After fielding flak for branding the social justice movement a threat to the Gospel, Pastor John MacArthur further contended that embracing the movement reflects a church “completely ensnared in efforts to please the culture.”

“‘Social justice’ (in the world’s usage of that term) entails political ideas that are deemed sophisticated — namely, identity politics, critical race theory, the redistribution of wealth, and other radical or socialist policies. Those ideas were first popularized and propagated in the secular academy, where they are now regarded as received wisdom and have become a dominating part of popular culture. Evangelicals who are chasing the culture are latecomers to the party of those who advocate ‘social justice,'” MacArthur wrote in a new post on his Grace to You Ministry website Wednesday.

MacArthur, who is leader of Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, California, and president of The Master’s College and Seminary, began tackling the notion of “social justice” in a two-week series earlier this month.

In his post on Wednesday,…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Lithuania Thursday for a visit with leaders of the Baltic States. He hopes to deepen ties with the three nations so that they might become an advocate for Israel in the European Union. 

In prepared remarks, Netanyahu criticized the EU over a recent support package designed to buttress Iran’s struggling economy. The first installment in the deal will inject 18 million euros ($21 million) into Iran’s economy. The EU’s economic commitment is designed to keep the Iranian nuclear deal, from which President Trump withdrew in May, from falling apart.

Netanyahu called the economic package a “big mistake” and “a poison pill to the Iranian people and to the efforts to curb Iranian aggression in the region and beyond the region.” He later told a press conference that Iran had just attempted a terrorist attack on European soil over the summer, likely referring to a suspected bomb plot in late June. Authorities prevented the attack, which targeted an Iranian opposition rally in France. Officials suspected that an Iranian diplomat cooperated in coordinating the plot.

Netanyahu met with the three Baltic prime ministers– Saulius Skvernelis of Lithuania, Juri Ratas of Estonia, and Maris Kucinskis of Latvia. He forged a seemingly strong bond with Skvernelis, who told the Baltic News Service, “I believe Lithuania…

Could tire marks on the street represent a form of vandalism against LGBT people? That’s what public officials in Hamilton, Ontario, are wondering after seeing a “rainbow Pride” crosswalk lose its colorful luster due to black streaks from tires. 

The city painted three crosswalks on streets Aug. 2 in the form of the LGBT flag symbol. 

“I’m suspicious,” Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger told The Hamilton Spectator. “Just the way [the markings] sits there. It’s odd that it’s just before and after the crosswalk [and into the crossing].”

Among the three rainbow crosswalks, the tire marks – which are parallel and straight – are only on the one that crosses the busiest street. For now, the crosswalk will be touched up with paint. 

“I suspect it’s willful… but at this point, we’ll fix it and see what happens,” Eisenberger said. 

On social media, few people were buying the mayor’s explanation.

“People need to stop jumping to conclusions these tire tracks are from transport trucks braking and gearing down to stop in traffic with black asphalt it is not as noticeable,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Obviously not taken into consideration in a high traffic area.”

Another person asked on Twitter, sarcastically, “What’s next. Is that section of road going to be a no car zone?”

Earlier this year, a driver was fined $800 for causing…

On Friday, Sen. John McCain announced that he has decided to cease treatment for the aggressive brain cancer he has been battling for over a year.

The family issued a statement on Aug. 24, announcing McCain’s decision saying, “Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment,” 

The statement continued saying, “Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection from John’s many friends and associates, and the many thousands of people who are keeping him in their prayers. God bless and thank you all.”

After making this announcement, many took to social media creating a moment of nonpartisan support for the senator and his family.  

On Twitter McCain’s wife Cindy wrote, “I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey.” The senator’s daughter, Meghan McCain, who has been very public with her father’s battle over the past year, wrote on twitter, “My family is…

An educational choice advocacy group is supporting two lawsuits in Washington and Maine, arguing that laws in the states unconstitutionally discriminate against religious school and other faith-based organizations regarding public funding.

The Institute for Justice’s lawsuits comes after the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2017 that decided a Missouri church should not be barred from secular aid programs.

In Maine, the organization is advocating for three families that filed a legal challenge against a policy of prohibiting religious schools from the state’s school choice program.

In many parts of Maine, the cities aren’t large enough to be zoned for public high schools, so the state offers families money to be spent on their schools of choice, including both private and public schools.

Under the law, however, families cannot use the money to send their children to religious schools.

“By prohibiting tuition payments for children whose parents choose to send them to sectarian schools, it forces parents to either forgo the benefit of tuition funds for their child or forgo their right to send their child to the school of their choice,” the lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court of Maine states. “Defendant has no compelling, substantial, or even legitimate interest in denying tuition-eligible students and their parents sectarian options while allowing private…

In early August, President Donald Trump invited a group of pastors to the White House to discuss prison and criminal justice reform. Trump sat at the table with a group of African American pastors for the meeting he called “President Trump Meets with Inner City Pastors.” 

Among the pastors who attended the meeting was South Carolina pastor John Gray of the Relentless Church.

Gray opened the meeting in prayer saying, “God, we thank you for an opportunity to speak about the hearts of those who sometimes cannot fight for themselves.”

Gray continued, “We thank you for this moment to be able to share our hearts with the president. Dr. King said, ‘We cannot influence a table that we are not seated at,’ so we pray that this conversation will be fruitful and productive and honoring of the best traditions of this nation.”

According to Christianity Today, the pastors in attendance received mixed feelings from the press, their communities and congregations. While Fox 10 Phoenix described footage of Gray’s prayer as “POWERFUL,” a black ministers coalition described it as heartbreaking in an open letter to the pastors who attended the meeting.

In the letter the coalition of 50 ministers wrote, “We need not remind you of the posture of the Prince of Peace, our Savior from the streets, when He stood before Herod and Pilate. He didn’t even pray for…