Marco Rubio just gave a really important speech — but almost no one paid attention

A few lines that really stood out to me:

• * “I don’t know of a civilization in the history of the world that’s been able to solve its problems when half the people in a country absolutely hate the other half of the people in that country.”
• * “We are becoming a society incapable of having debate anymore.”
• * “We are reaching a point in this republic where we are not going to be able to solve the simplest of issues because everyone is putting themselves in a corner where everyone hates everybody.”
• * “What’s at stake here tonight … is not simply some rule but the ability of the most important nation on earth to debate in a productive and respectful way the pressing issues before it.”

10 Key Trends in Global Christianity for 2017

1. Some Christian groups are growing faster than others.
2. Pentecostals continue with their explosive growth.
3. Cities are growing faster than Christians are moving to them.
4. Christianity is no longer a Western-dominated religion.
5. Only half of Christians live in Christian-dominated nations.
6. Churches have crossed the 5 million mark.
7. Christians possess and are giving large amounts of money.
8. Less of the world is unreached than ever before.
9. Missionaries are growing slowly.
10. More non-Christians will have Christian friends.

Toward a National Renewal of Evangelism through the Local Church in Our Day

The biggest insight about what fuels this change: pastors and then their leaders actually engage in personal evangelism (and don’t just preach about it, talk about it, study it, theologize about it, and critique it!). They then keep each other accountable and inspired for personal outreach through an every 30-day check-in, which includes an opportunity to tell stories of spiritual conversations.

Ladies, Please Consider: Who is the Subject of Your Bible Study?

If that Christian book on your nightstand or if your women’s bible study points you back to you, then may I please encourage you to put it down and give it some thought?

Why does the United States still let 12-year-olds get married?

Many of the states that provided data included categories such as “14 and younger,” without specifying exactly how much younger some brides and grooms were. Thus, the 12-year-olds we found in Alaska, Louisiana and South Carolina’s data might not have been the youngest children wed in America between 2000 and 2010. Also, the data we collected did not account for children wed in religious-only ceremonies or taken overseas to be married, situations that we at Unchained often see.