God Proves He is More Powerful Than ISIS Terrorists

A granddaughter of world-changing evangelist Billy Graham is opening up about a time God supernaturally answered one of her prayers, recalling the story during a new podcast on the “No Longer Nomads” platform.

Rachel Ruth Lotz Wright, daughter of Anne Graham Lotz, was talking with podcast host Josh Doyle when they recalled together a precise answer to one of her prayers and how it literally saved Doyle’s life several years ago.

It took place when Josh Doyle and his brother were serving as missionaries in Turkey when they got lost and were suddenly at great risk of being captured and killed by ISIS.

“As we go deeper into the market, we see more faces popping out that are ISIS fighters,” Josh recalled. “At this point, I would say that we were starting to have a panic attack.”

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“No one spoke English, anywhere we went, asking for help from shopkeepers,” he said. “We felt like we were truly in the lion’s den.”

Josh’s parents, who founded a ministry called Uncharted, had become acquainted with Anne Graham Lotz through their ministries. The Doyles put out an urgent request for prayer, and halfway around the world Rachel Ruth got the message and prayed specifically that God would send an English-speaking translator immediately to help the Doyle brothers escape to safety.

That’s exactly what happened next.

Doyle explained, “All of a sudden, out of a sea of people, some guy comes directly up to us and speaks perfect English. And he goes, ‘Are you guys lost?'”

The man then guided them to safety.

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“It is so neat to hear you talk about this,” Rachel Ruth said, “because we haven’t talked about this in person.”

“This is crazy… just to show y’all who are listening how unbelievable the Holy Spirit is,” she continued. “All those years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom… and I get a text from Josh’s mom, and she said ‘pray because they’re surrounded by ISIS.'”

She didn’t know all the details, but the Lord led her to pray for an English-speaking man to come up to the Doyle brothers and pull them out of the dangerous area they were in. And God answered her prayer exactly as she had prayed it.

To read the full story, visit our content partners at CBN News.

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Record Crushed Amid Growing Fears of the End Times

Last Sunday was a big day for the YouVersion Bible app.

The faith-based app’s founder, Bobby Gruenewald, told The Christian Post the YouVersion team “saw 18.2 million people engage in the Bible and more than 798,000 installs” on Sunday Jan. 5.

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“We tend to see a seasonal uptick in Bible engagement at the beginning of the year as people start new habits and are interested in reading the Bible for the first time,” he said. “What’s interesting to us is that this year’s increase is even higher than this same time last year, and it’s a trend we’re seeing globally.”

The number of downloads at the beginning of the week set a new record, besting the record set on the first Sunday of last year. What’s most interesting, though, is where in the world YouVersion saw the greatest increase in downloads.

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To name a few, the Scripture-reading app saw a 198% increase in Ethiopia, a 94% increase in Egypt, a 74% increase in Turkey, a 65% increase in Ghana and a 48% increase in Pakistan. North Africa saw an overall engagement increase of 297% while the Middle East saw an uptick of 166%.

These trends are in keeping with how YouVersion has seen its app grow over time. According to CBN News, the app saw more engagement in 2024 than in any year prior, revealing Philippians 4:6 was its most-searched passage.

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Athletes are Pointing to Jesus Through Football and Beyond

Something amazing is happening among sports teams across the country. Athletes and coaches are boldly declaring their faith in Jesus Christ and giving glory to God in locker rooms, press conferences and on the field.

What is taking place is being seen over and over again.

Most recently, it has been happening among college and professional football teams.

This football season has been marked by widespread, ongoing declarations of faith that seemed to kick off last August when the Ohio State University football team preached the gospel to 800-1,000 people on campus. In the end, about 60 students chose to get baptized into the Christian faith.

Athletes are not only speaking out about their faith, but they are gathering together to pray and worship the Lord.

Yet, over the past week, there has been a flood of bold displays of faith.

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After guiding the Baltimore Ravens to win the AFC North to close the regular season by beating the Cleveland Browns 35-10 on Saturday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh led his team in The Lord’s Prayer.

SO MUCH BOLDNESS FOR JESUS IN AMERICA THESE DAYS 🇺🇸

It’s a new era!

