American Bible Society study finds majority don't trust technology with spiritual matters.Ask ChatGPT how to improve your spiritual life, and the natural-language processing artificial intelligence chatbot has plenty of suggestions.But Americans are skeptical that artificial intelligence, or AI, has much to offer in the way of reliable religious guidance.Sixty-eight percent of people don’t think AI could help them with their spiritual practices or “promote spiritual health,” according to the latest research from American Bible Society (ABS). Fifty-eight percent say they don’t think AI will “aid in moral reasoning” and only one out of every four people say they feel optimistic about the impact the technology will have.“Americans are more fearful than hopeful about artificial intelligence,” said John Farquhar Plake, an ABS program officer and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series. “People don’t know how AI will change the culture—but they’re mildly uneasy about it.”ABS surveyed about 2,500 people for its annual report on Scripture engagement and related topics. While technology has been a regular part of the survey, this is the first year ABS dedicated a set of questions to the topic of technology that performs tasks traditionally associated with human intelligence.AI is rapidly evolving, and currently includes everything from Amazon’s “virtual assistant” Alexa to chatbots running large language models that can pass the bar exam. People are pushing the technology further every day, and some Christians who work in tech are excited about the possibilities—dreaming of algorithms that might one day help people grow, learn, and go deeper in their faith.“It is not difficult to imagine how pastors and ...Continue reading...

Spiritual care is essential as stressors among law enforcement rise.Sitting in the front row of a supervisor training in 2016, Stamford Police Sgt. Sean Boeger raised his hand every time the instructor asked who had dealt with a particular experience, including homicides, fatal accidents, and child deaths.During his nearly 30 years as a police officer, 48-year-old Boeger had helped with body recovery efforts at Ground Zero after 9/11. When 20 children were killed by a lone shooter in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, just 40 miles from Stamford, Boeger volunteered to help the small Newtown police department. He covered midnight shifts as officers took time to recover.The instructor at the training triggered something in Boeger. Until that class, he had never dwelt much on the effect of witnessing so much trauma. Driving home that evening, he also thought back to another incident, when he responded to a report of a small child falling out of an eighth-story window.“I felt overwhelmed, kind of panic-stricken,” he recalled of that evening. “I think I was more in shock from the stuff I’d never contemplated and the trauma impact it had on me. Because you don’t stop to think about it.”So Boeger did something he had never contemplated previously: He sought help from John Revell, a chaplain who had recently been spending time with his department.“I don’t know what’s going on with me, but I feel like I need to talk to you,” Boeger recalls telling Revell, whom he calls “the Rev.” Revell invited him over, interrupting his family dinnertime, and the two spent an hour or so talking. It opened the door to a longer-term relationship, and an eventual appreciation for the Rev’s consistent presence around ...Continue reading...

A new book seems oddly outraged that CRT skeptics take its arguments seriously.Last year I joined a group of Christian leaders, Black and white, on a tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture located in Washington, DC.Even though I’ve read quite a bit about slavery and Jim Crow, I was still physically and emotionally disturbed by the visual depictions of the systemic and violent ways in which people of color were treated for centuries of American history. There is no sugarcoating this history. It was (and is) an offense against God, with ripple effects that continue to shape our national life.In the past decade, conversations on racism have become more heated, reaching a fever pitch in 2020 with the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.One outcome of the resulting ferment of protest and denunciation was renewed attention to critical race theory (popularly known as CRT), a controversial legal theory once confined to the academic world and now increasingly mainstreamed and popularized in public life, including many of our leading institutions.Books like White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo or How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi rose to the top of bestseller lists in 2020 and after. Corporations, government entities, and even churches began implementing steps drawn from these and other popular works. Evangelical publishers churned out books in this spirit as well.Some Christian leaders have defended the use of CRT as a helpful analytical tool. Others have criticized it as a totalizing worldview opposed to biblical Christianity. This debate has divided many Christians, exhausted many pastors, split many organizations, and convulsed our politics.Seeking to bring sanity and clarity to this ongoing conversation is ...Continue reading...

Matthew Warner, who had tweeted about gay marriage, is the latest in a string of Christian college faculty who have lost their jobs after being accused of theological misalignment.With glowing performance reviews and above-average student evaluations, by most measures Matthew Warner’s first year as a communications professor at Grace College was a triumph.But he spent most of that first year knowing it could be his last. After four months on the job, Warner was informed by the school’s president, Drew Flamm, that the board had “come to the conclusion that we don’t think it works out to move forward,” according to a recording obtained by Religion News Service.Warner’s termination is the latest in a string of professor terminations at Christian colleges seemingly tied to clashes over narrowing and often unspoken political and theological criteria.While Flamm didn’t specify the reasons for Warner’s dismissal, it was preceded by an online termination campaign clear about its goals. Launched by conservative influencers and Grace College stakeholders, the campaign demanded Warner’s removal due to his social media posts about LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, and critiques of the GOP. Almost all the posts predated Warner’s employment at the college.Grace College declined to answer questions about Warner, saying it was a personnel matter. “Dr. Matt Warner fulfilled his agreement for the year. Grace College wishes Dr. Warner well in his future endeavors,” Norm Bakhit, Grace College’s chief officer of human resources, told RNS in a statement. Flamm did not offer further comment.Warner and his wife said they both left behind jobs and sold their home in metro Detroit to move with their three kids to Warsaw, Indiana, for Warner’s job at Grace. It was his dream position, they said, and noted that they gave up 60 percent of their ...Continue reading...

