Grammy winner Billie Eilish was once “super religious” but “it just completely went away”: My letter to her

Billie Eilish (AP Images)

Billie Eilish is an eighteen-year-old American singer and songwriter. Earlier this year, she became the youngest ever to win the four main Grammy categories—Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year—in the same year.

In a new episode of her podcast, me & dad radio, she opened up to her father about her past faith and how it has impacted her views of religion today. “I don’t know if any of you know—I don’t think I’ve ever talked about it. When I was little, when I was a little kid, I was super religious for no d*** reason,” she said. “My family never was religious. I didn’t know anyone that was religious. And for some reason, as a little girl, I just was incredibly religious.” 

She continued: “And then at one point, I don’t know what happened. It just completely went away.” Now, she says, “I’ve loved the idea of other beliefs. And I think people with closed minds, people like me from a couple years ago—I think that’s very pathetic to have a closed mind. It’s very lame.” 

Eilish described her current place: “I don’t, not believe and I don’t do believe. I’m in a very neutral position. I’m open to every belief pretty much.” She added that she loves “the idea that there’s a God. So why not? How would I know? I’m not going to say I know I don’t, nobody knows.” 

As I note below, Billie Eilish’s beliefs are important not just because of her cultural influence but because she speaks for so many people. I would like to respond to her in a way that I hope is helpful to you as you engage with the people you know who share her beliefs. 

In addition, I have long championed the belief that we should not say about people what we are not willing to say to them (cf. Matthew 18:15). 

In that spirit, I’ll share with you the letter I emailed to her this morning. 

My letter to Billie Eilish 

Billie, 

I am a…

… Read More



Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.

قالب وردپرس

COVID-19 survivors credit supernatural experiences with God for saving their lives

 

L to R: COVID-19 survivors Barbara Killiebrew, Clay Bentley, Lee McClelland and Geneva Wood. | Screenshots

Americans across the country are celebrating Easter at home with their families on Sunday, including survivors of COVID-19 who say God’s supernatural intervention saved their lives.  

… Read More

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

Houston pastor dies of COVID-19, heart was ‘too weak’

The late Rev. Vickey Gibbs of died from the coronavirus on Friday July 10, 2020. | Facebook/ Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church

Correction appended

Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church, a liberal church in Houston, Texas, is now grieving one of its associate pastors who died from the new coronavirus Friday because her heart was “just too weak” to fight the disease.

Vickey Gibbs, 57, died Friday morning just two days after she was rushed to a local hospital, Rev. Troy Treash, RMCC’s senior pastor, said in an announcement on Facebook.

“With a heavy heart, we share with you that our beloved Resurrection family member and Associate Pastor Reverend Vickey Gibbs succumbed to the COVID-19 virus at 7:31 am Central time on Friday, July 10. She had been taken to the emergency room on Wednesday, diagnosed with pneumonia, and placed on a ventilator. The doctors said her heart was just too weak to fight the infection,” Treash said.

“Please keep Cassandra and their daughters Cara and Ariel, along with their precious grandchild Xavier in your prayers. We will let…

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

Inside the cathedral that almost became a coronavirus field hospital

Looking down the nave of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. | Dennis Lennox

The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City is hardly a typical church or cathedral.

The 121,000-square-foot cathedral, seat of the Episcopal bishop of New York, is the world’s largest cathedral. While there are bigger churches, none are, properly speaking, cathedrals.

It was announced last week that St. John the Divine would host a coronavirus field hospital from neighboring Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital in conjunction with Samaritan’s Purse. However, controversy erupted almost immediately.

The cathedral received significant criticism from the political left — the congregation is unabashedly liberal in its practice of Christianity — for allowing Samaritan’s Purse, run by conservative evangelist Franklin Graham, to use its space.

Within a couple of days, the field hospital closed before it even opened.

All sides say it was no longer needed, thanks to the decline in the number of new coronavirus hospital admissions. That may be the public explanation, but many believe what really happened was a case of deplatforming.

Regardless, anyone interested in historic churches and ecclesiastical architecture should visit St. John the Divine.

The high altar inside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. | Dennis Lennox

The architectural masterpiece is primarily Gothic revival,…

… Read More

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

Indiana megachurch leaves United Methodist Church to choose its own pastor

Granger Community Church of Granger, Indiana, a former United Methodist Church congregation that cut ties with the denomination in 2020. | Courtesy Granger Community Church

A megachurch in Indiana has cut ties with the United Methodist Church in large part so that it can choose its own leadership as its founding pastor steps down.

Granger Community Church, a multisite congregation which had a pre-pandemic weekly worship attendance of around 4,000 people, recently finalized its exit from the UMC.

The UMC Indiana Conference released a statement Monday confirming the dismissal, saying the process was “governed by mutual respect and a prayerful commitment to spread the love of Jesus Christ.”

“We are pleased that the parties’ settlement was amicable and honored the connection that binds all United Methodist Churches in one shared mission as recognized by our Book of Discipline,” stated the conference.

“Granger Community Church has had many ministries that have helped to shape many communities, and the Conference and Bishop Trimble wish them all the best on their…

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

She had an abortion 30 years ago; now, God is using her to save lives

A framed message is seen at the Evangelicals for Life conference in Virginia, Jan. 17, 2019. | Photo: ERLC

As the abortion debate rages, Karen Ellison and her organization Deeper Still are working to change the way our culture thinks about life.

