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Texas State Board of Education Approves the Bible in Public School Curriculum
One vote can make an enormous difference. In Texas, it was a single vote that allowed Biblical material to be included in the local public schools through the state-authored curriculum, Bluebonnet Learning (BL). On Friday, eight of 15 Texas State Board of Education members voted it through. Although it was not free from controversy, last week’s decision means the new curriculum will be available starting in the spring and likely put to use within the 2025 to 2026 school year.
Notably, the Biblical material included in BL is optional. As The Texas Tribune summarized, “The curriculum was designed with a cross-disciplinary approach that uses reading and language arts lessons to advance or cement concepts in other disciplines, such as history and social studies.” Some of the specific Christian references and teachings integrated into BL is Jesus’s parable of “The Good Samaritan,” which can be found in Luke chapter 10, and the “Golden Rule,” found in Matthew 7. The Tribune noted that these parables are “about loving everyone, including your enemies.” The Golden Rule, as stated in the Bible, says, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”
Those who voted against this curriculum included all four Democrats who are on the board, as well as three Republicans. According to The Daily Wire, several Democrats who voted against it felt concerned it would “force Christianity on public school children.” Of those Democrats, Staci Childs verbalized her belief that the curriculum will eventually find itself in court. She told NBC News, “[I]f a parent or a teacher who didn’t feel comfortable teaching this were to bring this up to a court, I believe they would be successful.” Childs also noted that, in her opinion, “these materials are [not] yet reflective of the experiences and the nuance of Texas students.”
Conversely, Republican board member Will Hickman celebrated the future of Texas public schools now that BL has been approved. “In my view,” he said, “these stories are on the education side and are establishing cultural literacy. … [R]eligious concepts like the Good Samaritan and the Golden Rule and Moses [are ones] that all students should be exposed to.” Apart from the board members, it appears parents were also divided on the topic. However, The New York Times reported on one mother’s opinion, in which she stated that the incarnation of Jesus “is and always will be the hinge of all of history.” This mother also posed the question: “How would the canceling of such fundamental facts serve the education of our children or contribute to shape them morally?”
To add to the conversation, Joseph Backholm, Family Research Council’s senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement, offered a comment to The Washington Stand. “The classroom will never be values neutral,” he said. “We’ve seen the aggressive way some classrooms have pushed the Sexual Revolution, which is essentially just a different religion. [So,] the fact that the curriculum includes Biblical stories doesn’t mean its teaching Christianity, just that they aren’t pretending there is something dangerous about Biblical stories anymore.”
Backholm agreed that “the history of America is largely Christian. It’s not possible to have a clear understanding of American history without understanding the role faith played in the lives and beliefs of our founders.” According to Backholm, “This is just one of the many ways that Biblical knowledge is [simply] part of a basic education. If you learn American history, you’ll learn about the Bible.”
Ultimately, Backholm believes parents should “be the primary shapers and guardians of children, [but] we don’t want our fear of ‘religious instruction’ to make us afraid of giving a real education. [Because] in the American context, knowing about our history and culture requires knowledge of the Bible.”
FRC’s Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow of Education Studies, also weighed in with TWS. “The folks who are concerned about ‘teaching Christianity’ in classrooms have likely never batted an eye over mindfulness lessons or practice for children, Greek and Roman mythology, and other types of religious content in schools.”
She continued, “Biblical or overtly Christian content is too controversial for use in the classroom when viewed through the ‘lens of inclusivity.'” Agreeing with Backholm, she noted, “There is simply no way to separate America from its expressly Christian foundation, [even] though the educational industrial complex continues to try.” At the end of the day, Kilgannon said she’s “grateful for the Texas school board members who voted to support this measure. We must continue to pray for America’s schools, families, and school children. We must also support local leaders who take a stand for God and country.”
Kilgannon concluded, “Education has always been about state and local control. It’s our duty to pay attention to local matters and make sure our perspectives are heard.”
