Avril Lavigne’s battle with Lyme Disease inspired her to write a God-centric song that even could be labeled “praise and worship.” 

Titled “Head Above Water,” the song quickly reached No. 1 on the iTunes download chart. Its YouTube lyric video has been viewed more than 5 million times, five days after its Sept. 19 release. It is her first single in five years. 

The disease caused Lavigne, now 33, to pause her successful music career for more than two years. She fought it with antibiotics and herbs for two years and stayed in bed the “majority of the time,” according to her website.

“One night, I thought I was dying, and I had accepted that I was going to die. My mom laid with me in bed and held me,” she said. “I felt like I was drowning. Under my breath, I prayed ‘God, please help to keep my head above the water.’ In that moment, the song writing of this album began. It was like I tapped into something. It was a very spiritual experience. Lyrics flooded through me from that point on.”

“Head Above Water” describes the emotions she felt during her battle and includes the chorus, “God, keep my head above water / Don’t let me drown, it gets harder / I’ll meet you there at the altar / As I fall down to my knees / Don’t let me drown, drown, drown / Don’t let me, don’t let me, don’t let me drown.” 

Later she sings: “So pull me up from…

An Iranian military leader has warned the U.S. and Israel that the two countries could face a “crushing and devastating” response after the two allegedly took part in Saturday’s assault.

According to Fox News, militants disguised as soldiers opened fire during an Iranian annual parade over the weekend. Reports said it was the deadliest terrorist attack in the country in about ten years; 25 were killed in the attack.

Iranian officials believe the attack came from Israeli militants who were supported by the U.S.

“You have seen our revenge before,” said Hossein Salami, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guard. “You will see that our response will be crushing and devastating and you will regret what you’ve done.”

Some suspects in the shooting were killed and others have been arrested. 

“The terrorists themselves have perished, our agents will identify their remnants and supporters to the last man. A major part of them have already been arrested,” Intelligence Minister Mahmud Alavi said at a memorial for the dead on Monday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. itself condemned the terrorist attack.

“We stand with the Iranian people against the scourge of radical Islamic terrorism and express our sympathy to them at this terrible time,” said Heather Nauert, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman.

Arab separatists claimed responsibility for the attack. In a video…

Former leader of Life Center Assembly of God Church in Tacoma, Washington, Dean Curry, ignored a strong warning from the church’s executive board about sexual harassment two years before he was fired for sexual misconduct this summer, church officials recently revealed.

In recordings from a private church meeting last Thursday cited by The News Tribune, Nate Angelo, chairman of Life Center’s executive board, said Curry, 50, was let go from the church because of multiple violations of the church’s sexual harassment policies.

Results of a 2018 investigation found that Curry used foul language with regularity, made inappropriate sexual comments, continued to commit “boundary crossings” and generally violated church policies forbidding sexual harassment, the church explained.

“The board is in unanimous agreement that Pastor Dean Curry’s removal as senior pastor was the correct decision,” Angelo told congregants at the meeting. “He is disqualified from gospel ministry because of repeat violations of Life Center’s sexual harassment policies. He will not be returning as Life Center’s senior pastor.”

Curry, who has repeatedly denied the sexual…

Senate Democrats are investigating a new allegation of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 

The New Yorker reported that Deborah Ramirez, who attended Yale University with Kavanaugh in the 1980s, is claiming that during the 1983-84 academic year Kavanaugh assaulted her during a dorm party. 

The New Yorker reportedly learned about the alleged incident and reached out to Ramirez for an interview. The magazine said that when they initially spoke with Ramirez she was hesitant to confirm that Kavanaugh was involved in the incident noting that there are gaps in her memory of the party due to inebriation. Ramirez then spent six days assessing her memories and consulting with an attorney until she “felt confident enough of her recollections to say that she remembers Kavanaugh had exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party,” The New Yorker reports.  

According to Ramirez’s recollection, Kavanaugh thrust his genitalia in her face causing her to touch it as she pushed it away. Ramirez, along with Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh’s first accuser, is calling for the F.B.I. to investigate Kavanaugh’s role in the incident. She said, “I would think an F.B.I. investigation would be warranted.”

The allegation is currently under investigation by the offices of a pair of Democratic senators. Several Republican Senators are also…

Evangelist Beth Moore has joined the chorus of women explaining on social media why they didn’t initially report the sex abuse they suffered.

While the social media hashtag #WhyIDidntReport took off in the wake of accusations of attempted rape against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and a tweet by President Donald Trump, arguing that the accuser, Professor Christine Blasey Ford, would have reported her abuse if it really happened. 

“I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!” he tweeted Friday. 

Moore insisted that she is not making a comment about the Kavanaugh allegations, but is supporting victims.

“He lived in my house. #whyididntreport,” Moore tweeted on Friday. 

The following day she added: “Make it a safer world to report it and you’ll make it a safer world.” 

She was backed by some other evangelicals leaders, such as Russell Moore, President of the Ethics &…

A Chick-fil-A in North Carolina opened its doors on Sunday despite its closed-on Sunday policy, to serve first responders and Hurricane Florence evacuees.  

The Wilmington, North Carolina Chick-fil-A, owned by Donovan and Nikki Carless, offered free meals to first responders and locals on Sunday after Hurricane Florence left thousands of people displaced. 

According to The Christian Post, the hurricane has already claimed the lives of 43 people and somewhere around 5,000 people have been rescued from dangerous conditions. The Governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, announced last week that “treacherous” floodwaters are still a threat to the state. 

With this in mind, the restaurant owners asked themselves, what they could do to help. The Carless’s decided to gather their team and ask who would be willing to help with the relief effort by serving food on Sunday, a day when the company is ordinarily closed due to its Christian roots. 

According to ABC News 11, the team jumped at the opportunity to help. In coordination with the Red Cross, the team was able to give 500 sandwiches and 1200 nuggets to evacuees at three different shelters.

In total, four locations in the Wilmington area started offering free meals to all first responders, emergency personnel and electrical linemen. The stores are opening at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday and closing at 4:30 p.m. 

In a…