Breaking Christian News on The Gospel Herald

Actor, Christian and athlete Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson paid tribute to America's fallen heroes at Pearl Harbor as part of the upcoming "Rock the Troops" special that will air on Spike Dec. 13 at 9 p.m. EST. During the show's production, Johnson saluted two American soldiers who survived the Pearl Harbor attack 75 years ago: Alfred Rodrigues, SKC U.S. NAVY (retired), age 96, and Herb Weatherwax, SSG U.S. ARMY (retired), age 99.

U.S. Supreme Court justices on Friday agreed to hear future appeals from three Christian-affiliated hospital systems about previous court rulings that supported employee lawsuits accusing the hospitals' representatives of wrongly claiming religious exemptions from federal pension law. The effected employees allege the hospital systems actually are big businesses posing as church organizations to avoid minimum funding and reporting requirements on employee pension plans mandated by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA.

Two American pastors -- Ryan Keating and Andrew Brunson -- recently were detained in Turkey and deemed "threats to national security" there. "Protestant or Christian churches are seen as an American influence, and now that Turkey is anti-American, they are being targeted even more," said Aykan Erdemir, a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former member of the Turkish parliament.

Is actor Dwayne Johnson forgetting his own strength on the "Jumanji" remake movie set? This weekend, the 2016 Sexiest Man Alive posted new, behind-the-scenes photos and videos for the upcoming fantasy film, which is a follow-up to the 1995 Robin Williams movie about kids whose lives are upended by a magical board game. Action-packed shots of a big fight scene in an exotic locale, and a video of Johnson spooking his co-star and comedian Kevin Hart with a poisonous snake, caught attention. In real life, Johnson has admitted to finding his inner strength from God to battle depression and times of life not as controlled as movie scenes.

Kevin Labby, senior pastor at Willow Creek Church in Florida this week proclaimed disgraced pastor and grandson of evangelist Billy Graham, Tullian Tchivijian, should not be in ministry. Tchivijian used to minister at Willow Creek with Labby, who released a statement on Thursday stating Tchivijian needs to "pursue healing and renewal" before any return to ministry. Tchividjian's sordid sexual sins wrecked his marriage and ministry after they were publicly exposed in the summer of 2015.

Air Force Academy Falcon's football tight end coach Steed Lobotzke's tweets involve promoting Christianity. Because the tweets were sent on a Twitter account that identifies Lobotzke as being with the academy's football program, Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is strenuously objecting to the coach's lack of separation of church and state, and wants accountability to be established.

Study findings published Thursday by Johns Hopkins and New York University School of Medicine researchers indicate psychotherapy fueled by a hallucinogenic called psilocybin, the active ingredient in the mind-altering drug known as magic mushrooms, could reduce psychological illness and distress among patients with life-threatening diagnoses. Cancer patient and study participant Tony Head said he wasn't sure he'd call it "God," but some extraordinary power touched him during his psychedelic-assisted therapy session.

U.S. District Court officials for the Northern District of Ohio on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit against the federal government that demanded the removal of the national motto, "In God We Trust," from U.S. currency. The plaintiffs, which are a "group of atheists, humanists, and religious persons who find the use of God's name on currency to be sinful," claim this national motto on currency breaches their rights to free exercise, free speech and equal protection. Attorneys from the largest U.S. legal organization dedicated to defending religious freedom for all Americans stepped into the case as well.

Tennessee wildfires caused a lot of destruction, but one Dollywood employee who was cleaning up debris at the theme park discovered a burnt but surviving page of the Bible that he said left him speechless. Isaac McCord said a torn piece of paper, charred around the edges, caught his eye. It was a page from the Book of Joel from the King James Bible, a part of which references how a fire would devour the wilderness.

A senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official just met with a Swedish ambassador to discuss diplomatic access for Rev. Hyeon Soo Lim, a 60-year-old Canadian pastor who was born in South Korea, and who now is being held in a labor camp after being arrested and sentenced by a North Korean court in December 2015, Korean Central News Agency reported.

Dolly Parton reunited with fellow cast members on red carpet at Dollywood last week to celebrate the premiere of "Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love." The movie airs Nov. 30 on NBC at 8 p.m. CST, and focuses on a Christmas miracle. Christian attitude is the backbone of the new film. "Hi, Lord, it's Dolly-I'm back!" says Alyvia Alyn Lind who plays a nine-year-old Parton living in Tennessee in the 1950s.

