A graphic designer and evangelical Christian pastor who has been working his way through all 66 books of the Bible to create theological illustrations of each one, recently shared a new infographic summarizing three common end-time views held by Christians.

Josh Byers, who has published nine Bible-themed infographics for the personal project he calls "Project 66," unveiled his end times infographic earlier than he had planned, due to high demand for an illustration of the differing views on the end times among evangelical Christians.

In Christianity, the end times is punctuated by the tribulation, the rapture and the second coming of Jesus Christ, and is often discussed along the lines of premillennialism, postmillennialism and amillennialism. The Book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible, is usually cited in these discussions, although other New Testament books and prophetic books of the Old Testament are referenced as well. Christians believe the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ will return at some future point to reign on Earth and judge the world — although the purported timeline of events are hotly debated. more >>

A number of passengers from the Carnival cruise ship Triumph, which made national headlines last week after it was stranded in the Gulf of Mexico, revealed that they turned to the Bible during a time of stress and concern.

"The Bible studies were great," Joseph Alvarez said, who was one of the 4,200 passengers who began their cruise on Feb. 7. "We did it for four days. … It put our minds and our hearts at ease. We felt peace the whole time. We knew that there was a Mighty Power out there that would get us home and keep us safe so we could get home and see our children."

The 893-foot ship was left stranded in the Gulf of Mexico after an engine room fire, leading to a four-day delay with passengers having to endure less than ideal conditions before the ship was towed. Alvarez, who witnessed the firefighters responding to the fire that broke out inside the ship, revealed that the improvised Bible study sessions brought together different passengers who found courage and faith, the Billy Graham Evangelical Association noted. more >>

In an effort to equip children with answers to questions about God and solidify their faith as they grow older, Christian theologian Dr. William Lane Craig has a series of children's books titled, "What is God Like?"

Brian Auten, who is the director of Reasonable Faith Belfast and founder of Apologetics 315, announced on his blog recently that Craig's books in the series "are quite amazing in their simple presentation of deep truths about God. (My own 5-year-old girl loves them and can explain what it means for God to be spirit and even what self-sufficient means, among other things.)"

The series of ten illustrated booklets are being released two at a time about every month. Publishers say the books are designed to help parents teach Christian truth to their children and answer some of their deepest questions about God. more >>

College campus ministry leader and "Reasons for God" founder Carson Weitnauer wants to make it clear that having answers to questions from skeptics about God is an important component of the Christian community's broader evangelistic responsibility.

Weitnauer said that Christian apologetics, the discipline of defending a faith in Jesus, is a part of so many people's stories on the receiving end of getting answers about God before they became Christians that he wants to collect such stories in order to share. He's setting up an "apologetics testimonies" page on his website that will offer a continually growing list of people who have come to faith in part through the study of apologetics.

"I've been doing campus ministry for 10 years and throughout the course of my ministry, by God's grace and through the work of the Holy Spirit, I've seen God use apologetics to lead many people to faith," Weitnauer, who serves students at Harvard University, Boston College Law School, and other campuses around Boston with Telos Ministries, told The Christian Post. more >>

NEW YORK – Pastor Jay Bakker of Revolution Church NYC has released a new book in which he encourages Christians to doubt, question and re-examine their beliefs and the Bible in pursuit of the "unknown God of limitless grace" that he's come to know through his own faith journey.

Son of televangelists Jim Bakker and the late Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, the 37-year-old self-described "evangelical punk preacher" believes the Christian Church has misrepresented God and contributed to the sufferings of many with its orthodox teachings on sin, salvation and eternity. More inclined to be filed alongside the works of Peter Rollins, Rob Bell, Brian D. McLaren and other so-called emergent Christian leaders, Faith, Doubt and Other Lines I've Crossed is heavy on love and grace and selective in its assessment of Scripture – apparently a continuing theme from Bakker's previous work, Fall to Grace: A Revolution of God, Self & Society (2011).

Bakker's reflections on a faith that he feels needs to be reformed don't seem to rest on genuine biblical interpretation, as he chooses in Faith, Doubt and Other Lines I've Crossed to ignore the more troublesome and demanding texts that test his own views. He claims Christians who believe the Bible is inerrant don't take that same Bible "seriously." Yet the New York City preacher leaves plenty of room in Faith, Doubt and Other Lines I've Crossed for others to make the same claim about him – and not because he disagrees with a God-inspired view of Scripture or believes that Scripture leaves room for homosexual relationships, but rather because he separates the God of the Bible from much of what the Bible claims God has said and done. more >>

Greg Boyd, a Christian theologian and author, is reportedly in the process of deciding how his Minnesota-based megachurch, Woodland Hills Church, will be affiliated with Anabaptism, a decision which has been in the works since May 2012.

Boyd, who is the author of The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church, is currently consulting with his pastoral team on becoming affiliated with the Mennonite Church USA or the Brethren in Christ.

"We've really been kind of growing in this direction since the church started, without knowing what Anabaptism was," Boyd, who co-founded his 2,500-person church in St. Paul, Minn., in 1992, told the Mennonite World Review. more >>