Ask just about anyone who knows anything about Atlanta, and they will tell you that there’s not much that is considered peaceful about the English Avenue part of town. Known for its high crime and high poverty statistics, English Avenue is regarded by many in the city as a place where hopes and dreams fall between the cracks; which is precisely what attracted Benjamin Wills, Founder and Head of School at Peace Preparatory Academy, to the area. 

In an interview with Christian Headlines, Wills shared that he knew from the minute he stepped foot in the area that God was calling him to this part of town.

In 2012, while Wills was partaking in 40 days and 40 nights of fasting, God gave him a clear vision, calling him to start a school in Atlanta. The project took three years to come to fruition, but finally, in 2015, Peace Preparatory Academy opened its doors to its first 12 kindergarteners.

From the moment one steps inside the prep school – which now houses pre-k through fourth grade – the building presents a stark contrast to the world you might find outside. 

Everything about Peace Prep speaks of life, optimism and excitement, not to mention the Christian Education that is taking place inside the building. 

The climate of growth and potential it facilitates, encouraged by the love for Christ and community, is precisely what attracted Christian…

The United States Army has ordered a faith-based organization to stop emblazoning Christian messages on official military apparel. Despite Shields of Strength spending the past 20 years printing Bible verses on military dog tags without any issue whatsoever, one complaint now threatens to derail their entire business.

The issue arose when the company was reported to the Department of Defense by Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF). Weinstein claimed that engraving religious messages on an item that displays the official military emblem is fundamentally wrong and “poisons the constitutionally-mandated separation of Church and State…” according to Fox News. 

Shortly after this, military branches started contacting Shields of Strength and informed them that they would be pulingl the licenses issued to the group regarding the use of official military logos.

“You are not authorized to put biblical verses on your Army products,” Army Trademark Licensing Program director, Paul Jensen, noted in a letter to the group, according to Fox News. “For example, Joshua 1:9. Please remove ALL biblical references from all of your Army products.”

Shields of Strength’s Kenny Vaughan said he was horrified by the letter and was shocked at how something which serves to bring military members some hope could be seen as so scandalous.

“It’s insane. It’s…

One in four Protestant pastors believe America’s economic picture is negatively impacting their congregation, a significant uptick from last year’s survey by Lifeway Research.

The survey of randomly selected pastors has been conducted annually since 2009 and involves 1,000 pastors. This year’s poll, released Tuesday, found dramatic changes in how the pastors view the economy’s impact on their congregations. The number of pastors who replied the impact is negative was 26 percent, up dramatically from the 14 percent who responded that way last year.

By contrast, more pastors (30 percent) said the economy is having a positive impact, but still a 15-point drop from 2018. Two in five pastors (41 percent) said the economy was not having an impact on their church, an increase from the 35 percent recorded in the last survey.

“Fundamentally, the U.S. economy is in a similar place that it was a year ago,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. “Yet pastors are less optimistic about this outside influence on their church than they were in 2018.”

In looking at the trends, Lifeway noted that while the number of respondents who said the economy is having a positive impact dropped from 45 percent last year to 30 percent now, the response is still more than triple what pastors said in the first part of this decade. In the October 2010 survey, as America was…

HYDERABAD, India, December 5, 2019 (Morning Star News) – In an area of central India where tribal animists enlist Maoist militants to kill Christians who refuse to recant, Sodi Joga took it seriously when relatives threatened to kill him, his wife and 5-year-old daughter.

“The villagers demanded that Joga and his family must partake in the cleansing ritual, a puja, which would cleanse them of Christianity and restore them to their previous faith,” Dudhi Bandi, an elder of New Bethesda Yishu Krist Ministries in Sukma District, told Morning Star News. “But they refused to bow to the tribal deities.”
The family had been attending Christian worship services for more than a year in Gadiras village, Chhattisgarh state. When they refused to bow to the tribal deities, villagers expelled the family from their home in the Kalgundapara area of Gadiras village on Nov. 4, Bandi said.

“The villagers threw out the belongings, animals and chickens owned by Sodi Joga,” Bandi said. “Joga did not know where to go. It was his relatives and kinsmen who were threatening that they would kill him, his wife and 5-year-old daughter.”

The family took refuge at a church building in another village for two weeks, and then they returned in spite of the threats, he said. Bandi said he encouraged them to leave as soon as they sense any danger.

“I pray for the Lord’s protection…

The president of the Christian Bible College of Louisiana has been charged with sexually assaulting a student, the Department of Justice said this week.

According to the Christian Post, Rev. Cornelius Tilton was traveling with a group of students. The group had visited Israel and were returning to New Jersey. During the flight, Tilton sat in a window seat next to a 19-year-old male student. The complaint said that Tilton placed his hand on the student’s bare calf, thigh and eventually began rubbing the student’s genitals over his shorts.

The student did not react, then Tilton moved the 19-year-old’s hand onto his own genitals. The student then stood up and went to the bathroom.

When he returned to his seat, Tilton continued touching the student until he blocked Tilton’s hand and reported the assault to a flight attendant.

Tilton was charged with abusive sexual contact, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and/or a fine up to $250,000.

Christian Bible College of Louisiana officials have not commented.

Others who know Tilton said they were surprised at the news.

“The person that I know, he was a pastor of the Irish Channel Community Church. A very sweet person. You know, if you go to him and you need anything, if he can help, he would,” said Marline Young, whose mother worked with Tilton as one of Irish Channel Christian Fellowship’s…