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        <title>Christian Daily International | Culture</title>
        <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/arts-and-entertainment</link>
        <description><![CDATA[Follow Christian arts and entertainment worldwide, from music and film to creative expressions of faith. Explore how artists and churches use creativity to share the gospel and inspire communities through culture.]]></description>
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        <lastBuildDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2026 05:29:59 -0400</lastBuildDate>
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                <title><![CDATA['From textbooks to a hand-copied Bible': More than 500 North Korean records collected over 20 years go on display]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/more-than-500-north-korean-records-collected-over-20-years-go-on-display</link>
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                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[North Korean textbooks from the Rev. Lim Chang-hos donation to the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ NKDB ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ North Korean textbooks from the Rev. Lim Chang-ho's donation to the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights. ]]>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[The Rev. Lim Chang-ho donated more than 500 North Korea-related books and records he collected over some 20 years to the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ NKDB ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ The Rev. Lim Chang-ho donated more than 500 North Korea-related books and records he collected over some 20 years to the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:51:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[A New Testament and a hymnal said to have been copied out by hand by a North Korean believer are among the items in a new exhibition that opened to the public Sept. 21 at the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB).]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
A New Testament and a hymnal said to have been copied out by hand by a North Korean believer are among the items in a new exhibition that opened to the public Sept. 21 at the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB).
The exhibition, "Life Beyond the Study," draws on more than 500 North Korea-related books and records collected by the Rev. Lim Chang-ho. Lim donated the collection to NKDB in June in support of its aim to establish a future North Korean Human Rights Museum.
Alongside the manuscripts are North Korean textbooks, music books, picture books and cookbooks. Someone once read these books, underlined them and kept them close at hand.
NKDB displays the donated items next to testimonies it has documented from North Korean residents. The exhibition looks at both the official world found in the books and the lives of the people who read them, learned from them and lived with them.
The records passed through many hands before coming together in Lim's study. Now they have moved to a new study: the North Korean Human Rights Exhibition Hall. Key items from the donation are shown in a small special-exhibition corner of the hall.
Books that could not be published, scripture passed on by hand
The donated items include a New Testament, responsive readings and a hymnal said to have been copied out by hand by a North Korean believer. The materials reached Lim through various routes, and he kept them for many years.
The exhibition presents the main manuscripts alongside NKDB testimonies on religious persecution.
According to NKDB, people in North Korea can face severe punishment for owning a Bible or taking part in religious activity. In NKDB's "2025 White Paper on Religious Freedom in North Korea," 589 of the 15,303 North Korean escapees surveyed, or 3.9%, said they had seen a Bible in North Korea.
"Visitors can copy out by hand the hand-copied Bible — evidence of a faith preserved in spite of persecution — and reflect on the meaning of faith and freedom," NKDB said.
The world learned from books, and the life the books left out
North Korean textbooks teach mathematics, science, language and the arts. According to NKDB, they also teach loyalty to the leader, collectivism, class consciousness and defense of the socialist system.
This political-ideological education appears not only in subjects such as revolutionary history, NKDB said. It also shows up in the reading passages, exercises and songs of general subjects, including Korean language, English, morals and music.
The exhibition places textbooks, music books and picture books alongside testimonies from people who went to school in North Korea. One North Korean escapee testified that there were not enough textbooks for even half of the students. Students also had to supply firewood, furnish their classrooms and pay various school fees.
Visitors can see both the official values the books teach and the realities residents faced while learning from them, NKDB said.
Beyond the cookbooks, lives sustained by 'speed-battle rice cake'
The donation also includes North Korean cookbooks, among them "Korean Cookery Collection," "Korea's Regional Cuisine," "Tteok: Korea's National Food" and "Home Cooking Class."
Not every resident, however, could make and eat the dishes in these books. The exhibition shows cookbooks full of rich dishes next to testimonies about sokdojeon tteok, or "speed-battle rice cake," made quickly by mixing corn flour with water.
One person testified, "Puffed corn flour was my wealth and my very life."
From one person's study to a future museum

Lim is a minister, educator and North Korean human rights activist. He is principal of Jangdaehyun School, a middle and high school for young people of North Korean escapee background. He founded the school in 2014, and it has since supported the learning and independence of its students.
