(RNS) — The National Day of Prayer, like most events amid the coronavirus, will have a different look this year as it is marked on Thursday (May 7).

Now in its 69th year, the observance — often predominated by evangelical Christians gathering in public places — will feature interfaith and even international voices on computer screens and cellphones.

For the first time, Religions for Peace USA has organized a National Interfaith Prayer Service for Healing & Hope via Facebook and Zoom.

“Of course, we do pray separately in our own religious communities but it’s also important for us to come together to pray together and uplift our common humanity and pray for everyone,” said Tarunjit Singh Butalia, executive director of Religions for Peace USA. 

“Some of our own religious communities, ethnic and others who are poorer, have been in fact quite severely hit with the pandemic so we need to come together and pray for everyone because we’re only as secure as the very least among us,” he added.

Butalia said there will be a “prayer for the infected” that will be offered by a faith leader who has recovered from coronavirus and a “prayer for the dead and their families” offered by a faith leader who lost a close family member to the virus.

The online gathering is set to feature Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Jain, Unitarian Universalist, Christian…

It’s official! New York Times bestselling author Francine Rivers’ novel Redeeming Love will hit movie theaters in 2021. Fans couldn’t be more excited!

Fans around the world are thrilled to discover that faith-based, bestselling novel Redeeming Love is coming to theaters spring 2021. LightWorkers is proud to partner with executive producer Roma Downey, author Francine Rivers and producer Cindy Bond to bring this beloved novel to the big screen. And who better to bring this empowering love story to life than three powerful, faith-filled women? It’s poetic really.

Redeeming Love is “a powerful retelling of the Biblical book of Hosea against the backdrop of the California Gold Rush of 1850,” according to the movie’s website. This love story has captivated and moved the hearts of many since the novel was first published 15 years ago.

The story follows Angel, who was sold into prostitution as a child. She survived through nurturing deep hatred towards herself and the men who used and abused her. When she meets Michael Hosea, she experiences unconditional and sacrificial love for the first time. The story reveals both her intense struggle with unworthiness and fear, as well as the incredible redemptive power of a love that refuses to give up. Through Michael Hosea, Angel discovers there is no brokenness that love can’t heal.

“While many are victims of horrible…

Like most of us, Dr. Tony Evans is adapting to the new normal of social distancing, a result of the spread of COVID-19. He is preaching to a congregation that he deeply loves, but not from the pulpit where he normally stands, instead, he is preaching from his “home pulpit” … the middle of his living room. 

Despite so much change, Dr. Evans is maintaining some familiarity by doing something he does best—going directly to the people and proclaiming God’s word.

In a rare sit-down interview, Dr. Evans graciously allows us access to his other new normal, walking through grief of losing his wife Louis.

This past December, Evans lost the woman he loved and cherished for nearly 50 years of marriage. “I’m taking one day at a time, it’s a roller coaster of uphills and downhills,” he told Christian Headlines.

You can tell in his voice that there is deep grief, yet at the same time, you sense a strength that only comes from having God at the center of his life. “I have to stay on track no matter the hill I’m on,” he asserted.

Having had the privilege of interviewing all four of Dr. Evans’ influential children, one thing they’ve all shared is that their father is a man of faith and resolute in his calling to carry out the Word of God.

Sharing a message during times of difficulty is something he has done consistently. As we find our country in this…

Several evangelical leaders have come to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s defense after a nationalist tabloid controlled by the Chinese Communist Party accused him of “betraying Christianity with lies” that COVID-19 broke out of China’s Wuhan lab.

According to ABC News, in early May, while speaking on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Pompeo said, “While the intelligence community continues to do its work, they should continue to do that and verify so that we are certain. I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan.”

Then, on Monday, an editorial by China’s state-owned Global Times newspaper objected to Pompeo’s comments.

The paper accused Pompeo of betraying Christianity by “spreading lies or misleading the public” by asserting that China hid the outbreak.

“[H]is lying for political purposes is contrary to his label as a so-called ‘devout Christian,’” reads the editorial, adding that the “Christian doctrine opposes lying – it’s a sin.”

The editorial goes on to cite scriptures on lying such as, Proverbs 19:9 which says, “a false witness shall not go unpunished. And he that utters lies shall perish,” and from the Ten Commandments, ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.’”

The editorial concludes by saying that Pompeo…

President Trump urged Americans in a National Day of Prayer proclamation Thursday to “come together and pray” that the nation develops “even greater faith” in God’s “divine providence” during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Trump, in his annual National Day of Prayer proclamation, quoted Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Reagan and noted that “from our earliest days, our dependence upon God has brought us to seek His divine counsel and unfailing wisdom.” 

