Church
Os Guinness, international speaker, critic, and author of over twenty books on culture and faith, was featured at a seminar on Sunday hosted at Christ Central of Southern California (CCSC), a church based in Cerritos, CA. The seminar, which was titled, "Impossible People – Facing up to the challenges of the advanced modern world," discussed the challenges Christians may face in engaging with others and in culture wars in modern times, and how to overcome them.READ MORE
US
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) signed a bill on Thursday that would effectively remove the Confederate battle flag from the state capitol grounds. The flag will be taken down at 10 AM on Friday, after which it will be stored and displayed at the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.READ MORE
World
More than one billion people have been brought out of extreme poverty over the past 15 years, according to the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) report released on Tuesday. The MDGs report is one that shares the current status of eight main goals that the United Nations set in the year 2000 to improve eradicate extreme poverty, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, and reduce child mortality, among other goals.READ MORE
Church
The Episcopal Church (TEC) voted on Tuesday to approve two resolutions that would allow religious weddings for same-sex couples, and to change the definition of marriage in its canon law to gender neutral language. The definition will be changed from being defined as between "a man and a woman," to "these persons," or "the couple." Both resolutions (Resolution A054 and Resolution A036) also state that clergy still have the right under the canon law to refuse to perform any weddings that go against their conscience. The resolutions will take effect on November 1.READ MORE
US
For most evangelical Christians, Friday was a day of mixed feelings in light of the Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriages across all 50 states. Some engaged in heated debates on social media, while some stood back and watched them unfold. Individuals on both sides of the debate have lost friends and acquaintances over the last few days.READ MORE
US
The Supreme Court's 5-4 vote on Monday blocked a Texas law regarding abortion clinics' standards from being applied in the state. The case involved abortion clinic regulations in the state of Texas that would've forced 10 abortion clinics to close for failing to meet the standards. A federal appeals court unanimously upheld the state's regulations, at which the petitioners responded by appealing to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court stayed the appeals court decision on Monday for the clinics to remain open while the justices consider whether to hear the case.READ MORE
US
A hymn written by a Delaware pastor commemorating the nine who were shot and killed in Charleston, South Carolina, has been sung in numerous churches across the nation and even in other countries this past Sunday. Carolyn Gillette, co-pastor of Limestone Presbyterian Church in Pine Creek, wrote "They Met to Read the Bible," which was released for free online early Saturday morning. READ MORE
US
The Supreme Court ruled with a 5-4 vote that same-sex couples are guaranteed a right to marry under the Constitution on Friday morning. For religious individuals, this raises questions on the boundaries of their religious freedom in regards to practicing their faith in accordance with what they religiously believe about marriage. The majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, spends a brief paragraph to mention the religious implications of today's ruling, out of over 27 pages total:READ MORE
US
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Friday that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. The ruling of the case called Obergefell v. Hodges found that, by the Constitution's protection of due process and equal protection, the states cannot ban same-sex marriages, and that same-sex couples have a right to receive marriage licenses.READ MORE
Mission
AMP, a collective of three hip hop artists James Han, Samuel Ock, and Chung Lee, is among the most well-known Korean Christian hip hop artists today. Their beginnings stem from Youtube videos of "Never Change," and "See You in Heaven," songs created out of a collaboration between the three artists. The videos received explosive grassroots support. In four months since the initial upload, "Never Change" received over 100,000 views, and today, the video has over 1.5 million views. The three artists, who saw that they had similar desires and callings, decided to form the collaborative, "AMP," in 2010.READ MORE
Church
A wave of sudden awareness and urgency regarding copyright licensing swept over the Korean ministries (KMs) of Korean immigrant churches in recent weeks. A Korean copyright licensing company sent letters to the Korean immigrant churches in the Southern California area, warning them that if they are not using their musical resources legally, they are under risk of being sued. The group then encouraged the churches to sign up with their company by the end of June.READ MORE
US
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest AME church in the South also known affectionately as "Mother Emanuel," held its first worship service on Sunday since the devastating shooting that killed nine people. "It's by faith that we are standing here and sitting here," said Reverend Novel Goff, who is the interim pastor for the church until the successor is chosen. Reverend Clementa Pinckney, the senior pastor of Emanuel AME, was among those killed on Wednesday.READ MORE
US
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in favor of a pastor of a church who filed a lawsuit against the town of Gilbert, AZ, for restricting the church from placing signs about their church services. The town of Gilbert had specific restrictions on different types of signs, but the three types of signs that came to the attention of the Supreme Court justices were political, ideological, and directional signs. READ MORE
US
Dylann Storm Roof, 21, was arrested on Thursday morning for opening fire and killing nine at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday night. Roof was found some 220 miles north from Charleston, according to reports.READ MORE
Church
The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., passed a resolution during its recent annual meeting, which stated the denomination's determination to adhere to the definition of marriage between one man and one woman, regardless of the Supreme Court decision on Obergefell v. Hodges, to be released by the end of this month.READ MORE
The Sunday Assembly, also known as the “Atheist Church”, based in the United Kingdom is scheduled to have its first global assembly. The “church” is also known to have a branch and ...
World May 06, 2014 02:34 AM EDTThe leaders of the DPRK have been making very strong statements regarding human rights. A representative from the North Korean government has stated in a speech that the U.S. is a ‘living ...
World May 08, 2014 03:08 AM EDT
