Christianity is a faith with a long and detailed history, with numerous events of lasting significance occurring throughout the ages.

Each week brings the anniversaries of great milestones, horrid tragedies, amazing triumphs, and everything in between.

Here are three things that happened this week, Aug. 23-29, in Church history. They include the death of Increase Mather, the birth of a prominent supporter of the early Methodist movement, and the ordination of famed Baptist preacher W.A. Criswell.

Responding to some members who accused him of “bowing to Caesar,” Pastor Andy Stanley of Atlanta’s North Point Community Church explained why his church decided to suspend services until 2021. The decision, he said, is not “left-wing, Marxist agenda,” but based on what’s central to the Christian faith.

In a video message, Stanley said the megachurch’s decision is based on the true stance of the Christian faith.

“We did not suspend services because of government pressure; there was none,” he emphasized. “We’re not afraid, we’re not bowing to social, cultural or political pressure.”

There’s a storm of confusion right now due to three things, the leader of the multi-campus church pointed out.

One, everything is politicized, he said. There are no neutral topics right now — from school reopenings to masks and the virus; everything is politicized and no one is neutral, he explained.

Two, he said, cancel culture is prevalent. “If you say something I don’t like … or agree with, I’d discount everything you’ve ever said and everything you’ve ever accomplished in your life,” he noted.

Stanley told church members he’s been…

Millennials and Generation Z are facing some of the greatest challenges at this moment thanks to the disruption and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing demonstrations for racial justice. Engaging with and discipling teens and young adults can be equally challenging. Here are five trends about these generations, according to a Barna analysis.

While young people are questioning their place in the new reality they are living in, half of the pastors say they are struggling in their ministry to kids and youth right now, says the evangelical Christian polling firm Barna Group, which looked at how the Church has come alongside emerging generations and helped them navigate change, based on decades’ worth of its research.

One: The Church must help younger generations wisely navigate screen time

Daily screen usage by millennials and Gen Z has significantly increased during the pandemic, and 85% of pastors are concerned about it, Barna has found. But 86% of pastors say their church does not have a plan to teach on wise tech usage.

The study uses the term “Digital Babylon,” which David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock, co-authors of the Barna report…

JOS, Nigeria, August 21, 2020 (Morning Star News) – A 16-year-old girl, a father of nine children and a church pastor were among 11 Christians killed by Muslim Fulani herdsmen this week in southern Kaduna state, sources said.

On Tuesday (Aug. 18) in Zangon Kataf County, herdsmen attacked Unguwan Gankon village, killing a 16-year-old student, Takama Paul, and another Christian, 30-year-old Kefas Malachy Bobai, a father of three children, Luka Binniyat of the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) said.

“Armed Fulani militia invaded Unguwan Gankon village in Gora Ward, Zangon Kataf LGA, and killed two persons and burned seven houses,” Binniyat said in a press statement. “Wary neighbors, however, came to the rescue, and the murderers fled.”

On Monday (Aug. 17) in Kajuru County, he said, herdsmen killed a Christian farmer and father of nine, Bulus Joseph, 48. His wife and three of his children were also attacked but survived, he said.

“Bulus Joseph was murdered gruesomely on his farm at Sabon Gida Idon, along the Kaduna-Kachia road, by armed Fulani militia,” Binniyat said. “He stood up to the killers so that his wife and three children could escape, which they did. But he paid the price with his life, as he was sub-humanly butchered by the cold-blooded murderers.”

Four Christians killed in an attack on a vehicle on Sunday, Aug. 16, (not Monday as previously…

Democratic Vice-Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi each mentioned the party’s defense of legalized abortion Wednesday during the third night of the all-virtual Democratic National Convention.

Harris, who accepted her party’s nomination for vice president, referenced abortion when discussing how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted “Black, Latino and indigenous” individuals “disproportionately.”

