(ANALYSIS) I’ve recently been with believers from another part of the world, and I was again reminded that our brothers and sisters around the world often pay a heavier price than we pay to follow Christ. I don’t want to overstate the case here, but much of North American Christianity seems to be what I call “Convenience Store Christianity.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) (ANALYSIS) The Iranian government seized control of the historic St. Peter Evangelical Church earlier this month in Tehran, despite repeated warnings from U.N. human rights experts and international Christian organizations, revealing a broader pattern of violence against religious minorities in Iran.
Read MoreAbout 25 years ago, I wrote two columns examining the Church of Rome’s priest shortage — through the eyes of faithful mothers, with the help of a priest who had led a seminary. The headline: “Fathers, mothers & Catholic sons.” I was reminded of themes from those columns during this week’s “Crossroads” podcast.
Read MoreIn the digital age, one blunt way to reach Pope Leo XIV is to write a candid letter and post it online. That's what Bishop Robert Mutsaerts, an auxiliary bishop in the Netherlands, did recently. “Holy Father,” he began, with “reverence for the office entrusted to you as successor of Saint Peter, and in communion with the Church which Christ built upon the apostles, I address you with this open letter. I don't do so lightly.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) News from around the world gives little hope for the prospects of addressing violence based on religion or belief — nations need to act now in accordance with UN policies to ensure everyone has freedom of religion.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This Sept. 15 marks the anniversary of an infamous terror attack: The 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. On that Sunday morning, members of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group, planted dynamite on the east side of the brown brick building. The bomb went off in the midst of Sunday school, at 10:22 a.m., murdering four girls.
Read MoreA 2012 mission trip to the Amazon inspired Christopher Beth to found The Bucket Ministry, providing water filters worldwide while sharing the Gospel. The ministry has since expanded globally, completing major projects like Kibera, Kenya, and combining clean-water access with evangelism, discipleship, transparency, and measurable impact.
Read More(ANALYSIS) India’s religious diversity has deep historical roots, reflected in the experiences of Hindu soldier Sitaram Pande and Muslim poet Mirza Ghalib. Their writings portray sacred landscapes shaped by multiple traditions while revealing identities that crossed religious boundaries, challenging contemporary claims that religious purity justifies anti-minority rhetoric or violence.
Read MoreThe falling birth rate across many parts of the world has become an issue that is leading educational institutions around the world to analyze its impact on enrollment. In the United States, some schools have closed their doors because they don’t have enough students. In Latin America, the “demographic cliff” is becoming just as severe.
Read MoreAlmost 4 in 5 pastors (78%) and 9 in 10 churchgoers (91%) believe their church is multigenerational, with a good number of active members from all generations, according to Lifeway Research.
Read MoreOn this week's podcast, anthropologist Susannah Crockford explains why she believes part of the root of climate change may be buried deep inside of evangelical Christianity.
Read MoreAfter 11 seasons, PBS’s “Masterpiece Mystery!” series “Grantchester” has come to an end. For more than a decade, viewers returned to the quiet village of Cambridgeshire to watch an unlikely crime-solving duo: Anglican vicars and Det. Inspector George “Geordie” Keating.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Our family’s love of baseball has taken us from the Oakland A’s to the Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners. Along the way, baseball cards featuring Vance Law and Mark Grace sparked a powerful gospel illustration: God’s law exposes our sin, while His grace brings redemption through Jesus.
Read More(REVIEW) There’s something about priests solving murders in small towns that people love. A long-running series in this genre that’s just ended is “Grantchester.” The series follows young, good-looking vicars in the fictional sleepy British town who partner with a local lawman to solve murder cases.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I often think of religious traditions as a styrofoam cup. Each of them has a different level of water in them at any given time. However, that volume of water never stays fixed for long, because religious groups operate in a volatile environment with constant pressure to rise or fall.
Read MoreTo say the least, Indiana Fever star Sophie (“Do the Sophie”) Cunningham’s quotes about trans athletes and women’s sports has ignited a firestorm in sports, politics, social media and the elite press. In this case, the sports world includes the small, struggling WNBA.
Read More(ANALYSIS) These days, most up-to-date churches have "praise bands," with a few skilled vocalists, guitarists, drummers and keyboardists with stacks of synthesizers. And most church members have smartphone calendars with zero room left for a choir.
Read MoreA charismatic televangelist who created a career out of her past as a career criminal and drug dealer now has a startling new revelation: Aliens harvested her eggs. Katie Souza, whose show “Healing Your Soul” airs on Trinity Broadcasting Network and Faith Broadcasting Network, told said she was a child victim of an extraterrestrial conspiracy to create alien-human hybrids.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Pentagon needs to define America’s religious categories due to chaplains’ responsibility to handle the spiritual needs of soldiers as effectively as possible. The problem is that Americans’ religious choices are pretty much uncountable.
Read MoreTerrorism that began in northeast Nigeria with the founding of Boko Haram in 2002 spread to the northwest, has become common in the Middle Belt and is now spreading to southern Nigeria — leaving safe for daily living only perhaps 20 to 40 percent of Nigeria, the largest nation in Africa and the sixth most populous in the world. Nigeria is the deadliest country for believers globally.
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