It’s a laid-back Friday afternoon and as soon as author and speaker Philip Yancey says, ‘hello,’ I can tell he has dedicated all of his focus on our conversation. 

For many who know of the works of Yancey, his intentionality is not surprising. Yancey is regarded by many as a counselor who knows how to guide people through their situation, while simultaneously pointing them to Christ. 

Best known for his work on listening to God through pain and suffering, Yancey is no strangers to what deep pain feels like. 

Yancey was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, and can remember feeling the agony of living a life without a father as well as the emotional turmoil he experienced as a part of a specific legalistic church. 

Yancey’s father died when he was just one year old, and the church his family belonged to at the time showed anything but grace. 

“I had a lot of ups and downs growing up as a child and young adult,” Yancey shared.

“I grew up in an unhealthy church environment that made me question God and Faith based on how they treated people of color,” he added.

Fortunately, it was in his years of wondering that God placed some important and influential people in Yancey’s life and his faith began to blossom.

“I found my own path spiritually when I left to go to college,” he shared.

During this time, Yancey would be introduced to Paul Brand, someone Yancey would later come to…

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday the administration is keeping President Trump and Vice President Pence healthy and is not “addressing” the prospect of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rising to power if Trump and Pence become incapacitated due to the coronavirus.

Pelosi is second in line to the presidency according to the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.

A reporter asked McEnany if the White House has “a procedure in place in case Speaker Pelosi needs to come in if the president and the vice president are incapacitated.”

“That’s not even something that we’re addressing,” McEnany said. “We’re keeping the president healthy. We’re keeping the vice president healthy. … They’re healthy at this moment, and they’ll continue to be.”

The same reporter then followed up: “But is it something they should be considering?”

“The president’s healthy, the vice president’s healthy, and I think that’s something all reporters should be celebrating and the American people as well,” McEnany answered.

Trump told Fox Business Pelosi “would be a disaster” as president.

“Never going to happen. We’ll keep our vice president very healthy, and I’ll stay healthy. Never going to happen,” he said, according to Politico.

The line of succession has been discussed in Washington, D.C., as the coronavirus has gotten closer to Trump. Pence’s press…

The person at the center of the Supreme Court case working to define how transgender people are recognized in the workplace has died.

Anthony Stephens, 59, who changed his name to Aimee Stephens and chose to self-identify as female, died this week at home hospice due to complications from kidney disease, the Christian Post reports.

Stephens’ case, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Aimee Stephens & EEOC, was the first transgender rights-related civil matter to reach the Supreme Court.

The court heard arguments in October and a ruling is expected by the end of June.

The case came after Stephens was fired from his job at a Christian-owned funeral home in Michigan after he chose to self-identify as a woman and begin wearing women’s clothing to work.

Thomas Rost, Stephens’ boss at the time and funeral home owner, said “coming to work dressed as a woman was not going to be acceptable.” 

Stephens filed a lawsuit against the funeral home on the grounds of discrimination. The American Civil Liberties Union represented Stephens.

The ACLU has argued that the funeral home violated the core premise of Title VII, where employees should be judged on their merit and not discriminated against on the basis of sex. The ACLU said that firing Stephens was unlawful sex discrimination.

Previously, a lower court ruled in favor of Stephens, saying in the ruling that it is…

JOS, Nigeria, May 14, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen slaughtered families in Christian areas of Nigeria on Monday (May 11), killing 17 men, women and children in Kaduna state days after a pastor and missionary were abducted, sources said.

“Armed Fulani militia” struck predominantly Christian Gonan Rogo village, Kajuru County, less than 40 miles from the city of Kaduna in the southern part of the state, at 11:30 p.m., said Luka Binniyat, spokesman for the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU), in a press statement. Muslim Fulani residents of the village had slipped away the night before, he said.

“They broke into the home of Jonathan Yakubu, 40, and slaughtered him,” Binniyat said. “They also killed his wife, Sheba Yakubu, 32, and hacked to death their only three children, Patience, 13; Revelation, 6; and Rejoice, 4, thus wiping out the entire Yakubu household. We met relations of the Yakubu’s who were sobbing beyond consolation in front of the house Yakubu had built.”

Six others were injured in the overnight attack, and the Fulani also stole seven head of cattle, he said.

“From this compound, trails of blood led to another gory scene, where Kauna Magaji was killed along with her daughter, Faith Magaji, who died of grisly cutlass cuts to their heads,” Binniyat said. “Still not done, the killers went to another compound, where they met Saraunia Lucky,…

Nearly $100,000 was raised for Planned Parenthood on CBS’ The Price Is Right special, sparking debate online.

As Christian Headlines previously reported, the special The Price is Right at Night was hosted by Drew Carey with popular drag queen RuPaul, as the special guest.

Get ready to shimmy and shake with @RuPaul on tonight’s #PriceIsRight at Night Primetime Special at 8pmPT! pic.twitter.com/0uOknlay3j

— The Price Is Right (@PriceIsRight) May 12, 2020

The special was aired on Monday, May 11, which was recorded prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was noted that all of the winnings would go to Planned Parenthood.

The show has aired similar broadcasts in the past where money was raised for organizations such as Seth Rogan’s charity, Hilarity for charity and for the Headstrong Project which was raised by members of the television series SEAL Team.

In light of Monday’s broadcast, Fox News reports that the contestants won $97,266 in prizes which meant that the abortion giant would receive the same amount in cash donations.

Planned Parenthood applauded the award-winning game show’s efforts on Twitter Monday evening, as reported by The Hill.

“RuPaul ‘coming on down’ to play for Planned Parenthood on @PriceIsRight is what we NEED right now! Thank you @RuPaul,” Planned Parenthood penned.

RuPaul “coming on down” to play for Planned Parenthood on @PriceIsRight is what…

A Christian film production company has launched a new streaming platform to assist churches in helping their members heal from addiction, trauma and brokenness.

The new service, called Soul Refiner, offers churches and individuals cinematic classes for those battling a variety of issues, including anxiety, ponography, betrayal, grief, PTSD, addiction, divorce and depression.

KingdomWorks Studios – the same company behind the Conquer series – launched it. 

Jeremy Wiles, the co-founder of Soul Refiner, said the company has been working on the platform for seven years. It can, he said, “totally transform the church.”

“Wounded and broken people are flooding our pews, enslaved to addictions,” Wiles said. “Marriages, families, lives are falling apart. So we decided to come alongside the church and do something about it.”

KingdomWorks Studios calls Soul Refiner the “world’s first video streaming platform that offers churches and individuals cinematic classes on inner-healing – anywhere, any time.” 

“The essence of Soul Refiner is sanctification,” said Tiana Wiles, co-founder of Soul Refiner. “It’s to disciple men, women and children to become conquerors, overcomers and leaders in Christ.”

The Soul Refiner platform, according to a promotional video, includes original content and “top Christian teachers and experts” who “provide…

High school students in Maryland’s largest school district soon will have a new elective option: LGBTQ+ studies.

The Montgomery County Public Schools board approved a plan Tuesday to develop a “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) Studies pilot course” that will be offered at two high schools in the 2020-21 school year and the remaining eight high schools during the 2021-22 school year.

WTOP in Washington, D.C., reported the LGBTQ+ course is believed to be the first in the region and one of the first in the nation. 

“It’s been a long time coming and I believe it will open a lot of minds,” board member Rebecca Smondrowski said, according to WTOP.

The class will be for juniors and seniors who have completed U.S. history. 

The course description and purpose/rationale passed by board members says the goal is “to increase the awareness of students to the history, culture, and challenges of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) community in America.” 

“The LGBTQ+ community faces enduring discrimination that has resulted in a rise in hate crimes against them, higher rates of depression, suicide, and addictive drug use,” the document approved by the board reads. “The course aims to bring acceptance, support, and a stronger sense of shared community among our students of all sexual and…