In 2018, the Southern Baptist Convention helped place non-white leaders in a majority of its planted pulpits, showing a commitment to racial diversity despite its history of racism. 

“By God’s grace, He is moving in His church, and He is showing us that…to be a reflection of His glory, we need to reflect the diversity of our communities, but we also need to proclaim the diversity of the coming Kingdom, and that is what gives glory to Jesus,” SBC President J.D. Greear said at the 2019 Black Church Leadership and Family Conference in North Carolina, as reported by the Christian Post.

At the conference, Greear, who also pastors The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham area, shared that more than 60 percent of all SBC churches planted last year were with black leaders.

“I want you to hear from me, who has the privilege of serving in this capacity as president, I want you to hear, ‘Thank you,’ and I want you to know that your sacrifices and your prayers and your faith, have not been in vain, that God is using them,” Greear continued to share to the largely black audience at the event, as reported by the Baptist Press. “And with our humility, and with our continued posture of repentance, we believe that even greater days are ahead, because God doesn’t move in His church unless He intends to impact the world in the future.”

The conference, which…

As China continues its restrictive grip on Christian churches, believers are feeling the pinch. Reverend Song Yongsheng, a pastor of a church in China’s Henan province, committed suicide earlier this month when discussions with the government over his church’s freedom resulted in “a failure.”

“I wanted to work with the government, but it was a failure,” Song wrote in his suicide note as reported by AsiaNews. “I want to be the first martyr of this terrible situation.”

Song was the chairman of Shangqui’s Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and the president of the city’s China Christian Council (CCC), according to Faithwire. These organizations, established by the government, control the state-approved churches in the country. All churches must be registered to the Religious Affairs Bureau, which ensures that communist ideals are taught from the pulpit and the hymnal.

The pastor, who threw himself off of a building, hoped that his martyrdom would expose the Chinese regime’s abuses, as reported by ChinaAid, a nonprofit fighting for religious freedom in China.

Song became exhausted in his efforts to stop Chinese officials from criminalizing Christians who did not worship the government. AsiaNews has received an increase in reports since 2018 of church destruction and arrests of those who have not registered with the Chinese government.

News of the…

A former ISIS soldier says he now believes Israel is a democratic state and wants to return to the country.

According to CBN News, Sayyaf Sharif Daoud left Israel to become a fighter for the Islamic State. According to MEMRI, he was later captured and told BBC correspondent Feras Kilani on BBC Arabic that he wants to return to his home.

The former ISIS fighter noted that he changed his mind about ISIS after seeing the injustices carried out by the group. 

“I lived through the Second Intifada. I have seen war. I lived in the West Bank and in Israel. Israel has not done one percent of what Bashar Al-Assad has done. There was fighting and all that, but Israel has not raped women or stripped them naked on TV, and it has not killed with such barbarity,” Daoud said.

Israel, he noted, was completely different from ISIS. “Israel is a democratic state,” he said. “I have not seen injustice there. Us Arabs live together in Israel with the Jews. There is no injustice. We are treated just like the Jews.”

When asked by a reporter if his “religious fervor” drove him to join ISIS – Daoud is Muslim – he quickly responded “no.”

“My father warned me against [joining] Hamas and Fatah,” he told the BBC.

Daoud – who labels himself as both Israeli and Palestinian – admitted that he was wrong to join ISIS. He told reporters that while he does not know what the…

A Texas woman who celebrated her 110th birthday Saturday isn’t crediting diet or genes for her long life, instead, she is giving all of the credit to God. 

“Blessing of the Lord. He’s the one keeping me. That’s why I’m living,”, Elizabeth Francis told ABC 13 in Houston. 

Francis was born in Louisiana in 1909. That year, William Howard Taft was president. Wilbur and Orville Wright had flown their famous plane just six years earlier. World War I had not yet started. Civil War veterans were still alive. 

In 1909, the life expectancy of a woman in America was only 54 years old. Francis defied those odds for yet another year, as she celebrated her 110^thbirthday this Saturday.

For her birthday this year, Francis celebrated surrounded by family, friends, community leaders and balloons. She even wore a “Happy Birthday” crown. 

Among the community leaders joining the Francis Family in celebration of Elizabeth was Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

Louisiana born and Houston, Texas resident, Francis has enjoyed six generations of family members. According to ABC 13, the 110-year-old has remained mentally sharp and is “relatively healthy.”

“It’s really special because she’s been able to watch and see all of her grandchildren grow up and be a part of their lives,” said Francis’ granddaughter Ethel Harrison.

ABC 13 reports that…