Filipino United Methodists condemn latest violence
    State terrorism prevails on Negros Island, the Philippines Board of Church and Society said in condemning the latest killings.
    - 3 days ago 22 Aug 19, 8:59pm -
  • As Hong Kong protests continue, so do prayers
    Methodist resident says Christians reach out to both protesters and the government in a spirit of prayer.
    - 4 days ago 22 Aug 19, 6:13pm -
  • Sierra Leone church expands eye care services
    A new state-of-the art surgical facility will allow a United Methodist eye clinic to provide treatment for retinal tears and other eye problems that couldn’t previously be treated in Sierra Leone.
    - 4 days ago 22 Aug 19, 2:52pm -
  • Churches step up to help unemployed miners
    After the sudden bankruptcy of the Blackjewel mining company last month, United Methodists are helping with food, utility bills, school supplies and information.
    - 5 days ago 21 Aug 19, 6:25pm -
  • Gay daughter sent bishop back to Scriptures
    The co-author of the popular Disciple Bible study writes about how learning his daughter is gay led him to examine Scriptures about homosexuality more closely.
    - 5 days ago 21 Aug 19, 2:53pm -

World Magazine

  • mrz082319
    Image: Section: CartoonsDate to Publish: Friday, August 23, 2019 - 17:34 to Sunday, September 22, 2019 - 17:34
    - 2 days ago 23 Aug 19, 9:34pm -
  • A three-day circus
    A three-day circusTransgenderismSexualityLGBTActivismEducationNothing was well at a Trans Wellness Conference in PhiladelphiaSexualityAndrée Seu PetersonNothing is what it seems at the Trans Wellness Conference down at Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Convention Center.Someone brushing past in the hall sports a beard on an angular chin, but also a handbag and heels. A lecturer refers to himself as “they” throughout his (or was it her?) talk on chest “binding.” The brochure says “Wellness,” but no one looks well here. All around are misshapen and untoned bodies; faces marked with dissipation; studied dress that is a couturial assault on the eyes. Scarcely one in the 700 looks appealing. “Conference” is a misnomer too, if to “confer” is to exchange opinions. There is one allowed opinion in this place, as I would test on Day Two, and receive incontrovertible proof of on Day Three. No workshop discusses the ethics of turning males into females and females into males; that cow’s long out of the barn. The Enlightenment is presumed, and the devil has moved to the details—legal strategies; insurance end runs; school infiltration; post-surgical therapies. The legal and medical professions are heavily represented. (“Where there is carrion there the vultures will gather.”) A curriculum sampling:“State and Local Advocacy for TGNC [Trans/Gender Non-Conforming] Youth in Schools”; “Parents of Trans Youth Ages 12 and Under”; “Facial Feminization”; “Tips to Work with Your Health Insurance Company”; “Intersections Between Fashion, Mental and Sexual Health”; “Top and Bottom Surgery”; “Combating Dysphoria Through Fitness”; “Care of the Aging Transgender Person”; “TGNC Youth and Homelessness”; “Self-Massage Techniques for Chronic Pain”; “Packers, STPs, Masturbators, and Sex Toys”; “Becoming an Activist for Trans Rights in School”; “Self-Care Strategies for Trauma and Anxiety in Trans and Non-Binary Bodies”; “Cross Hormone Therapy”; “Hormones and Handcuffs”; “Trans Porn.” Sex play paraphernalia to make ancient Pompeii blush is openly displayed on some of the scores of tables in the vast lobby. Around the corner is the children’s room, where someone blowing soap bubbles into the air reminds me of the Pied Piper, who lured the town of Hamelin’s children from their parents. A flamboyant drag queen reads Red: A Crayon’s Story to enthralled children donning knit rainbow caps and sitting in a circle with their beaming mothers.You, like I, might have thought that gender “transitioning” was a once-and-done thing. Not so. What an outsider is most surprised to learn is the extent of lifelong negative health impacts and medical complications on the other side of transgender surgeries. One session I attend is devoted solely to post-op pelvic issues. As a “body worker” presenter admits, “everything’s connected to everything else.”What an outsider is most surprised to learn is the extent of lifelong negative health impacts and medical complications on the other side of transgender surgeries.So when bits of the forearm are mined for the construction of a penis, nature is not flouted with impunity. Girls “binding” their breasts to minimize them, girls undergoing breast removal, end up with chronic neck pain, scoliosis, loss of range of arm motion, and secondary muscles struggling to perform functions they were never designed for. The “neo-vagina” must be continually kept open or it will reclose. I cannot scratch the surface of issues here.During the presentation by a New York librarian, kindergarten teacher, and author of children’s illustrated trans books, I raise my hand at the back of the room: “Aren’t you concerned that you are not so much responding to 5-year-olds’ felt needs as creating them by planting suggestions? Now that ‘trans’ is becoming