Climate scientists increasingly promote “collective efficacy,” which is how people involved in a broader social or communal movement can bring about positive change. Such social movements include churches and faith groups. Churches, like commercial and industrial buildings, waste 30% of the energy consumed according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Read MoreFour former employees of Midland Christian School in Texas and a current employee who says he was demoted from his assistant principal role filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Midland and three police officers.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Religions and cultures across the globe are rife with dragon lore. In fact, across the vast majority of religions, there is mythic trope some scholars call “Chaoskampf.” This term, used by mythologists, refers to a pervasive motif involving a heroic character who slays a primordial chaos “monster.”
Read MoreNFTs. Online gaming. Cryptocurrency. Compassion International is exploring these and other innovations as it connects with new supporters and prepares itself for Web 3.0, the Metaverse, and beyond. With fewer Americans donating to charity, the 70-year-old, $1 billion ministry is working to find new ways to engage younger believers.
Read More“Mother Teresa: No Greater Love” will be in nearly 1,000 theaters across the United States for an exclusive two-day only event Oct. 3-4. The documentary is part of Fathom Events’ “Saint Series”, a collection of films that delves into the lives of saints.
Read More(REVIEW) ReligionUnplugged film contributor Joseph Holmes reviews the Sept. 1 premiere of “Rings of Power”, inspired by “The Lord of the Rings”. Religious fans have wondered how badly the Amazon series would depart from Tolkien’s Catholic worldview and original characters, but the biggest issue Holmes sees is that the first two episodes are simply boring.
Read MoreOn Tuesday, the director of Christian ministry World Vision’s work in Gaza was sentenced to 12 years in prison for allegedly transferring ministry funds to the terrorist organization Hamas. Mohammad el-Halabi, who has already spent six years in prison as his trial waged on, plans to appeal the decision.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A scholar visited Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to document the lives and stories of everyday Afghans. What he found is that the Taliban have less authority on the ground than they project to the media, fostering uncertainty about the government’s stability and longevity.
Read MoreZannah Mustapha quit his job as a Shariah court lawyer in the mid-2000s to establish an orphanage for kids whose lives have been tragically altered by Boko Haram attacks. Today, he oversees the education of more than 2,000 orphaned students.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in starts in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s the capital of the country music universe. But it’s also sometimes called “the buckle of the Bible Belt.” Also, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read MoreThe U.S. State Department is investigating claims that Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, a refugee resettlement agency in the Washington, D.C., region, has mistreated Afghan refugees.
Read MoreRecently Wycliffe USA announced it would be joining with eight other groups to work on a Bible translation effort in Southeast Asia. The project involves seven of the region’s language communities.
Read MoreA desire to fulfill the Great Commission drove a minister to West Africa’s fertile fields of souls. Three decades ago, the first Church of Christ opened its doors in this town of less than 20,000, a few hours northeast of Ghana’s coastal capital, Accra. Today, Greater Dzodze has expanded to more than 30 congregations with an estimated 5,000 members.
Read MoreDesperate to save a beloved older Christian, a North Carolina church ran an ad asking for a volunteer. A young woman hundreds of miles away responded.
Read More(OPINION) The Aug. 12 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie was a vivid reminder that threats that we had thought were fading are still with us and are even growing. But we often misunderstand those threats, and this distorts our understanding of the dangers of blasphemy accusations.
Read MoreWith each new megachurch leader flashed across national news for financial scandals, abuses and promiscuity, it is easy to become skeptical of evangelicalism entirely. But what causes dynamic pastors to abuse their power? And what can churches do to hold them accountable? On a recent episode of the Biblical Mind podcast hosted by Dr. Dru Johnson and the Center for Hebraic Thought, Katelyn Beaty, author of “Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church” answers these questions. Johnson and Beaty discuss the dangers of American celebrity pastors leading large corporations with unquestioned authority.
Read MoreA rise in “anti-conversion” laws is causing greater persecution of Indian Christians in states ruled by India’s Bharatiya Janata Party. There have been targeted attacks on pastors and nuns, and churches and Christian schools have been vandalized.
Read More(OPINION) The cosmos is complex beyond our imagination. We can’t understand the wonders going on beneath our own skin, much less in the vast heavens. How complex, then, must be the God who created all that? As St. Augustine famously observed, if you can understand it, it’s not God.
Read More(OPINION) The two aspects of accuracy is experts’ consensus on the best available texts in the original languages of Hebrew and Greek that underlie all translations, and debates over the accuracy of the English translations drawn from those reliable agreed texts. Modern English Bibles provide candid footnotes that alert readers to important textual variants, which rarely affect basic biblical doctrines.
Read MoreTwo Christian women, 18 years and a half-continent apart, faced painfully similar decisions — what to do about the baby. Yet, a generation later, their work with women and children confronting difficult circumstances has brought them to different conclusions about abortion.
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