Couples who are highly religious are more likely to be satisfied with their sex life than those who are less religious or who claim no religion, according to a new report.

The World Family Map report by the Institute for Family Studies was based on 9,566 interviews in 11 countries. 

“There is a strong association between shared regular participation in a religious community and both relationship quality and sexual satisfaction in our sample of married and cohabiting heterosexual couples,” says the report, which was released this month.

“While both women and men in highly religious couples reported significantly higher overall relationship quality and satisfaction with their sex life, the results in both cases were strongest for women in these couples. In fact, women in highly religious relationships are about 50% more likely to report that they are strongly satisfied with their sexual relationship than their secular and less religious counterparts,” it says.

The report placed couples into three groups. “Highly religious” couples were defined as those who attend services at least 2-3 times a month. “Less/mixed” religious couples were those who attend services once per month or less, or that include one partner who regularly attends and another partner who rarely or never attends. “Shared secular” couples were those who never attend religious…

A new survey finds that 73 percent of American Jews feel “less secure” in the U.S. than two years ago.

According to CBN News, most American Jews in the study pointed to President Donald Trump as the reason why they felt there had been an increase in Anti-Semitic attacks in the country.

Some 60 percent of American Jews believe Trump “bears at least some responsibility” for recent deadly attacks, and 71 percent disapprove of how the president has handled those attacks on Jews.

When asked about the 2020 presidential election, only 23 percent of American Jews said they would vote for Trump.

The study comes from the Jewish Electorate Institute and included 1,000 Jewish-American voters. The JEI is non-partisan.

The survey also said that American Jews value domestic policy over policies related to Israel when it comes to selecting a presidential candidate. Health care is the highest policy priority for the group, while Israel is the lowest.

“Overall, the Jewish community continues to identify as strongly pro-Israel and views the Democratic Party as pro-Israel, but Israel remains the lowest policy priority when determining which candidate to support,” the poll report says.

The JEI’s survey comes just after a string of intentionally set fires at Jewish community centers in Chicago. Police say the three fires at Jewish community centers earlier this…

Two compassionate Kentucky students have decided to address the issue of hunger and poverty head-on this summer by opening up a food truck to feed those in need. Gavin Coutour and Cassie Stevens aim to serve a staggering 15,000 people through a combination of their innovative new food relief program and the district’s own efforts to alleviate the issue.

Using nothing more than a renovated food truck, the Paul G. Blazer High School students are attempting to meet the pressing needs of fellow students who rely on free or reduced-cost meals at school. While these kids may get taken care of at school, on the weekends, they are often going without adequate nutrition — and that’s where the food truck comes in. 

“This is way bigger than I thought… it made me start thinking we need to spread awareness to other people who are like me that know there is something wrong, but not how big of a problem it actually is,” Cassie told CBN News.

Kelly Heishman, a teacher at the school, praised the pair for their ingenuity and kindness, noting the negative effect of hunger on the ability to learn and grow.

“We know that hunger impacts student learning,” Kelly Heishman told K-Love. “If a child comes to school hungry, it’s going to impair their ability to learn and succeed, so we know this is a huge need in our community.”

The pair, who are part of Paul G….

Singer Alice Cooper made a career out of “shock rock,” but he tells pastor Greg Laurie in a new interview that he’s also a Christian who wants to help teens in the name of Jesus.

Laurie interviewed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member at Cooper’s Solid Rock teen center, which was founded in 1995 to help troubled teens. It is a non-profit, faith-based organization based in Phoenix. 

“We’re all Christian guys,” Cooper said of the men and women who founded and run Solid Rock. “And Lord told us to do it. So we just obeyed. That’s all.”

Cooper got the idea for Solid Rock after watching two teens exchange drugs.

“I watched a couple of 16-year-old kids do a drug deal on the corner and I went, ‘How does that kid not know he might be a great guitar player? Or that other kid might be a drummer?’ And it just struck me right then: Why don’t we open that, give them that alternative to go there?”

Laurie posted several clips from the interview on his social media accounts. A more full-length interview will be released in the future, a Laurie spokesperson told Christian Headlines. 

I recently conducted a fairly lengthy interview with Rock Icon, Alice Cooper. In this short clip, Alice talks about how his faith in Jesus motivates him to help younger people. pic.twitter.com/b5Z3oQARgV

— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) May 16, 2019

“You’re not ashamed to say…

TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria, May 23, 2019 (Morning Star News) – Authorities in north-central Algeria sealed shut another church building on Wednesday (May 22), closing it and its Bible school, Christian leaders said.

Citing a law that requires authorization for non-Muslim places of worship, gendarmes locked the doors of the evangelical church building in Boudjima, 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Tizi-Ouzou, capital of the province of the same name in Kabylie Region.

Church pastor Youcef Ourahmane told Morning Star News that he has applied for a permit and, like all applications in Algeria, it has sat unattended. Summoned by phone to the gendarmerie brigade of Makouda yesterday (May 22), he and the top officials from the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) umbrella group were told that the Tizi-Ouzou provincial head had ordered the closure of the church and the Bible school.

“We have received an order of execution, and we must act,” the brigade chief said over the efforts of Pastor Ourahmane, EPA President Salah Chalah and EPA council member Arezki Iamrache to dissuade him, the pastor said. “We are very sorry to get there, but we are only the executors.”

Pastor Ourahmane is also vice president of the EPA.

“I am sad to have to face this injustice,” Pastor Ourahmane told Morning Star News. “We prayed for those authorities who are persecuting us, as our Lord Jesus…

China has escalated its crackdown on Christianity in recent weeks, forcibly removing crosses from Protestant and Catholic churches, destroying unregistered church buildings and even demolishing the structure of a legal Three-Self congregation. 

The actions come amidst an official campaign, known as Return to Zero, to eliminate unregistered house churches. 

“The Communist Party is afraid that having a large number of people who believe in God will threaten their rule,” a house church pastor told Bitter Winter, which monitors religious persecution.

Government officials in Shandong province used a huge crane on Easter Sunday to remove the cross of a Protestant congregation, Grassland Church. A week later, officials in Henan province used a crane to remove two huge crosses atop a Catholic church. Shandong is the second-most populous province with 95 million people. Henan is third, with 94 million people. 

ChinaAid, another organization that monitors religious persecution, reported the incidents.   

“Since the Chinese government wrongly believes religions are an attempt by foreign powers to infiltrate China, they often restrict religious practice and expression, including cracking down on religious symbols being displayed on buildings,” ChinaAid reported.

Elsewhere, entire church buildings have been destroyed. 

Government officials in Chumen, Zhejiang,…