Intelligence agents in Iran have forced an Assyrian Christian church to close its doors.

According to the Assyrian International News Agency, agents “stormed” the 100-year-old Presbyterian church on May 9, changed the locks and removed the cross from the church tower.

“They made it clear that the Assyrian people are no longer allowed to hold any worship service there,” a source told Article18.

The source also said that the government agents installed a monitoring system around the church and threatened the custodian at the Tabriz church.

In 2011, the church was “confiscated” by a Revolutionary Court order, but church members have been allowed to use the building for services in the Assyrian language.

“Many churches owned by Protestants have been confiscated in Iran,” said Article18’s Advocacy Director, Mansour Borji, “In most cases the government has been unable to repurpose them, especially if they were listed. So they typically remain as empty buildings, often neglected, and turn into ruins before being demolished, as was the case with the church in Kerman.”

Under the constitution of the Islamic Republic, Assyrian Christians and Armenian Christians are allowed freedom of worship, but the groups are forbidden from holding services in the Persian language. Officials have said that services in Persian are proselytizing and converts to the…

While there has been an unexpected resurgence in giving, the Southern Baptists are hemorrhaging church members, culminating in 30-year low attendance numbers. 

According to the denomination’s Annual Church Profile, membership tumbled down to 14.8 million in 2018 — which is the first time it has dipped below 15 million since 1989. Though the overall giving elevated to a healthy $11.8 billion, the SBC is rightly concerned by the latest figures, which indicate a sizeable exodus of members.

“Facts are our friends, even when the facts themselves are unfriendly,” tweetedSouthwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President, Adam Greenway. “Heartbreaking to see these ACP declines. We must do better as Southern Baptists. God help us.”

For the past decade or so, the number of people baptized in the Southern Baptist denomination has also been falling steadily – down to 246,000 baptisms a year. Shockingly, that number is about the same as was recorded back in the 1940s when the SBC was a fraction of its current size.

“Like many, I am discouraged to see 7,000 less baptisms this year,” the president of the SBC, J. D. Greear, told Christianity Today. “It is the Lord who saves, but this information should spur us on even more to be intentional in evangelism.”

Though the baptism numbers are disappointing for a denomination that is centered around seeing lives transformed by…

Indiana megachurch Emmanuel Church is making waves in a local prison and correctional facilities by launching several campuses within the high-security gates. 

Men and women who have struggled with addiction or are sentenced to years behind bars are finding Christ through the services. And, according to Rachel Long, the executive pastor of multisite and families with the nondenominational church, the best part about it all is that it’s volunteer-run.

“The way that we view it is that they can’t come to Christ inside these dark places without someone having the courage to go in,” Long told the Christian Post. “The thing that is most inspiring to me as a pastor is each one of those [microsites] is completely run by our impact [volunteer] team.” 

The church has seen encouraging results. Fifteen inmates have given their lives to Christ for the first time and “countless others” have recommitted their lives to Christ. The impact team, which consists of 25 church volunteers, attend monthly equipping meetings on how to share the gospel and continue to love the inmates.

Launched in January of this year, these “microsite” campuses, that closely resemble the services at Emmanuel, are held in the Johnson County Jail, Johnson County Community Corrections work-release center and the Theodora House, a women’s recovery center run by…

In an email and Facebook post, Franklin Graham has asked Christians across the nation to pray for President Trump on June 2.

“Along with 250+ Christian leaders, I am asking followers of Christ across our nation to set aside next Sunday, June 2, as a special day of prayer for the President, Donald J. Trump,” the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said in his Facebook post. “President Trump’s enemies continue to try everything to destroy him, his family, and the presidency. In the history of our country, no president has been attacked as he has. I believe the only hope for him, and this nation, is God.”

The 250+ leaders signed a statement of faith for June 2. Each leader has committed to pray that “God would protect, strengthen, embolden and direct [Donald J. Trump].”

Some of these leaders include Senior Pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship Greg Laurie, former State Rep. Michele Bachmann, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. 

Graham continued his plea in his Facebook post: “This is a critical time for America. We’re on the edge of a precipice. Time is short. We need to pray for God to intervene. We need to ask God to protect, strengthen, encourage, and guide the President. We know that God hears and answers prayer. He can soften hearts and change minds. He is all-powerful, and He rules over the affairs of…

LAHORE, Pakistan, May 28, 2019 (Morning Star News) – A Muslim landlord outside Faisalabad, Pakistan tortured a worker to death for daring, as a “lowly Christian,” to work for another employer, relatives said.

Javed Masih, a Catholic in Nulka Kohala village, a suburb of Faisalabad in Punjab Province, on May 10 had sought a 10,000-rupee loan (US$66) from his employer, Chaudhry Abbas Jutt, for medical treatment for his physically handicapped, 6-year-old son, Masih’s wife said.

“The landlord not only refused to give Javed the money, he also admonished him for not paying back 5,000 rupees [US$33] that he owed him,” Ghazala Javed, 25, told Morning Star News.

When Jutt refused, her husband approached another landlord in the village, Chaudhry Muhammad Tariq Jutt, and obtained a 25,000-rupee loan (US$166) for working his land. In Pakistan, workers obtain loans at excessive interest while working at artificially low wages, ensuring a cycle of debt and dependence.

On the morning of May 16, Abbas Jutt summoned Masih to his house for “settling his account,” Ghazala Javed said.

“My husband went to Jutt’s house along with his nephew Saleem Masih, telling us that they would return in an hour after paying back the debt,” she said. “However, Saleem returned home after half an hour. He said that Jutt had sent him back, saying that he needed…