Oklahoma Christian is the only site outside of New York City to have survivor trees from both tragedies. Just west of the university’s library stands a tall American Elm, an offspring of a tree that remained standing after the Oklahoma City bombing. The April 19, 1995, attack, an act of domestic terrorism that claimed 168 lives, destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Read MoreLifeWise Academy founder Joel Penton was on Bluetooth, driving a vibrant red and yellow school bus fashioned into a camper, heading from Ohio with his wife and five school-age children to the newest academy sites in Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia.
Read MoreGrammy Award-winning contemporary Christian singer Mandisa Lynn Hundley, a former Lifeway Christian Resources employee and top-10 “American Idol” finisher, was found dead on April 18 at her Nashville home, her publicist announced on social media. No cause of death was given.
Read MoreA Baptist pastor and religious freedom advocate in war-torn Myanmar was rearrested by junta leaders after mere hours of freedom. Hkalam Samson, former head of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Myanmar and a civic activist, had been released April 17 from a six-year prison sentence alongside 3,300 other prisoners in a mass amnesty customarily granted at Myanmar’s New Year, celebrated April 13-16 this year.
Read MoreChristian ministries are raising concerns about a proposed addition to Department of State regulations that would limit the employment decisions of those accepting foreign assistance. The Accord Network, Samaritan’s Purse, Christian Legal Society and Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and others, filed an official comment about the proposed changes.
Read MoreStructured around an academic year of teaching law, the book explores monthly themes such as "Where is the Line Between Wrong and Evil?" and draws on experiences and legal case studies to discuss empathy in disagreement, trust across differences and challenging assumptions. The book is relevant for everyday community interactions during election years and beyond.
Read MoreScripture engagement among American adults is at its lowest point in the 14 years the American Bible Society has commissioned the annual State of the Bible report, researchers said in releasing the first chapter of the 2024 report. Well over half — 57 percent, or 151 million — of American adults are Bible Disengaged, based on a 15-question metric.
Read MoreJust three months after he was installed as president of the Rainbow Push Coalition, the Rev. Freddie Haynes II abruptly resigned this week as leader of the historic Civil Rights organization. Last July, the Rev. Jesse Jackson had selected Haynes to lead the organization starting in 2024.
Read MoreEvery year at Passover we are commanded to imagine ourselves leaving Egypt — Joel Silverstein painted himself into the picture. In “The Brighton Beach Bible” — an art book with narrative commentary — Silverstein envisions the boardwalks and abandoned attractions of his childhood in Brooklyn as the staging ground for the Exodus and 40 years in the wilderness.
Read More“The Roof,” released as part of the second season of the platform’s “Launchpad” series, tells the coming-of-age story of a two-spirit Northern Cheyenne teenager (played by Phoenix Wilson) who is sent to live with their grandfather (played by Academy-Award winner Wes Studi). The two learn to connect and the teen gains an understanding of what it means to be two-spirit, while the grandfather opens up about his life.
Read MoreA law criminalizing gender transition care for minors in Idaho can be applied while two anonymous teenage plaintiffs’ challenge to the law continues in court, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 15.
Read MoreBeverly LaHaye, a prominent conservative Christian activist who founded Concerned Women for America, passed away Sunday at the age of 94, CWA announced. LaHaye formed CWA 45 years ago to advocate for biblical principles at all levels of public policy. Since then, it has become the “nation’s largest public policy women’s organization,” with chapters in nearly every state, CWA said on its website.
Read MoreThe religious freedom case pitting a Christian group against local activists over Sunday access to a New Jersey beach may not be resolved in time for this summer. A hearing — originally scheduled for April 17 — has been postponed and a new date of May 16 set, just two weeks before the traditional start of the summer beach season.
Read MoreSome find the constant pop of the wiffle ball batted about by oversized ping pong paddles annoying. Others see a sport encouraging exercise, multigenerational competition, and camaraderie. Regardless, pickleball is here to stay. It’s called the fastest-growing recreational sport in the U.S., although it has been around since 1965.
Read More(OPINION) I arrived at my radio studio Monday to learn that social media sites were blowing up over the latest controversy involving Pastor Mark Driscoll. He had publicly called out the performance of a sword swallowing acrobat as demonic without talking to the pastor first. The pastor, in turn, then called out Driscoll in midstream, shutting down his comments.
Read More“We must fight Christian nationalism. It’s what fueled Jan. 6 and the pews in our churches, every Sunday, are filled with them.” That isn’t the only time I’ve heard that ominous warning offered up by an earnest, well-weaning pastor, non-profit leader or Christian influencer. It’s shaped by a narrative repeated often by the press, echoed in a seemingly unlimited new genre of books and accepted as gospel even by many people of faith.
Read More(ANALYSIS) One of the most important components of the Democratic coalition is the Black church. But I have to wonder if there are not cracks beginning to form in the alliance between the Democratic Party and Black Protestant Christianity.
Read MoreIn an age of shrinking theological schools, Wesley Biblical Seminary is defying expectations. While many of the largest and prominent evangelical seminaries across the United States — such as Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Fuller Theological Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary — are downsizing, WBS is growing in enrollment.
Read MoreAmid what many consider an increasingly hostile climate for Jewish students on campus, Hillel has updated its college guide, including a new feature that indicates whether students at a particular school have held a vote to boycott Israel.
Read MoreWith its manicured greens, blooming azaleas and a spectator menu featuring prices from yesteryear, the scene at Augusta National Golf Club in the first full week of April is, indeed, a tradition unlike any other. The subject of faith can also be raised. Scottie Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the world who earned his first green jacket in 2022, talked about how the sport doesn’t define him, but his faith does.
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