Breaking Christian News on The Gospel Herald

Is the pope’s new encyclical on the environment an instant classic or his most successful failure?

Jason and David Benham talks about their thoughts on Bruce Jenner: Our hearts break for this man and his family. From the cover of the Wheaties box to the cover of Vanity Fair, Bruce Jenner is a reflection of our nation's story over the last half century.

There are many Christians in the United States who rely on their faith in God in making decisions related to politics. However, columnist Regina Nippert argued that mixing Christianity and politics could end up killing the church altogether.

Outspoken American conservative Pat Buchanan has written a new column arguing that the modern culture wars in the United States have now taken aim at Christian men important to U.S. history.

Ireland recently legalized same-sex marriage by a large margin. One columnist thought that Ireland’s vote represented a larger trend in Western culture and Christianity’s decline.

Outspoken American conservative Pat Buchanan has written a column arguing that the status of the United States as a “Christian nation” is on the decline.

Controversial Christian blogger Matt Walsh has written a column urging fellow Christians in the United States to stop being “lazy cowards” in the face of persecution. He had several solutions to combat that apathetic attitude.

Don Roberts, a trustee of the Greater Augusta Utility District, wrote a column asking legislators in Maine to consider the rights of Christians in that state, considering that they are under attack all over the world.

The invitation to join Christ in his work of the harvest was given over 2,000 years ago. What's your response?

On the practical level, we can't regulate morality for non-Christians. This is similar to how we Christians view pornography or prostitution: we acknowledge that it exists, we think it's a sin and we don't like it, but we also don't try to fight it. We can only regulate it for Christians.

If there is one "live" issue today, it is the role of the LGBTQ community in this world. Not only have the Sochi Olympics highlighted this, as Russia is very strict with their laws and policies regarding gay people in their country and thus has attracted a lot of criticism and debate from the international community, but one of the touchstones of the LGBTQ issue is how it relates to the Christian world.

Almost 16 years ago, a 12-year-old girl worked her way backstage at the annual Church of God in Christ (COGIC) AIM hosted at the L.A. Convention Center inching closer and closer to the choir stand where a seat was waiting for her, her sister, and her cousin, in the Soprano section. And just as she was about to enter the stand, a large, lovely woman appeared and the girl looked up, said hello, and introduced herself.

Based on a memoir written in 1853 by Solomon Northup, a free man kidnapped and sold into slavery, it's one of the few films that convey the experience of slavery from the slave's point of view. It is the most vivid and authentic portrayal of American slavery ever captured on screen and its sober presentation of bondage is interwoven with the universal themes of identity, betrayal, brutality and the need to keep faith in order to survive.

Amidst all of the risqué elements of the music industry, there rise a handful of artists with religious significance. You don't have to turn to a Christian radio station to find tunes that provide these types of lyrics. Below are five bands that remain Mainstream with a religious message.

When Pastor John MacArthur, a long-respected man of God, wrote his book, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Spirit with Counterfeit Worship, and hosted the corresponding conference, the sea of of occidental Christianity turned to tumult. But why the uproar?

Satan may be enthroned--literally--in the Oklahoma State Capitol if the winds don't change. A sum of almost $10,000 has been crowdfunded toward the purpose of erecting a statue of Satan as the god Baphomet to be placed near a monument of the Ten Commandments on the premises.

This month the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on the Constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act as well as California’s Proposition 8, which defined marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman in their state constitution.

When Dallas Willard was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late summer of 2012, one of his reflections was: "I think that, when I die, it might be some time until I know it." Dallas was always saying things that would never occur to anyone else. He said that a person is a series of conscious experiences, and that for the one who trusts and follows Jesus, death itself has no power to interrupt this life. Jesus himself said that the one who trusts in him will not taste death.

This past weekend was a tragic one for my home church. I was deeply saddened by the sad and tragic news of Pastor Rick Warren’s son Matthew dying by suicide after a life-long battle with mental illness and depression. According to one report published in the Christianity Today blog, Kay Warren, Pastor Rick’s wife and Matthew’s Mom, mentioned that “... our youngest child struggles with bipolar disease...”

Nashville, TN - April 4, 2013 - Forty-five years ago today, my Uncle M.L., the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered by an assassin's bullet. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if that shot had never been fired; what our nation would be like if that bullet had missed. Many are the times I wish he were here.

SAN DIEGO, CA, March 26, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - I saw an “ALL love is equal!” graphic posted up and down my news feed on Facebook this morning. It’s designed to strike a chord with a person’s sense of justice and compassion, of course; quick and manipulative slogans are the fodder of politics – and fools. My liberal arts-educated mind kicked in immediately, screaming, “No it isn’t!” Deliberately disregarding the intended purpose of the graphic, I lectured my computer screen, “There are filial, agape, eros…”

“I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph, and there is purpose and worth to each and every life.” These words, spoken by Ronald Reagan in 1991, are framed on the wall above my desk. As a gay man, I’ve adopted them as my own, as I’ve entered the national discussion on same-sex marriage.

In our sometimes misguided efforts to expand our freedom, selfish adults have systematically dismantled that which is most precious to children as they grow and develop. That’s why I am now speaking out against same-sex marriage.

Politics and legislation are good for solving problems, but not all problems. If our leaders really want to create a society where gun violence - and, for that matter, knife violence, bomb violence, and every other kind of violence - is reduced if not eliminated, they will stop trying to remove God from every sphere of public influence.

Specifically, in the story of The Rich Young Man we'll look at why Jesus often fails our expectations. In the healing of the demon possessed man we'll see how The Lord often defies human expectations - and the differences between these two passages can teach us about how God transcends our needs.