And other news briefs from Christians around the world. Contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman has joined the ranks of George Strait and Madonna as one of the few musicians who have topped radio charts 50 times. Chapman’s song “Don’t Lose Heart,” written about the struggle to hang on to faith in a time…
As an evangelical couple fights adoption law, Native American Christians point to holistic answers. Carol Bremer-Bennett loved her adoptive parents. And the Dutch Reformed family in Michigan was intentional about studying and celebrating her Navajo culture and history from the time they welcomed her into their family in 1969. But when Bremer-Bennett grew up and…
We must be wary of wrongly using the biblical command in order to silence victims of abuse. Forgiveness is the heartbeat of salvation history and the virtue that should mark the followers of Jesus. But those who seek to control and manipulate others can twist even the very heart of the gospel for their perverted…
A new history challenges perceptions that the two are either completely autonomous or completely at odds. Nicholas Spencer’s latest book, Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science and Religion, opens and closes with references to Stephen Jay Gould’s depiction of science and religion as nonoverlapping magisteria, or “NOMA.” By this, he meant that science is about…
It’s easy to forget that even the smallest gifts point to incredible divine abundance. It is difficult to remember just how much we have been given. It would have been enough if God had given us three square meals and a map for the journey. It would have been enough to have the promise of…
An evangelical from Pennsylvania argues the postal service should have accommodated his Sabbatarian beliefs. Maybe if Gerald Groff had only asked for one Sunday off, that would have been okay. Or he could have just asked for part of Sunday, shifting his schedule to deliver the mail after church, and that would have been fine…
First Baptist Church Atlanta pastor lived by the motto “Obey God and leave all the consequences to him.” Charles Stanley once took a punch to the face for his church. The longtime pastor and oft-praised preacher, who died on Tuesday at age 90, fought hard to lead in his Southern Baptist congregation, earning him a…
Southern Baptist leader Brent Leatherwood calls on the state to “restrain evil” through Governor Lee’s plan to keep weapons from those deemed a threat to themselves or others. Writing as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and the father of three children who survived the shooting at the…
I had never heard of him, but here he was convincing me to pray for a country I couldn’t even find on a map. It was October 1959. I was a sophomore at Wheaton College, majoring in history and planning to attend law school after graduation. One Friday night, four friends convinced me to drive…
The founder of Operation Mobilisation moved untold numbers to proclaim God’s love around the globe. George Verwer had a question. When the 18-year-old and his friend finished praying in a dorm room in Maryville, Tennessee, Verwer looked at his college buddy and asked, “Well? Are you ready to go?” Dale Rhoton was startled. He had…
