Knights of Malta members petition Pope for ‘reasonable explanation’ for meddling with Order

Grassroots members of the Knights of Malta are directly petitioning Pope Francis as a crucial vote for a new leader looms on Saturday.

We need to 'shatter' the anonymity of sex purchasers, lawmakers say

The U.S. government needs to be continually equipped to fight the scourge of human trafficking in new and effective ways, said members of Congress introducing an anti-trafficking bill on Thursday.

Keep Watch for These 2 Dangerous Chains on Your Child's Heart

When I was a kid, my Christian grade school teacher had the most dazzling sticker sheet of gold stars in her desk drawer. I really wanted those stars—the big gold stars.

This education program was really into publicizing each student's level of achievement. Our individual student "star charts" were displayed in plain view for any passerby. If you got a B or above on a test, you would get a small star on your chart next to that subject. If you scored 100 percent on a test, you'd get a big, beautiful gold star. Anything less, you got an understated green dot on your chart, which meant, "Way to pass, but don't get too excited about your bald little dot."

Pope donates rent for beach serving people with disabilities

Pope Francis has donated the rent for a private Italian beach that allows disabled people to enjoy the shore, the charity that manages the project announced this week.

The group Work of Love, a Catholic non-profit, has rented part of the Little Madonna beach located near Rome since 2012 in an effort to give disabled people better access to the beach. It is equipped with ramps, walkways and specialized beach chairs and water-friendly wheelchairs, and includes amenities such as a snack bar, changing rooms, and showers.

Beware of These 9 Common Toxins That Subtly Destroy Your Body

You probably know that hormones play a vital role in regulating your physiology and promoting good health. But are you aware of the onslaught of synthetic chemicals in the modern environment that threaten the delicate balance of hormones in your body?

What Are Hormones?

Pastor's Son Killed in Freak Hammer Accident

A freshman at Wheaton College in Illinois was killed in a freak hammer-throwing accident while volunteering at a track meet.

Ethan Roser, a 19-year-old transfer to Billy Graham's alma mater, was volunteering at a Wheaton College track and field competition when he was struck by a hammer during the hammer throw event.

The "hammer" in hammer throw is a metal ball attached to a grip by a steel wire. Competitors spin around several times before releasing, or "throwing," it, a local TV station reports.

"We are deeply grieved, but, because of our faith in Christ, not without hope," the Christian college said in a statement.

"We know he's with Jesus," his father, the Rev. Mark Roser, said. "And the fact that he's in paradise is a great source of comfort to us."

Ethan was part of a Young Life club through his high school.

"Ethan Roser was one of our heroes. We LOVED how much Ethan cared for his Mason [Ohio] friends to learn more about the life of Jesus Christ," the club posted to Twitter after his death.

Little Girl Flies Out of Church Bus Before Dropping to the Ground

A little girl flew out of a church vehicle, holding onto the handle of the back door until she dropped to the roadway, all while the vehicle continued progressing down the road.

A trained emergency technician was following the vehicle and watched the heart-stopping situation unfold.

"My heart sank," Ryan Ciampoli, the medical technician, told CNN. "That's the first time I've ever seen it in my life, in person. It didn't look real. I had to do a double-take."

The bus driver kept going until the other children on board screamed at him to stop. He will not face charges.

While emergency workers are trained to not touch victims, Ciampoli had to remove her from the roadway.

"It was unbelievable. Once I picked her up and put her in my arms, it was heartbreaking. She just had this horrified look on her face," he said.

The whole incident is recorded on Ciampoli's dash cam.

Cardinal Sarah: Church is facing ‘grave risk’ of schism over morality

Cardinal Robert Sarah warned that the Church’s unity is being threatened by influential leaders within the Church who “insist” that national churches have the “capacity to decide for themselves” on doctrinal and moral matters.

“Without a common faith, the Church is threatened by confusion and then, progressively, she can slide into dispersion and schism,” he said.

Christians are the most widely targeted religious group in the world

When it comes to religious persecution, Christians are the most widely targeted community, said a new report released last week.

But despite oppression and threat of violence, the faithful “should not be afraid,” said a Pakistani archbishop.

