The city of Atlanta agreed Monday to pay former fire chief Kelvin Cochran $1.2 million, four years after he was suspended and then fired for publishing a book containing historic Christian beliefs.

Cochran’s self-published 162-page book, “Who Told You That You Were Naked?: Overcoming the Stronghold of Condemnation,” included Bible verses addresses sexuality and homosexuality. It was the latter topic that sparked a controversy and an investigation and eventually, his termination. He wrote the book on non-work time. 

A federal court ruling in December 2017 ruled against a city policy that required employees to get permission from the government before writing books or giving speeches. The judge said the policy was too broad and “stifled speech.”

On Monday, the city council agreed to pay Cochran $1.2 million. 

Alliance Defending Freedom represented Cochran.

“The government can’t force its employees to get its permission before they engage in free speech. It also can’t fire them for exercising that First Amendment freedom, causing them to lose both their freedom and their livelihoods,” said ADF senior counsel Kevin Theriot, who argued before the court. “We are very pleased that the city is compensating Chief Cochran as it should, and we hope this will serve as a deterrent to any government that would trample upon the constitutionally…

A group of evangelical bishops have sent a warning about the consequences that could arise if the Church of England decides to alter its stance on sexuality.

Eleven bishops affiliated with the Church of England Evangelical Council signed onto a joint letter sent Saturday to the head of the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith project, which was established last summer by the House of Bishops as a two-year initiative to develop a deeper understanding on sexuality in light of the cultural push for LGBT affirmation and rights.

The project will culminate in the production of teaching resources expected to be released in 2020.

The letter sent to the Bishop of Coventry Christopher Cocksworth urges him and other leaders involved in the LLF initiative to clearly articulate the “traditional teaching” of sexuality in which intercourse is only permitted in the confines of a one man-one woman marriage.

The letter also urges those involved with the project to “enable us as a church better to understand and proclaim this unchangeable Christian standard afresh in…

A biological male who identifies as female won a cycling world championship Sunday, sparking controversy over fairness in athletics. 

Rachel McKinnon won the 35-44 female age bracket at the UCI Masters track cycling championships in Los Angeles 

“First transgender woman world champion…ever*” McKinnon wrote on Twitter.

McKinnon is an assistant professor at the College of Charleston. 

Carolien Van Herrikhuyzen of the Netherlands and Jennifer Wagner of the U.S. finished second and third, respectively. Wagner wrote on Twitter, “I was the 3rd place rider. It’s definitely NOT fair.”

In January, McKinnon told USA Today that the debate over fairness misses the mark. 

“We cannot have a woman legally recognized as a trans woman in society, and not be recognized that way in sports,” McKinnon said. “Focusing on performance advantage is largely irrelevant because this is a rights issue. We shouldn’t be worried about trans people taking over the Olympics. We should be worried about their fairness and human rights instead.”

McKinnon has said the debate over testosterone is irrelevant, although McKinnon says she is under the maximum testosterone levels as required by UCI.

Jillian Bearden, a cyclist and a transgender woman who was born male, said testosterone gives athletes a natural boost. 

“I’ve proven how powerful…

Evangelist Greg Laurie has suggested that a massive Jesus revival in America could lead to Christians being snatched from Earth, removing the U.S. from the End Times conflict.

Speaking with PureFlix on Sunday in a Facebook video, Laurie, who pastors Harvest Christian Fellowship in California, recalled that one of the earmarks of the Jesus movement of the 1960s and 1970s was that people believed Jesus was coming soon.

The pastor insisted that the Christians of that time were not wrong to believe that, noting that “we’ve never been closer to the return of Jesus than right now.”

He said that looking at Bible prophecy, he doesn’t see anything specifically that needs to happen before Christ returns to remove believers from the Earth, which is sometimes called the rapture of the Church.

“When you look at the major superpowers of the world, you can find Israel, you can maybe find Russia, China, you can definitely find Iran-Persia, but why is there is no clear identification of the reigning super power, the United States of America?” he said, referring to End Times scripture found in the book of Revelation.

“We know that the players of the last days will be the forces…

The new administration in Quebec, Canada, is working to prevent its employees from wearing religious symbols while at work.

