Church members at First United Methodist Church of Louisville, Mississippi have overwhelmingly voted to withdraw the congregation’s membership from the UMC denomination, citing a number of issues including homosexuality and abortion as the reasons.

Members of the over 180-year-old congregation held a “membership affirmation” vote this past Sunday to determine whether they wished to remain affiliated with UMC. In a 175-6 vote, the congregation expressed its desire to remove the church from the denomination.

“This is not a decision based upon dissatisfaction with our fellow churches in the Mississippi Conference. We have great respect for Bishop James Swanson and the leaders of the Mississippi Conference of the UMC,” Rev. Mike Childs said in a statement following the vote. “Rather,…

At the top of the year, beloved world-renowned evangelist Luis Palau made the surprising announcement that he was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. In a recent update, however, the minster testified that his doctors are shocked by the results of his recent test results.

“We had a very encouraging meeting with the doctors this morning regarding my chemotherapy treatment,” Palau wrote on his Facebook page. “After two months of therapy for Stage 4 lung cancer, the doctors were amazed at the results from the recent CT scan and blood work.”

“All tumors had shrunk by one-third! No new growth of the tumors whatsoever. All fluid around my lungs was resolved. Blood work looked good,” he explained.

The results were so uncommon for someone with stage four cancer that Palau said the doctors were stunned and the family is giving glory to God.

“PRAISE THE LORD! The medical team reiterated that this chemotherapy treatment was only expected to slow the growth of the tumors. They never expected the treatment to actually reverse the growth. Everyone is very encouraged and praising the Lord for the wonderful news,” he wrote. “Because of the great results, the doctors feel…

Two Texas congregations of the United Methodist Church have approved resolutions to allow for same-sex weddings at their facilities, even as the mainline denomination officially defines marriage as being between one man and one woman.

St. Stephen United Methodist Church and Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, both located in the Dallas area, approved proposals on Sunday to allow for gay weddings at their buildings.

Both churches are already affiliated with Reconciling Ministries Network, a Chicago-based LGBT advocacy group seeking to change the UMC’s stance on homosexuality and gay marriage.

“Therefore, we the Congregation, agree that the Oak Lawn United Methodist Church should open our doors to support and honor marriages of all couples licensed to be married. We also agree that our church property, including our sanctuary, should be available for all ceremonies of legal marriage,” read Oak Lawn UMC’s resolution in part.

A little over half of American churchgoers are not familiar with the term “Great Commission,” according to a study conducted by the Barna Group and the Seed Company.

The “Great Commission” is a term used to describe Jesus’ call to evangelism in Matthew 28:18-20: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In a report released Tuesday, Barna found that 51 percent of church attendees in the United States were unfamiliar with the term “Great Commission.”

From there, 25 percent of respondents said they heard of it but did not recall its “exact meaning,” 17 percent knew for sure, and 6 percent said they were not sure.

“The data indicates that churches are using the phrase less, which may reveal a lack of prioritizing or focusing on the work of the Great Commission, but may also indicate that the…