1+ hour, 13+ min ago (469+ words) Save 50% through 12/1. Join Now Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in Wicked For Good. Directed at other people, however, the impulse to vilify often goes awry. How can we pray for those who abuse us (Luke 6:28) when we have already reduced them to their hostile words and actions? Rather than turning our swords into ploughshares, we follow our natural instinct and allow each new injury to pull our blades closer to the grindstone. Of course, we've never needed others' bad behavior to justify our own. As the first Wicked film reminded us, surface-level differences rooted in appearance or affect prove reason enough to isolate, malign, or persecute. Then, when our bigotry provokes anger, we use the reaction as an excuse for brutal retaliation. Why do we fall back on such shallow judgments? It's a truism that most…...

1+ hour, 13+ min ago (266+ words) Save 50% through 12/1. Join Now Beth Felker Jones's book charitably holds up its merits against other traditions. introduction by Kevin J. VanHoozer While Jones demonstrates charity, she also writes with clarity and intellectual rigor. One problematic trend in some of the 20th century's ecumenical movements was abandoning clarity in favor of unity, underplaying or dismissing doctrinal differences. Jones refuses to look past core doctrinal disagreements between Christian traditions. Elisabeth Rain Kincaid is director of the Institute for Faith and Learning at Baylor University, where she also serves as associate professor for ethics, faith, and culture at George W. Truett Theological Seminary. She is the author of Law from Below. A new national survey co-sponsored by Leadership. Reported by Helen Lee Reviewed by Ryan T. Anderson Yonat Shimron in Coleshill, England " Religion News Service After years of planning and fundraising, the roadside landmark shaped like a…...

1+ hour, 13+ min ago (499+ words) Save 50% through 12/1. Join Now Following Jesus doesn't require rejecting my family's culture. God loves my latinidad. My'abuela'is the saintliest person I know. I spent a large portion of my early childhood in her care, and if I remember anything from that time, it's her prayers.' There's a family legend about a time my grandpa sabotaged the car to keep her from going to church with the kids. My grandma prayed, got in the car,'started it,'and went anyway. She was'and is'a woman of faith. From my earliest years, she taught me about Jesus and demonstrated what it meant to follow him even when it was hard. Our family isn't perfect, of course, but my grandma remains my model of godliness.' Interview by Kelsey Kramer McGinnis But as I watched, I heard more and more people say something like,'Christianity…...

1+ hour, 28+ min ago (289+ words) Religion plays a defining role in American culture and politics, but the degree of religiosity varies dramatically by state. This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte, maps out the share of adults who are highly religious based on survey data from the Pew Research Center. The survey was of 36,908 adults, conducted July 2023 to March 2024, with religiousness based on prayer frequency, attendance at religious services, belief in God, and the importance of religion in life. Mississippi leads as America's most religious state, with 50% of adults surveyed categorized as highly religious. The table below shows the share of residents in each U.S. state who are considered highly religious: South Carolina follows Mississippi with 46% of adults highly religious, with South Dakota and Louisiana tied next at 45%. The data highlights a strong concentration of religious adherence in the American South. States like Tennessee (44%), North Carolina…...

2+ hour, 13+ min ago (700+ words) While the mainstream media consistently denies or downplays the genocide of Christians in Nigeria, Judd Saul, founder and director of Equipping the Persecuted, who consistently does mission work in the country, assures us that Christians and churches are being wiped out by militant Islamic groups while the Nigerian government turns a blind eye.On a recent episode of "Relatable" with Allie Beth Stuckey, Saul unveiled the gut-wrenching reality of what is really happening to our Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria. "What's happening right now is a real-life systematic jihad against Christians perpetrated by radical Islamists from the north," he says.One of the Muslim groups with the most radicalized factions is the Fulani tribe, which has exploded in population in the last 30 years. This growth in tandem with the tribe's goal to take over Nigeria has culminated in the…...

2+ hour, 15+ min ago (303+ words) I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. We pray Dear LORD, for our Nation, for our children, for our children's children, for the Peace of Jerusalem, for the Nations at large, that once again You will be "A Light to Lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of Thy People Israel" (Luke 2:32) LORD, You are the MASTER of TIME and the same LORD for every TODAY - beginning with the TODAY that You were born when Your angel proclaimed: TODAY in the town of David a Savior is born to You, He is the Messiah, the LORD. (Luke 2:11) You are…...

2+ hour, 49+ min ago (285+ words) In a pro-life win for children and families, Prince Albert II has rejected a proposed bill that would have legalized ending a pre-born child's life on demand up to 12 weeks while expanding existing exceptions. The decision, delivered ahead of Monaco's National Day, halts the bill because the prince holds final constitutional authority over legislation, according to the Monaco Tribune. Under the current law, updated in 2019, abortion in Monaco remains illegal in nearly all circumstances. Exceptions are cases posing a serious risk to the mother's life or health, fetal conditions deemed "incompatible with life," or pregnancies resulting from rape that have been reported accordingly. According to an exclusive interview with Monaco-Matin, reported by the Monaco Tribune, Prince Albert said "the current framework respects who we are," and strikes "a balance respectful of our fundamental identity." Had the proposed bill been enacted,…...

4+ hour, 58+ min ago (844+ words) There are a lot of "solos" sung by our Protestant brethren: sola fide (saved by faith alone), sola Scriptura (Scripture alone is the rule of faith), and sola gratia (grace alone). Generally, one ought to be leery of claims that things work "alone." Typically, many things work together in harmony; things are interrelated. Very seldom is anyone or anything really "alone." The problem with "solos" emerges (it seems to me) in our mind, where it is possible to separate things out; but just because we can separate something out in our mind does not mean that we can do so in reality. Consider, for a moment, a candle's flame. In my mind, I can separate the heat of the flame from its light, but I could never put a knife into the flame and put the heat of the flame…...

5+ hour, 56+ min ago (671+ words) In these times of trouble and tribulation, with all that's happening in the world today, it's easy to succumb to a spirit of hopelessness, despair, and grief " for the deceived, lost and perishing people around us, and yes, even for ourselves." It's especially grievious when those deceived, lost and perishing are people we know and love." Perhaps even our own spouses, children and grandchildren. Having said that, I'd like us to consider today, just how much JOY, PRAISE, and BEAUTY we also find in God's holy Book." And though it's easy to take our eyes off of our Creator and dwell on the negative, there are virtually countless Scriptures that talk about God's goodness, His peace, the Comfort of the Holy Spirit, and especially giving thanks. I'm reminded of the old hymn by John Oatman, written in 1897, titled "Count Your…...

7+ hour, 4+ min ago (348+ words) Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here" (Matthew 12:56). Our Lords main purpose, however, was not to prove His deity to the Jewish leaders. It was to argue that, in light of that deity, He had the right and authority to set aside Sabbath regulation as He saw fit'even more prerogative than did David or the temple priests. And above all, no human traditions or customary ways of doing things could or should ever hinder genuine service for God. Some may view this as saying that Jesus was flippant about the commandments of God, as if they werent actually that important and could be ignored if desired. How would you respond to…...