On Monday, a lawsuit was filed by multiple religious schools that have taken issue with California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent school closure order.

According to The Christian Post, the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California, aims to obtain an injunction on the order.

Private Schools from various faith backgrounds are listed on the complaint including three Jewish schools based in Los Angeles and two Christian schools. Individual parents are also listed on the suit.

In part, the suit asserts that the “Plaintiffs bring this particular suit to advance their rights as religious schools, parents, students, and educators to choose — again, consistent with sound science, data, and their own individual circumstances — to hold in-person religious education in a manner consistent with their faith.”

It continues, “Our laws are clear that government shall make no law abridging the free exercise of religion. Laws that treat religious institutions, including schools, unequally must be narrowly tailored to minimize the burden they place on a fundamental right.”

Taking issue with how “similarly situated entities” have been permitted to reopen, the suit argues that “Parents have the right to direct the education of their children in the religious setting of their choice.”

Sebastian Petz, superintendent of Montebello…

A congregation in Illinois has taken steps to help curb the spread of COVID-19 and allow for a safer in-person worship experience by temporarily installing Plexiglas barriers for some of their pews.

Progressive Church of God in Christ of Springfield recently added the barriers, which can be removed from the pews when deemed necessary, and has used them during worship.

Pastor Glenn Jackson of Progressive Church told The Christian Post in an interview on Tuesday that the idea and creation of the barriers occurred a couple of months ago.

Jackson felt it was “extremely important” to have the church members be “able to come together in a faith environment to have fellowship” to counter the many who were “experiencing some level of depression or sense of isolation.”

“We wanted to create an atmosphere where people can come, young and old,” explained Jackson. “I thought it was important that for their emotional, physical, mental, and more importantly for their spiritual health…

An Ohio mother says her 9-year-old daughter is saying she is “going to be with Jesus” after the girl tested positive for COVID-19.

According to The Christian Post, doctors have told Dorielis Reyes’ mother that she is in “the process of dying.”

“She always said, ‘I’m going to be with Jesus,” Doranny Escolastico-Paula told the Journal-News of her daughter, Dorielis Reyes. “I want to go be with Jesus. I want to go first.”

Paula says that Reyes began showing symptoms on May 10 and then was hospitalized May 19.

“She always had a curious spirit, was never afraid to make new friends, and loved to go to church,” Paula wrote. “On the 10th of May of this year, she began walking a little strange, and later began to drag one of her feet because she couldn’t walk on it. I took her to the hospital because it was obviously not normal for her. She later lost movement in parts of her body and there at the hospital, she was tested for COVID-19 where the results came out positive.”

In a GoFundMe campaign page, Paula says that doctors aren’t sure why her daughter’s brain is swelling, but they sent the family home for treatment.

“After a week of being home, she lost the ability to walk, was beginning to lose the ability to speak, and was beginning to have severe headaches when on July 19th she had an epileptic seizure and was then admitted once again to the hospital, now…

Bestselling author and distinguished pastor of Los Angeles’ Zoe Church, Chad Veach, says he wants to help everyone tap into their leadership potential. 

The pastor’s new book, Help! I Work With People: Getting Good at Leadership, Influence, and People Skills, was birthed out of something God deposited into his heart a few years ago.

“God was speaking to me about writing my first leadership book. … There’s nothing that God loves more than humanity,” Veach told The Christian Post in a recent video interview.

John 3:16, he said, is the most famous verse in the whole world because it resonates with everyone that God gave His only Son, for the “whomsoever’s, anyone.” 

“I wanted to write a book that was all about people because we really need to turn our heart toward humanity,” added Veach, who leads one of the fastest-growing young adult ministries in the United States. “I feel like in this political climate, in this culture that we’re in right now, opinions are not going to change people, but the love of God will.

“The spirit of it (the book) isn’t, ugh … ‘Help! I work with people!’ It’s more like the Apostle Paul; I want to win with people. So I become…

A California bill that would set up a taxpayer-funded “transgender wellness” fund for children and adults who wish to change genders has passed the state Assembly and two Senate committees, meaning the state’s citizens could soon be funding hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery for minors and adults.

Critics, including the California Family Council, say the money would be used to “sterilize children” who want to change genders.

The bill, AB 2218, would establish a “Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund” within the State Department of Public Health to benefit organizations, hospitals and health care clinics that “provide gender-conforming health care services and have an established partnership with a Trans-led organization,” according to the bill’s text.

It passed the state Senate appropriations committee 7-0 on Monday. It sailed through the Assembly in June.

The money would be used for a variety of purposes, including educational materials and arts programs, but it also would be used for “gender-affirming health care services, such as hormone therapy or gender reassignment surgery,” according to the bill’s text.

The bill sets no age limit for hormone therapy or gender reassignment surgery. The bill’s findings quote a study that found that 27 percent, or 796,000, of youth ages 12 to 17 in California are “viewed as gender nonconforming…

A recent poll released by Fox News shows that 28 percent of white evangelicals are planning to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the upcoming election.

