The pastor of one of the nation’s largest churches told CNN Friday that Americans must start listening to one another and see others as image bearers of God in order to heal the current divide.

Miles McPherson, the pastor of the Rock Church in San Diego, said the “us-versus-them culture” impedes unity and progress. McPherson made the comments on Anderson Cooper 360 amid nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd.

“Everybody’s trying to get their way. And you’re forced to pick a side – you’re either for or against the police, for or against blacks or whites, [but] the third option is that we honor what we have in common,” McPherson said. “We have more similarities than differences, and if we were to focus on that – all of us are on a journey. We all bleed red … [and] we all want to get along and have peace. And so we’ve got to take steps to bridge that gap.”

One strategy toward unity, he said, is to “acknowledge that we have blind spots.”

“A blind spot is you not knowing what you don’t know,” he said. “There are a lot of times we don’t even know when we’re offending somebody. … When you say ‘I don’t see color,’ [you may be] trying to build a bridge but in fact the person of color just feels like you invalidated everything that they are. And when you say you don’t see color, you’re telling someone you don’t…

Over the weekend, Christians in Cary, NC, gathered together to wash the feet of black protestors and faith leaders.

“We really need to have action now, not just prayer,” said Shara Chalmers of Love Wins Ministry. “It was an incredible movement of unity and there was such a presence of Jesus.”

Shara and her husband Daniel are traveling preachers with Love Wins Ministry who were in Ashville when George Floyd was killed. According to CBN, she received a vision from God that sparked the idea to offer foot washing.

“I was distraught and kept having visions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the unity walk that he did, linking arms, brother to brother as they sang in the streets of Washington, DC, ‘We Shall Overcome,’” she said.

“The Lord said, ‘I want a unity walk but I want you to call Dr. Faith Wokoma,” she also said.

At Legacy Center Church with her husband Pastor Soboma Wokoma, Dr. Faith Wokoma was already working on an event to promote racial reconciliation.

“The Lord put on my husband and my heart to serve her vision,” Shara said.

While protestors peacefully marched alongside the foot washing, they sang “We Shall Overcome” and “Amazing Grace.” Joining the protestors were police chiefs from the towns of Morrisville, Apex, and Cary, as well as Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht.

“Two Christian police chiefs wanted to be part of the foot washing and Dr….

HYDERABAD, India, June 8, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Police in Jharkhand, India refused to register a complaint about an attack that sent Christians to the hospital, while officers in another area falsely accused the victims’ relatives in an assault that left a woman unconscious, sources said.

A mob of about 400 animists of the tribal Sarna religion tore down parts of a church building under construction in Budhakaman village, West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand state, on May 10 and attacked Christians at the site, according to Suman Sinku, wife of the church pastor.

“They abused the Christians present there in extremely derogatory language,” Sinku told Morning Star News. “They held Suraj Chatomba and punched his jaws and back. The assailants then knocked another Christian, Muni Chatomba, to the ground and kicked her on her face and upper body.”

Another Christian woman, Bijayanthi Chatomba, ran over to rescue her but was struck in the nose with enough force for it to bleed, Sinku said.

“The mob forcefully held a female Christian, stripped off her clothes including her inner garments, leaving her half-naked, and continued punching her face,” Sinku told Morning Star News. “They thumped Shiromani Chatomba’s chest.”

Christians phoned police about the attack, which began shortly after 11 a.m., and officers showed up at about 2:30 p.m. and dispersed the mob, she…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a trial beginning this week on felony corruption charges.

According to the New York Times, Netanyahu is charged with bribery, breach of trust and fraud. He is accused of giving favors to wealthy businessmen in exchange for gifts such as cigars and Champagne and favorable coverage in some news outlets.

Netanyahu has said he is innocent.

The trial is expected to last about a year or longer, but if convicted, Netanyahu could face years in prison. Also, Netanyahu would have to resign his role.

Netanyahu is one of the few sitting national leaders who have stayed in their top role and faced trial. Historically, national leaders accused of such crimes have resigned.

“It’s a sign of strength,” Sima Kadmon, a political columnist at daily newspaper Yediot Ahronot, said in an interview. “In spite of everything, Benjamin Netanyahu is going on trial today.”

Meanwhile, others say the trial is a distraction from larger issues.

“It’s going to haunt the system,” said Prof. Shlomo Avineri, a political scientist at Hebrew University. “This is not what public discourse should be about. And this is going to continue for some time.”

Netanyahu has called the charges a “witch hunt” against him brought on by his political opponents.

