The administration of Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin on Friday declined to grant a license to Planned Parenthood to perform abortions at its Louisville clinic, asserting it previously violated state law by performing illegal abortions.  

The letter from Adam Meier, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, says the clinic performed 23 abortions between December 2015 and January 2016 without a license. Bevin, a pro-life Republican, was sworn in as governor Dec. 8, 2015.

Cabinet spokeswoman Christina Dettman told the Courier-Journal newspaper there was a “clear statutory basis for the denial as stated in the letter sent to Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky.”

Planned Parenthood says the previous administration of Democrat Steve Beshear – who is pro-choice – had allowed it to perform abortions while an inspection was conducted. It acknowledges it did not have a license.

The Bevin administration in 2016 sued Planned Parenthood, asserting that the organization was “placing its patients at extreme risk to their health, safety and lives had an emergency occurred.” That lawsuit is still pending. 

U.S. District Court Judge Greg Stivers had given the Bevin administration until Aug. 19 to make a decision on Planned Parenthood’s application for a license, according to the Courier-Journal.

Planned Parenthood criticized Meier for…

The co-creator of VeggieTales says Christian television programming will one day have to address LGBT issues on their shows.

Phil Vischer told the Christian Post that those topics are going “to show up more and more.”

“Parents are definitely going to have to deal with a growing LGBT presence in children’s media,” Vischer said.

“It’s going to show up more and more as the world has decided that LGBT issues are in the same categories as race and civil rights issues. So to say you shouldn’t have a same-sex couple on Sesame Street is the equivalent of saying you shouldn’t have a black couple on Sesame Street.”

Vischer said there are already many shows addressing LGBT issues. In 2017, the children’s Disney show Doc McStuffins aired an episode that featured a same-sex couple of two mothers, CBN News reports.

Also, as Christian Headlines previously reported, this year the PBS show Arthur showed Arthur and his friends attending their teacher’s gay wedding. One character told the group at the wedding, “Yep, it’s a brand new world.”

Vischer said he worried that none of the characters were portrayed as questioning the wedding.

“The most striking thing about that episode of Arthur wasn’t that they thought it was time to introduce kids to gay marriage; it was the reaction of all the kids on the show,” he said. “None of them asked questions…

Former Harvest Bible Chapel pastor James MacDonald reportedly shared some news on a closed Facebook page indicating that he may be returning to ministry. 

According to the Christian Post, MacDonald – who was ousted from HBC earlier this year after being accused of bullying and financial mismanagement – shared on closed Facebook group Walk in the World Partners that he is looking forward to sharing the word of God again in the coming days.

The former megachurch pastor wrote, in part, “we will be back soon w[ith] fresh messages from God’s Word. All free – all digital – all the time, as promised.”

In the message, MacDonald also noted that he looks forward to reconciling differences with others as he prepares for the truth to “come to light.” 

He wrote, “Please continue in prayer for Kathy and I – there has been a great deal of loss for us this year but we love one another and the Lord and have prayed fervently not to say or do anything during our trial that would undermine our many years of teaching you God’s Word.”

He continued, “We have prayed to practice our biblical teaching on love and God has surely allowed us to be stretched. There is much we could say, as so much is not at all what has been portrayed. But we look to the Lord for forgiveness where I did fail as a leader and for vindication of false statements that will not cover forever what others have…

JOS, Nigeria, August 19, 2019 (Morning Star News) – After the killing of a Roman Catholic priest and a parishioner in southeastern Nigeria earlier this month, another clergyman on Thursday (Aug. 15) narrowly escaped an attack by Muslim Fulani herdsmen about 40 miles away, sources said.

Armed Fulani herdsmen on Aug. 1 killed the Rev. Paul Offu in Awgu town, south of Enugu city in Enugu state, as he was returning to his church site after a visit to other congregations he was overseeing, according to Enugu Diocese officials. The herdsmen shot his car as he drove along Ihe-Agbudu Road, forcing it to a halt, and then dragged him out and shot him to death, diocese spokesman Emmanuel Nkemjika Igwesihi said in a press statement.

The herdsmen took parishioner Kenneth Igwe in the ambush. Police found his corpse on Aug. 5, according to Igwesihi.

“The Rev. Fr. Paul Offu was shot dead by some Fulani herdsmen who took him into the bush around 2 p.m.,” the Rev. Ben Achi, director of communications for the diocese told Morning Star News by phone. “He was accosted by the herdsmen and was shot dead.”

About 69 kilometers (42 miles) north, herdsmen on Thursday (Aug. 15) ambushed another Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Chimezie Ani, near Caritas University, a Catholic university in Amorji-Nike, as he drove toward Ugwuomu, the priest told Morning Star News.

“I…

Methodist school Shenandoah University has hired Hanaa Unus, a Muslim chaplain, to support their student’s religious needs.

“Shenandoah is open to people of all faiths, or no faith, exploring their belief system and being leaders in this world for the greater good,” dean of spiritual life Rev. Dr. Justin Allen said, according to Diverse Education. “Hanaa provides the opportunity to be what we always say we value, and that’s a place that cherishes religious diversity.”

The school nestled in Winchester, Va. has tasked Unus to work with all students, regardless of their religion, to address their spiritual needs. She is the first clergy person in the school’s nearly 150-year history to not identify as Christian.

The university also hopes she can draw in more Muslim high school students.

“College is a delicate and defining period in a person’s life,” Unus said in a press release. “Hopefully, if students can learn about different faiths and different cultures, they can go out into the diverse world and be the change-makers Shenandoah hopes they will be.”

Unus’ hire raised a few eyebrows towards the liberal-leaning university, however. In an article for the Christian Post, Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, fired several questions towards the school.

“The school’s news release explains about hiring a Muslim chaplain:…

The Trump Justice Department is siding with a Christian-owned funeral home against a fired transgender employee in a major Supreme Court case that will determine whether federal law bans employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The high court will hear oral arguments Oct. 8 to decide if Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which bars discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin – also bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Lower courts have split on the issue. The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals – which heard the funeral home case – ruled that the definition of “sex” within the Civil Rights Act encompasses sexual orientation and gender identity. 

The Trump Justice Department, in a new brief, sides with R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, a Michigan business which dismissed a biological male employee who came out as a transgender female and began dressing like a woman. The ex-employee is Aimee Stephens, formerly known as Anthony Stephens.

The funeral home’s owner is a Christian who has a sex-specific dress code requiring “male employees to wear suits and ties and female employees to wear skirts and business jackets,” the brief notes.

The question of whether transgender employees should be protected within the Civil Rights Act, the Justice…