Major evangelical leaders recently announced their support for universal background checks for all firearms purchases in America.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, president of the Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse and Dr. Richard Land, outgoing head of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, stated this in interviews with Time Magazine.

"As ministers, we agreed together that we could stand on a united front for universal background checks … We think that's reasonable and responsible," said Graham. more >>

Henry David Thoreau was quoted saying, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Throughout our great history, American's have answered the call to duty when our national security was threatened by enemies abroad such as Hitler's Germany, Japan's Tojo, and Communism, we rallied together when our backs were against the wall. The nation came together as one, and sought God's divine intervention. It took time, and many lives lost, but the Lord answered our prayers.

Today, we are in the darkest days since our Civil War. Our enemy is not an army or air force of a foreign power. The enemy is invisible, evil, and its enemy is our Judeo-Christian heritage. Its weaponry system is humanistic in every sense of the word. Like other militaries in combat, their uniforms are camouflaged to fit the battlefield. more >>

C.J. Mahaney has announced that he is stepping down as president of Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) with the closure of his office to make way for an executive director during the church group's organizational restructuring.

"As that new polity takes effect, I will be transitioning from the role of President, and the Executive Committee will recommend an individual for confirmation by the Council of Elders to serve in the newly formed role of Executive Director," Mahaney wrote last week in a blog post at SGM's website.

"In October, I informed the Board of Sovereign Grace that I was withdrawing my name from consideration for Executive Director as I don't think my gifts and sense of call are the best fit for certain aspects of this new role," he added, revealing that he made the same announcement to SGM pastors in November at an annual pastors conference. more >>

Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., revealed that its senior pastor, David Landrith, has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer and is calling on the Christian community to hold him and his family up in prayer.

"We want to provide you with some information about Pastor David's health," executive leaders shared with the Long Hollow Church community in an online letter Friday. "David has been diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer known as colorectal melanoma. The cancer is still in stage one and there is no evidence that it has spread at this point."

"On Thursday, February 28, David had a colonoscopy after a previous exam revealed some abnormalities. The next day he had outpatient surgery to remove the spot that had concerned his doctor. Tests were ordered and on Tuesday, March 5, the results of a biopsy revealed the cancer. Additional tests were conducted the next day and the full extent of his condition was revealed at a consultation on Thursday, March 7. David is pursuing all available treatment options." more >>

Mark Burnett and Roma Downey joined a national conference call with religious leaders including Jim Daly and Rick Warren celebrating the "Bible" series on Thursday.

The conversation recognized the incredible success of the "Bible" series, which became the most-watched television premiere of the year last Sunday as it debuted on The History Channel.

Encouraging the husband-and-wife team, pastor of Saddleback Church Warren opened the conference call with a prayer before thanking Burnett and Downey for creating the 10-part epic television series. more >>

 Editors' Note: This is the first of a three-part series on the greening of the Hispanic community's participation in national politics, brought to the forefront by a decision by progressive Democrats to push gay marriage equality into the national debate over immigration reform. The first article reports on an unprecedented coalition representing 30 million Hispanics of faith pressing to keep the issues separate, raising the specter of a break in Democratic party solidarity in the Hispanic community.

 The second article explores controversy within the Hispanic community over gay rights, and the third analyzes faith trends among younger Hispanics that may lead to an erosion of lock-step support for Democrats in favor of more independent voting status for Hispanics.

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