Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy says in a new letter that the company “inadvertently discredited” what he calls “outstanding organizations” when it changed its giving strategy and pulled funding last year from the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. 

Cathy, in the letter to the American Family Association, also says the company has not waned in its corporate purpose to “glorify God.” 

Cathy addressed the letter to AFA President Tim Wildmon, who had written Cathy and asked the Chick-fil-A CEO two questions, including, “Will Chick-fil-A publicly state that it does not believe the Salvation Army and FCA are hate groups because of the ministries’ beliefs about sexuality, marriage, and family?”

Cathy, in his letter, applauded the ministries. 

“As you have seen, recently we announced changes to our giving strategy at the Chick-fil-A Foundation,” Cathy wrote. “These changes were made to better focus on hunger, homelessness and education. We understand how some thought we were abandoning our long-standing support of faith-based organizations. We inadvertently discredited several outstanding organizations that have effectively served communities for years. Some also questioned if our commitment to our Corporate Purpose was waning. Let me state unequivocally: It is not.”

Earlier in the letter, Cathy had said he agreed with his late…

ORLANDO, Fla. (RNS) — Reinhard Bonnke, the German evangelist known as “The Billy Graham of Africa,” was lauded at a Saturday (Jan. 4) memorial service as “a giant and a general in the army of God.”

The Pentecostal pastor died Dec. 7 at the age of 79 in Orlando, where he moved his international ministry, Christ for All Nations, in the early 2000s. He retired as head of Christ for All Nations in 2017, citing declining health.

During more than four decades of mass crusades in Africa, Bonnke preached in 51 of the continent’s countries and claimed to have converted 79 million people to Christianity.

About 2,000 people gathered from around the U.S. and around the world in the sanctuary of the Faith Assembly of God for a three-hour celebration of Bonnke’s life and ministry.

More than a dozen speakers, including a number from African ministries and denominations, lauded Bonnke, for both his zeal and his personal humility. Other Pentecostal leaders, including T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn and Paula White, appeared on the three large screens above the sanctuary’s stage with filmed tributes.

Members of the racially diverse crowd sang Bonnke’s favorite hymns, waving their arms.

A large, red floral arrangement in the shape of the African continent was placed on an easel next to the speaker’s lectern. Along the front of the stage stood sheaves of wheat, symbolizing the…

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked the island country of Puerto Rico in the early morning hours on Tuesday, leaving one person dead and eight others injured.

The U.S. Geological Survey said that the Tuesday morning quake hit at 4:24 am with a shallow depth of six miles below the surface. 

According to the Associated Press, below southern Puerto Rico, tectonic plates along three different fault lines have been grinding together causing a series of earthquakes over the last ten days.

On Monday, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit Puerto Rico triggering landslides and causing houses to collapse.

Since the Tuesday morning quake struck, the Associated Press reports that more than a dozen aftershocks were triggered. While most of the aftershocks were between a magnitude 2.5 and 5.6, less than three hours after the initial temblor, a powerful magnitude 6.0 aftershock hit the area.

Initially, a tsunami alert was also issued for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The alert was later canceled.

The powerful quake is reported to have knocked out the island’s power. Power plants have shut down to protect themselves and the country’s main airport is operating with the use of a generator. Power is expected to be restored later in the day Tuesday. 

In Ponce, Puerto Rico, authorities have evacuated more than 150 people from two historic buildings at risk of collapse. Among those evacuated were more than…

Planned Parenthood performed nearly 350,000 abortions during its most recent fiscal year – a record number that pro-life groups say underscores the organization’s tragic real mission.

Planned Parenthood’s report for 2018-19 shows the organization’s clinics performed a total of 345,672 abortions during the fiscal year, an increase over the 332,757 abortions in 2017-18 and the 321,384 abortions in 2016-17.

It’s the highest number of abortions ever reported by Planned Parenthood, which has seen a dramatic increase in abortions performed since 2000-01, when it reported 197,070 such procedures. It topped 200,000 abortions for the first time in 2001-02, and passed 300,000 abortions in 2007-08.  

Planned Parenthood’s total number of abortions has increased even as the overall number of abortions in the U.S. has declined. 

In 2000-01, Planned Parenthood performed about 15 percent of the nation’s abortions. Based on the new data, that number has jumped to an estimated 40 percent, according to Live Action, which tracks abortion data. 