“This is not a coincidence,” Harris said. “It is the effect of structural racism, of inequities in education and technology, health care and housing, job security and transportation. The injustice in reproductive and maternal health care, in the excessive use of force by police, and in our broader criminal justice system. This virus, it has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other and how we treat each other.”

“Reproductive health” is a phrase encompassing abortion. As a candidate for president, Harris pledged on her website to require that “states and localities with a history of violating Roe v. Wade obtain approval from her Department of Justice before any abortion law or practice can take effect.”

Pelosi was more direct at the convention in her defense of legalized abortion, saying President Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden have opposing viewpoints. Pelosi referenced abortion in a wide-ranging criticism of…

Pledging to heal and unite the nation, Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday and heavily criticized President Trump, although he never mentioned him by name.

The speech capped a decades-long effort to win his party’s nomination following failed efforts in 1988 and 2008, although the latter attempt ended with him chosen by Barack Obama as the future president’s vice-presidential pick. On Thursday, it was Biden’s turn to accept a spot at the top of the Democratic ticket as he promised to help the country move forward on “four historic crises” – the pandemic, the economic crisis, the calls for racial justice and the “accelerating threats of climate change.”

Biden gave his speech to an empty Chase Center in Wilmington, Del.

“All elections are important, but we know in our bones this one is more consequential. As many have said, America’s at an inflection point – a time of real peril, but also of extraordinary possibilities,” Biden said. “We can choose a path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, more divided, a path of shadow and suspicion, or we can choose a different path and together take this chance to heal, to reform, to unite, a path of hope and light.

“This is a life-changing election,” Biden said. “This will determine what America is going to look like for a long, long time. Character is on the ballot, compassion is on the…

On Sunday, Bishop Patrick Wooden Sr. delivered some scathing remarks about Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris in an impassioned sermon at his church, Upper Room Church of God in Christ, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Wooden called Harris out on her criminal justice record during her time as California’s Attorney General, The Christian Post reports.

“You know Kamala, oh she’s running for the vice presidency. I call her ‘Miss lock up a brother’ for when she was the AG in California. A negro knew; a Black man knew that he was dead in the water … if you appear before her because she took pride in locking up Black folk, and all of a sudden she’s trying to be sister girl. … Check out her record. She locked us up left and right, yes she did.”

Before playing a clip of a same-sex wedding officiated by Harris, Wooden added, “she boasted she was one of the first to perform same-sex marriage.”

“Now that,” he continued, “is who is supposed to deliver us? Are you crazy? I like what Maya Angelou says. She says when people show you who they are, believe them. That’s Kamala. And let me tell you, anybody who’s trying to turn America into Sodom and Gomorrah is not good for this nation. She’s not good for the state and she ain’t good for Black folk. … We need real people,” he asserted.

Wooden went on to criticize the Democratic Party’s beliefs calling them…

A “coming-of age” film called Cuties has sparked outrage for its sexualizing of 11-year-old girls who are shown twerking in revealing outfits.

The trailer, which Netflix released on Tuesday, stars 14-year-old Fathia Youssouf who plays the lead character Amy, an 11-year-old Senegalese girl who shows interest in joining a twerking dance crew, despite living in a strict Muslim household in Paris.

While the film was originally made in French, it will be translated into 40 languages, Variety reports.

The film also included a controversial promotional poster of Amy and her dance partners  in black shorts, knee pads, and blue crop tops that reveal their midriffs.

Amy is shown kneeling down while spreading her legs. On the left side of the poster, a co-star is seen in the twerking position. Both the trailer and the poster received widespread backlash for overly sexualizing young girls.

At the time of this writing, the trailer has over 503,000 dislikes and counting.

On Thursday, the popular streaming giant acknowledged the backlash and issued an apology.

“We’re deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties. It was not OK, nor was it representative of this French film which won an award at Sundance. We’ve now updated the pictures and description,” Netflix wrote on Thursday.

We’re deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties. It was not…