For 42-year-old Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac, the bullet hole inside his church is a symbol of the conflict he aspires to resolve. A Lutheran with an evangelical background, he is involved in the controversial and often slow work of exposing Christians abroad to the realities of the Israeli occupation.
Read MoreIt’s easy to miss amid the upscale apartment complexes of Nashville’s Bellevue neighborhood. But the Old Hickory Boulevard Church of Christ is rich with history, standing on one of the oldest settlements continuously owned by an African American family in the state of Tennessee.
Read More(OPINION) Year after year, America’s drug overdose crisis is worsening. In the 12-month period ending in June 2021, the most recent period for which there is reliable data, more than 101,000 people died from drug overdose in the U.S., — an increase of more than 20% from the previous year.
Read MoreAccording to increasingly common interpretations of Orthodox Jewish law, any assisted reproductive technology — including egg and sperm extraction or IVF, which have grown in popularity in recent years — requires the presence of “mashgichim,” Jewish law supervisors. But not all Orthodox Jews agree with the practice.
Read More(OPINION) The Beijing Winter Olympics are quickly approaching and being held in China’s capital city. A major question is, “Do elite international athletes have a moral responsibility to publicly comment or act in a way that acknowledges their awareness of oppressive — or worse — political conditions in nations in which they compete?”
Read More(OPINION) A recent Pew survey found that 40% of countries and territories worldwide had blasphemy laws in 2019. But a few caveats bring a greater understanding of how blasphemy laws and hate speech laws are impacting believers and nonbelievers today.
Read More(OPINION) An in-depth report released last week alleges that former Pope Benedict XVI allowed four abusive priests in Munich to remain in ministry. The pope, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, led the German archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.
Read MoreIn an increasingly divided culture, even within the church, the Rabbit Room was created to build and nourish stronger Christ-centered communities by cultivating stories, music and art. It was founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter and author Andrew Peterson after he visited Oxford, England, and was inspired by the stories of the Inklings.
Read More(OPINION) It is only February, and 2022 has brought enough concerning news for refugees. It is estimated that 82.4 million people are displaced worldwide, 42% of whom are children. For 51 million, displacement is a result of flaring conflict and violence. Most new displacements occurred in Africa. This trend will continue.
Read MoreSeveral prominent Ugandan pastors’ marriages have recently shattered in the public eye, causing many of Uganda’s 34 million Christians to express concerns about the state of marriage in their country. In most of the scandals, male pastors are abandoning their spouses after many years for young women in their congregations.
Read More(REVIEW) What would you do if you encountered God, seemingly the same as any other man, and He offered to save your life as long as you believed in Him? Would you believe? What would it take? These are the questions at the core of Mitch Albom’s new novel, “The Stranger in the Lifeboat.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Cooper Kupp is a well-known name across football who helped punch the Rams’ ticket to the NFC championship in 2022. But above all, what’s most noticeable is Kupp’s character and Christian faith.
Read More(OPINION) Open Doors’ newly published World Watch List reveals significant changes in the situation of Christian minorities around the world. According to the research, the persecution of Christians has reached the highest levels since the World Watch List began nearly 30 years ago.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights coverage of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and presents a special panel discussion. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read MoreAfter the commission minister left, Tonya and Charles sat at a table and exchanged their vows to each other. For the remaining three hours of the visit, the newlyweds talked about all the things they wanted to do one day when he got out. He had 18 years left of his sentence.
Read More(OPINION) There’s nothing pious about the modern Olympic Games. The modern version, organized by the International Olympic Committee, is more spectacle than spirit. The looming Winter Games, however, have triggered a reaction among some that has large moral implications — are you a bad person for watching the Olympics?
Read More(OPINION) The man who took a rabbi and three congregants hostage in Colleyville, Texas, on Jan. 15, 2022, believed that Jews control the United States of America.
Read More(OPINION) The start of 2022 has brought many conversations and books that talk about America being led to another Civil War. Americans are more divided than they were during the first civil war, David French, a political and Christian conservative, explains.
Read More(OPINION) As a historian of religion interested in how different cultures make sense of death, Natasha Mikles noticed what appeared to be a momentous cultural shift in happening in America in terms of death rituals as over 850,000 Americans died from COVID-19.
Read MoreToday, more than 70 years after World War II and as the world marks the 18th annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day — 30 years after both the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the end of the Bosnian War — Bosnian Jews are still awaiting restitution for long-gone homes, commercial buildings, places of worship and burial sites.
Read More
