Country Music star Dolly Parton has partnered with popular Christian Music artist Zach Williams to make a new hit song titled “There Was Jesus,” a song about hope in troubled times and how Jesus is always there, especially when things seem darkest.

According to The Christian Post, the song topped 10.5 million impressions on the Christian airwaves, which put it in the number 1 spot on Billboard’s Christian Adult Contemporary chart for the week starting September 6, 2020. The song surpassed “Together” by For King And Country, which had held the number 1 spot for 4 weeks running.

In a statement to Billboard Magazine, Dolly Parton commented “Having a No. 1 record at any time is a great thing, but having a No. 1 faith-based record during these crazy times is even greater. I feel humbled and blessed to be part of this wonderful song with Zach Williams. It does my heart good to know that we have touched the lives of so many people.”

The song’s lyrics about Jesus always being there are shown in the powerful bridge and pre-chorus:

There was Jesus / On the mountains / In the valleys / There was Jesus / In the shadows / Of the alleys / There was Jesus / In the fire, in the flood / There was Jesus / Always is and always was, oh / No, I never walk alone / Never walk alone / You’re always there.

Songwriters Casey Beathard and Jonathan Smith collaborated with Zach Williams to write the…

The US Senate failed to approve a coronavirus relief package on Thursday.

Democrats in the Senate said the Republican-sponsored rescue package doesn’t provide enough relief.

The Senate voted 52 to 47 in Thursday’s vote.

All the present Democrats voted against, while conservative Rand Paul, R-Ky., cast the only GOP vote against the measure.

The Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, was campaigning in Miami and missed the vote.

Last week Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the bill wasn’t enough to help parts of the hard-hit nation.

“Republicans may call their proposal ‘skinny,’ but it would be more appropriate to call it ’emaciated,’” he said in a letter to the caucus. Their proposal appears to be completely inadequate and, by every measure, fails to meet the needs of the American people.

“With no money for rental assistance, no money for nutrition assistance, and no money for state and local services, the census, or safe elections, [Majority] Leader [Mitch] McConnell and Senate Republicans would be making another unacceptable and ineffective attempt at providing relief,” he added.

Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the third-ranking GOP senator, told reporters last week that the Republican proposal was a “focused, targeted” solution.

This is not the first proposal the Senate has considered for coronavirus relief as Democrats and Republicans have differed on how best to…

In late August, one high school student was reportedly sent home from Livingston Academy in Tennessee after she refused to change out of her black t-shirt that stated, “homosexuality is a sin” in bold white letters.

Rev. Rich Penkoski, who leads Warriors For Christ, told The Christian Post that his daughter, Brielle Penkoski, had her first amendment rights violated in standing up for biblical truth while the public school is pro-LGBT.

“She wanted to do this on her own. She wanted to go there to … express her values like all the other kids do,” Penkoski argued. “They’ve got kids walking around with the pride symbol on their sneakers and pride clothing and nobody bats an eye.”

“She was basically censored,” he added. “It’s not fair … that she’s told that she can’t wear that shirt and other people can wear the stuff that they wear.”

He explained that Livingston Academy’s principal, Richard Melton stated that the shirt was not allowed in the school as it features “sexual connotation.”

But Penhoski noted that the principal had no problem with an LGBT pride sticker that was posted by one of Brielle’s teachers in his classroom.

“Diverse, Inclusive, Accepting, Welcoming Safe Space For Everyone,” the sticker’s message reads.

Pride messages aside, the preacher added that the school’s teachers are likewise “pushing Joe Biden.”

“But if…

A petition to remove Cuties from Netflix passed 375,000 signatures Friday, as pressure continues to build from the public and even legislators on the company to pull the controversial film.

The movie, which launched on Netflix Sept. 9 and is rated TV-MA, follows a group of 11-year-old girls who join a dance group named “Cuties” and “become aware of their own femininity through dance,” according to the show’s description.

The controversy has focused on the film’s sexually suggestive content. A Twitter clip that has amassed 14 million views shows the girls on stage dressed in risqué outfits while they twerk, touch each other and grind their hips. 

Netflix has defended the movie.

“‘Cuties’ is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement to multiple media outlets. “It’s an award-winning film and a powerful story about the pressure young girls face on social media and from society more generally growing up – and we’d encourage anyone who cares about these important issues to watch the movie.” 

But many are not buying Netflix’s explanation. A Change.org petition calling on the movie to be pulled passed 375,000 signatures Friday. “This movie/show is disgusting as it sexualizes an ELEVEN year old (sic) for the viewing pleasure of pedophiles and also negatively influences our…

On Monday, a Bible featuring a signature from President Trump went up for sale with an asking price of $37,500.

