View in Browser | Subscribe to CT | Donate

October 14, 2025

This edition is sponsored by Building Bridges 2 Better, LLC

Today’s Briefing

Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur speaks to CT about the “tragic relief” of the current cease-fire and the wait for peace.

At 76, Joni Eareckson Tada has spent most of her life with quadriplegia, seeing her disability as a blessing that forces her “into the arms of Christ every morning.”

Open Doors designates Oman as a country where Christians face repression, but an interfaith center on the ground sees a model of religious coexistence.

Introverts in the church face a social dilemma.

Behind the Story

From editorial director of news Kate Shellnutt: A Mexican politician recently stated that 70 percent of the country is run by drug cartels, saying that “in the beginning, organized crime financed political campaigns; later, they began appointing rulers; and now, they are the rulers.”

The Christian Post reported on Hugo Eric Flores Cervantes’ remarks, offered to a crowd of fellow evangelicals at a church conference. He saw the rise of cartel influence as related to spiritual decay in the country and urged Christians to step up: “We are neither kings nor priests, because if we truly had that identity, we would be influencing and governing.”

When I read his remarks, I thought back to CT’s reporting on cartel violence in Mexico—and how in some places, cartel pressure and evangelical persecution go hand in hand. In recent years, pastors report more direct threats and more disappearances among their flocks. Congregations have closed as worshipers become too afraid to attend. But as one religious freedom advocate said, even when the cartels seem to have the power in a given area, “churches work to give hope and make the community more resilient; they help people navigate this space of violence.”

paid content

Have you ever left a leadership workshop wishing you could continue the conversation? Single sessions can train your mind, but ongoing mentorship will transform your life. Building Bridges 2 Better focuses on exactly the type of long-term transformation you crave. By helping you build sustainable growth in leadership, communication, and self-awareness — the three cornerstones of enduring success — you’ll find yourself on an upward trajectory.

Author of Guided Greatness: The Power of Mentorship in Developing Future Leaders, Dr. Kevin D. Neal brings over 40 years of ministry experience, 25+ years in corporate telecommunications leadership, and service as a U.S. military veteran and first responder to the table. He’s well versed in helping leaders of all kinds grow their gifts.

Learn more about building bridges to your better future!

Advertise with us

In Other News

The family of a kidnapped Nigerian pastor paid his ransom, only for his captors to kill him anyway.
Commentator Allie Beth Stuckey gathered 6,700 Christian women at her Share the Arrows conference, urging them to keep fighting culture-war battles a month after Charlie Kirk’s death.
Oxford has approved plans to reopen the famous pub The Eagle and Child, where the Inklings, including J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, once gathered. Tolkien fans have also been trying to adapt his home on Northmoor.

PAID CONTENT FOR HODDER FAITH

Bear Grylls Is on His Greatest Adventure Yet—and You’re Invited

There’s nothing quite like a story well-told. A curiosity-stoking beginning, a conflicted middle, a compelling conclusion—these elements, woven together with rich characters and relatable dilemmas, go beyond delivering information to…

Today in Christian History

October 15, 1880: Germany’s Cologne cathedral is completed, 633 years after construction began.

Good News About Christian Hospitals in Africa

A new study is shedding light on a rarely researched area: faith-based health care in low-resource settings. The study, published in JAMA Surgery, found dramatically lower surgical mortality rates at…

Ukrainian Refugees Brought Revival to a Polish Church

The city of Opole is 275 miles from Poland’s eastern border. But Ukraine never feels that far away. And at Ostoja Church, a Pentecostal congregation that has served the city…

Hamas Releases All 20 Living Israeli Hostages

October 13, 2025 Hamas released all 20 of the remaining living Israeli hostages Monday, Israeli military said. Meanwhile, Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of the…

China Detains Influential House Church Pastor

Since Thursday, police have detained nearly 30 pastors and staff members of Zion Church, an influential Chinese house church network, in what many fear is the beginning of a new…

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