NEW YORK (RNS) — On a recent Sunday, Rep. Michele Bachmann offered a Pentecostal church in Iowa an intimate account of her pilgrimage from apathetic teenager to devout Christian whose faith has persevered through hardship, including a miscarriage. But when…
ANALYSIS: What’s behind China’s hard line against Catholics?
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — When China’s state-run Catholic Church ordained a new bishop for the Diocese of Shantou July 14 without the Vatican’s approval, it represented the latest step back from years of progress in a complex relationship. Yet the…
Candidates run for office, and some away from their church
NEW YORK (RNS) — On a recent Sunday, Rep. Michele Bachmann offered a Pentecostal church in Iowa an intimate account of her pilgrimage from apathetic teenager to devout Christian whose faith has persevered through hardship, including a miscarriage. But when…
Mid-Atlantic Baptists building bridges in China through basketball clinics
XI’AN, China — Coordinating their efforts through the Virginia Baptist Mission Board and the local YMCA, a team of athletes from Baptist churches in Virginia and both Carolinas led basketball clinics in July for youth in the central Chinese city…
China Christian Council confirms continued ties with Virginia Baptists
SHANGHAI, China — A leader of the China Christian Council — the official organization of Protestant churches in China — affirmed the group’s continuing commitment to strong ties with the Baptist General Association of Virginia during a meeting with BGAV…
Blogosphere abuzz over Rupert Murdoch as ‘Bible mogul’
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) — The scandal involving Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid empire continues to widen, bringing scrutiny to, of all places, western Michigan and the Zondervan publishing company. Among the major holdings in Murdoch’s News Corp is publisher HarperCollins,…
Calling old name ‘problematic,’ Campus Crusade rebrands itself
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (RNS) — Campus Crusade for Christ is out. “Cru” is in. The 60-year-old evangelical ministry announced its new name at a staff conference in Fort Collins, Colo., on July 19, saying the old name had become problematic….
test
test
China’s Christians are thriving, marked by both unity and diversity
SHANGHAI — At the appointed time, they entered: the ministers wearing clerical vestments and the robed choir singing “The Lord is in his holy temple.” As the organist transitioned from the call to worship to “Come, Thou, Almighty King,” the…
KINGDOM VISION: Dreams and missions
Have you ever woken up from a night full of dreams and you just lay there and wonder, “What in the world was that all about, all those crazy dreams?” And you lay there and try to recall what it…
OUT LOUD
“Heliocentrism becomes ‘dangerous’ if it is being propped up as the true system when, in fact, it is a false system. False information leads to false ideas, and false ideas lead to illicit and immoral actions ….” Robert Sungenis Sungenis,…
VITAL SIGNS: The two most dangerous words
Yes, but …. Two of the most dangerous words in a minister’s vocabulary. Two of the most destructive words a congregation will ever utter. Yes, but …. The order of their utterance is important. Bill Wilson First we say, “Yes….