Releasing a movie in the middle of a pandemic wasn’t Jon Erwin’s preference.

But even he can see the irony in releasing a film about faith in the middle of trials – I Still Believe – in the midst of such a trial. 

“Life is full of things that you can’t control and things that don’t go according to plan,” Erwin, the film’s co-director, told Christian Headlines. “The whole theme of the movie is ‘I Still Believe even when I can’t see.’ It’s sort of fitting.”

I Still Believe – now on DVD, Blu-ray and digital home video – released in theaters March 13 just as the spread of the coronavirus was accelerating. It finished No. 1 on opening night and No. 3 for the weekend, but one week later, theaters were closed. By comparison, Erwin’s 2018 hit I Can Only Imagine was in theaters 17 weeks.

Still, I Still Believe has had a major impact in the middle of the pandemic, as families and individuals search for entertainment during a lockdown.

“We keep hearing stories of people coming to faith in Christ or being encouraged by the movie or finding hope while watching the movie,” Erwin said. “I’m glad we got the movie out.”

I Still Believe tells the story of Christian singer Jeremy Camp’s marriage to his first wife, Melissa, who died of ovarian cancer. Camp then penned the song, I Still Believe.

Erwin hopes churches and families take advantage of…

HYDERABAD, India, May 11, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Animists in central India last week told five Christian families they would lose their harvest lands unless they returned to their tribal religion and beat them when they refused, sources said.

When the families answered a summons to a meeting with Salhephal village leaders in Bastar District, Chhattisgarh state on Tuesday (May 5), they found the tribal elders estimating the value of their lands, pastor Sirisguda Ramdhar told Morning Star News. The Christians had forbidden a tribal animist leader, Dulla Poyami, to perform tribal worship on their land, he said.

“The village leaders told the Christians, ‘You are not partaking in our tribal rituals, and so we cannot allow you to profit from your agricultural lands,’” Pastor Ramdhar told Morning Star News.

The Christians told them the lands were registered in their names, and that they were working hard to earn their bread, he said. “We follow our faith but have never been a burden on this village or to our kinsmen – you cannot snatch away our lands,” they told the tribal elders, according to the pastor.

“Even before they spoke any word further, the elders stood up and stormed at Christians Madda Poyami and Badda Poyami,” he said.

They began beating the two Christians, and a mob of at least 60 people soon gathered around them and the Christian families,…

Kentucky churches won the right to meet in-person during the coronavirus pandemic after three federal courts in two days ruled against an order by the Kentucky governor.

The March 19 order by Gov. Andy Beshear and state officials bans mass gatherings, including faith-based ones, but carves out multiple exceptions, including ones for factories and grocery stores.

U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove issued a temporary restraining order on Friday preventing Kentucky officials from “enforcing the prohibition on mass gatherings” in churches and faith-based gatherings as long as the groups “adhere to applicable social distancing and hygiene guidelines.”

“If social distancing is good enough for Home Depot and Kroger, it is good enough for in-person religious services which, unlike the foregoing, benefit from constitutional protection,” wrote Van Tatenhove, who was nominated by President George W. Bush.

The lawsuit was brought by First Liberty Institute and two other law firms on behalf of Tabernacle Baptist Church of Nicholasville, Ky.

“The unexplained breadth of the ban on religious services, together with its haven for numerous secular exceptions, cannot co-exist with a society that places religious freedom in a place of honor in the Bill of Rights: The First Amendment,” Van Tatenhove wrote.

On Saturday, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued…

Vice President Mike Pence says he supports a Virginia church in its legal battle against the governor for restrictions against houses of worship.

Lighthouse Fellowship Church of Chincoteague sued the state in federal court after its pastor was issued a criminal citation for holding a 16-person church service on Palm Sunday inside a 225-seat sanctuary, Christian Headlines previously reported. Each attendee reportedly sat at least six feet apart and followed health guidelines.

