A Seattle-based church is suing the state of Washington for forcing coverage of elective abortions into their health insurance plans, as reported by CBN News.

The case has already reached the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit after a lower court dismissed Cedar Park Assembly of God’s complaint. The opening brief presented to the appellate court challenged the Washington State Senate Bill 6219, which was signed into law in March 2018. The bill requires all employers offering healthcare plans with maternity care to also cover elective abortion procedures.

According to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit representing the church, the law restricts Cedar Park’s First Amendment rights.

“No church should be forced to cover abortions, and certainly not a church that dedicates its ministry to protecting and celebrating life like Cedar Park does,” said ADF Legal Counsel Elissa Graves. “Cedar Park believes and teaches that every human life begins at conception and it’s worthy of protection until natural death, so providing insurance coverage for abortions is clearly not something the church can or should be forced to do.

“And Cedar Park doesn’t simply believe in the importance of human life, it puts those beliefs into practice by partnering with a local pregnancy care center, hosting an annual camp for foster care children, and ministering to hundreds of couples…

Government officials in one of China’s most populous provinces are offering monetary rewards to citizens who report on “illegal religious activity venues,” including underground churches, according to a new report.

In August, the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau of Gushi county in Henan province began offering citizens 500 RMB (about $70 USD) for collecting photos, videos, audio recordings and other materials of any illegal religious activities, according to the report by Bitter Winter, which monitors religious liberty violations in China. Henan is the third-most populous province in China.

Christians in China are only allowed to worship in a church that’s part of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (for Protestants) or the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. But because both bodies face severe restrictions – including a limit on what is preached – millions of Christians worship at illegal underground churches. 

Underground churches often meet in homes or rented buildings. The county’s stance on illegal churches caused one landlord to stop renting to an underground church, Bitter Winter reported.

“Encouraged by the government propaganda, the landlord drove us away, refusing to rent us her property,” a church member of the underground church said. “She explained that she didn’t want to suffer consequences if our venue was discovered. The CCP will…

Christian singer Lauren Daigle’s song “You Say” has become the first song to run 100 weeks on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart.

Daigle released the song in 2018 and it has stayed at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard chart for Christian songs ever since, The Christian Post reports.

“When I was a little girl, I would dream of moments like this. Upon hearing the news, I called my family. We laughed. We cried. We made jokes. We celebrated. I am so honored and want to thank all the people involved in achieving this accomplishment,” Daigle wrote on Instagram after learning of the honor.

Daigle has said the song is “a song of my identity” and she’s thankful the song has resonated with others.

“My sincere gratitude goes out to them. To be a part of a song that has not only made history but has lived inside the homes of families raising babies, widows needing comfort, teenagers needing a friend, those who have lost and those who have gained, that is a gift I’ll never fully put into words. Simply amazed that ‘You Say’ has spent 100 weeks on @billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart! Thank you ALL!!

Since its release, the song has been used in television shows and series such as “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol.” Singer Kelly Clarkson also sang the song in May in a tribute to first responders working during the coronavirus pandemic.

“You say…

A leading national pro-life group said Wednesday it will reach 7 million voters across battleground states before Election Day as part of a $52 million budgeted effort to reelect President Trump and other pro-life candidates.

Susan B. Anthony List and its partner super political action committee (PAC), Women Speak Out, said the effort will reach 7 million voters prior to Nov. 3 via mail, on the Internet, and in person. That’s an increase from the 4 million the organization previously estimated would be reached. 

Susan B. Anthony List is the same pro-life organization that has hosted Vice President Pence at “Life Wins!” events, highlighting the administration’s pro-life record as well as the work of crisis pregnancy centers. 

“The pro-life grassroots are more enthusiastic than ever before and eager to ensure President Trump and Vice President Pence have another four years to continue their pro-life agenda,” said Mallory Quigley, national spokeswoman for Women Speak Out PAC. “The Democratic Party’s support for abortion on-demand, paid for by taxpayers is extreme, wrong, and deeply unpopular — even among rank and file Democrats. As we begin our final push to Election Day, our team is working hard to reach not only pro-life Republicans but Democrats and Independents across all demographics in key battleground states.

“Abortion extremism has been, and…

Father James Altman, a pastor from St. James the Less Catholic parish in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, is urging Catholics not to support the Democratic Party, which he labeled as ‘godless.’

According to Religion News Service, Altman’s remarks were made in a video that was published last week by Alpha News, an online news outlet based in Minnesota. At the time of this writing, the video has nearly 400,000 views.

“Here’s a memo to clueless baptized Catholics out there: You cannot be Catholic and be a Democrat. Period,” Altman asserted.

“Their party platform absolutely is against everything the Catholic church teaches,” he added. “So just quit pretending that you’re Catholic and vote Democrat. Repent of your support of that party and its platform or face the fires of hell.”