cool, don’t you worry about a bandwagon effect?” The room is collectively appalled. His smile fades and he says, “No. Next question,” and moves on.Two questioners later, evidently still piqued, he comes out with the most revealing statement of the three-day circus: “As for the concern that a child might decide to become a trans in imitation of another child, … SO WHAT?”On Day Three I mosey over to a table where I might find common ground: United Methodist Church. A middle-aged man and woman smile and offer me literature. I smile back and ask if they have heard of John Wesley. This begins a conversation whose ensuing half hour must be condensed for purposes of this column, but in short I find myself being pursued down the crowded hallway by two security agents, accused of homophobia, transphobia, and racism, and escorted to the exit. I stop outside and breathe fresh air.TransgenderismVoicesEditor's Notes:  NotesUpdated byChangedCreated https://www.facebook.com/PhillyLGBTGov/photos/a.1862926727297712/2357816971142016/?type=3&theaterrachelfbeatty08/23/2019 - 16:0408/23/2019 - 16:04
    - 2 days ago 23 Aug 19, 8:04pm -
  • Ginsburg treated for cancer
    Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent treatment for a malignant, localized tumor on her pancreas recently, the Supreme Court announced Friday. She received three weeks of radiation therapy starting Aug. 5 and had a bile duct stent placed. No evidence of cancer remains, but doctors will continue to monitor her health.Is she going to be OK? The 86-year-old liberal justice has survived three previous bouts with cancer. Most recently, she had surgery for lung cancer in December 2018. The high court said in a statement she is cancer-free and only missed her planned summer trip to Sante Fe, N.M.Image: Category: Supreme CourtArticle Title: Ginsburg treated for cancerKeywords: PoliticsSupreme CourtCourtsHealthMedicineAuthor: Lynde Langdon
    - 2 days ago 23 Aug 19, 7:59pm -
  • Fighting for China
    Political protests and unrest in Hong Kong have engulfed Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of Mulan.Last week, actress Crystal Liu Yifei, who stars in the film, charged into the debate over the clash between Hong Kong police and pro-democracy protesters. “I support Hong Kong’s police, you can all attack me up now,” Liu wrote to her 65 million followers on Weibo, the Twitter-like, Chinese government–sanctioned social media platform. The Chinese-born American actress shared a meme quoting Fu Guohao, a Chinese state journalist Hong Kong protesters bound and beat up, saying “What a shame for Hong Kong,” with #IAlsoSupportTheHongKongPolice.Supporters of the Hong Kong democracy movement quickly started a #BoycottMulan campaign that was trending on Twitter by Friday. The movie is not set to release until March 2020. Some protesters have indicated they might stage a sit-in at the Hong Kong Disneyland as early as this weekend.Meanwhile, official Chinese news outlets publicly praised Liu, promoting a separate #SupportMulan campaign and slogans like “Defend justice, support Mulan.” On Monday, Twitter and Facebook announced they had deleted 200,000 fake social media accounts from their platforms, including hundreds associated with the Mulan boycott, to combat what they called a Chinese government–backed misinformation campaign to discredit the Hong Kong protests.Since June, millions of Hong Kong residents have protested Beijing’s encroachment on the territory’s semiautonomous status. The protests began in response to a bill that would have made it easier to expedite criminal suspects to mainland China, but demonstrations only intensified after the government cracked down and police used force against the young protesters.Now Mulan, a movie about a Chinese warrior fighting injustice, is becoming a mascot for the world’s biggest communist regime. Disney, so far, has remained silent about the controversy. Siding with Hong Kong’s protesters would jeopardize its growing stake in China’s entertainment industry, which accounted for 22 percent of the studio’s $2.8 billion in worldwide ticket sales for the recent box-office hit Avengers: Endgame.“Disney can’t support the protesters because their business in China is too important,” Stanley Rosen, a professor at the University of Southern California who specializes in the Chinese entertainment industry, told The Hollywood Reporter. “But they obviously can’t be seen as pandering too much to China either … that could backfire as well, depending on how the situation in Hong Kong unfolds.”Indeed, the Beijing-aligned Global Times warned Disney it “simply cannot afford the consequence of disrespecting Chinese people’s feelings,” and if the studio removes Liu from Mulan, it “will lose a potential 1.4 billion Chinese audience.”Liu, a household name in China, joined a handful of celebrities who have recently expressed pro-Beijing and pro-police sentiments, including Hong Kong natives Tony Leung Ka-fai and Jackie Chan and Chinese K-Pop singers Lay Zhang, Jackson Wang, Lai Kuan-lin, and Victoria Song. Chan, a Hong Kong hero, told China state broadcaster CCTV the Hong Kong protests were “heartbreaking and worrying for many” and pledged his support for a social media campaign protecting China’s national flag from desecration.Those public pronouncements are part of a growing wave of celebrities and companies facing pressure to toe the line politically for mainland China due to its massive lucrative market. Liu and others also represent a surge of patriotism among young Chinese who have been fed pro-communist propaganda.