Joshua Nicholas Blog

North Carolina pastor, Andrew Brunson, has been released from prison in Turkey, following his recent hearing. He is currently under house arrest in the country. Just last week , Brunson had a hearing for his October 2016 sentencing in Turkey. He was accused of having connections to a terrorist organization that attempted a coup against the Turkish government in July of 2016. Though Brunson’s witness and defense strongly denied allegations, asserting he has no connection to these terrorists, the hearing ended with a continuation scheduled for this Fall. Following a speech from Brunson’s daughter for his release and amid reports from U.S. officials and the Brunson family of the pastor’s poor health, a Turkish court granted his release, on the condition that Brunson does not leave the country or his home. “The court reportedly came to the conclusion that Brunson could be effectively detained under house arrest,” the Christian Post writes. The American Center for L...

New data, released earlier this year, announced that Africa holds the largest number of Christians in the world. This moves the reigning champs of the title, Latin America into 2nd place. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary produced an infographic which breaks down the world’s Christian population by continent. The results show Africa on top with 631 million Christian residents, Latin America in 2nd place with 601 million Christians, and Europe in 3rd place with 571 million Christians. CBS News reports the African countries with the highest percentages of Christian residents are Zambia (95.5%), the Republic of Seychelles (94.7%), and Rowanda (93.6). A 2017 survey by the same group had Africa at 582 million Christians and Latin America at 591 million. This means Africa has seen the births or conversions of nearly 50 million people in the last year. Similarly, Latin America has increased by about 10 million. Nort...

An America’s Got Talent contestant, who attends a Christian college, advanced to the next round, Tuesday, after changing songs mid-performance and getting a verbal scolding from judge Simon Cowell. Joseph O'Brien, who studies worship and pastoral studies at Boyce College in Louisville, Ky., walked to the piano and began singing REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling” when Cowell raised his hand and told him to stop. O’Brien’s voice wasn’t as strong in the song as in his previous performance. “You’ve got to stop this song. I’m sorry,” Cowell said. O’Brien said his “heart was beating”and he “just wasn’t getting in the vibe.” “I think you’re overthinking everything right now,” Cowell responded. “You have a great voice. I’m just frustrated because I didn’t like that song choice.” O’Brien then offered: “Would it be OK if I did an original, or would that be a bad idea?” Surprisingly, the judges allowed a re-do – a rarity on the talent show. O’Brien crushed...

Wynter Pitts, a prominent Christian author and speaker and the founder of For Girls Like You magazine, died unexpectedly Tuesday. She was 38 years old. The niece of pastor and author Tony Evans, Pitts made a name for herself as an author of books for tweens and girls. She wrote the tween devotionals For Girls Like You and You’re God’s Girl. Her latest book, God's Girl Says Yes: What God Can Do When We Follow Him, was released this month. She and her husband, Jonathan, co- authored the 2017 book for parents, She Is Yours: Trusting God as You Raise the Girl He Gave You. They also were featured on a Family Life Today radio broadcast and in the marriage-enrichment Parent Compass video series. She is survived by her husband and four daughters. Daughter Alena was featured in the movie War Room jumping rope. Jonathan Pitts made the announcement of her death on her Instagram account. “Last night, Wynter was taken from us suddenly but we know that she was only take...

Zyler and Kadyn Sharpe are three-year-old fraternal twins living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Which is a boy, and which is a girl? According to their parents , that’s a question only the children can decide. Nate and Julia Sharpe have kept their children’s biological sex a secret from their birth. They have not taught them to associate their body parts with being a boy or a girl. They are going to allow their children to determine their gender. Such children are known as “theybies.” Other parents are making the opposite decision. Model Chrissy Teigen and her husband, singer John Legend, made headlines when they announced that they had selected the sex of their unborn child. They used in vitro fertilization to become pregnant. This process creates embryos in the laboratory which are then implanted in the mother’s womb. Teigen and Legend asked doctors to select a female embryo for her to carry to term. In related news, “sex-selective abortion” is now common arou...

Officials from the Ministry of Education have told media they have started carrying out adolescent health and sexuality education in schools to equip students with information to “manage themselves”. This development comes less than a month since Christian founded schools called for changes in this new policy, saying Church views were “substantially ignored.” In June, clergy under their umbrella organization, The Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) vowed not to adopt this curriculum in Christian schools until it is revised again by government. Speaking on behalf of UEC, John Baptist Odama, the Archbishop of Gulu said the Church is not against sex education, and that despite having made suggestions to developing the curriculum, in the final edition of the document, their views were rejected. He added that there is no guarantee that school teachers are prepared and able to teach such “delicate and emotionally charged topics “in a balanced and proper way. “Contrary...

Deputy Ross Jessop and U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer Nick Scholz anxiously set out for the evening’s mission, both fearing they’d soon be making a gruesome discovery. They were racing against time to locate a missing 5-month-old baby buried in the woods alive more than 9 hours before. Then the two heard a faint noise and began racing up the dark Montana mountainside. It all started when Francis Crowley crashed his car while driving along a game trail in the Lolo National Forest. Crowley, who later admitted to being under the influence of both methamphetamine and bath salts, told officers different confusing versions of the crash, finally admitting that he’d left the baby behind when the child became “too heavy to carry.” He promised to direct the officers back to the crash site, but in his disoriented condition, he was unable to offer any help. “Walking into this situation, you were mentally prepared for the worst.” Officer Scholz shared. “I rem...

