A Christian couple in Iran will be forced to relinquish their adopted child to the state because of their participation in a house church, according to Article 18, a Christian persecution watchdog group.

Sam Khosravi and Maryam Falahi were deemed “not fit” to be Lydia’s parents after nearly two years of care for the child. Judge Muhammad Hassan Dashti asserted that Lydia, though her parentage is unknown, is a Muslim child and therefore should have only been placed in a Muslim home.

Dashti also acknowledged that the toddler faced an “uncertain future” and that there was “zero chance” another adoptive family would take her in due to her health problems. Sam and Maryam took in Lydia after they were unable to conceive.

The couple have already appealed the case, but a court of appeals upheld the first ruling earlier this week. Sam and Maryam will file a second appeal.

Lawyers for the couple were able to obtain two fatwas from Grand Ayatollahs—the most senior Shia Islamic members in Iran—that gave the couple permission for the adoption because of Lydia’s poor health and “undisputed emotional attachment with her parents.”

Nonetheless, Dashti ruled the adoption was unlawful, though he was also sympathetic to the couple.

“In 13 years of marriage, [Sam and Maryam] didn’t have a child to bring light and warmth to their home,” he said.

According to…

Conservatives are defending Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett after a Washington Post article implied her speaking at a Christian conference could be disqualifying.

The article noted that Barrett has spoken several times at the Blackstone‌ ‌Legal‌ ‌Fellowship,‌ ‌a‌ ‌summer‌ ‌program‌ ‌established‌ ‌to‌ ‌inspire‌ ‌a‌ ‌“distinctly‌ ‌Christian‌ ‌worldview‌ ‌in‌ ‌every‌ ‌area‌ ‌of‌ ‌law,”‌ ‌according to the story.

“It‌ ‌was‌ ‌founded‌ ‌to‌ ‌show‌ ‌students‌ ‘how‌ ‌God‌ ‌can‌ ‌use‌ ‌them‌ ‌as‌ ‌judges,‌ ‌law‌ ‌professors‌ ‌and‌ ‌practicing‌ ‌attorneys‌ ‌to‌ ‌help‌ ‌keep‌ ‌the‌ ‌door‌ ‌open‌ ‌for‌ ‌the‌ ‌spread‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌Gospel‌ ‌in‌ ‌America,’”‌ the story said.

The fellowship is run by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal group. She spoke at it five times, according to The Post.

The headline read, “Amy‌ ‌Coney‌ ‌Barrett,‌ ‌Supreme‌ ‌Court‌ ‌nominee,‌ ‌spoke‌ ‌at‌ ‌program‌ ‌founded‌ ‌to‌ ‌inspire‌ ‌a‌ ‌‘distinctly‌ ‌Christian‌ ‌worldview‌ ‌in‌ ‌every‌ ‌area‌ ‌of‌ ‌law.’‌” 

Barrett, currently a judge on the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, would replace the…

Over a month ahead of election day, Pastor Tony Evans urged U.S. citizens to consider the value of life — both inside and outside the womb — before voting, warning that ignoring what God says about human dignity will result in “chaos.”

“When you don’t start with the image of God, then you make life what you call it to be, not what God has created it and stamped it to be,” Evans, the longtime pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Texas, said on Sunday. “Till we see it through God’s eyes, then we will not start in the right place.

“God views it as a personal insult when life is not given the value He gives … to it because what you said is what God did is not worth protecting. So any discussion of life has to start there. Any discussion of life has to start with the divine mark. And the job of government, the Bible says, is to protect that life.”

When God is left out of government, “life and its value gets downgraded, reduced, dishonored and attacked,” he warned. “So when you think about Kingdom voting, you must think about the question of life.”

“Life,” Evans explained,…

By Leonardo Blair, Christian Post Reporter Follow | Monday, September 28, 2020

A group of white clergy asked their black counterparts for forgiveness and prayerfully committed to actively work to achieve racial justice as they marked four months since the death of George Floyd at the Bethel AME Church in Spokane, Washington, Friday.

“Our nation suffers under the burden of its original sin of racism and white supremacy. And far too often the church has been complicit and let me add particularly my branch of the church — evangelicals,” said Joe Wittwer, lead pastor of Life Center Church, at the “Count Us In: Beyond Words” event, organized by the Beyond Words Movement.

The movement brings together leaders from across the nation, including pastors, attorneys and corporate diversity managers, who are united in their desire to make racial justice a reality in America. Spearheaded by the Justice Journey Alliance, the Beyond Words Movement collaborates with ReWire to enlist church leaders nationwide to lead their communities into…

Over 3,200 people from 98 partnering churches joined a prayer event in person and online Saturday to pray for the city’s schools, youth and teachers.  

The event was the second We Pray San Diego gathering, following up on the first one in June that had focused on praying for both the healing of COVID-19 and the city’s racial tensions.  Nearly 2,000 people attended the event in person while the remainder joined online.  

“Interestingly enough, we have not had any big civil unrest in our city. Is that a direct result? Maybe not,” said Daryl Nuss, 71, the special counsel to the CEO of National Network of Youth Ministries and a We Pray San Diego leader, to The Christian Post.

“But I think some of it can be attributed to the fact that people of faith were praying and are praying.”

During the event, Nuss and other participants prayed for an hour while listening on their cell phones to a prayer guide provided by Pastor Miles McPherson of San Diego’s 19,000-member Rock Church.  Nuss said he and 50 other people prayed outside the Poway Unified School District’s…

HYDERABAD, India, Sept. 25, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Punita Kumari was caring for her family in eastern India the morning of Sept. 14 when leaders of about 25 hard-line Hindu assailants armed with bamboo sticks forced their way into their one-room home.

Saying Christians could not live in their village of Jhikatia, Bihar state, the assailants dragged her husband, Pastor Vinouwa Das, out and began beating him, Kumari said.

His sister tried to shield him, and they beat her too, she said. Kumari gathered up her newborn and rushed out, pleading with the assailants to talk about any grievances rather than attack, but they ignored her, she said.

“They shouted at me that we must vacate the premises immediately, and that they will not allow Christian services in the village,” Kumari told Morning Star News. “They were furious and beat me up also with the wooden sticks. It was not even a month since I was out of labor. My newborn also suffered injuries along with me.”

Among the assailants: members of the once-Christian family who had granted them land for their home and a one-room church building, as hard-line Hindus had pressured them to renounce Christianity and reclaim the land, she said.

The assailants intercepted and attacked Pastor Das again on Sept. 17 as he was on his way to a market to buy essential items for their home and baby, she said.

“They threatened him that he would be killed if…