Report: IRS denied tax-exempt status to pro-lifers on behalf of Planned Parenthood
Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner

IRS officials refused to grant tax exempt status to two pro-life organizations because of their position on the abortion issue, according to a non-profit law firm, which said that one group was pressured not to protest a pro-choice organization that endorsed President Obama during the last election.

The Precarious Position of Christians in the Holy Land
Mathew Block, First Things

Recent news that Christians (including clergy and foreign diplomats) were attacked by Israeli police as they attempted to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the day before Orthodox Easter stands as a stark reminder of the difficulties Christians face in the Holy Land.

Blasphemy Charges Becoming New Weapon Against Egyptian Christians
Morning Star News

According to a new study, blasphemy and evangelizing accusations are disproportionately used against members of Egypt’s Christian minority—especially those working in education.

UK: Christianity declining 50% faster than thought – as one in 10 under-25s is a Muslim
John Bingham, The Telegraph

A new analysis of the 2011 census shows that a decade of mass immigration helped mask the scale of decline in Christian affiliation among the British-born population – while driving a dramatic increase in Islam, particularly among the young.

For Most Atheists, Atheism is a Lifestyle Choice
Conor Cunningham, American Orthodox Institute

Atheists, if they are true to their premises, embrace nihilism. Conor Cunningham looks at what is involved in the claims of ‘atheism’ and why those claims can be useful to the studies of the theologian.

What’s the Difference Between Erotica and Song of Solomon?
Andrew Shanks, The Gospel Coalition

Is it merely that the Canticles are one particular work of erotica taken up by the Holy Spirit and added to the Bible?

Evangelical and Catholic Leaders Claim IRS Harrassment
Joe Carter, Acton PowerBlog

Franklin Graham, son of the famed evangelist, and Dr. Anne Hendershott, a Catholic professor and author, say they were audited by the IRS after making political statements that criticized liberal political groups.

Will Americans Know About the Next Gosnell?
Pete Spiliakos, First Things

Serial killer Kermit Gosnell was convicted in a case that most Americans have not been following. Why is that?

Gosnell, Law, and Modest First Steps
Christopher O. Tollefsen, Public Discourse

The Gosnell case shows us that a society’s laws teach, and if they teach a lesson of injustice they will corrupt its people over time. Indeed, contemporary abortion jurisprudence undermines the very notion of natural rights and constitutional government.

Was Jesus religious enough for HHS mandate?
Terry Mattingly, Patheos

When describing how his disciples should serve the needy, Jesus told a parable about a Good Samaritan who rescued a traveler who had been robbed and left for dead. This businessman didn’t care that his act of kindness took place in public and that the injured man didn’t share his faith.

The Feminist, Pro-Father, and Pro-Child Case against No-Fault Divorce
Ashley McGuire, Public Discourse

No-fault divorce hurts women, men, and children. So why is it still legal?

Nigeria Declares Emergency Rule as Christians Debate Amnesty for Boko Haram Islamists
Sunday Oguntola, Christianity Today

Nigerian Protestants and Catholics are largely divided over a government proposal to grant amnesty to members of Boko Haram, the violent Islamist sect whose attacks and suicide bombings have killed more than 4,000 people and destroyed hundreds of churches in northern Nigeria since 2009.

Gosnell found guilty of 3 murders outside womb
Baptist Press

A Philadelphia jury has found Kermit Gosnell guilty of the first-degree murder of three babies killed outside the womb at his abortion clinic.

Turkey uncovers alleged plot to kill Orthodox patriarch
Reuters

Turkey is investigating an alleged plot to assassinate Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, and has stepped up security around the patriarchate in Istanbul, his spokesman said on Friday.

How Missionaries Are Changing Medicine
Ken Walker, Christianity Today

Why we’ll see more impressive discoveries in the field.

Pope warns comfortable living causes ‘gentrification of the heart’
Francis X. Rocca, Catholic News Service

Pope Francis warned against “gentrification of the heart” as a consequence of comfortable living, and called on the faithful to “touch the flesh of Christ” by caring for the needy.

Sex trafficking: Christians called to be modern-day abolitionists
Grace Thornton, Baptist Press

Raleigh Sadler says he’s just a Florida boy who wears cardigans — he has no business kicking down the door of a brothel. “It’s pretty much scientifically proven that guys who wear cardigans don’t do that kind of thing,” he joked.

