The faith-based film Breakthrough and two other faith-centric films received Oscar nominations Monday – a rare feat for a genre that rarely achieves mainstream attention.

Breakthrough (PG) was nominated for Best Original Song for I’m Standing With You, which was written by Diane Warren and sung by Chrissy Metz, who also starred in the film.

Two other faith-centric movies – Harriet (PG-13) and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (PG) – also got Oscar nominations.

Harriet received two nominations: Best Original Song (Stand Up, by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo) and Best Actress (Erivo). Erivo played the lead role of Harriet Tubman.

Tom Hanks was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. 

Although A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Harriet aren’t categorized as Christian films on some movie websites, both were marketed to Christian audiences. Breakthrough, on the other hand, was considered a faith-based film by most Hollywood websites.

Among the Top 10 grossing Christian movies of all time listed by Entertainment Weekly, only one – 2004’s The Passion of the Christ – received an Oscar nomination.  

On Monday, the cast and crew of Breakthrough celebrated the Oscar nomination on social media. It was Warren’s 11th Oscar nomination. Devon Franklin produced the movie.

“Congratulations, @warren_diane…

An obituary about an Iowa man went viral this month, not only because of its whimsical-yet-serious style but also because it was authored by the deceased man himself.

Ken Fuson, who worked as a journalist for several newspapers, died Jan. 3 of liver cirrhosis at the age of 63. He wrote his own obit before he passed away.

The obituary is filled with facts about Fuson’s life, set in a self-deprecating and humorous tone. Mainstream websites across the U.S. wrote about it, as did the BBC in the United Kingdom.

“He was diagnosed with liver disease at the beginning of 2019, which is pretty ironic given how little he drank. Eat your fruits and vegetables, kids,” the obit says. 

Of his death, Fuson wrote that he “is stunned to learn that the world is somehow able to go on without him.” 

On his education at the University of Missouri-Columbia, he joked: “He attended the university’s famous School of Journalism, which is a clever way of saying, ‘almost graduated but didn’t.’”

Fuson wrote for the Columbia Daily Tribune, the Des Moines Register and the Baltimore Sun.

He also won several writing awards. 

“No, he didn’t win a Pulitzer Prize, but he’s dead now, so get off his back,” the obit reads.

The obituary also discusses Fuson’s spiritual beliefs. He “suffered from a compulsive gambling addiction that nearly destroyed him,” the obit notes, “but his church friends, and the…

A plume of ash, steam and pebbles filled the sky near Manila, Philippines on Sunday as Taal, one of the world’s smallest active volcanoes, erupted.

According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the cloud of gas and ash shot 10 to 15 kilometers in the air as the eruption began. 

Reports show that light to mud-thick ash has been falling over towns and cities several kilometers away from the volcano. 

Authorities have issued a “total evacuation” order for people living around Taal and near Manila, the country’s capital. So far, around 300,000 people have been evacuated from their homes, including 6,000 villagers who live on an island in the middle of the lake the volcano sits on. 

Officials are urging all other residents in affected areas to stay inside if at all possible and to wear masks and goggles for protection. Motorists have also been cautioned to stay off the roads, as wet ash can become quite slippery.

Last erupting between 1965 and 1977, Taal – which is located 60 kilometers south of Manila – has been showing signs of a possible eruption since 1991. In 2019, PHIVOLCS raised the volcano to a level one alert, as heavy volcanic activity began occurring, including 57 volcanic earthquakes between November 11 and 12. On Sunday, PHIVOLCS raised the alert level again to a level four. According to the Associated Press, a level four alert…

JOS, Nigeria, January 10, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed 13 Christians in Plateau state, Nigeria on Wednesday (Jan. 8), the same day four students were kidnapped from a Catholic seminary in Kaduna state.

About 20 herdsmen attacked the predominantly Christian village of Kulben, in Plateau state’s Mangu County, at about 8 p.m., area residents told Morning Star News. The 13 dead were all members of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), as were three people wounded in the assault, they said.

