New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees apologized Thursday for earlier comments about “disrespecting the flag,” saying he “completely missed the mark” and stands with the black community in the “fight against systemic racial injustice and police brutality.”

Brees’ apology on Instagram came one day after he gave an interview to Yahoo Finance and was asked how the NFL should respond to players kneeling during the national anthem following the ongoing protests.

“I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America,” Brees said in the interview. “… What I feel when the national anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the United States, I envision my two grandfathers, who fought for this country during World War II, one in the army, and one in the Marine Corps, both risking their lives to protect our country and to try to make our country and this world a better place.”

The national anthem, he said during the interview, “shows unity.”

“It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better,” Brees said. “And that we are all part of the solution.”

In the Yahoo Finance interview, Brees also said, “God created us all equal and I think that we all have a responsibility to love each other and to respect each other.”

His remarks on the flag drew pushback from teammates and black leaders. The…

A Nashville police officer prayed with a protester Saturday during a peaceful demonstration.

According to CBN News, Officer Garren Hoskins was working at the protest when he heard a man preaching.

“As he talked, I kind of talked back with him and carried on a casual conversation. There was a brief moment where he stopped and was just standing there. I felt an opportunity as a police officer and a person so I asked him, ‘Would you like to pray?’ He put his sign down, looked at me, and said, ‘Absolutely.’”

A bystander took a photo of the two men praying together.

“He had a great prayer about equal rights – all men treated equal under God, and it was very touching,” Hoskins said.

“At the same time, that gentleman was such a nice guy. I believe it created a solidarity there between him expressing his freedom of speech and me there as a police officer and that’s something the world needs to see.”

Hoskins said the moment stands in contrast to the violent protests across the country.

“You can see rioting and looting in all cities across the United States, but I think there are things happening outside of those images that are real and powerful and my image happened to be caught at that time,” he said.

In the midst of Sat’s confrontation between protestors & officers at the Central Precinct, Officer Garren Hoskins and the protestor in front of him began talking about…

A Minneapolis-based Christian university will be paying tribute to George Floyd in a memorial service on Thursday.

“North Central University is honored to have been asked to serve as the location for the Minneapolis funeral service for Mr. George Floyd,” North Central University announced in a statement on Tuesday.

“As a Christian university situated in the heart of Minneapolis, we strive to be good citizens and good neighbors. Our hope is that our sanctuary will provide a space of welcome and warmth for Mr. Floyd’s loved ones and their guests during this time of remembrance and worship,” the statement continued.

The Christian Post reports that the memorial service will be held between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM and will be live-streamed online and on local media channels.

Floyd’s eulogy will be given by civil rights activist and founder and president of the National Action Network, Rev. Al Sharpton.

The university statement noted that the memorial service will be “a private event for the family, friends, and invitees of the Floyd family.”

“Preregistered and verified attendees” will solely be granted admittance.

A funeral service will also be held for Floyd early next week. Benjamin Crump, Floyd’s family attorney, announced on Monday that a funeral service – which former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather has offered to cover the expenses for – will be held for Floyd on…

Nearly six in 10 Americans believe “identifying moral truth is up to each individual,” while barely four in 10 say God is the basis of truth, according to a new survey.

The findings are part of the American Worldview Inventory and were released by George Barna, director of research at the cultural research center at Arizona Christian University.

A total of 58 percent of U.S. adults agreed that “identifying moral truth is up to each individual; there are no moral absolutes that apply to everyone, all the time,” according to the survey. Surprisingly, 48 percent of adults identified as born-again Christians agreed with the statement.

The survey, released last month, was based on interviews with 2,000 U.S. adults in January.

“We’re living in an America increasingly unmoored from its founding in biblical truth,” said Len Munsil, president of Arizona Christian University. “Even in the most basic questions of life, like how we make moral choices, we’re choosing to lean completely on our own understanding to decide what’s right and wrong.”

When Americans were asked “what is the basis of truth,” 42 percent responded “God,” 16 percent “inner certainty” and 15 percent “scientific proof.” The other answers included tradition (5 percent), public agreement (4 percent), “there is no truth” (5 percent) and “don’t know” (13…

President Trump walked from the White House to St. John’s Episcopal Church early Monday evening to make a brief statement and pose for photos while holding up a Bible.

Walking through Lafayette Park – which is a short distance from the White House – the President was joined by a large group of people, including his daughter Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Attorney General William Barr. 

According to NPR, protestors, largely peaceful, were gathered near Lafayette Park and St. John’s Church just moments before the President’s arrival.

Attorney General William Barr, however, is reported to have ordered U.S. Park Police and National Guard troops to clear that same area for the president’s walk to St. John’s Church, also known as the Church of the Presidents. 

Video footage shows officials shoving and deploying flash grenades and tear gas into the crowd of protestors. The White House has yet to comment on whether Barr found official’s use of force to be excessive or not, ABC News reports.

Upon his arrival at the St. John’s Church – which was briefly set ablaze by rioters the night before – Trump held up a Bible and made a short statement promising to make America “even greater.”

He said, “We have a great country. That’s my thoughts. The greatest country in the world and we can make it even greater.”

“It won’t take long,” he added….

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — During a Mass this Sunday (May 31) celebrating Pentecost, when Christians believe the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus’ apostles, Pope Francis called on faithful to be bringers of unity at a time when the world seems rife with division.

Francis celebrated Mass before a small number of Catholic faithful, who were wearing masks and respecting social distancing measures within St. Peter’s Basilica. This weekend the pope celebrated the first public events since the beginning of the pandemic, which took over Italy and the Vatican in early March.

In his homily, Francis drew from the gospels to explain the differences among the twelve apostles. They “were from different backgrounds and social contexts,” and all of them “had different ideas and sensibilities,” the pope said.

“They were all different. Jesus did not change them; he did not make them into a set of pre-packaged models. No. He left their differences, and now he unites them by anointing them with the Holy Spirit,” Francis said.

“With the anointing comes their union — union in diversity,” he added.

To faithful in the United States, this message comes at a time of deep fracture and division as riots and protests continue following the death of George Floyd on Monday (May 25). A viral video recorded his final moments where a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, is seen pressing his knee…

(RNS) — Since the beginning of 2019, Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear has been among the most high-profile advocates for preventing sex abuse and protecting victims of abuse in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Greear, pastor of The Summit Church, a megachurch in Durham, North Carolina, called for Southern Baptist leaders to investigate and oust churches that cover up abuse.

He set up an advisory group of experts to aid the SBC in dealing with the issue of abuse, helping create a “Care Well” initiative to prevent abuse and minister to survivors.

Greear also led a litany of lament during the SBC’s 2019 annual meeting

“The failures of the way of man brought us to the place we are as a denomination on this issue of abuse,” said Greear at the meeting. “It is only the movement of God, we know, that can rescue us from it. It’s not just policy. It’s not just statements and changes. It’s the spirit of God working in us.”

Now advocates for abuse survivors are criticizing Greear after his church decided to hire a teaching pastor who has been accused of mishandling an abuse claim in the past and for a Summit Church policy that would allow registered sex abusers to attend worship services.

Greear, who is expected to continue to serve as SBC president for another year due to the coronavirus pandemic, said he stands by his church’s decision to have…