All posts tagged: evangelical

Evangelical group asks FCC to investigate ABC over Trump joke

Evangelical group asks FCC to investigate ABC over Trump joke

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — A group of evangelical broadcasters has asked the Federal Communications Commission to open an investigation into ABC over a Jimmy Kimmel comedy routine about first lady Melania Trump. On Tuesday (April 28), the federal agency, whose chairman was appointed by President Donald Trump, announced it would challenge the TV station’s broadcast license, according to reports by CNN and Semafor. The FCC decision came as criticism of Kimmel’s recent sketch on his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” late night show about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner piled up from his critics, including the president. Last week, Kimmel joked about the first lady having “a glow like an expectant widow,” during a sketch about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that aired two days before the actual reception held in Washington, D.C. The sketch prompted backlash after a shooter allegedly targeting the president and other administration officials opened fire at the event on Saturday. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, who reportedly thanked his church in his manifesto, has since been charged with attempting to assassinate the president. RELATED: …

Hegseth, Barron, evangelical leaders to join Trump event rededicating America to God

Hegseth, Barron, evangelical leaders to join Trump event rededicating America to God

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (RNS) — A slate of political, military and religious leaders are scheduled to participate in a major faith-themed event on the National Mall next month, where members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, musical guests and a list of mostly conservative Christian speakers plan to lead participants in “solemnly rededicating our country as One Nation under God.” The event, titled “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,” is part of a series of events and initiatives designed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Organized by the group Freedom 250 as part of a public-private partnership with the White House and other government bodies, the gathering roughly coincides with the anniversary of an order sent by then-General George Washington in 1776 seconding the Continental Congress’ call for a day of “fasting, humiliation and prayer.” The speaker lineup for the Rededicate event, which is scheduled for May 17 and expected to last all day, appears to be represent the core of Trump’s base of conservative religious support: …

Christian satellite TV has broadcast evangelical faith – and end-times prophecies – into Iran for decades

Christian satellite TV has broadcast evangelical faith – and end-times prophecies – into Iran for decades

Published by Sam Flores

(The Conversation) — When the United States and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, images of smoke billowing over Iranian cities began to dominate the news. But another feature of those skylines has remained constant: the thousands of satellite dishes that dot Tehran’s rooftops, picking up signals that originate far beyond Iran’s borders – despite attempts to confiscate them. For two decades, Christian television channels produced in the United States and Europe have made their way into Iranian homes. Some of this programming echoes apocalyptic ideas from American figures promoting the war, drawing on scriptural interpretations long present in evangelical teachings. Writer Hal Lindsey popularized such ideas in the 1970s with “The Late Great Planet Earth,” a best-selling book that cast Persia as the foretold antagonist in an imminent end-times conflict that would usher in Jesus’ second coming. In my 2025 book, “Satellite Ministries: The Rise of Christian Television in the Middle East,” I show how these broadcasts became tools for spreading such messages to Christians and potential converts – positioning the region …

Supreme Court revives suit from evangelical Christian challenging restrictions on demonstrations

Supreme Court revives suit from evangelical Christian challenging restrictions on demonstrations

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday revived a lawsuit from an evangelical Christian barred from demonstrating in Mississippi after authorities say he shouted insults at people over a loudspeaker. The high court unanimously ruled in the case of Gabriel Olivier, who says his religious and free speech rights were violated when he was arrested for refusing to move his preaching away from a suburban amphitheater. The city said he had shouted insults like “whores,” “Jezebel” and “nasty” at people, sometimes holding signs showing aborted fetuses. Olivier wanted to challenge the law as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech, but lower courts stopped him from suing because he’d been convicted of breaking it. A Supreme Court case from the 1990s found people can’t use civil lawsuits to undermine criminal convictions. But the justices found that doesn’t stop Olivier from suing because he only wants to block future enforcement. “Given that Olivier asked for only a forward-looking remedy — an injunction stopping officials from enforcing the city ordinance in the future — his suit can …

Chavismo faces split among evangelical Christian political allies in Venezuela

Chavismo faces split among evangelical Christian political allies in Venezuela

Published by Sam Flores

SÃO PAULO (RNS) — Once hailed by evangelical Christian leaders of different stripes for his support of their churches, Venezuela’s former President Nicolás Maduro, currently awaiting trial in a Brooklyn jail along with his wife, Cilia Flores, has apparently lost most of his Christian backers in his native country. While evangelical groups have come out for pro-Maduro demonstrations since Jan. 3, when U.S. troops bombed Caracas and other locations and abducted Maduro and Flores, most churches have remained silent, and most Christian leaders have not issued public statements. At least one evangelical movement has opted to leave the movement known as Chavismo, whose name is a nod to its founder and Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez. Since Chávez took office in 1999, the Venezuelan government and the Catholic Church, whose followers make up least 63% of the population, have famously warred over autonomy and alleged political interference, beginning with the constitution approved shortly after Chávez assumed power. It removed privileges historically enjoyed by the church and established freedom of worship and religion, and was received by …

Evangelical Christian stars line up to read Bible aloud to wake up ‘apathetic church’

Evangelical Christian stars line up to read Bible aloud to wake up ‘apathetic church’