They call themselves 'nuns' but they're nothing to do with the Church - they're harvesting cannabis...

The Sisters of the Valley, California's self-ordained "weed nuns," are on a mission to heal and empower women with their cannabis products.

Based near the town of Merced in the Central Valley, which produces over half of the fruit, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States, the Sisters of the Valley grow and harvest their own cannabis plants.

ISIS claims responsibility for Egypt church bombings killing 36, injuring 100; Church leaders condemn attacks

At least 36 people have been killed and over 100 injured in two bombings at Coptic churches in Egypt, during Palm Sunday services. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, and Church leaders have publicly mourned the loss of life.

The first bombing, in Tanta, a Nile Delta city less than 100 kilometres outside Cairo, killed at least 25 and injured at least 78, according to Egypt's ministry of health.

This Subtle Danger Disguises Itself as Spiritual Maturity

I'm not sure when I became spiritually mature, but it happened without me noticing. I simply loved the Bible because it gave me glimpses of the Living God. As my love for God grew, so did an insatiable appetite for all 66 books of His Spirit-breathed Word.

Kicking Out the Ishmaels That Distract You From Your Prophetic Destiny

Many people today fall for Ishmaels in their walk with the Lord and they don't even realize it until it gets really complicated. You can read the story of Ishmael in Genesis 16-21, but I'll give you my abbreviated version. Basically, God told Abraham that even though he was really old, and his wife Sarah was long past her child-bearing years, they were going to have more descendants than one could count.

They couldn't understand how this was going to happen given that their physical bodies were too old to bear children. So Sarah hatched what she thought was a well-thought-out plan. She was just going to help God along with this prophetic destiny and make it happen herself. In that time period, it was a semi-common practice to give one's maid to one's husband in order for the duo to procreate, because that would be considered the same as the wife and husband having a child. So Sarah gave her maid Hagar to her husband so they could produce a son.

‘Matty was dead, and now he’s perfect:’ Incredible story of a toddler brought back to life

Matt and Elsa Cunningham thought they’d lost their young son in a drowning accident earlier this month. But 22-month-old Matty made it through the terrible ordeal with no medical complications.

The toddler should not have survived. His case has defied the laws of nature and science. And the Oregon family wants to share the joy of their miraculous experience, which they attribute to the power of prayer.

Beware This Twisted View of Prophecy That Only Feeds the Flesh

The word "twisted" is the same as the word "wicked" in the Bible. In fact, the terms can almost always be interchanged without altering the meaning of the text. A candle wick is twisted thread, a wicker basket is twisted bamboo and twisted thinking is wicked thinking.

As Peter wrote, "Keep in mind that the patience of our Lord means salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul has also written to you according to the wisdom given to him. As in all his letters, he writes about these things, in which some things are hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable distort, as they also do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Pet. 3:15–16).

Teacher Suspended After Reading Bible Verses To His Students

A primary school teacher in France was suspended after he reportedly read passages from the Bible to his students aged nine to 11.

The teacher, 40, was working for a school in Malicornay in the department of Indre in central France, according to France Bleu. His Bible-reading activity came to the attention of the school's headmaster, Pierre-François Gachet, after a "team of parents" wrote an anonymous letter complaining about the incident.

Do Some Of The Original Supporters Of Pope Francis Now Want Him To Resign?

Some of the cardinals who backed Pope Francis to succeed Pope Benedict XVI now want him to resign, according to an influential Catholic commentator.

Antonio Socci writes of the confusion around Francis on his blog and in the Italian newspaper Libero Quotidiniano.

Most US Prisons Torture Pregnant Women by Keeping Them Shackled During Childbirth, Says Reform Advocate

The majority of prisons in the United States are torturing pregnant women by forcing them to give birth while their hands and feet are bound and shackled, prominent criminal justice reform leader Pat Nolan said at the Conservative Political Action Conference last Friday.

The 66-year-old former president of Prison Fellowship's policy arm, Justice Fellowship, warned during a panel session with other prison reform experts at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center that even though a number of states have laws prohibiting prisons from shackling women while they are in labor, most prisons in the country are still doing it anyway.