As Altman speaks, the video cuts to images of prominent Democrats including professing Catholics, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The photo of Pelosi shows her speaking at an abortion rally.

“And so, we can see in the many godless politicians, in the godless educational system, in the godlessness of so many ‘sheeples,’ they are most definitely not serving him, they are not fulfilling their purpose in life,” Altman contended.

Regarding people who don’t believe that politics have a place in the Catholic church, Altman says “baloney.”

Citing words…

President Trump has just been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian Parliament-member Christian Tybring-Gjedde. The reason? President Trump brokered a historic peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

According to Tybring-Gjedde, “As it is expected other Middle Eastern countries will follow in the footsteps of the UAE, this agreement could be a game-changer that will turn the Middle East into a region of cooperation and prosperity,” he wrote in his nomination.

Tybring-Gjedde also told the Associated Press that “No matter how Trump acts at home and what he says at press conferences, he has absolutely a chance at getting the Nobel Peace Prize.”

The historic United Arab Emirates-Israel peace deal is the first step toward complete peace between the three countries, and they have all promised to have a “full normalization of relations.”

In a statement released by President Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Mohammed Bin Zayed, they said the agreement will “chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region.” Delegates will be meeting to sign agreements brokering deals on mutual tourism, investment, healthcare, embassies, and other aspects.

The statement reads in part:

As a result of this diplomatic breakthrough and at the request of President Trump with the support of the United Arab Emirates, Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas…

Two-thirds of Americans say they believe the Bible’s account about Jesus’ bodily resurrection, although most also deny Scripture’s teaching that He was God, according to a new LifeWay Research survey that shows adults in the U.S. holding conflicting views on Christianity and theology.

The State of Theology survey, conducted by LifeWay Research and sponsored by Ligonier Ministries, shows that 66 percent of U.S. adults say they believe the “biblical accounts of the physical (bodily) resurrection of Jesus are completely accurate” and that the event “actually occurred.” Another 62 percent believe Jesus will return in the future to “judge all the people who have lived.”

A large majority (65 percent) believe God is a perfect being and cannot make a mistake, and 72 percent affirm the biblical doctrine of the Trinity, that “there is one true God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,” according to the survey’s wording.

But while Americans affirm several major teachings of historic Christianity, they also deny some of its core doctrines. For example, 55 percent say they believe “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God,” and 52 percent believe “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.” Both statements conflict with the Bible’s affirmation of Christ’s deity and eternality as taught in such passages as

LAHORE, Pakistan, September 8, 2020 (Morning Star News) – A court in Lahore, Pakistan today (Sept. 8) sentenced a Christian to death over charges that he allegedly sent “blasphemous” text messages to a Muslim colleague seven years ago, his lawyer said.

Asif Pervaiz, a 37-year-old father of four, has been in jail for seven years since he was charged with blasphemy in October 2013 after his former supervisor at a garment factory, Saeed Ahmed Khokhar, accused him of sending sacrilegious text messages from his cell phone, attorney Saiful Malook said.

Pervaiz was charged under sections 295-A, 295-B and 295-C of the blasphemy laws, he said, with the latter, insulting the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, carrying a mandatory death sentence. The court ruled that Pervaiz would first serve a three-year prison term for phone misuse, be fined 50,000 rupees (US$300) and be “hanged by his neck til his death.”

Pervaiz has maintained that his supervisor accused him only after he refused to convert to Islam. Malook said the prosecution’s case was so weak that he could not fathom why the judge had ruled against his client.

Malook, a Muslim who represented Aasiya Noreen (known as Asia Bibi), also sentenced to death before she won her freedom, said that the ruling by Additional Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmed Qureshi dismayed him because there was no evidence to justify the charges.

Pervaiz has said…

More than 2,000 Christians gathered in the streets of Seattle in a “worship protest” Monday in defiance of public officials, who shuttered a local park to prevent them from participating in a prayer rally organized by missionary and political activist Sean Feucht.

The rally was supposed to take place in Gas Works Park by Seattle Parks and Recreation but officials abruptly announced the park would be closed all day Monday “due to anticipated crowding that could impact the public health of residents.”

Despite efforts to keep the rally from happening, Feucht announced on Facebook Tuesday that their worship session led to miracles and baptisms in a session that lasted about two hours.

“They shut the park, so we took the WORSHIP PROTEST to the streets!! The church of Seattle WILL NOT be silenced! Over 2000 took to the streets and GOD LIT THE PLACE UP with miracles, baptisms, salvations, racial reconciliation (with the police!) and HOPE!!” Feucht wrote.

Feucht, who has helped local pastors host 19 prayer rallies in defiance of coronavirus guidelines in 19 cities over the last eight weeks, told KIRO 7…