Moore clarifies comments on Trump supporters
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore has clarified that he never intended to criticize all evangelical supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, noting many were motivated by “biblical convictions” and “voted their conscience.”
National Geographic features trans girl, 9, on cover
Avery Jackson, a Kansas City fourth-grader, is the first transgender individual to grace the cover of the 128-year-old National Geographic magazine, which is rolling out to subscribers this week in a special edition devoted solely to gender issues around the globe. Growing up, “I really just wanted to be myself,” Avery told USA Today. “I’m just a girl.”
Movement for third gender option ‘exploding’
Since Jamie Shupe became the first legally non-binary U.S. citizen six months ago, the amount of people petitioning courts for third gender designations has increased exponentially. Some were born intersex (with female and male sex characteristics), while others identify on a spectrum of gender that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the categories currently available on identity documents.
U.S. citizen & pastor in Turkey jailed for faith
Andrew Brunson, formerly of Black Mountain, N.C., was reportedly detained 63 days without charges at the Harmandali Detention Center in Izmir, Turkey, before being imprisoned Dec. 9 at nearby Sakran Prison. He’s being held on false charges of being a member of an armed terrorist organization, World Watch Monitor reported.
Burmese Christians ministering in Mosul
As Iraqi coalition forces claw their way into Mosul, the retreating ISIS fighters have booby trapped streets, sent suicide bombers against the liberating army, and used civilians as human shields. The civilians left in their wake are hungry, thirsty, terrified, and exhausted. One of the first humanitarian groups to aid Iraq’s once second-largest city, moving in even as ISIS moves out, has been a group of persecuted Christians from Burma.
Sources: Baptist Press, USA Today, NBC News, Baptist Press, Christianity Today
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