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I opened a recent TIME Magazine (9/29/14) today and saw in big bold words a quote from British Prime Minister David Cameron on ISIS: “They are not Muslims. They are murderers.” With all due respect to the Prime Minister---they are Muslims, and they are murderers. Our president said something similar after the beheading of American James Foley in August. “ISIL speaks for no religion. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, or what they do every day. No faith teaches people to murder innocents” (presstv.com, 8/20/14). It’s news to ISIL that they have nothing to do with...

The Episcopal Church’s oldest seminary is in upheaval following the announcement this week that most of its full-time faculty members will not be returning to teach. The Board of Trustees of the General Theological Seminary in New York says that the professors offered their de facto resignation when they went on strike over concerns about their new dean and president, the Very Rev. Kurt Dunkle. But the faculty members say they never wanted to resign, and rather were fired for defending the seminary’s values, including those of diversity and communication..... ...on Wednesday, the former faculty members – who previously had...

I spoke to a group of students at The Ohio State University on Monday evening [regarding abortion]... I realized the importance of distinguishing between the people we are trying to reach...people who are either already committedly pro-life, doggedly pro-abortion or still undecided. Once we understand our goals with each group we are trying to reach, we can effectively impact the convinced, the opposed, and the undecided.... The Convinced You may not think there’s much value in trying to reach those who are already convinced Christianity is true, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the more I...

… the goal is hearts changed by God and disciples equipped to lead others to Christ. .................In the years since Cam first started Wycliffe, 518 language groups have received the entire Bible and 1,275 have the New Testament in the language they understand best. Additionally, over 1,500 Bible translation projects are currently in process........

An Arizona high school football coach was suspended for two games last week for praying with his team. The problem, according to the school, arose after their coach, Tom Brittain, prayed with his team. This is despite the fact that the school, Tempe Preparatory Academy, is state-funded. Freedom of religion only goes so far, according to the school's administration. "He is a man who likes to pray and I don't object to that," said headmaster of the school Dr. David Baum. That said, "he can't do that with our students," Dr. Baum stated bluntly. After a win the previous week,...

A charter school in Southern California is facing the threat of a lawsuit for “purging” Christian books from its library. snip ....Brad Dacus told WND that among the books was “The Hiding Place,” the story of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch woman sent to a prison camp by the Nazis of World War II for helping Jews escape. Dacus said PJI’s legal team and the district have exchanged letters already. snip Strictly religious books, such as the Bible or the Quran, routinely are on library shelves, he argued. Dacus said an immediate correction of the school’s policy would prevent a...

A new Pew Research Center survey of opinion about the importance of religion in American life shows an interesting picture. Over the last 12 years, the percentage of Americans that think religion is losing influence in American life has increased dramatically. In 2002, 52 percent of those surveyed said religion is losing influence. In 2014, 72 percent of Americans said religion is losing influence. However, while increasing numbers of Americans feel religion is losing influence, most feel this is a bad thing. Fifty-six percent say that the waning influence of religion is a bad thing compared to 12 percent that...

Climate change captured the nation’s attention over the past week as an estimated 400,000 people marched through the streets of New York City to raise a collective voice of alarm about the effects of a warming planet. Just days before the march, the issue got a spotlight in Flagstaff thanks to a visit from Katharine Hayhoe, an evangelical Christian and climate scientist who is becoming one of the rising stars in the climate change conversation. Her message about the harmony between faith and climate change earned her a spot on Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in...

Last week, we brought you 11 Maps to Help You Make Sense of World Religion. This week, we’re zooming in on the grand ‘ole United States of America. What are the major religious groups? And where are they located? Scroll through these awesome maps, and you’ll see some interesting patterns emerge. You can click on any map to enlarge it. Enjoy

It's 7:15 Tuesday morning and like most mornings, Fr. Robert Barron, rector of the Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, unassumingly takes an open seat in the audience. Fr. Barron is best and popularly known for the recent PBS series "Catholicism" and his Word on Fire ministry. But here he is on a serene campus outside of Chicago, gathered with his community for prayer. After a brief greeting, the newly announced archbishop of Chicago, Blase Cupich, slips in alongside Fr. Barron. "We are people not to worry, but to depend on the mercy of God," Cupich began as he greeted the...

