International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that last Monday, July 2, 20 Christians were seriously injured in an assault on a prayer meeting in Raikashipur village, located in the Pratapgarh District of India’s Uttar Pradesh State. According to local reports, a mob of 35 Hindu radicals stormed the meeting and beat the group of over 150 Christians gathered for prayer. Following the assault, the village Pradhan (village president) filed multiple false criminal charges against six of the Christian victims.

Ram Kumar Gautam, a 42-year-old Christian, has led prayer meetings in Raikashipur village every Monday for the last five years. On average, 300 people participate in these services in a makeshift shed.

On July 2, around 2:00 p.m., the mob arrived at the prayer meeting in several vehicles. The radicals stormed inside the meeting hall and beat the Christians gathered there with wooden lathies and sticks. The attackers also fired a gun into the air five times to frighten the Christians. When the attack ended, 20 Christians were seriously injured, 10 motorcycles were damaged, and the furniture inside the makeshift shed, including musical instruments and chairs, was destroyed.  

“I didn’t sleep or eat properly for nearly a week now,” Ram Kumar Gautam told ICC.“The attack on our prayer meeting last Monday has had devastating consequences. Many have…

Responding to Willow Creek Community Church’s recent apologies for the way the leadership handled sexual misconduct allegations against founder Bill Hybels, New Testament scholar Scot McKnight argued that the victims had no choice but to go public and expose misconduct. 

McKnight, who attended the South Barrington, Illinois, megachurch for 10 years, argued on his Jesus Creed blog that autonomy may be largely to blame for how the church’s leadership failed the women.

“What the power brokers think of first is protecting the institution, which is (sad to say) protection of the power at the top,” he wrote.

Willow Creek, founded by Hybels in 1975 in a rented theater, is an independent church with no affiliation to any denomination. “They are an island to themselves,” McKnight described. 

“Autonomous churches therefore have autonomous pastors, and that means these pastors have no one to whom they answer other than the Elders/Deacons,” he noted. “When pastors become autonomous and authoritative and when they are as big as Willow, the church can easily become a top-down organization and become a centralized…

Christian leaders and groups were mostly positive in their reaction to President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the IU.S. Supreme Court, although it wasn’t unanimous.

About 40 evangelical leaders co-signed a document applauding the selection and urging the Senate to “work diligently to confirm his appointment without obstruction.”

“Supreme Court nominations are a crucial aspect of any president’s legacy,” the letter read. “With Judge Kavanaugh, President Trump has an opportunity to shape the direction of the Supreme Court for a generation or more. As evangelical leaders, we support President Trump’s nominee and will pray and work for a quick confirmation process.”

Among the signatories was Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; Joel Belz, founder of World Magazine; J.D. Greear, senior pastor of The Summit Church and president of the Southern Baptist Convention; Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine of FamilyLife Today; and George O. Wood, chairman of World Assemblies of God Fellowship.

“We believe that Scripture teaches that government is justly ordered when it exercises the proper authority delegated to it by God,” the statement further read. “This means ensuring the rule of law, administering justice fairly and impartially, protecting the God-given dignity of every human being, and safeguarding…

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on July 5, Yizhuang campus of Zion Church, the largest house church in Beijing, has been blockaded by a group of “thugs” employed by the local authorities. The group prevented church members from entering the third floor where the campus is located and hurled insults and threats at the Christians, calling their faith a cult.  

In a prayer request to fellow Christians shared via WeChat (a popular Chinese messaging app) on July 8, Yizhuang campus worshippers detailed the ongoing oppression from the government against their church.

Six individuals guarded the entrance to the church and prevented church members from attempting to unlock the government-imposed padlocks. They also prevented the church administrator from entering the church to retrieve computers and church documents. 

Yizhuang campus recently prepaid the rent for another quarter, with its lease up for renewal in 2020, yet churchgoers were barred from worshipping in their own church. 

Frequented by more than 1,500 Christians with eight campuses throughout Beijing, Zion Church recently became a prime target of the Chinese government. In April, authorities in Beijing requested that the church install surveillance cameras inside their building. After the church leaders refused, the government cut of the church’s water and shut down electricity to their elevator….