Category: Culture

It’s pretty much a given that the more educated someone becomes, the more likely they are to question their religious beliefs, stop going to church and even abandon their faith entirely.

Or is it?

A new University of Nebraska-Lincoln study challenges that age-old notion with findings that show education actually has a positive effect on Americans’ churchgoing habits, their devotional practices, their emphasis on religion in daily life and their support for religious leaders to weigh in on the issues of the day.

There may be a few atheists in foxholes, but a new study suggests that in societies under stress, those who are religious outnumber—and are happier than—their nonreligious counterparts.

Where peace and plenty are the norm, however, religious participation is lower and people are happier whether or not they are religious, the researchers found.

The study analyzed data from the 2005-2009 Gallup World Poll, a survey of people in more than 150 countries that included questions about religious affiliation, life satisfaction, respect, social support and positive and negative feelings. The researchers also looked at 2009 Gallup polling data from the U.S.

While many know the negative impact gossip can have, few have stood up and tried to do something about it. Starting Monday, pastor Kevin Hester is challenging people around the world to go “Gossip Free” for eight days.

Hester, pastor at the Sanctuary Baptist Church in Watervliet, Mich., originally started the initiative on Aug. 8, 2008. This year the focus is on social networking—the source of a lot of hurtful gossip, especially for young people.

“There is no doubt that this issue is deeply impacting our young people and I am sure it is having a measurable impact on adults in family settings and in the work place as well,” Hester wrote Charisma News in an email.

Gavin O’Connor, director of the acclaimed Olympic hockey movie Miracle, returns to tell a story unveiling the Christian principles of healing and forgiveness in his second sports-related film, Warrior.

O’Connor takes viewers into the world of mixed martial arts and portrays the notion of fighting in both a physical and spiritual manner. Christian leaders who viewed early screenings of the film have seen a family overcome the devastation of alcoholism on screen and have walked away with powerful testaments.

“I just saw Warrior and it was epic,” says Shawn Bolz, senior pastor of Expression 58 Church in Los Angeles. “Even though MMA fighting provides the backdrop, the true battle is the fight for forgiveness and the movie is a strong testament to the power of the family in that fight. I thoroughly recommend this movie; it is one of the best I have ever seen.”

The Bible has been translated into hundreds of languages across the globe, but obstacles hinder accessibility. Can people afford the Scriptures? Is the Word allowed in every nation? Can people there even read it?

Faith Comes By Hearing is obliterating these obstacles, and all with one quick click.

“Now, for the first time in history, you have one application that can singly distribute the Scriptures in all the languages of the world—spoken by at least five billion people,” says Troy Carl, Faith Comes By Hearing’s national director. “We’re very, very excited about the accessibility of the Word of God to anybody, anywhere, at any time.”

Making spiritually uplifting, religious, faith-based movies and television programs with inspiring content and messages can be a professionally and personally rewarding job.

That’s the conclusion of a panel discussion, “Making, Distributing and Promoting Spiritually Uplifting Family Movies and Television Programs,” held Friday at the InkTip Pitch & Networking Summit in Burbank, Calif.

Moderated by Radio and Website Manager Jeff Holder of Movieguide, which sponsored the event, the panelists gave a standing room only group of aspiring scriptwriters and producers a unique opportunity to hear from a panel of accomplished screenwriters and producers about what it takes to make spiritually uplifting, redemptive, faith-based movies and TV programs.

With one year remaining before the London Olympics opening ceremony, a new movie warns about the possibility of girls being trafficked into the city to meet the increased demand for sex.

DemandSupply2012 is a new short narrative film about the possible increase in sex-trafficking for and during the London 2012 Olympics. It was recently screened at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival as part of the shortfilmcorner and is currently being submitted to U.K. film festivals.

“Human trafficking is the illegal trade in human beings for the purposes of slavery and sexual exploitation,” says J. John from Philo Trust. “Jodi De Souza creatively communicates the horror of this injustice in her compelling short film DemandSupply2012. My prayer is that this shocking film will compel us to prayer and action.”

The concept of the rite of passage became so important to Courageous executive producer Jim McBride that he penned a new book that encourages fathers to be intentional about passing on a blessing to their sons and daughters.

When Jim McBride, executive producer of the new movie Courageous, walked his oldest daughter, Victoria, down the aisle on Father’s Day weekend, his eyes brimmed with tears and his heart overflowed.