John Harbaugh leading the #Ravens in prayer after clinching the AFC North.

“Our Father, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread…” pic.twitter.com/5suwy1IsKP

— Dr. Malachi – (Dr. Run) (@malachiobrien) January 5, 2025

“I think back to KC (Kansas City). We said before that game that we are going to dedicate the season to each other and to God. We said to God be the glory,” he told the team before leading the prayer.

“It’s a bunch of guys who love ball and love one another and are willing to do it for something greater than themselves,” he said.

Harbaugh has been outspoken about his Christian faith. Last year, after leading the Ravens to their first AFC Championship win in 11 years, he opened the postgame press conference by reading 1 Chronicles 29:11 from the Old Testament.

“I just want to start off with this. It was something that was said to me before the game and is just meaningful to me, so I’m going to share it with you,” Harbaugh told the assembled reporters. “Because I think it’s the right thing to do.

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“It’s a verse. ‘Greatness, power, glory, victory, and honor belong to You. Because everything in heaven and Earth belongs to You. The kingdom belongs to you, Lord. You are the head and the ruler over everything,'” he read.

“There’s an amazing spirit on this team and I just want to kind of give honor and glory where it’s due,” Harbaugh said.

The 62-year-old is not the only coach pointing fans to Jesus.

Liberty University head coach Jamey Chadwell was spotted wearing a “Jesus Won” t-shirt in the Bahamas Bowl Saturday in a game against the Buffalo Bulls.

To read the full story, visit our content partners at CBN News.

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3 Blood Moons Are Coming, and You Won’t Believe When the First One Hits

Some remarkable celestial signs will be on display in the coming months that may hold prophetic significance for our world. This series of four heavenly phenomena includes two lunar events over the next 14 months that appear to represent a possible message about Israel.

It all kicks off with a total lunar eclipse known as a “blood moon” that will appear over the U.S. Mar. 14, 2025. This particular one will fall directly on the Jewish holiday of Purim. That’s when the Jewish people celebrate the biblical account of Esther when they were delivered from annihilation at the hands of an enemy named Haman in the Persian empire, which is modern-day Iran.

And that’s not the end. There will actually be two more blood moons, with one coming this fall before Rosh Hashanah, and then the third one also falling directly on Purim Mar. 3, 2026.

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Bible prophecy experts say lunar eclipses known as “blood moons” are tied to events that affect Israel. And with antisemitism spiking around the globe, the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza and the massive Middle East shifts that have followed the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, the two Purim blood moons could hold special significance.

Israel is also facing a new era of uncertainty now that its neighbor Syria has fallen into the hands of rebels with ties to Al Qaeda as well as Turkey. And some are concerned that Iran could find a way to lash out after seeing its proxy terrorist armies of Hamas and Hezbollah being destroyed by Israel. It’s why Israel may feel compelled to act swiftly as rumors abound that Iran is close to completing a nuclear weapon that could be deployed against the Jewish state.

What Is the Significance of a Blood Moon?

A blood moon is a full lunar eclipse in which the moon can appear to be an eerie blood-red color. Blood moons occur when Earth passes directly between the moon and the sun, preventing the sun from reflecting off the moon and casting a reddish shadow over it.

In the next such event, the moon will vanish for more than an hour over North and South America on Mar. 14.

The cosmic moment will repeat on Sept. 7, 2025, with an 82-minute “blood moon” that will be visible over Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. That’s two weeks before the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year which is a time of prayer and repentance.

Christian leaders who study biblical prophecy, like Pastor John Hagee, have contended for years that blood moons portend significant events for Israel and the Middle East, and therefore the entire world.

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Hagee wrote a best-selling book about it called, “Four Blood Moons.”

“The heavens are ‘God’s billboard.’ He’s been sending signals to Earth, and we haven’t been picking them up,” Hagee explained a decade ago when talking about a particularly remarkable series of blood moons called a tetrad, four blood moons within a span of two years.

The last time a tetrad took place was from 2014-2015, and all four of those eclipses landed directly on Jewish holidays, coming as the world endured the shocking and horrific rise of ISIS, the highly controversial Iran nuclear deal, and the previous Israeli war with Hamas.