Lim previously served as a professor in the Department of Christian Education and as vice president for academic affairs at Kosin University. He began working for North Korean human rights and the resettlement of escapees around 2000, after encountering the testimonies of North Korean escapees.
Lim and others attended an opening and donation ceremony on Sept. 18. There, he described how he collected and kept the materials over some 20 years and explained why he decided to donate them for the future museum.
NKDB runs the exhibition hall to share with the public the North Korean human rights records and testimonies it has gathered over some 20 years. Its permanent exhibition, "Her Day in North Korea," has drawn more than 1,600 domestic and international visitors since it opened in April.
That exhibition follows one North Korean resident's home and daily life. NKDB says it presents North Korean human rights as concrete stories of life rather than as institutions or statistics.
NKDB describes "Life Beyond the Study" as an effort to turn one person's records into a shared public resource. It also offers an early look at the collection, preservation, research and exhibition work the future museum will carry out.
NKDB plans to keep using the special-exhibition corner after this show. It intends to periodically present records held by members of the public, as well as work by artists and collaborators from various fields who reinterpret North Korean human rights. The goal is to draw public attention to human rights violations that are still continuing in North Korea.
"In addition, by creating spaces where citizens take part as messengers who remember and pass on the voices of victims, we intend to sustain ongoing attention and solidarity until the day the human rights situation in North Korea improves and the violations stop," NKDB said.
Original reporting by Christian Daily Korea.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Handel’s ‘Messiah’ performed at site associated with John the Baptist’s beheading in Jordan]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/handels-messiah-performed-at-site-associated-with-john-the-baptists-beheading-in-jordan</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/handels-messiah-performed-at-site-associated-with-john-the-baptists-beheading-in-jordan</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Daoud Kuttab]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Jordanian soloist Dima Bawab sings during a performance of Handel’s “Messiah” at Mukawir, Jordan, Sept. 12.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Courtesy of EU JO Project ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Jordanian soloist Dima Bawab sings during a performance of Handel’s “Messiah” at Mukawir, Jordan, Sept. 12. The concert paired a Hungarian orchestra with Arab instruments, including the oud and qanun. ]]>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[A Hungarian orchestra, choir and soloists perform Handel’s “Messiah” at Mukawir, Jordan, Sept. 12.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Courtesy of EU JO Project ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ A Hungarian orchestra, choir and soloists perform Handel’s “Messiah” at Mukawir, Jordan, Sept. 12. The hilltop fortress traditionally associated with the beheading of John the Baptist is in the background, with the Dead Sea beyond. ]]>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Audience members at the performance of Handel’s “Messiah” at Mukawir, Jordan, Sept. 12.]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Courtesy of EU JO Project ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Audience members at the performance of Handel’s “Messiah” at Mukawir, Jordan, Sept. 12. More than 2,500 tickets were sold for the outdoor concert, which was held at the site traditionally associated with the beheading of John the Baptist. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2026 16:41:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[A performance of Handel’s “Messiah” blending Western and Eastern music took place Sept. 12 at Mukawir, the hilltop fortress in Jordan traditionally associated with the beheading of John the Baptist. The concert was held under the patronage of HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
A performance of Handel’s “Messiah” blending Western and Eastern music took place Sept. 12 at Mukawir, the hilltop fortress in Jordan traditionally associated with the beheading of John the Baptist. The concert was held under the patronage of HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal.
The event featured a Hungarian orchestra, French and Jordanian soloists and oriental instrumentalists. It was held outdoors at the fortress, in an area believed to be connected to where John the Baptist was beheaded by Herod Antipas.
Organized by Friends of Jordan Festivals under the theme “Echoes of Faith, Voices of Heritage,” the performance was presented as the start of a broader cultural and spiritual journey toward the global commemorations of St. John the Baptist in 2030.
The event was part of the European Union’s continued support for preserving and promoting Jordan’s cultural heritage, and its commitment to fostering cultural exchange and bringing Jordan’s historic sites to life through public engagement.

