More Americans have cohabited than married: The risks of disobeying Scripture and the promise of redeeming grace

For the first time in our history, more Americans have lived with a romantic partner than have married one. According to Pew Research Center’s new study, the number of those who have ever married has fallen from 60 percent in 2002 to 50 percent today, while the number who have cohabited without being married has grown from 54 percent to 59 percent.

The study also reports that 69 percent of Americans say it is acceptable for a couple to live together even if they don’t plan to get married. Sixteen percent agree with cohabiting if the couple plans to marry. Only 14 percent of us believe it is “never acceptable” for a couple to live together before marriage. 

Here’s the irony: the more that Americans grow to accept cohabiting, the more we learn how detrimental such a lifestyle can be for those who practice it. 

Are married couples more satisfied than those who cohabit? 

One reason many couples decide to live together is to “test” their relationship to see if they should marry. 

However, according to a Barna Group study cited by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), couples who are “testing” their relationship experience higher levels of depressive symptoms, abandonment anxiety, and negative interaction. The IFS concludes that “if you are considering whether or not to move in with someone to test the relationship, it’s likely not the wisest thing to do.” 

The Pew study reports that married adults are more likely than cohabiting couples to trust their partner to be faithful to them, act in their best interest, always tell them the truth, and handle money responsibly. They are more satisfied with their partner’s approach to parenting, the way household chores are divided, how well they balance work and personal life, how well they communicate, and their sex life. 

In fact, there was not a single subject on which married adults did not report higher satisfaction than those who are cohabiting. 

Is…

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Christian Aid responds to deadly Cyclone Bulbul

The cyclone has killed 20 people across India and Bangladesh, according to recent reports, displacing some 2 million more. Winds of up to 75mph hit late on 9th November, with both countries closing airports and ports.

In Bangladesh, eight people were killed and at least 20 more injured, with coastal Khulna being the worst hit district. Twelve people were killed in India’s West Bengal state and Kolkata. The cyclone also damaged thousands of mostly mud and tin-built houses, according to local authorities.

Christian Aid said the loss of life was limited due to evacuations. Around 2.1 million people across Bangladesh were relocated to cyclone shelters, with tens of thousands of volunteers going door-to-door with loudspeakers, urging people to evacuate their villages.

Shahana Hayat, Christian Aid humanitarian programme manager, said: “The cyclone has brought significant devastation to areas where people are already struggling to survive: they will now need financial and practical support to rebuild their lives and their livelihoods.

 

“While we mourn those who have been killed by this deadly cyclone, we are grateful that further loss of life was avoided thanks to planning. For years we have been supporting communities to prepare for…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

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Priest gunned down in Syria

According to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Fr Hovsep , from Qamishli, and his dad were both killed during a visit to the Armenian Catholic Church in Deir Ezzor, a city in eastern Syria.

 

It is not clear who is responsible for the killing or their motives.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

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Five Major Reasons Your Church May Be Stuck

Podcast Episode #588

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From church idols to church busyness, Thom and Sam discuss the major reasons why your church might be stuck. Sometimes the reason a church is stuck is that there is a fear of change, other times because of a bully. Listen in as Thom and Sam talk about the issues and potential solutions.

Reasons a church might be stuck:

  1. There is an idolatry of the past.
  2. Critics and bullies are holding the church hostage.
  3. The pastor has been burned in the past and fears leading change.
  4. The church likes evangelism in theory only.
  5. The church has become activity driven.

Other highlights:

  • The goal of fostering a church is to help them return to a state of independence. 
  • Trust that breaks down will eventually be detrimental to any relationship.
  • Fostering is local churches helping local churches. 
  • God gave you a specific address for a specific reason. Loving your neighbor applies to people and churches.
  • If leadership is not aligned, then you should not move forward. 

Resources mentioned in today’s podcast


Episode Sponsors

Vanderbloemen has been serving churches for nine years, but did you know that Vanderbloemen also serves Christian schools, nonprofits, and Christian businesses? So if you’re listening, and you know a Christian school, nonprofit, or values-based business that is hiring, contact our friends at Vanderbloemen for your staffing needs.

For more information, visit

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50 Accept Christ in Theater after Watching Faith-Based Film Overcomer

50 Accept Christ in Theater after Watching Faith-Based Film Overcomer



The faith-based film Overcomer stayed in the Top 5 for three weekends and grossed $34.6 million, but its director says the lives it helped change is more worthy of celebration. 


The Kendrick Brothers film opened in theaters in August and will release to home video in the coming weeks – on digital platforms Nov. 26 and on Blu-ray and DVD Dec. 17.


Director Alex Kendrick told Christian Headlines that 50 people accepted Christ after watching it at one theater.


“A college coach took a college team to see the movie,” Kendrick told Christian Headlines. “After the movie was over, he stood up and he said: If you’ve watched this film and you are not sure where your identity is based – if you want to nail that down with the God that loves you – you’re welcome to come down here and pray with us. And over 50 people responded, and that was just one showing.”


But that is just “one of many, many stories” of lives changed by the film, Kendrick said.


