Prayer News | Where Christians Pray Through the News

Prayer List: Covid-19 Global Menace

Cases of Covid-19, the Wuhan Coronoavirus, have been reported in more than 200 nations and more than 80,000 people have died. – Stats from Wikipedia

Orders to stay at home are preventing normal funeral services for the victims. Some families and friends of the deceased are experiencing deep depression.

Severe economic problems are also on the horizon for the unemployed.

Prayer List

  • Pray for the Holy Spirit to comfort the families and friends of people that have died from Covid-19.
  • Pray for a rapid recovery for those who are sick.
  • Pray for safety for doctors, nurses and family members caring for the sick.
  • Pray for financial needs to be met for people financially struggling after losing a job or receiving fewer work hours.
  • Pray for the spiritual needs of people to also be met.
  • Pray for opportunities to share God’s love and hope to people that are depressed from these circumstances.

Latest News

Courts

Entertainment

Missions

Politics

Pro-Life

Prayer Concerns

Videos

World

Religious News Websites

Assemblies of God News

Baptist Press

Christian Headlines

Christian Newswire

  • newBilly Graham Evangelistic Association Marks 10 Years of Spreading the Gospel Online Through 'Search for Jesus'
    NEWS PROVIDED BYBilly Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA)Aug. 8, 2022CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 8, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- Search for Jesus, the internet evangelism ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), marked a milestone this month as it reached its tenth year of impacting the world online.In 2012, Search for Jesus was launched as a ministry where website users could not only find the truth of the Gospel but also interact with trained volunteers to ask questions o Source: Billy Graham Evangelistic Assoc.
    - 30 mins ago 8 Aug 22, 10:09pm -
  • new109 Organizations Honored as 'Certified Best Christian Workplaces'
    NEWS PROVIDED BYBest Christian Workplaces Institute (BCWI) Aug. 8, 2022MERCER ISLAND, Wash., Aug. 8, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, Best Christian Workplaces Institute (BCWI) honors 109 faith-based organizations and Christian-owned businesses as Certified Best Christian Workplaces in the first half of 2022.These workplaces reported strong satisfaction with team dynamics, even during a season when external research reveals the prevalence of isolation and disconnection at work. What's Source: Best Christian Workplaces Institute
    - 4 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 6:57pm -
  • newChristian Defense Coalition Celebrates Historic First Amendment Victory at the US Capitol
    NEWS PROVIDED BYChristian Defense CoalitionAug. 8, 2022WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- For the first time in 18 months, permits are being granted for free speech activities on the grounds of the US Capitol. Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, was told at the end of July by the US Capitol Police, permits would once be given for free speech events at the Capitol. For 18 months, Rev. Patrick Mahoney and the Christian Defense Coalition were Source: Christian Defense Coalition
    - 6 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 4:18pm -
  • newGiving Company Announces Acquisition of Church Fuel
    NEWS PROVIDED BYGiving CompanyAug. 8, 2022ALPHARETTA, Ga., Aug. 8, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- Giving Company is pleased to announce it has signed a letter of intent to acquire another well-known digital content brand, Church Fuel. An Atlanta-based company, Church Fuel provides online memberships for local churches throughout the country, equipping pastors and church leaders with real-world training and resources that produce eternal impact on their communities."We are excited to add Churc Source: EPIC
    - 7 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 4:00pm -
  • U.S. Marine Granted Emergency Relief From Discharge and Eviction
    NEWS PROVIDED BYLiberty CounselAug. 5, 2022 TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 5, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- Within two hours of Liberty Counsel's request, Judge Steven Merryday granted a temporary restraining order for a U.S. Marine First Lieutenant to stop the Department of Defense from ordering administrative separation and eviction from his home for merely requesting an accommodation of his sincere religious beliefs. The military has forced the First Lieutenant, who is a Supply Of Source: Liberty Counsel
    - 3 days ago 5 Aug 22, 10:37pm -

Christian Post

Christian Research Network

  • newWhy The Gospel Coalition Is A Defeated Organization
    “The Gospel Coalition is waving the white flag to the culture. They are also in desperate retreat in ecclesiastical battles. The fact that we are talking about 2021 bad takes instead of 2022 bad takes isn’t because The Gospel Coalition … Continue reading →
    - 5 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 5:18pm -
  • newRemembering the Pandemic Insanity
    MUST WATCH video at the end of the article. :) (Mary Dowling – Independent Sentinel) Sen. Rubio put in an amendment today to limit the federal pregnancy programs to women, and all 50 Senate Democrats voted against it. That’s the … Continue reading →
    - 6 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 4:31pm -
  • newBeth Moore Preaches Sunday Morning at Baptist Megachurch in Houston, Belittles Her Husband
    (The Dissenter) Beth Moore’s feud with the Southern Baptist Convention didn’t last long. After last year’s departure from the denomination, because it would not allow women to preach in pulpits, she announced that she was “no longer a Southern Baptist” … Continue reading →
    - 7 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 3:54pm -
  • newGaslighting: How the Mainstream Media Tries to Drive You to the Left
    “Witness the weeping and gnashing of teeth over the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and the supposed slippery slope of rights reversals that are sure to come. And how many times has someone in the media told you … Continue reading →
    - 8 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 2:46pm -
  • The Law against Theft
    “You shall not steal.” Exodus 30:15 Some of the most important aspects of life, including the purchase of property, inheritances, and so forth, involve financial matters. Thus, we are not surprised to find that God’s law deals with such things … Continue reading →
    - 2 days ago 7 Aug 22, 4:15am -

