Joshua Harris, the author and pastor who transformed the way a generation of Christians thought about dating, announced Thursday he and his wife were separating.

Harris’ books I Kissed Dating Goodbye (1997) and Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship (2000) helped change the way countless singles viewed romantic relationships in the late 1990s and 2000s. 

I Kissed Dating Goodbye was a bestseller, and he and Shannon were married a few years after its publication.

On Thursday, he and Shannon announced on their Instagram pages they were separating. Each post was accompanied by a picture of them together. 

“We’re writing to share the news that we are separating and will continue our life together as friends,” it read. “In recent years, some significant changes have taken place in both of us. It is with sincere love for one another and understanding of our unique story as a couple that we are moving forward with this decision. 

“We hope to create a generous and supportive future for each other and for our three amazing children in the years ahead. Thank you for your understanding and for respecting our privacy during a difficult time.”

Harris has expressed regret about some of the conclusions of his books. He discussed the topic in a 2018 documentary, I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye. 

“My book hurt people. My book…

(RNS) — Faith-based groups that help the U.S. government resettle refugees fear the future of their work is in jeopardy, after learning that the Trump administration is considering shutting down refugee resettlement for the coming fiscal year.

That move, advocates say, would dismantle an already weakened — and largely religious — refugee resettlement infrastructure dedicated to helping immigrants.

On Thursday (July 18), Politico reported that Trump administration officials are mulling the option of setting the annual ceiling for refugee admissions to zero.

The shift could devastate the refugee resettlement program, which is largely operated by religious groups: Of the nine non-profit organizations that currently partner with the federal government to resettle refugees, six are faith-based.  

Jen Smyers, director of policy and advocacy for Church World Service, criticized that possible move on a call with journalists on Friday. She and other experts on the call argued that ending refugee resettlement would not only leave thousands of refugees stranded but also demolish a refugee resettlement program — one that includes CWS — designed to help people facing persecution.

“I think we would appeal to the president, the vice president and really everyone in the administration who professes to be a person of faith to look at the consequences that this would have and to…

JERUSALEM (RNS) — The region around Jerusalem has a long history of religious practices.

Those practices might date back to the Stone Age.

The people who lived in a recently discovered 9,000-year-old city just outside present-day Jerusalem were likely people of faith, according to an archaeologist who co-led the excavation.

“They carried out rituals and honored their deceased ancestors,” Jacob Vardi, an archaeologist who co-directed the excavation, told Religion News Service.

Discovered during an exploratory dig prior to the construction of a new road 5 kilometers from Jerusalem, the city dates back to the Neolithic Period, also known as the New Stone Age. It predates the first known settlement in Jerusalem by about 3,500 years.

The Israel Antiquities Authority, which unveiled the site Tuesday (July 16), said 2,000 to 3,000 people lived in the ancient city, “one of the largest of its kind in the region.”

This is the first time a prehistoric settlement from this time period has been discovered in central Israel.

Scientists had believed “the Judea area was empty” of settlements from this time, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement.

“Instead of an uninhabited area from that period, we have found a complex site, where varied economic means of subsistence existed, and all this only several dozens of centimeters below the…

Meghan McCain, a co-host on The View, recently revealed in a column on Friday that she had experienced a miscarriage, according to Faithwire.

“I had a miscarriage,” she shared in the opinion piece posted by the New York Times. “I loved my baby, and I always will. To the end of my days I will remember this child — and whatever children come will not obscure that.”

When the conservative co-host had missed a few days of work, gossip began to spread about the miscarriage.

“This was not supposed to be public knowledge,” she said. “I have had my share of public grief and public joy. I wish this grief—the grief of a little life begun and then lost—could remain private.”

But McCain decided to open up about the loss because of the healing and help it could bring other women.

“Miscarriage is a pain too often unacknowledged. Yet it is real, and what we have lost is real,” she said.

During her piece, McCain recalled Scripture as a helpful reminder of God’s faithfulness and sovereignty. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand,” God said in Job 38 when Job grew angry about God’s plan. 

“I do not understand. Life and death are beyond our power,” she wrote. “This miscarriage has reminded me of that truth. And it has reminded me of one other truth: Love is within our power.”

The talk…