Sunday was a big day for the YouVersion Bible app.

The faith-based app’s founder, Bobby Gruenewald, told The Christian Post the YouVersion team “saw 18.2 million people engage in the Bible and more than 798,000 installs” this past Sunday.

“We tend to see a seasonal uptick in Bible engagement at the beginning of the year as people start new habits and are interested in reading the Bible for the first time,” he said. “What’s interesting to us is that this year’s increase is even higher than this same time last year, and it’s a trend we’re seeing globally.”

The number of downloads at the beginning of the week set a new record, besting the record set on the first Sunday of last year. What’s most interesting, though, is where in the world YouVersion saw the greatest increase in downloads.

To name a few, the Scripture-reading app saw a 198% increase in Ethiopia, a 94% increase in Egypt, a 74% increase in Turkey, a 65% increase in Ghana, and a 48% increase in Pakistan. North Africa saw an overall engagement increase of 297% while the Middle East saw an uptick of 166%.

Launched in 2008 by Life.Church, the app has been installed on more than 850 million devices globally and is accessible in 2,100 languages.

These trends are in keeping with how YouVersion has seen its app grow over time. According to CBN News, the app saw more engagement in 2024 than in any year prior, revealing Philippians 4:6 was its most-searched passage.

The verse reads, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (ESV).

Gruenewald said he believes the popularity of the passage shows people turn to God in times of stress.

“In many cases, our anxiety comes from holding onto worries that we aren’t meant to carry,” he said in a press release from YouVersion. “To me, this verse being sought out the most this year is an illustration that our community is seeking God in prayer and choosing to trust Him to carry their burdens — and we’re seeing that supported in the data.”

Within the app, Gruenewald said he’s seen the greatest growth in the Bible Plans feature, which guides users through Scripture and gives them the opportunity to connect with friends as they study the Bible.

“Every time someone opens the Bible is an opportunity for the power of God’s Word to change their life,” he said.
Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com

The pastor of a Los Angeles church is showing the love of Christ to beleaguered California residents who have lost everything in deadly fires that ravaged a reported 10,000 structures and killed at least 10.

Steve Wilburn, senior pastor of Core Church LA, told CBN News Thursday night he spent the day driving through the Pacific Palisades — one of the areas hardest hit by the inferno.

Wilburn, who is also a chaplain for the Los Angeles Police Department, was able to gain special access to impacted neighborhoods — and what he saw was trauma, sadness, and “total devastation.”

“It’s like, just as like as far as you can see, just neighborhoods completely level,” Wilburn said.

The preacher’s goal was simply to show up with his son and fellow pastor Brentten Wilburn and minister to those suffering. It’s the same tactic Wilburn used a year ago when he went to Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack and showed up to “love the Israeli people” and pray.

Wilburn’s compassionate efforts in Los Angeles Thursday — which he plans to continue into Friday — included passing out water, helping coordinate individual needs, and, most importantly, praying with and over the individuals whom he reached.

He described most people he encountered as being in a state of bewilderment over the impact of the fires.

“They were absolutely in shock and just devastated, like not even knowing what to do,” Wilburn said. “[They] lost everything. You lost all your baby albums … all your mementos, everything that you’ve collected in your life, everything you’ve had since you were a little kid, all your kids’ things. It’s just everything’s in rubble.”

The pastor said he and his son used bottles of water to break the ice as they approached strangers and then asked, “How can we serve you?” From prayers to hugs and simply listening to their stories, the duo made a big impact throughout the day.

But it was the prayer that really stood out to Wilburn. Everyone aside from one individual took Wilburn up on his prayer offer — and he even read the Bible to some.

And none of these individuals were Christians, something he found notable.

“This is the most liberal part of L.A. that you’re gonna get,” Wilburn said. “This is the people that … support the most liberal things, but let me tell you — there was no liberal action going on today. It was all people in need and they were crying out to God.”

Wilburn described encountering one woman in her mid-30s.

“She’s just … sitting on like a bucket in her driveway,” he said. “Now, her house was there. … We pull up … We hand her a water. We’re like, ‘Hi, we’d like to pray for you.’”

The woman was stunned. She explained that she had just been sitting down “crying out to God.”

“I was angry at him,” she told Wilburn. “I’m like, ‘God, why have you allowed this to happen? If you’re real, show me.’”

It was within seconds of that plea that Wilburn and his son showed up to offer her water and prayer. The preacher — who is used to such things — wasn’t shocked, but the woman certainly was in awe. Wilburn said he read her Psalm 46 from his Bible and spent many minutes ministering to her.

“She kept saying, ‘I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you’re here. I just prayed.’”

It was the miracle this woman truly needed at the moment.

Wilburn had many other stories as well, including interacting with a man who stayed back to protect his home, pumping out thousands of gallons from his poor to soak his and his neighbor’s homes and yards — an effort that apparently successfully held the flames at bay.

Even for the remaining homes, though, Wilburn said it could be a long time before people can have basic services as the “infrastructure is gone.”

As for the preacher’s efforts to pray for and encourage those struggling, he offered a powerful word to fellow believers.

“[There’s] nothing like love,” he said. ‘And let me just exhort any believers that are watching — we’re the voice of reason in this world that has lost reason, and … there’s never a time when people don’t need to hear that there’s a God in heaven that loves them, that cares about them.”

