Seldom has a project or an initiative captured the attention and touched the heart of an entire denomination quite like the Israel Initiative. I believe Church of God World Missions was directed of the Holy Spirit to adopt the Israel Initiative as its first emphasis of the Finish Challenge.

With many others in our nation, I feel deep sorrow and pain, and, yes, anger over the horrific shooting in Chattanooga on July 16. I am earnestly praying for families, friends, and for the Chattanooga community now suffering indescribable bereavement and loss. Lee University and the Pentecostal Theological Seminary were on lockdown for several hours during the incident as a precaution. However, it certainly made the whole incident more immediate and personal. I admit to feeling some sense of fear for my family, friends, and for my community. If such an atrocity, can happen in Chattanooga, it can happen anywhere—even in Knoxville or Knox County. What are we to do?

The residents of Glencoe, Alabama, are refusing to succumb to the will of atheist organization Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Two men on a small plane who dropped candy as they flew over a church event in Auburn, Wyoming, were killed when their plane crashed, police said on Wednesday.

With the recent torrential rains throughout Kentucky, there has been flash floods and widespread flooding. One of the hardest hit areas is in the Johnson County, Ky. area. Operation Compassion is mobilizing a disaster response to this area working through OC’s coordinator in Kentucky, Dave Kilburn.

The Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm, will host a skyline dinner cruise along the Lake Michigan coast to celebrate life, family, and religious liberty on Monday, August 31, 2015.

Political factions in this mountainous country are debating a new constitution that includes anti-conversion laws and underscores decades-old religious tension. If ratified, the result could be a likely crackdown and severe persecution for dozens of Christian ministries serving there.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is calling on the producers of the soon-to-be-aired documentary, “Hunted: Gay and Afraid,” to accurately portray WCF rather than resort to baseless attacks, misinformation, and misrepresentations similar to those perpetuated by radical LGBT groups that have become exponentially aggressive since WCF announced its historic first meeting in the United States, in Salt Lake City in October.

July 22, 2015–Dr. Raymond E. Crowley, former general overseer for the Church of God, passed away at his home in Virginia last night. He was 92 and the oldest surviving former general overseer in the denomination.