Christians worldwide called to pray for Syria
Vatican Radio

Christian churches worldwide are being urged join an international mobilization effort, May 11, to pray for peace in Syria.

Saudi jails Lebanese who helped woman convert to Christianity
Alakhbar

A Saudi court jailed a Lebanese man for six years and sentenced him to 300 lashes after convicting him of encouraging a Saudi woman to convert to Christianity, Saudi dailies reported Sunday.

A Mom is a Mom (and Not a Dad)
Kevin DeYoung, The Gospel Coalition

We know who mom is, but do we know what a mom is? Are the two persons (or three? or thirty?) in a marriage interchangeable?

Texas cheerleaders win in court again over Bible banners
CBS

A judge has ruled that cheerleaders at a Southeast Texas high school can display banners emblazoned with Bible verses at football games.

Should We Care About Art?
Geoff Stevens, Ligonier Ministries

As Christians, we see so many things in the art world that repel us that we’re left wondering if perhaps the problem is inherent in the emotional and subjective nature of art itself. Some may even ask: Should we care about artists and their work at all?

9 Things You Should Know About Pornography and the Brain
Joe Carter,

“Because the human brain is the biological anchor of our psychological experience, it is helpful to understand how it operates.”

Mark Sanford’s God
Ross Douthat, New York Times

However loosey-goosey and laissez-faire our society’s approach to public morals, the Sanford scandal was still, well, an actual national scandal, and widely seen at the time (that is, about an eyeblink ago) as the likely end of his political career.

On Mother’s Day, Remember the Infertile
Russell D. Moore

Mother’s Day is a particularly sensitive time in many congregations, and pastors and church leaders often don’t even know it.

Died: Dallas Willard, ‘Divine Conspiracy’ Author and Philosopher
Melissa Steffan and Jeremy Weber, Christianity Today

rovocative thinker dies at 77 after revealing stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

Outsourcing Death
Miles S. Mullin, II, First Things

Once an intimate family affair, death and dying are now outsourced in America.

Larger portion of Canadians denying religious affiliation
Jason Fekete, Postmedia News

A growing number of Canadians are identifying themselves as having no religious affiliation, although more than two-thirds of the country’s population says they’re Christian.

Delaware set to be 11th state to allow gay marriage
Reuters

The Delaware senate approved a bill legalizing gay marriage on Tuesday, paving the way for it to become the 11th U.S. state to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

Religious freedom lures many to U.S. from Asia
Joel Kotkin, Orange County Register

Immigrants, particularly from Asia, increasingly are coming to the U.S. less out of economic distress and more as a result of what may be called ‘lifestyle’ migration.

Learning to love Heaven – It’s not as automatic as you think
Msgr. Charles Pope, Archdiocese of Washington

It is generally presumed, at least among those who believe in God and the afterlife, that everyone naturally wants to go to heaven. But of course, “Heaven” is usually understood in a sort of self-defined way.

The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world
Raymond Ibrahim, Fox News

A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway. Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other.

The Joyful Sorrow of Pascha
Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, Mystagogy

One of the strongest and most expressive words encountered in our tradition is the word “joyful-sorrow” (χαρμολύπη).

Do You Want to Be a Burden to Your Children?
Russell D. Moore

I want to live long enough to be a burden to my children.

Catholics Take Up Protestant-Style Evangelism
Tim Townsend, Religion New Service

The church has long emphasized social justice over door-to-door evangelism—but not anymore.

Building Bridges Between Orthodox and Catholic Christians
Christopher B. Warner, CWR

An interview with Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ, prominent Byzantine liturgical theologian and lifelong healer of Christian relations between East and West

W.W. Jay-Z?
Russell Moore, Christianity Today

How Christian hip-hop could call the American church back to the gospel—and hip-hop back to its roots.

When Christians become a ‘hated minority’
John Blake, CNN

“The media will hail someone who comes out of the closet as gay, but someone who simply expresses their personal religious views about homosexual conduct is attacked.”

The big same-sex marriage lie
Ryan T. Anderson, New York Daily News

They do want to change this basic institution.

The Role of Language in the Stigma of Mental Illness
Brad Hambrick, Biblical Counseling Coalition

The problem with shared language is that it both (a) gives people the impression they understand something they may not and (b) convinces people they are saying something helpful when they may or may not be.