Over 3,200 people from 98 partnering churches joined a prayer event in person and online Saturday to pray for the city’s schools, youth and teachers.  

The event was the second We Pray San Diego gathering, following up on the first one in June that had focused on praying for both the healing of COVID-19 and the city’s racial tensions.  Nearly 2,000 people attended the event in person while the remainder joined online.  

“Interestingly enough, we have not had any big civil unrest in our city. Is that a direct result? Maybe not,” said Daryl Nuss, 71, the special counsel to the CEO of National Network of Youth Ministries and a We Pray San Diego leader, to The Christian Post.

“But I think some of it can be attributed to the fact that people of faith were praying and are praying.”

During the event, Nuss and other participants prayed for an hour while listening on their cell phones to a prayer guide provided by Pastor Miles McPherson of San Diego’s 19,000-member Rock Church.  Nuss said he and 50 other people prayed outside the Poway Unified School District’s…

HYDERABAD, India, Sept. 25, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Punita Kumari was caring for her family in eastern India the morning of Sept. 14 when leaders of about 25 hard-line Hindu assailants armed with bamboo sticks forced their way into their one-room home.

Saying Christians could not live in their village of Jhikatia, Bihar state, the assailants dragged her husband, Pastor Vinouwa Das, out and began beating him, Kumari said.

His sister tried to shield him, and they beat her too, she said. Kumari gathered up her newborn and rushed out, pleading with the assailants to talk about any grievances rather than attack, but they ignored her, she said.

“They shouted at me that we must vacate the premises immediately, and that they will not allow Christian services in the village,” Kumari told Morning Star News. “They were furious and beat me up also with the wooden sticks. It was not even a month since I was out of labor. My newborn also suffered injuries along with me.”

Among the assailants: members of the once-Christian family who had granted them land for their home and a one-room church building, as hard-line Hindus had pressured them to renounce Christianity and reclaim the land, she said.

The assailants intercepted and attacked Pastor Das again on Sept. 17 as he was on his way to a market to buy essential items for their home and baby, she said.

“They threatened him that he would be killed if…

President Trump issued an executive order Friday protecting babies who survive an abortion as well as those who are born prematurely or with a disability.

Trump had signaled the executive order earlier in the week during a message to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. The Friday order was titled the “Executive Order on Protecting Vulnerable Newborn and Infant Children.”

“Every infant born alive, no matter the circumstances of his or her birth, has the same dignity and the same rights as every other individual and is entitled to the same protections under Federal law,” the executive order says. “… It is the policy of the United States to recognize the human dignity and inherent worth of every newborn or other infant child, regardless of prematurity or disability, and to ensure for each child due protection under the law.”

The executive order references several laws, including the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which was signed by President George W. Bush in 2002.

The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act “makes clear that all infants born alive are individuals for purposes of these and other Federal laws and are therefore afforded the same legal protections as any other person,” the executive order says. That 2002 law defines “born alive” as the “complete…

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division recently sent a letter to San Francisco Mayor London Breed insisting that limiting church attendance to only one person “is contrary to the Constitution and the nation’s best tradition of religious freedom.”

According to The Christian Post, “San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera responded to the DOJ’s letter by calling it ‘lobbing careless legal threats.'” The letter is a response to a recent declaration by the mayor in response to the Coronavirus.

According to a press release published on the mayor’s site, “places of worship (allows one person at a time for individual prayer indoors; 50 people outdoors)” are limited in such capacity until the end of September. However, the article also states, “reopening is dependent upon San Francisco’s Health indicators remaining stable or improving, and the plan below is subject to change.” This means that, ultimately, Churches could stay in lockdown for however long the city deems appropriate.

The Department of Justice slammed the decision. In their letter they state “San Francisco’s treatment of places of worship raises serious concerns about religious freedom. In particular, the limitation of indoor worship to one congregant without regard to the size of the place of worship is draconian, out of step with the treatment afforded other similar indoor activities in San…

Three Christians were arrested in Moscow City, Idaho for not wearing masks and not social distancing while taking part in an outdoor worship service.

Two others at the worship service were issued citations for also not wearing masks.

Moscow Police Chief James Fry told reporters that some 150 to 200 attended the church event.