That tetrad began during Passover in 2014. The final blood moon of that series took place in September of 2015 during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles which marks God’s provision and protection during the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness.

To read the full story, visit our content partners at CBN News.

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BREAKING: Justin Trudeau to Resign as Canadian Prime Minister

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation, telling the media that “internal battles” mean he “cannot be the best option” in the next election.

Trudeau says he has asked the president of his Liberal Party to begin the process to select a new leader. He has faced rising discontent over his leadership, and the abrupt departure of his finance minister late last year signaled growing turmoil within his government.

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Shortly before he spoke, an official familiar with the matter said Parliament will be suspended until March 24. It had been due to resume Jan. 27. The timing will allow for a Liberal Party leadership race. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter publicly.

Trudeau came to power in 2015 after 10 years of Conservative Party rule, and had initially been praised for returning the country to its liberal past. But the 53-year-old leader, the son of Pierre Trudeau, one of Canada’s most famous prime ministers, became deeply unpopular with voters in recent years over a range of issues, including the soaring cost of food and housing, and surging immigration.

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The political upheaval comes at a difficult moment for Canada internationally. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods if the government does not stem what Trump calls a flow of migrants and drugs in the U.S.

This article originally appeared on CBN News, and is reposted with permission.

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‘Terrorist Attack’: Driver Rams Truck Into New Orleans Crowd, 10 Dead

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The suspect who drove a vehicle at high speed into a crowd of revelers in New Orleans on New Year’s Day was killed after a firefight with police, law enforcement officials told the AP.

The officials were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Ten people were killed and 30 were injured after the suspect rammed a vehicle at high speed into a crowd of pedestrians in New Orleans’ bustling French Quarter district at 3:15 a.m. Wednesday along Bourbon Street.

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The area is known worldwide as one of the largest destinations for New Year’s Eve parties, especially with crowds in the city ballooning in anticipation for the Sugar Bowl college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome later in the day.

The FBI said in a statement that it was heading an investigation “with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism.” At a news conference, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the killings as a “terrorist attack” and the city’s police chief said the act was clearly intentional.

Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said officials were investigating the discovery of at least one suspected improvised explosive device at the scene.

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Whit Davis, 22, told CNN he was leaving a nightclub at the time of the attack.

“Everyone started yelling and screaming and running to the back, and then we basically went into lockdown for a little bit and then it calmed down but they wouldn’t let us leave,” Davis said.

To read the full story, please visit our content partners at CBN News.

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Freedom Under Fire on US College Campuses

A new survey of thousands of American college faculty yielded some shocking results on free speech and academic freedom, with nearly 3-in-10 professors stating they feel unable to speak openly over fears about how students, fellow faculty, and administrators might respond.

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This is just one of the eyebrow-raising findings in “Silence in the Classroom: The 2024 FIRE Faculty Survey Report” released by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

“While many faculty remain confident in higher education, and few report explicit threats or experiences of discipline for speech, the broader climate reflects that of rampant self-censorship, worry and fear, particularly among faculty in the political minority,” the study’s executive summary reads.

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Some of the key findings underscore this warning. Thirty-five percent of faculty reported recently toning down writings for fear of sparking controversy.

And when you consider 14% stated they “suffered discipline or threats of discipline for either their teaching, research, academic talks, or other off-campus speech,” these worries and moves become easier to understand.

In the midst of a cancel culture—one that can threaten livelihoods and careers—the notion people sometimes self-sensor is on full display.

This is likely why 40% of faculty expressed worries about damage to their reputations if a person misunderstands their words or deeds, with 23% of faculty fearful about losing their jobs over such a scenario.

To read the full story, visit our content partners at CBN News.

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How Declining Christian Giving Could Impact Churches and Ministries

A researcher is sounding the alarm after new data shows a troubling decline in evangelical giving to churches and charities more generally.

“The takeaway is that there has been a change over the last three years in terms of the generosity of the evangelical community, both toward church and toward nonprofit organizations or charities,” Mark Dreistadt said. “We’ve seen a drop in giving across the board.”

Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter Research found the “proportion of evangelicals giving to church fell 13 percentage points from 2021, constituting a 17% decrease in giving,” according to a press release.

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While 61% of evangelicals gave to their local church in the 12 months before the study, this was down from the previous timeframe, when 74% of evangelicals had done the same. The same happened with giving to outside ministries or organizations, which decreased from 58% in 2021 to 50% in 2024.

Dreistadt said these changes are “concerning” for churches and ministries:

“It’s something that is of concern, certainly, for every church and every nonprofit organization that depends on donor dollars,” he said. “This becomes a very critical thing because … in some cases, the giving is down as much as 15%. And if you’re working with a tight budget, a 15% loss of revenue can be critical.”

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But Dreistadt also pointed to a “deeper concern” reflected in some of the research he’s done—something he referred to as “a secularization of the church” and of the evangelical community.

Under this dynamic, he said spiritual practices are becoming “less and less significant to a greater number of people within that community.” Ultimately, it’s spiritual engagement that drives everything else in the faith space.

“When we find people who are truly spiritually engaged—they read their Bible, they’re in a home group or a study group, they go to church regularly, they regularly pray—[for] those folks the giving has stayed much closer to the norm,” he said. “So, I do think that there’s a deeper spiritual problem driving some of this as well.”

To read the full story, visit our content partners at CBN News.

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Top 5 Misconceptions About Christmas and Christ’s Birth

Nativity scenes, artwork, and popular films attempt to retell the incredible story behind Christ’s birth. But sometimes there’s a disconnect between these depictions and the biblical details.

Let’s start with the popular belief that three wise men, or magi, visited Jesus.

“It’s great to go to scripture and start with the Magi,” Jesse Bradley, pastor of Grace Community Church,” told CBN News. “You know, when you think about what’s the message—well, there’s three of them. Where do we find that? Not in the Bible.”

So, where did people get the idea that there were definitively three wise men?

“There’s three gifts,” Bradley continued. “There’s frankincense, myrrh, and gold. But, again, it doesn’t say three wise men.”

Pastor and author Max Lucado agrees.

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“We do not know if it was a trio of travelers or if there was two or ten,” he said. “But we do know that they came in search of Christ.”

And there’s another misconception—the Magi met Jesus on the night of His birth.

“Did they show up on the day Christ was born?” Lucado rhetorically asked. “Odds are they did not. It would have taken quite a while, but we don’t know when they started and when they arrived.”

Historian William Federer said King Herod’s decree documented in Matthew 2 provides important clues about the wisemen’s arrival.

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“We don’t know the exact timing, but, based on Herod—when he inquires of the wise men, when the Messiah was born, based on that, he decides to kill all babies two years and younger. And, so, it could have been up to two years after Jesus’s birth that the three wise men came.”

Plus, there’s some ambiguity surrounding Mary’s and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem before Christ’s birth.

“We love to fill in the blanks… sometimes there’s creative license,” Bradley said. “When people think about Mary and Joseph, there are some perceptions. You know, Mary was either on a donkey or a camel, but the Bible doesn’t say that.”

To read the full story, visit our content partners at CBN News.

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Stunning NASA Christmas Message Still Resonates 56 Years After Apollo 8

In December 1968, NASA launched the first manned mission to the moon. No one, not even the astronauts aboard, was certain that they’d be able to return safely. Their journey, the most hazardous and dangerous ever embarked upon, took them to the boundaries of another world, and, even more remarkably, brought peace to their own.

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It was shortly after 5:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve that something remarkable happened. After spotting the barren, far side of the moon for the first time, the astronauts onboard captured a photo that has since become known as “Earthrise.” For all the turmoil, tragedy and political tumult the world had experienced during 1968, this iconic, indelible image captured the beauty and fragility of our home planet.

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And then, with more than one billion people watching around the world on television, the astronauts delivered a message to the largest audience in human history. It was a sentiment for all mankind and one straight from the pages of the Bible. As the nation waited in prayerful consideration, astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders spoke the following words:

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

To read the full story, visit our content partners at CBN News.

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