Christian Heritage News

 By Diana Chandler - Posted at Baptist Press: LVIV, Ukraine (BP) – Baptists in Western Ukraine have made plans to shelter fellow believers in the case of a Russian invasion at Ukraine’s eastern border, a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate who now leads a Baptist seminary in Ukraine told Baptist Press. “If Russia will invade, they will invade in eastern part and northern part, and a little bit of south,” said Yarsolav “Slavik” Pyzh, president of Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary (UBTS) in Lviv who holds a doctorate from SWBTS. “Churches already agreed,” Pyzh said. “Those that are on the western part of Ukraine … told our brothers and sisters in other parts of Ukraine [that] if something happens we will open our homes and our churches to you.” Russia persecutes Christians through restrictions such as the 2016 Yarovaya Law criminalizing evangelism outside church walls. Russia considers any church beyond the government-influenced Russian Orthodox Church to be sectari

By Eric Davis - Posted at The Cripplegate: Much attention has been given to Canada’s recently passed, “Bill C-4.” Reportedly, some 4000 pastors expressed their willingness to protest the bill from pulpits last Sunday . If you are not familiar, among other things, it criminalizes “conversion therapy” of people in homosexuality and transgenderism. I spoke with a long-time Canadian citizen last week who said that the Bill is intended to forbid things like actual physical harm, torture, kidnapping, and assault on children under the guise of “conversion therapy.” Obviously forbidding those things is necessary. However, the wording of the Bill is not only ominously broad, but seems to target God’s definition of gender and sexuality. For example, the Bill’s Preamble declares that it is a “myth” to believe that “heterosexuality, cisgender gender identity, and gender expression that conforms to the sex assigned to a person at birth are to be preferred over other sexual orientations, gender id

 By John Stonestreet and Chuck Colson - Posted at BreakPoint : Though President Ronald Reagan signed into law a national holiday to honor Civil Rights Movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1983, it was not fully observed by all 50 states until the year 2000. This, like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is an example of a law being upstream from culture rather than the other way around. Today, the day is recognized across the country and even by cities and nations worldwide. In more recent years, King’s legacy as a leader, minister, and powerful orator has been complicated by allegations of sexual misconduct. He also held certain theological views, specifically about the Divinity of Christ , the resurrection, and the Virgin birth, that were not orthodox. What Dr. King was clear about was the doctrine of the image of God . The way that this exclusively Christian idea shaped his leadership and activism demonstrates what a world-changing doctrine it is. Specifically, it was King’s outw

 By Timothy Terrell - Posted at The Machen Seminar: In a 1925 essay on reforming government schools, J. Gresham Machen pointed out the immorality of rooting morality in patriotism. Whether based on nationalism or on broader human experience, however, a humanistic morality is “flimsy,” according to Machen. Machen was willing to accept “secularized public education” as “a necessary evil,” but wanted to reduce “the danger of that institution” by limiting its functions, by discouraging the “garbled” reading of the Bible in government schools, and providing for unhampered competition from private and explicitly religious schools. "At the root of the Christian attitude is a profound consciousness of the majesty of the moral law. But the majesty of the moral law is obscured in many ways at the present time, and most seriously of all in the sphere of education. Indeed, strangely enough, it is obscured in the sphere of education just by those who are becoming most keenly conscious of the m

Executive deputy minister Wang Xiaohong. From Weibo. By Zeng Guanyu - Posted at Bitter Winter: Top police bureaucrat explains why to implement the program of the Central Economic Work Conference controlling religion is essential. The Chinese Communist Party ( CCP ) is obsessed with the idea that religion should be kept under control. This idea is part and parcel of CCP ideology, but is reinforced by history textbooks telling Party bureaucrats that Communism in Eastern Europe fell because it did not crack down on time on civil society, leaving too much freedom to religion, particularly in countries such as Poland, Hungary, or Lithuania. The Central Economic Work Conference is the most important yearly meeting organized by the CCP about economy. It discusses the achievement and problems of the past year, and produce, directives for the next year. The last such conference was held in Beijing on December 8–10, 2021. Not all its proceedings have been made public. One would expect that, fo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jan. 10, 2022 Contact: Brad Jurkovich, spokesman, Conservative Baptist Network (318) 588-0819 info@ConservativeBaptistNetwork.com MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Conservative Baptist Network is pleased to announce the addition of Voddie Baucham to its national Steering Council. In addition to his roles as husband, father, church planter, professor, author, and speaker, Baucham serves currently as the dean of Theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia. He holds a doctor of ministry degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Houston Baptist University. Baucham has also spent time in post-graduate study at the University of Oxford in England. Released in 2021, one of Baucham’s most recent books, “Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe,” quickly gained attention in the evangelical community and became a national bestseller. The addition of

 By Milton Quintanilla - Posted at Christian Headlines: According to a new report by religious freedom charity Release International, persecution is expected to increase in parts of Africa, North Korea, Afghanistan and India in 2022. The report, titled Persecution Trends 2022 , highlights several persecution hotspots in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa included Burkina Faso and Nigeria. In north Burkina Faso, jihadists attacked Christians, forcing churches to close and Christians to meet in secret. The attacks ranged from bombings, killings, kidnappings and school burnings to assaults on religious leaders and places of worship. French troops are withdrawing from the area, which could lead to further persecution. Meanwhile, in neighboring Nigeria, Christians faced ongoing persecution by Boko Haram terrorists, IS fighters and Fulani militia in 2021. Read more...

 By Michael Gryboski - Posted at The Christian Post : Five missing and endangered teenage girls were found and 30 individuals were arrested as part of a recent lengthy U.S. Marshals endeavor in the New Orleans, Louisiana, area known as “Operation Boo Dat.” The operation took place from mid-October until Christmas Eve and resulted in five girls being found, according to a U.S. Marshals announcement released last week. The Marshals’ New Orleans Task Force coordinated their efforts with the New Orleans Police Department, Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Louisiana State Police. The five teenage girls, ages 14 to 17, were found by authorities, and 30 arrests, including 17 that were for felony sex offender registration violations, were made. Read more...

 Posted at Baptist Press: NASHVILLE (BP) – Between a new president taking office and COVID-19 variants causing a resurgence in the pandemic, 2021 has been a year of challenges and changes. (See, for example, “ 10 significant international human rights events of 2021 .”) Whether 2022 will be as tumultuous remains to be seen. But there are already numerous events that are expected to have significant effects on the world in the coming year. Here are five to watch in 2022. Supreme Court to rule in Dobbs case During the summer, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , one of the most significant pro-life cases in a generation. The court will decide if individual states can replace the current “viability standard” (i.e., restrictions only allowed after a child can live outside the womb) with a limit on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The result could be an overturning of Roe v. Wade or a broadening of restrictions on abo

 Posted at Reformation Scotland: Hopefully the answer we give is a resounding, “No!” Yet there is growing pressure on the church to stop turning others from sin in certain circumstances. The UK Government has extended its public consultation on banning conversion therapy in relation to LGBT people. This vague term lumps coercive and abusive practices already illegal alongside any kind of talking therapy with the intention of changing them from being LBGT. Some want to take this as far as possible in order to silence anyone from dissuading others from a harmful lifestyle through prayer, conversation or any kind of teaching. This simple call to Christ, conversion and biblical ethics could become criminalised. How does Scripture guide us on this matter? Around 2000 ministers and others have recently written a letter and consultation response on this subject that gives more background. In the context of prayer, James 5:19 tells us of the importance of seeking to turn others from sin. Th