Family issues

Pastors across the country are repenting for the little they've been doing to address marriage needs in the church and are committing themselves to no longer stand idly by.

The blame for the high divorce rate in the United States, the increasing number of out-of-wedlock births and the falling percentage of adults getting married does not fall on secular society, they say. It falls on the church.

"The church hasn't done a good enough job," prominent evangelical Chuck Colson said Wednesday during a webinar promoting the upcoming National Marriage Week. "We can turn marriage around in America but believe me, if we are ever going to do it we've got to start with the church." more >>

One of the nation's largest churches has begun the new year with an emphasis on strengthening families.

At a time when a lot of people are disillusioned about marriage, Willow Creek Community Church's Bill Hybels wants Christians, at least, to know that the institution of marriage was designed by God.

"Sometimes we go through history when marriage seems woefully out of fashion," the senior pastor told his congregation in a weekend sermon. But, he said, "marriage is not going away." more >>

All eyes are on a federal trial, set to begin Monday, that will determine the constitutionality of California's same-sex marriage ban.

Some are calling it the gay community's potential Brown vs. Board of Education. Others say democracy is at stake.

"What’s at stake in this case is not only the definition of marriage in California but the potential that Americans will be forced to forfeit the core of our democracy by allowing a small group of wealthy activists to impose their will on a state – or an entire nation – through the courts," Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defense Fund, told The Christian Post. more >>

Christians nationwide are joining one of several prayer-and-fasting campaigns to kick off the New Year and to help the country get “right with God.”

Some even more than one.

Among the campaigns is Pray Daily America’s 40 Days of prayer and fasting that began Monday and will run until Feb. 12. Participants will meet daily online at www.praydailyamerica.com to pray, seek God, confess personal and national sins and reaffirm the founding fathers’ covenant with God for the United States. Each day a different prayer topic is posted on the web site. more >>

Several prominent evangelical leaders joined more than two dozen other pro-life Christian pastors, leaders and theologians to sign a statement Friday expressing support for alternative abortion language in the health care bill as proposed by Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.).

“As Christian leaders moved by our faith to protect life at all stages, we applaud Sen. Robert Casey’s efforts to ensure that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act prohibits federal funding of abortion, ensures conscience protections, and provides funding for long-needed support for pregnant women and children,” stated the leaders, which include Florida megachurch pastor Joel C. Hunter, Christianity Today editor David Neff, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference president Samuel Rodriguez, New Evangelicals founder Richard Cizik, and Evangelicals for Social Action president Ron Sider.

Casey’s proposal, in addition to preventing government funding for abortion, also would expand economic support for individuals who want to adopt as well as for low-income women and children. more >>