by | Jan 16, 2024 | Uncategorized
Leaders reflect on what YouVersion’s list of the most-shared Scriptures in their nation includes—and misses.
Below are the Philippines’ top verses of 2023 as determined by YouVersion. With the help of Langham Partnership, Christianity Today reached out to three local Bible scholars for their thoughts and analysis on what to make of the state of Christianity in the Philippines as seen through these findings.
Federico Villanueva, regional commissioning editor, Langham Partnership
What is your overall reaction to this list?
I wasn’t surprised. First, these verses reflect the situation of many Filipinos. In the midst of uncertainties, poverty, and political instability, it is understandable that many FIlipinos are drawn to Bible passages which remind them that God is in control.
He has been there from the very beginning (John 1:1). All things work together for good (Rom. 8:28). And he has a good plan for us (Jer. 29:11). So they do not need to worry (Matt. 6:33) but come to him (Matt. 11:28) and cast their cares on the Lord (1 Pet. 5:7).
Second, these verses reflect the influence of Protestant (particularly American) Christianity with its emphasis on personal spirituality and the concern for holiness in an evil and wicked world (Rom. 12:2).
Given the events of this past year, is there a verse you wish were on this list instead?
I wish Psalm 10:15 was included among the top 10 list of verses in my country, given the presence of wicked men in our country and in the world. But Christians tend not to involve themselves in politics and are more focused on the spiritual and inner needs. One of the reasons why our country is like this is there is a huge gap between what we do inside the church and what is happening in the society and the world.
Psalm 10 is part of a lament. The psalmist is complaining against God …
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by | Jan 16, 2024 | Uncategorized
Throughout political turmoil, Soong Mei-ling remained steadfast in her Christian nationalist beliefs and supported spreading the gospel in China and Taiwan.
The Chinese version of this article is part of a series on “12 Influential Christian Women in Modern Chinese History”.
Soong Mei-ling (1898–2003), a pivotal figure in 20th-century Chinese history, holds a distinct place as the First Lady of the Republic of China. Known by various names such as Soong Mei-ling in mainland China, Chiang Soong Mei-ling in Taiwan, and Madame Chiang in the English-speaking world, she played a critical role as the wife of Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Republic of China through its fifth presidency, and as the stepmother to the sixth and seventh presidents. While her political role is well recognized, her Christian faith is a lesser known yet equally vital aspect of her life.
Early life
Soong was born in 1898 to a deeply Christian family in Shanghai. Her father, Charlie Soong, studied theology at Vanderbilt University in the United States and became a Methodist pastor. He was also an influential publisher and a key leader of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in China. Soong’s mother, Ni Guizhen, a pastor’s daughter, further instilled Christian values in their home.
Soong was the youngest of three influential sisters, each marrying prominent figures in China’s political history. Her eldest sister married H. H. Kung, a leader in the Republic of China’s government, and her second sister married Sun Yat-sen, a pivotal figure in modern China’s formation.
Educated in the United States, where she attended Piedmont College, Wesleyan College, and Wellesley College, Soong embraced Western culture alongside her Chinese heritage. She returned to China in 1917, dedicating herself to social work and education, often in collaboration with Western …
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by | Jan 16, 2024 | Uncategorized
Followers continue to flock to the prosperity gospel minister even after his A-list connections spawned recent scrutiny.
On the stage of First Baptist Church of Glenarden International, Bishop T. D. Jakes didn’t spend much time preaching from the lectern at center stage of the megachurch.
Instead, the televangelist walked back and forth in his dark suit and striped tie, switching a handheld microphone from his left to his right hand, sometimes facing the predominantly Black congregation of thousands gathered for an annual revival at the start of the year, other times turned toward the clergy and the choir members sitting on the large stage.
“The Holy Spirit sent me all the way to the DMV to tell you this is your year to pivot,” the Dallas-based Pentecostal minister said to cheers and applause from the Washington, DC-area crowd, many on their feet on January 5. “You have to surround yourself with people who can pivot because they’re following who you used to be. Now they’ve got to follow who you have become.”
As he expounded on the biblical story of Joshua succeeding Moses, it was not readily apparent that two weeks before, rumors of the kind that might have led to his own succession had gone viral on social media. While some of his many ministries and businesses issued statements in response, Jakes appeared to be treating the rumors as a bit of turbulence rather than lasting turmoil.
The prosperity gospel preacher, entertainment executive, and ministry entrepreneur has grown exponentially since his early days as a storefront pastor in West Virginia. Jakes moved to the Dallas area in 1996 and founded The Potter’s House, now a nondenominational megachurch with multiple locations and more than 30,000 members, according to the Dallas Morning News.
In 2001, Time magazine featured the traveling evangelist …
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by | Jan 16, 2024 | Uncategorized
In the GOP’s first primary race, evangelicals didn’t take much convincing to stay in his fold.
Donald Trump—the far and away GOP frontrunner—has secured a quick win in Iowa, where his campaign’s Christian rhetoric stoked his fan base but disturbed some evangelical leaders.
National outlets barely waited for the ink on the ballots to dry before calling the race for Trump only 30 minutes after caucus sites closed. Some sites were still voting.
Trump won with 51 percent of the vote, more than the other candidates combined, sweeping all but one county in the state. The former president consistently led in the polls by around 30 points, thanks largely to support from evangelical Christians. Around half told pollsters he was their first choice.
That’s a shift from the last time Trump ran in Iowa. The state’s evangelicals weren’t excited about the foul-mouthed real estate mogul in 2016 and favored Ted Cruz, viewing Trump as “the lesser of two evils” when paired against Hillary Clinton in the election, said Jeff VanDerWerff, a political science professor at Northwestern College, a Christian college in Orange City, Iowa.
“The thing that’s just been really fascinating to me over the last eight years,” VanDerWerff told Christianity Today, “has been this slow migration and now this real embrace, it seems, of Trump. That he’s become or is seen as this instrument of God.”
Early entrance polls from CNN found that 55 percent of white evangelical Christians said they were supporting Trump.
Despite subzero temperatures, supporters heeded Trump’s call to turn out: “You can’t sit home. If you’re sick as a dog, you say, ‘Darling, I gotta make it,’” …
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by | Jan 12, 2024 | Uncategorized
Evangelical elites of all political stripes still dispute Trump, but the question is largely settled at the grassroots.
Next week’s Iowa Republican caucuses formally launch the 2024 primary race that will almost certainly end with a third GOP nomination for former president Donald Trump. When Iowans caucus on Monday, recent polling suggests Trump will easily claim the state’s 40 delegates, with rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis jostling for second place.
Whatever the exact results, the decisions of Iowa’s white evangelical caucus-goers will be much scrutinized in the days to come. But for most of them, I suspect, those decisions have been long since made. American evangelicals’ conversation around Trump has changed dramatically since 2020, splitting along a kind of class line and all but disappearing as an active consideration for the average voter.
In most evangelical circles, the Trump debate is dead.
Let’s start with the exception: Among what some call the “evangelical elite,” this is still a live question. Whether it’s permissible (or required) to support (or oppose) Trump for president is still actively discussed among evangelicals who write books and articles like this one, who attract followings online, who know what “Big Eva” means and how they feel about it, who attend seminary (but probably not for pastoral ministry), and who otherwise participate in The Discourse—wherever they land politically or theologically.
Trump support is a live question for self-proclaimed Christian nationalists on X (formerly Twitter). And it’s a live question for “never Trump” evangelicals at The Atlantic or The New York Times. In Iowa, it’s a live question for Republican kingmaker Bob Vander Plaats, who told CT he’s holding out hope for a DeSantis win.
But for …
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