Migrant rights have been off-radar for many Panamanian Christians. But as pressures increase, some are speaking out ahead of this weekend's general elections.On May 5, Panamanians will vote for a new president. The outcome of this election may have consequences for far more than its 4.4 million residents; it could change the migration reality for the hundreds of thousands of people traveling from South America, Asia, and Africa who pass through the Central American country en route to the United States.Leading in the polls is José Raúl Mulino, a candidate for Realizando Metas (Realizing Goals), a right-wing populist party founded by disgraced president Ricardo Martinelli. He has vowed to shut down the Darién Gap, a densely forested jungle area that migrants must traverse to enter Panama from the bordering country of Colombia.“We’re going to close Darién and we’re going to repatriate every one of these people, respecting their human rights,” said Raúl Mulino in April.For many Panamanians, there was no migrant crisis before 2022. After passing through the Darién gap, migrants passed through the country on government buses to the Costa Rican border. But after a shift in US migrant policy sent many back to Central America a couple years ago, hundreds have since moved to Panama City and a handful of small towns. Residents have begun to blame them for crime and for overwhelming their sanitation systems.Though evangelicals have largely been on the sidelines, many leaders say they should have done more.“The church does not see the refugee problem as their own problem,” said Panamanian missionary Robert Bruneau, a regional leader with United World Mission. “They believe it is something the state should do and are not aware of the great opportunity they have to graciously and honorably serve someone who ...Continue reading...

Today's category: MilitaryDivert Your Course? ? ? ? ? ? This is the transcript of an actual radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operation 10-10-95? ? ? ? ? ? Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.? ? ? ? ? ? Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid collision.? ? ? ? ? ? Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy Ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.? ? ? ? ? ? Canadians: No...I say again, you divert YOUR course.? ? ? ? ? ? Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS, AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, THAT'S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.? ? ? ? ? ? Canadians: This is a lighthouse.... Divert YOUR course.View hundreds more jokes online.Email this joke to a friend

Archaeological study challenges assumptions, revealing ancient village in southern Levant thrived during 8.2ka event, showcasing human resilience and cultural evolution.

Florida's new heartbeat law that prohibits abortions on unborn babies who have a detectable heartbeat at 6 weeks takes effect today. The pro-life law will save thousands of babies from abortions and end Florida's status as an abortion destination in the southeast. Florida is surrounded by states with pro-life laws in effect that protect babies […]The post Florida Heartbeat Law Now in Effect, Will Save Thousands of Babies From Abortion appeared first on LifeNews.com.

Airstrikes Target Gaza Tunnels, Launchpads After Rocket Fire On South, Army Says Following rocket fire from Gaza at the southern cities of Sderot and Ashdod on Monday (29th), the IDF ... Read MoreThe post News Digest — 4/30/24 appeared first on The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.

By Tyler Durden A tornado outbreak on Saturday night across southern Oklahoma decimated a major distribution center for budget retailer Dollar Tree. The facility supplies...Major Dollar Tree Warehouse Demolished By Tornado, May Spark Supply Chain Chaos

By Tyler Durden A tornado outbreak on Saturday night across southern Oklahoma decimated a major distribution center for budget retailer Dollar Tree. The facility supplies...Major Dollar Tree Warehouse Demolished By Tornado, May Spark Supply Chain Chaos

Florida's? Heartbeat Law? will take effect on Wednesday, May 1 and will protect unborn children and their mothers at six weeks of pregnancy. The law, titled SB300 – Pregnancy and Parenting Support, makes Florida one of the most pro-life states in the nation. At midnight, Florida will join Georgia and South Carolina in having an active law […]The post Florida Heartbeat Law Starts Tomorrow, Saving Babies From Abortion and Helping Pregnant Women appeared first on LifeNews.com.