Published by Sam Flores

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — Bunni Pounds, a political fundraiser-turned-activist who lost a 2018 bid for U.S. Congress from Texas, was visiting the Museum of the Bible in Washington when she says God spoke to her.  At the time, Pounds told attendees at a recent National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville, she’d been thinking about Ezra, the biblical prophet who read the law of Moses aloud to the Israelites as they returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon and began rebuilding the city’s walls.  “I had an encounter with the Lord about Ezra, and it has never left me,” she said. What’s more, Pounds said, the United States needs the same kind of spiritual rebuilding as the ancient Israelites. That idea led her to organize a week of public Bible reading in the nation’s capital. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if our national leaders from all spheres of influence, demographics and denominations would humble themselves in front of the American people and tell them that their dependence is in the Bible,” she said. “And then call the …

Tucker Carlson hears two evangelical Christian views on Israel. Which leads to peace?

Tucker Carlson hears two evangelical Christian views on Israel. Which leads to peace?

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Two back-to-back interviews by conservative influencer Tucker Carlson in the past two weeks revealed a growing chasm within American evangelical Christianity over U.S. support for Israel. The former Fox anchor, now host of “The Tucker Carlson Show,” recently interviewed the Rev. Fares Abraham, a Palestinian American pastor who is director of the evangelical organization Levant Ministries. Carlson then flew to the Ben Gurion Airport for a two-and-a-half-hour interview with Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor. If anyone wants to understand today’s Middle East evangelicals, they should listen to Abraham’s riveting personal story. His mother survived being shot by Israelis. When he was 10, Israeli soldiers dumped a huge stone on a neighbor, killing him immediately. Abraham said that Israel shelled the Baptist church in Gaza where his wife attended as a child and that Israeli snipers cut down another Gaza church’s pianist. She may not have bled to death, Abraham said, had the Israelis allowed ambulances to rescue her. Instead, the pastor said, her body showed …

Mexican Drug Cartel Targeting Evangelical Churches – OpentheWord.org

Mexican Drug Cartel Targeting Evangelical Churches – OpentheWord.org

Published by Sam Flores

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico Credit: Jezael Melgoza, unspash.com You were probably shocked as I was by the videos pouring out of Mexico of vehicles and buildings being set on fire by members of drug cartels. This included popular vacation spots like Puerto Vallarta where tourists were stranded as airports closed down. It was the cartel’s violent reaction to the death of “El Mencho”, Rubén Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes. He led one of Mexico’s largest and most violent drug cartels, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). But what many don’t know is that CJNG was also attacking Evangelical churches across Mexico. The violent outburst started after El Mencho was killed in a battle with the Mexican army, on Sunday, February 22, 2026. The American government provided the necessary intel leading to his capture and death. Because he kept a low profile, El Mencho’s movements had been difficult to track. But he had recently contracted kidney disease. The purchase of equipment and medication served as a crumb trail to the gang leader’s location. In the raid, the Mexican government …

For 2026 Super Bowl, ‘He Gets Us’ ad goes more personal, less political

For 2026 Super Bowl, ‘He Gets Us’ ad goes more personal, less political

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Back in 2021, a group of evangelical families, including the founders of Hobby Lobby, began funding a new ad campaign, hoping to help skeptical Americans give Jesus a second look and to convince people to be a little kinder to one another. The website for the campaign describes the mission this way: “Our hope was that more people could encounter love. More joy. More peace. A greater sense of purpose.” Known as “He Gets Us,” the campaign, which launched in 2022, focused on the human side of the Christian Messiah, with billboards and black-and-white video ads showing people with loneliness, anxiety and other struggles, and ending with the claim that Jesus understood those struggles. Other ads showed Jesus as an immigrant or a rebel against the status quo, who loved those he disagreed with. An ad for the 2023 Super Bowl, titled “Love Your Enemies,” featured images of Americans at each other’s throats and in each other’s faces, as English singer Rag’n’Bone Man’s hit song “Human” played. “Jesus loved the people we hate,” the …

From OnlyFans mega-star to evangelical darling, Nala Ray now hopes to reach other models

From OnlyFans mega-star to evangelical darling, Nala Ray now hopes to reach other models

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Months after accepting an award in Miami recognizing her as one of OnlyFans’ highest-earning creators, Nala Ray was baptized at Fearless Church, a non-denominational Christian church in Los Angeles, and quit making the content that she says generated more than $14 million from 270,000 subscribers. “I made more money than most NFL players,” Ray said. “I could have anything I wanted. It’s a very big false sense of empowerment.” Ray, 28, left OnlyFans in 2024. She has since married her husband, Jordan Giordano, a former Marine whose Christian faith she credits as instrumental in her own return to church, and the couple recently moved to Nashville, Tennessee.  “God has this cleansing process, the sanctification, and it’s a beautiful thing,” Ray said. “Sometimes it hurts, and I’m going through that now.” A video recording of her baptism on Dec. 26, 2023 generated 8.1 million views on her Instagram. Ray has since rebranded her online persona toward faith-focused and lifestyle content, often posting brand deals with Bible apps, prayer rings, a vacuum and Magnolia Cinnamon …