Roughly half of self-identified evangelicals affirm at least one New Age belief, including a third who believe in psychics and one in five who believe in reincarnation or astrology, according to a new Pew Research Center poll.

The survey of Christians and non-Christians found that New Age beliefs may be more widespread than previously thought. 

Among self-identified evangelicals:

• 
  24 percent believe “spiritual energy can be located within physical things.”
• 
  33 percent believe in psychics.
• 
  19 percent believe in reincarnation.
• 
  18 percent believe in astrology. 

Forty-seven percent of evangelicals affirm at least one of the four New Age beliefs. That percentage is even higher among Catholics (70 percent), mainline Christians (67 percent), and Protestants from the historically black tradition (72 percent). Twenty-two percent of atheists and 56 percent of agnostics affirm at least one of the four New Age beliefs. 

Among the general population, 69 percent of women and 55 percent of men believe in at least one New Age tenant. 

“Just as women are more likely than men to identify with a religion and to engage in a number of religious practices, women also are more likely to hold New Age beliefs,” Claire Gecewicz, a research analyst at Pew Research Center, wrote. “Across all four measures – belief in psychics, reincarnation,…

Christian author and American Theologian Timothy Keller argued in a New York Times op-ed that Christians cannot and should not assign the church a political party in an effort to combat modern social issues.

Keller wrote on Saturday that the Christian approach to social concerns could be argued from both the left and the right.

“For example, following both the Bible and the early church, Christians should be committed to racial justice and the poor, but also to the understanding that sex is only for marriage and for nurturing family,” he wrote.

“One of those views seems liberal and the other looks oppressively conservative. The historical Christian positions on social issues do not fit into contemporary political alignments.”

Keller asserted that he is not saying that Christians should avoid making stands on important issues, in fact, he counters that idea pointing to the churches in the 19^th century that did not speak out against slavery. Keller said, “American churches in the early 19th century that did not speak out against slavery because that was what we would now call ‘getting political’ were actually supporting slavery by doing so.” 

The founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church continued, “The Bible shows believers as holding important posts in pagan governments — think of Joseph and Daniel in the Old Testament.” “Christians should be…

The Franklin Graham-led Festival of Hope in Blackpool, England, saw an estimated 9,000 people attend and more than 200 churches participate, despite opposition from city officials and LGBT activists.

Protesters outside the Winter Gardens – where the Festival was held in September — pointed to Franklin Graham’s stance against same-sex marriage and his statements calling homosexuality a sin. 

The city’s 518-foot-tall Blackpool Tower was lit up in rainbow colors and also displayed a rainbow flag to show the city’s solidarity with LGBT people, according to The Guardian. Some urged the city to stop the festival, but the city council said it had a contractual obligation to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

A handful of protesters outside the Winter Gardens handed out pamphlets with quotes from Graham. Accompanying them was a 12-foot-tall mannequin dubbed “Big Jesus,” which is owned by the LGBT-affirming congregation, Liberty Church. The Big Jesus figure wore a rainbow sash and held rainbow-colored balloons.

“Franklin Graham maintains wholehearted support for Trump and has a belief that God put Trump in the White House. To me, in the light of the many Trump policies that have harmed the most vulnerable in society, Graham’s support for Trump questions his credibility as a Christian leader,” Nina Parker of Liberty Church told The Guardian….

The Trump Administration implemented a new policy on Monday which denies visas to the same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats and United Nations employees. This reverses a policy put in place by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009. The Administration will now only grant visas to same-sex partners if they are legally married.

The Trump Administration argues that this policy brings the treatment of same-sex couples in line with the treatment of opposite-sex couples and is more in keeping with the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage. The United States only issues visas to the spouses of opposite-sex couples and not domestic partners, so the new policy brings treats same-sex couples equally.

The United Nations issued a circular in September from the US mission to the UN explaining both the rationale and the implications of the new policy. They informed diplomats and employees with same-sex domestic partners on G-4 non-immigrant visas that they will have to be legally married in order to stay in the U.S. They have until the end of the year to comply or leave for their home country.

Opponents of the new policy argue that this places a hardship on same-sex couples from countries that either criminalize homosexuality, do not recognize the validity of gay marriages, or only have civil unions. They say this forces the partners of UN…

The Bible’s stance on the age of accountability and whether children are saved is debatable, according to a Southern Baptist theologian.

Stephen J. Wellum, professor of Christian theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and editor of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, argued in an article for The Gospel Coalition on Monday that an examination of the question may open the door to the possibility that “exceptional” cases of salvation are possible.

Still, Wellum, who is also an author, insisted that debating such cases should not push Christians away preaching the “normal” path of salvation.

“Most Christian traditions teach that children enter the world fallen due to Adam’s sin, but some argue children are not guilty before God until they knowingly disobey God’s commands. If the child dies before reaching that age, he or she receives salvation based on Christ’s finished work,” he noted.

“Once the child knowingly sins, however, they become accountable for their actions and have reached the age of accountability. At that point, salvation comes through conscious, active repentance and faith in Christ.”

When looking at questions relating to children’s salvation, along with the salvation of people who have lost their mental…

Authorities found some 34 bodies of children in an Indonesian church after an earthquake and tsunami pummeled an Indonesian island Friday.

Red Cross spokeswoman Aulia Arriani said the children were attending a Christian bible camp when they were killed. Officials expect to find more bodies as the death toll continues to rise.

According to reports, more than 1,300 people died in the disasters.

Volunteers in the area are working on digging a mass grave for the dead.

Meanwhile in Palu, a military plan carrying supplies was unable to land because of crowds at the airport.

“There was a fear of the crowd mobbing the plane,” a representative for an aid organization said. “People are so desperate for aid.”

Other reports say that stores have been “cleaned out” of supplies and there has also been some looting.

“Security on the ground is not great,” the aid worker said. “There’s no power, there’s limited food and no access to clean water … Our biggest concern is the security of our staff and making sure that their supplies will be going to the most needy.”

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said tsunami detectors buoys were not working, but a tsunami warning was still issued.

But many in Palu did not receive the warning because of power outages.

Nugroho also added that…