“If things polarize even further in Hong Kong and China resorts to even greater violence to assert its authority, it will become much harder for [Disney] not to get dragged into it,” Rosen said. Associated Press/Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision (file) Sean Spicer Dancing with controversyFormer White House press secretary Sean Spicer joins the next cast of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, and he “may or may not be treating this like a campaign,” he told the hosts of a Washington, D.C., radio show. “We’ve got people we know on lists of supporters on email that have bought my book or have stayed in touch through my website SeanSpicer.com, where people can sign up. … So that they understand, here’s when the voting opens, here’s the number you call, etc., etc.”A vocal internet mob has skewered ABC for casting the politically divisive Spicer, a key White House figure during the early “fire and fury” days of the Trump administration. Anti-Trump Twitter pundits accuse the television network of “rewarding,” “elevating,” and “normalizing” Spicer. But anyone who thinks that going on Dancing With the Stars elevates a celebrity’s career has been reading fake news. For most participants, it’s the last stop on the way to obscurity. —Lynde Langdon At the moviesThe team of brothers behind the Christian flicks Fireproof, Courageous, and War Room have a new feature premiering this weekend, Overcomer. Based on the trailer, the film looks to have the same premise as the Kendrick brothers’ 2006 movie, Facing the Giants: A middle-aged, semi-depressed high school coach, played by Alex Kendrick, tries to reinvigorate a struggling sports team with the help of God—but this time the team is a single cross-country runner, not a football squad. Since Facing the Giants came out more than a decade ago—before iPhones, Twitter, or Obamacare came into being—it makes sense to give the story a makeover. The Kendricks are known for high production value, and their latest movie, War Room, grossed $74 million worldwide and was the No. 1 film at U.S. box offices the second weekend it was out. —L.L. Nice work if you can get itA former employee of actor Robert De Niro could owe big bucks after allegedly watching 31 hours of Netflix in eight days while on the clock. De Niro’s Canal Productions is suing the former vice president, Chase Robinson, for mismanaging tens of thousands of dollars. The lawsuit accuses her of cramming in 55 episodes of Friends during work hours one week and 30 episodes of Arrested Development and Schitt’s Creek another. She also spent loads on fancy meals, Uber rides, and groceries at Whole Foods. The suit seeks $6 million in damages. —L.L. Image: Deck: <em>Mulan</em> actress drags Disney into Hong Kong controversyCategory: Culture & ArtsKeywords: EntertainmentMediaMoviesInternationalChinaHong KongProtestBusinessTelevisionPoliticsWhite HouseChristianitySlug: EntertainmentArticle Title: Fighting for ChinaAuthor: Mary JacksonDigital Branding: MuseHide from Archive?: 0
    - 2 days ago 23 Aug 19, 7:46pm -
  • What parents should know about teen vaping
    Health officials across the country are reporting severe breathing illnesses in teens and young adults who use e-cigarettes, or vape. Doctors have hospitalized as many as 50 people in at least six states for a condition that resembles an inhalation injury, in which the body reacts to a caustic substance that someone breathed in. Patients report shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, and vomiting.News of those illnesses adds to mounting evidence that vaping causes severe harm, especially to young people. A study released this week found just a few puffs on a nicotine-free e-cigarette damages blood vessels, adding to previous research findings that vaping increases signs of inflammation and tissue injury. Another recent study showed young people who vape are more than three times as likely to use marijuana than those who don’t use e-cigarettes. Researchers said the findings, reported earlier this month in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, support the theory that exposure to an addictive substance like nicotine rewires a developing brain and makes it more sensitive to other substances.