“They were shooting with guns in all directions, forcing the villagers to scamper into surrounding bushes,” area resident Michael Mutding, 40, told Morning Star News in a text message. “Corpses of those killed have been evacuated by soldiers and police to the mortuary of Mangu Cottage Hospital; and all the victims are members of COCIN.”

Bala Fwengje, a legislator representing the area in the Plateau State House of Assembly, said in a statement that the attacks came in spite of efforts by security agencies.

“This attack on my people by these herdsmen comes as a rude shock to us, as efforts have been made by security agencies to curtail such incessant attacks on our people,” Fwengje said. “It is a sad thing that these attacks are still being carried out by the herdsmen on our people without provocation.”

Audu Tetmut, a 60-year-old area leader of the…

Christian singer TobyMac released an emotion-laden song and music video Thursday about his late 21-year-old son. 

In a statement regarding the song, TobyMac shared that he is thankful for the support he’s received and that the tune is an “honest” reflection of his feelings.

The song, titled 21 years, includes the lyric, “God has you in heaven, but I have you in my heart.” and describes the emotions he felt when he first learned of his son Truett Foster McKeehan’s death last October and the feelings he has experienced since. 

The video shows TobyMac singing in the rain. Pictures and videos of Truett are spliced into it. 

“I loved him with all my heart,” TobyMac said in a statement. “Until something in life hits you this hard, you never know how you will handle it. I am thankful that I have been surrounded by love, starting with God’s and extending to community near and far that have walked with us and carried us every day. 

“Writing this song felt like an honest confession of the questions, pain, anger, doubt, mercy and promise that describes the journey I’m probably only beginning,” he added. “The rest is yet to come. One thing I know is that I am not alone. God didn’t promise us a life of no pain or even tragic death, but He did promise He would never leave us or forsake us. And I’m holding dearly to that promise for my son as well as…

A school did not violate the religious rights of two elementary-aged Christian students when it allowed an Indigenous elder to perform a smudging ritual at an assembly and “cleanse” the room with smoke, a Canadian court ruled Thursday.

At issue were separate smudging and hoop dancing demonstrations that the students’ parents said became forced participation in religious ceremonies. The demonstrations took place during the 2015-16 calendar year. 

In one event, a Nuu-chah-nulth elder visited a Port Alberni, British Columbia, elementary school and demonstrated the practice of smudging — the burning of plant material to “cleanse” the room of energy and to “cleanse” the participants’ spirits. A few months later, the students witnessed an Indigenous dance performance in which one of the dancers said a prayer. 

The parents filed suit, claiming their religious liberties under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms were violated. The children were ages nine and seven at the time.

Justice Douglas W. Thompson, in a 47-page decision, sided with the school. 

“I conclude that these smudging and hoop dancing demonstrations were in no way — either by design or in their execution — an expression of the School District’s beliefs or an expression of religious favouritism,” Thompson wrote “Rather, the organization of these events reflected a gathering momentum to…

1. General Qassem Soleimani was Targeted for Planning an ‘Imminent’ Attack on U.S. Soldiers

Although some critics of President Trump’s action have labeled the drone strike an assassination, most agree Soleimani was a terrorist mastermind.

CNN reported Jan. 3—the day of the attack that killed Soleimani—that a congressional source revealed that American intelligence had determined the general “was in multiple countries in the region planning specific attacks on U.S. interests, including U.S. personnel.” That source added that the Iranian plans were developing beyond normal chatter.

Meanwhile, a senior administration official told CNN they had evidence Soleimani traveled to Baghdad to execute future hits on American interests.

Tony Shaffer, a former intelligence officer with the Department of Defense, outlined the case against the general in an opinion piece for Real Clear Politics. It is important to note that Shaffer is a member of the Trump 2020 advisory board.

In the article, Shaffer said his opinion is shaped by his experience going “toe-to-toe with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Afghanistan.” That experience included interrogating an IRGC “enabler.”

“As the leader of the IRGC’s Quds Force, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, Soleimani was among America’s most vociferous and aggressive foes,” Shaffer wrote. “He was personally…