“Today, as much as ever, our prayerful tradition continues as our Nation combats the coronavirus,” the proclamation reads. “During the past weeks and months, our heads have bowed at places outside of our typical houses of worship, whispering in silent solitude for God to renew our spirit and carry us through unforeseen and seemingly unbearable hardships. 

“Even though we have been unable to gather together in fellowship with our church families, we are still connected through prayer and the calming reassurance that God will lead us through life’s many valleys.”

In the midst of “these trying and unprecedented times,” Americans “are reminded that just as those before us turned to God in their darkest hours, so must we seek His wisdom, strength, and healing hand,” the proclamation reads. 

“We pray that He comforts those who have lost loved ones, heals those who are sick,…

Samaritan’s Purse, which operated a field hospital in New York for the coronavirus outbreak, will have to pay state taxes.

According to CBN News, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the group will have to pay taxes on their hospital because the state is “not in a position to provide any subsidies right now.”

The field hospital, which is now shutting down after more than a month in the city, has served some 300 patients in New York City, Christian Headlines previously reported.

Rev. Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, said New York lawmakers asked for help with the pandemic.

“They’re the ones who called us originally,” referring to officials with the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. “We didn’t call them; they called us,” he said. “And we agreed to go and we have not charged them one penny. All of our services have been paid by God’s people.”

Ken Isaacs, vice president of programs and government relations for Samaritan’s Purse, said he was also surprised to learn the organization would have to pay taxes.

“I said, ‘What?’” Isaacs said. “[The financial comptroller] said, ‘Yeah, there’s a law. If you work in New York state for more than 14 days, you have to pay income tax.’ I didn’t know that.”

Isaacs said he’s also concerned about the paperwork and “bureaucracy” involved in paying taxes to the state.

Since…

Former Vice President Joe Biden told the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy group Wednesday he will appoint “pro-equality judges” to the federal judiciary and will make it a “top priority” to pass the Equality Act if elected president.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, made the comments to Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David during a livestream the same day HRC officially endorsed him.

“I’m going to make passing [the Equality Act] a top priority my first 100 days, because it’s about who we are,” Biden said.

Biden further said he will “reverse Trump’s actions” and will reinstate anti-discrimination measures he says President Trump has “shredded.” Among them, Biden pledged to let transgender service members serve opening in the military, prohibit discrimination against transgender people in federally funded homeless shelters, and “stop schools from discriminating against LGBTQ students.”

The Equality Act, he said, “makes clear that existing civil rights law banned discrimination based on gender [and] sexual orientation.”

The Equality Act would amend federal laws to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment and housing. Kristen Waggoner, senior vice president of U.S. legal division of Alliance Defending Freedom,…

One-fourth of Americans say their religious faith has grown stronger as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, despite most churches not holding in-person services, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

The poll of 10,139 U.S. adults April 20-26 found that 24 percent said their faith has grown stronger, while 47 percent said it hasn’t changed much and 2 percent said it’s grown weaker. Twenty-six percent said the question wasn’t applicable to them.

The growth in faith has occurred “even as the vast majority of U.S. churchgoers” report that “their congregations have closed regular worship services to the public,” Pew noted.

Members of historically black congregations (56 percent) were the most likely to say their faith has grown stronger, followed by evangelicals (42 percent), Catholics (27 percent) and mainline members (22 percent), according to the survey.

But this growth in faith hasn’t been confined to Christians or even regular churchgoers. Eleven percent of Americans who said their religious affiliation is “nothing in particular” said their faith has grown. Likewise, 26 percent of Americans who attend church only a few times a year and 11 percent who seldom or never attend church said their faith has grown during the pandemic.

Among those who attend church weekly or more, nearly half (48 percent) said their faith has grown.

Only about 2 percent among…

JOS, Nigeria, May 7, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen shot and wounded a Christian leader and his family in one part of Plateau state on Tuesday (May 5), two days after herdsmen killed four Christians in another part of the state, sources said.

Herdsmen shot the Rev. Bayo Famonure, head of Christian high school Messiah College, at his home on the school premises in Gana Ropp village, Barkin Ladi County on Tuesday night, Pastor Famonure said by text message from his bed at General Hospital in the town of Barkin Ladi.

“Yes, I was shot in the head, but the bullet didn’t enter. It’s a miracle,” Pastor Famonure told Morning Star News, saying he was also grateful that bullets in his lower extremities missed bones.

The herdsmen shot his wife in the back and his two children in the feet, but all were in stable condition, he said. His wife, Na’omi, was initially in critical condition and was transferred to Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), where she underwent surgery on her back on Wednesday (May 6), sources said.

“I just praise God,” Pastor Famonure said, adding that even though his wife and two children were shot, “we’re all chatting.”

Eight armed herdsmen invaded the school, closed due to the novel coronavirus, while the pastor and his family were sleeping, said the Rev. Danjuma Byang, secretary of the Plateau chapter of the Christian…