Interview: Christian Former GP Describes Patients' Ungodly 'Quest For Perfection'

A Christian former GP who entered into church ministry has described how her former patients were trapped by an unhealthy and ungodly 'quest for perfection' that threatened their true sense of freedom.

Rhona Knight is a curate at Sleaford in Lincolnshire who gave up her medical practice two years ago. She speaks from experience.

Knight had been a GP for 25 years, with special interests in medical ethics and education. For many years she has written and spoken on medical ethics to Christian and non-Christian audiences.

She spoke to reporters following the publication by Grove Books of her booklet, The Quest for Perfection: seeking to be better than well.

'No Reincarnation Without Permission' Say Chinese Authorities In Fresh Crackdown On Religion

A province in China has blacklisted a series of 'illegal' religious activities targeting Islam, Christianity and Tibetan Buddhism, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA).

The blacklist comes after a ban on unofficial churches along with preaching, mission, proselytism and ordination without official authorisation in China last week.

5 Ways Christians Should Judge Others

It happened when I posted something to social media lamenting author Jen Hatmaker's disastrous decision to affirm gay unions. It happened again when I criticized a Saturday Night Live writer for attacking Barron Trump, the 10-year-old son of the president. Truth is, it happens anytime I make a judgment about anything or anyone.

"Christians are not to pass judgments, only state the truths," one person commented.

"Christ taught us to LOVE EVERYONE. Judgments are for our father in heaven, not us," said another.

And ironically, someone even stated, "You obviously are not a Christian because Jesus told us not to judge."

In some ways, these statements reflect the ethic of our culture. Judging is wrong — except when it's not. (Apparently, it's wrong to judge someone's sexual behavior, for example, but perfectly legitimate to judge someone for wearing fur or emitting too much carbon.) Yet, we judge all the time. (How could anyone hire a babysitter without judging?)

Our Sleep Deprivation Epidemic Is a Spiritual Problem

Because our bodies matter to God — and not just in a moral sense — our rest matters to God, too. So much so, He built it into the rhythms of the universe.

Do you proclaim with the psalmist: "Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, Lord, among the nations" (Psalm 57:8)?

Do you climb out of bed each morning and sing with joy about God's unfailing love (Psalm 59:16)?

If not, (and for the record, I rarely do), maybe it's because we are among the one in three Americans who don't get enough sleep. Seriously.

New fertility awareness app promoted as replacement for the pill

A husband-and-wife team of nuclear physicists has launched a sophisticated media campaign to promote a “birth control app” that predicts a woman’s fertility cycle using her internal temperature.

Drs. Elina Berglund and Raoul Scherwitzl report that their Natural Cycles application can “detect and predict ovulation with precision comparable to that of the contraceptive pill.”

Iraqi Christians erect large cross in area liberated from ISIS

After years of darkness, hope has returned to Telekuf-Tesqopa. Located just 17 miles from Mosul, the village is rebuilding after being liberated from ISIS.

As a visible sign of the rebuilding, a giant cross was erected on a hill, marking the victory of the Christian faith against the darkness of the jihadists.

New Planets Have Been Discovered That Could Support Alien Life. Here Are 10 Questions For Christians

With the news that seven earth-type planets that could be able to sustain organic life have been discovered around the dwarf star Trappist-1, it seems increasingly possible that humans are not alone in the universe.

So where does this leave traditional Christian beliefs?

Here are 10 questions for Christians to ponder about intelligent life on planets other than earth.

1. Can an alien go to heaven? Revelation speaks of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, meaning that heaven transcends boundaries of time and space. If aliens do exist, then they can certainly go to heaven, as heaven has no geographical limits that restrict it to one place alone. Of course this means aliens could also go to the other place...

Why Apostle Suleiman Joined a Cult

Preachers come in all shapes and sizes. There are big, sociable preachers. There are short, slim, soft-spoken preachers. And there are creative preachers who are so dynamic they bring listeners back to the center while proclaiming the unchanging gospel.

Apostle Johnson Suleiman falls in the latter category, being a preacher who regularly demonstrates how God has penetrated his own heart with the truths he presents. His interpretation not only has been defended in the sermon, but it has been digested.

