USA: Evangelical leaders condemn role of Christian nationalism in Capitol attack - by Ed Pilkington

In an open letter released on Wednesday, the evangelical leaders say they are speaking out now because they do not want to be “quiet accomplices in this ongoing sin”.

They call on all church people to clarify that Christianity is incompatible with “calls to violence, support of white Christian nationalism, conspiracy theories, and all religious and racial prejudice”.

The letter, first reported by NPR, notes that the evangelical community in the US has long been susceptible to the “heresy” of Christian nationalism – the belief that the country is fundamentally Christian and run by and for white conservative Americans. The signatories blame that tendency on church leaders accommodating white supremacy over many years.

Read more at: Evangelical leaders condemn role of Christian nationalism in Capitol attack | Christianity | The Guardian

Panama - Religion: 'Repent or die': Panama religious sect kills seven in bizarre ritual

Ten members of evangelical ‘New Light of God’ group arrested as bodies of six indigenous children and one adult found

Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/16/panama-burial-pit-children-exorcisms-religious-sect?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Add_to_Firefox

USA: God has given Trump authority to take out North Korea's Kim Jong Un, evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress says - S. P. Bailey

Texas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, one of President Trump’s evangelical advisers who preached the morning of his inauguration, has released a statement saying the president has the moral authority to “take out” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“When it comes to how we should deal with evildoers, the Bible, in the book of Romans, is very clear: God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil,” Jeffress said.

“In the case of North Korea, God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong Un.”

Jeffress said in a phone interview that he was prompted to make the statement after Trump said that if North Korea’s threats to the United States continue, Pyongyang will be “met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

Note EU-Digest: How crazy can you get? People like "Pastor" Robert Jeffress are the ones giving Christianity a bad rap.


Read more: God has given Trump authority to take out North Korea's Kim Jong Un, evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress says - The Washington Post

Sweden: Expats flock to Sweden's evangelical churches

Moving to a new country is never an easy task: moving when you might not know a soul, when the language is a mystery and when you are faced with an entirely new culture. All of it can be downright daunting.

Today a growing number of foreigners moving to Sweden are finding that non-traditional churches can offer a home away from home, particularly those offering services in English.

Estimates say about half of regular evangelical churchgoers are foreign-born.

"I was never particularly religious, but moving around in the expat world made me search for a deeper meaning, for both my family and me," one mother and US native tells The Local outside the Charismatic Baptist New Life Church in Stockholm.

"The modern churches give room to explore and the kids enjoy the more exciting atmosphere. We also get to meet people like us, who are foreigners living in a foreign land."

Regular church attendance in Sweden hovers somewhere around 5 percent, while levels of atheism among Swedes are estimated to be as high as 85 percent.

Yet more than half of all weddings in Sweden take place in churches and nearly 90 percent of burials follow Christian rites.

Read more: Expats flock to Sweden's evangelical churches - The Local

The Modesto Bee : Ravi Zacharias, a leading Christian apologist, says British and Europe's culture will not survive

The Modesto Bee | Ravi Zacharias, a leading Christian apologist,says British and Europe's culture will not survive

Christianity is not a crutch, but a logical belief system and the only way to God. That's the view of Ravi Zacharias, an internationally known Christian apologist based in Atlanta. Zacharias is a native of India whose ancestors were Hindu priests of the highest caste. His maternal and paternal relatives converted to Christianity several generations ago, and he was raised in the Anglican church as a boy. But he viewed church and school as just things he had to put up with, until as a teenager he attempted to kill himself, mostly because of the incredible pressures put on Indian students to be the very best. Zacharias says, "England and Europe are on their way out. There's no way their cultures will survive. It looks to me that the domination of Islam will take over. England and France are hanging on by a thread. The (Islamic) sharia laws already have been introduced in England. If (Prince) Charles gets on the throne, he has said he won't be the defender of the faith; he will be the defender of the faiths."

Alternet: Confessions of an Evangelical Tree Hugger - by Matthew Sleeth

For the complete report of AlterNet click on this link

Confessions of an Evangelical Tree Hugger- - by Matthew Sleeth

It took us a thousand years to prove this biblical truth: that trees are, indeed, the breath of life. The transfer of life-giving gas from tree to human is not intuitive. Only in relatively recent human history was it discovered that oxygen comes not from rocks but from trees and photosynthesis. God is not subtle about his feeling for trees. “I love the tall cedars,” saith the Lord. Abraham plants an oak. The symbol of Christ’s birthday is a conifer. We decorate them and sing, “O Christmas tree.” Essays are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. The kingdom of heaven is “like a tree,” Jesus said. So, yes, call me a tree hugger. So was my Lord.