(RNS) —  The Rev. Jim West was feeling terrified as the state of Tennessee — and the church he pastors there — prepared to reopen after a month under stay-at-home orders.

But he was also looking forward to it.

“I just hope everything goes okay and nobody gets sick because that would be a nightmare,” he said on Tuesday afternoon (April 28).

West’s church — Petros Baptist Church in Petros, Tennessee — planned to reopen in phases in May, starting with Wednesday night adult Bible study, which West called its “least occupied service” and resuming Sunday services, usually attended by about 120 people, on Mother’s Day, with social distancing guidelines in place.

One church member had made hundreds of masks with “religious themes” for people to use, according to the pastor.

West submitted the reopening plan to his church leaders and to health officials in Morgan County, which has had fewer than 10 reported cases of COVID-19, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.

Then everything changed.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order later on Tuesday that allows many businesses across the state to reopen but “strongly encouraged” houses of worship to continue virtual services.

West wrote Wednesday on the church website he was “gutted” to share the news the church now likely wouldn’t be reopening until June.

“I was really…

 Joe Biden said Friday that the allegations of sexual assault of a former staffer are not true.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, released a full statement about the claim, Fox News reports. Former Senate staffer Tara Reade recently came forward, claiming that Biden sexually assaulted her while she worked in his Senate office in 1993.

“They aren’t true. This never happened,” Biden said in a written statement.

“While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated. One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward, they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny.”

Reade came forward in March with the allegation, saying Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993 when she worked as an aide in his Senate office. Earlier this week, a former neighbor of Reade said she remembers Reade confiding to her about the assault. Then a former colleague of Reade’s says she also recalls the incident.

Biden says there is no record that Reade complained to supervisors about the sexual assault, although Reade says she did tell senior staffers at the office. He added that the only place a complaint could be is in the National Archives. He has asked the Secretary of the Senate to search the Archives…

Friday marks the beginning of a worldwide prayer event that hopes to reach one billion people with the Gospel.

As Christian Headlines previously reported, back in January, about 1,000 churches gathered together in Tennessee for a 30 day-prayer event, Awaken Tennessee, where mass revival broke out.

The event was set to occur again in May, but with the outbreak of COVID-19 and a string of violent tornadoes ripping through the state, many churches are closed.

Barbie Franklin, a statewide facilitator with Awaken Tennessee, told CBN News, however, that despite these setbacks, God would continue the work He began in bringing revival, only now, with the help of technology.

“I believe that it is enhancing what God is doing because people have need right now,” Franklin told CBN News. “This has humbled all of us. And really, as the body of Christ, when these things happen, what we have to do is see [that] the Lord has said, ‘If my people who are called by my name, will humbled themselves and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will heal your land,’” she continued.

“As the revival began in Rogersville, many people have been praying for many years for these kinds of things,” Franklin said referring to people seeking forgiveness.

Friday, leaders working with Awaken Tennessee will launch the digital prayer event, World Prayer Together, via live…

JOS, Nigeria, May 1, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked a Christian couple in Plateau state, Nigeria with machetes on Sunday (April 26), leaving the husband with serious injuries, sources said.

Yusuf Pam, 40, was recovering from deep cuts to his head at Nerat Hospital, Barkin Ladi, in Barkin Ladi County. He and his wife, Jumai Yusuf, were riding a motorcycle from Kuru to Kwi when the herdsmen ambushed them near Heipang after a rainfall at about 7 p.m., he told Morning Star News contact Dung Tabari, a resident of the area.

“When the herdsmen stopped us, they had with them sticks, cutlasses, and rifles,” Pam told Tabari from his hospital bed. “We pleaded with them to allow us pass, but they wouldn’t, as four among them mercilessly descended on us. They attacked us by cutting us with machetes. They cut me on my head several times, and these left me with deep cuts as I was bleeding.”

A member along with his wife of a Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) congregation in Rachos village, in the Kwi area of Riyom County, Pam said the Fulani herdsmen were many.

“The herdsmen ganged up on me and started an intense beating using sticks and cutlasses,” Pam said.

Miraculously, his wife was able to escape with minor cuts and hands swollen from blows with sticks, he said. Jumai Yusuf said no one answered her cries for help.

“They continued beating us and…

Not only is Sadie Robertson a member of the influential Duck Dynasty family, but she is also a well-received author and public speaker.

It is clear from speaking with Robertson that she is focused on making sure she fulfills God’s call on her life.

When asked in an interview with Christian Headlines what it was like to grow up in the Robertson household, Robertson mused. “Everybody asks that question, but it’s probably like it was growing up in your family. I don’t know anything else,” she shared.

When asked to share one main thing her parents taught her while growing up, she’s quick to offer a few words of wisdom passed down to her by her mother.

“Get rid of the ‘should ofs,’” Robertson recalled her Mom encouraging her to do.

This may explain Robertson’s steadfastness in pursuing God’s plan for her.

Her humility is authentic and on full display when she speaks.

Last month, Robertson released a new book, Live, which has already reached the New York Best Seller’s list.

“I didn’t plan on writing this book, it was only because of circumstances in my life and my friend’s life, that I changed the direction I was going,” she told Christian Headlines. 

Robertson’s book highlights the importance of not only living but being alive, concepts Robertson asserts are distinctly different.

Jesus, she explained, has called for us to be alive and to live abundant lives but just survive. 

Robertson also…