But true liberty, in art and in life, is created by constraints.Taylor Swift answers to no one.Not music industry executives: Her songs returned to TikTok in the middle of a licensing dispute between the app and her label.Not mayors: When she graced their cities during her Eras tour, they declared days in her honor.Not the international community: A Singapore-exclusive stop in Southeast Asia sparked a row between the city-state and nearby Thailand and the Philippines. The Japanese embassy issued a statement about her Super Bowl travel plans.And Swift doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. She announced new music within minutes of winning her latest Grammy for album of the year.You might take all this as proof of Swift’s business genius, nothing personal. But in her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, there’s definitely an “above it all” attitude. These songs are snarly. America’s sweetheart may have nothing left to prove. But she certainly has scores left to settle.Swift is hardly a stranger to revenge. This is the songwriter, after all, who brought us lyrics like “It’s obvious that wanting me dead / Has really brought you two together.”But TTPD broadens her aggression and scorns the prospect of reconciliation. A small-town girl takes on her community over a controversial love affair and trolls her parents with a joke pregnancy announcement. A depressed performer boasts sardonically about how well she can sell happiness to frenzied fans. A woman seethes at being seen as a problematic starlet by her new boyfriend’s circle.There’s a track suspiciously similar to an Olivia Rodrigo song (the two singers have a rumored feud). The title of another appears to name-drop Kim Kardashian, an older nemesis.Critics agree that ...Continue reading...

Angry residents beat Coptic Christians and torched their homes last Tuesday in Egypt's southern Minya governorate over rumors that a church building was to be constructed there.

After lobbying from fellow Southern Baptists and Christians affected by the war, the House speaker moves a package forward. When deciding whether to protect his place in leadership as House speaker or go against his party to do what he believed was right, Mike Johnson turned to prayer.After weeks of hearing intelligence briefings and pleas from fellow Christians, Johnson ultimately sided with his convictions rather than conceding to the Republican Party’s isolationist wing. He backed a $95 billion foreign aid package that, despite the opposition of 112 GOP legislators, overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives last weekend.Like many of his fellow Republicans, Johnson had initially opposed further aid to Ukraine, voting against it prior to becoming speaker and waiting months to move forward with an aid package after the Senate approved its version in February.He “went through a transformation,” according to one GOP colleague, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul. The shift may have come in part due to the influence of Ukrainian evangelicals, fellow Christian leaders, and his personal faith.“He got down on his knees, and he prayed for guidance and said, ‘Look, tell me. What is the right thing to do here?’” the Texas congressman told NOTUS’s Haley Byrd Wilt. The next day, Johnson said to McCaul, “I want to be on the right side of history.”The House vote on the Ukraine provisions, around $61 billion, was 311 to 112; a majority of Johnson’s colleagues voted against the measure, while aid to Israel and Taiwan had broader support. The Senate cleared the package Tuesday in a bipartisan 79–18 vote. Now the measure heads to President Joe Biden’s desk.Ukrainian leadership had grown more vocal about depleted weapons two years ...Continue reading...

The Southern Baptist Convention remains an overwhelmingly conservative denomination, but new data suggests the people in the pews are more politically diverse than is commonly assumed.

Hezbollah Drones Downed Off Coast Of Acre, Nahariya After IDF Strike Kills 2 Operatives Two top Hezbollah operatives were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday (23rd),? as ... Read MoreThe post News Digest — 4/24/24 appeared first on The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.

Southern Baptists, while generally conservative in their political ideology, maintain a firm commitment to religious liberty for all Americans and support a government that does not favor any specific religion, according to a Lifeway Research study.

Pastor Gene Jacobs of Real Life Ministries Silver Valley, who was found dead in a mountainous area south of Pinehurst, Idaho, on Tuesday evening, died from an apparent “self-inflicted gunshot wound,” local police said as his church mourns their loss.