Christian Sentinel

  • The United States of Israel: America in End Times Prophecy
    Controversial Book Impacts Traditional EschatologyThe post The United States of Israel: America in End Times Prophecy appeared first on The Christian Sentinel.
    - 58 days ago 11 Jun 22, 2:49pm -
  • ‘The Inevitable Collapse of the Auto Industry’ by Jackie Alnor and Joni Finkle
    The transportation industry is under tremendous pressure from the WEF/NWO in the real or imagined war on climate change. It doesn't take a genius to see the writing on the wall when passing by car dealerships with lots almost empty of cars for sale.The post ‘The Inevitable Collapse of the Auto Industry’ by Jackie Alnor and Joni Finkle appeared first on The Christian Sentinel.
    - 73 days ago 28 May 22, 2:31am -
  • NEW BOOK NOW ON AMAZON
    FROM THE FORMER DIRECTOR OF RAPTURE READY RADIO “There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; and hid that shall not be known.” Prophecy…The post NEW BOOK NOW ON AMAZON appeared first on The Christian Sentinel.
    - 87 days ago 13 May 22, 4:36pm -
  • Charisma’s 25th Anniversary Hall of Shame (Repost from the year 2000)
    Charisma Magazine's 25th Anniversary edition looks at the legacy of those who have graced its covers.  The list is a Who's Who of people who have brought shame to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The post Charisma’s 25th Anniversary Hall of Shame (Repost from the year 2000) appeared first on The Christian Sentinel.
    - 22 Oct 21, 2:53pm -
  • Stephen Strang in the Pits (2006 article I wrote posted by request)
    Do you think Jesus would be happy with Mr. Strang, selling out the Church for the almighty dollar?The post Stephen Strang in the Pits (2006 article I wrote posted by request) appeared first on The Christian Sentinel.
    - 22 Oct 21, 2:25pm -

Christianity Today

  • newBaby Blues: How to Face the Church’s Growing Fertility Crisis
    If current rates continue, most religious communities in America will shrink by more than half within three generations. But nondenominational Christianity might buck the trend.Birth rates in the United States are near record lows, but not for everyone.Under the surface of the fertility decline is a little-noticed fact: Births have declined much more among nonreligious Americans than among the devout.Data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) from 1982 to 2019, along with data from four waves of the Demographic Intelligence Family Survey (DIFS) from 2020 to 2022, point to a widening gap in fertility rates between more religious and less religious Americans.In recent years, the fertility gap by religion has widened to unprecedented levels. But while this difference may comfort some of the faithful who hope higher fertility rates will ultimately yield stable membership in churches and synagogues, these hopes may be in vain. Rates of conversion into unfaith are too high, and fertility rates too low, to yield stable religious populations.Past religious fertilitySince 1982, the NSFG has asked respondents about their religious attendance and their recent fertility history. In recent years, it has operated as a continuous annual survey.As a result, data from over 70,000 women surveyed from 1982 to as recently as 2019 can be used to estimate fertility rates for three broad groups of women: those without any religious affiliation, those with religious affiliation but less than weekly attendance, and those with at least weekly attendance.Total fertility rates are estimated by using a given group’s current birth rates by age to guess how many children a woman would end up having over the course of her life. In practice, however, birth rates shift as women get older, and of course religious identity can change over time, as well, so fertility measures of this kind are unlikely to perfectly ...Continue reading...
    - 10 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 1:00pm -
  • The Hardship Is Plentiful But the Workers Aren’t Few: Evangelicals Unite on Ukraine
    20 European groups join as focus shifts to the internally displaced and their long-term trauma.Her mother died of cancer. Her father was killed in the war. When her home in Donetsk was destroyed by a Russian missile, retreating Ukrainian troops brought the eight-year-old orphan and her grandparents and uncle to volunteers serving with the Chernivtsi Bible Seminary (CBS), 680 miles to the west.Their only possessions were the clothes on their backs.Resettled in temporary housing, last month the uncle was called back to the front lines. The girl has been sent to a Christian camp, and the seminary—serving as a ministry hub for the internally displaced—is doing what it can to assist.“We did not think that serving a refugee is such a complicated process,” said Vasiliy Malyk, CBS president. “But no matter how difficult it may be, we can help them at least with some dignity.”It is a team effort, and once tallied the numbers both stagger and pale in comparison to the need.The Alliance for Ukraine Without Orphans (AUWO) has mobilized 3,000 volunteers to provide temporary housing for 6,000 people, mostly women and children. It has evacuated 38,000—more than two-thirds of which have been orphans. Nearly 59,000 people have received some sort of humanitarian aid.“When the war started, everyone was focused on responding,” said Ruslan Maliuta, a former AUWO president and current network liaison for One Hope. “But then we realized the war is going to last, the crisis is huge, and the response will require us all to work together.”To do so, in April the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) launched The Response—Ukraine Special Taskforce (TRUST), with Maliuta as its leader. AUWO united with Ukraine’s Baptists, Pentecostals, and seven other national church and ...Continue reading...
    - 3 days ago 5 Aug 22, 4:05pm -
  • Nondenominational Churches Are Adding Millions of Members. Where Are They Coming From?
    It’s not mainline traditions anymore. Over the last decade Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and every other Protestant family has declined except for those who say they are nondenominational.The 2020 US Religion Census, due out later this year, tallied 4,000 more nondenominational churches than in 2010, and nondenominational church attendance rose by 6.5 million during that time.At the same time, mainline Protestant Christianity is collapsing following five decades of declines. In the mid-1970s, nearly a third of Americans were affiliated with denominations like the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, and the Episcopal Church. But now, just one in ten Americans are part of the mainline tradition.In 2021, nondenominational Protestants in the United States outnumbered mainline Protestants. But what is causing this tremendous shift in the church landscape?In the General Social Survey, Americans are asked about the religion they were raised in and then their current tradition. Mainline traditions have struggled for decades to retain believers born into their churches. In the 1970s, about three-quarters of those raised mainline would still belong to mainline churches as adults. In the 2010s, the share who stayed mainline had declined to just over half (55%).Of the 45 percent of the mainline who leave, some end up in evangelical congregations; however, the evangelical share did not increase between the 1980s and the 2010s. Instead, the bigger story is that the portion of those who leave the mainline and become a religious “none”—claiming no faith or no tradition in particular—has tripled since the 1970s, from 6 percent to nearly 20 percent in the most recent data. Thus, there’s not a lot of evidence that ...Continue reading...
    - 3 days ago 5 Aug 22, 4:00pm -
  • Moral Failings in the Pulpit Lead to Moral Injury in the Pews
    Church and pastoral abuse can trigger a unique form of PTSD.I first encountered the concept of moral injury during my MDiv program at the University of Chicago in an anthropology class called Humans After Violence.The MDiv program required each of us to intern at a site of our choosing for the middle year of the program, and I’d opted to work with the clergy at my church. Earlier that year, our church had discovered reports of our priest’s abuse of power, and he was removed from leadership.Initially, my school supervisors worried it might be a bad idea for me to work at a church where so many of us still felt betrayed and uncertain. But I wanted to conduct my internship at a church that was asking questions about how to do community and how to steward power well—rather than at a church that could gloss over these conversations simply because they were functioning better.Halfway through the internship, I signed up for the class hoping it would help me understand what our community was experiencing. The professor told us she aimed to explore “where violence leaves us—or rather, how violence doesn’t leave us.”Through examining various case studies, I learned that trauma is not necessarily about the way someone is hurt but about how they carry their hurt. I also discovered that the concept of PTSD was developed by mental health professionals who worked with Vietnam veterans.What captured me the most, though, was the concept of moral injury—a term developed by these military therapists after they noticed that some classic PTSD symptoms in vets were sparked not by a reminiscence of physical threat to life but by a profound violation of their moral sensibilities. Moral injury could occur, for instance, after obeying a trusted superior’s ...Continue reading...
    - 3 days ago 5 Aug 22, 4:00pm -
  • The Body of Christ Keeps Score
    Only revival with reformation can heal the American church from its spiritual trauma.This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here.This past week’s bonus episode of CT’s The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast featured a conversation between my colleague Mike Cosper and therapist Aundi Kolber about the effects spiritual trauma can have on one’s body.The dialogue has haunted me ever since because it’s prompted me to ask whether American Christianity has experienced collectively how some experience trauma individually—and whether that might provoke us to consider what we are asking for when we pray for “revival.”In the interview, Mike asked how someone who has experienced a spiritually toxic environment could begin to heal. Kolber—referencing work such as Bessel van der Kolk’s influential book The Body Keeps the Score—says she begins not with how a traumatized person thinks about a situation but, first, with what that person’s body is showing.That’s because, she argues, we can numb our perception to realities that we don’t know how to make sense of. But, she says, the nervous system often points the way—signaling that something is wrong by manifesting a variety of symptoms, sometimes long before the mind is ready to acknowledge that there might be a problem.It’s important to recognize this, Kolber says, and to not speed through healing from trauma. Often people want a checklist of ways to recover from a horrible situation—including spiritual abuse or trauma—so they can “move on” quickly with their lives.But the path to healing is not so simple, she argues. It usually requires a slower, more deliberate attempt at grounding and sorting through what happened. This is ...Continue reading...
    - 4 days ago 4 Aug 22, 8:00pm -