“I think that this whole abortion debate has tried to frame it around our identity. If I have to have children then somehow I am being enslaved in some way,” she said in a recent interview with The Pure Flix Podcast. “Children have become the bad guy in this and that somehow takes away from my womanhood and takes away from my identity.”

READ ALSO: 8 Powerful Pro-Life Movies That Honor The Value Of The Unborn

Ellison continued, “But we’ve taken it to such an extreme degree and it has tipped women against their children and fathers against their children. We’ve become so idolatrous.”

Listen to Ellison, author of the book Healing The Hurt That Won’t Heal: Freedom for Abortion-Wounded and Help For The Church They Fear, share her story and her quest to help save lives:

She highlighted the recent Golden Globe Awards where actress Michelle Williams used her acceptance speech as an opportunity to shout her pro-abortion beliefs.

Her speech was met with thunderous applause and a standing ovation — a true sign of the times, said Ellison.

“The louder we shout to justify our abortions, the more you drown out your heart,” she said. “You want your heart…

… Read More

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

Megachurch pastor warns ‘woke’ Christians: Don’t jump on ‘cultural hype trains’

Pastor Ed Young | Courtesy of Ed Young

In today’s relativistic culture, far too many Christian leaders and pastors blindly jump on the “hype train” of what culture applauds without filtering it through the lens of Scripture.

That’s according to Ed Young, senior pastor of Fellowship Church, one of North America’s most attended churches over the past decade with locations in Texas, Florida and Oklahoma. In an interview with The Christian Post, Young warned that too many Christians today are being “sucked into the vortex of a secular worldview.”

“‘Woke’ Christian leaders and pastors today are jumping on the ‘hype train’ of what culture is currently applauding,” he said. “But they don’t really look at what the hype train is connected to. For example, many of the things culture applauds are connected to relativism, abortion, transgenderism, the breakup of the nuclear family.”

One example of the “hype train” many Christians have been far too eager to jump on in recent months is the promotion of the Black Lives Matter organization, according to…

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

9 ways people can help during the coronavirus outbreak

Samaritan’s Purse set up an Emergency Field Hospital in East Meadow in New York City’s Central Park in response to the coronavirus, March 2020. | Samaritan’s Purse

With over 2 million cases of novel coronavirus worldwide and stay-at-home orders shutting down schools and businesses, many at home are looking for ways they can do their part to help those most impacted by the pandemic. 

As an increasing number of people face financial struggles, there are a number of charities, churches, and individuals out there that have stepped up their responses in the midst of the crisis in a variety of ways. 

Some charities and local food pantries are finding new ways to help feed the homeless and the millions who are now out of work, while other groups and missionaries are on the front lines of treating patients infected with the crisis. 

Not only are these organizations in need of financial support, but many are also looking for volunteers who can lend their time in a social distance-friendly way to help their causes. 

Below are 9 ways people can contribute to COVID-19 relief efforts. 

Give blood 

For those stuck at home with extra time on their hands, one tangible way they can help others in the midst of this crisis is by donating their blood. 

Considering that thousands of blood drives across the nation have been canceled in light of social distancing orders, the American Red Cross is calling on healthy…

… Read More

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

Judge rejects NM megachurch’s request to ease in-person worship restrictions

Legacy Church’s East Mountain campus in New Mexico | Legacy Church

A judge has rejected a New Mexico megachurch’s request to ease state restrictions on in-person worship gatherings amid the state’s ongoing lockdown orders in response to COVID-19.

Legacy Church, an Albuquerque-based multi-site congregation of about 20,000 members, sued New Mexico in April, arguing that restrictions on in-person gatherings violated their First Amendment rights.

The church sought both a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction against a series of public health orders, believing they placed an unfair burden on their religious practices.

U.S. District Court Judge James Browning on Monday ruled against both requests in the case, known as Legacy Church v. Kunkel and the state of New Mexico.

Browning concluded that the various public health orders did not show an inherent animus toward religious groups, but rather included similar restrictions on secular entities as well.

“… as the coronavirus threat ebbs and flows, New Mexico must ensure that its Public Health Orders remain…

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

Megachurch pastor reveals the miracle that brought his family to faith

Pastor Allen Jackson has served World Outreach Church since 1981, becoming senior pastor in 1989. Under his leadership, WOC has grown to a congregation of over 15,000 through outreach activities, community events and worship services designed to share the Gospel. | Courtesy of Thomas Nelson

Allen Jackson, lead pastor at World Outreach Church — a 15,000-member church located in Nashville, Tennessee — recently recalled how an incredible miracle transformed his family’s faith.

READ MORE: 5 Powerful Prayers For Heart Change And Life Transformation

In a recent interview with “The Pure Flix Podcast,” Jackson, author of the new book, Intentional Faith: Aligning Your Life with the Heart of God, recounted his upbringing and how his family found Christ many years ago through his mother’s cancer diagnosis.

As the family departed for testing at the Mayo Clinic one day, his mom made the decision to turn to God. Jackson explained, “She prayed a little prayer to ‘let me know the truth so I can tell my children.”

And what happened next was absolutely incredible: the cancer disappeared and her family learned the truth.

“They got [to the doctor] and they couldn’t find the tumors,” Jackson said.

Listen to more of Jackson’s incredible story:

It was that prayer and an act of reliance that changed everything. And then his mom was washing dishes after her healing and she heard a voice that said, “You asked to know…

… Read More

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس