In the wake of numerous scandals among pastors in recent years, former megachurch pastor Tullian Tchividjian is making an appeal to churches: extend grace and forgiveness to disgraced leaders.

“The cross of Jesus shows us that God is serious about sin and we should therefore take sin seriously. But (and this is the part that often seems missing when scandal in church leadership happens) the cross also shows us that God is serious about redemption, restoration, and forgiving sins and we should take that seriously too,” Tchividjian, who resigned as pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in 2015 after admitting to an extramarital affair, said in a blog post written with Chad Bird.

Tchividjian and Bird, also a former pastor who committed adultery, clarified that the church should neither go soft on sin nor sweep it under the rug. But they emphasized that “real sin is also met with real forgiveness” and that pastors are sinners just like churchgoers are.

“The grace of God is not reserved for the ‘well-behaved.’ Yet that is the message we send every time the word ‘fall’ is used in reference to someone who is by nature already fallen. These people are sinners, just like everybody they ever led,” they wrote.

“That doesn’t justify…

It’s been 68 years since the Korean War broke out separating thousands of families at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. On Monday, however, after decades of longing to reconnect with each other, several families were finally able to reunite. 

In April of this year, during the inter-Korean Summit at the Inter-Korean Peace House and Unification Pavilion, North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, signed the Panmunjom Declaration which called for the end of war on the Korean Peninsula. 

As a part of this declaration, the two leaders agreed to have inter-Korean Red Cross reunions for families that were separated by the border. According to CNN, the reunion on Monday was the first one to happen since 2015, and it allowed 89 families out of the 57,000 who applied to briefly reunite for the first time since they were separated. 

Mother’s got to hold their children for the first time since they were infants, and brothers and sisters who were too young to remember each other got to meet for what felt like the first time. 

The South Korean families who were selected for the Red Cross reunions were chosen at random through a lottery process, and according to BBC News, the oldest family member in attendance was 101 years old. For many of people in attendance this was likely the last and only time that they will be…

Two pastors resigned in protest from Crossroads Christian Church in Indiana Saturday after elders painted fired lead pastor Patrick Garcia, as a power-hungry, inexperienced leader who wanted “complete control.”

“We would like to thank our Elders at Crossroads Christian Church for allowing us to speak to this unfortunate situation. After extensive conversation with the elders reviewing the facts regarding this matter, we find that we respectfully disagree with their decision to terminate Pastor Patrick Garcia and in good faith are unable support it. We are saddened to announce that effective today at 5:00pm, we have both resigned our jobs as Pastors at Crossroads Christian Church,” pastors Darryl Marin and David Bowersox announced in a joint statement shortly after elders addressed the congregation in a contentious meeting Saturday.

“We love Crossroads and are thankful for the years of service we have had with our church family and community. We are praying that God will continue to bless and minister to the people as you pursue Christ together in unity,” the pastors added.

The resignations came after Crossroads…

A church youth pastor says a blunder by American Airlines at the airport prevented his group of about 40 teenagers from boarding a plane for a mission trip and cost the group nearly $2,000. William Davis, youth pastor at Clays Mill Road Baptist Church in Lexington, KY., wrote on Facebook how his group had saved money for two years for a mission trip to Mexico. They arrived at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport two hours prior to the flight when chaos ensued at the ticket counter, he said. The employee – apparently taking advice from a co-worker – tried processing all 40 tickets prior to processing all 40 bags. 

“40 Bags were stacked in front of the counter as we got all of our folks checked in,” Davis wrote in the post, which was addressed to American Airlines. 

When check-in was complete, an American Airlines employee “attempted to run all 40 bags under” Davis’ name – a strategy that didn’t work. An employee then had to “go back and do it the regular way … and we had to have many of the tickets back as she proceeded to put names of the teens on bags,” Davis wrote.

When baggage check-in finally finished at 7:24 a.m. – and with a scheduled flight of 7:54 a.m. – the group made it through security in a timely fashion. They then ran and got to the gate at 7:47 a.m. The gate employee told them the door had closed and…

According to BBC News, rescue efforts are ongoing in Kerala, India which has recently experienced disastrous flooding from monsoon rains. 

BBC News reports that the rains have eased for now and that the rescue efforts have increased. 

So far, the flooding is reported to have claimed the lives of around 350 people and left thousands more stranded as some areas are still under water.

As a part of the rescue efforts, the Indian air force and navy are using helicopters to airlift people who are stranded on rooftops and are dropping off food and supplies to those who they cannot yet reach.

BBC News reported that, the state’s chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, made a vow on Sunday to “save even the last person stranded.”

It is being reported that officials fear that as many as 5,000 people could be trapped in the riverside town of Chengannur, so rescue teams are focusing much of their effort on the town.

It was also reported that the Indian government has deployed hundreds of government boats to use to rescue the stranded citizens. Local fishermen are also playing a pivotal role, offering their own boats as resources for the rescue and relief mission. 

Other forms of aid are coming from cellphone operators who, as of Saturday, began offering free data and text messages for people in Kerala in order to help those in distress.

The monsoon rain has not only caused…