Sri Lankan police chief resigns over bombings

The Sri Lanka chief of police resigned this week after bombings left dead more than 200 Christians on Easter morning. An official at the defense ministry has also stepped down.

Pujith Jayasundara stepped down April 25, and the announcement was made the following day.

How to Naturally Reverse Arthritis and Alzheimer's Symptoms

Two big pharmaceutical powerhouses recently threw in the towel on testing their highly-touted Alzheimer's drugs. At the same time, the Journal of the American Medical Association warned against the "pseudo-medicine" of Alzheimer's supplements.

Despite those hits, there's still hope for today's Alzheimer's sufferers and those destined to develop it. Newly published research proves 100 patients enjoyed significant, measurable symptom reversal using the protocol developed by Dr. Dale Bredesen, making a huge gain over the initial 19 success stories.

Pope Francis: To stop evil, give more love than required

To stop the spread of evil in the world, Catholics must go above and beyond, loving and forgiving others even when it is undeserved, Pope Francis urged Wednesday.

“Jesus inserts the power of forgiveness into human relationships. In life, not everything is resolved with justice,” he said April 24.

“Especially where we must put a barricade against evil, someone must love beyond what is necessary, to start a story of grace again,” he said, warning that “evil is familiar with its revenge, and if it is not interrupted it risks spreading and suffocating the whole world.”

An Inside Report From Sri Lanka's Traumatized Church

While members of Zion Church gathered last Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, children were meeting for a Sunday school lesson in another part of the building. At one point, their teacher asked the kids if they were willing to die for their faith. Every hand went up.

The teacher then led the children to the main sanctuary for morning worship. Suddenly a powerful bomb went off, sending chairs and body parts flying. "Half of the children died on the spot," says the Sunday school teacher. The assistant pastor's 10-year-old son was killed, along with nine other children from Zion.

Violence is nothing new for Christians in Sri Lanka, but the horrific bombings that happened on April 21 left a permanent scar. At least 321 people died in six blasts—three of which targeted churches during Easter services. Sri Lanka's government announced on Tuesday that suicide bombers affiliated with ISIS carried out the attacks.

3 debates surrounding the crucifixion

The crux of the Christian faith is the cross.

This is the moment in history where Jesus Christ, the Son of God, voluntarily laid down His life so that humanity might be set free from sin and restored to life, Christians have believed through the ages.

Yet this pivotal moment that has so much meaning to believers in Jesus worldwide, God incarnate crucified, is fraught with vigorous debate about what exactly Jesus accomplished.

Why Jesus' Final Words on the Cross Should Make You Uncomfortable

Jon Tyson, pastor of the Church of the City New York, says Jesus' final words on the cross are a challenge to believers to relinquish control and trust in God. He says it's a particularly difficult lesson for Christians to internalize today, given the breakdown of trust at so many levels—relationally, politically, institutionally. Yet Jesus felt that dismantling the idol of control and demonstrating trust in God was the most important lesson He could impart before His death.

"What is it that Jesus wants to leave in our minds on earth—the Son of God, what is it He wants to leave us with?" Tyson asks. "And these are the words we hear: 'Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.' Jesus' final act was an act of trust. An act of surrender to His father. This is the declaration He wants to leave. In the garden, Adam believed the lie, 'You can't trust God.' And here is Jesus' final words, trusting, 'Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.'

"Now the reason I think this carries particular weight for us, the kinds of modern people that we are, is that it's very very hard for us to genuinely surrender and to entrust ourselves to other people. Isn't it? We've basically had a nuclear meltdown of trust in our society."

Watch the video to hear Tyson's full sermon.

Helicopter to drop 30,000 Easter eggs at Illinois church: 'Sharing the hope of Jesus'

A large Illinois church will host an Easter weekend event on its property that will feature a helicopter dropping 30,000 Easter eggs.

Metro Community Church, a congregation with campuses in Edwardsville and Vandalia with an average worship attendance of around 1,600, will host its second annual Easter Egg Drop event on Saturday.

John Helmkamp, director of Operations at Metro Community, told a local media that the idea for the event came from a member who offered to drop the 30,000 Easter eggs.

“We made several adjustments to the event this year based on the high level of interest and attendance last year,” said Helmkamp.

This unique chant brings Vietnamese Catholics deeper into Christ's Passion

While the Stations of the Cross are a worldwide Lenten devotion for Catholics, the faithful in Vietnam have an additional practice that blends ancient traditional chants with Catholic prayer and meditation on the Crucifixion.

“The ‘Ngam Nguyen’ are…a unique Vietnamese Catholic practice of intoning a series of meditations recounting the Passion of Christ,” said Fr. Anthony Le Duc, national chaplain for the Vietnamese community in Thailand.