Category: Christian news

With the oceans no longer teeming with life, scientists and missionaries alike challenge Christians to faithfulness in the face of daunting odds. Last month, the United Nations released a sobering report about the state of the earth’s oceans. The 1,200-page document, issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reported warming water temperatures and sharp declines in fish populations and warned that ocean levels could rise up to three feet by the end of the... Read More

Confrontation at protest site forces evangelical faith from the pulpit to the public square. Does a revolution need a leader? As the rocks rained down near the tent of Ras Beirut Baptist Church’s effort to discuss the question, suddenly the faith of the Christians gathered there was put to the test. For the past month, Lebanese evangelicals have debated Scripture, sharing sermons online. One viral effort urges believers to stay away from widespread demonstrations in submission to... Read More

Upside down gratitude is the ability to give thanks even for the parts of our lives which lead us to sadness and struggle and suffer. Arguably the oldest book in the Bible, the Book of Job has become, for many of us, a guidebook on how to suffer well (if there is such a thing). It is worth wondering why Moses (or another) chose to document the life of Job as one of the first entries of God’s faithfulness to humanity. The book begins with a descriptive of Job’s character:... Read More

The income gap in the US corresponds with a church attendance gap. It’s well-established that the gap between the middle class and those who earn the highest incomes in the United States has grown wider over time, spurring partisan responses over how or whether to address income inequality. But there’s a facet of this issue that should be particularly worrisome to Christians: Many of the poorest Americans are abandoning church en masse. By stepping away from church communities,... Read More

We’re called to offer our thanksgiving in all circumstances—but we’re especially likely to when it’s a national holiday. When President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving celebrations official in the US he directed the country to “gratefully acknowledge” God and offer “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father.” Most of the US continues to direct their thankfulness toward God (around 63% according a LifeWay survey), and a favorite hymn... Read More

By visiting local ICE detainees, a Denver church learned the power of faithfully showing up. It took Martin Akwa almost three months to make it to the US-Mexico border from his native Cameroon. As part of the English-speaking western minority in Cameroon, Akwa says he had been marginalized for a long time. In retribution for his protests against the French-majority government, he was assaulted and left for dead. His father was arrested on the family farm as Akwa and other workers fled... Read More

Leading complementarian theologian says he no longer believes the Bible offers only two justifiable reasons for ending a marriage. Wayne Grudem, a leading Calvinist theologian and prominent complementarian, has changed his position to affirm a scriptural basis for divorce in cases of abuse and shared his new stance at a major gathering of evangelical scholars last week. After hearing examples of real-life couples whose Christian beliefs led them to endure abuse rather than separate, Grudem... Read More

As you watch the impeachment hearings, think through whether remaining silent is going to hinder your gospel witness.  So we are well into the third impeachment proceedings of the United States in over a century. Regardless of your perspective, this is a momentous period in American history. Yet this brings with us, perhaps, an uncertainty about what to think or how to respond to it. With impeccable timing, the initial round of public hearings ended just as Americans prepare to sit across... Read More

Suburban America is a strategic mission field. As a teenager, I’d thumb through the missions catalog. Each location for a short-term mission project felt a bit like hope. Hope for change. Hope for adventure. And most of all, hope that I was living a full Christian life. In my evangelical youth group, the pinnacle of leadership and belonging came through missions—missions to Mexico or a mission trip to Europe. Missionaries were serious about God. In those days, it seemed to me... Read More

Store owners, publishers, and authors have faith despite the declines Fifteen minutes before the store opens, the staff of the Greatest Gift and Scripture Supply gathers to pray. They open the small box they keep at the front of the store for customers to leave prayer requests. Some days there are 10. Some days, 15. Today the box is empty. “We’ll just pray for all the unspoken prayers,” says Heather Trost, owner of the Pueblo, Colorado, bookstore. The staff close their... Read More