Students Have ‘Dismaying’ Inability To Tell Fake News From Real, Study Finds

The solution, they write, is to teach students — or, really, all Internet users — to read like fact checkers.
That means not just reading “vertically,” on a single page or source, but looking for other sources — as well as not taking “About” pages as evidence of neutrality, and not assuming Google ranks results by reliability.

Paradigm Shifts in Global Missions Every Christian Should Know

• The center of gravity of Christianity has shifted from the West to the Global South.
• Many nations are involved in the sending of missionaries.
• The global population is becoming increasingly urban.
• The world population is more connected than ever before
• Unprecedented global migration has resulted in the scattering of people across the globe.

Increasing Evangelism in Church Planting

People love to be missional. People love to plant churches. But when we actually talk about sharing the good news of the gospel—calling men and women to trust and follow Jesus—the passion can falter. It appears that, in many cases, the value we place on being verbal witnesses of the good news of Jesus Christ to those around us is declining, while church planting and acts of service are increasing.

Trump voters want to build the wall, but are more divided on other immigration questions

Voters who supported Donald Trump in the presidential election view illegal immigration as a serious problem in the U.S. and strongly favor his proposal to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico. But they are more divided on other questions, including whether to deport some or all of the nation’s estimated 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants.

Worship When the Feelings Aren’t There

The church today might be guilty of courtly love. In writing about this phenomenon, Scot McKnight has said, “Some folks love church, and what they mean by ‘loving church’ is that they love the experience they get when they go to church.”

• They might like the experience and feelings they get from singing songs about adoration of God or the experience of loving Jesus.
• They might like sermons that make them feel God’s power or tell stories that entertain or insights that seem brand new.
• If the song isn’t in the right style or the sermon is more broccoli than dessert, then we might leave rating the time spent as a disappointment. Like the segment on American Bandstand where Dick Clark would have some teenagers “Rate a Record,” we rate what we call worship on the basis of its beat and how it made us feel.

But what if the worship of the church is not supposed to be rated on the flightiness of feelings? Instead, its design might be more about building the faithfulness of fidelity to Christ? More about a mature relationship than a courtly love.

U.S. Christians Brace For Brutal Onslaught Of ‘Happy Holidays’ Attacks

Open Doors, a watchdog group that monitors the global persecution of Christians, reports that “Happy Holidays” attacks are already up 400% this season. In response to this disturbing trend, Christians around the world have organized prayer vigils to support the victims.
One North Korean believer spoke to reporters from an underground church meeting, on the condition of anonymity, out of concern for government threats on his life for practicing Christianity. “We stand with our American brothers and sisters during this barbaric onslaught of persecution. We pray for God’s strength to endure the torture you will encounter during your shopping trips, winter festivals, and holiday parties.”