Evangelist Franklin Graham says his Festival of Hope will go on in the United Kingdom despite backlash and a local bus company banning ads for the event.

The Festival of Hope is scheduled to take place Sept. 21-23 in Lancashire and feature a Gospel message from Graham along with music from The Afters, Rend Collective and Michael W. Smith. 

Earlier this month, Blackpool Transport – which runs buses in the area – announced it was removing ads for the festival following a social media protest that highlighted some of Graham’s pasts statements about homosexuality and other issues.

Jane Cole of Blackpool Transport told local media that the removal was the “result of us listening and acting on customer and public feedback.”

“Blackpool Transport is a proud ongoing supporter of the Pride and LGBT+ communities and in no way did we intend to cause any distress or upset,” she said. “All buses carrying the advert will remain off the road until they have been removed.”

Graham, on his Facebook page, said the festival is directed at people who are looking for hope.

“Sex, drugs, money, even religion — none of these are the answer,” he wrote. “I’m coming to share with everyone in Blackpool, Lancashire, and across North West England that there is One who can give you hope. Hope for today, hope for tomorrow, and hope for eternity. His name is Jesus…

A Baptist church in Kentucky along with other Baptists are defending the church discipline practice of sending letters to congregants who were not attending regularly to inform them they were removed from church membership rolls.

Last week, Cave City Baptist Church, situated in south central Kentucky near Bowling Green, sent letters to approximately 70 members to say were not attending services “habitually,” giving “regularly,” or participating in the congregation’s “organized work,” as is required of members per the congregation’s bylaws.

Notable media coverage ensued with some members expressing anger over how they were delisted. Yet the pastor of the church is not backing down and says he and the church are being misrepresented.

Cave City Baptist Pastor Ryan Broers said in a Friday text message to Baptist Press he is “weary of the media circus” and that “lots of lies and half-truths are being told.”

“I really wish this thing would have remained a private issue,” he said, noting that he believes they should have worded the letter differently.

“The only reason I commented publicly is that it became public knowledge when a man who has not been to the church in 20 years made it public on…

After losing his job for saying a child’s “best interest” is to be raised by a mother and father, a Christian magistrate in London will appeal the government’s decision to dismiss him.

Richard Page, 71, is appealing the decision this week. The Christian Legal Centre (CLC) represents him in the case.

“We are absolutely delighted that Richard will continue to seek justice,” said Andrea Williams, chief Executive of the CLC. “It is vital that people like Richard who are passionate about service in public life are free to speak and live out their Christian faith. They should not be censored or punished for their faith.”

Page was suspended and then later fired from his job as a non-executive director at Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust in March 2016.

He said he was dismissed after he told the BBC in a 2015 television interview that he believed an adopted child should be placed in the care of a mother and father over that of a same-sex couple “as God and nature intended.”

Page has said he is an evangelical Christian.

The National Health Service investigated Page’s actions and decided to dismiss him.

“It would appear no longer possible to be a Christian, to state what the Bible actually says and what the Church has believed for 2,000 years, and maintain a role in public life in today’s Britain,” he said,…

California evangelist and megachurch pastor Greg Laurie used his sermon on Sunday to speak out against Teen Vogue magazine and a recent TED Talk speaker for suggesting that abortion can be “funny” and that pedophilia is a “natural” sexual orientation.

Laurie, the 65-year-old pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, continued his sermon series on the Book of Daniel this past weekend and praised the biblical figure for admitting that he and the people of Judah were covered in “shame” for sinning against God, as mentioned in Daniel 9:7-9.

Using Daniel’s example, Laurie criticized today’s society in America for being shameless in its open promotion of things like perversion, sin and violence.

“I wonder if we even know what is to be ashamed anymore in America,” Laurie said. “The Bible says that there will come a…

Television soon will have its first transgender superhero, and it will take place in a series that originally was viewed as family-friendly.

The transgender superhero Nia Nal (also known as the “Dreamer”) will join the fourth season of CW’s Supergirl when it debuts this fall. It will be played by Nicole Maines, a transgender actress.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Nia Nal is described as a “soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others.”

The news about the new Supergirl character broke the same week it was revealed that The CW was developing a Batwoman series that could debut in 2019. As in the comics, Batwoman will be a lesbian, according to Deadline.com.

Supergirl, part of the DC Comics universe, was cheered by the Parents Television Council when it debuted in 2015. The PTC even ran a story on its blog titled, “Family-Friendly Fantasy Soars with Supergirl.” But by the second season, there were complaints from families that the plot was changing.

In November 2016, a parent at Common Sense Media’s website wrote, “We loved this show as a family, but in addition to the escalating violence tonight’s show had Supergirl walking in on two people at work having sex. … All I can figure is that the CW doesn’t want this to be a family show ….”

Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog,