Yad Vashem, the world’s center for Holocaust remembrance and education, is one of the most visited sites in Israel. Perched on Jerusalem’s Mount of Remembrance, the 45-acre complex includes museums, monuments, memorials, gardens, sculptures and world-renowned research centers. Yad Vashem is the largest museum of its kind in the world, and boldly shares the story of the Holocaust from the Jewish perspective, including personal testimonies, riveting displays and rare artifacts. In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe was approximately 9 million. By 1945, the Germans and their collaborators had killed nearly two out of every three European Jews. In stunning […]

When the dust settled on the city of Port Au Prince, Haiti, after the massive 7.0 earthquake that devastated much of the impoverished country, there was overwhelming need and an immediate response of worldwide support. The NFL teamed up with the Red Cross to ask for donations during playoff games viewed by millions, and George Clooney rallied his celebrity friends for a telethon called Hope For Haiti Now, which raised about $60 million for relief efforts. But when the frenzied media coverage of the disaster in Haiti has subsided, the need will still be there, pressing as ever. Local effortsTwo […]

Volunteering for short-term missions is one of the most effective ways believers can mobilize with far-reaching results. It also can be a life-changing experience, altering the way you view the world and your purpose in it. Volunteers with a heart that is open to the spiritual need across North America can turn to the North American Mission Board to find opportunities to make a difference. Right now is a great time to plan your next, or first, trip to the mission field. Missionaries and pastors are ready to welcome short-term volunteers to the task of reaching the three-out-of-four people in […]

O Star of wonder, star of night Star with royal beauty bright Westward leading, still proceeding Guide us to thy Perfect Light … and so goes the lyrics of We Three Kings as penned by John Henry Hopkins at a New York seminary in 1857. Over the years scholars have debated if this star of wonder, the Bethlehem Star, was actually a real astronomical event or something told in stories. According to Rick Larson, host of the documentary, The Star of Bethlehem, the star was indeed an actual event and part of a dramatic poem God was writing in the […]

Congregations across the Nation to Team Up with Worldwide Charity Soles4Souls, a Nashville based not-for-profit charity, is teaming up with congregations across the United States this holiday season, with the hopes of collecting 250,000 shoes to distribute to those in need. This year’s event, “Thanks4Giving”, is a unique project that allows people across the nation to share their new or “gently used” shoes with those less fortunate.  One local church that is participating in the event is Calvary Chapel in Coral Springs. Calvary Chapel, a non-denominational Christian church that is committed to teaching the message of Jesus Christ, is holding […]

When I first heard it, I didn’t believe it. Alas, it’s true. A few weeks ago, New York City’s Empire State Building was aglow in red and yellow. Why? To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the victorious revolution of the People’s Republic of China – i.e., the establishment of Mao’s Red China. I’m not kidding. This took place not in Beijing, or Pyongyang Havana or, say, Moscow in the 1950s. It was done in New York City, in 2009, at its highest building, the very symbol of the Empire State. In effect, New Yorkers basked in the glow of a […]

Cuban authorities say two Baptist leaders held in jail for 11 days in a city on the eastern end of the island are suspected of illegal economic activities. Associated Baptist Press first reported Oct. 13 that Ruben Ortiz-Columbie, coordinator for special projects of the Eastern Cuba Baptist Convention, and Francisco “Pancho” Garcia, director of the convention’s teen department, had been arrested Oct. 3 and held without formal charge since then. They were being held in the city of Santiago de Cuba. The following day El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language sister paper of The Miami Herald, reported that Ortiz, 68, and […]

A few years ago the film “Amazing Grace” captivated the attention of evangelical believers in North America. The courage of William Wilberforce, John Newton and several others in the fight to end the slave trade in Great Britain reminded us of what it means to give our lives for a worthy, timely concern. Time and again, when passion subsided it was the reality of human suffering and ultimately the call of God to remain in the struggle that stayed with them through many ups and downs. What if I told you that the evil of human slavery today is worse […]

The Hindu god who removes obstacles was no match for a tree limb. Southern Baptist representatives Brendan and Alyson Strizek* watched from a balcony as celebrating Hindus tried to navigate a trailer-mounted image of Ganesha through a narrow alley. A low tree limb soon blocked the 10-foot idol’s progress. The crowd, unable to back the trailer out of the alley, tried in vain to sever the tree limb so the idol could proceed. “It took them about 45 minutes to figure out what to do,” Brendan Strizek said. Finally, a child removed the top of the makeshift temple covering Ganesha, […]