“We are in the middle of a gun violence epidemic and our country is dying,” Hogg said in a prepared statement. “Our hearts go out to every family and community member facing the immeasurable loss of a loved one. In their honor, we are more focused and determined than ever. We will keep turning our outrage into action.” ... Read More
Homeless Christians, Fractured Culture: Thoughts on Prayers, Laments, and Action
The tragedies in El Paso and Dayton should propel us towards both prayer and action. Over the weekend, tragedy once again rocked our country to its core as two separate mass shootings occurred within hours of each other in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. More than that, these senseless shootings revealed a fracture that has long existed in our nation. America has walked with a limp for years now without acknowledging the underlying pain. Unfortunately, it appears, Christianity in America... Read More
Hundreds have died in mass shootings since Parkland and Pulse. What’s been done?
The GOP-led state Legislature enacted Florida’s first gun-control legislation in two decades after the Parkland massacre that claimed the lives of 17 students and staff. Those changes included raising the age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21, making it easier for law enforcement to seize guns from dangerous people, imposing a statewide three-day waiting period for long-gun sales, boosting mental health and school security funding and banning bump stocks, which enable enable semiautomatic... Read More
Despite El Paso and Dayton, Florida AG Ashley Moody maintains opposition to assault weapons amendment
Moody has been criticized by Ban Assault Weapons Now, a group that includes family members of the Parkland shooting and Pulse nightclub shooting survivors, including Ricardo Negron-Almodovar and Brandon Wolf, for her A rating from the National Rifle Association, which they claim is the reason she opposes the amendment. ... Read More
MAP: 17 died in Parkland, and then the U.S. saw 566 more mass shootings
The horrifying attacks brought to 608 the number of people who have died from mass shootings across the country since the Feb. 14, 2018, Parkland shooting — equal to more than one per day, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks gun-related incidents. ... Read More
Active shooter drill in Wellington mall causes panic on the heels of El Paso and Dayton attacks
“You have a computer paper with some writing on it. You’re going to walk in the mall, someone is going to hold the door for you, you don’t see it,” Ventresca said. “None of the attendants, none of the managers disclosed there was going to be a drill to us getting tickets.” ... Read More
We’re Not from Here
In the same way Dorothy longs for Kansas, the Church longs for the New Jerusalem. When people ask me where I’m from, I think to myself, That it’s a tricky question. Do I answer where I currently live, where I currently moved from, or where I was born? In all honesty, I think they are trying to locate the accent they hear from the words coming out of my mouth. So, I answer, “Memphis, Tennessee.” Truthfully, I’m not from Memphis. I’m actually from Munford,... Read More
July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth
The average temperature in July exceeded by more than 2 degrees the pre-industrial average, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, an agency of the European Union. The month appeared to exceed the previous record, set in July 2016, by .07 degrees. Reliable records go back to about 1880. ... Read More
Hurricane season will soon enter peak period: Latest forecast released
Although hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, the vast majority of storms form from mid-August to late October. The peak is Sept. 10. During the busy season for hurricanes, patches of stormy weather regularly roll off the African coast and drift across the Atlantic, some with the potential for becoming tropical storms or hurricanes. ... Read More
Church Planting R&D: Part 2 – Collegiate Church Planting
Collegiate church planting offers much insight into effective ecclesial and evangelistic praxis. Many great movements of God have started on college campuses. Often, the fuel of the Awakenings and spiritual revivals in North America was ignited by students whose hearts were enflamed by a passion for God’s glory and mission. Today, the prospects of such a movement of God are increasingly likely. God is definitely at work on our university campuses. It seems that college campuses present... Read More