Since as far back as 2012, Liberty University has touted itself as the “world’s largest Christian university.” The claim has been repeated by journalists and prominent figures, such as Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. during his 2016 speech before the Republican National Convention and President Donald Trump during his May 2017 commencement speech at the Lynchburg, Va., evangelical Christian school.

It also appeared on the “Quick Facts” section of the Liberty website as recently as January 2018: “Liberty University is the largest private, nonprofit university in the nation, the largest university in Virginia, and the largest Christian university in the world.”

That line has since been removed, and no longer appears on Liberty press releases.

Some Ugandan faith leaders say their nation should accept African refugees facing deportation from Israel, while others counter that resettlement would place too heavy a burden on already overtaxed refugee programs.

Up until a few weeks ago, Uganda and Rwanda had been widely viewed as the two African countries that would absorb the refugees in a deal with Israel, which claims about 40,000 African refugees live in Israel illegally and should be deported. Up until a few weeks ago, Ugandan officials had spoken positively of the possibility of accepting refugees from Israel.

But now officials from both Uganda and Rwanda have denied that they struck a deal with Israel to absorb them.

Ugandan clergy are nevertheless considering that at least some of the African refugees in Israel may still wind up in their country. Many say these refugees — many of whom have arrived in Israel since the mid-2000s, fleeing unrest and war in Eritrea, Sudan and other war-torn countries, and surviving a dangerous trek across the Sinai Desert — should be welcomed in Uganda.

“When someone is escaping for security reasons and is seeking help desperately, as a Christian we have no alternative but to accept them,” Roman Catholic Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Gulu, Uganda, told Religion News Service in a telephone interview.

The migrants and their supporters in Israel have argued that…

What was it like to be raised by the twentieth century’s most notable evangelist? The Reverend Franklin Graham addresses this in a new book, titled Through My Father’s Eyes.

Scheduled for release on Tuesday by Thomas Nelson, Inc., the book is over a decade in the making and centers on the lessons Graham learned from his father, Billy Graham.

“For pastors and for any Christian who reads this book, I want this book to strengthen them spiritually. The lessons that I’ve learned when watching my father are lessons they can use in their own life,” Franklin Graham told The Christian Post.

Graham talked with CP the day before the release of Through My Father’s Eyes. Besides the book, he spoke about preaching about hell, controversies over the word “evangelical,” and his involvement in politics.

Below are excerpts from the interview.

CP: Why did you decide to write this book?

Graham: Well, the book has been worked on for the last 12 years. Sam Moore (former CEO and President of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.), said, “Franklin you need to write about the lessons you learned from your father because nobody will have the perspective of living in his home and working with…

Doctors advised mother Heather Garrity to abort her twin babies, but she refused. Now, the identical twin boys are graduating at the top of their class and have a bright future.

According to TheBlaze.com, at 22-weeks pregnant, doctors told Garrity that her twin boys were suffering from twin-twin transfusion syndrome, a serious medical condition that occurs when identical twins share a placenta and one becomes dehydrated while the other develops high blood pressure and produces too much urine.

Despite this diagnosis, Garrity refused to abort her babies. Now, at 18, twins Ethan and Dominic are making their mother proud.

Both boys are on the football team at their school, Nevada Union High School, and both have their prospects set on some of America’s top colleges, such as Harvard, Dartmouth, West Point, and Johns Hopkins. 

“They’re about as impressive as you can get, both 5.0 students,” said the twins’ football coach Scott Wheeler. “As many schools as they’ve gotten into, and the list is amazing, they remain two of the most humble high school students I’ve met.”

Dominic commented on the success they have already been able to achieve: “Throughout our lives and throughout adversity, we’ve had a very strong support system, and we’re very grateful for that.”

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Publication date: May…

Seven months after revealing that he hoped to remain in his position for at least five more years, Mac Brunson, senior pastor of the 10,000-member First Baptist Church of Jacksonville in Florida, abruptly resigned on Sunday as church officials assured members his premature exit wasn’t prompted by any scandal.

“On Sunday, April 29, 2018 Dr. Mac Brunson announced his resignation as the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida. His last Sunday preaching will be May 6, 2018. This announcement came as sad news to a church that has appreciated Dr. Brunson’s ministry for so long,” the church said in a statement.

“Whenever a pastor leaves a place of service it is common for rumors of a scandal to circulate. We want to be clear that no such scandal exists at First Baptist, or in the ministry of Dr. Brunson. Dr. Brunson’s service has been characterized by moral and ministerial faithfulness, and no individual or group within our church asked him to leave.”

Brunson, 60, has been at the helm…

US President Donald Trump decried the killings of Christians in Nigeria as he met with the country’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, in Washington yesterday (30 April).

Nigeria has been plagued by violence attributed to Fulani herdsmen in the Middle Belt and northeast. Benue state has been particularly affected, with attacks happening almost on a daily basis.

The killing of 19 worshipers, including priests Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, last week (24 April), has provoked outrage in Nigeria and elsewhere.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria has urged President Buhari to step down in the wake of the massacre. Various advocacy groups, including Open Doors International, had called on President Trump to seize the opportunity to call Buhari to account for allowing unchecked atrocities against Christians in his country.

“We have had very serious problems with Christians who are being murdered in Nigeria,” said Trump as he met with President Buhari at the White House. “We are going to work on that problem very, very hard because we cannot allow that to happen.”

President Buhari was the first Sub-Saharan African leader to meet with Trump in Washington. In response, he said efforts were being made to ensure that killings in the country were stopped.

He attributed the ongoing violence to cross-border insecurity resulting from the fall of Libyan President…

American pastors facing controversial political debates in their congregation, and criticism from some church members for not swinging one way or another, need to be aware of when the right time to speak out is, says Reformed evangelical theologian Kevin DeYoung.

DeYoung, who pastors Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina, wrote a blog Tuesday on The Gospel Coalition addressed to pastors, noting that they face difficult questions when it comes to responding to controversial debates swirling around politics.

“When preachers are quickly criticized for saying too much (you’re not Gospel-centered!) or saying too little (you’re not woke!), it behooves us to think carefully about the relationship between pastoral ministry and politics,” he positioned.

DeYoung offered seven pieces of advice, starting with allowing the Bible to set the agenda for weekly ministry.

“I love preaching through the Bible verse by verse. I’m not smart enough to decide what the congregation really needs to hear this week. So they’re going to get John 5:1–18 this Sunday. Why? Because last week they got John 4:43–54. And in the evening they’re going to get Exodus 24, because last Sunday was Exodus 23,” he…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says “dramatic” intelligence discovered this week reveals that Iran is “brazenly lying” about its nuclear weapons program.

Netanyahu says Iran is violating a 2015 nuclear deal. Intelligence shows that “half a ton” of files related to its nuclear weapons programs were moved to a “highly secret” location in Tehran after the deal.

“These files conclusively prove that Iran is brazenly lying when it says it never had a nuclear weapons program,” he said. 

The files include more than 55,000 pages and 55,000 files on some 180 CDs.

The prime minister showed copies of the material in a nationally televised address. The nuclear program in Iran to build a weapon was called “Project Amad.”

Netanyahu talked with President Donald Trump about the information over the weekend. Trump has said in the past that he wants the country out of the deal, and a deadline to re-certify the deal is coming up soon, according to Fox News.

“In a few days’ time, President Trump… will make a decision on what to do with the nuclear deal,” he said. “I’m sure he’ll do the right thing, the right thing for the United States, the right thing for Israel, the right thing for the peace of the world.”

On Monday, Trump said he would make a decision “on or before” May 12.

“That doesn’t mean I won’t negotiate a…