Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to finalize a unity government agreement with political rival Benny Gantz.

According to CBN News, if Netanyahu is able to form the government, the country will not be forced into a fourth election.

In Israel, the prime minister needs to earn the endorsement of 72 members of the country’s 120-seat parliament and form a unity government.

Netanyahu and Gantz announced in April that they would work together to form an emergency government that would get Israel through the coronavirus pandemic.

Under their agreement, Netanyahu will serve as prime minster for 18 months and then Gantz will take on the role for 18 months. Both are expected to swear in the new administration next week.

Since April 2019, Netanyahu and Gantz have been unable to secure a unity government and forced the country into emergency elections.

Gantz had previously said he would not partner with Netanyahu, who is facing indictment charges. However, Gantz agreed to the deal because of the potential economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports.

In Israel, about 16,300 people have been infected and 239 have died from the virus, according to The Guardian.

Netanyahu, 70, is facing an indictment of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He has said that the charges are false. His trial is expected to start on May 24.

This month, an Israeli…

A new survey found that less than 1/5 of Americans believe life’s purpose is knowing and loving God.

According to the American Worldview Inventory from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, the survey revealed that Americans largely do not believe in a life spent serving God.

The survey included 2,000 American respondents polled both via phone and online, The Christian Post reports.

The data showed that 86 percent of Americans believe in a “universal, shared purpose” of human life, and 66 percent said they believe they have a “unique, God-given calling or purpose.”

Only 18 percent said the universal purpose is “knowing, loving and serving God.”

“Even among the 71 percent of Americans who consider themselves to be Christians, fewer than 20 percent adopt the biblical view that our purpose is to know, love and serve God,” an analysis of the data reads.

The data instead found that most Americans, including Christians, believe in their unique purpose but not a purpose that includes God at the center.

“The disconnect is staggering,” said CRC Director of Research George Barna, a longtime evangelical pollster and founder of The Barna Group. 

“As a nation, we yearn for purpose and calling, ideas deeply rooted within our nation’s historical Christian faith and biblical understanding of God,” he added in a statement. 

“Americans…

Representing Missouri based Televangelist Jim Bakker in an ongoing lawsuit for allegedly selling a false coronavirus cure, attorney Jay Nixon is calling the lawsuit against Bakker an attack on his religious freedom.

On Monday, Nixon – who served as the 55th governor of Missouri for two terms before leaving office in 2017, and two terms as attorney general before that – submitted a court filing against Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt who previously filed suit against Bakker for allegedly selling a product called Silver Solution as a cure for the coronavirus.

“Jim Bakker is being unfairly targeted by those who want to crush his ministry and force his Christian television program off the air,” Nixon, who is currently a partner with St. Louis law firm Dowd Bennett, along with the Kansas City-based firm Spencer Fane, said in a statement.

“The video recording of The Jim Bakker Show clearly shows the allegations are false,” he asserted. “Bakker did not claim or state that Silver Solution was a cure for COVID-19.”

Nixon also noted that Bakker ceased promoting Silver Solution in compliance with orders issued in March by the FDA and the FTC, adding that the product is commonly sold online and in stores.

Furthermore, Nixon implied that the lawsuit violated the Missouri Constitution and the state’s Religious…

(RNS) — Members of Beaumont Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, aren’t exactly keen on reopening their church for in-person worship anytime soon. Given the ongoing pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Stephen Fearing, said his congregation is unlikely to gather physically until June or July at the absolute earliest.

But as the congregants mull over whether to worship together again physically, Fearing says he knows exactly who they will speak with first: his insurer.

“We would never, ever consider getting back together without talking to our insurer,” Fearing said. “The liability is just too great.”

Insurance companies are primed to play an increasingly influential role for houses of worship as governors ease social distancing restrictions and many faith groups prepare to reopen their doors, with agents providing guidance and advice to policyholders wary of litigation should one of their worshippers contract or spread the disease. But questions remain as to how — or even if — insurers will cover communities struck by COVID-19, or how best to minimize risk in the midst of a pandemic.

Fearing said the situation has been on the minds of Beaumont and other Kentucky churches ever since Gov. Andy Beshear issued a stay-at-home order that largely barred faith groups from in-person gatherings on March 19, prompting most religious…

For the first time ever, the National Day of Prayer will meet online instead of in-person because of coronavirus shutdowns across the nation.

Marking its 69th year of observance, the National Day of Prayer 2020 has the potential to be the largest prayer “gathering” in American history as millions of people will be praying together in online events, CBN News reports. 

The first Thursday in May was named a National Day of Prayer by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, revising the law that was initially recognized by President Truman in 1962.

Typically, people would gather in over 60,000 local events to pray for America.

A Thursday evening livestream on Pray.com will feature Vice President Mike Pence along with Pastor Jack Graham, Pastor Greg Laurie, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, William Franklin Graham III, and Dr. Tony Evans at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific.

“Our nation needs prayer now more than ever, and so it is fitting that we gather on this day to remind us that we should seek the Almighty God every day in prayer,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Christian leaders are stressing unity now more than ever amid the current crisis.

“For many years, we’ve come together on the National Day of Prayer to lift up our country in prayer,” Dr. Jack Graham said.

“Although we can’t gather in our nation’s capital this year due to the pandemic, we have a unique opportunity to…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Italian authorities on Thursday (May 7) gave the go-ahead for public Masses starting May 18, after the government and Catholic bishops struggled to find an accord that would ensure safety measures amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A protocol allowing Catholic faithful to attend Mass was signed Thursday by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte; the president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (Cei), Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti; and the Italian minister of the Interior.

“The protocol is the fruit of a profound collaboration and synergy between the government, the Scientific and Technical Committee and Cei, in which each did his part responsibly,” Bassetti said during a news conference after the signing of the document.

For the first time since March 9, when the Italian government enacted a nationwide lockdown to limit the spread of the pandemic, Catholic faithful will be able to attend Mass with priests in places of worship.

The protocol specifies how churches must be sanitized and the faithful must be socially distanced to prevent contagions. Depending on the size of the place of worship, the number of people in attendance must be limited by volunteers at the entrance. Parishes and dioceses must also inform churchgoers about the safety measures in place.

“The required safety measures in the text present the appropriate methods and modalities to ensure the reopening of…