But it wasn’t just the significance of her marriage that stirred his emotion. McBride found the experience especially profound in light of a rite of passage he conducted years earlier with his daughter.

In April, Rebecca St. James became a wife. As a public champion for purity and waiting for God’s best in a mate, this event is particularly poignant in her message and her story. She married Jacob Fink, a man who shares her heart for God, and who embodies the principles she sings about in her trademark song, “Wait For Me.”



Now on the other side of waiting for God’s best, an upcoming September book release—What Is He Thinking?—will be intended as a “handbook” for Christian dating geared for both men and women.

 A few weeks before her wedding, she released her latest worship project, I Will Praise You.

As she throws a spin on Joshua 24:15, web-evangelist Ty Adams declares in a video blog, “But as for me and my house, we shall party!”

Christian nightclubs are springing up all across the country, many in some of America’s largest cities. God is placing desires on the hearts of His people—desires to transform the lives of the unsaved through yet another transformation, that of a traditional club. The alcohol, smoke and racy lyrics are eliminated from the scene of these new clubs.

Ex-offender Nicholas Taylor answered a call from the Lord as he opened Chrisitan’s Delight, a Christian-friendly nightclub in Forest Park, Ohio, on Friday. 

Although there are many “solutions” offered for how to change one’s sexual orientation—and some believe it cannot even be done—one evangelical Christian says the answer is simple: the gospel.

Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says secular therapy to change one’s sexual identity—known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation conversion therapy—is not a viable solution.

This debate, which has already been prominent in the 2012 elections, was started by the pro-homosexual group Truth Wins Out accused a clinic ran by Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus, of offering such treatment.

Tanner Looft, 18, had been growing his hair out for several years, but it wasn’t until his senior year of high school that he entertained the idea of cutting it.

Looft decided to have his curly brown hair cut to raise money for missionaries. It wasn’t a typical fundraiser, however—Looft’s hair measured 28 inches long when it was cut on June 19.

The hair was donated to Locks of Love, and all money raised was donated to Speed the Light through his youth group at New River Assembly of God in Red Wing, Minn.

“I simply wanted to use everything I had to glorify God in some way,” Looft says. “Even the most simplistic things can be used to glorify God in a huge way. I mean, I cut my hair and we raised a good chunk of money for a missionary somewhere to get around much easier.”

The man behind the hit reality-TV shows Survivor and The Apprentice is tackling a “profound” new reality: the Bible.  Mark Burnett is producing a … Read More

As a renowned marriage and family expert, Dr. Gary Chapman has done his fair share of studying, teaching and writing about loving one another.

When he leads a seminar at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove July 29-31, he will address that topic. But he will address the topic in light of the greatest commandment: to love God.

Chapman says that before we can effectively love one another, we must have a genuine love for God. He first loved us, and He demonstrated that love by giving His son to die on the cross, so our love for Him is a response.

“After we understand what God has done for us, we can’t help but say, ‘Yes, I want to love Him,’” explains Chapman. “Then when we have responded to God by loving Him back, we can then be agents of His love to other people.”

Francis Chan is dominating the New York Times best-seller list these days. The founding pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi … Read More

The fate of television is getting ready to change, and it’s starting with web-based evangelist and author Ty Adams. Reality television will soon offer a solution to troubled relationships and broken marriages, as Adams produces the three-part DVD production, The Real Housewives of the Bible.

Adams became frustrated after learning of the current divorce rate, realizing the upsetting ratio of available men to single women and seeing how society negatively portrays relationships.

“There is a place for reality television, if it’s reality,” says Adams. “TV and multimedia has certainly a place in society, but we should be able to use those airwaves to be able to capture God’s voice. I think in fact God was the first television and movie producer—He captivated His audience through stories. He created images in the minds of those who listened to Him. So God loves reality TV—as long as there’s a solution provided that stands with the word of God.”

The publishers of RELEVANT magazine, a Christian publication targeting the college-to-30s audience, just rolled out a new publication. Dubbed Reject Apathy, the magazine aims to give a voice to the faith-based social justice movement in this generation.

Reject Apathy will focus on five key areas—poverty, defense of innocents, creation care, preventable disease and violence. The  accompanying website, RejectApathy.com, promises a holistic view of social justice issues and solutions. It emphasizes core values of sustainability, local involvement and leadership, faith focus, financial transparency, and a long-term commitment to change.