Gary Zimet, who is the CEO and founder of Moments In Time, an online store that features rare autographs and historical documents, explained to Business Insider that the Bible was signed by Trump days after he stood in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington DC as he held up a Bible in his hand.

In June, the President was highly criticized for the incident as nearby protestors were dispersed with tear gas by law enforcement reportedly so that he could pose for a photo-op with the Bible in front of the church in Lafayette Square.

The Bible that Zimet is selling, however, is not the same one from the photo-op. The 67-year-old curator claimed that he had one of his contacts bring the Bible to the White House for Trump to sign the same week of the St. John’s Church controversy.

“Someone like him, having the gall to sign a Bible, after what he did in the photo op is revolting,” Zimet said.

While the online dealer is not a fan of the President, he recognizes that Trump signed memorabilia holds tremendous financial value.

“The only thing I’m interested in, vis-à-vis Trump, is making a profit off of him,” he asserted.

Zimet also has a baseball on sale that features the signatures of Trump as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“A high-ranking…

A California judge on Thursday issued an injunction prohibiting John MacArthur and Grace Community Church from meeting indoors for worship services during the pandemic, thus handing Los Angeles County the ruling it has sought for several weeks.

Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff, in an 18-page decision, ruled that the county’s health order banning large indoor gatherings “has a real and substantial relationship to public health and safety.”

MacArthur and the church have defied the county and state restrictions on indoor worship.

“The court finds the balance of harms tips in favor of the County,” Beckloff wrote. “The potential consequences of community spread of COVID-19 and concomitant risk of death to members of the community – associated and unassociated with the Church – outweighs the harm that flows from the restriction on indoor worship caused by the County Health Order.”

The church can legally worship outdoors, Beckloff noted.

“While the court is mindful that there is no substitute for indoor worship in the ‘spiritual refuge’ of a sanctuary, the court cannot ignore the County Health Order does not dictate a ban on worship. Instead, it provides any worship must take place other than indoors,” Beckloff wrote. “The County Health Order allows worship to occur outdoors, virtually through the internet and in any manner that is not indoors with a large gathering of…

In Ethiopia, throughout the summer, Muslim extremists have carried out an onslaught of anti-Christian attacks that have left hundreds dead and thousands displaced.

According to the Barnabas Fund, an international persecution watchdog, the attacks on Ethiopian believers appear to be coordinated and carefully planned.

“These targeted genocides of Christians by Muslim extremists are going on unabated in the south, south-east and east of Addis Ababa,” an Ethiopian Christian told Barnabas Fund in August.

The attackers are believed to be a youth movement of Oromo men known as Qeerroo or “bachelors.” The Oromo are considered to be an ethnic group who are mainly comprised of Muslims.

In June, Oromo singer Hachalu Hundessa was fatally shot in the capital of Addis Ababa. Following the assassination, Qeeroo members began killing local Christians in door-to-door attacks.

CBN News reports that the attacks were carried out across multiple Ethiopian towns, including Arsi Negele, Ziway, Shashemane, Gedeb Asasa, Kofele, Dodola, Adaba, Robe, Goba, Bale Agarfa, Chiro, Harar, Dire Dawa, Adama, Dera, Asela, and Kembolcha.

Mrs. Eniye Cheru shared her experience with the Barnabas Fund, detailing how the group attacked her family back in June.

“They came to my home and began to knock on our door violently. We tried to escape with our children via the window”, she recounted. “They…

Mainline Protestant parents are twice as likely to have religiously unaffiliated teenaged children as evangelical parents, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.

In a report released Thursday, Pew found that 80% of evangelicals surveyed had a teenage child who shared their religious identification; 81% of Catholic respondents reported the same.  

However, mainline Protestant respondents who had a teenage child that identified as mainline Protestant was 55%, far lower than the evangelical and Catholic samples.

Further, among the three Christian groups, mainline Protestants had the highest percentage of teenage children who identified as unaffiliated, at 24%.

Evangelical respondents had the lowest percentage of unaffiliated teenaged children at 12%, while 15% of Catholic respondents had a teenage child that was religiously unaffiliated.

Among religious unaffiliated parents surveyed, 86% percent of them had a teenage child who was also unaffiliated, while 10% had teens who identified with one of the Christian categories.

When it comes to religious practices with the family, evangelical teens were more likely to engage in such practices compared to…