George Mason, a prominent and longtime senior pastor at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, challenged white Christians on Sunday to help seek justice for Botham Shem Jean, the black man who was shot dead in his home by Dallas police officer Amber Guyger.

“It’s been a hard week in Dallas. The fatal shooting of a young an impressive professional man named Botham Jean by an off-duty police officer, Amber Guyger, is a tragedy that has rocked the soul of this city,” Mason told his congregation Sunday.

“This police officer shot an unarmed citizen in his own home. The victim was black, the officer white. Even if race didn’t factor into the event initially, nonetheless, the preferential treatment of the officer by the criminal justice system reminds us that justice in the city and in this country is still not colorblind — whether you are white or black or brown or blue,” he continued. “And then the smear campaign of the dead man’s character started immediately after his funeral, which is a long and nasty practice used against people of color to gain sympathy for the defendant. Lord have mercy.”

Mason said he attended Jean’s memorial service last Thursday and was touched by Jean’s faith. The…

Co-host Michael Che angered some viewers during the 70^th Primetime Emmy Awards a line that seemed to mock Christians. The Saturday Night Live star’s comments came during a comedy set with his co-host Colin Jost, who is also on the cast of SNL. 

Jost joked about the low viewership numbers for the event, welcoming the “thousands of you here in the audience tonight and the hundreds of you watching at home.”

Then Che said, “My mother is not watching.” Then he set up his joke explaining, “She said she doesn’t watch white award shows because you guys don’t thank Jesus enough.” After sparse, polite laughter from the audience, Che continued, “That’s true. The only white people that thank Jesus are Republicans and ex-crackheads.”

Che’s joke received tepid laughter from the audience and the ire of some of social media. One Twitter user said, “Colin Just [sic] and Michael Che’s opening monologue bombed harder than I ever could have dreamed.”  Another pointed out that the jokes about Christians have gotten old. “What great family entertainment that gets everyone around the TV to laugh… It’s not even outrageous, it’s just boring at this point.” 

Malachi O’Brien, President of OneCry, pointed out that many people praise God other than Republicans and former drug-addicts, saying, “All people were made to have a…

Dave Stone, senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, has announced that he plans to step down from the more than 22,000-member church after some 12 years at the helm.

“This is a process that has been in the works for a number of years,” Stone told his congregation on Saturday. “My wife, Beth, and I decided on this timing about five years ago. We felt that 2019 would be the wisest time for the transition to take place.”

He noted that the church’s current teaching pastor, Kyle Idleman, whom he described as someone who lives consistently as a man of God, will replace him as lead pastor.

“Kyle’s imprint can be seen throughout this church. He’s a prayer warrior, and he is more generous than you will ever know. He loves Jesus, his wife, his kids, and his church. We are going to be so blessed to have him at the helm,” Stone said.

“Kyle is uniquely gifted for this role. He’s been an elder here for 12 years. He’s doctrinally solid. His integrity, his humility, and his preaching and teaching and writing are exceptional,” he added.

Stone, who expects to hand off his senior pastor responsibilities to Idleman over the next…

Russia is claiming that Syria shot down one of its military planes and Israel is to blame for the 15 killed on the plane.

Russia’s defense ministry said Israeli jets were attacking Syria, when Syria responded and hit the Russian airplane. 

“The Il-20, which has a much bigger reflective surface than the F-16, was struck down by an S-200 rocket,” spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. “We retain the right to an appropriate response,” he added, without giving details on whether that response could include military action.

The Israel Defense Force, meanwhile, said on Twitter that Syria is “fully responsible” for the attack.

Russia says the IlyushinII-20 plane was heading to a Russian airbase near the city of Latakia when it “disappeared” during an attack by four Israeli jets near Syrian facilities in the area.

In a statement, Russia said Israel’s “irresponsible actions” led to the downed plane and deaths. Russia said the country was only given about a minute’s warning ahead of the attack.

“The Israeli planes deliberately created a dangerous situation for surface ships and aircraft in the area,” a defense ministry spokesman said, adding that Israel had used “the Russian airplane as a cover.”

“As a result of the irresponsible actions by the Israeli military, 15 Russian servicemen have died,” the spokesman said.

According to the BBC, Russian’s…

A modern Christianity professor and author who opposes universalism admitted that he was “startled” by how many people came out supporting the belief following Rob Bell’s 2011 book, Love Wins.

Michael McClymond, the author of The Devil’s Redemption: A New History and Interpretation of Christian Universalism, said in an interview with The Gospel Coalition posted last week that ever since he was a student he has been engaged with biblical studies on the topic of salvation.

“Several years ago what really surprised me was not Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins (2011), with its well-worn and hackneyed arguments. Instead, I was startled by the multitude of people I thereafter encountered holding that universalism was biblical and evangelical teaching,” said McClymond, who teaches at Saint Louis University in Missouri.

Bell is the founder and former pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, and has attracted significant controversy over his questioning of the traditional understanding of eternal punishment.

Although he is often associated with the term by critics, Bell has in the past insisted that he is not a universalist.

On Sunday, Typhoon Mangkhut ripped through China after devastating the northern Philippines. The Typhoon brought strong winds moving at 127 mph with gusts up to 158 mph, and heavy rains that left at least 64 people dead and dozens more potentially buried in a landslide.

According to the Associated Press, more than 2.4 million people were evacuated and relocated in southern China’s Guangdong province and around 50,000 fishing boats were called back to port. 

Reportedly, the coastal region of Macau closed its casinos for the first time ever.

Mangkhut made landfall in the Guangdong city of Taishan around 5 p.m., bringing with it 100 mph winds. According to the state television broadcaster CGTN, the storm surge caused a seaside hotel in the city of Shenzhen to be flooded.

Authorities in southern China issued the most severe warning, a red alert, to the region. The national meteorological center said the region would face a “severe test caused by wind and rain” and encouraged officials to be prepared for a disaster.

Videos have appeared online showing some of the damage from the storm. One video from Hong Kong, shows the top corner of a building break off. Another video features a tall building swaying dangerously from the strong wind.

According to the AP, the storm caused a variety of damages including, broken windows, felled trees, and waist-high flooding in some areas.

The…

An Episcopal cathedral in California that recently garnered headlines for holding a Beyoncé-centered service held a worship service featuring individuals portraying giant tree people.

Grace Cathedral of San Francisco held an interfaith worship service last week that was part of the multiday Global Climate Action Summit.

In addition to different religious groups participating in the service, a group of people portraying tall Ent-like creatures were part of the ceremony, including the closing processional.

The seat of the bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of California, Grace Cathedral lists the issue of “climate change” as one of its social justice outreach efforts.

“Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. It already adversely affects many lives, especially among the world’s poorest people and nations,” the church says online. “It is a spiritual and religious issue as much as a political and social one; the earth is loved by God, created by God, in-dwelt by God and we are called to care for it.”

The service garnered criticism from across the…