Breaking Christian News on The Gospel Herald

While not all Christians will recognize the Pentecost religious holiday as a holy day on May 15 this year, it generally is honored in liturgical churches whose congregations are Protestant, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox and Charismatic -- and of course, Pentecostal. Pentecost may not as well-known, or as popular as Christmas and Easter, though it commemorates a watershed event in Christian history typically marked as the birthday of the church.

During the 26th annual "Just Pray NO!" to drugs Worldwide Weekend of Prayer and Fasting April 2-3, Christians around the world will join in intercessory prayer on behalf of those who are addicted to drugs, as well as pray for the families affected. Abuse of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs costs the United States more than $700 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and health care, according to National Institute of Health current statistics.

Televangelist Jerry Falwell Sr.'s former chief of staff, Mark DeMoss, broke his silence Tuesday about disagreeing with Jerry Falwell Jr.'s endorsement of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Not only did DeMoss indicate that Falwell's endorsement was a mistake, he also claimed it was a "concern" for Liberty University, the Virginia Christian college founded by the elder Falwell and now led by his son.

As an upcoming movie starring actress and director Melissa Joan Hart as a Christian teacher who is forced before a judge for answering a question about Jesus in the classroom, "God's Not Dead 2: He's Surely Alive" tackles several ethical and freedom of religion dilemmas facing society today. In the movie, the principal and superintendent join forces with a zealous civil liberties group, and the teacher faces an epic court case that could cost her a career she loves and expel God from the classroom.

Debates about exactly how to teach religion to Tennessee public school students are rocking the state's school districts to their cores, with activists and concerned parents saying they worry middle school students are being "indoctrinated" with a sanitized version of Islam. Tennessee legislators got involved, and determined that educators could still teach students about religion, but not in any way that proselytizes, under a bill that passed the state House on Monday night.

Student religious expression is being explored from various perspectives in America's Midwest. Conversations about holding scriptural belief and Darwinian evolution concepts as equally valid within a scientific classroom continues on the University of Cincinnati campus. House Bill 425, known as the Ohio Student Religious Liberties Act of 2016, passed the Ohio Legislature last week, drawing many responses, from campus ministers to anthropology professors to the campus' Secular Student Alliance.

"World Religions Through Their Scriptures," Harvard Divinity School's newest online course, launches March 1, with a goals of opening dialogues and changing the world. Religious literacy, in modern terms, now requires acknowledging that faith communities are internally diverse and always evolving, said Diane Moore, lead organizer of the online course and director of Harvard Divinity School's Religious Literacy Project.

An increasing number of students from China who are attending American colleges are finding solace in Christianity. It's also clear the number of Chinese converts to Christianity among those students is growing rapidly.

Because future religious freedom will be shaped by today's younger generation, Wyoming Catholic College faculty members are trying to form a "community of people who care about what's going on in the world," said Kevin Roberts, the college's president.

In an unexpected turn of events, the Wheaton College professor facing termination after asserting that Muslims and Christians worship the same god has won the support of the college's faculty council in her fight to stay.

Co-producers of hit movie "God's Not Dead" debut another film, "Caged No More," on Friday, Jan. 22, to raise awareness of human trafficking, aid in connecting anti-trafficking organizations and equip parents, schools and churches to assist in preventing such trafficking. People of faith are threaded throughout the plot.

Over 800 Wheaton College alumni have signed a petition threatening to withhold financial gifts to school until it reinstates a professor who was suspended last month for claiming that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

Learning from Middle Eastern Christians and former Muslims, two effective ways to reach out to the Muslims amongst us.

In light of the recent controversy surrounding the hijab-wearing Wheaton College professor, former-Muslim-turned-Christian-scholar Nabeel Qureshi has argued that while Muslims and Christians do not worship the same god, Christ-followers should stop demonizing those who disagree with them on the issue.

Nearly three dozen religious colleges and universities in 20 states received federal waivers that allow those institutions to not accommodate transgender students in admissions, housing and campus life, according to a report LGBT rights group obtained by Associated Press.

Trinity Western University, a Christian school under fire from Canada's homosexual community due to its views regarding sexuality and same-sex relationships, has secured a groundbreaking legal victory in its effort to open a law school in British Columbia.

Arguing that the word "Christmas" is offensive to some, the University of Mississippi has changed the name of its annual "A Grand Old Christmas" to the secular title "Hotty Toddy Holiday".

A large, private Christian university in Arizona has decided to extend full spousal benefits to the married partners of its gay and lesbian employees despite continued adherence to religious principles reserving marriage solely for heterosexual couples.

School district officials in Southern California broke the law by failing to inform parents about their rights to decline involvement in Common Core State Standards initiative testing, a new lawsuit is alleging.

A prominent Christian group has expressed concern after Scholastic sent copies of "George", a pro-transgender book for children, to 10,000 teachers and children's librarians, arguing that the book's message will simply cause unnecessary confusion among its intended audience.

Franklin Graham has praised a group of students from Duke University who refused to read an assigned novel because its pro-LGBT, pornographic content violated their Christian beliefs. He has also warned parents to be aware of the LGBT community's attempts to push their "propaganda on America's young people."

If you are not familiar with Google Classroom , it is "a new tool in Google Apps for Education that helps teachers create and organize assignments quickly, provide feedback efficiently, and easily communicate with their classes". There has been some recent updates to it that is going to allow teachers a chance to do their jobs a whole lot better and make their students much more accountable.

Coty Richardson is suing the Northwest Christian University for $650,000 for wrongful termination for allegedly firing her because she was pregnant and not because she was carrying a baby in her belly out of wedlock.

Alberta's Progressive Conservative government passed a law that requires faith-based schools to have gay-straight alliances in their campuses.

UC Irvine student leaders have vetoed a resolution that banned the American flag from being displayed in the lobby of the student government offices, insisting the school is "patriotic and proud."