Some 50,000 young people and church leaders gathered together at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, the Philippines last week for the first-ever Jesus Global Youth Day (JGYD).

According to a press release from the organization, nearly 50,000 people from more than 30 countries came together for a three-day event filled with praise, worship and the Good News. 

Among those speaking at the event was boxing champion and current Philippines senator, Manny Pacquiao, actor Stephen Baldwin, and inspirational speaker Nick Vujicic, Fox News reports. Among the groups performing praise and worship music was worship ban Bethel Music, Planetshakers and Joe Praize among others.

The aim of the event, Harvest Ministry Bishop Oriel Ballano said, is to “Teach your young people to follow [Christ], teach your young people to become a disciple. Teach your young people to be leaders and be an agent of change.” He added, “Together we will change the world.”

According to the press release, the event was broadcasted in several countries with around 83,000 churches worldwide participating. In Uganda, an estimated 50,000 youth tuned into the broadcast. The estimated overall reach of the event is believed to be around 8 million young people. 

Co-Chairman and Director of JGYD Ron Luce pushed back against the belief that today’s youth are absorbed in their phones by recalling…

The Trump administration’s Labor Department proposed a new rule Wednesday it says will broaden the religious freedom of federal contractors, but that critics claim will permit discrimination against LGBT employees.

At issue are 1960s-era regulations (Executive Order 11246) that government organizations and companies that contract with the federal government – and, specifically, those that receive a religious exemption.

The proposed Trump rule clarifies that the religious exemption within Executive Order 11246 covers not just churches but also “employers that are organized for a religious purpose, hold themselves out to the public as carrying out a religious purpose, and engage in exercise of religion consistent with, and in furtherance of, a religious purpose.”

President Obama had amended Executive Order 11246 to ban the federal government from contracting with any company or organization that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. 

The proposed rule would impact faith-based organizations – such as a Christian foster care service or a homeless shelter – that only hire employees who affirm Scripture, including what the Bible teaches on sexuality. Under the Obama rule, they would be prohibited from contracting with the federal government. Under the new Trump rule, they would be allowed to do so. 

The proposed rule…

Six officers were wounded in an 8-hour standoff in Philadelphia where a gunman shot at the officers from inside his home.

The six officers have been released from the hospital, but Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the situation “could have been far worse.”

“This was a very dynamic situation, one that I hope we never see again,” he said Thursday.

Ross also served as the negotiator in the standoff, talking by phone to the gunman. 

The suspect, Maurice Hill, barricaded himself in his home about 4:30 p.m. when officers went to his home in north Philadelphia to serve a narcotics warrant.

Hill opened fire and Ross said officers “had to escape through windows and doors to get (away) from a barrage of bullets.”

Two officers were trapped inside the house for about five hours after Hill started shooting. A SWAT team rescued them.

Ross said he wanted to be the negotiator in the standoff because he was “so worried” about the trapped officers.

“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I was 200 feet away,” he said.

Police also patched through Hill’s former lawyer to try to convince him to surrender, but he eventually came outside after police deployed tear gas into the home. 

“I gave his attorney, Shaka Johnson, a lot of credit that he came and he was able to certainly engage him in conversation much…

Columbian evangelical Pastor Plinio Rafael Salcedo was found shot dead in his home earlier this week in what many believe to be a targeted assassination.

Salcedo lived in Taraza, Bajo Cauca Antioquia with his wife and two children, Faithwire reports.

The motive for the attack is still unknown, but experts in Columbia believe it was linked to a recent protest held just two days prior to the pastor’s death. Nearly 1,000 people from Protest and Catholic churches gathered to petition for peace in their region.

Columbia has experienced raging violence as illegal armed groups attempt to take control across the country. Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a religious persecution watchdog group, says Christian leaders have been targeted for assassination for years. Groups hope to intimidate leaders in order to bring communities under their authority.

In an effort to restore peace to the South American country, President Juan Manuel Santos signed a peace agreement with a far-left rebel organization, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia in 2016. But years later, the country has felt little of its effects.

According to a report from the New York Times, nearly 3,000 militants have resumed fighting and at least 500 activists and community leaders have been killed in that time.

Faithwire reported that in July of last year, the government launched…