$800M Tax Hike for Ministers? Judge Kills ‘Most Important Tax Benefit’
For 60 years, ministers and clergy in the U.S. have relied on an IRS law that allows them a tax-exempt housing allowance. Now that key exemption is at risk.
Christian
Violence Against Christians Increases as Elections Draw Close in India’s Karnataka State
On September 17, 2017, suspected Hindu radicals attacked an Assembly of God church in India’s Karnataka state. After the attack, church attendance has plummeted as Christians in the area fear another attack. It is not surprising that attacks are increasing in Karnataka as state elections are scheduled to occur early next year. Hindu hardline groups want to silence Christians and ensure that they are unable to practice their faith.
Thousands of Women to Repent for Racial Sins of America in Worship Rally on National Mall
This weekend’s worship festivities on the National Mall will culminate on Monday in the form of a day-long women-led worship rally in which people from all across the United States will be called to pray for a ‘Jesus Movement’ to sweep the nation and foster racial reconciliation, gender equality, and for an end to abortion.
Christians and Yazidis in Iraq Stand on the Brink of Extinction
Astonishingly, for three years U.S. government bureaucrats have refused to help endangered religious minority communities like Christians and Yazidis survive the genocide ISIS began in 2014. These communities stand on the brink of extinction.
Coptic girl, 16, rescued 92 days after Islamists kidnapped her
A 16-year-old Coptic Christian girl kidnapped on 28 June to be ‘converted to Islam, then married off or sold’, was released and returned to her family on 30 September after police found her and arrested her kidnappers in a city just outside Cairo.
Christian women, three-year-old taken into custody for mission work
Provoked by the mission work of a local house church, officials detained a pastor and her daughter on Sept. 22, taking the daughter’s three-year-old son into custody as well.
Study Shows Link between Abortion and Breast Cancer in China
Abortion is widespread in China, due to the country’s One Child Policy, and now the updated, but hardly less restrictive, Two Child Policy. Reports have emerged of Chinese women being forced to undergo abortions or face harsh consequences, but to make matters worse, a study has now been released that shows a link between abortions and breast cancer in women, according to LifeNews.com.
Judge Rules Against Fla. County’s Prayer Policy That Bars Atheist Invocations
A federal judge has ruled against a Florida county government’s prayer policy that bans atheist invocations from its public meetings.
Iranian Christians Celebrate New Believers in Mass Baptism
Being a Christian in Iran is very dangerous. Christian converts face persecution in many forms, but that hasn’t stopped 20 Iranian Christians from recently getting baptized.
Iran: The Situation of Arrested Christian Couple Is Still Unclear
The situation of a newly converted Christian couple who were summoned to the intelligence office of the Revolutionary Guards Corps in Tehran on September 11 and arrested after interrogation is still unclear.
‘We need you to speak’: US evangelicals urge Trump to condemn racist ‘alt-right’ in open letter
Several high-profile conservative evangelical Christians have urged President Trump to explicitly condemn white supremacy – particularly the ‘alt-right’ – in an open letter.
Unhappy Federal Judge: Law ‘Requires’ Cross Be Removed from County Seal
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, has to remove the symbol of the cross from its seal, a federal judge ruled.
Thousands of Christians Set to Arrive in Jerusalem for Feast of Tabernacles
More than 6,000 Christian pilgrims from some 100 countries are set to arrive in Jerusalem this week ahead of the 38th annual Feast of Tabernacles celebration hosted by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ).
Egyptian Muslims Kidnap Christian Young Women ‘Almost on a Daily Basis’
Extreme Muslim groups, with the assistance of Egyptian police, are carrying out a systematic strategy of kidnapping Coptic Christian young women, according to a report by World Watch Monitor.
Awaken the Dawn! What’s Behind the ‘Holy Spirit Woodstock’ Coming to DC
This vast expanse of public land stretching from Capitol Hill to the Lincoln Memorial has seen many mass gatherings across the decades. But never one aimed simply at worshipping the Savior of mankind around-the-clock for days in a row. Yet that’s what’s coming October 6th-9th.
Survey: 60% of Arab Israelis have positive view of state
A survey of Arab citizens of Israel has found more positive attitudes to the state and its institutions than was previously thought.
Churches Essential to Relief Efforts in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Says NHCLC, Convoy of Hope
Churches are an essential part of the recovery process for Puerto Rico and Mexico, say representatives from the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and Convoy of Hope regarding reconstruction efforts in the two countries following this month’s earthquakes and Hurricane Maria.
Trump cuts Obama’s refugee target in half, takes more Christians than Muslims
President Trump, in just eight months in office, has succeeded in upending U.S. refugee policy, cutting by more than half the 110,000-refugee target that the Obama administration had bequeathed him and dramatically shifting the demographics of who is accepted.
Mob Violence Terrorizes Small Christian Village in Egypt
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on September 14, a Muslim mob in the village of Tawa in Minya attacked the local Coptic Christian community. Homes, businesses, and cars were destroyed and three Copts suffered minor injuries. These attacks were in retaliation against a Facebook post which was widely shared among Christians. The author, a 22-year-old Christian resident of Tawa named Bassem, had written the post in May following the deadly attack by Islamic extremists against a caravan of Coptic Christians traveling to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor.
China intensifies crackdown on churches with new plans to force registration with government
An organization with ties to the Chinese Communist Party has unveiled new plans on how the government can enforce its restrictions on churches, including forced registration with state-run Christian institutions.