Leonardo Blair

Latest

• 
  Oct 27, 2021

  Kidnapped American pastor freed in Haiti as gang holds 17 missionaries hostage

  Jean Pierre Ferrer Michel, a 79-year-old American pastor who was kidnapped by the 400 Mawozo gang two weeks before 17 mostly American missionaries were abducted by the group earlier this month, has been freed after $550,000 was reportedly paid for his release.

• 
  Oct 27, 2021

  ‘Change in calling’ top reason black, evangelical pastors quit: study

  Some 15% of black and evangelical pastors have walked away from the profession in the last decade and their top reason for doing so is a “change in calling” followed by church conflict. And for many of those who remain, the job often feels overwhelming, a new survey from Lifeway Research shows.

• 
  Oct 26, 2021

  NJ AME church rejects appointed pastor because of her sex, supporters say

  Ratona Stokes-Robinson, a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church who was appointed to lead St. James AME Church in Thorofare, New Jersey, in June, is still waiting to preach her first sermon from the pulpit as congregants have kept her locked out of the church building because of her sex, pastors in the denomination say.

• 
  Oct 26, 2021

  Challenging Biden, Alabama gov. orders state agencies to fight federal vaccine mandates

  Citing “outrageous overreach” by the federal government, Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed an executive order Monday instructing state agencies to resist the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates.

• 
  Oct 26, 2021

  Majority of Gen Z reject organized religion though most are spiritual or religious: study

  While most young people ages 13 to 25 say they are religious or spiritual, a majority have no formal ties with any particular religious community and are choosing instead to create self-driven pathways of faith for themselves using multiple religious and non-religious sources, according to a new study from the Springtide Research Institute reveals.

• 
  Oct 25, 2021

  Families of kidnapped missionaries in Haiti preach forgiveness as gang leader threatens to kill loved ones

  Family members of the 17 missionaries kidnapped by the 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti preached forgiveness for their kidnappers days after Wilson Joseph, the gang’s leader, threatened to “put a bullet in the heads” of their loved ones if his $17 million ransom demand for their release isn’t met.

• 
  Oct 22, 2021

  Lee Strobel makes compelling case for life after death, Heaven and Hell

  In his new book, The Case for Heaven: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for Life After Death, Lee Strobel uses research on near-death experiences, philosophy and religion, to make a compelling, rational case for life after death, heaven and hell.

• 
  Oct 21, 2021

  79-year-old American pastor kidnapped 2 weeks before missionaries in Haiti still missing

  Nearly two weeks before the notorious 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti kidnapped 17 mostly American missionaries and demanded a $17 million ransom, Pastor Jean Pierre Ferrer Michel, another American, was abducted from his church along with two others. And like the missionaries, Michel is still missing.

• 
  Oct 21, 2021

  Nearly 70% of born-again Christians say other religions can lead to Heaven: study

  Nearly 70% of born-again Christians disagree with the biblical position that Jesus is the only way to God, according to a new survey from Probe Ministries, a nonprofit that seeks to help the Church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview.

• 
  Oct 20, 2021

  8-month-old baby among 17 kidnapped missionaries in Haiti, charity says

  An 8-month-old baby is among the 17 kidnapped missionaries in Haiti being held for a ransom of $17 million by the notorious 400 Mawozo gang, Christian Aid Ministries said Tuesday as officials in the troubled Caribbean nation and the U.S. continue negotiating for their release.