According to the city’s Amended Public Health Emergency Order, attendees at any public gathering must maintain a 6-foot physical distance or wear a mask. The order is in effect until January.

Violators of the order are subject to a misdemeanor charge, which carries a maximum punishment of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Fry said police have been “very lenient” on enforcing the order and officers have tried to work with groups on the policy.

Christ Church hosts a “Psalm sing” or hymn event about once a month.

“We were going to appear there at quarter to five, sing three psalms or hymns, then the doxology, and then out,” said Ben Zornes, a pastor at the church who helped organize the outdoor event.

“The songs were Psalm 20, Psalm 124, and Amazing Grace. When we arrived, the police were waiting for us. One of them informed me that people either had to social distance or wear a mask or otherwise face a citation.”

Another church representative said on the church’s Facebook page that the crowd was reminded of the city policy, but…

Christianity is a faith with a long and detailed history, with numerous events of lasting significance occurring throughout the ages.

Each week brings the anniversaries of great milestones, horrid tragedies, amazing triumphs, and everything in between.

Here are three things that happened this week, Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, in Church history. They include the death of Aimee Semple McPherson, the final sermon of George Whitefield, and the completion of the first section of the Gutenberg Bible.

On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order that seeks to protect patients with preexisting medical conditions.

According to CBN News, the signing of the order took place during Trump’s visit to the swing state of North Carolina.

“My plan expands affordable insurance options, reduces the cost of prescription drugs, will end surprise medical billing, increases fairness through price transparency, streamlines bureaucracy, accelerates innovation, strongly protects Medicare and always protects patients with preexisting conditions,” he said.

He noted that it was the first-ever executive order that seeks to protect patients with preexisting medical conditions, according to US government policy.

“The historic action I am taking today includes the first-ever executive order to affirm it is the official policy of the United States government to protect patients with pre-existing conditions,” Trump said during a speech, The Hill reports. “So we’re making that official.”

By signing the executive order, Trump hopes to encourage Americans that he will guarantee coverage for preexisting conditions.

Trump’s administration has long desired to repeal ObamaCare, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which also covers preexisting conditions. At the present time, the administration is currently asking the Supreme Court to overturn the ACA in full.

Last…

A church in Texas is mourning the death of their pastor and his wife after a head-on crash in southeastern New Mexico. Their three children, who were injured in the accident, are beginning life without their mom and dad.

Kenny Comstock, executive pastor of Crossroads Church in Odessa, his wife Melissa and their three children — 6-year-old Natalie, 4-year-old Camden and 1-year-old Carver — were in a multi-vehicle accident in the state of New Mexico, the church wrote on its Facebook page, confirming the death of the pastor and his wife.

“There is no easy way to deliver news like this… I am broken-hearted to inform you that Kenny and Melissa did not survive the accident. Their children Natalie and Carver, both survived with some scrapes and bruises. Camden, sustained head injuries, underwent surgery, and is expected to make a full recovery,” wrote Lead Pastor Jeremiah Ramer.

“In moments like this we turn to the Word of God and 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, ‘The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.’

“Please pray for God’s comfort for Kenny and Melissa’s…

The Pentagraph reports that Illinois State University football offensive coordinator Kurt Beathard quit after he put a sign on his office door that read “All Lives Matter to Our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.”

Anonymous sources state Beathard apparently put up the sign after someone posted a Black Lives Matter poster in the locker room. But Beathard says the claims are completely false, telling The Pentagraph, “That locker room crap is wrong. I took the sign down somebody put on my door. That’s it. I didn’t take anything off that wasn’t put on my door. I wrote the message.”

The Pentagraph reached out to the School, which declined to comment and referred all questions to the athletics department. When Redbird head coach Brock Spack and director of athletics Larry Lyons were asked questions about the event, they declined to comment, stating it isn’t a school matter, but rather a personnel issue.

The Pentagraph reports the events may be tied to a statement from Spack that stated, “All Redbird Lives Matter,” which led some of the athletic students to retaliate, boycotting team meetings, workouts and practices as a result, in addition to an “Athletics March for Black Voices” that was held on Sept. 4. It is unclear what Spack originally meant by his comments, but he apologized for the comments shortly after making…