MC News
LA JOLLA, Calif. (BP)–When a volunteer from the United Kingdom met a young Middle Eastern man in Jerusalem’s old city and invited him to a Bible study, he had no idea he was talking to the son of a key figure in the Hamas terrorist organization.And while the volunteer surely hoped Masab Yousef would hear the Gospel and accept Christ, he had no clue how that invitation — and Yousef’s decision for Christ four years later — would eventually reverberate throughout the Middle East and perhaps even the world.Read more of this story. Read the original story in Israel’s HAARETZ…
International (MNN) ― Trans World Radio has rediscovered the ‘lost writings’ of Corrie Ten Boom from a forgotten archive of her radio programs.Read more of this story.
John Decker is convinced that a key to reducing the large attrition rate of students who come to college with a strong Christian faith, and leave without one, is to help students connect with churches and campus ministries like InterVarsity during that first week. But many times students won’t connect if they don’t know that InterVarsity and similar ministries are operating on their campus.Read more of this story.
COMMENTARYIn a recent investigative profile, the Associated Press tells the depressingly familiar story of televangelist Kenneth Copeland. His ministry’s private jet and lakeside mansion. The complex web of ranching, oil and media interests that benefits his extended family. In this case, there is no taint of hypocrisy. Copeland practices what he preaches — a doctrine that God wants his followers to prosper in very material ways. This prosperity gospel combines two of the most powerful forces on Earth: the profit motive and the power of positive thinking. At its best, it inspires hard work, generosity and the avoidance of life-destroying…
(CNN) — The Rev. Paul Earl Sheppard had recently become the senior pastor of a suburban church in California when a group of parishioners came to him with a disturbing personal question.They were worried because the racial makeup of their small church was changing. They warned Sheppard that the church’s newest members would try to seize control because members of their race were inherently aggressive. What was he was going to do if more of "them" tried to join their church?"One man asked me if I was prepared for a hostile takeover," says Sheppard, pastor of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship…
TIME recently highlighted its "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch." As Olympic coverage cranks up, you’ll be hearing more and more about them, although current reports seem mostly to have to do with the athlete’s ages, injuries, and drug use.Press agency AMP is working with the USOC and NBC to highlight other aspects of the athletes’ lives. They’ve told CT about a number of confessing Christians among the American athletes most likely to medal. A large proportion of them mention Philippians 4:13 in interviews and on their blogs: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."Read more of this…
USA (MNN) ― On August 4, Brian Meyers began his first day of classes at Shepherds College, on the campus of Shepherds Ministries in Union Grove, WI. "It was really hard. It was good, and hard," Brian said. "We have really good classes here, but they’re really challenging." August 4 was also the first day of classes ever held at Shepherds College. One characteristic makes it stand out from other schools — it serves students like 19-year-old Brian, who have a primary diagnosis of Intellectual Disability. Read more of this story.
For the first time since 1997, the Wisconsin Family Council has released its tally of Wisconsin Cultural Indicators. It "provides an overview of important indicators that impact Wisconsin’s best natural resource: her traditional families," said CEO Julaine Appling, in a news release. "When Wisconsin’s families are healthy, Wisconsin is healthy," she added. "When our state’s families are weak and struggling, you can be sure that will be reflected in the overall health of the state." The document offers no conclusions, but instead states "the numbers speak for themselves."
One year after winning college football’s highest honor, University of Florida star Tim Tebow was pulled from consideration for Playboy’s pre-season All-American team because the magazine conflicts with his Christian beliefs, a school official confirmed.Read more of this story.
Fueled by testosterone, horsepower, and Fortune 500 mega-funding, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is America’s biggest spectator sport, measured by per-event attendance. Last year the average Sprint Cup gate exceeded 120,000. Today, 75 million Americans are fans of this Southern quirk gone global.Two decades ago, evangelicals took a tentative step forward in NASCAR-focused outreach. The year was 1988, and racing fan Max Helton was on staff at a church in Glendora, California, where he met Darrell Waltrip. Helton told the NASCAR legend, who has earned nearly $16 million in his career, of his own dream of full-time…