Forum 18 News Service

  • BELARUS: Fined for river baptisms, fined for private garden baptisms
    Without facilities at Gomel's Living Faith Church, Pastor Dmitry Podlobko held river baptisms in late 2021 without state permission. He was fined two days' average wage and his Church was warned. So he held baptisms in July 2022 in his garden. Police summoned him and a court fined him two weeks' average wage. Asked whether Podlobko would have been punished had he and his friends been swimming, Police Chief Vasili Kravtsov responded: "They weren't swimming in the pool. This was a religious ritual. They are completely different."
    - -
  • RUSSIA: Government pressure on religious leaders to support Ukraine war
    The government has pressured religious leaders to support Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine, and prosecuted and fined religious believers and leaders who publicly oppose the war. Lutheran Bishop Dietrich Brauer and Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt left Russia in March after resisting state pressure to support the war. The FSB security service warned local religious leaders, including at least three Protestant pastors individually in one region. "Such warnings don't take place now," a pastor told Forum 18 in July. "Those [March warnings] were enough for everyone."
    - -
  • UZBEKISTAN: Judge jails Muslim as he "read literature .. spread his beliefs .. met others"
    A Bukhara Region court jailed 47-year-old Bobirjon Tukhtamurodov for 5 years 1 month for participating in a group that met to study the works of Muslim theologian Said Nursi. Judge Akrom Rakhimov told Forum 18 that prisoner of conscience Tukhtamurodov was jailed as: "He not only read literature, but spread his beliefs and met others." He had returned from exile in Russia after Uzbekistan's regime told him he would not be jailed.
    - -
  • TAJIKISTAN: Banned from wearing mourning clothes, arrested, tortured
    The regime targets women who dress as they choose, including wearing hijab. "I don't want to stop wearing the hijab, so I try to avoid the police," one told Forum 18. Many Islamic rites and ceremonies are banned, including mourning customs. On 27 June police stopped Elobat Oghalykova for wearing a black dress to mark one of her sons' death, took her to a police station and tortured her. After she and her son made formal complaints, police threatened both with 15 days' jail.
    - -
  • TAJIKISTAN: Prisoner of conscience still denied proper medical care
    71-year-old prisoner of conscience Shamil Khakimov – whose health continues to decline - is now losing his eyesight. The regime refuses to provide needed medical care and release him. Prison Governor Jamoliddin Khushbakhtzoda insists that Khakimov's health is fine, and denies knowledge of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Mandela Rules): "What Rules are you talking about? I haven't heard of these Rules." At least 5 other prisoners of conscience are jailed for exercising freedom of religion or belief.
    - -