Dima Bawab, the Jordanian soloist, told Christian Daily International (CDI) that when her mother, Souha Bawab, executive director of Friends of Jordan Festivals, contacted her about performing a classical outdoor concert, she knew exactly what would work.
“I wanted a popular, well-known musical which is easy to hear, and appropriate for the location that the Jordanian tourism ministry wanted to promote,” Bawab said.
She had performed “Messiah” 10 years earlier, but this time she faced a few challenges. The concert was allotted 70 minutes, and performing the entire “Messiah” would take more than three hours.
She therefore suggested limiting the performance to the first and second parts, which cover the birth and life of Jesus, and ending the program with the famous “Hallelujah” chorus. She also believed that including parts three and four would not be uplifting and might not be appropriate for an outdoor event.
Bawab told CDI that preparing this mixed act across a long distance and in a short time was not something she was used to, but modern technology helped. “We were able to exchange recordings and hold a number of rehearsals on Zoom.”
She said she had worked with Jordan’s lead instrumentalist, Tareq Jundi, on a performance of “Messiah” 10 years earlier, and she asked him to play the oud. She also contacted Rula Barghouti, who plays the qanun, a harp-like instrument that rests flat on a table.
The plan was to let them improvise on the hijaz scales before the orchestra re-entered with “Messiah,” and to give them an opportunity to support the concert, especially in the final “Hallelujah” chorus.
Jundi, the oud player, said the team from Jordan worked together virtually for months on the concert and even held rehearsals online. “But the actual rehearsals with the entire team from Hungary and Jordan only occurred in the last two days before the concert.”
He said he had performed “Messiah” 10 years earlier, and that he and the Jordanian soloists who live in France, including Bawab, were in regular touch to prepare for the concert.
Jundi said he was proud to be part of a performance that showed real harmony between his oud and Barghouti’s qanun, alongside the full Hungarian orchestra.
“I studied music in the West, and I am familiar with their classical music, and I was delighted to be able to present a joint Western classical instrument with Oriental ones to produce a great musical effort in a historic biblical location,” he said.

Bawab described how the Jordanian musicians achieved musical harmony while preserving the beauty of the Arab instruments. “They would do an improvisation, let’s say, in C major, which then blended seamlessly with the following parts of the orchestra.”
She also noted a technical difference in how the music is tuned. “When Handel created this masterpiece, the tuning standard was closer to A=415 Hz, while modern classical music is performed at A=442 Hz.” She said Arab instruments such as the oud, and performers such as Jundi, can tune to either frequency with ease.
Logistics were complicated. Many people arrived on hired buses, with many leaving at 4 p.m. to be seated by 7 p.m., when the concert started on time to catch the sunset.
“It was a wonderful scene of the orchestra and musicians, and the background was the hill where John the Baptist lost his life, with the Dead Sea further behind,” Bawab said.
More than 2,500 tickets were sold, though some estimates put attendance at 3,000. Large screens displayed text and images telling the story of John the Baptist.
Bawab said that while “Messiah” is about the life and death of Jesus, the concert focused on the life and mission of John the Baptist.
“Remember that this was happening in Jordan, and the goal was to have a wonderful, moving musical like ‘The Messiah,’ but also to promote a location many around the world and even in Jordan didn’t even know about.”
The choice of Mukawir was central to the initiative. The site, traditionally associated with the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, forms part of Jordan’s cultural and religious tourism landscape.
“The European Union has a longstanding commitment to supporting the preservation, protection and sustainable development of Jordan’s cultural heritage, including the historic site of Mukawir,” said European Union Ambassador Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas.
He said the EU remains committed to advancing culture as “a driver of sustainable development and community engagement.”
Tourism and Antiquities Minister Emad Hijazeen described the initiative as the launch of “a cultural and spiritual journey towards the global commemorations of St. John the Baptist in 2030.” He said it contributes to preserving shared heritage and strengthens Jordan’s position as a destination for Christian pilgrimage, cultural tourism and international dialogue.
The Rev. Nabeeh Abbasi, president of the Jordanian Baptist Convention, told CDI that attending the performance at Mukawir was a historic and deeply moving experience.
