A 3,200-year-old Canaanite fortress from the time of the biblical book of Judges has been uncovered by archaeologists in Israel and is now open to the public.

The fortress, at 26 feet by 26 feet, rests near Kibbutz Galon, Israel, and was discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority and student volunteers. It dates to the 12th century B.C. and would have been used during the era of Judges, during which “there was no king in Israel” (Judges 18:1) and judges such as Deborah and Samson lived.

“The fortress we found provides a glimpse into the Geopolitical reality described in the Judges book, in which the Canaanites, Israelites and Philistines are fighting each other,” archaeologists Saar Ganor and Itamar Weissbein of the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a news release.

Although Israel was ordered by God to conquer the entire land, Judges 1:28-29 says the Israelites “pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely.”

Ganor and Weissbein said watch towers would have been built in the four corners of the fortress.

“A massive threshold, carved from a single rock weighing around 3 tons, was preserved at the entrance of the building,” the news release said. “Inside the fortress was a courtyard paved with stone slabs and columns in the middle. Rooms were constructed from both sides of the courtyard. Hundreds of pottery vessels, some…

On Saturday, several teenagers and young adults from St. George Orthodox Church of Boston held a car wash in order to raise funds for the victims of a massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon in early August.

As Christian Headlines previously reported, the explosion, caused when a toxic, combustible chemical caught fire, killed at least 200 people, injured around 5,000 and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

Rev. Timothy J. Ferguson, who leads the church, told The Christian Post that the majority of its members are from Lebanon and desired to contribute towards their homeland following the blast.

“Our community, my parish, that is to say, is about 60 percent immigrants from Lebanon. And so, there were a lot of people who were directly affected by the explosion that took place there,” Ferguson shared.

“So, they wanted to reach out and respond. It was an initiative on the part of the teenagers, the young people in the parish,” he added.

The car wash lasted from 10 am-4 pm on Saturday in West Roxbury, charging $10 per vehicle.

But Ferguson pointed out that multiple drivers donated “way more than what was asked.” Ultimately, the church was able to raise more than $7,000 over the weekend.

“Thanks to everyone who showed up today. We managed to raise about $7,000 for Beirut,” the church wrote on Instagram.

“They can’t physically get up and go there, so they know that…

In the wake of global protests over inequality and police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd, many American Christians and churches are now struggling to strike the right note on racial reconciliation. Some religion scholars and pastors also warn that healing can’t happen without first telling the truth about the Church’s record on race.

And in a field of varied experiences, competing narratives about what racial reconciliation means, warnings against political exploitation in the search for it, claims of apathy from white congregations and fearful leaders during an election year in the middle of a pandemic, telling the truth and engaging in constructive dialogue on the issue can be difficult to do.

“The Church across the United States probably reflects…

On Sunday evening, 29-year-old Jacob Blake was critically wounded after being shot by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Several Christian leaders expressed outrage over the shooting as well as the subsequent riots that have taken place as protestors smashed windows and set cars and businesses on fire.

A short clip shows Blake attempting to enter his SUV as officers tried to stop him. A secondary angle shows that Blake had been wrestling with two officers before going towards his car, ignoring police orders as he went.

As Blake opened the door to his car, one officer grabbed his shirt and fired seven shots into his back as onlookers screamed and shouted in horror.

According to BBC News, Blake’s three children were reportedly in the vehicle when the shooting took place. Following the incident, Blake was hospitalized in critical condition. He is expected to survive.

“We shouldn’t have to see one more video of a Black human being brutalized and/or gunned down by police in a clear case of excessive or unwarranted force. Anybody who doesn’t believe we are beyond a state of emergency is choosing to lack empathy and awareness.” wrote Rev. Bernice King, the daughter of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the CEO of the King Center.

We shouldn’t have to see one more video of a Black human being brutalized and/or gunned down by police in a clear case of excessive or…

Presbyterian Church USA announced Monday that it might have to limit or even end its tradition of holding a biennial General Assembly as a mass gathering due to financial woes and declining membership.

The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson II, stated clerk of the PCUSA General Assembly, said future general assemblies will not likely resemble past ones in terms of scale.

In a video posted on the PCUSA’s website Monday, Nelson said the denomination “cannot continue” to hold what he called “the big tent General Assembly” in which “we have people from all over coming in and spending six, seven, eight days at a general assembly and utilizing that in a big arena.”

Nelson attributed the reduction in future General Assembly events to financial woes tied to the mainline Protestant denomination’s considerable membership decline over the past several years.

“That is happening, basically, because we are at a place financially with the drying up of per capita as it is and the whole system is strained with regards to the fallout in the denomination with membership loss which…

Pastor and author John MacArthur says in a new interview that President Trump phoned him this summer to offer support and that MacArthur told him “any real true believer is going to be on your side” in November.

MacArthur’s congregation, Grace Community Church in Los Angeles County, Calif., has defied state and county health restrictions that prohibit indoor worship services. He made the comments in an interview with Ryan Helfenbein of Liberty University’s Falkirk Center. The Democratic Party platform, MacArthur asserted, is antithetical to Scripture.

“He called me after the Sunday morning service, and he was very gracious and said, ‘I just want to thank you for taking a stand. Church is essential, and I’m glad you’re doing what you’re doing.’ And then we talked a little bit about why, from certainly a biblical standpoint, Christians could not vote Democratic,” MacArthur said. “Because there’s no way that a Christian can affirm the slaughter of babies, homosexual activity, homosexual marriage, or any kind of gross immorality – no way we could stand behind a candidate who was affirming transgender behavior, which of course is really the reprobate mind of Romans 1.

“I said these things aren’t even political for us, sir … these things are biblical. These things are laid down by the Word of God, and we love God. We desire to honor him, and upholding…

On Monday night, Jerry Falwell, Jr. submitted his letter of resignation to the Board of Directors at Liberty University, but, according to a news statement released by the school, Falwell rescinded the resignation shortly after.

Falwell, a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, agreed to a leave of absence two weeks ago after he posted a photo of himself and his wife’s pregnant assistant with their pants unbuttoned to social media, as Christian Headlines previously reported. Falwell also held a cup of dark liquid, which he claimed was dyed water, and his hands high up on the pregnant woman’s waist.

Though the University stated that the leave was indefinite, Falwell reportedly did not agree to leave permanently.

A day after the social media post went viral, Falwell issued a statement to The Washington Examinerexplaining that his wife had an extramarital affair with a business partner, according to the Associated Press. The 27-year-old man, Giancarlo Granda, allegedly attempted to extort the Falwell family.

“Over the course of the last few months this person’s behavior has reached a level that we have decided the only way to stop this predatory behavior is to go public,” a statement from the family read.

However, Granda claimed that Falwell not only knew about the seven-year-long affair but also acted as a voyeur.

“The Executive Committee’s Board of Trustees asked…