Get Religion

  • newReligious Left returns to RFRA: Washington Post explores a crucial Florida abortion showdown
    For 18 years, GetReligion has argued that mainstream news organizations need to pay more attention to the Religious Left. Yes, I capitalized those words, just like the more familiar Religious Right.The Religious Right has been at the heart of millions news stories (2,350,000 or so Google hits right now, with about 61,600 in current news). The Religious Left doesn’t get that much ink (322,000 in Google and 2,350 or so in Google News), in part — my theory — because most journalists prefer the word “moderate” when talking about believers in the small, but still media-powerful world of “mainline” religion.But there is a church-state legal story unfolding in Florida that cries out for coverage of liberal believers — with an emphasis on the details of their doctrines and traditions, as opposed to politics. Doctrines are at the heart of a story that many journalists will be tempted to cover as more post-Roe v. Wade politics.I suspect, if and when this story hits courts (even the U.S. Supreme Court), journalists will need to do their homework (#FINALLY) on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The big question: What does religious liberty (no “scare quotes”) look like from a Unitarian point of view? Hold that thought.First, here is the headline on a long Washington Post feature: “Clerics sue over Florida abortion law, saying it violates religious freedom.” Here is the overture: When the Rev. Laurie Hafner ministers to her Florida congregants about abortion, she looks to the founding values of the United Church of Christ, her lifelong denomination: religious freedom and freedom of thought. She taps into her reading of Genesis, which says “man became a living being” when God breathed “the breath of life” into Adam. She thinks of Jesus promising believers full and abundant life. “I am pro-choice not in spite of my faith, but because of my faith,” Hafner says. She is among seven Florida clergy members — two Christians, three Jews, one Unitarian Universalist and a Buddhist — who argue in separate lawsuits … that their ability to live and practice their religious faith is being violated by the state’s new, post-Roe abortion law. The law, which is one of the strictest in the country, making no exceptions for rape or incest, was signed in April by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), in a Pentecostal church alongside antiabortion lawmakers such as the House speaker, who called life “a gift from God.” The lawsuits are at the vanguard of a novel legal strategy arguing that new abortion restrictions violate Americans’ religious freedom, including that of clerics who advise pregnant people.
    - 7 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 3:33pm -
  • newPlug-In: Five news takeaways as Kansas keeps abortion rights In its constitution
    Catholic churches and dioceses in Kansas spent millions of dollars in support of a referendum to remove the right to abortion from the state’s constitution.But in America’s first big post-Roe test, this ballot measure failed — and by a wide margin — with nearly three in five voters opposing it.Given the Sunflower State’s solid conservative credentials, the referendum’s defeat might qualify as Kansas’ second-biggest upset in recent memory (college football fans won’t soon forget No. 1).What exactly happened? Here are five takeaways:1. Yes, Kansas has a history of voting for conservative Republicans, particularly for president. But its political leanings are more complicated.On the one hand, the New York Times’ Mitch Smith and Katie Glueck note: While Kansas has a history of voting for governors of both parties, the state almost always backs Republicans for president — Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 was a notable exception. It is a largely white state and many Kansans identify as Christians, with a sizable evangelical constituency. Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kan., has long been a hero to many conservative Catholics for his ardent opposition to abortion, contraception and gay marriage.But on the other hand, Kansas State University political scientist Brianne Heidbreder points to Kansas’ political unpredictably dating back to 1861, when it became the 34th state.Heidbreder spoke to the New York Times’ Maggie Astor: “While it is a very conservative state, there is a large proportion of the electorate that really considers itself moderate,” Dr. Heidbreder added. Patrick Miller, an associate professor of political science at the University of Kansas, pointed to a crucial distinction: “We’re more Republican than we are conservative.”
    - 10 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 1:00pm -
  • Memory eternal, Ron Sider: An evangelical thinker caught in political crossfire for decades
    It was the kind of Pope John Paul II quotation that was powerful and prophetic -- but hard to print on a political bumper sticker."America will remain a beacon of freedom for the world as long as it stands by those moral truths which are the very heart of its historical experience," he said, during his 1999 U.S. tour. "And so, America: If you want peace, work for justice. If you want justice, defend life. If you want life, embrace truth -- the truth revealed by God."One American activist who paid close attention was Ronald J. Sider, a Mennonite theologian who was already several decades into a career built on asking Americans to ponder precisely that equation.Politicians on left and right would cheer as John Paul attacked the modern world's "culture of death," said Sider. But, in private, Democrats and Republicans would groan."People on the left will love what he had to say about the death penalty and racism and caring for the poor," said Sider, when I reached him by telephone. "But many liberals are going to squirm because he ties these issues directly to traditional Christian teachings on abortion and euthanasia and family life. Meanwhile, some people on the right will squirm because the pope made it very clear that he links these pro-life issues to the death penalty and poverty, sickness, hunger and even the environment."Sider added: "We live in an age of incredible relativism in this society and even in the church. We live in a land that seems to have lost its way."These kinds of tensions defined Sider's own struggles as a hard-to-label political activist and ecumenical leader. He died on July 27 at the age of 82.Christianity Today listed Sider's classic "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger" as one of the 20th century's most influential religion books. The flagship evangelical magazine also ran this headline with a cover story about Sider's career -- "Unsettling Crusade: Why does this man irritate so many people?"
    - 1 day ago 7 Aug 22, 6:22pm -
  • What is 'Fundamentalism'? Name 666 or so examples from recent news coverage ...
    THE QUESTION:What is “Fundamentalism?”THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER:After the Presbyterian Church in America decided in June to depart from the National Association of Evangelicals, The Religion Guy wondered in print whether some “evangelicals” are becoming “fundamentalists.” That raises how to define these two similar and historically interrelated versions of conservative Protestantism.Back in 2019, a New York Times Book Review item by a Harvard Divinity School teacher called Jehovah’s Witnesses “fundamentalists” several times. Well, Witnesses do share certain “fundamentalistic” traits with actual “fundamentalists,” but the label was mistaken because it ignored Witnesses’ beliefs.If the Ivy League theological elite and such an influential newspaper don’t understand the definition, we have a problem.Yes, “fundamentalist” can apply in a generic sense to any old group with a certain hard-core outlook. But in any religious context it should designate only a specific movement of orthodox Protestants, prominent especially in the United States. The religious F-word should be applied carefully because, as The Associated Press Stylebook correctly cautions, it has “to a large extent taken on pejorative connotations.”So here is the Big Idea: The AP advises, “in general, do not use fundamentalist unless a group applies the word to itself.”The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is irritated when offshoots that perpetuate its founding prophet Joseph Smith Jr’s polygamy doctrine are called “Mormon fundamentalists,” and now seeks to abolish its own “Mormon” nickname. Scholars of Islam similarly reject the common “Muslim fundamentalist” label for terrorists and political extremists.Back to Protestants.
    - 2 days ago 6 Aug 22, 6:22pm -
  • Podcast: More Americans are losing faith in God, but press should dig for deeper details
    When looking for commentary on trends in Gallup poll numbers about religion, it never hurts to do a few online searches and look for wisdom from the late George Gallup, Jr.Reporters should also consider placing a call to John C. Green, a scholar and pollster who has followed trends in religion and politics for decades. Of course, it always helps to collect files of charts from political scientist Ryan Burge, a GetReligion contributor who is an omnipresent force on Twitter (and buy his latest book, “20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America”).Gallup, Green and Burge (#DUH) played prominent roles in this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (CLICK HERE to tune that in), which focused on a Religion News Service story (via the Washington Post) about a now-familiar trend in America’s public square. That headline: “Poll: Americans’ belief in God is dropping.” The overture: Belief in God has been one of the strongest, most reliable markers of the persistence of American religiosity over the years. But a new Gallup Poll suggests that may be changing. In the latest Gallup Poll, belief in God dipped to 81 percent, down six percentage points from 2017, the lowest since Gallup first asked the question in 1944.This raises an obvious question: Who is losing faith in God?This news report links the trend to politics (#DUH, again) and makes a very interesting connection, in terms of cause and effect. Read this carefully: Belief in God is correlated more closely with conservatism in the United States, and as the society’s ideological gap widens, it may be a contributor to growing polarization. The poll found that 72 percent of self-identified Democrats said they believed in God, compared with 92 percent of Republicans (with independents between at 81 percent). In recent years there has been a rise in the number of Americans who acknowledge being Christian nationalists — those who believe Christian and American identities should be fused. “It could be that the increase in the number of atheists is a direct result of Christian nationalism,” said Ryan Cragun, a sociologist at the University of Tampa who studies the nonreligious.I’ll provide some additional details in the rest of the post to back up what I’m about to say. The big idea in this story, interpreting these latest Gallup numbers, appears to be this: Lots of young people in liberal and progressive forms of religion are so upset about the rise in vaguely defined Christian nationalism that they openly declaring that they are atheists and agnostics.Say what?
    - 3 days ago 5 Aug 22, 3:30pm -

