Breaking News. Spiritual Perspective.
Christian recording artists Moses and Erica Lugemye are commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake with the release of their new song “Alive.”
All proceeds from sales of the song will benefit the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Haiti Homes of Hope program, which provides concrete houses for homeless people in Haiti.
Located 55 miles outside Port-au-Prince, the Love a Child Orphanage became a place of refuge for more than just children immediately after the earthquake. For several days, founders Bobby and Sherry Burnette transported the injured from the streets to a small hospital adjacent to their property, then opened their school classrooms for more additional patients when the hospital’s capacity overflowed.
Love a Child continues to grow as a refuge of hope. Plans now include creating a prototype sustainable community called Miracle Village with 500 new homes, a church, marketplace, chicken farm, clinic, some microbusinesses and more.
It’s a story that works to break down the walls between Muslims and Jews. It’s the story of Kevin, a 14-month-old Indonesian boy diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease just eight days after his birth. His fate looked grim–the heart malformation is responsible for more deaths within the first year of life than any other birth defect.
Kevin’s misfortune was an opportunity for Save a Child’s Heart, an Israel-based international humanitarian project focused on improving the quality of pediatric care for children from developing nations, to treat its first Indonesian child.
Kevin’s surgery, which was made possible by donations from the American Jewish Committee (AJC), was a success and doctors are optimistic that Kevin will make a full recovery. Perhaps when he does, he’ll remember the kindness of the Israeli people.
Many are outraged by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ Jan. 4 ruling that the cross within the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego is unconstitutional because it sends the message of “state-endorsed religion.”
So outraged, in fact, that hundreds of citizens, alongside local and national leaders, are planning a rally to defend the memorial on Saturday, Jan. 15 atop Mt. Soledad.
“The Mt. Soledad Memorial, including its centerpiece cross, has honored our military for decades until an ‘enlightened’ judge had an epiphany which ignores such foundational truths as the fact that our nation’s Capital Building was even used — at one time — as a church, attended by no less than President Thomas Jefferson himself, one who might know something about the alleged “separation of church and state,” says Dr. Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, and Chairman of Renewing American Leadership in Washington D.C.
Christian leaders in Punjab Province’s Nankana Sahib district said they were apprehensive after a police inspector’s warning on Friday (Jan. 7) that “they would be responsible for anything that went wrong in the villages” if they continued preaching over a public address system.
Eight pastors leading a delegation of more than 100 Christians from Martinpur and Youngsenabad villages had persuaded police to drop the charge of preaching over the church loudspeakers — a practice routinely allowed by Muslims in mosques. They complained of inspector Muhammad Rana Ishaq’s veiled threat to the police chief, but they fear Ishaq will file other false cases against them in retaliation for the withdrawal of the charge.
Vanderbilt University is requiring nursing residents to take part in abortions–whether it harms their conscience or not.
The Alliance Defense Fund filed a complaint on Tuesday with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) against Vanderbilt University for this action. Vanderbilt receives more than $300 million in federal tax dollars each year, and federal law prohibits grant recipients from forcing students or health care workers to participate in abortions contrary to their religious beliefs or moral convictions.
Bible translators are working to make it possible to not only “go ye into all the world with the Gospel,” but to “go ye” with a Bible penned in the country’s native language.
Bible translators like The Seed Company report great strides with translation efforts in 2010. The Seed Company’s strategy is to come alongside a country’s natives to help them with the work of accurately translating the Word of God.
“The Seed Company was privileged to participate in an amazing acceleration of Bible translation work around the world this past year,†says Larry Jones, senior vice president for Field programs for the company, told Mission Network News (MNN). “Ninety-three new people groups were engaged, and we got them started on the process of having Scripture in their own language.”
Christian news around the world and right here in the U.S. is horrifying in some cases and ridiculous in others. Here are some of the stories I came across as I was scouting for the most important Charisma news headlines:
An attack on a Christian village in central Nigeria early Tuesday morning left 13 people dead. CNN offers more details on the report of yet more violence, which is mostly blamed on Islamist extremists. Not surprising.
Are our public colleges and universities a marketplace of ideas or a prison of censorship? ADF Senior Legal Counsel Casey Mattox is fighting to make sure educational facilities conform to the First Amendment and remain campuses of free thought.
