A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – A record-shattering freeze kept its grip on much of the eastern United States on Tuesday, causing at least seven deaths and closing schools as forecasters warned of a storm that could slam some areas with blizzard conditions later this week.

Late on Tuesday, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for 28 counties after the National Weather Service issued the winter storm warning.

Boston tied a 100-year-old record on Tuesday when it marked seven consecutive days of temperatures that did not top 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-6.7 degrees Celsius). Up and down the coast, people working outdoors struggled with the frigid conditions. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – More than 32,000 young adults from across the globe will fill arenas in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., for an event that has been sold out for months. Jan. 1-3, attendees will gather in Atlanta’s Philips Arena and Infinite Energy Center, and The Anthem in Washington, D.C., for Passion 2018—a gathering of 18-to-25-year-olds, and their church and campus leaders.

Passion 2018 will be live and live-streamed simultaneously in the three locations to students from more than 700 universities and 35 countries. Each venue will have live worship music in every session—with all bands traveling between locations—and attendees will experience teaching from two speakers live while seeing the others via live-stream.

Leading the way at Passion 2018 will be Passion founders Louie and Shelley Giglio, joined by guests Christine Caine, Levi Lusko, John Piper and Priscilla Shirer. Worship leaders and bands will include Passion Band, Crowder, Matt Redman, Jimi Cravity, KB, Brooke Ligertwood and Andy Mineo. [ Source: Christian Headlines (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo allegedly opened fire and deployed tear gas inside churches on Sunday, killing at least eight Christians, and arrested more than 100 people after Christians carrying Bibles and crucifixes joined protests against the rule of President Joseph Kabila.

Eighty-two people, including priests, were taken into custody in Kinshasa, while 41 people were arrested in the rest of the vast African nation, after protests were held against President Kabila’s refusal to step down from power, AFP reported, noting that a policeman was among those killed.

The government had banned the protests under the pretext that it didn’t have the capacity to police them, and had shut down mobile phone text message and data signals for “state security” reasons, according to The Times. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The US on Tuesday threatened it would cut aid to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency if Ramallah refused to come to the negotiating table for relaunched peace talks.

Following US President Donald Trump’s December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the US relinquished its traditional role as the mediator of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He has also refused to meet with American officials regarding the peace process, including US envoy Jason Greenblatt.

Speaking with reporters Tuesday at UN headquarters, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley stressed the US remains committed to reaching a peace deal, and indicated it would cut off aid if the Palestinians refused to engage in peace negotiations. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced a new policy Tuesday that may end the agency’s discrimination against churches, synagogues and other houses of worship in regards to receiving immediate and equal access to federal disaster relief funding.

The new policy comes in response to two lawsuits brought by three Texas churches and two Florida synagogues seeking disaster aid.

FEMA says that the new policy is required by the Supreme Court’s June 2017 decision in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, which ruled that the First Amendment requires religious groups to receive equal access to widely available public programs. FEMA announced in its new policy that “houses of worship will not be singled out for disfavored treatment” any longer. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Michele Bachmann, the deeply conservative former congresswoman and one-time presidential contender, said she is considering running for Al Franken’s former Senate seat in Minnesota.

Bachmann recently told televangelist Jim Bakker that she has been praying about the decision since Franken announced plans last month to leave the Senate amid sexual misconduct allegations. Franken, a Democrat, officially resigned on Tuesday.

“I’ve had people contact me and urge me to run for that Senate seat,” Bachmann said during Bakker’s TV show on Dec. 27. “Am I being called to this now? I don’t know.” [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said Tuesday he will not seek re-election after serving more than 40 years in the Senate, opening the door for 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to run for his seat.

The 83-year-old Hatch, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, opted for retirement despite a full-court press from President Donald Trump to stay in Washington, particularly as Romney’s ambition for the seat became apparent.

Romney was a vocal critic of Trump’s during the 2016 election and could be a potential thorn in the president’s side in the Senate. He also has drawn the ire of Trump’s former White House adviser, Steve Bannon, who recently derided Romney as a draft dodger who “hid behind” his Mormon religion to avoid serving in the Vietnam War. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Minnesota Democrat Al Franken officially resigned from the Senate on Tuesday after announcing he would step down last month amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

Franken submitted his letter of resignation to Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton. He said it “has been a privilege and an honor” to serve in the Senate.

Franken’s replacement, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith, is set to be sworn in on Wednesday. She plans to run for the seat in a November special election. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Acknowledging his push to broker peace in the Middle East has stalled, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority, asking why Washington should make “any of these massive future payments” when the Palestinians were “no longer willing to talk peace.”

In a tweet, the president dismissed Palestinian fury over his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying he had planned for Israel “to pay” in future negotiations for his declaration. But Palestinian intransigence was now preventing any progress on peace talks, he said.

Washington was paying the Palestinian Authority hundreds of millions of dollars a year “for nothing,” he wrote, complaining that the US received “no appreciation or respect” in return.

(Worthy News) – Pictures and videos coming out of Iran are starting to look more like a full-on revolution than a protest movement, but American news agencies continue to be slow to react, describing the historic protests as mostly about the country’s weak economy and chastising President Trump for cheering them on.

That’s woefully under-reporting the depth of what is really going on in Iran, say experts on the country’s history and current political environment.

The Associated Press’s description of the protests as “over economic issues” seems to lack any justification for Iranians taking to the streets en masse chanting “death to the dictator,” while burning in effigy the image of Supreme Islamic leader, Ayatollah Kamenei. [ Source: WND (Read More…) ]