An Archbishop serving in Iraqi Kurdistan took British church leaders to task for “political correctness” in failing to speak out against Muslim extremism that has driven Christianity “close to extinction” in his nation.

“Friends, we may be facing our end in the land of our ancestors, ”The Most Rev. Bashar Warda, Archbishop of Irbil, said in an address in London. “We acknowledge this. In our end, the entire world faces a moment of truth.

“Will a peaceful and innocent people be allowed to be persecuted and eliminated because of their faith? And, for the sake of not wanting to speak the truth to the persecutors, will the world be complicit in our elimination?”

During his speech, Warda noted that Iraq’s Christian population is down to just 250,000 from 1.5 million—an 83 percent drop—at the time of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the BBC reported.

Warda also warned that those still living in the region are subject to escalating persecution.

“Christianity in Iraq, one of the oldest churches, if not the oldest church in the world, is perilously close to extinction,” he said. “Those of us who remain must be ready to face martyrdom.”

Earlier this year, coalition forces rooted the last remaining terrorist stronghold from Iraq, effectively dismantling the Islamic State, but in its wake remain neighborhood after neighborhood of…

A bill that would ban abortion after a heartbeat is detected passed the Louisiana House Wednesday with support from the state’s Democratic governor, who says he will buck his party’s official position and sign it into law.

The bill, SB 184, passed the House 79-23, less than a month after it sailed through the Senate, 31-5. 

Unlike other states where abortion restrictions divide Republicans and Democrats, Louisiana’s bill has bipartisan support. A Democrat, state Sen. John Milkovich, is the sponsor. The Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, was elected on a pro-life platform. 

“In 2015, I ran for governor as a pro-life candidate after serving as a pro-life legislator for eight years,” Edwards said in a statement. “As governor, I have been true to my word and my beliefs on this issue. But it is also my sincere belief that being pro-life means more than just being pro-birth.”

The bill would make it unlawful to “knowingly perform an abortion with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human being when a fetal heartbeat has been detected.” It makes exceptions for the life or the mother and to “prevent a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.” 

My statement on the passage of SB 184 following final passage by the Louisiana Legislature. #lalege

Chemotherapy is working for the 78-year old Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, who was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer three months ago. In a cover story with People Magazine, he revealed he is now in near-remission. 

“It’s kind of mind-boggling,” Trebek shared. “The doctors said they hadn’t seen this kind of positive results in their memory…some of the tumors have already shrunk by more than 50 percent.”

According to Trebek, 50,000 other Americans are diagnosed with this cancer a week and the survival rate is at a dismal 9 percent.

“With your prayers, I hope to beat the low survival statistic rates of this disease,” Trebek shared in a video announcing his cancer. “So help me. Keep the faith and we will win. We’ll get it done.” 

Trebek has been transparent in his cancer journey. Talking with Robin Roberts, a breast cancer survivor, on Good Morning America a month into his treatment, he expressed his gratitude for fans and their support. “People all over America have been sharing their good thoughts, their advice, their prayers. And I feel it is making a difference in my well-being,” he said. 

“I’ve had so many contacts from people who have survived cancer for 10 years, 12 years, 14 years,” he continued. “I am now a 30-day survivor…I’m going to catch up to those other people.” 

But he…

Vandals destroyed a small Christian school over the Memorial Day weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. totaling $50,000 worth of damage. 

Most of the Showers of Blessings Christian Academy was in some way damaged. Desks and bookcases were overturned in every one of the 10 classrooms. Graffiti containing obscene language and gang profanity was painted on the walls. Laptops, projectors, surveillance cameras and toilets were broken. Teacher’s files and student’s homework was trashed. Both the school and their bus’ windows were shattered. The vandals even poured milk and threw food out of the refrigerator onto the floor. 

“A lot of the parents were shocked,” School Director Britnay Ewald told Sun Sentinel. “They were asking what they could do to help…It was pretty heart-breaking for us.” 

“They just destroyed the property,” teacher Chris Ewald said. “It’s a lot of hate for no reason. We’re a faith-based school. We’re a church. We put God first. We love everybody, so for somebody to do this to us – it hurts.”

Administrators canceled classes the next day for the 136 affected students in order to clean up the mess. Police spent several hours, until 4 a.m. on Tuesday, gathering evidence. 

Church members who drove by the school over the weekend first noticed the destruction when they saw the windows missing. 

“We built this for our community, our…

(RNS) — About five years ago, the Village Church of Barrington, a congregation northwest of Chicago with a $1.8 million annual budget and average weekly attendance of 600, decided to become accredited with the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

ECFA — founded in 1979 to promote financial integrity in Christian ministries and avert heightened government regulation in the wake of televangelist scandals — claims nearly 2,400 members.

Those member churches and nonprofits receive more than $29 billion in annual charitable donations from 20 million donors, according to the Virginia-based ECFA.

The Village Church already allowed members to reviews its books and prided itself on having a transparent approach to finances.

Joining ECFA would help cement its commitment to transparency.

“We thought it would give donors confidence to know that we were doing things by the book,” said David Jones, the Village Church’s senior pastor.

But now — amid scrutiny over ECFA’s years-long failure to identify financial misdeeds at Harvest Bible Chapel, a Chicago-area megachurch that fired its founder and senior pastor, James MacDonald, earlier this year — the Village Church is rethinking its relationship with the Christian watchdog group.

In December, ECFA issued a statement saying that Harvest was in compliance with its rules. Not long…

JOS, Nigeria, May 29, 2019 (Morning Star News) – Gunmen suspected to be local Fulani Muslims killed several Christians as they made their way home from church services in Jos, Nigeria on Sunday (May 26) following the murder of another area Christian last week, sources said.

Area Christian Peter Sarki informed Morning Star News by text message that local Muslims east of Jos, Plateau state, killed seven Christians on Sunday after unidentified Muslims killed Moses Victor, a member of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), in the Rikkos area of Jos on May 20.

Police put the number of people killed in the areas on Sunday (May 26) at five and said 12 houses were burned. Sarki said more than 12 houses were burned, and that 12 additional Christians were wounded in the attacks. He said the violence took place in the areas in the Jos areas of Rikkos, Angwan Rukuba, Tina Junction, Cele Bridge, Dutse Uku, and Yan Trailer.

Sarki identified two of the Christians killed as they made their way home from ECWA church services on Sunday morning as Enoch Monday and Istifanus Ismailaj. Michael Anthony Pam of St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Nasarawa Gwong, and four others yet to be identified were also killed, he said.

“Pam was the president of the Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria of his parish,” Sarki told Morning Star News. 

Tyopev Matthias Terna,…