ID the Future (Podcast)

  • Michael Denton Discusses The Miracle of the Cell
    New research keeps unveiling ever more ways in which this fine tuning exists, from the cosmos to the atoms of the periodic table, even to the subatomic level of quantum tunneling.
    - 12 Oct 20, 9:31pm -
  • Michael Denton: Remarkable Coincidences in Photosynthesis
    On this episode of ID the Future from the vault, we listen in on a few minutes from a lecture given by Australian biochemist Michael Denton, author of the brand new book The Miracle of the Cell. In this segment, Denton explains the “remarkable set of coincidences” that makes the creation of oxygen through photosynthesis possible. From the specific energy of visible light to the unique properties of water, this degree of fine tuning for life shouts intelligent design. For more on how the cosmos is designed for life, watch Discovery Institute’s documentary Priviledged Species, featuring Michael Denton.
    - 9 Oct 20, 7:16pm -
  • Dr. Michael Denton on Evidence of Fine-Tuning in the Universe
    On this episode of ID the Future from the vault, Casey Luskin sits down with Dr. Michael Denton, a Senior Fellow of the CSC who holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. Denton is the author of Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, which has been credited with influencing both Phillip Johnson and Michael Behe, as well as Nature's Destiny: How the Laws of Biology Reveal Purpose in the Universe, which elaborates on the evidence of design in nature.
    - 7 Oct 20, 11:29pm -
  • The Demise of the Artifact Hypothesis
    Paleoentomologist Günter Bechly makes the case that recent findings have put the nails in the coffin of this “artifact hypothesis.” He goes on to argue that these findings are “not just a tiny problem but a fatal problem” for modern Darwinism.
    - 5 Oct 20, 7:28pm -
  • Scott Turner on Purpose in Nature, Part 2
    On this episode of ID the Future from the vault, Rob Crowther continues his conversation with J. Scott Turner, biologist at the State University of New York (SUNY), visiting scholar at Cambridge University, and author of the new book Purpose and Desire: What Makes Something “Alive” and Why Modern Darwinism Has Failed to Explain It. Turner critiques evolutionary biology’s bias toward mechanistic and gene-centric thinking, and contemporary biology’s failure to come to grips with the evidence of purpose and intentionality at many levels of biology. Viewing the brain as a computer, for example, obscures many things about the brain and the mind that exceed computers, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
    - 2 Oct 20, 8:55pm -