Orders by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam restrict mass gatherings to 10 people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Pence said he backs a Department of Justice Statement of Interest urging the court to issue an injunction favoring the church. He and the Department “strongly agree” that “even in the midst of a national emergency, every American enjoys our cherished liberties, including the freedom of religion.”

“And the very idea that the Commonwealth of Virginia would sanction a church for having 16 people come to a Psalm Sunday service when … the church actually seats about 250 was just beyond the pale,” Pence told The Brian Kilmeade Show. “And I’m truly grateful for Attorney General [William] Barr standing by religious liberty.”

The Trump administration, Pence said, will “stand by men and women of faith of every religion in this country and … even in this challenging time, [will] protect…

Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Richard Wayne Penniman known famously as Little Richard has passed away at 87-years-old.

A statement from his lawyer, Bill Sobel, noted that the Rockstar succumbed to bone cancer. Penniman’s son, Danny Jones Penniman confirmed his father’s death to Rolling Stone.

Having multiple hits such as “Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally” and “Good Golly Miss Molly,” Little Richard would impact generations of musicians, including the Beatles who recorded a cover of his “Long Tall Sally” in 1964.

Penniman’s songs would be also covered by the likes of the Everly Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Elvis Costello, among others.

Widely known for his larger than life persona, Little Richard was also a prominent influence for fellow rock ‘n roll icon, Prince.

He was also inducted into the inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke and others.

According to AP News, throughout the course of his career, Little Richard sold more than 30 million records worldwide. He, along with Chuck Berry and Fats Domino also played a prominent role in breaking through the racial injustices in the music industry by bringing what was called “race music” into the mainstream.

Despite his musical success, the singer’s personal life was not without controversy.

Little Richard, who was born on December 5th, 1932, in…

(RNS) — Religious belief has long impacted who Americans choose to support on Election Day, but if a growing group of Missouri Jewish leaders and other clergy have their way, religion may change how millions in the state cast their ballots this November — ideally in ways that limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“I think it’s hard to overstate both how important the preservation of life is to Jews — and how important our democracy is,” Maharat Rori Picker Neiss, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in St. Louis, told Religion News Service.

The controversy in the Show-Me State revolves around local absentee voting laws that have come under scrutiny in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, with many voters expressing a desire to vote from home to avoid encountering disease.

Five states, including Washington, Oregon and Utah, already conduct elections entirely using a vote-by-mail system, and many others distribute mail-in absentee ballots to anyone who requests them. But Missouri is one of several states that also requires an excuse to receive an absentee ballot, and Gov. Mike Parson suggested in a recent press conference that officials may not recognize, as a valid reason, the fear of contracting the novel coronavirus.

“The absentee ballot is more of a political issue than it is anything,” he said. “This is a Democrat-Republican issue and that’s…

The daughter of apologist and author Ravi Zacharias says her father’s cancer has worsened and he has returned home in Atlanta “where our family can be together for whatever time the Lord gives us.” 

Sarah Davis, CEO of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and the daughter of Zacharias, posted the update Thursday on social media and on the ministry’s website. 

Zacharias was diagnosed this year with a rare form of malignant cancer on his sacrum, the triangular bone at the base of the spine. The cancer was discovered during back surgery.

“We have just learned that while the tumor in my dad’s sacrum has been responding to the chemotherapy, the area where the cancer metastasized has actually worsened,” Davis wrote. “His oncologist informed us that this cancer is very rare in its aggression and that no options for further treatment remain. Medically speaking, they have done all they are able.”

Zacharias, his wife Margie and his daughter Naomi are “returning from Houston and will remain at home in Atlanta, where our family can be together for whatever time the Lord gives us,” Davis wrote. Zacharias is 74.

“We know that God has purposed and numbered each of our days, and only He knows how many more Ravi will experience on this earth. One day, likely sooner than later, we will be serving without our beloved founder, though I know his love and legacy will…