The true life story of Apostle Johnson Suleiman is the actual motivational piece that should interest you. Although a seer, Suleiman has waded many storms that would make swiftly flip through the pages on his biography. His writing career must have roots in his journalistic stint at TELL Magazine where he practiced investigative journalism. He moved on to PM News and later, DBN. Before his books arrived on book shelves, he was lost in the track of cultism as a youngster.

Catholic doctor fired for refusing to administer birth control. Court rules against her

Last week, a Norwegian court ruled against Katarzyna Jachimowicz, a Polish Catholic doctor fired for her unwillingness to insert intrauterine devices (IUDs).

The determined doctor decided in 2016 to fight for freedom based on conscience protections and tolerance for family doctors. However, on February 9, a district judge explained that the government has no desire to protect conscience in this case any further than absolutely necessary according to the European Convention on Human Rights. It simply prioritized the interest of women in accordance with “traditional Norwegian values.” The court found the discrimination against Catholic minorities in Norway irrelevant.

Christians Sentenced To 80 Lashes Of The Whip – For Taking Holy Communion

Three Christian converts in Iran are appealing against a sentence of 80 lashes each – for the crime of receiving Holy Communion.

Yaser Mosibzadeh, Saheb Fadayee and Mohammad Reza Omidi were arrested last May.

All three men, along with their pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, were charged with acting against national security but the three lay Christians were also charged with consuming alcoholic communion wine. Last September they were sentenced to receive 80 lashes each and are now appealing against this, Open Doors reports.

French court deems extramarital hookups site a legitimate business

A French court has sided with a website that promotes adultery after Christians voiced their concerns about its message of marital infidelity.

Gleeden, named by combining "joy" with the sin of Eve, is touted as the world's "premier extramarital dating website" with more than a million members in 159 countries. Taste adultery and try a discreet relationship with your lover" is the message of an ad next to a picture of a bitten apple.

Christian Man Dies After Being Forced To Spend Night In Cold Pond For Refusing To Deny Christ

A Christian man in India has died after he and his wife were forced to spend the night in a cold pond for refusing to deny Christ.

Bartu Urawn, 50, from Jharkhand state, survived the night, but has now died from illness which came on afterwards.

Hillsong To Open Its First Church In Israel, Pastor Brian Houston Announces On Instagram

The fast-growing and hugely popular Hillsong evangelical church is to open up in Israel.

Hillsong, which runs regular tours to the Holy Land, is to launch a new church in Tel Aviv.

The move was announced by Brian Houston, global senior pastor of Hillsong Church and president of Hillsong Music.

He wrote on Instagram: 'Let me to be the first to tell you this is happening. Hillsong church is going to add a room to our church family in ISRAEL. From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth and from the ends of the earth back to Israel. #prayforhillsongisrael #TelAviv.'

Trump Considers Issuing 'Brand New' Travel Ban In Surprise Move

US President Donald Trump is considering issuing a new executive order banning citizens of certain countriestravelling to the United States after his initial attempt to clamp down on immigration and refugees snarled to a halt amid political and judicial chaos.

Trump announced the possibility of a 'brand new order' that could be issued as soon as Monday or Tuesday, in a surprise talk with reporters aboard Air Force One late on Friday, as he and the Japanese premier headed to his estate in Florida for the weekend.

A Message To All Single Men For This Valentine's Season

Every man wants to love that one woman the Lord gives to him. Sure, not all men and women do marry as some are content with living a life of single blessedness. But all men who long to marry and eventually marry the woman they dream of and pray for find joy in being able to give love and receive love.

Are you in love? I hope you are – with the right person.

The Wrong One

Missionary Shares The Amazing Transformation Of An Abandoned Nigerian Boy

It's truly amazing what kindness and compassion can do. In a span of just one year, a malnourished boy who was abandoned by his own parents has recovered his health and has already started to attend school in Nigeria.

A Danish humanitarian missionary named Anja Ringgren Loven, co-founder of the African Children's Aid Education and Development Foundation, came to the two-year-old boy's aid just over a year ago, according to Faith Wire. His parents reportedly left him to die on a roadside in Nigeria allegedly because they thought he was a witch.