International Missions Board

Julie Roys Report

  • newConvicted Sex Offender Pursuing Ministry Training at Southern Baptist Schools
    In 2009, David Chatham was convicted of possession of child pornography and sentenced to six years in federal prison. His Southern Baptist pastor reportedly argued for leniency at the time, citing Chatham’s “dedication to Christ.”Now Chatham is pursuing ministry training at Southern Baptist schools. He was a student for several years at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in a ministry leadership program. Chatham currently says he’s been admitted as a ministry student at Liberty University, a school with informal ties to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). 
    - 7 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 3:15pm -
  • At 92, John Perkins Still Mobilizes Christian Community For Reconciliation
    At 8 a.m. on Tuesdays in July, as usual, John Perkins was participating in his weekly Zoom Bible study. Officially the leader and the attraction for the more than 200 who log on each week, Perkins is far from the sole speaker, and that’s the way he wants it.“I’m learning from them because they are doing really good research,” said Perkins, 92, of his co-leaders, both pastors and lay people, each of whom teaches from their perspective. 
    - 2 days ago 6 Aug 22, 6:13pm -
  • Russell Moore Named Christianity Today Editor, Lynn Vincent to Lead World Magazine
    Two of the most influential evangelical Christian magazines in the country named new leaders this week, hoping to set a new direction for the publications in tumultuous times.Russell Moore, the former Southern Baptist ethicist, was named editor in chief at Christianity Today. Lynn Vincent, a motorcycle-riding Navy veteran and New York Times best-selling author, was recently named executive editor at World Magazine.Moore takes over editorial leadership from president and CEO Tim Dalrymple, who assumed dual roles following the departure of former Editor-in-Chief Daniel Harrell. 
    - 2 days ago 6 Aug 22, 1:00pm -
  • Wisconsin Megachurch Pastor & Evangelist Stuart Briscoe Dies at 91
    Prominent Wisconsin pastor Stuart Briscoe, recognized for founding the broadcast ministry series “Telling the Truth” and authoring over 40 books, died on Aug. 3.Briscoe died of “natural causes unexpectedly,” according to a Twitter post from his son, Peter “Pete” Briscoe. He was 91.The British-born Briscoe transformed Elmbrook Church, in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield, into a megachurch with an attendance of 7,000 people, making it the largest in the state. 
    - 3 days ago 5 Aug 22, 9:29pm -
  • Opinion: Contrary To Popular Perception, Most Preachers Avoid Politics — Here’s Why
    You’ll recognize this trope. The firebrand preacher stalks to and fro across his dais, an open Bible draped over one hand, his tie raked loose, sweat dripping from his forehead.He inveighs against the devil and godless Democrats and worthless vaccines. He names candidates for high office his congregation should support. He dares the government to try — just try — to revoke his church’s tax-exempt status.We all know this guy, right? 
    - 3 days ago 5 Aug 22, 6:45pm -

Life News

  • newMichigan Ballot Measure Would Legalize Killing Babies in Abortions Up to Birth
    Michigan abortion activists want to pass a state constitutional amendment in November that would allow unborn babies to be killed in abortions up to birth. The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups recently submitted more than 750,000 petition signatures on a ballot initiative to “explicitly affirm” a right to abortion in […]The post Michigan Ballot Measure Would Legalize Killing Babies in Abortions Up to Birth appeared first on LifeNews.com.
    - 27 mins ago 8 Aug 22, 10:12pm -
  • newElisabeth Hasselbeck Slams Abortion: “It’s the Death Penalty to an Innocent Life”
    Former “The View” co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck pushed back last week against the show hosts’ pro-abortion claims, saying abortion is “the death penalty to an innocent life.” Hasselbeck, a pro-life Christian, responded after host/actress Whoopi Goldberg claimed God made women “smart enough” to choose to abort their unborn babies. “God made us smart enough to know when it wasn’t going […]The post Elisabeth Hasselbeck Slams Abortion: “It’s the Death Penalty to an Innocent Life” appeared first on LifeNews.com.
    - 1 hour ago 8 Aug 22, 9:33pm -
  • newNew Pro-Life Movie “Lifemark” Stars Kirk Cameron, Promotes Adoption
    A new pro-life film “Lifemark,” based on the true story of a young man reuniting with his birth mother, is coming to theaters Sept. 9. Starring Kirk Cameron and produced by the Kendrick Brothers (“War Room,” “Fireproof”), the movie celebrates the life-giving choice of adoption through the story of Louisiana native David Scotton and his […]The post New Pro-Life Movie “Lifemark” Stars Kirk Cameron, Promotes Adoption appeared first on LifeNews.com.
    - 2 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 8:24pm -
  • newNebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts Wants Abortion Ban: “Affirm the Rights of Preborn Babies”
    Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts wants his state to ban abortions, saying it needs to “affirm the rights of preborn babies and to support pregnant women, children, and families in need.” However, not enough members of the Nebraska legislature have come forward saying they will vote for an abortion ban — or even a modest change […]The post Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts Wants Abortion Ban: “Affirm the Rights of Preborn Babies” appeared first on LifeNews.com.
    - 3 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 7:26pm -
  • newNew Report Confirms Most Abortions Done for Birth Control, Just .7% for Rape and Incest
    Minnesota has released its report on abortion in the state in 2020 and 2021. The report points out reasons why women had abortions. In 2021, by far the most common reason given was that the woman “[did] not want children at this time.” Eighty-four percent of women who responded gave this reason for their abortions. […]The post New Report Confirms Most Abortions Done for Birth Control, Just .7% for Rape and Incest appeared first on LifeNews.com.
    - 4 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 6:11pm -