According to Relevant Magazine, this uptick is a 12 point lead on Hillary Clinton’s evangelical support in 2016. Even former President Barack Obama only earned 26 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2008. If the polling numbers translate accurately to the number of votes, this type of support would secure a victory for Biden.

Other polls, however, show that white evangelicals have not shifted from their support of Trump. A recent poll released by the Pew Research Center shows that 83 percent of white evangelicals support Trump, an increase of two percent from the 81 percent who voted for him in 2016.

Trump has been working hard to earn the evangelical vote, as reported by Christian Headlines earlier this week, with a U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

“It’s an incredible thing for Israel, [and] it’s incredible for the evangelicals, by the way,” Trump said on Fox and Friends. “The evangelicals love Israel. Love Israel.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Convention is in full swing this week working to dismantle Trump’s administration. Former First Lady Michelle Obama claimed Trump was “in over his head” and “has had enough time to show he can do the…

A Chinese government agency last week fined a Christian man $2,870 for holding an online Bible study it says violated a new anti-religion law.

The man, Zhang Wenli, lives in Yunnan province and was contacted Aug. 11 by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau and accused of hosting “illegal religious education training” online, according to International Christian Concern (ICC). 

The letter quoted a new law, the 2018 Regulations on Religious Affairs, which states that “non-religious groups, non-religious schools, non-religious activity sites, and temporary activity sites not appropriately designated as religious ones cannot conduct religious activities, accepting religious donations, carrying out religious training ….”

He was fined 20,000 RMB (approximately $2,870 U.S.).

Christians in China are allowed to join government-sanctioned churches that are part of the Three-Self movement. Because such congregations face heavy regulations and even persecution, millions of Chinese Christians worship in illegal house churches. 

“This shows that it will be increasingly risky for any Christian in China to hold Bible study or conduct church activities online,” ICC said in a statement. “From Wuhan, Sichuan, to Yunnan, the local authorities have been keeping their eyes on Christians, especially those from house churches. Many of their online activities were bugged…

JOS, Nigeria, August 18, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Amid a groundswell of domestic and international condemnation of unchecked violence by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria, 37 more Christians were killed in Kaduna state so far this month, sources said.

Following the slaughter of 33 Christians in Zangon Kataf County in early August, Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Kachia County on Monday (Aug. 17) killed four Christians and kidnapped their driver, Danlami Dariya, as their vehicle made its way from Katul village, area resident Zephaniah Bature said.

“Four of the Christians inside the car were killed instantly,” Bature told Morning Star News by text message. “The driver was kidnapped by the herdsmen, and among those killed are three men and an old woman.”

Muslim Fulani herdsmen also attacked Kachia County’s Bugai village on Sunday (Aug. 16), according to area resident Mamman Danbaba.

“There was yet another attack by Fulani herdsmen at about 8 p.m.” Danbaba said by text message. “Many lives were lost, and many Christians were injured. Houses and properties burned.”

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a…

The Gospel Music Association announced the nominees for the 51^st annual Dove Awards.

For King & Country and Zach Williams each received five nominations, while Hillsong Worship, Lauren Daigle, Kirk Franklin, and Jonathan McReynolds each garnered four nominations.

Most of the attention this year will likely focus on Kanye West who received three nominations. Kanye West’s album Jesus is King is nominated for Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year. West released the album to much acclaim in November.

Another well-known crossover artist received her first Dove Award nomination. Gloria Gaynor, who rose to fame during the 1970’s with her hit “I Will Survive,” is nominated for her album Testimony, CBN News reports. She was also honored this year with a Grammy for Best Roots Gospel Album.

For King & Country shared their appreciation for their nominations on their Twitter account. They said, “With all that humanity has faced in 2020, it seems music, and particularly must with hope and God laced through it, is more needed and timely than ever. We find it humbling to be part of bringing these thoughts and ideas to the world through our songs.”

GMA President Jackie Patillo explained the importance of the music the Dove Awards celebrate each year, saying, “The GMA is honored to continue its legacy of celebrating our diverse creative community and the must that moves us and ministers to…

Approximately 90% of religious adherents who currently watch services online or on TV said they are at least “somewhat” satisfied with the experience but a majority of them plan to return to in-person worship once the coronavirus pandemic passes, according to a new poll.

Data for the poll, conducted July 13 to July 19, 2020, by the Pew Research Center was drawn from the responses of a nationally representative panel of 10,211 randomly selected U.S. adults.

Some one-third of respondents reported that they watched religious services online or on television in the past month, and just over half of that number said they began engaging with these remote services for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic.

Among this group of Americans, nine out of 10 said they were “very” satisfied or “somewhat” satisfied with the experience. More than half of the group, 54%, indicated that they were “very” satisfied while 37% said they were “somewhat” satisfied.

Nevertheless, most online worshipers said as soon as the pandemic is over they plan to return to in-person religious services or reduce their engagement online. This is overwhelmingly…