Wilburn plans to go back Friday to continue ministering, praying, and offering help where he can.
Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com

കാലിഫോര്‍ണിയ: ലോസ് ഏഞ്ചല്‍സില്‍ ആഞ്ഞു വീശുന്ന കാട്ടു തീ ഇതുവരെ 40000 ഏക്കര്‍ ഭൂമി കത്തിച്ചാമ്പലാക്കി. തിങ്കളാഴ്ച്ച കാറ്റിന്റെ ശക്തി കൂടുതല്‍ വര്‍ധിക്കുമെന്നാണ് സൂചന. ഇതുവരെ വീടുകളും വാണിജ്യ സമുച്ചയങ്ങളും ഉള്‍പ്പെടെ 12000 കെട്ടിടങ്ങളാണ് കത്തി നശിച്ചത്. 1354 ഫയര്‍ എന്‍ജിനുകളും 84 വിമാനങ്ങളും ഹെലികോപ്ടറുകളും 14,000 അഗ്നിരക്ഷ സേന പ്രവര്‍ത്തകരും തീയണക്കാന്‍ രാപ്പകലില്ലാതെ പരിശ്രമിക്കുകയാണ്. .തീ അതിരൂക്ഷമായി പടരുന്ന പശ്താത്തലത്തില്‍
മെക്സിക്കോയുടെയും കാനഡയുടെയും അഗ്നിശമനസേന ലോസ് ആഞ്ജലസിലെത്തി. കാലിഫോര്‍ണിയ ഉള്‍പ്പെടെ 10 സംസ്ഥാനങ്ങളില്‍നിന്നുള്ള അഗ്നിരക്ഷ സേനയും രംഗത്തുണ്ട്.

യു.എസ് വൈസ് പ്രസിഡന്റ് കമല ഹാരിസ്, ഹോളിവുഡ് നടന്‍ അര്‍നോള്‍ഡ് ഷ്വാസ്നെഗര്‍, തുടങ്ങിയ പ്രമുഖര്‍ താമസിക്കുന്ന പാലിസേഡ്സിന്റെ കിഴക്കന്‍ മേഖലയിലെ ബ്രന്‍ഡ് വുഡില്‍നിന്ന് ആളുകളോട് ഒഴിഞ്ഞുപോകാന്‍ അധികൃതര്‍ നിര്‍ദേശം നല്കി. പ്രസിദ്ധ ഗെറ്റി സെന്റര്‍ മ്യൂസിയവും കാലിഫോര്‍ണിയ സര്‍വകലാശാലയും അടക്കമുള്ള സ്ഥാപനങ്ങള്‍ ഇവിടെയാണ് സ്ഥിതി ചെ്യ്യുന്നത്.
അതിനിടെ, മുന്നറിയിപ്പിനെതുടര്‍ന്ന് ആളുകള്‍ ഒഴിഞ്ഞ വീടുകള്‍ കൊള്ളയടിച്ച 20 പേരെ പൊലീസ് അറസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്തു.

ലോസ് ആഞ്ചലീസില്‍ പടരുന്ന മാരകമായ കാട്ടുതീ അണയ്ക്കാനാകാത്തത് ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥരുടെ കഴിവില്ലായ്മ കാരണമെന്ന് നിയുക്ത യുഎസ് പ്രസിഡന്റ് ഡോണള്‍ഡ് ട്രംപ്. ആരോപണം ഉന്നയിച്ചിരുന്നു. ‘ലോസ് ആഞ്ചലീസില്‍ ഇപ്പോഴും തീ പടരുന്നു. കഴിവില്ലാത്ത രാഷ്ട്രീയക്കാര്‍ക്ക് അത് എങ്ങനെ കെടുത്തണമെന്ന് അറിയില്ലെന്നു ട്രംപ് സോഷ്യല്‍ പ്ലാറ്റ് ഫോമില്‍ കുറിച്ചു.

കാലിഫോര്‍ണിയ ഗവര്‍ണര്‍ ഗാവിന്‍ ന്യൂസത്തിനെതിരേയും ട്രംപ് വിമര്‍ശനം ഉന്നയിച്ചു. തീപിടുത്തങ്ങള്‍ക്കെതിരെ നടപടിയെടുക്കുന്നതില്‍ പരാജയപ്പെട്ടുവെന്ന് ആരോപിച്ച് ട്രംപ് രംഗത്തെത്തി. അതേ സമയം ആരോപണങ്ങളെല്ലാം തള്ളിയ ഗവര്‍ണര്‍, ലഭ്യമായ എല്ലാ സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ സംവിധാനങ്ങളും കാട്ടുതീ നിയന്ത്രണത്തിനായി ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നുണ്ട് എന്നാണ് പ്രതികരിച്ചത്. ലോസ് ഏഞ്ചല്‍സ് പ്രദേശത്തെ കാട്ടുതീ യു.എസ് ചരിത്രത്തിലെ ഏറ്റവും വലിയ പ്രകൃതി ദുരന്തങ്ങളില്‍ ഒന്നായിരിക്കുമെന്നും ഗവര്‍ണര്‍ ഗാവിന്‍ ന്യൂസം പറഞ്ഞു. അഗ്നിശമന യൂണിറ്റില്‍ വെള്ളമില്ലാതതിരുന്ന സംഭവത്തെക്കുറിച്ച് അന്വേഷണം നടത്തുമെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം അറിയിച്ചു
Sources:nerkazhcha

http://theendtimeradio.com