On Sunday, he said the case was “an attempt to thwart the will of the people an attempt to bring me and the right down.

“They…

Nigerian Christians are facing continual persecution from religious extremists in a series of coordinated attacks.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported that 10 people were murdered in a brutal attack at the hands of Fulani militants on June 3, according to CBN News.

The assault was carried out at around 5:00 am in the Tudun Agwalla community in Kajuru, Kaduna state in northwest Nigeria.

One of the ten victims was a three-year-old girl named Elizabeth Samaila who was struck multiple times in the head by a machete. The young girl was taken to a hospital where she died the next day.

The other nine victims were killed after the Fulani militants hacked them to death using machetes. Six of the victims have been identified as Richard Yusuf, Kefas Yusuf, Fidelis Wada, Kachia, Genesis Soja, and Rahab Soja who were all buried in a mass grave.

Rita Friday, 8, also suffered an injury to the head during the attack.

Attacks on Christians have persisted despite COVID-19 restrictions that began in March.

“Southern Kaduna is steadily being transformed into killing fields, either due to a gross failure of governance, or official indifference and acquiescence,” CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said.

“International pressure must now be brought to bear on both the state and federal authorities to ensure protection for these vulnerable communities, and that effective action is taken to…

Chinese officials forcibly removed the crosses from more than 250 churches in one region early this year even though the congregations are registered with the government and are legal, according to a new report.

Religious liberty watchdog Bitter Winter says from January through April, crosses were removed from at least 250 Three-Self churches in the eastern province of Anhui. Unlike illegal house churches, Three-Self churches are members of a government-recognized Protestant body.

On April 1, 10 government officials in Anhui’s Fuyang city approached Gulou Church with the goal of overseeing the removal of the building’s cross but were blocked by more than 100 members, Bitter Winter reported. Despite the bold effort of the Christians, the cross was removed the next morning. The congregation is 124 years old.

Church officials said they were told all religious symbols – including Christian, Islamic and Buddhist – must be removed across the country.

“We support the state and comply with its regulations,” a congregation member told Bitter Winter. “We can have a dialogue with the government if it thinks that we have done something wrong, but they can’t persecute us this way. Officials did not show any documents, fearing that people would implicate them with anything in writing. They only conveyed verbal orders and forced us to obey them.”

In one county in Anhui province,…

Colorado voters this November will consider whether to prohibit abortion after 22 weeks of gestation thanks to the success of a bipartisan petition drive.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said this week that a coalition, known as Due Date Too Late, had turned in 153,204 valid signatures to place the pro-life Initiative 120 on the ballot, far more than the 124,632 that were required.

The initiative would make it “unlawful for any person to intentionally or recklessly perform or attempt to perform an abortion on any other person if the probable gestational age of the fetus is at least 22 weeks.” It makes an exception for the life of the mother.

“This is an incredible victory for Due Date Too Late and our dedicated volunteers, who worked tirelessly to ensure that Coloradans will have the chance to vote to save lives from late-term abortion in November,” said Lauren Castillo, spokesperson for the Due Date Too Late campaign. “The numbers handed in are indicative of the overwhelming support for Initiative 120 and we are prepared and excited for the next step in the campaign.”

Colorado voters twice have defeated “personhood” proposals that would ban all abortions. Supporters of Initiative 120, though, say the public is on their side.

A 2018 Gallup survey found only 13 percent of Americans believe abortion should generally be legal during the final three months…

Gunmen killed 58 people, mostly Christians, in three separate attacks in the West African nation of Burkina Faso late last month. TRT World reported that a security source blamed groups with ties to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The attacks took place in Loroum, Kompienga, and Sanmatenga within 24 hours of each other on May 30th and 31st. A local source spoke to a survivor who said the gunmen targeted Christians and humanitarian relief workers who were taking food to a camp of displaced people, according to the Christian ministry the Barnabas Fund.

One of the attacks killed six civilians and seven soldiers. A survivor said the driver of one of the trucks identified himself as a Muslim, shouting, “forgive, forgive, we are also followers of the prophet Muhammad. At this the gunmen allegedly said to one another, “they have the same religion as us.”

Bloodshed and violence have crippled Burkina Faso, which is one of the world’s poorest nations, since 2017. Groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic state have carried out horrific acts of violence, which has displaced more than five hundred thousand people.

Last year, Islamic gunmen stormed a protestant church and killed 14. Another group of gunmen killed a pastor and five other worshippers in an attack last April.

According to Al Jazeera, no one has claimed responsibility for the latest round of attacks.

Burkina Faso is ranked the 28^th most…