After lobbying from fellow Southern Baptists and Christians affected by the war, the House speaker moves a package forward. When deciding whether to protect his place in leadership as House speaker or go against his party to do what he believed was right, Mike Johnson turned to prayer.It had been weeks of hearing intelligence briefings and pleas from fellow Christians when Johnson ultimately sided with his convictions rather than conceding to the Republican Party’s isolationist wing. He backed a $95 billion foreign aid package that, despite the opposition of 112 GOP legislators, overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives last weekend.Like many of his fellow Republicans, Johnson had initially opposed further aid to Ukraine, voting against it prior to becoming speaker and waiting months to move forward with an aid package after the Senate approved its version in February.He “went through a transformation,” according to one GOP colleague, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul. The shift may have come in part due to the influence of Ukrainian evangelicals, fellow Christian leaders, and his personal faith.“He got down on his knees, and he prayed for guidance and said, ‘Look, tell me. What is the right thing to do here?’” the Texas congressman told NOTUS’s Haley Byrd Wilt. The next day, Johnson said to McCaul, “I want to be on the right side of history.”The House vote on the Ukraine provisions, around $61 billion, was 311 to 112; a majority of Johnson’s colleagues voted against the measure, while aid to Israel and Taiwan had broader support. The Senate cleared the package Tuesday in a bipartisan 79–18 vote. Now the measure heads to President Joe Biden’s desk.Ukrainian leadership had grown more vocal about depleted weapons ...Continue reading...

After lobbying from fellow Southern Baptists and Christians affected by the war, the House speaker moves a package forward. When deciding whether to protect his place in leadership as House speaker or go against his party to do what he believed was right, Mike Johnson turned to prayer.It had been weeks of hearing intelligence briefings and pleas from fellow Christians when Johnson ultimately sided with his convictions rather than conceding to the Republican Party’s isolationist wing. He backed a $95 billion foreign aid package that, despite the opposition of 112 GOP legislators, overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives last weekend.Like many of his fellow Republicans, Johnson had initially opposed further aid to Ukraine, voting against it prior to becoming speaker and waiting months to move forward with an aid package after the Senate approved its version in February.He “went through a transformation,” according to one GOP colleague, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul. The shift may have come in part due to the influence of Ukrainian evangelicals, fellow Christian leaders, and his personal faith.“He got down on his knees, and he prayed for guidance and said, ‘Look, tell me. What is the right thing to do here?’” the Texas congressman told NOTUS’s Haley Byrd Wilt. The next day, Johnson said to McCaul, “I want to be on the right side of history.”The House vote on the Ukraine provisions, around $61 billion, was 311 to 112; a majority of Johnson’s colleagues voted against the measure, while aid to Israel and Taiwan had broader support. The Senate cleared the package Tuesday in a bipartisan 79–18 vote. Now the measure heads to President Joe Biden’s desk.Ukrainian leadership had grown more vocal about depleted weapons ...Continue reading...

Texas megachurch Pastor Jack Graham has officially endorsed former pastor and seminary professor David Allen for president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Grammy-winning artist was found dead at her home in Nashville at age 47. Grammy Award-winning contemporary Christian singer Mandisa Lynn Hundley, a former Lifeway Christian Resources employee and top-10 American Idol finisher, was found dead Thursday at her Nashville home, her publicist announced on social media.No cause of death was given.“We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased. At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details,” according to an official notice posted April 19 on the official X account of the performer known simply as Mandisa.“We ask for your prayers for her family and closeknit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time.”Before finishing in the ninth spot on American Idol’s fifth season in 2005, Mandisa worked for Lifeway as a telephone customer service representative from 2000 to 2003, Lifeway told Baptist Press.She partnered with the Lifeway women’s ministry team, performing and leading worship at some events, and later performed at Living Proof Live events.“Our team at Lifeway is heartbroken to hear of the passing of our friend and former co-worker,” Lifeway CEO Ben Mandrell told Baptist Press. “Her teammates recall the joy and kindness she brought to work every day. Our heartfelt prayers are with her family.”Lakisha Mitchell, the late wife of Southern Baptist pastor Breonus Mitchell, inspired Mandisa’s hit “Overcomer,” the title song of the album that garnered a 2014 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album. Breonus Mitchell, senior pastor of Mount Gilead Baptist Church in Hermitage, Tennessee, remarried in 2018.“Obviously we are saddened ...Continue reading...

