In the early morning hours Friday, the U.S. engaged in a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport that led to the death of Iran’s top security and intelligence commander.

Leader of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and key player in Tehran’s proxy wars in the Middle East, Major General Qassim Suleimani along with several Iranian backed Iraqi militia officials were killed when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone shot missiles at their convoy as it was leaving the airport, the New York Times reports.

The drone attack – which was authorized by President Trump – was ordered after an American defense contractor on an Iraqi military base was killed last week in a rocket attack. 

CBS News’ national security correspondent David Martin reports that “The attack on the base which killed an American was carried out by an Iranian-backed militia which is directly controlled, according to U.S. intelligence, by Soleimani.”

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Defense Department holds Soleimani responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans in the area and was killed because he “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” The Defense Department also shared that they believed Soleimani was responsible for approving an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq earlier this week.

The…

When Actress Michelle Williams accepted a Golden Globe over the weekend, she used her acceptance speech slot to praise her ability to “employ a woman’s right to choose.”

Williams, who accepted a Golden Globe on Sunday for best actress in a limited series or TV movie for her role in “Fosse/Verdon,” spoke to a teary-eyed crowd about how thankful she was to live in a country where women can have abortions, Fox News reports. 

Holding up her award she said, “When you put this in someone’s hands, you’re acknowledging the choices they make as an actor – moment by moment, scene by scene, day by day. But you’re also acknowledging the choices they make as a person – the education they pursued, the training they sought, the hours they put in.”

She continued, “I’m grateful for the acknowledgment of the choices I’ve made, and I’m also grateful to have lived at a moment in our society where choice exists, because, as women and as girls, things can happen to our bodies that are not our choice.

“I’ve tried my very best to live a life of my own making … and I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose,” Williams said as the crowd erupted with applause.

Williams went on to share that she was thankful for the ability to choose when and with whom to have her children. 

“I know my choices may look…

“I forgive him, and that’s the hardest thing to say.” These are the words of 32-year-old Tiffany Wallace, the daughter of one of the victims who died in the shooting at West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas over the weekend.

As Christian Headlines previously reported, more than 240 parishioners were gathered inside the church located near Fort Worth, Texas, when a gunman began firing upon them. The gunman shot two members of the church before members of the church’s security team drew their own weapons killing the shooter. One of the two victims was 64-year-old Anton “Tony” Wallace, NBC DFW reports. Tony was a father, grandfather, husband, church deacon and registered nurse.

According to his daughter, Tony had just finished giving out the eucharist when an unfamiliar man stood up and took aim at the church’s security guard. In the chaos, her father was shot. 

Wallace recalled running to her father upon realizing that he had been hit. 

“I ran toward my dad and the last thing I remember is him asking for oxygen, and I was just holding him, telling him I loved him and that he was going to make it,” Wallace told the NBC News affiliate.

The grieving daughter then reflected on what a wonderful person her dad was. 

“He was very loved – a very loved man – very humble. He would literally give you the shirt off of his back,” She said. “He…

The United Methodist Church announced on Friday that they are planning to split the denomination.

According to The Washington Post, UMC church leaders shared in a nine-page announcement that an agreement had been reached allowing for the creation of a new denomination for traditional-minded churches within the UMC. 

If the plan is approved in May at the UMC’s annual General Conference, the new denomination will be called “Traditionalist Methodist” and will be made up of all of the churches opposing same-sex marriage and LGBT ordination. The plan would also give the new denomination $25 million in UMC funds and allow the churches that are breaking off to keep their local church properties, United Methodist News reports. The plan also designates $39 million toward ensuring that “there is no disruption in supporting ministries for communities historically marginalized by racism.”

According to The Washington Post, the majority of the UMC’s African churches along with several American churches are expected to adopt the Traditionalist Methodist denomination. 

Following the split, the remaining part of the UMC will hold a second conference in order to remove bans on same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy. The remaining part of the UMC will maintain the denominational title of United Methodist.

UM News reports that the plan – which is still officially being drafted…

Christian conservative commentator Candace Owens says she will not be appearing on a British podcast with Jameela Jamil after the podcaster rescinded the invite to speak on the show.

According to the Christian Post, Owens said she believes Jamil canceled the show after Owens and the podcaster exchanged divided messages on Twitter about a news story where a transgender man gave birth using a female sperm donor.

“SAD TO ANNOUNCE that @jameelajamil has revoked my invitation to her podcast [because] I tweeted ‘only women can give birth,’” Owens said on Twitter. “Apparently the statement made her trans co-workers feel ‘unsafe.’”

SAD TO ANNOUNCE that @jameelajamil has revoked my invitation to her podcast bc I tweeted “only women can give birth”. Apparently the statement made her trans co-workers feel “unsafe”.

My refusal to untether myself from biological realities has cost me, yet again.

SAD! pic.twitter.com/OTHcO0TEy4

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) December 30, 2019

In the tweet, Owens also shared a screenshot that showed Jamil telling Owens she was disinvited from the podcast appearance because “we have trans people working with us” and they could be offended by Owens’ tweet.

“You are both free to say whatever you like about this publicly,” Jamil’s message read. “I’m sure you will have an entertaining spin. But nothing is worth my…

The estimated 70 million deaf people around the world who communicate by signing could have a Jesus Film in their own heart language within several years thanks to a crowdfunded project by Deaf Missions and the Jesus Film Project.

The ministries have raised $746,000 of the $4.8 million needed to fund the project, which will involve actors and actresses signing with American Sign Language (ASL), which is used by 70 million people worldwide.

As of now, deaf people must rely on closed captioning to watch a movie about Jesus. 

Chad Entinger of Deaf Missions said a Jesus movie with sign language would make a major impact in spreading the gospel. It would be the first movie of its kind. 

“The heart language, it’s related to a person’s identity,” Entinger signed through an interpreter for Mission Network News. “For a person to see something in their heart language, that really will capture their heart, and they’ll feel, that person will then, will feel like ‘Oh my goodness, they’re actually communicating to me. This is my language.’”

Deaf Missions’ Jesus Film would use native signers to “bring the story of Jesus to life” from a “Deaf perspective for a deaf audience,” according to the ministry’s website. 

Production could take three to four years, Entinger told Mission Network News.

“We really believe that God can and will use the movie in sign language to…

Abortion was the leading cause of death globally in 2019, with more than 42 million life-ending procedures completed, according to statistics compiled by Worldometers. The number of worldwide abortions is equivalent to the combined populations of America’s 31 largest cities, according to U.S. Census data listed on the World Population Review website.

Using the data, LifeNews reported an estimated 42.3 million deaths were attributed to abortion. By comparison, 8.2 million people died from cancer in 2019, 5 million from smoking, 13 million from disease, and 1.7 million died of HIV/AIDS, for a combined total of 27.9 million deaths.

Worldometer’s compilation of data found there were 58.6 million deaths last year attributed to violence, disease and natural causes, but not abortion since those figures are not included mortality rates.

“The abortion number is incomprehensible, but each of those 42 million abortions represents a living human being whose life was violently destroyed in their mother’s womb,” authors Steven Ertelt and Micaiah Bilger wrote in their LifeNews article. 

“Each unborn baby already had their own unique DNA, making them distinct from their mother. That DNA indicated if the child was a boy or girl, their eye and hair color, their height, possible genetic disorders and other disabilities, and much more. In most cases, the unborn babies’…