Mennonite Central Committee

  • Contributing to Neighborhood Pride
    "Si vas a soñar, sue
    - 12 days ago 28 Jul 22, 4:00am -
  • 'A bike can change somebody’s life'
    Volunteers at an MCC thrift shop in Newton, Kansas, are refurbishing old bikes to help provide a free or affordable mode of transportation for people in the community.
    - 14 days ago 26 Jul 22, 4:00am -
  • When rain doesn’t fall like it used to
    Joseph Obonyo, 89, balanced himself on a stool in the dirt yard outside his family home as Kachapangole villagers gathered in the shade to listen to his memories about what the weather used to be like in their area of Uganda.
    - 26 days ago 14 Jul 22, 4:00am -
  • The complex realities of a global hunger crisis
    Nyawar Mapieny Gathoul’s baby and siblings are hungry. The father of Nyawar’s 6-month-old isn’t around to help and, at just 17, the young mother also cares for her seven siblings because their parents have died. Nyawar is strong, resilient and hardworking.
    - 35 days ago 5 Jul 22, 4:00am -
  • Peace and chocolate
    What does embodying the peace of Jesus look like in the face of violence? For some people living in the Chocó region of Colombia, the answer involves an unexpected ingredient – chocolate.
    - 47 days ago 23 Jun 22, 4:00am -

MinistryWatch

Religion News Service

  • A new survey found Latino Catholics overwhelmingly support abortion rights. Here’s why.
    (RNS) — With Roe v. Wade overturned, new data from the Washington, D.C.-based Public Religion Research Institute found that among Latino Catholics, 75% say abortion should be legal in most or all cases. That’s a big jump from the 51% who said so in 2010.The post A new survey found Latino Catholics overwhelmingly support abortion rights. Here’s why. appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 21 days ago 18 Jul 22, 4:36pm -
  • Shinto religion long entangled with Japan’s politics, Abe associated with many groups
    (The Conversation) — A scholar of Japanese religion explains the connections that Japan’s political parties have with several religious groups and how religion is tied in with the legacy of Shinzo Abe.The post Shinto religion long entangled with Japan’s politics, Abe associated with many groups appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 21 days ago 18 Jul 22, 2:35pm -
  • China’s Xi, in Xinjiang, signals no change to Uyghur policy
    BEIJING (AP) — Xi, on what was described as an “inspection tour” from Tuesday to Friday, said that enhanced efforts should be made to uphold the principle that Islam in China must be Chinese in orientation. The post China’s Xi, in Xinjiang, signals no change to Uyghur policy appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 21 days ago 18 Jul 22, 2:33pm -
  • The Rev. Adriene Thorne voted eighth Senior Minister of The Riverside Church in the City of New York
    The Riverside Church in the City of New YorkThe post The Rev. Adriene Thorne voted eighth Senior Minister of The Riverside Church in the City of New York appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 21 days ago 18 Jul 22, 1:37pm -
  • As politics poison churches, a nonprofit is teaching a new skill: Deep listening
    (RNS) — Resetting the Table does not seek agreement. But it hopes the techniques it teaches will allow people to see each other in all their humanity.The post As politics poison churches, a nonprofit is teaching a new skill: Deep listening appeared first on Religion News Service.
    - 24 days ago 15 Jul 22, 7:55pm -

Trinity Foundation

  • After Preaching for Christians to Expect Divine Healing, Kenneth Copeland Admits Pacemaker
    (Photo: Kenneth Copeland preaching on August 1, 2022) During this year’s Southwest Believers Convention in Fort Worth, televangelist Kenneth Copeland announced that his wife Gloria would not be in attendance because of her health. Kenneth explained that early in their marriage, over 50 years ago, Gloria received a traumatic brain injury during a car accident. […]
    - 4 days ago 4 Aug 22, 6:57pm -
  • Who Can Fire the Pastor?
    (Photo: Church governance models determine whether church “members”  or board members can remove a pastor or priest.) “Who can fire the pastor?”  It’s a key question to ask when investigating the power structure of churches and ministries as a growing number of pastors adopt barriers to accountability which prevent them from being fired. Sometimes corrupt […]
    - 33 days ago 6 Jul 22, 9:23pm -
  • Documentary Reveals the Mind of a Pastor Conman
    (Article updated with information about televangelists obtaining loans from mafia-connected individuals.) The three-episode Discovery+ documentary series King of the Con tells the life story Barry Minkow, an infamous conman turned pastor, who subsequently robbed a church of $3 million dollars. The Bible warns of people like Minkow, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so […]
    - 33 days ago 6 Jul 22, 9:14pm -
  • Televangelist Creflo Dollar Preaches Against Tithing (We’re doing a double take on this one)
    In two recent Sunday sermons Televangelist Creflo Dollar preached against tithing based on fear and guilt. On July 3rd, Dollar told his congregation, “I would argue that tithing isn’t required or even encouraged for believers in Jesus Christ…” Instead, Dollar is now preaching that Christian giving should be based on gratitude. Dollar made a surprising […]
    - 33 days ago 6 Jul 22, 8:59pm -
  • Editorial: When Ministry Mandates Prohibit Helping the Hurting
    As inflation is making homelessness worse, the great divide between the “haves and the have-nots” is now more apparent than ever. Month after month, we write about the extreme wealth of many of America’s preachers and compare that to the poorer Christians who support them—sometimes surviving off macaroni and cheese to give their last dollars […]
    - 33 days ago 6 Jul 22, 8:39pm -

