Ligonier/LifeWay report: widespread doctrinal and biblical illiteracy among Americans surveyed

September 20, 2020 By Bethany Blankley

Out of the 3,000 Americans who responded to Ligonier Ministries’ 2020 State of Theology survey, 30 percent reject the deity of Christ, and an even split argue the Bible is 100 percent accurate (48 percent) and a compilation of myths (48 percent). The survey has been conducted in partnership with LifeWay Research every two years since 2014. Its goal is “to take the theological temperature of the United States to help Christians better understand today’s culture and equip the church with better... Read more

Redemption Story: the Father Effect [video]

September 19, 2020 By Bethany Blankley

A new video published online tells the story of John Finch’s journey to forgiveness, and also highlights the impact that fathers have on the lives of their children–for good or for bad. Finch is the founder of a movement, a documentary, and a book about God’s forgiveness and the lifelong impact fathers have on their children. The Father Effect is an outreach of the nonprofit organization, Perfect Father Ministries. Its website shares free videos and testimonials about how people’s lives have... Read more

One lone pastor in Maine stands up for those in recovery, for the preaching of the Bible, for the U.S. Constitution [video]

September 18, 2020 By Bethany Blankley

One lone pastor in Maine is standing up for people in recovery, for his congregation, for his local community, for his state, and for the U.S. Constitution: Pastor Ken Graves of Calvary Chapel in Bangor, Maine. Graves has dedicated his life to helping people recover from addiction, alcoholism and other problems, and has sought to create a safe haven for them. Up to 48 people can live and recover on the property of the church Graves leads but if Gov.... Read more

Federal judge’s ruling that Pennsylvania governor’s shutdown is unconstitutional receives praise from pastors network

September 16, 2020 By Bethany Blankley

Federal judge William S. Stickman recently ruled that Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s orders and ongoing directives to keep businesses closed and the state shut down due to minimizing the spread of the coronavirus, is unconstitutional. Stickman ruled that both the governor and the state health department’s secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, “crossed the lines” established by the U.S. Constitution. Stickman ruled that limits on gatherings issued by the Wolf administration violated the First Amendment right of assembly. The stay at home... Read more

Historic Abraham Accords receive praise from Arabs, Jews [videos]

September 15, 2020 By Bethany Blankley

President Donald J. Trump welcomed the Prime Minister of Israel and foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to sign the historic Abraham Accords at the White House September 15. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are the first Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel in more than 25 years. It took Israel 72 years to reach these two agreements brokered by President Trump in less than one month. Bahraini Foreign Minister: "Today is a truly historic... Read more

On mob mentality, Ephesus and the Christian response to riots

September 10, 2020 By Bethany Blankley

To better understand the Christian response to the riots unfolding on our streets, Greg Morse, staff writer at desiringGod.org, has written an excellent commentary. In Alone Against the Mob, Morse explains, “The power of assembly can build a better society or destroy it.” He says that, “for what feels like the first time, my generation has begun to see the destructive power of the assembly — or, to use a phrase from a recent book title, the madness of crowds,”... Read more

100 Orthodox Jewish rabbis send letter to Amazon asking it to reject SPLC “hate map”

September 9, 2020 By Bethany Blankley

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos appears to be listening to neither Congress nor the Jewish community. It’s charitable endeavor, AmazonSmile, which launched in 2013, has allowed customers to select a charity to which .5 percent of their purchase can be donated. Recently, Amazon has prevented customers from selecting charities solely based on a list published by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). This list identifies which charities the SPLC considers to be “hate group” and therefore are ineligible to receive donations.... Read more

What the talmud teaches compared to the New Testament [videos]

August 23, 2020 By Bethany Blankley

One for Israel has some great video series online. This video explains the difference between what rabbis teach through oral tradition versus what the New Testament of the Bible teaches. This video is part of the book: https://www.oneforisrael.org/refuting, and is in Hebrew with English subtitles. It’s only 15 minutes and is very informative. One for Israel is a cutting edge, dynamic evangelism initiative that seeks to share the Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) with Israeli Jews and Arabs... Read more

Map of persecuted Christians, religious minorities, in China

August 22, 2020 By Bethany Blankley

With all of the blame and talk about the Chinese coronavirus, what has become lost in the conversation is the daily reality that the Communist government of China is extremely persecuting Christians, Muslims, religious minorities, and nonconforming Communists. An Italian organization called, Bitter Winter, has mapped the types of government persecution by region. The map is interactive; you scroll over a region and it becomes highlighted. When you click on it, the pages lists examples of persecution reported in that... Read more