According to College Fix, if this rule is enacted, judges, prosecutors, police officers and teachers will also be prohibited from wearing clothing or accessories that identify with a religion. 

The Coalition Avenir Quebec platform, Quebec’s new premier François Legault’s political party who is proposing the rule, states, “Religious signs will be prohibited for all persons in position of authority, including teachers.” 

The platform continues saying, “after 10 years of discussion on the subject and on reasonable accommodations, it is more than time to act and adopt legislation clearly establishing the secularity of the state.”

CBN News reports, employees who choose not to follow the rule will lose their jobs.

Legault commented on the rule saying that Quebec would simply use the rule to illustrates the governments neutrality in certain situations.

In Reason’s blog Hit & Run Legault is quoted as saying, “I think if we compare to what’s happening in many countries, it’s reasonable for neutrality reasons—we want to make sure that a policeman or a policewoman doesn’t show a religious sign in case the man or woman in front of him is from another religion.”

Many, however, are arguing that the rule is unconstitutional…

If you don’t know self-styled Texas prophet Joshua Holmes of Joshua Holmes Ministries, you don’t know Jesus because he is “Jesus in the flesh,” according to some who follow him.

“For all you haters if you don’t know Prophet Joshua Holmes you ain’t got the Holy Spirit. That’s all I gotta say,” a young woman says in a viral video posted on Facebook dismissing critics of Holmes. “He is changing lives every day. He is Jesus in the flesh. He is very tangible. He’s got the power of God on him.”

The flamboyant young minister, whom many critics dismiss as a dangerous departure from orthodox Christianity, has emerged in recent months as an online sensation professing healings and “money miracles.”

In a 1-minute video promotion for his ministry that has been viewed more than 3 million times on Facebook, Holmes is recorded making women and men swoon with a wave of his jacket or a mere breath from his mouth.

Information on who this “prophet” is or where he came from, however, remains vague and limited even on his ministry’s website where he sells a book about prophetic mysteries for more than $100 per copy.

“Prophet Joshua is a vessel of The Lord Jesus, who is anointed with power from the Holy Ghost to deliver, and bring multitudes into the…

Following the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Archdiocese of Washington released a list of 28 names of clergy members who, since 1948, were accused of sexually abusing children.

The archdiocese posted the list to their website on Monday that details the names of the accused clergymen along with some of the actions that followed the accusations. 

In his official blog, Cardinal Wuerl called the release of this list “a necessary step toward full transparency and accountability and the process of healing.”

In a statement released on Monday, the Catholic archdiocese noted in the statement that the list was “assembled as part of a comprehensive review of the archdiocese’s archives ordered by the Cardinal Donald Wuerl in 2017.”

According to the list, at this point, all of the clergymen on the list have either died, been convicted and/or have been stripped of their priesthood. 

The list includes the list of 28 clergymen and three religious-order priests who temporarily served in the Archdiocese of Washington’s parishes or schools.

According to the statement released by the archdioceses, no priests have had credible claims levied against them in almost 20 years, and no priest who has faced a credible claim is still serving. 

The archdiocese did not note when the accusers on the list came forward or how many victims there were, but…

Evangelical churches must respond to the revelations of the #MeToo movement with “grace and love,” according to a Christian author and activist.

“I hope that victims and survivors are finding community, they are finding safety, and they are finding that they have opportunities to tell their story and to be believed,” Kathy Khang, writer and director of Campus Access Initiatives at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, told National Association of Evangelicals President Leith Anderson.

“I hope that they are experiencing a degree of relief as things across culture come to light and that there are individuals and churches that are entering into a time of confession as opposed to a time of further accusation.” 

Anderson noted that “we’re living in a time of both confrontation and confession — a time that’s focused on openness about ways women have been abused and mistreated.”

“You and I can talk about this theoretically, but there are people who are hearing our voices right now who deal with this specific situation and they’re looking for some kind of guidance, hope, a direction to go.”

Khang said she believes that the response from church leaders and congregants should be “one of grace and love, particularly for the victims and survivors of sexual abuse and sexual…