World | TLG Christian News

The Purge: Election Year

01/07/2016 0 Comment

The opportunity for biting social critique gets swept away in a torrent of bloody destruction.

Few, if any, of CT's readers probably ought to see (or bother seeing) The Purge: Election Year. Like its predecessors (The Purge and The Purge: Anarchy), its world is drawn thinly in ways that don't actually help the very interesting concept of the plot: that in an alternate universe very close to our own, the U.S. is ruled by the NFFA—the New Founding Fathers of America, a party of apparent..

The BFG

01/07/2016 0 Comment

Fairy tales need real dragons.

Roald Dahl weaves strange yarns for kids, mixing imagination and whimsy with a distinct strand of menace. The enduring popularity of his stories—Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was published in 1964!—depends on all those threads, menace included. What good is Matilda without the criminally neglectful parents or abusive Agatha Trunchbull? Or James and the Giant Peach without the cruel aunts? Or Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator without the Vermicious Knids?

Issues in the Future of Evangelicalism

01/07/2016 0 Comment

The future of evangelicalism includes harsh realities for churches.

The enduring question for the church is this: how do we fulfill the Great Commission in a rapidly changing world?

We—the church of the West—receive no exception from the question.

But it appears that despite our best efforts to keep up with the ever-morphing values and circumstances of Western cultures, the answer eludes us.

For many , the answer is not to adapt or change at all, but merely to maintain as if by some force of..

Interview: Q+A with Adam Grant: Does Our Calling Make Us More Creative?

01/07/2016 0 Comment

The author of ‘Originals’ talks about how faith factors into our ideas and work.

A psychology professor at Wharton Business School, Adam Grant probes motivations and inspirations to get at the heart of work.

His research reveals unexpected glimpses of humanity and character, like how generosity can help leaders get ahead (his 2013 bestseller Give and Take) and how the rest of us are more like iconic innovators than we think (his latest book Originals).

Packed with the stories behind the succ..

McDonald’s May Be the Most Welcoming Spot in Your Neighborhood

01/07/2016 0 Comment

A fast-food skeptic finds lessons on community in an unexpected place.

I’ve blamed McDonald’s and fellow fast food joints for enabling Americans’ worst eating habits. They help us scarf down a meal in our cars, by ourselves, and in a hurry. Their cheap, greasy food steals away poor people’s paychecks, and their glowing signs interrupt our skylines. I worry that McDonald’s triumph has led us to value expediency and efficiency over all else.

But maybe I’ve missed something major about fast-food..

US giving hundreds of millions to countries that recruit child soldiers

01/07/2016 0 Comment

The US is giving hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to countries that use and recruit child soldiers.

Around a quarter of a million children around the world have beem recruited as soldiers.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday condemned the practice, and urged the Obama administration to review its spending.

The call came following the release of a new list of countries implicated in the use of child soldiers by the US State Department.

The list of 10 countries includes ..

Bangladesh: Hindu priest hacked to death while preparing morning prayers

01/07/2016 0 Comment

A Hindu priest was hacked to death in Bangladesh on Friday, the latest in a spate of violent killings in the country.

Dozens of people have been killed over the last three years by Islamist extremists in Bangladesh.

Shaymanonda Das, 45, was killed in front of a temple in Jhinaidah district headquarter, 300km south west of the capital Dhaka.

Police said they do not know the motive behind the killing, and no one has been arrested.

“He [Das] was preparing mo..

Pope Francis wants ‘prayers and tears’ not a sermon at Auschwitz death camp

01/07/2016 0 Comment

Pope Francis in St Peter's Square yesterday

Pope Francis wants to mark the deaths of six million Jews and millions of other minorities with tears and prayers when he visits the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland at the end of this month.

He has dropped his original plan to preach a homily.

The Pope will visit Auschwitz-Birkenau on July 29, when he will be in Poland for the World Youth Day celebrations.

He had intended to speak at the international monument at Birkenau. St John P..

Egypt: Islamic State claims responsibility for Coptic priest murder

01/07/2016 0 Comment

Egypt's North Sinai region is threatened by Islamic State insurgents.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for shooting dead a Coptic priest in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula yesterday.

Rev Rafael Moussa, 46, was outside a car repair shop near his church in El Arish, the region's main town, when a masked man walked up and shot him. Witnesses said the man threatened them before fleeing.

“Islamic State soldiers were able to successfully target the priest Moussa Azmi, known as..

Russia: Evangelicals pray, fast and lobby Putin as severe restrictions placed on evangelism

01/07/2016 0 Comment

Russia has been accused of backing the Russian Orthodox Church at the expense of evangelicals.

Russian evangelicals are praying, fasting and petitioning President Vladimir Putin after measures severely restricting their ability to evangelise and practise their faith were passed by the country's upper legislative house.

The measures are included in a package of anti-terrorism laws put forward by Deputy Irina Yarovaya and have now been passed by both houses, the Duma and the Federati..