Sources:BREAKING CHRISTIAN NEWS
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Christian Prayer App ‘Hallow’ Banned in Europe
Europe — Alex Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of the Christian prayer app Hallow, took to X (formerly Twitter) yesterday, announcing that the European Union (EU) would no longer allow its citizens access to the app.
Jones explained that “over-regulation” targeting all religious apps would make it impossible for Hallow to be available in the EU. This news comes shortly after China removed Hallow from its app store in July 2024.
In his post, Jones expressed his heartbreak over the news as Hallow was in the works of expanding its content to Polish, French, Italian, and German audiences. Since its launch in December 2018, Hallow has seen more than 18 million downloads across 150 countries, making its worldwide reach and influence significant.
While the details of the app’s demise in Europe are sparse, some suspect that the EU’s strict data privacy laws are to blame. EU law classifies data that reveals religious or philosophical beliefs as “sensitive” data and prohibits processing such data without explicit consent, with a few limited exceptions.
However, some are preparing to defend the app. ADF International, an international legal organization committed to free speech and religious liberty, replied to Jones on X, encouraging him to “DM them with more details,” stating they “might be able to help.”
As Europe continues to see a decline in religious affiliation, with the Pew Research Center estimating that the continent’s Christian population could shrink by 100 million before 2050, the need for Christian prayer apps and religious content is considered by many to be more important than ever. As Jones shared on X in response to the EU’s actions, “God will not be outdone.”
Sources:persecution
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‘The First Time After 2000 Years’: Israel’s Biblical Red Heifers Attract World Attention
Israel – In September 2022, the arrival of five red heifers in Israel caught the world’s attention. Now, more than two years later, those cows are being cared for in ancient Shiloh and continue to attract international visitors.
Moriah Shapira is the manager of the visitor center at ancient Shiloh. She told us why the red heifers are so important.
“Here in Shiloh for the first time after 2000 years, we have real kosher red heifers, which is really exciting,” she explained.
She added, “In the Bible it says when a person wants to enter the Temple, which is called the House of Life, he has to go through a process using ashes of the red heifer, meaning that the red heifers are actually the key to the Temple.”
Shapira described the process is for purification to cleanse someone from death.
So, a person that got in contact with death, either in a funeral, or in a hospital, and he wants to enter the Temple which is called the House of Life, full of the Presence of God, has to go through this process. And the process is – the priest used to take the ashes of the red heifer, mix it with water that comes from a spring – life water – he’s actually taking the source of death, mixing it with source of life, and these together become the purifying water,” Shapira explained.
Jewish tradition maintains that the red heifer ashes are needed to rebuild the Third Temple. Some Christians believe a Third Temple would pave the way for the end times.
Even Hamas reportedly blamed the red heifers in part for their invasion on October 7th, 2023, because of their belief that Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque would be in danger if the heifers were used to build the Third Temple.
The animals are also mentioned in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 19:
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never been mounted. And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence.'”
For a heifer to be selected these qualifications must be met:
. Be an adult cow with reddish-brown hair
. No hairs of a different color
. No blemishes
. Never used for any other purpose
We were able to see the Heifers on our visit to Shiloh. Two have already been disqualified, but only one is needed to qualify for the purification for the Temple.
Larry Borntrager, a farmer from northern Indiana, takes care of them.
He told us, “My next point is to try to find a farmer who can make hay, which is, you know, the flowers and the leaves and everything stay on them. That way it’s just better for the cow.”
Borntrager admitted, “It’s just a lot of fun to be involved in something that I see God is doing behind the scenes.”
He says what he’s experienced since arriving here is remarkable.
“While I’ve been standing here at Shiloh, every continent, countries I’ve never heard of before, were here to see the red heifers. There’s something happening in Shiloh,” he observed.
Borntrager also believes it’s biblically significant.
“Ideas are becoming a reality. In other words, the idea of a red heifer has been in the Jewish understanding over a couple thousand years. But here at Shiloh, just like it says in Genesis 49, there’s something happening here that’s drawing the nations, and it’s the red heifers.