Christian groups divided over 'safe zones' for Syrian refugees

After President Donald Trump pushed for the creation of safe zones for refugees in the Middle East, advocates and humanitarian aid groups are divided over whether the policy will work.

“We think it’s within the United States’ national security interests to support the creation of safe zones to at least stop the exodus of people leaving Syria and move that conflict more toward a resolution which is favorable to Christians,” Phillippe Nassif, executive director of the group In Defense of Christians, told CNA of Trump’s proposal.

Appeals Court Rejects Trump's Challenge; Refugee Order Still Blocked

A U.S. appeals court denied on Sunday a request from the Department of Justice to restore President Donald Trump's order temporarily banning refugees.

U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle had ruled Friday that the order would be halted across the nation with immediate effect, and said that "the immigration laws of the United States should be enforced vigorously and uniformly." The Justice Department appealed late Saturday, with Trump saying, "For the safety of the country, we'll win."

When Selfies Kill

We used to be "the me generation." Now perhaps we're the selfie generation — the generation that exalts me, my selfie, and I. One article on Botox treatment called ours the "selfie culture."

But what happens when selfies — photographs taken by you of yourself — can actually endanger you or others or even animals? For a few years now I have been saving stories about people getting hurt or killed because of their selfies.

Lightning killed a man who was using a selfie stick ... in a lightning storm. Then there was the man who endured serious damage to his hand because he tried to take a selfie with a snake, and the snake bit him.

Cynics talk about the "Darwin Awards." These unofficial awards (never really handed out) go in theory to those unfortunate souls who die because of their own stupidity, and the cynics are glad that the dead are no longer in the gene pool. That is obviously a sub-Christian view of people.

Pope Francis: spiritual poverty is a cure to polemics

On Sunday Pope Francis said being poor in spirit doesn’t necessarily mean giving things up, but instead is rooted in humility and openness to others – an attitude capable of overcoming polemics and division, and leading to greater fraternity.

“The poor in spirit is the Christian who doesn’t rely on oneself, on material riches, who doesn’t insist on their own opinions, but listens with respect and willingly defers to others’ decisions,” the Pope said Jan. 29.

“If in our community there were more (people who are) poor in spirit, there would be less divisions, conflicts and polemics!” he said, adding that like charity, humility is “an essential virtue for living in Christian communities.”

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus address, which this week was attended by roughly 25,000 people, according to the Vatican police. Among attendees were 3,000 youth from Catholic Action in Rome, who participated as part of their annual “Caravan of Peace” event.

Chaos And Anger As Trump Ban For Muslim Countries Begins

President Donald Trump's order to restrict people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States sparked confusion and anger on Saturday after immigrants and refugees were kept off flights and left stranded in airports.

In his most sweeping decision since taking office a week ago, Trump, a Republican, put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from Syria and six other countries.

Civil rights and faith groups, activists and Democratic politicians were furious and vowed to fight the order.

Pastors Pray And Anoint The Door That Donald Trump Will Walk Through At His Inauguration

Three Christian leaders in the United States have joined to "pray and anoint" the doorway that President-elect Trump will walk through before his inauguration at Capitol Building today.

The three Christians have likewise prayed for previous presidents. They ask for direction, leadership, protection and blessing for Donald Trump and his team.

Controversial Philippines President Duterte Seeks Peace With Pope Francis After Rows Over Condoms, Death Penalty

The controversial President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has written a personal letter to Pope Francis saying that the country values its "special relations" with the Holy See.

The letter comes after Duterte set himself on a collision course with the Catholic Church over plans to hand out millions of free condoms and reintroduce the death penalty.

However, the Pope is said to have told an aide to the President on Wednesday that he will bless Duterte after the aide handed the letter to Francis.

Millennials Believe Britain Is No Longer A Christian Country – But They Still Think Religion Matters

Most millennials do not view Britain as a Christian country, according to a poll to be published today.

Instead, they view Britain as a nation with no specific religious identity. But they do believe that religion plays an important role in the lives of individuals.

The survey was carried out by pollsters ComRes and is being published today to mark the launch of the new Faith Research Centre later this month.

Is Social Media Leading You to Emotional Adultery?

