Evangelism

The merger of two dominant mission associations in North America culminated Monday with the public unveiling of Missio Nexus, which is now the largest evangelical mission network in North America.

Missio Nexus, formed through the marriage of CrossGlobal Link and The Mission Exchange, will represent 35,000 evangelical missionaries deployed in every country by more than 200 agencies and churches.

Top evangelical leaders across North America convened for a special service held Monday in Boston that celebrated both the debut of Missio Nexus and the 200th anniversary of North America's first ordained missionaries. more >>

Wycliffe Bible Translators denied allegations that it removed the terms "father" and "son" from Bible translations meant for Muslim countries and said any problematic texts are no longer being distributed.

Russ Hersman, senior vice president of Wycliffe Bible Translators USA, told The Christian Post that many of the works that critics like the organization Bible Missiology have pointed to as changing familial terms for God and Jesus have either done no such thing or have already been pulled from circulation.

"[Lives of the Prophets] was an audio drama that originally substituted inadequate familial terms in the mid-1990s. Since that time, the translation has been removed from circulation and will not be re-released until it has been corrected and revised," said Hersman. more >>

In response to several rumors and claims, two Bible translating organizations have officially denied that their translations headed for Islamic countries removes familial terms to describe God and Jesus.

Wycliffe Bible Translators and its partner the Summer Institute of Linguistics have both denied that they are sending a more "Muslim-friendly" Bible that removes references to God being "The Father" and Jesus being "the Son."

"Wycliffe is not omitting or removing the familial terms, translated in English as 'Son of God' or 'Father,' from any Scripture translation. Erroneous information and rumors on the internet have recently raised questions concerning this issue," read Wycliffe's statement, released on Wednesday. more >>

Megachurch pastor Rick Warren has taken to the social media platform Twitter to request prayers for Iranian pastor Behnam Irani, who is currently serving a five year sentence in an Iranian prison for crimes against national security.

"Pray for our dear pastor Behnam Irani who's been severely beaten in prison in Iran for preaching Jesus," Warren tweeted late Wednesday night.

This isn't the first report of Irani suffering beatings in prison. Jason DeMars, Founder of Present Truth Ministries, told The Christian Messenger in Dec. 2011 that "[Irani has] been daily beaten up by criminals there in the prison. The criminals have been asked to do it by the authorities there." more >>

Regina Brett, a New York Times bestselling author for her book, God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours, has just released another book, Be the Miracle: 50 Lessons for Making the Impossible Possible and is using her stories to inspire and empower readers all across the world to make a difference in someone's life.

Brett is a columnist and radio personality in addition to her work as a book author. Brett told The Christian Post the main difference between writing a book and column is the personal investment.

"When you write a book you are asking someone to make an investment in their time and money. A column can come and go as the weeks pass, but a book needs to be timeless," she said. more >>

To say that Ramez Atallah has learned to lead creatively and courageously in a land where Christians are being increasingly marginalized and attacked by the dominant Muslims may be an understatement.

Having ministered for more than 30 years in Egypt where Coptic Christians make up only about 10 percent of the country, Atallah remains one of the few Protestants that the Orthodox Church has accepted into their community, bridging the gap not only among Egyptian Christians but also among the Muslims, the West and the Middle East as well.

The general secretary of the Bible Society of Egypt joined the panel of speakers at the annual Desiring God Pastors Conference this week in Minneapolis, where he spoke of his personal testimony and advised pastors from all over the world on ways they could lead their ministries with vision, creativity and trust during times of difficulty. more >>