United Methodist News Service

  • newInflation, gas prices complicate ministries
    Rising prices are affecting the ministries of United Methodists, especially rural multi-point charges. Pastors also are finding the buying power of their paychecks shrinking.
    - 7 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 3:45pm -
  • Conferences take action on gun violence
    Even as United Methodist conferences deal with mounting church exits and disagreements over LGBTQ inclusion, they are bearing a shared witness on gun violence. And they are urging actions beyond thoughts and prayers.
    - 3 days ago 5 Aug 22, 3:36pm -
  • United Methodists organize peace caravan in the Congo
    Participants laud the church’s acceptance of all people, regardless of tribal affiliation.
    - 4 days ago 4 Aug 22, 1:00pm -
  • Episcopal residence decommissioned for educational use in Liberia
    The property will be used by the United Methodist University’s Graduate School of Professional Studies.
    - 5 days ago 3 Aug 22, 3:12pm -
  • Poll about Jesus raises questions
    Nearly half of people who took a survey about attitudes about Jesus and Christianity said believers are giving and loving. But a significant minority say they’re hypocritical and judgmental. United Methodist professors and pastors offer thoughts on the poll results.
    - 6 days ago 2 Aug 22, 3:35pm -

The World And Everything In It (Podcast)

  • new8.8.22 Legal Docket, the Monday Moneybeat, and History Book
    On Legal Docket, First Amendment rights cases from the lower courts; on Moneybeat, the July jobs report and the “hidden” costs of inflation; and on History Book, important dates from the past. Plus: the Monday morning news.Support The World and Everything in It today at wng.org/donate. Additional support comes from Ambassadors Impact Network, a nationwide group of angel investors committed to funding entrepreneurs whose Christian convictions have hindered secular financing sources. More at ambassadorsimpact.com.From Covenant College on beautiful Lookout Mountain, Georgia...a quality liberal arts education and unique campus community that keeps Christ central in all things. More at covenant.edu And from Ridge Haven, the camp and retreat center of the PCA, with locations in North Carolina and Iowa. Serving retreat groups year-round. More at ridgehaven.org
    - 15 hours ago 8 Aug 22, 7:15am -
  • Double Take Episode 2: A Well-Founded Fear
    What do you do when your own country wants you to violate your own conscience? And what if you’re a physician, born and raised in Canada? This is the story of a family that had to decide if and when the dangers of staying home outweighed the risks of leaving. It unfolded over three decades in a country and a culture that’s a lot like the U.S. in many ways.To subscribe: https://blubrry.com/wng_doubletake
    - 2 days ago 6 Aug 22, 12:43pm -
  • 8.5.12 Culture Friday, Luck, and Ask the Editor
    On Culture Friday, Andrew Walker joins to discuss how Christians can engage with challenging stories in the news; and Collin Garbarino reviews Luck, a new animated movie on Apple TV+. Plus: Zukerberg’s baseball card, Ask the Editor, and the Friday morning news. Support The World and Everything in It today at wng.org/donate. Additional support comes from Compelled Podcast, featuring missionaries, addicts, prisoners, and other Christians sharing their unique and compelling testimonies. Listen on your favorite podcast app or CompelledPodcast.com. And from Dordt University. Degrees in engineering, social work, agriculture, and more all from a Christ-centered worldview. More at Dordt.edu/apply.
    - 4 days ago 5 Aug 22, 7:15am -
  • 8.4.22 The danger of THC, and leaving behind a pro-life legacy
    Health officials are concerned about the evidence of a link between THC consumption and the onset of psychosis; the political significance of Speaker Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan; and the legacy of Ron Sider. Plus: feline patrol, commentary from Cal Thomas, and the Thursday morning news. Support The World and Everything in It today at wng.org/donate. Additional support comes from Dordt University, offering reimbursed campus visits to show you firsthand how Dordt’s Christ-centered education leads to lifelong discipleship. Details at Dordt.edu/visit. And from Compelled Podcast, featuring missionaries, addicts, prisoners, and other Christians sharing their unique and compelling testimonies. Listen on your favorite podcast app or CompelledPodcast.com.
    - 5 days ago 4 Aug 22, 7:15am -
  • 8.3.22 Washington Wednesday, World Tour, and the power of prayer
    On Washington Wednesday, the Democrats’ plan to beat back inflation; on World Tour, the latest international news; and a prayer warrior who loves to pray with strangers. Plus: poolside service, commentary from Janie B. Cheaney, and the Wednesday morning news. Support The World and Everything in It today at wng.org/donate. Additional support comes from Compelled Podcast, featuring missionaries, addicts, prisoners, and other Christians sharing their unique and compelling testimonies. Listen on your favorite podcast app or CompelledPodcast.com. And from Dordt University. Degrees in engineering, social work, agriculture, and more – all from a Christ-centered worldview. More at Dordt.edu/apply.
    - 6 days ago 3 Aug 22, 7:15am -

World Magazine