The Governance Council of the United Nations University unanimously appointed Professor Sir Hilary Beckles as its honorary chairman/chancellor, effective May 2025. The announcement, made during a meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 7, coincides with the university’s 50th anniversary, according to a press release from the University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine.
The screen dopamine snare is an epidemic among children who are provided access to smart phones and other portable smart devices. Research suggests numerous negative impacts but it will be some time before we have definitive findings. Much harm could be done in the meantime, however, to children's well-being and to their faith as they enter adulthood. We know enough now to make changes, but will it be too little too late?
It is not unusual to be triggered by an opinion or comments in mainstream or social media that we feel strongly against. The relatively anonymous nature of the internet feeds the urge to respond with a strong corrective. If we think we are representing Christianity well in this way, we do well to pause and think again, informed by these insights from an Evangelical political commentator in the United Kingdom.
Cultural Christians are those who embrace the ethics of Christianity that formed the foundation of Western society, which has brought a great deal of benefit to the world. They are convinced of the Christian message but not committed to the Christian Lord. In his first opinion for Christian Daily International, J.John says that Cultural Christianity provides wonderful opportunities for sharing the gospel.
Reputation is something highly prized by the world and those with a public reputation work hard to protect it. The Lively/Baldoni saga is a case in point. From Hollywood to tribal honor cultures, reputation is highly valued. It is the world's pearl of great price, but Jesus considers us his pearl and sacrificed everything including his reputation to purchase it, setting the bar for his followers to sacrifice similarly so that we may thrive.
The Charity Commission announced on Thursday that it was launching statutory inquiries into TBF Trust, the Oxford Centre for Religion in Public Life, the Reconciliation Trust, and Servants Fellowship International (SFI). The charity regulator said the new investigations were being launched after it had identified "possible risks due to their shared premises, trustees and/or founders, and the flow of funds with Barnabas Aid, another charity under inquiry".
The public consultation period for New Zealand’s controversial Treaty Principles Bill, opposed by 400 church leaders and affecting the tenets of the 19th-century Treaty of Waitangi, closed on Jan. 7, 2024. Some respondents reported technical difficulties submitting feedback on the New Zealand Parliament’s website.
Universities in New Zealand face obligations to “strengthen freedom of speech obligations” under legislation changes planned by the government. In a joint statement (Dec. 2024), Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour announced the proposed changes to the existing Education and Training Act 2020. The politicians said that each university would be required to adopt a freedom of speech statement in line with “clear expectations.”
The National Assembly Prayer Breakfast of Korea held its 2025 New Year Service on Jan. 8 in the second conference room of the National Assembly Members’ Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul. Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties gathered to pray for the nation and parliament, including Yoon Sang-Hyun, chair of the ruling party’s prayer breakfast group, and Song Ki-Heon, chair of the opposition group.
Three leading Baptist care providers in Australia—Baptcare, Baptist Care SA, and BaptistCare—have announced their merger into a single, yet-to-be-named organization, making it one of the largest care associations in the country. The merger, publicly unveiled in November 2024, is set to be completed by March 2025.
Last November, The Spectator, a secular British news magazine, published an article titled “The Rise of Christian Cinema,” recognizing a “new wave of biblical movies catering to the Netflix generation – and audiences are flocking to them.” The article highlighted the success of productions like The Chosen, a historical drama series that quenches the faith-thirst of online audiences seeking representations of their Christian beliefs on screen.
Christians are among hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees that Pakistan was to begin forcibly repatriating on Tuesday (April 1) to Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban has asserted they will kill any Christian, sources said.
