Leonardo Blair

Latest

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  Dec 13, 2021

  UN urged to promote religious engagement and literacy, especially in the West

  The United Nations was urged to use its status as the seat of global politics to promote the “importance of religious engagement and literacy” to advance development and diplomacy at a global gathering of diplomats and representatives of various religious institutions Friday.

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  Dec 11, 2021

  31% of Americans experience loneliness daily; 1 in 5 practicing Christians say the same: study

  Loneliness is being experienced by 31% of U.S. adults daily and Christians aren’t doing much better, new research from the Barna Group suggests.

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  Dec 10, 2021

  Less than half of Americans, 63% of churchgoing Christians believe Jesus existed before Christmas

  Less than half of Americans, including just 63% of churchgoing Christians, believe Jesus existed before His virgin birth in Bethlehem, a new study from Lifeway research shows.

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  Dec 9, 2021

  Supreme Court of Louisiana will hear Pastor Tony Spell’s case for violating COVID-19 restrictions

  The Supreme Court of Louisiana announced Tuesday that it will hear a case on whether criminal charges should remain against controversial Pastor Tony Spell for violating Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards' order against gatherings of more than 50 people during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic aimed at preventing the spread of the virus.

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  Dec 9, 2021

  Mistrial declared in case of man charged with murdering pastor’s wife Amanda Blackburn

  An Indiana judge declared a mistrial Monday on the first day of trial for 24-year-old Larry Jo Taylor Jr., who authorities are hoping to convict for the 2015 murder of Amanda Blackburn, the pregnant wife of an Indianapolis pastor.

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  Dec 8, 2021

  Lakewood executive offers theory of how cash ended up in church wall as plumber gets $20K reward

  The plumber who recently discovered an undisclosed sum of cash and checks stacked inside a wall at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, seven years after some $600,000 was reported stolen from a safe received a $20,000 reward from Crime Stoppers of Houston. Meanwhile, a church executive offered a possible theory of how the money ended up in the wall.

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  Dec 8, 2021

  Study finds kids ages 9-12 sharing nudes more than doubled in 2020, researchers concerned

  The share of minors ages 9-12 who are sharing self-generated nude images online more than doubled in 2020, and advocates involved in combatting online child sex abuse are worried about the trend, a new study shows.

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  Dec 7, 2021

  Man accused of killing woman in church shouldn't be held criminally responsible, lawyer says

  A man accused of murdering 69-year-old retiree Evelyn Player inside a bathroom at the Southern Baptist Church in East Baltimore, Maryland, should not be held criminally responsible for her death, his lawyer argued as charging documents revealed how the praying grandmother fought her attacker to stay alive.

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  Dec 7, 2021

  Churches, nonprofits optimistic about giving in 2022 despite pandemic: study

  Cash giving to members of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability totaled $15.5 billion in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic. And with nearly three-quarters of affiliated churches and nonprofits reporting giving at the same rate or higher for the first three quarters of 2021, optimism for giving in 2022 among these ministries is high a new survey shows.

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  Dec 6, 2021

  18-year-old Latter-day Saints missionary shot multiple times in Alabama church

  An 18-year-old missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remained in “serious but stable condition” over the weekend after being shot multiple times while serving in the church’s Alabama Birmingham Mission on Friday by an unknown assailant who police say is still on the run.