Not only did Sundance Head revive a cherished and soulful country song called "Me and Jesus" on Tuesday evening's singing competition of NBC's The Voice, he created an ambiance like being at a religious revival. The Texas singer also made it to the No. 2 spot on iTunes at the time of this writing. Americans are voting for their favorite singers on the show, with eliminations happening each week toward The Top 10.

Dylann Roof, the 22-year-old white man accused of fatally shooting nine black parishioners at a S.C. church during June 2015 was allowed Monday to act as his own attorney in his death penalty trial, which may include him questioning survivors of the attack and relatives of those who died during the incident.

Students and society would benefit if religious education was included as a core subject in all schools' curriculum, said education expect Dr. Amelee Meehan, who works in faith leadership for the Catholic Education an Irish Schools' Trust (CEIST), the Trustee body for 110 Voluntary Catholic Secondary Schools in Ireland.

Recent NASA findings show the number of galaxies are much more than what humans originally thought. Leaders of the apologetics' group, Answers in Genesis, say this is proof the Bible is true.

Sharon Jones' contribution to music wasn't the only legacy she left after passing away at the age of 60; the "neo-soul" singer also will be remembered for open proclamations of her faith in Christ. She lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on Nov. 18, with her last breaths in the hospital devoted to hymns, particularly "Amazing Grace."

Dylann Roof, the white man accused of killing nine African-Americans in a Charleston, S.C., church has been declared competent to stand trial by Judge Richard Gergel around 9:30 a.m. Friday. Jury selection for this matter is scheduled to begin Monday.

An 18-year-old Maryville College football player was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a high school cheerleader in Knoxville, Tenn. Acquaintances said the two had been a couple, but had broken up recently. On Tuesday, after the shooting, the alleged killer tweeted: "That's my beautiful Emma. Rest easy now sweetheart. 1 Corinthians 13:8. Be sure to remind God about our verse. I love you. Forever and always."

Leaders of religious congregations, including churches and synagogues, now are declaring themselves "sanctuaries" for immigrants fleeing deportation based on President-elect Donald Trump's threats to crackdown. These steps are being taken after New York, Chicago and Seattle mayors declared their cities "sanctuaries," as well as students, professors and alumni at elite universities, including Harvard, Yale and Brown, signed petitions asking their schools to protect undocumented students from any executive order.

"The only explanation for everything God has done at NCC over the past 20 years is five words that Jesus declared 2,000 years ago - I will build my church," declared Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C., as congregants celebrate two decades of existence this year. NCC, referred to as "the theater church, is one creative church in eight unique locations in the DC metro area; it started from three people on the first Sunday service in 1996 to now a large group of Christians who supported 34 mission trips this year.

Former WWE champ Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson can add People's "Sexiest Man Alive" title to his list of accomplishments. The wrestler-turned-actor was crowned this year's winner Tuesday morning. Johnson discussed his new status with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show Tuesday. He also lent his voice to a character in the animated Disney film "Moana," which hits theaters next week.

Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist and white evangelical Christian living in Texas, believes her unique position and strategy of approaching climate change will help turn skeptics into believers. This pastor's wife launched a web series, and has been using social media to engage climate change deniers through her faith-based methods. She recently appeared at the White House to discuss climate change with President Barack Obama and actor-turned-environmental-advocate Leonardo DiCaprio.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said he thinks Texas Sen. Ted Cruz should be a Supreme Court nominee of President-elect Donald Trump to replace the late Antonin Scalia. There is "no stronger constitutional conservative" than Cruz, said the former presidential primary foe of Cruz.

Canadian songwriter-singer Leonard Cohen, whose work spanned nearly 50 years, died Monday at the age of 82. He was a poet and artist who left the world the beloved song "Hallelujah," which appeared on his 1985 album "Various Positions," and was covered by 300-plus popular singers in the past 30 years. Many of his fans always thought he sang for the Lord. Canadian magazine Maclean's called the song "pop music's closest thing to a sacred text."

New York Brooklyn Nets' basketball player Jeremy Lin weighed in on social media this week regarding the U.S. presidential election results with measured and hopeful thoughts.