“There is no more urgent time than now to defund Planned Parenthood and it is imperative that pro-lifers continue to pressure political leaders at the state and federal level to end all forced taxpayer funding of this abortion behemoth,” Live Action’s Carole Novielli wrote in an analysis. 

National Right to Life’s Dave…

The man who won a 2016 court ruling to become America’s first non-binary person now says it was all a big mistake – and that he legally changed his gender back to male in December.

“Jamie” Shupe was a hero of the LGBT movement three years ago when he convinced an Oregon judge to allow him to change his gender from female – his preferred gender at that time – to “non-binary,” meaning he was neither male nor female. Basic Rights Oregon called it a “momentous day for genderqueer Oregonians.”

But Shupe, who was born male, now says he suffered from mental illness and was a casualty of a system that “rubber stamps” individuals with gender dysphoria rather than giving them the help they need. Christian Headlines previously reported on Shupe’s journey. 

On Christmas Eve 2019, an Oregon judge legally restored his gender to male and his name to James Shupe. He has a new driver’s license with his restored identity.

“The mental health system just rubber stamps you with gender dysphoria (discontent with a person’s assigned gender) and they don’t look at the underlying behavior,” Shupe told the Star Banner newspaper in Ocala, Fla. “Educating myself about why I was doing the things I was doing was key to being able to make peace with it and allow me to get back to reality.”

He now lives in Ocala with his wife.

“My case is still being used in non-binary…

The Chinese government has tightened its reign on its citizens by announcing that all religious personnel of any faith must submit to and evangelize about the Chinese Communist Party.

“In practice, your religion no longer matters, if you are Buddhist, or Taoist, or Muslim, or Christian: the only religion allowed is faith in the Chinese Communist Party,” said a Chinese Catholic priest, according to CBN.

Starting on Feb 1, all religious groups must adhere to the new rules, which consist of six chapters and 41 articles. They require government approval for any type of gathering and total submission to the Communist Party.

One law, Article 17, states: “Religious organizations must spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as national laws, regulations, rules to religious personnel and religious citizens, educating religious personnel and religious citizens to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, supporting the socialist system, adhering to and following the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics…”

Manuscripts from each religion are also not immune to censorship. The Daily Mail reports that the Communist Party intends to complete a “comprehensive evaluation of the existing religious classics aiming at contents which do not conform to the progress of the times.” As Christian Headlines previously reported, this means that…

Bethel Music artist Kalley Heiligenthal has chosen hope and gratitude after requesting global prayers for her two-year-old daughter’s resurrection.

“I can access the searing shock of the last couple weeks and stop there, but if I push one step further, 2019 is overwhelmingly saturated with treasured memories I would never trade and will fight to cherish. So I choose tender thankfulness,” she said in a vulnerable Instagram post.

Olive, Kalley’s daughter, was found not breathing in early December and later declared dead by doctors. But the musician and her husband issued an urgent prayer request for her resurrection.

“We believe in a Jesus who died and conclusively defeated every grave, holding the keys to resurrection power,” Kalley said, as previously reported by Christian Headlines. “We are asking for bold, unified prayers from the global church to stand with us in belief that He will raise this little girl back to life. Her time here is not done, and it is our time to believe boldly, and with confidence wield what King Jesus paid for. It’s time for her to come to life.”

But, after a week, the family decided to hold a memorial service and funeral for Olive, Faithwire reports.

“Since learning the news of two-year-old Olive Heiligenthal’s sudden death, we have sought a miracle from God to raise her from the dead,” said a statement from Bethel. “…Here is…

A new bill proposed in the Massachusetts state legislature would allow doctors to sign off on abortions after 24 weeks of gestation if it is determined that “the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or physical or mental health.”

The current legal framework in the state allows abortion for any reason prior to fetal viability, which is dated at between 22 and 24 weeks gestation. The bill, named the “Roe Act,” adopts an extremely wide definition of mental health, saying that it relates to “all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the person’s age — relevant to the well-being of the patient.”

The implications of this definition mean that late-term abortions may become significantly easier to obtain.

“This lenient definition essentially allows for abortion on demand up until the moment of birth,” noted National Review staff writer Alexandra DeSanctis.

In addition, the Roe Act would also allow abortions to take place after the viability threshold if the doctor deems the fetus “incompatible with sustained life outside the uterus.”

“Though the right to abortion is already protected by the Massachusetts state constitution, this legislation would enshrine that right in law as well,” DeSanctis noted of the new proposal.

According to LifeNews, in addition, the new law “eliminates the parental-consent requirement for a minor girl…