A first cohort of scholars consider whether God is calling them to executive leadership.Ted Song wears many hats.He is the chief innovation and intercultural engagement officer at John Brown University and the head of the engineering department at the evangelical school in Northwest Arkansas. He’s a dad to three daughters, an elder and college minister at his church, and a student earning a law degree to learn more about the rules and regulations governing higher education.Song also has his eye on another potential hat.Last year, he joined the first cohort of presidential fellows at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), exploring a call to lead an evangelical school.“If presidency is God’s calling, great,” Song said. “If God wants to use a person as a president of a Christian college, great. But that can also happen in the classroom or on an athletic field. I want to remind myself and also remind my students that we always need to go back to our mission.”Song is one of three evangelical academics who have joined the CCCU’s yearlong program to prepare for the possibility of becoming a Christian college president. The other two members of the inaugural group are Keith Hall, vice president for student belonging at Azusa Pacific University, and Sarah Visser, executive vice president for student experience and strategy at Calvin University.“Each one of these fellows is outstanding,” said Shirley Hoogstra, president of the CCCU. “There’s always turnover in senior leadership, and we want to make sure that we are equipping groups of people to be available for those positions … to be ready in the event that a call comes from God to move into the next level of leadership.”The presidential training program launched in ...Continue reading...

Matthew Warner, who had tweeted about gay marriage, is the latest in a string of Christian college faculty who have lost their jobs after being accused of theological misalignment.With glowing performance reviews and above-average student evaluations, by most measures Matthew Warner’s first year as a communications professor at Grace College was a triumph.But he spent most of that first year knowing it could be his last. After four months on the job, Warner was informed by the school’s president, Drew Flamm, that the board had “come to the conclusion that we don’t think it works out to move forward,” according to a recording obtained by Religion News Service.Warner’s termination is the latest in a string of professor terminations at Christian colleges seemingly tied to clashes over narrowing and often unspoken political and theological criteria.While Flamm didn’t specify the reasons for Warner’s dismissal, it was preceded by an online termination campaign clear about its goals. Launched by conservative influencers and Grace College stakeholders, the campaign demanded Warner’s removal due to his social media posts about LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, and critiques of the GOP. Almost all the posts predated Warner’s employment at the college.Grace College declined to answer questions about Warner, saying it was a personnel matter. “Dr. Matt Warner fulfilled his agreement for the year. Grace College wishes Dr. Warner well in his future endeavors,” Norm Bakhit, Grace College’s chief officer of human resources, told RNS in a statement. Flamm did not offer further comment.Warner and his wife said they both left behind jobs and sold their home in metro Detroit to move with their three kids to Warsaw, Indiana, for Warner’s job at Grace. It was his dream position, they said, and noted that they gave up 60 percent of their ...Continue reading...

John Sanqiang Cao shares how hand-copied Bible verses, prayers, and a mother's love buoyed him during his imprisonment.When pastor John Sanqiang Cao, 64, crossed the border back into China from Myanmar’s Wa State on March 5, 2017, Chinese officials were waiting to arrest him. For years, he had traveled across the porous border from Yunnan Province to the impoverished Wa State, where he founded more than 20 schools, established drug rehabilitation centers, and provided medicine, books, school supplies, and Bibles to locals. Wa State is part of the notorious “Golden Triangle,” one of the world’s largest producers of methamphetamine. Yet the courts in Yunnan sentenced Cao to seven years in prison for allegedly “organizing illegal border crossings,” a crime usually applied to human traffickers. His case garnered widespread attention as Cao’s wife and two sons are US citizens, and Cao has permanent residency in the US. While he could have applied for US citizenship, Cao decided to keep his Chinese passport so that he could return to China for ministry work. He split his time between pastoring a Chinese church in North Carolina and training Chinese house church leaders and mobilizing them to do missions.Various international religious freedom groups and US lawmakers have long advocated for his release. In 2019, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Cao was targeted due to his Christian faith.Chinese authorities released Cao on March 5 after he finished serving his sentence. Four police officers escorted him to his hometown of Changsha, where he is now subjected to supervision and “thought reform” by the local government for five years.CT spoke with Cao about his time in prison, the Bible verses that sustained him, his views on persecution, how it feels to be released to ...Continue reading...

