Pastor Tim Challies of Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario, has said that there are important differences between a truly Christian church and what he defined as a “Christianish” one.

“There is nothing better for your spiritual well-being than to be in a Christian church. There is nothing worse for your spiritual well-being than to be in a Christianish church,” he argued in a blog post on Monday.

Challies, whose church is part of Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, did not name denominations, but explained that a truly Christian church “teaches the Bible.”

“It is committed to the inerrancy, sufficiency, clarity, and authority of the Word of God and therefore preaches it week by week with confidence and consistency,” he wrote.

In contrast, he said that a Christianish church only “teaches about the Bible.”

“It is committed to imparting life lessons and uses the scriptures as a starting point to teach people how to live lives of success and fulfillment,” he positioned.

Secondly, he noted that a Christian church “admits the deep depravity of human beings,” as opposed to proclaiming the “inherent goodness of humanity.”

Thirdly, he…

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds approved last week what’s being called the most restrictive abortion ban in the country.

Reynolds signed the bill Friday as supporters cheered her on. Meanwhile, outside protestors shouted, “My body, my choice.”

The law, Senate File 359, will go into effect July 1.

“I believe that all innocent life is precious and sacred,” Reynolds said before signing the bill. “And as governor, I have pledged to do everything in my power to protect it. And that’s what I’m doing today.”

Under the law, physicians will not be allowed to perform most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. Heartbeat can usually be heard about six weeks into pregnancy.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland say they plan on challenging the new law.

“I am extremely sympathetic of the resistance to this bill,” said Jennifer Weatherby, who was among protestors. “It puts women in danger. We know that abortion bans don’t end abortion. This just ends safe abortion.”

Iowa has long been trying to pass an abortion ban. Last year, another “heartbeat ban” failed, and Republicans voted in a 20-week abortion ban. This year, the fetal heartbeat ban stalled in the House until a deal was struck that would provide exceptions to the ban in cases of rape, incest and fetal anomaly.

The proposal passed 51 to…

The Ballantyne campus of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, has denied wrongdoing after neighbors turned to police and a television news outlet to complain about the amount of noise coming from the Southern Baptist megachurch on a regular basis that they say is disturbing their peaceful lives.

After turning to police and receiving little results, residential neighbors to the 1,600-seat Elevation Ballantyne that opened up in 2016 recently turned to local NBC station WCNC to go public with the their displeasure with the popular church.

Neighbors shared cell phone recordings that show how the worship music and other sounds coming from the church reverberate through their own homes, no matter if they are trying to get work done on a Sunday afternoon or trying to get some sleep at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday.

“We can hear the music; we can hear the yelling and screaming going on when they are having outside activities,” neighbor Jennifer Kolb told WCNC, adding that the sound is “loud enough so that when our doors and windows are closed, we can still hear it.”

Kolb recently reached out to the police about the noise and received back an email from…

The United Methodist Church has narrowly voted down an amendment to the denomination’s Book of Discipline that would have said God is not “male or female.”

Delegates from the UMC’s annual conferences voted on whether to ratify five proposed amendments that were approved by the 2016 General Conference.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment I was centered on gender equality and included the statement that “it is contrary to Scripture and to logic to say that God is male or female, as maleness and femaleness are characteristics of human bodies and cultures, not characteristics of the divine.”

According to official results that were released Monday, Amendment I received 66.5 percent of the vote, less than a half percentage point shy of the minimum 66.7 percent majority. The necessary supermajority was defeated by about 100 votes.

A seven-week-old little girl is fighting for her life after she was hit in the head by a stray ball at a softball game.

ABC News reports that Lee and Kassy Hovenga took their little girl, McKenna, on a family outing to a recreational softball game in Iowa. Kassy was breastfeeding little McKenna when the ball came flying over the protective fence and struck both of them, hitting Kassy in the bicep and McKenna in the head.

At first the parents didn’t even realize McKenna had been hit as it took her several moments to begin screaming. A large welt formed on her head, and Lee and Kassy knew their baby needed immediate attention.

McKenna was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She suffered skull fractions, brain bleeds, and seizures.

A Facebook page has been created to support the Hovenga family and to encourage prayer for McKenna.

Kassy recently posted an update on McKenna’s condition:

“Quick update: McKenna was a champ last night!!! They did start her on a Lasix and she is responding to that very well! No new changes, she stayed very stable….she is getting ready to head down to have a scheduled CT. Hopefully gonna make some progress today by decreasing some meds but taking it an hour at a time!!! Asking for everyone to pray and keep your fingers crossed for continued good news!”

Join us in praying for little…

More than 2,000 Southern Baptist women have signed a letter asking the trustees of a Fort Worth, Texas, seminary to take action against its embattled president after audio and video clips emerged in which he counseled physically abused women to quietly pray and described a 16-year-old’s body as “built.”

The letter does not explicitly demand a resignation, retirement or reprimand for Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and one of the key leaders of the conservative resurgence in the denomination, the nation’s largest Protestant group.

But it does suggest Patterson cannot be allowed to continue to lead — a stunning development for a revered leader in the denomination and an indication of just how pervasive the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault has become.