He said the location gave the event a profound spiritual dimension, given John the Baptist’s direct connection to the baptism of Christ in the Jordan River, as preparations continue for the 2,000th anniversary of that occasion.
Abbasi, who is also the Baptist World Alliance’s ambassador to the Middle East and North Africa region, said the performance stood out for its superb organization, high-quality execution and evocative use of visuals.
He said the work’s message — “Christ — the King of Kings and the Risen One” — made it an occasion that instilled pride and strengthened the Christian faith.
Abbasi applauded the Jordanian government for its commitment to “highlighting this authentic Christian heritage, reflecting Jordan’s mission to preserve holy sites and foster values of coexistence and openness.”
Bawab said stage fright is part of the job. “Usually when I return home, this fright is multiplied because of the pressure of having to excel in front of family members and friends, but this time it had a different taste, a mixture of joy and excitement that carried me through the performance with ease.”
She said she was happy with the event, although the biggest challenge was getting the sound right despite the outdoor winds.
“We musicians are perfectionists, and we are used to calibrated indoor settings, so sound was a challenge, but I would love to come back to Jordan, maybe Easter 2027, to do more performances possibly outdoors — but we will need to pay close attention to the sound systems in challenging outdoor settings.”
The event was supported by the European Union, the Jordan Tourism Board, Royal Jordanian, the Goethe-Institute Jordan and the Embassy of Hungary in Jordan.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Evangelical Press Association members vote on name change after spirited online meeting]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-press-association-members-vote-on-name-change-after-spirited-online-meeting</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-press-association-members-vote-on-name-change-after-spirited-online-meeting</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Evangelical Press Association, EPA]]></media:title>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2026 02:34:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Members of the Evangelical Press Association began voting Sept. 15 on a board proposal to rename the organization Christian Communicators Network, after a virtual meeting in which board members explained their reasoning and fielded questions ranging from the loss of the word "evangelical" to the process itself.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Members of the Evangelical Press Association began voting Sept. 15 on a board proposal to rename the organization Christian Communicators Network, after a virtual meeting in which board members explained their reasoning and fielded questions ranging from the loss of the word "evangelical" to the process itself.
Voting on a secure online platform will remain open for three weeks, through Oct. 7, according to information EPA sent to members. The ballot is an up-or-down vote on a single proposed name, and members may either approve or reject it.
While the proposal would change every word of the name of the association of Christian publishers, editors, writers and journalists, which has operated for more than 75 years, the shift from "Evangelical" to "Christian" has drawn the most debate. A written record of the meeting's chat, available to EPA members upon request, shows members raising both support for a change and objections to the board's choice.
Members are voting on a single board resolution: "RESOLVED, that the membership of the Evangelical Press Association approves amending the Articles of Incorporation to change the legal and public name of the organization to Christian Communicators Network."
Approval would authorize the board to update governing documents, registrations, branding, websites and programs, the board said.
Eligible voters include anyone on staff of a member publication and all individual members, EPA said. Affiliates, honorary members, contributing members and student members may not vote.
‘Our theology remains evangelical’
Board members said the recommendation followed a yearlong process that included prayer, a Vision Casting Retreat, comparative research on how the field has changed, and feedback from members. They described the proposal as rooted in mission rather than marketing.
The board said the organization's Statement of Faith, Code of Ethics, awards programs and commitment to ethical journalism would remain unchanged. "Our theology remains evangelical," the board said. "Our public identity becomes more clearly Christian."
Board members said "evangelical" increasingly carries political and cultural meanings that can obscure its theological sense, while "Christian" is understood worldwide. They argued that "Press" suggests print and traditional news media, while "Communicators" includes journalists alongside podcasters, digital editors and other professionals. "Network," the board said, better reflects the relationships and mentoring members value than "Association," which describes a legal structure.
Questions and comments, but no debate
Several participants raised concerns that the meeting allowed questions but not open debate on the motion.
One participant noted that under Robert's Rules of Order, a motion before members would normally be followed by debate for and against. "Just having questions is not discussion," the participant wrote.
Another participant objecting to the process suggested finding a time for all views to be heard before voting, even if that took hours. A third asked why members were not permitted to speak and why the wider membership had not been involved from the start.