Matthew Warner, who had tweeted about gay marriage, is the latest in a string of Christian college faculty who have lost their jobs after being accused of theological misalignment.With glowing performance reviews and above-average student evaluations, by most measures Matthew Warner’s first year as a communications professor at Grace College was a triumph.But he spent most of that first year knowing it could be his last. After four months on the job, Warner was informed by the school’s president, Drew Flamm, that the board had “come to the conclusion that we don’t think it works out to move forward,” according to a recording obtained by Religion News Service.Warner’s termination is the latest in a string of professor terminations at Christian colleges seemingly tied to clashes over narrowing and often unspoken political and theological criteria.While Flamm didn’t specify the reasons for Warner’s dismissal, it was preceded by an online termination campaign clear about its goals. Launched by conservative influencers and Grace College stakeholders, the campaign demanded Warner’s removal due to his social media posts about LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, and critiques of the GOP. Almost all the posts predated Warner’s employment at the college.Grace College declined to answer questions about Warner, saying it was a personnel matter. “Dr. Matt Warner fulfilled his agreement for the year. Grace College wishes Dr. Warner well in his future endeavors,” Norm Bakhit, Grace College’s chief officer of human resources, told RNS in a statement. Flamm did not offer further comment.Warner and his wife said they both left behind jobs and sold their home in metro Detroit to move with their three kids to Warsaw, Indiana, for Warner’s job at Grace. It was his dream position, they said, and noted that they gave up 60 percent of their ...Continue reading...

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney's Office have been asked to investigate the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Senior Air Force Airman Roger Fortson inside his apartment by a local police officer near Hurlburt Field where he was stationed, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office announced.

Israeli fashion designer Galit Freiman Levi recounts the story of her grandmother Adela who was forced to sew dresses for Nazi officers' wives, saving her family in the process

The family of 62-year-old Georgia deacon Johnny Hollman, who died last August after an Atlanta Police Department officer tasered him during a scuffle stemming from a motor vehicle accident, will be paid $3.8 million to settle a federal lawsuit.

Police in Pakistan are refusing to arrest Muslims who attacked a Catholic family and seized their farmland, and officers also damaged property, sources said.

Today's category: CopsDon't Say This To A Cop? ? ? ? ? ? 1. I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer.? ? ? ? ? ? 2. Sorry, Officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in..? ? ? ? ? ? 3. Aren't you the guy from the Village People?? ? ? ? ? ? 4. Hey, you must've been doin' about 125 mph to keep up with me! Good job!? ? ? ? ? ? 5. You're not gonna check the trunk, are you?? ? ? ? ? ? 6. I pay your salary!? ? ? ? ? ? 7. So, uh, you on the take, or what?? ? ? ? ? ? 8. Gee, Officer! That's terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning, too!? ? ? ? ? ? 9. Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us does.? ? ? ? ? ? 10. I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know there is no other car around-that's how far ahead of me they are.? ? ? ? ? ? 11. Well, when I reached down to pick up my bag of money from the bank robbery, my gun fell off my lap and got lodged between the brake pedal and the gas pedal, forcing me to speed out of control.? ? ? ? ? ? 12. Hey, is that a 9 mm? That's nothing compared to this .44 magnum.View hundreds more jokes online.Email this joke to a friend

Senior Hamas Intelligence Officer Killed In Israeli Airstrike In Central Gaza The IDF killed a senior Hamas intelligence officer in an overnight strike on a terrorist cell in the central ... Read MoreThe post News Digest — 4/18/24 appeared first on The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.

Dr. Brian Williams' entire life changed in the summer of 2016 as a trauma surgeon working in Dallas, Texas. Williams, who has spent his entire life in medicine taking care of people, saw his life take a turn when five Dallas police officers were gunned down that evening on the streets of downtown.

The intense polarization around the Israel-Hamas war reminds me of a story from another polarizing Middle East war that occurred 20 years ago. In the spring of 2003, soon after United States launched the Iraq war, a retired Army officer...The post Praying in a time of war appeared first on Baptist News Global.

Today, at the graduation of West Coast Baptist College, 178 young adults graduated after having prepared for full-time ministry.  Among those graduates was Jeremy Picker, one of our own.  Along with Jeremy’s desire to serve God, his character and work ethic have earned him CHP officer of the year for the Antelope Valley Region.  Congratulations, [...]

An apparently intoxicated suspect chatted with a burglary victim long enough for officers to arrive and arrest him, authorities said.

Police didn't have to go far to find 0,000 worth of cocaine -- it was in an undercover car they'd been driving for two months.