The Igando Customary Court on Tuesday dissolved a 21-year-old marriage be tween one Rachael Olayiwola and Rabiu Olayiwola. Rabiu, 48, an Islamic cleric, had approached the court to terminate his marriage to Rachael, who had turned a prophetess. Olayiwola had told the court that prior to their marriage, Rachael had agreed to abandon her Christian religion for Islamic faith. “But three years ago, she now told me that God has asked her to return to her former religion and become a prophetess. “I cannot accept that under my roof; it is either she comes back to my faith or I send her packing through dissolution of the marriage. “The annoying thing is that she does not go to her church alone but takes the children along. “Now the Central Mosque Association Committee vowed to remove me as an Imam if my wife refused to return as a Muslim,” Rabiu said. The petitioner testified that his wife was in the habit of fighting him and did not respect him. “Rachael lacks re...

Facebook’s policy on pornography has meant a Rubens painting called The Descent From The Cross has been censored. Their rule has caught out a few other images – the iconic Napalm girl image was censored in 2016 for the same reason but the decision was then overturned after a significant outcry. Rubens’ painting features Jesus being lowered from the cross, covered by a loincloth but mostly naked. Facebook’s nudity policy as stated on their website is: “We restrict the display of nudity or sexual activity because some people in our community may be sensitive to this type of content. Additionally, we default to removing sexual imagery to prevent the sharing of non-consensual or underage content. Restrictions on the display of sexual activity also apply to digitally created content unless it is posted for educational, humorous or satirical purposes.” But it also listed exceptions including nudity in protest images or when for medicinal purposes. “We also allow pho...

The leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has warned the Presidency and the Nigeria Police not to do anything capable of threatening the survival of democracy in Nigeria. Reacting to the invasion of the official residences of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, CAN warned the presidency to desist from using the Nigeria Police to pull down democratic institutions built at a great price, including loss of lives and imprisonment of many patriots. CAN spokesman, Bayo Oladeji, in a statement on Tuesday, expressed concerns over the poor handling of police’s invitation to Saraki, over the infamous Offa robbery saga that led to the death of no fewer than 30 people. The Christian umbrella body condemned in strong terms the way and manner the Police were deployed in subjecting the leadership of the National Assembly to needless embarrassment and harassment. CAN said: “The ongoing action of the Police is a siege against democ...

Delaware has become the latest state to pass a bill banning sexual orientation change efforts therapy for minors with same-sex attraction. Governor John Carney signed Senate Bill 65 into law on Monday, which prohibits licensed professionals from practicing conversion therapy on minors and stops the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families from recommending the practice. "All Delawareans, including Delaware children, deserve to be respected for who they are, and I was proud to sign Senate Bill 65 into law today. Discredited practices like conversion therapy have no place in Delaware," stated Gov. Carney on his official Twitter account. Delaware joins California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington State, and the District of Columbia in having laws against gay therapy for youth.

The daughter of imprisoned American pastor Andrew Brunson gave an impassioned speech during the first-ever State Department Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, choking up a bit as she shared how her father feels "blessed" to suffer for his faith in Christ. Jacqueline (Brunson) Furnari was among the family members of persecuted believers who shared the stories of persecution that their respective loved ones have faced at the State Department headquarters Tuesday, kicking off a much anticipated three-day conference on international religious freedom that the federal government has never hosted before. "I know my dad's character as only a daughter can, and I know the charges against him are absolutely absurd and false," she told the hundreds gathered at the Harry S. Truman Building, asking them for prayers for her father's release. "He is not an armed terrorist trying to overthrow any government. He is a pastor who went to Whea...

Before leaving this world, dying 27- year-old Holly Butcher gave the rest of us some powerful advice in her ‘Note Before I Die.’ We all know death is inevitable. And yet, we don’t expect it to come so early for many of us. Holly Butcher from New South Wales in Australia certainly falls into the category of “too young to die.” Doctors gave Holly the terrible news when she was just 26 years old. She suffered from Ewing's sarcoma — a rare form of cancer in and around the bones that mainly affects young people. The news completely blindsided Holly. “It's a strange thing to realise and accept your mortality at 26 years young,” she wrote in the opening of her ‘Note Before I Die.’ “It's just one of those things you ignore. The days tick by and you just expect they will keep on coming; Until the unexpected happens.” Holly’s diagnosis came as a shock to her family, as well. The active, vibrant young woman seemed to exude good health. To hear she was living...

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday declared a three-day period of national mourning after coastal wildfires killed at least 70 and injured more than 180 in what experts are calling the worst outbreak of fires there in more than a decade. Firefighters were struggling to gain control of the wildfires, which were spreading through the coastal city of Mati about 25 miles east of Athens. Many of the dead are tourists. Greek Interior Minister Panos Skourletis compared it to a “biblical disaster ,” according to Sky News. Even the beach wasn’t safe. One tourist who was on the shore told the BBC, “Thankfully the sea was there and we went into the sea, because the flames were chasing us all the way to the water. It burned our backs and we dived into the water.” In one tragic location, 26 adults and children died in a field about 100 feet from the beach. Rescuers discovered their bodies close together, as if they had huddled. “They had tried to find an esc...

A new scientific study on the Shroud of Turin is questioning the claims that the shroud could have been the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in when he was buried after crucifixion. The study was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, and essentially states that all the evidence from the shroud indicates the person who was wrapped with the cloth was standing up at the time. The biblical account of Christ’s crucifixion makes it clear that Jesus had died when he was wrapped with burial cloths, so he couldn’t have been standing. The abstract of the study entitled, “A BPA Approach to the Shroud of Turin,” states that a living volunteer was used in the “investigation into the arm and body position required to obtain the blood pattern visible in the image of the Shroud of Turin.” BPA stands for “bloodstain pattern analysis” in forensic sciences. Studying the blood stains on the shroud, the research declares the stain markings at the back “are totally unrealistic” ...