Drug OD fatality rate higher than suicides, cars, guns; UK University Bans All "Politically Incorrect" Words...more

Albert Mohler: Expository Preaching—The Antidote to Anemic Worship   ...Expository preaching is central, irreducible, and nonnegotiable to the Bible’s mission of authentic worship that pleases God. John Stott’s simple declaration states the issue boldly: “Preaching is indispensable to Christianity.” More specifically, preaching is indispensable to Christian worship—and not only indispensable, but central.

The centrality of preaching is the theme of both testaments of Scripture. In Nehemiah 8 we find the people demanding that Ezra the scribe bring the book of the law to the assembly. Ezra and his colleagues stand on a raised platform and read from the book. When he opens the book to read, the assembly rises to its feet in honor of the word of God and respond, “Amen, Amen!”

Interestingly, the text explains that Ezra and those assisting him “read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading” (Neh 8:8). This remarkable text presents a portrait of expository preaching...

Drug overdose fatality rate higher than suicides, cars, guns
...The overall number of opioid overuse deaths quadrupled during the same time period, and in 2015 opioids killed more than 33,000 people — higher than ever before. States that Trump won like West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio were hardest hit by fatal drug overdoses in 2015. Trump held a meeting in Feb. at the White House on how to respond to the opioid epidemic...

Resting place of the Ark of the Covenant to be site of new archaeological investigation ...Several theories have been offered for its disappearance and current location, with claims made for a secret resting places on Mount Nebo, in Ethiopia and even Warwickshire. But a team led by Israel Finkelstein and Christophe Nicolle from Tel Aviv University and Thomas Römer from the College de France seems confident of making a major discovery on the site of the ancient temple at Kiryat Ye’arim.

“The place is important for several reasons,” Finkelstein told The Times of Israel. “It’s a large, central site in the Jerusalem hills that hasn’t been studied until now. It may be the only key site in Judah that hasn’t undergone a systematic archaeological excavation.”

The dig is set to commence in early August and continue through September...

Palace of Biblical King Sennacherib Discovered under Tomb of Prophet Jonah  The ancient palace of the Assyrian King Sennacherib, who is mentioned in the Bible, has been uncovered after Islamic State militants destroyed the tomb of the prophet Jonah which was on top of the palace.

As the Islamic State is pushed out of areas in Iraq and Syria that they controlled since 2014, archaeologists are being given the chance to study new discoveries. It is thought that the Islamic State has ransacked various ancient tombs and landmarks to collect valuables to sell on the black market in order to fund their operation...

Syrian Muslim Refugees Converting to Christianity After Fleeing War Zone: ‘Jesus Saved Us’ ...Abu Radwan, who fled the city of Homs in Syria and was baptized by Bishop Saliba in Beirut, was quoted as saying that Jesus appeared to him in a dream two years ago. "I started going to the church. I believed that Jesus was coming to help us, to save us."

Bishop Saliba said the church accepts converts only after confirming that their faith is genuine.

Muslim refugees are turning to Jesus despite it being extremely risky. Radwan was once stabbed while he was coming home from the church. The attackers were Syrians from his own tribe. His wife still wears a hijab outside of church for her safety...

British University Bans All "Politically Incorrect" Words Cardiff Metropolitan University is at the forefront of political correctness sensitivity. The University Bans Lecturers from Using any Sexist or Insensitive Words. The list of banned words is wider than you might think. Here are some examples: mankind, homosexual, housewife, manmade, and sportsmanship... 

The Facts about Beauty and the Beast Disney Movie
...This movie is currently causing quite a stir in the news and online in social media because of the leaked comment from the director, Condon, who mentioned an “exclusively gay moment” in the movie. Everyone who knows I’ve seen the movie already is now asking me the question – what exactly does that mean? What is this exclusively gay moment everyone is talking about? If you don’t want to know ahead of time, stop reading here...