Mattox’s latest case represents Young Americans for Freedom. Palm Beach State College banned two members of the group from distributing leaflets and talking with people on campus about their cause. The all-out literature distribution ban hindered the group from administering its “Get out the Vote” campaign before last November’s midterm elections.
In a small victory, Palm Beach State College has agreed to let Young Americans for Freedom distribute its Heritage Foundation literature several days a month while the lawsuit progresses. The college also agreed to revise its policies, including its restrictions on off-campus meetings of student groups, to ensure they comply with the First Amendment.
Convoy of Hope is breaking ground on a 35,000-square-foot warehouse just outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti early this year. Once completed, the warehouse will have the capacity to hold up to 6 million meals.
“The site is prepared and I expect construction of the prefabricated steel building will progress quickly once begun,” says Kevin Rose, International Programs Director for Convoy of Hope. “I am optimistic we will be utilizing the building by early summer.”
Government officials in West Java Province blocked one church from worshiping, and Islamic groups pressured authorities to seize the property of another during the Christmas season.
The Bogor Regency Administrative Leadership Council tried unsuccessfully to forbid the Gereja Kristen Indonesia (Indonesian Christian Church, or GKI) in Bogor’s Taman Yasmin area from holding a Dec. 25 Christmas service, but authorities did block it from its regular Sunday service on Dec. 26. In Rancaekek, Bandung, Islamic demonstrators on Dec. 19 got police to remove items from a Huria Kristan Batak Protestan (HKBP) church building that had already been sealed.
Reality TV isn’t all about American idols and island castaways. The NRB Network is rolling out a new Christian reality TV show as part of its winter lineup.
Starting tonight, the NRB will begin airing new Christ-centered shows across a variety of genres, including devotional, talk, fitness and its own take on reality TV on DirecTV, SkyAngel and live on NRBNetwork.tv.
“We’ve added a number of quality programs this season we think our viewers will appreciate,” says NRB Network President and COO Troy Miller. “It’s important to us to introduce new content regularly that ministers to our viewers and meets their educational and entertainment needs.”
John F. Kennedy was assassinated. President Ronald Reagan was shot. But in a peaceful democracy the attempts on the lives of public officials seem few and far between—until this weekend.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords remains in critical condition after accused gunman Jared Lee Loughner allegedly opened fire at a community political event. Giffords took a bullet to the head. Gabe Zimmerman, 30, a Giffords staff member, was killed, along with Chief Judge Roll and four others.
As Christian reality TV shows start to emerge, Oral Roberts University (ORU) is taking a classic approach to broadcasting with its new “Face to Face” television series.
In each 30-minute episode of “Face to Face,” ORU President Mark Rutland will interview prominent individuals—industry leaders, ministers, writers, and musicians—to ask about their lives, how they arrived at their current position, and what their thoughts are on leadership, faith, culture, and other questions of the day.
Personhood USA is on a mission to collect millions of signatures across the United States with its nationwide petition—and it … Read More
Open Doors recently issued its World Watch List of the most dangerous countries for Christians. Now, International Christian Concern, or … Read More
How can the lost call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
Enter 130 young preachers.
The young men and women of God are gathering together in Louisville this weekend for the second National Festival of Young Preachers. Hosted by the Academy of Preachers, the Lilly Endowment is underwriting the event, which is open to young preachers between the ages of 16 and 28.
We read plenty about Christian persecution in Islamic countries—Islamic countries dominated the Open Doors World Watch List this year—so when a headline emerges that reads “Egypt’s Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as human shields”—it causes you to look twice, or even three times.
That’s the true story from Ahram Online by Yasmine El-Rashidi. El-Rashidi reports that Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word to protect Christians Thursday night:
Remember when 88 pro-life demonstrators were arrested on the University of Notre Dame’s campus before the 2009 commencement ceremonies? The … Read More
Sen. Churck Grassley’s probe into high-profile television ministries may be over, but the ranking member of the Committee on Finance’s investigation has led to the formation of a new commission on accountability and policy issues for churches and other religious organizations.
Grassley reviewed the activities and practices of six media-based ministries’ “Joyce Meyer Ministries, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Creflo Dollar Ministries, Bishop Eddie Long Ministries, Benny Hinn Ministries, and Paula White Ministries” and found no wrongdoing.
