Francis Chan has warned that the American Church’s “obsession” with church attendance has led to its current state of division and encouraged the Body of Christ to return to an emphasis on unity and love.

“I really believe there are some serious mistakes we made in the U.S. [that have] led to the church being in the state that it’s in right now: Super divided, and the reputation of evangelical Christians in the U.S. has never been worse,” Chan, the bestselling author and former California megachurch pastor, said during a Zoom meeting with 150 church leaders from all around the world.

“I mean, you just say that word and it’s just like a cringing. It’s just an assumption that it’s some politically driven group that they want nothing to do with. It’s never been this bad.”

According to Chan, the “number one mistake” churches in the U.S. make is being “obsessed with church attendance.”

“We panicked and thought, ‘we’ve got to do everything we can to get as many people as we can there,’” he…

Nigerian Reverend [Polycarp] Zongo of the Church of Christ in Nations is still being imprisoned in the Islamic State West African Province in Nigeria, despite previous reports they had freed him, The Christian Post reports.

The Khalifah Army, an Islamic Terrorist group in the region, released a proof of life video in October.

The video is in Nigerian, but it was reportedly considered proof to Christians around the world that the pastor was alive. However, it wasn’t proof the pastor was released.

Most of the rumors surrounding the pastor’s release came from the Islamic State West Africa Province themselves, according to Morning Star News.

Morning Star News claims they got news of the pastor’s supposed release from his church, the Church of Christ in Nigeria. The Christian Post reports that Christians around the world celebrated his release.

It is unclear where the rumors started, but Para Mallam, the head of the Nigerian Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation stated, “We have been sold fake news. Unfortunately, we fell for it. We believed that maybe there was some truth in this. You can imagine the harrowing pain his wife and children and friends are going through right now. “The source of the rumor would provide a clue as to whether the rumor will be worse for him or better for him.”

Nigeria has been ravaged by war in Boko Haram. The Islamic State West…

Hillsong founding pastor Brian Houston sent out an email to church staff and members of Hillsong East Coast on Wednesday afternoon, announcing the termination of Hillsong NYC’s lead pastor, Carl Lentz.

In a statement, which was sent to The Christian Post by Hillsong, Houston revealed that Lentz’s termination was due to “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.”

Members of the Hillsong NY staff revealed to CP that they were currently “processing” the news.

“I know this will come as a shock to you, but please know that this action was not taken lightly and was done in the best interests of everyone, including Pastor Carl,” Houston, whose church has locations worldwide, wrote in the email.

“Please understand that it would not be appropriate for us to go into detail about the events that led to this decision. However you can be assured that this decision was made in order to honor God and pastorally care for you, our East Coast family, Pastor Carl and his family.”

Jerry Falwell Jr., the former president and chancellor of Liberty University, has filed a lawsuit against the college.

According to PR Newswire, in a complaint filed in the Commonwealth of Virginia Circuit Court for the City of Lynchburg, Falwell claims that Liberty University, the college founded by his father, Dr. Jerry Falwell, “injured and damaged his reputation” and forced his resignation.

Liberty University has declined comment on the lawsuit.

Falwell Jr. says statements from the school seemed to support the false claims an individual had made against him and seemed to be part of a plan by the Lincoln Project, a political group aimed at keeping Trump from reelection.

The Lincoln Project has denied any part in the allegations.

The complaint also alleges that Liberty University officials accepted the false claims of Falwell without investigation to force his resignation and “to tarnish, minimize, and outright destroy the legacy of the Falwell family and Mr. Falwell’s reputation.”

“Other than God and my family, there is nothing in the world I love more than Liberty University,” Falwell Jr. said in a statement. “I am saddened that University officials, with whom I have shared so much success and enjoyed such positive relationships, jumped to conclusions about the claims made against my character, failed to properly investigate…

JOS, Nigeria, October 29, 2020 (Morning Star News) – A church pastor in Nigeria who went missing on Oct. 19 has been captured along with two Christian women by militants of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), according to a video released by the terrorist group.

In the video clip uploaded on YouTube today (Oct. 29), the Rev. Polycarp Zongo of the Church of Christ In Nations (COCIN) says the militants captured him and the women as they traveled from Jos, Plateau state to the city of Gombe in the state of the same name.

“On Monday, 19 October 2020, I was traveling to Gombe for a church conference when we encountered the caliphate’s armed men who captured me along the way; and right now I’m with them,” Pastor Zongo says in the Hausa language, appealing to the Plateau state governor, state Sen. I.D. Gyang, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and COCIN leaders to help secure his release. “They too, captured two Christian women who are also here with me. I’m appealing that you all do all that is possible to secure our release from captivity.”

Pastor Zongo leads the COCIN congregation of Wild Life Park Local Church Council (LCC), in Jos.

ISWAP in 2016 broke off from the rebel terrorist group Boko Haram, which originated in Maiduguri.

On Jan. 20, Boko Haram terrorists executed the Rev. Lawan Andami, district chairman of the Church of the…

Nearly 4 in ten American Evangelicals believe that God has already chosen his people for salvation before the world came into existence.

The State of Theology Survey, which was conducted by Lifeway Research in collaboration with Ligonier Ministries, found that 38 percent of evangelicals agree with the following statement: “God chose the people he would save before he created the world.” By contrast, 44 percent disagree with the aforementioned statement.

U.S. adults, however, displayed further disagreement than evangelicals with 50 percent of respondents rejecting God’s plan of salvation while 26 percent were in agreement.

In response to evangelicals, Ligonier Teaching Fellow Dr. Stephen Nichols explained how most Christians today have a difficult time affirming that God is sovereign in salvation, otherwise known as the doctrine of election.

For Christians who do affirm God’s election of His people, Nichols explains that “we cannot live the Christian life without it.”

“But sadly, there are many who do read their Bibles, and they attend evangelical churches, and they call themselves an evangelical, who stumble over this doctrine and outright find it offensive,” he noted. “They cannot envision a God who would violate their free will, and they cannot attribute to God this doctrine, which we would say is a biblical teaching, of divine…