A Virginia Tech geobiologist with collaborators from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found evidence in the fossil record that complex multicellularity appeared in living things about 600 million years ago – nearly 60 million years before skeletal animals appeared during a huge growth spurt of new life on Earth known as the Cambrian Explosion. The discovery published online Wednesday in the journal Nature contradicts several longstanding interpretations of multicellular fossils from at least 600 million years ago. "This opens up a new door for us to shine some light on the timing and evolutionary steps that were taken by...

Interview with Don Hank: Interpreting What is Happening in the U.S., Europe and Russia today By Julio Severo As an American conservative evangelical who speaks and reads Russian and several European and Asian languages, Don Hank is uniquely able to explain the major challenges and dangers to the U.S., Europe and Russia. In this interview, he will help international and especially Brazilian readers to understand what is happening to these cultures that have Christian traditions. Don has a special concern for Christians being persecuted, raped and slaughtered as a result of misguided and malevolent geopolitical policies from the Western...

I remember Mama standing in front of me, her hands poised on her hips, her eyes glaring with hot coals of fire and saying in stentorian tones, “Just what is the big idea, young man?”Instinctively I knew my mother was not asking me an abstract question about theory. Her question was not a question at all—it was a thinly veiled accusation. Her words were easily translated to mean, “Why are you doing what you are doing?” She was challenging me to justify my behavior with a valid idea. I had none.Recently a friend asked me in all earnestness the same question....

AT had a chance to catch up with Steven Emerson, head of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, and hear his assessment of the ISIS threat here on American soil. Emerson runs the country’s top data center on Islamic terror groups in the United States, working like a man possessed, and accomplishing the work of thousands on sheer guts and determination to protect our country. " The FBI has been handcuffed in terms of investigating religious extremists in mosques, as a result of guidelines put out by the attorney general earlier this year. And so therefore, there is… a definite problem...

div class="article_body top">AT had a chance to catch up with Steven Emerson, head of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, and hear his assessment of the ISIS threat here on American soil.  Emerson runs the country’s top data center on Islamic terror groups in the United States, working like a man possessed, and accomplishing the work of thousands on sheer guts and determination to protect our country.   Wherever the bad guys have been caught and prosecuted successfully, you will find Emerson working quietly behind the scenes as an invaluable ally of the FBI and Homeland Security.  Because he accepts no money...

A recent study comparing views on morality of religious and non-religious people found something surprising: Religion doesn’t make our everyday lives more moral. Suppose you actually do have an angel over your shoulder telling you the right thing to do. That angel probably wouldn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know. A recent study in Science aimed at uncovering how we experience morality in our everyday lives suggests that religious people are no more moral—or immoral—than non-religious people. Whether or not we believe that divine precepts give us guidance, our behavior is remarkably similar. The fact that atheists are apparently...

<p>It’s football time in Tennessee where longtime gridiron traditions are cherished – from Rocky Top to the Pride of the Southland Marching Band. At the start of every game inside the colossal Neyland Stadium, thousands of the football faithful rise to their feet, remove their hats and pause for the pre-game prayer.</p>

Is this God's version of an October Surprise?

<p>"Archaeologists in Israel have discovered a massive compound dating back to the Byzantine era, which was used for “industrial-scale” production of wine and olive oil.</p> <p>The site at Ramat Bet Shemesh about 19 miles west of Jerusalem contains an oil press, wine press and colorful mosaics, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.</p>

Our great nation was formed by people of diverse nationalities, primarily Europeans with differing religious identities. While some mistrust existed, occasionally igniting localized conflicts, the religions of these many cultures did not teach and engage in the extermination of people of differing faiths. The world is now facing such a religion of extreme intolerance. It has a toehold in the USA and most other western nations, but cannot be allowed to remain because a religion of extreme intolerance teachings that dictates the elimination by death of nonbelievers does not, nor ever will be compatible with our historical embrace of religious...