“It tends to seek a thrilling, rewarding sensation,” Nicholas Chadi, the study’s lead author and a fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, told CNN. “And so other substances like marijuana become more appealing.”Many teens vape to self-medicate amid rising rates of depression and anxiety, said Michelle Cretella, the executive director of the American College of Pediatricians. While social media and cellphones enable connection to virtual friends, she said, they also paradoxically isolate young people: “This technology, combined with the ongoing decline of the nuclear family and the typical pressures associated with adolescence, has led to a mental health crisis among our youth unlike any other.”Cretella said parents looking for signs their child could be vaping should pay attention to what they eat and drink, as well as physical symptoms. Vaping removes moisture from the skin of the mouth and throat, often leading to increased thirst. It also causes “vaper’s tongue,” a condition in which e-cigarette users perceive food as less flavorful and crave more salty and spicy things. Vaping also can cause nosebleeds, acne in otherwise clear skin, and coughing and wheezing.E-cigarette companies argue their battery-powered products are intended to help adults stop smoking cigarettes, but their easy-to-conceal design and fun flavors have led to an epidemic of nicotine addiction in teenagers.The vaping industry sued the U.S. government last week to delay an upcoming review of its products. The legal challenge, filed in U.S. District Court in Kentucky, is the latest hurdle in the Food and Drug Administrations’ push to regulate the multibillion-dollar industry. In June, a federal judge pushed up a deadline for e-cigarette companies to submit products for federal review.Cretella said adults, especially parents, need to communicate to young people there is no way to “smoke safe.” And in a world where space for family conversations is dwindling, one practical way to fight vaping is for families to eat together. “The family table is an effective way to maintain family connectedness which will protect your teen’s mental health,” she said. Getty Images/Photo by Drew Angerer A transgender activist on the steps of New York City Hall A father’s cryAn Illinois father penned a heartfelt editorial in USA Today this week lamenting his thwarted efforts to get help for his transgender-identifying child who is on the autism spectrum.Jay Keck detailed how his 14-year-old daughter, who had never exhibited any previous gender dysphoria, suddenly declared she was transgender after meeting another female student at her high school who said she was identifying as the opposite sex. Despite the fact Keck’s daughter had clear and documented underlying mental health conditions, her school embraced the new identity without informing Keck or his wife. School administrators also began referring to her by a male name and male pronouns. Once the girl told her parents she was identifying as transgender, Keck and his wife requested the school call her by her legal name, but administrators ignored their plea.Keck’s story embodies the cost of an ideology that refuses to acknowledge the role of peer pressure and mental health problems in spiking rates of transgender-identifying youth. After a school-approved psychologist examined the girl, he told her parents it was clear that underlying mental health conditions drove her sudden transgender identity. But the psychologist refused to share that conclusion with the school district, fearing backlash under the state’s “conversion therapy” ban.“Now, thanks in large part to my daughter’s school, my daughter is more convinced than ever that she is a boy and that testosterone may be necessary for her to become her authentic self,” wrote Keck, adding his now-18-year-old daughter can access testosterone injections at any one of Illinois’ 17 Planned Parenthood facilities. “No extensive mental health assessment will be required, and there will be nothing I can do to stop her.” —K.C. Associated Press/Photo by Dan Anderson (file) A Drag Queen Story Hour at a public library in Mobile, Ala. Common sensePublic library officials in Wichita, Kan., failed to pass a proposal this week that would have required library presenters, including so-called “drag queens,” to undergo background checks for past sex offenses. The proposal, submitted by a local pastor, comes almost a year after the city’s downtown library hosted a controversial Drag Queen Story Hour event that drew more than 220 adults and children but also sparked protests. At a meeting on Tuesday, the library board generally agreed it should check the background of presenters but disagreed about whether it would allow registered sex offenders to present in some circumstances, The Wichita Eagle reported. —K.C. Back to courtA Virginia school board said late last week it intends to appeal a federal court ruling that forces it to allow students to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their self-declared gender identity. The Gloucester County School Board had established a policy requiring students to use either a private restroom or the facility corresponding to their biological sex for the protection of their privacy and safety. On Friday, the board said it is complying with the order “while it pursues an appeal.” —K.C. Image: Deck: The Food and Drug Administration warns of a youth health crisis Category: Family & SocietyKeywords: FamilySocietyDrugsHealthSexualityTransgenderismAutismMental illnessChildrenCourtsSlug: FamilyArticle Title: What parents should know about teen vapingAuthor: Kiley CrosslandDigital Branding: RelationsHide from Archive?: 0
    - 3 days ago 23 Aug 19, 6:54pm -

World Watch Monitor