The Grammy-winning artist was found dead at her home in Nashville at age 47. Grammy Award-winning contemporary Christian singer Mandisa Lynn Hundley, a former Lifeway Christian Resources employee and top-10 American Idol finisher, was found dead Thursday at her Nashville home, her publicist announced on social media.No cause of death was given.“We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased. At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details,” according to an official notice posted April 19 on the official X account of the performer known simply as Mandisa.“We ask for your prayers for her family and closeknit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time.”Before finishing in the ninth spot on American Idol’s fifth season in 2005, Mandisa worked for Lifeway as a telephone customer service representative from 2000 to 2003, Lifeway told Baptist Press.She partnered with the Lifeway women’s ministry team, performing and leading worship at some events, and later performed at Living Proof Live events.“Our team at Lifeway is heartbroken to hear of the passing of our friend and former co-worker,” Lifeway CEO Ben Mandrell told Baptist Press. “Her teammates recall the joy and kindness she brought to work every day. Our heartfelt prayers are with her family.”Lakisha Mitchell, the late wife of Southern Baptist pastor Breonus Mitchell, inspired Mandisa’s hit “Overcomer,” the title song of the album that garnered a 2014 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album. Breonus Mitchell, senior pastor of Mount Gilead Baptist Church in Hermitage, Tennessee, remarried in 2018.“Obviously we are saddened ...Continue reading...

The Grammy-winning artist was found dead at her home in Nashville at age 47. Grammy Award-winning contemporary Christian singer Mandisa Lynn Hundley, a former Lifeway Christian Resources employee and top-10 American Idol finisher, was found dead Thursday at her Nashville home, her publicist announced on social media.No cause of death was given.“We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased. At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details,” according to an official notice posted April 19 on the official X account of the performer known simply as Mandisa.“We ask for your prayers for her family and closeknit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time.”Before finishing in the ninth spot on American Idol’s fifth season in 2005, Mandisa worked for Lifeway as a telephone customer service representative from 2000 to 2003, Lifeway told Baptist Press.She partnered with the Lifeway women’s ministry team, performing and leading worship at some events, and later performed at Living Proof Live events.“Our team at Lifeway is heartbroken to hear of the passing of our friend and former co-worker,” Lifeway CEO Ben Mandrell told Baptist Press. “Her teammates recall the joy and kindness she brought to work every day. Our heartfelt prayers are with her family.”Lakisha Mitchell, the late wife of Southern Baptist pastor Breonus Mitchell, inspired Mandisa’s hit “Overcomer,” the title song of the album that garnered a 2014 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album. Breonus Mitchell, senior pastor of Mount Gilead Baptist Church in Hermitage, Tennessee, remarried in 2018.“Obviously we are saddened ...Continue reading...

Eitan, son of late Armored Corps reservist Elisha Levinshtern who fell in battle in southern Gaza, called up to Torah at Western Wall; 'The people of Israel continue to celebrate the circle of Jewish life'

Report: Israel Expecting Iran Attack Within Day Or Two Israel is preparing for a direct attack from Iran on southern or northern Israel as soon as the next 24 to ... Read MoreThe post News Digest — 4/12/24 appeared first on The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.

Seminary leaders say that the country, where Baptists are the largest Protestant denomination, has lost hundreds of churches in the war with Russia. Southern Baptist leaders have written to US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a member and former official of their denomination, urging him to support Ukraine in Russia’s war against its Eastern European neighbor.“As you consider efforts to support Ukraine, we humbly ask that you consider the plight of Christians,” wrote the leaders, who either have ties to the SBC’s Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary or to Ukrainian Baptists. “The Russian government’s decision to invade Ukraine and to target Baptists and other evangelical Christians in Ukraine has been a tragic hallmark of the war.”The letter, sent Monday, was signed by Daniel Darling, director of the seminary’s Land Center for Cultural Engagement; Richard Land, the namesake of the center and a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC); Yaroslav Pyzh, president of Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary; and Valerii Antoniu, president of the Baptist Union of Ukraine.Johnson is a former trustee of the ERLC, serving when Land—who also is a former commissioner of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom—was its president.In February, the Senate passed a $95 billion package for funding Ukraine, Israel and other allies, with $60 billion earmarked for Ukraine. But Johnson, whose tenure as House speaker may rely on his handling of the bill, has yet to schedule a House vote on the funding measure.Conservatives in the House who oppose funding for Ukraine on “America First” grounds, led by US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have threatened to trigger a vote to remove Johnson from office.“Speaker Johnson has a really difficult ...Continue reading...