Pastor Mark Driscoll of Trinity Church in Arizona has warned that many Christian couples are committing what he describes as "emotional adultery," and said that couples need to remember the importance of friendship in their relationship.

Why and How a Man Should Keep Himself Pure

When societies lose the directional parameters of purpose, they cast off all restraint.

The 1960s sexual revolution ushered in a degrading of America's young people. Now, the first generation of men who grew up with unlimited access to pornography are suffering unexpected collateral damage—porn-induced erectile dysfunction (PIED).

A new 'vocational culture' is needed in the Church, Pope Francis says

A fresh and courageous perspective is needed when it comes to helping youth discern and discover their vocation, Pope Francis said Thursday, emphasizing the importance of personal holiness and the commitment to serving others.

“(Today) there is the urgency to bring into the Christian community a new ‘vocational culture,’” the Pope said in his prepared Jan. 5 remarks.

Texas court strikes down reg forcing doctors to do ‘sex changes’ on kids

On December 31, a Texas court struck down a federal regulation requiring doctors to perform gender transition procedures on children, even if the doctor believes the treatment could harm the child.
 
The ruling protects the rights of families and their doctors to make medical decisions for their child free from government bureaucrats’ interference.

Christian Woman In China Sentenced To Three Years In Prison For Holding Bible Study

A Christian woman in China has been sentenced to three years in prison for holding a Bible study after being accused of "gathering a crowd to disturb public order".

China Aid reported that Ma Huichao was sentenced on Friday at a court in the western Xinjiang region of the country.

She had been taken into police custody along with four other Christians when officials claimed that their Bible study met without government approval, and stood trial in mid-November.

Is Speaking in Tongues From God or the Devil?

Without a doubt, speaking in tongues is the most controversial spiritual gift mentioned in the New Testament. Is it from God or the devil? Should believers ignore it, oppose it, or embrace it? There are many legitimate questions regarding the gift of tongues that deserve a thoughtful, biblical response. Let's tackle five of them.

1. Is speaking in tongues from God or the devil?

How to Make Your Christian School Distinctive

The importance of educating and motivating someone to form working definitions of "mission" and "distinctives" is one thing and will bring a degree understanding, but to promote action, is more important. Unpacking the definitions, that is to say moving from the general to the specific as actionable, will provide increased meaning and excitement to Christian education.

Taking a closer look at these two foundation for schools: "mission statement" and "distinctives" can and will move you to transformation. Understanding, if given careful consideration, will motivate the undertaking of serious study, discussion, and initiate a carefully planned road map to a new level.

But, there's so much more. Now I sound like a TV commercial for a shrink seal machine to keep your meats and vegetables fresh. Even this aside segues nicely to the benefits for preparing marketing materials which are professional and effective. The mission statement study will reveal controls for operation and even board and committee meeting management.

How Can Christians Discern If Their Partner Is the Right Person to Marry?

It is both amazing and terrifying that God gives Christians the freedom to decide for themselves who they should date and marry. Sure, God will help them and guide them through His Word. But ultimately, the choice belongs to the Christians themselves.

David Silker, senior leader at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, said selecting the right partner need not be terrifying if Christians adhere to God's principles about dating, courtship and marriage.

Rick Wiles: Karlov Assassination a 'Deep State Hit'

In what will quickly become a must-listen-to discussion regarding Monday's assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, Pastor Rick Wiles of TruNews made it clear he's certain he knows who was responsible: President Barack Obama, the CIA and the shadow government.

"Obama and his deep state handlers took out the Russian ambassador," he said during Monday afternoon's episode of TruNews. "If I was a prosecutor, I could get an indictment. Here you have a guy who made a threat and a couple days later, someone's been murdered."

Former Manchester United footballer to be a Dominican priest

You might have heard of Phil Mulryne, a Manchester United footballer who's shared the field with David Beckham and brought fame to Ireland with 27 caps – international appearances – in his athletic career.

But now, Mulryne is setting aside his jersey to pursue the vocation of a Catholic Dominican priest.

“This for me was one of the major reasons that attracted me to the religious life,” Mulryne said in a video interview posted by the Daily Mail.