“We’ve had more reports than I can count of church groups inviting people and giving invitations at the end of the film, and individuals making decisions for Christ in the theater,” he said.


Another story involved a special needs teenager.


“There was a couple that took their special needs teenage son to the movie,” Kendrick said. “And he had limited communication, and he was able to talk a little bit,…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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‘What Does it Really Mean to Follow God?’: Kanye West’s Father Shares Answer in New Music Video

‘What Does it Really Mean to Follow God?’: Kanye West’s Father Shares Answer in New Music Video



In a recently released music video for the song Follow God, Kanye West’s father shares what it means to walk with God.


“Like, as I stand here today, I’m reminded of the first time my children ever got the opportunity to be in snow, and when we walked outside in the snow, they were very fearful in terms of the steps that they would take,” West’s father, Ray, said as the pair walked through snow on his ranch in Cody, Wyoming, as reported by Faithwire.


“What I did was I walked in front of them, and I took steps, and I said to them, ‘Instead of creating your own footprints, walk in the footprints that I’ve already made.’”


The song Follow God mentions Kayne’s father several times and his teaching about God.


“This is like a movie, but it’s really very lifelike / Every single night, right, every single fight, right? / I was looking at the ‘Gram and I don’t even like likes/ I was screaming at my Dad, he told me, ‘It ain’t Christ-like,’” West raps in the song.


Ray West, according to Heavy, was a part of the Black Panther Party in the ‘60s and ‘70s. But it was Kayne’s birth that changed his father’s path and became one of the first black photojournalists at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He received several awards for his work, including photos of Maya Angelou, Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, and…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Atheist Group Demands Football Coach Stop Praying with Players, Says It’s ‘Unconstitutional’

Atheist Group Demands Football Coach Stop Praying with Players, Says It’s ‘Unconstitutional’



A national atheist group is demanding a Missouri school district investigate two high school coaches who allegedly have prayed with players – an action the group calls illegal and unconstitutional.


Head football coach Jeff Wallace and assistant football coach David Stucky of Cameron High School in Cameron, Mo., have prayed with players and discussed Bible verses with them before and after games, according to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which also says the coaches have led players in a postgame prayer at the 50-yard line. 


The foundation, which represents atheists, agnostics and “freethinkers,” sent a letter to Superintendent Matt Robinson in late October, urging him to conduct an investigation.


“Coach Wallace’s conduct is unconstitutional because he endorses and promotes his religion when acting in his official capacity as a school district employee,” the letter says. “… When a public school employee acting in an official capacity organizes and advocates for team prayer or worship, he effectively endorses religion on the District’s behalf.” 


The letter points to Supreme Court cases that have struck down school-sponsored prayer.


Parents of several players, though, told local television stations that they support the coaches’ actions. The parents also said the allegations aren’t accurate. The 50-yard…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Student Complains after Professor Does Not Correct Classmate Claiming ‘Only Women Can Have Abortions’

Student Complains after Professor Does Not Correct Classmate Claiming ‘Only Women Can Have Abortions’



A professor from Iowa State University recently received a complaint for allowing a student to claim abortion and birth control are “women’s issues,” according to the College Fix.


The complaint came after a discussion in class about abortion. The student stated that the professor should have issued a correction when a classmate suggested that only women can have abortions because it “erases trans men and people who are non-binary who get abortions and/or use birth control.”


The student continued to state that “there was no push back by the professor to get students to be more inclusive and instead repeated this erasure.”


Iowa State University gives students the opportunity to report incidents on campus through a “Campus Climate” portal in order to help the university “provide support for those who report being impacted by hate, intolerance or bias on campus.”


In the past year, 49 reports have been filed with the university ranging from transgender issues to abortion to racism. About 20 percent of those were “trans erasure” or “misgendering.”


One student complained that the paperwork for the university’s psychiatric services on campus only asked women for the date of their last menstrual cycle.


“Women are not the only people who have menstrual cycles,” the student wrote. “Trans men can have…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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James MacDonald Posts Repentance Letter on Facebook

James MacDonald Posts Repentance Letter on Facebook



After being fired for making crude threats on a recording, as well as over allegations for financial mismanagement and bullying, James MacDonald of the megachurch Harvest Chapel has posted an apology on Facebook.


“I was, am, and will remain very sorry for the careless and hurtful words that were illegally recorded and publicized,” the apology states. “I immediately sent written apologies where appropriate, grieving what it revealed about the state of my heart at the time, as well as the hurt caused to those who trusted us to be a more consistent example of Christlikeness. I have no excuse and am truly sorry.”


He continues in the lengthy response to confess “a regression into sinful patterns of fleshly anger and self-pity that wounded co-workers and others.”


But, according to Relevant Magazine, several of the people harmed by MacDonald have not received apologies.


“I have not received one of these written apologies, though MacDonald mocked me repeatedly on the recording and joked about me having an affair with a Christianity Today editor,” said Julie Roys, the freelance journalist who exposed many of the allegations against MacDonald. “I also don’t know of anyone else who’s received one either, including the more than two dozen sources who went on the record with me with horrific stories about MacDonald.”


MacDonald, who was a founder of Harvest Bible…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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