A New York pastor says God began to help heal him from coronavirus after his doctor prayed for him.

In a YouTube video by The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, Pastor Benjamin Thomas of The Queens Church of God says his case of COVID-19 lasted more than 100 days, including 54 days on a ventilator and six weeks in a coma.

“It was a very rough journey,” he said. “Still, I’m going home today. COVID-19 is real. I know some people do not want to wear masks and don’t want to keep social distancing. It is very important to take this thing seriously. You don’t want to go [through] what I went through.”

Thomas was first admitted to a Long Island hospital and placed on a ventilator. His family then asked for him to be transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital.

“During the first couple of weeks of April we were not making much headway and there was one point in particular which was the night of April 19th,” his doctor, Robin Varghese, said. “I was on call that night and he was in the worst shape, and many of our team members who were rooting for him were also losing hope, as was I.”

“At that point, I went into his room really late at night as I was on call,” the doctor said. “I really just told God there’s nothing else I can offer him. He’s got to take over because we had given him everything that modern medicine can throw at him.”

Later that night, Varghese said he had a realization of…

Could a COVID-19 vaccine potentially be the mark of the beast as referenced in Revelation 13:18?

Author and Christian talk show host Hank Hanegraaff tackled that question on his Bible Answer Man broadcast this week following comments by singer Kanye West, who said the vaccine would be the mark of the beast.

Hanegraaff, though, said it would not be the mark. The mark of the beast, he asserted, is symbolic.

“The mark in Revelation chapter 13 symbolizes identity with the beast. And as such, identifying with Satan’s kingdom is what will keep you out of heaven, not getting vaccinated,” said Hanegraaff, who holds a preterist view of the end times.

Hanegraaff gave an example to support his view: “In Exodus chapter 13, eating unleavened bread is likened to a sign on the hand and a reminder on the forehead of the children of Israel. And thus, the mark of the beast in Revelation is securely tethered to the Scripture.”

Taking on the mark of the beast, he said, is “the intentional denial in thought, in word, in deed of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.”

Referencing discussion about the vaccine being the mark of the beast, Hanegraaff urged Christians to not partake in the “trafficking in selling of sensationalism.”

“Fall in love with the Word of God all over again, rather than falling in love with the words of social icons,” he encouraged the audience.

Hanegraaff also urged…

(RNS) — Three evangelical churches in California have sued Gov. Gavin Newsom for banning singing and chanting in places of worship but permitting such activities elsewhere.

The state’s July 13 order about COVID-19 permits worship services as well as fitness centers, hotels, shopping malls and protests to remain open or active in Mendocino and Butte counties, where the suing churches are located.

“Singing and chanting, however, is only banned in places of worship,” says the 20-page complaint filed Wednesday (July 15) in a federal district court by the American Center for Law and Justice and two other legal groups.

Calvary Chapel Ukiah, Calvary Chapel Fort Bragg and River of Life Church in Oroville asked the court to halt officials in the state and their counties from enforcing the orders that call for no singing in houses of worship.

“Banning singing in California churches is an unconstitutional abuse of power,” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the ACLJ, in an announcement about the suit. “And to do it in the name of a pandemic is despicable.”

The state’s early July guidance for houses of worship notes a higher risk of transmitting COVID-19 in a congregational setting of multiple households.

“In particular, activities such as singing and chanting negate the risk-reduction achieved through six feet of physical distancing,” the 14-page document…

Christian citizens in China who receive social welfare payments have been ordered to abandon their faith or risk losing government support, according to a new report.

The policy impacts low-income religious citizens who receive government assistance, according to Bitter Winter, a watchdog that monitors reports of persecution in China.

Multiple cities and towns across the country have implemented the policy.

In April, officials from several villages in Shanxi province were called together for a meeting and ordered by the government “to remove crosses, religious symbols and images from the homes of people of faith who receive social welfare payments” and replace them with portraits of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (1893-1976) and current President Xi Jinping.

A Christian in one of the villages told Bitter Winter that officials tore down Christian imagery in his home and hung a picture of Zedong.

“Impoverished religious households can’t receive money from the state for nothing – they must obey the Communist Party for the money they receive,” the Christian told Bitter Winter.

A house church pastor said village officials visited his home in May and replaced a cross with a picture of Zedong.

“All impoverished households in the town were told to display Mao Zedong images,” the pastor said. “The government is trying to eliminate our belief and wants to become…

A small-town church in Tennessee is receiving nationwide attention after honoring its local police department in a public ceremony with a gift of $1,000 for each officer.

The congregation, Lighthouse Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Tenn., wanted to encourage the officers in light of criticism police have received nationally in recent months. 

All total, it cost the church $23,000 to honor Jonesboro’s entire police force of 23 officers.

The ceremony was so unique that Lighthouse Baptist Church pastor Perry Cleek was invited to the White House for a July 13 event on law enforcement. 

“Our church watched over the last few weeks … the way that our police officers were treated all over the country,” Cleek said at the White House.

Police officers, he said, have “been demonized and disgraced and dishonored.”

“And we got our heads together and thought, ‘What can we do as a small church in a small town to honor our police, and to let our voice be known?’ … The voice of small-town America is seldom heard.”

Cleek and his church landed on an idea: a public ceremony honoring the local department.

“We went through the chief of police and the public safety director, and we asked them if we could hold a public ceremony on the steps of the courthouse on Main Street in Jonesboro, on July 4 at 11 o’clock in the morning, and present each member of the Jonesboro Police…

Christian comedian John Crist spoke out on social media Wednesday for the first time in eight months, acknowledging the “hurt” and “embarrassment” he caused others.

“The biggest hypocrite in all this was me,” a pensive Crist said in a four-minute Instagram video.

It was his first post on the platform since November, when . posted a story alleging he had been involved in sexting and sexual harassment. Crist, in a November statement, admitted to “sexual sin and addiction struggles.” . story broke just as Crist was embarking on a nationwide tour and shortly after Netflix launched a special featuring his comedy. The tour was canceled, and Netflix pulled the show.

Crist, in the new video, said he was “incredibly humbled to receive” support the past few months that was “certainly undeserved based on decisions that I made in my personal life.”

“I made a lot of poor choices in my personal life. … I made a lot of decisions that hurt myself, that hurt other people, and embarrassed myself and had consequences,” he said. “I can look you in the eye and own that. … Those decisions were mine and no one else’s and no one else is to be blamed. … I made those choices. … I had a problem, and I needed to get some help.”

“… The most embarrassing part of this whole thing is that the biggest hypocrite in all this was me – that I was portraying…