JOS, Nigeria, October 20, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen in north-central Nigeria hacked a young Catholic man to death with machetes on Wednesday (Oct. 14), one of eight Christians killed this month in Plateau state.

The herdsmen ambushed 25-year-old Justine Patrick and two Christian companions at about 6 p.m. as they were returning from farm work to Chaha village, Jos South County, according to area resident Ruth Pam.

“Patrick’s companions, Daniel Gyang and Sele Dung, escaped being killed by the armed herdsmen,” Pam told Morning Star News in a text message. “Patrick was cut with machetes until he died.”

Chaha is near the town of K-Vom, where a herdsmen attack on Sept. 24 killed five Christians.

On Friday (Oct. 16) in Daffo town, Bokkos County, Fulani herdsmen ambushed Mukan Solomon Dauda, a 54-year-old Christian who is a security guard for Living Faith Church, according to area resident Simon Agam. Dauda escaped with injuries, one of five Christians wounded in herdsmen attacks this month.

“He was on his way to his guard duty at the church when he was attacked, and he’s currently receiving treatment at the Jos University Teaching Hospital,” Agam told Morning Star News.

Fulani herdsmen on Oct. 8 killed a Christian in Kuru-Jenta village. Pam said Davou Musa, choir director of his home church, Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Tya Vom…

The 850-member Capitol Hill Baptist Church gathered for the first time since March in Washington D.C. this past weekend after a successful lawsuit against the District over COVID-19 restrictions.

The church, which had been meeting in the less restrictive Virginia, gathered in Anacostia Park in Southeast D.C. wearing masks and staying six feet apart. Members also brought their own Bibles and printed bulletins.

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser prohibited religious outdoor or indoor meetings of over 100 people. However, the church complained that the government discriminated against religious organizations.

“For example, on June 6, 2020, Mayor Bowser appeared personally at an outdoor gathering of tens of thousands of people at the corner of 16th and H Streets, NW and delivered a speech describing the large gathering as ‘wonderful to see,’” the complaint said.

“And only three weeks ago, the Mayor coordinated with organizers of the Commitment March on Washington to ‘re-imagine’ the five-hour event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for several thousand people in attendance to hear an array of speakers.”

U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden ruled in favor of the church pastored by Mark Dever, stating that the “District has failed to offer evidence at this stage showing that it has a compelling…

At the United Methodist Church, money’s tight, factions are readying exits, and social justice takes priority in witness. However, the denomination’s “traditionalists” — so named for their support for the accuracy and authority of the Bible, especially regarding LGBT marriage and clergy — are growing in number and telling others how Jesus saves.

The Wesleyan Covenant Association, the largest of the groups forming out of the UMC, champions evangelical beliefs and values. WCA President Keith Boyette tells The Christian Post more than 3,000 churches have affiliated with the association, and the number is steadily climbing, though the next General Conference won’t be held until August 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns.

“There’s been no pause at all for us,” Boyette says. “We’re working vigorously toward a new, theologically conservative, global Methodist church.”

WCA will not be that church, he adds, as he heads the Transitional Leadership Council attempting to bring together scripturally sound Wesleyans from across the world. “The association will act as a midwife in…

An Oregon Christian school filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the governor and other state officials over restrictions that permit small public schools to gather for in-person instruction during the pandemic but ban small private schools from doing so.

Private school officials that violate the state restrictions face imprisonment for 30 days and/or a fine up to $1,250.

At issue are restrictions by Gov. Kate Brown and other departments that prohibit public and private schools from gathering until certain COVID-19 testing metrics are met. The restrictions, though, provide certain exemptions to small public schools of 75 students or less while denying those same exemptions to private schools of similar size.

The result: Small public schools in certain counties can meet while small religious schools cannot, the lawsuit says.

The suit was filed by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of Hermiston Christian School in Umatilla County, an area about three hours east of Portland.

“After 41 years of faithful service, Hermiston Christian School … could be forced to shut its doors for good unless the Court stops an obvious case of discrimination,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges violations of religious liberty and parental rights as guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution’s First and Fourteenth Amendments. Religious schools…

The Church of God in Christ, a predominantly African American body of 6.5 million members, is holding its first-ever national ballot drive. Another 10 or so smaller Holiness denominations, including the African Methodist Episcopal Church with 2.5 million adherents, are joining COGIC in urging people to go to the polls.

Holiness churches tend to believe in a second work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life that brings noticeable change morally, such as stopping smoking, curtailing pornography and ending cursing. Going back to those ways could signal the person is no longer saved. Pentecostal Holiness denominations such as COGIC think this second blessing also can lead to spiritual gifts such as healing or tongues.

Stringent Holiness groups historically have…

The Wesleyan Covenant Association, the largest group within the United Methodist Church, is growing despite some division in the church.

According to The Christian Post, the Wesleyan Covenant Association is also considered the “traditionalists” of the UMC. The association has a strong interpretation of the Bible, including traditionalist views on marriage and clergy. The group also adheres to evangelical beliefs and values.

WCA President Keith Boyette said more than 3,000 churches have affiliated with the association, and the group is growing. In August 2021, the next General Conference will show that growth, he added.

This year‘s conference was canceled amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

“There’s been no pause at all for us,” Boyette says. “We’re working vigorously toward a new, theologically conservative, global Methodist church.”

Boyette said he is hoping the WCA can be part of that new traditionalist church.

“The association will act as a midwife in launching the resulting denomination,” Boyette said.

Traditionalist within the church have argued that UMC evangelism is sometimes too focused on “social gospel of good works” instead of Jesus as salvation.

“Social justice is important — the transformation in us never ends — but the first step is beginning a relationship with Christ,” says the Rev. Thacker Haynes, senior pastor of…

Megachurch pastor Andy Stanley has identified the five questions he believes every Christian should integrate into their decision-making process to find success in all areas of life. 

During an interview with Sean Morgan, vice president of Leadership Capital, Stanley, founder of the Atlanta-based North Point Ministries, explained that as a pastor, it “breaks” his heart “watching people make decisions that undermine their own success, their own marriage, their own finances, their own relationship with their kids.”

“There’s enough headwind in life. There’s enough negative force. The last thing we need to do is to facilitate our own demise,” he said. “There is a super important connection between the questions we ask and the decisions we make. The better the questions, generally, the better decisions.”

Stanley, who recently released his latest book Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets, identified the five questions he believes every Christian should add to their “decision-making filter,” adding: “If you’ll ask these five questions and if you’ll answer them honestly, I guarantee you, you will make better decisions, and…

On Sunday, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan contended that in order for people to return to church, they must vote for Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2020 Presidential Election.

“If you’re tired of lockdowns or you’re tired of wearing masks or you wish you were in church this morning or watching college football, or your kids were [in] in-person instruction, it is time for change in this country, and that’s why we’ve got to elect Joe Biden,” she said on NBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday morning.

Whitmer, who recently was under a threat of a kidnapping plot, denounced President Trump for inciting “domestic violence” as his supporters chanted “lock her up” during a rally on Saturday.

“The president is at it again and inspiring and incentivizing and inciting this kind of domestic terrorism,” she told host Chuck Todd. “It is wrong. It’s got to end. It is dangerous, not just for me and my family, but for public servants everywhere who are doing their jobs and trying to protect their fellow Americans. People of good will on both sides of the aisle need to step up and call this out and bring the heat down.”

According to ABC News, the FBI has arrested 14 men in their alleged attempt to kidnap the Michigan governor.

Whitmer has also been vehemently criticized over her COVID-19 lockdown policies and her…