The husband of Christian writer Shannon Dingle died in a beach accident on the North Carolina shores last week.
Source: Husband of Christian Blogger and Father of 6 Dies in Beach Accident

Thousands are gathering in Puerto Rico to demand the resignation of Gov. Ricky Rosselló after text messages showed mismanagement.
Source: Thousands Gather in Puerto Rico to Pray for and Protest the Government following Governor's Mismanagement

Pew: Religious literacy usually helps Americans appreciate other faiths. Evangelicals score highest when it comes to their own.

There’s an adage that sometimes comes up in the church: “You can’t love what you don’t know.”

Research has shown that people with the greatest understanding of other faiths tend to have more positive views of outside traditions. But a recent survey found one key exception: evangelical Protestants.

The people who know the most about religion—and scored the highest on Pew Research Center’s religious literacy quiz—actually had worse views of evangelicals than the average American or those with low scores.

“Higher scores on the overall (32- point) religious knowledge scale tend to be associated with warmer evaluations of most religious groups,” the researchers wrote. “One exception to this pattern is evangelical Christians, who are rated most warmly by those at the low end of the religious knowledge scale.

Meanwhile, evangelical Protestants actually know more than the average American about religion, due largely to their familiarity with their own faith. While few in the US can parse Protestant theology or define the prosperity gospel, evangelicals were among the top-performing faith groups in a religious literacy quiz, ranking after Jews, atheists, and agnostics and above other Christian affiliations and religious nones.

Evangelicals—in this survey, a multiethnic sample grouped by affiliation—know the Bible and Christianity better than anyone else, but when it comes to other traditions, their standings fall. Only evangelicals who said they regularly dedicated time to learning about world religions knew more than average about other faiths.

The issue of religious literacy matters more than ever in America’s pluralistic context, and evangelicals have …

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Source: Americans Who Know Religion Best Hold Worse Views of Evangelicals

Faced with mounting threats and anti-missionary laws, Baptists win asylum appeal despite supposed constitutional protections in their home country.

As evangelicals increasingly become the target of Russia’s severe anti-evangelism laws, a German court ruled this month in favor of a Baptist family who fled attacks, insults, and threats in their homeland.

Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) initially rejected the Russian Christians’ asylum application because it did not consider their persecution to be the result of the Russian government, which guarantees freedom of belief in its constitution, the evangelical news outlet Idea.de reported.

But a Düsseldorf court overturned the decision in early July. The decision cited Russia’s 2017 ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses and concluded that it’s probable for Baptists, as a fellow evangelistically oriented faith group, to suffer government persecution as well. They have been granted the right to stay.

“In general, Germany is very sympathetic to persecuted religious groups, especially to Christians,” Thomas K. Johnson, special advisor for the World Evangelical Alliance’s International Institute for Religious Freedom, told CT. “This is not a precedent; the precedents are already very old. This is a continuation.”

While in Russia, the Baptist family suffered repeated insults, physical violence, and threatening phone calls over their missionary activities, and police refused to offer protection, according to the family’s lawyer, Zaza Koschuaschwili. They said they were followed by young men in black uniforms.

Last year, Pentecostals and Baptists faced the most punishments under Russia’s anti-missionary laws, which bar adherents from sharing their faith anywhere but designated church sites.

The religious freedom news service Forum 18 shared …

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Source: Christians Fleeing Persecution in Russia Can Stay in Germany

A pregnant mother of two children was among three Christians killed by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in north-central Nigeria the night of July 14 and morning of July 15, sources said.
Source: Pregnant Mother among Five Christians Slain in North-Central Nigeria

Complementarians and egalitarians share common ground in lay leadership.
Source: What the Ordination Debate Misses: Laywomen in Ministry

A number of Palestinian homes near the West Bank are being demolished, Israeli authorities said.
Source: Israel to Tear Down Palestinian Homes near West Bank Barrier, Palestinian Authorities Call it a 'Grave Aggression'

Syrian Christians are calling on the United States to help protect them after Turkish troops were seen gathering on the border between the two volatile nations.
Source: Syrian Christians Plead with United States to Protect Them from Possible Attack by Turkey

An American amphibious attack ship shot down an Iranian drone over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump announced the incident Thursday and said it in self-defense after the drone came within 1,000 yards of the USS Boxer and ignored calls to turn around. According to the Associated Press, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said the drone “closed within a threatening range” before the Boxer shot it down.
Source: President Trump Claims American Warship Shot Down Iranian Drone over the Strait of Hormuz

Athens, Greece was hit by a strong magnitude 5.3 earthquake Friday afternoon.
Source: Greece Is Hit by Powerful 5.3 Magnitude Earthquake