Today’s Briefing

Kidnappers have refused to release a Nigeria pastor taken from his home in the middle of the night.

Dispatch from North Carolina after Hurricane Helene: As natural disasters rise and religious affiliation falls, the young people who are eager to volunteer, donate, and help may not know where to turn.

Like a historic congregation in Montgomery, Alabama, many Black churches are evangelical in spirit but not in branding.

CT’s advice columnists weigh in on church disagreements, dating boundaries, and families who use the church to get into private school.

In Spellbound, historian Molly Worthen looks at leaders who use charisma to “consecrate a new reality.”

This week’s episode of The Bulletin discusses Charlie Kirk’s funeral, ICE deportations, and autism research.

Behind the Story

From editorial director of news Kate Shellnutt: Last year, I woke up around 4:30 a.m. on the last Friday in September when the power went out. The rains and winds shushed louder and louder as Hurricane Helene’s powerful eyewall passed over us, sending dozens of tall pine trees onto our yard, home, and cars.

Once the devastation made the news later that day, people generously messaged us from afar wanting to help. They Venmo-ed funds, asked to DoorDash a meal our way, told us we could come stay with them. But their offers proved impossible. There was no way for us to get out, no power or Wi-Fi, and no businesses open.

We instead relied on the people right near us: the neighbors with chainsaws who cleared roads and driveways, the friends with four-wheel drive and full tanks of gas who met up to rescue us, the fellow church members with generators who let us power our phones and sit in front of a fan for a couple hours.

Natural disasters are hitting more often and getting more intense. After surviving Helene and spending 11 months displaced from home, I do recommend people have a go bag ready, even if you think it will never happen to you (I didn’t—we got hammered by a hurricane while living in inland Georgia).

But my biggest piece of advice is to know your neighbors and belong to a local church. As Isaac Wood writes from his experience with Helene up in North Carolina, these are the people who are going to be positioned to help.

In Other News

The first woman to hold an executive role in the Assemblies of God is stepping down at the end of the year.
The UK Evangelical Alliance speaks out against the use of Christian imagery at far-right rallies.
Tourism to ancient Babylon is on the rise.

Today in Christian History

September 26, 1460: Pope Pius II assembles European leaders, then delivers a three-hour sermon to inspire them to launch a new crusade against the Turks. The speech works, but then another speaker, Cardinal Bessarion, adds a three-hour sermon of his own. After six hours of preaching, the European princes lose all interest in the cause; they never mount the called-for crusade.

Revival of the Nerds

A cloaked figure scurries across the screen, swords flashing. In a lower corner of the display, we see a shot of the gamer running the show. His audience appears as…

Christian Gamers Find Their People

Chris Skaggs remembers a day a decade ago when he presented a workshop on Christian gaming at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) International Christian Media Convention. Not one person showed…

Where Refugees Were Seen as an Opportunity from God

Joakim Lundqvist never thought he would be pastor to hundreds of people named Muhammad. And yet, in the wake of Europe’s influx of asylum seekers from conflict zones in Muslim-majority…

Good Things on the Way

This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here. I told all of you that the weeks from mid-August to mid-September would be kind of sporadic here, because my travel schedule…

in the magazine

The Christian story shows us that grace often comes from where we least expect. In this issue, we look at the corners of God’s kingdom and chronicle in often-overlooked people, places, and things the possibility of God’s redemptive work. We introduce the Compassion Awards, which report on seven nonprofits doing good work in their communities. We look at the spirituality underneath gambling, the ways contemporary Christian music was instrumental in one historian’s conversion, and the steady witness of what may be Wendell Berry’s last novel. All these pieces remind us that there is no person or place too small for God’s gracious and cataclysmic reversal.

VIEW FULL ISSUE

SUBSCRIBE NOW

CT Daily Briefing

Get the most recent headlines and stories from Christianity Today delivered to your inbox daily.

Delivered free via email to subscribers weekly. Sign up for this newsletter.

You are currently subscribed as no email found. Sign up to more newsletters like this. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe.

Christianity Today is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
“Christianity Today” and “CT” are the registered trademarks of Christianity Today International.

Privacy & Cookies | Advertise with Us | Subscribe to CT | Donate

Share