JOS, Nigeria, August 18, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Amid a groundswell of domestic and international condemnation of unchecked violence by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria, 37 more Christians were killed in Kaduna state so far this month, sources said.

Following the slaughter of 33 Christians in Zangon Kataf County in early August, Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Kachia County on Monday (Aug. 17) killed four Christians and kidnapped their driver, Danlami Dariya, as their vehicle made its way from Katul village, area resident Zephaniah Bature said.

“Four of the Christians inside the car were killed instantly,” Bature told Morning Star News by text message. “The driver was kidnapped by the herdsmen, and among those killed are three men and an old woman.”

Muslim Fulani herdsmen also attacked Kachia County’s Bugai village on Sunday (Aug. 16), according to area resident Mamman Danbaba.

“There was yet another attack by Fulani herdsmen at about 8 p.m.” Danbaba said by text message. “Many lives were lost, and many Christians were injured. Houses and properties burned.”

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a…

The Gospel Music Association announced the nominees for the 51^st annual Dove Awards.

For King & Country and Zach Williams each received five nominations, while Hillsong Worship, Lauren Daigle, Kirk Franklin, and Jonathan McReynolds each garnered four nominations.

Most of the attention this year will likely focus on Kanye West who received three nominations. Kanye West’s album Jesus is King is nominated for Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year. West released the album to much acclaim in November.

Another well-known crossover artist received her first Dove Award nomination. Gloria Gaynor, who rose to fame during the 1970’s with her hit “I Will Survive,” is nominated for her album Testimony, CBN News reports. She was also honored this year with a Grammy for Best Roots Gospel Album.

For King & Country shared their appreciation for their nominations on their Twitter account. They said, “With all that humanity has faced in 2020, it seems music, and particularly must with hope and God laced through it, is more needed and timely than ever. We find it humbling to be part of bringing these thoughts and ideas to the world through our songs.”

GMA President Jackie Patillo explained the importance of the music the Dove Awards celebrate each year, saying, “The GMA is honored to continue its legacy of celebrating our diverse creative community and the must that moves us and ministers to…

Approximately 90% of religious adherents who currently watch services online or on TV said they are at least “somewhat” satisfied with the experience but a majority of them plan to return to in-person worship once the coronavirus pandemic passes, according to a new poll.

Data for the poll, conducted July 13 to July 19, 2020, by the Pew Research Center was drawn from the responses of a nationally representative panel of 10,211 randomly selected U.S. adults.

Some one-third of respondents reported that they watched religious services online or on television in the past month, and just over half of that number said they began engaging with these remote services for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic.

Among this group of Americans, nine out of 10 said they were “very” satisfied or “somewhat” satisfied with the experience. More than half of the group, 54%, indicated that they were “very” satisfied while 37% said they were “somewhat” satisfied.

Nevertheless, most online worshipers said as soon as the pandemic is over they plan to return to in-person religious services or reduce their engagement online. This is overwhelmingly…

The most pressing concern among American Protestant pastors is the disunity and conflict they see in their congregations as the coronavirus pandemic lags on, a new study conducted by LifeWay Research suggests.

The survey, titled “Pastors’ Views on How COVID-19 is Affecting Their Church,” analyzed responses of 443 Protestant church lead pastors across the nation. The survey was conducted between July 20 and July 22, 2020.

The respondents were all part of the LifeWay Research’s “Pastor Panel,” which consists of “pastors who agree to be contacted by email” for future LifeWay Research surveys. The data has a 5-percentage-point margin of error.

When asked what “pressure points” they are “feeling the most” amid the coronavirus pandemic, over one-quarter of pastors surveyed (27%) reported “maintaining unity/conflict/complaints” in their congregations as the biggest challenge. 

LifeWay included example excerpts of pastors’ responses along with the data. Some explained that “half the church is opposed to any reopening” while another half of the church is “frustrated that we…

NEW YORK — Bucking an ongoing trend of cash-strapped churches selling their buildings to developers to survive, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, founded by Pastor Tim Keller in 1989, has spent nearly $30 million in an all-cash deal to secure a building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side to house a new campus in its family of churches.

The church closed on a multifamily building located at 150 East 91st Street last Friday for $29.5 million, the Commercial Observer reported. The building was sold by GPG Properties which has owned it since the 1960s.

Redeemer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Christian Post on the purchase Tuesday, but the Rev. Dr. Abe Cho, senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church East Side, told the CO that the new acquisition will help the church better serve its community.

“Redeemer looks forward to having not only a local presence on the Upper East Side that will allow us to better serve our congregants but also a community and cultural space that contributes to the flourishing of our neighbors,” Cho said.

The…

A federal judge on Monday blocked a first-of-its-kind Idaho law that prevents biological males who identify as female from playing on girls’ or women’s teams, saying the new law is likely unconstitutional.

At issue is the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which was signed into law this year and requires biological sex – and not gender identity – to be used in determining who plays on high school and college teams.

U.S. District Judge David C. Nye, in an 87-page opinion, issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law and asserting that plaintiffs “likely” will “succeed in establishing the Act is unconstitutional as currently written.”

The act was passed after two transgender athletes in Connecticut who are biologically male but identify as female won 15 girls’ state track titles. Legislators hoped to prevent a similar controversy occurring in Idaho.

Nye noted that the NCAA (which governs college athletics) and the IHSAA (which governs Idaho high school sports) require biological males to undergo one year of hormone suppression before competing as a female. That requirement, he indicated, is significant when examining the law’s constitutionality.

“Notably, unlike the IHSAA and NCAA rules in place in Idaho before the Act, Connecticut does not require a transgender woman athlete to suppress her testosterone for any time prior to competing…

A Dallas judge ruled last week that a mother of an 8-year-old boy may solely decide to allow her child to transition from a boy to a girl against the father’s wishes.

According to the Save James Facebook page, Judge Mary Brown ruled that Jeffrey Younger, the child’s father, does not have say in his son’s medical decision.

In 2019, Dr. Anne Georgulas, the mother of James Younger, said she would transition her son to a girl named Luna. The couple also have another son, Jude.

The #SaveJamesYounger hashtag went viral after the case made headlines. According to The Christian Post, Younger’s father told reporters that their child had shown “no signs of wanting to be a girl when given the choice.”

Later in 2019, Judge Kim Cooks ruled that both parents shared responsibility and the right to make medical decisions, but Geogulas’ attorneys filed a motion to have Cooks replaced after she shared a Facebook article and said, “The governor nor any legislature had any influence on the Court’s Decision.”

Cooks was then removed from the case in December.

In the latest ruling, Judge Mary Brown reversed the 2019 decision.

“James and Jude did NOT have a victory in court today,” the Save James Facebook page posted. “Judge Mary Brown has condemned James and Jude to a life of therapy, confusion, and abuse without even having a hearing. There are no other words for what has happened…