In this area, Hannah prayed for a son where the prophet Samuel served the Lord and Joshua divided the land between the twelve tribes.
Moria Shapira identified it as “the place where many stories of the bible occurred. And today we also have here the red heifers, which is something new,” she said. “The budgets for this visitor center stopped because of the war (with Hamas and Hezbollah). So we invite whoever wants to be part with us to help this very important thing of the red heifers.”
During our visit, Bible teacher Dr. Todd Fink brought his group to see the red heifers. “Shiloh has so much significance,” he said. “It was the spiritual capital of Israel for 369 years.”
“This is huge. This is huge,” he exclaimed. “And the one gal that we, that was giving us the tour, she said that part of the reason why Hamas invaded is because of these red heifers. And according to prophecy, these red heifers are significant. From the time of Israel’s history, they say that only nine have been killed for these ashes. And so for these to be here, and Shiloh here, and for that to fit in with what appears to be prophecy on the horizon, we’re living in monumental days, unbelievable times.”
Sources:CBN News
us news
Texas pastor rejoices with family of hostage released by Taliban: ‘It was God’s timing’
Pastor David Theobald rejoiced with Ryan Corbett’s family in Texas as he returned home after being held captive by the Taliban for nearly 900 days. Theobald credited God’s timing for the safe release and joined the Corbetts in celebrating their long-awaited reunion.
Corbett, who was abducted in August 2022 while on a business trip and held by the Taliban for 894 days, reunited with his relatives in San Antonio, Texas, before planning to return to his hometown of Dansville in Livingston County, Spectrum News reported.
Corbett spent his first hours back on U.S. soil with close family members after his arrival early Wednesday morning. His family later issued a statement expressing their gratitude for his release and requesting privacy while he recovers from his prolonged detention.
Theobald, who leads Grace Baptist Church in the same community where Corbett’s father once served, described a lengthy period in which only a few individuals knew of Corbett’s initial capture.
“We had been walking with them through it for a year before they did that,” he said, referring to the day Corbett’s story became public. Theobald called the knowledge of Corbett’s situation a “huge responsibility,” explaining how church members kept the family’s struggle private until authorities made the case more widely known.
Theobald first met Corbett’s family 15 years ago when he took over pastoral duties from Corbett’s father.
The pastor said the church played an integral part in providing emotional support. “For months, the family fought in silence, only finding peace in the Grace Baptist Church community,” he told Spectrum News. He credited the family for staying involved in worship activities, noting that Corbett’s children sing, play instruments and assist in the sound booth.
Corbett’s wife, Anna, teaches violin and has also performed at church events.
Upon hearing about Corbett’s release, Theobald received a phone call from Anna. He said he could sense her joy “beaming through the phone.”
The pastor added, “I was just overwhelmed. I was trying to find words. I was trying not to ball like a baby. … I just rejoiced with her.”
Corbett’s release came as part of a swap in which an Afghan national convicted of drug smuggling and extremism in the U.S. was sent back to Afghanistan, according to Reuters.
The newswire cited a spokesman for the Taliban who said two Americans were released. The other American is William McKenty.
Corbett and McKenty were transferred through Qatar before returning home last week, CBS News reported.
Afghan Foreign Ministry officials said they had traded them for Khan Mohammed, who received two life sentences in a 2008 trial in the U.S., according to The Associated Press. Mohammed, 55, had been detained on the battlefield in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province and later flown to California, where he was found guilty of securing heroin and opium bound for the U.S. and, in doing so, aiding terrorist activities.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on social media platform X that the Taliban might be holding more American hostages than publicly known. “If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders.”
The International Criminal Court prosecutor has filed applications for arrest warrants targeting two Taliban leaders, including supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada. The charges concern the alleged persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, which occurred soon after U.S. troops withdrew from the country, ending two decades of conflict.
Sources:Christian Post
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