Others defended the format. One participant wrote that open discussion with such a large group could stretch the meeting to four hours or more and suggested an online survey for comments. Another affirmed the board highlighting that they followed the bylaws.
The board also explained that it had originally hoped to present the proposal at EPA's most recent convention, but the deliberation process took longer than expected. That is why the vote is being held online.
'Evangelical' versus 'Christian'
The most sustained objections concerned the first word of the proposed name.
In a series of comments, one participant argued that dropping the term could reinforce the perception that "evangelical" is a political label. The participant wrote that organizations making such a shift often face pressure to accommodate groups that do not share historic evangelical convictions on biblical authority, marriage and sexuality, and announced plans to vote against the resolution in hope of sending the board "back to the drawing board."
Another participant asked whether the organization faced an identity problem or a communication problem. The participant questioned whether a broader name would move EPA closer to ground already covered by groups such as National Religious Broadcasters, and what would distinguish the new network from them.
Other participants asked why a term the board considers accurate for its theology should not remain in its name. One argued that "Christian" carries its own political baggage, pointing to the phrase "Christian nationalism." Another asked how the organization would respond if a member group later changed its views on sexuality and gender, noting that the matter is not addressed in the doctrinal statement.
Voices for change
Some participants spoke in favor of the proposal.
One wrote that the change would move the organization forward. Responding to a question about attracting non-evangelicals, the same participant said some Christians, such as Anglicans, could affirm the statement of faith without using the word "evangelical."
A participant representing a denominational online magazine wrote that its young adult contributors, aged 18 to 25, rarely use the term. The participant said the current name may deter potential members who hold evangelical beliefs.
Another wrote that evangelical values shape how they live out their faith but that the word itself is not necessary. A fourth urged members to trust the board they elected and cited limits on available names and website addresses as a factor.
Members have final say
Comments were not limited to the word "evangelical." Participants also offered views on the other words in the proposed name and on the name as a whole. Board members responded to questions one by one during the meeting, which lasted nearly an hour and a half.
The board thanked participants for their frank comments and questions, saying the response showed strong interest in the organization's future, and noted that the decision ultimately belongs to the membership. 
The EPA board's written rationale, the meeting presentation and the chat history and a full recording of the meeting is available to EPA members upon request.
Christian Daily International reported in August that the board had unanimously recommended the new name in an announcement posted Aug. 2. CDI is a member of the Evangelical Press Association.
Update Sept 17, 2026: Clarified that the meeting material is available to EPA members upon request.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Spaniards put more trust in news, latest study finds]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/spaniards-put-more-trust-in-news-latest-study-finds</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/spaniards-put-more-trust-in-news-latest-study-finds</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Eyte]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[reading news]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Photo by Minh Hằng / Unsplash ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2026 17:39:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Spaniards are showing greater interest in news and slightly higher levels of trust in journalism, according to the 2026 Digital News Report España, an annual study produced by researchers at the University of Navarra's School of Communication in collaboration with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Spaniards are showing greater interest in news and slightly higher levels of trust in journalism, according to the 2026 Digital News Report España, an annual study produced by researchers at the University of Navarra's School of Communication in collaboration with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.
The report is based on an online survey of 2,008 adults in Spain conducted by YouGov in late February 2026 for the international Reuters Institute Digital News Report. The University of Navarra researchers are responsible for analyzing and interpreting the data for the Spain report.
The University of Navarra described the findings as showing a general “resurgence of interest in the news,” with 54% of Spanish respondents saying they are very or extremely interested in current affairs. That is 3 percentage points higher than in 2025 and the highest level recorded in four years.
Overall trust in the news also increased by 2 percentage points, reaching 33%. When respondents were asked about the credibility of the news they personally consume, the figure rose to 42%. By comparison, 19% expressed trust in news obtained through social media or artificial intelligence chatbots, while 27% trusted search-engine results. The credibility rating for major Spanish news brands increased 3 percentage points to 45%.
“According to the researchers, although journalism is not currently enjoying a period of extraordinary trust, news organizations continue to enjoy, in comparative terms, the highest level of credibility among the public,” said the University of Navarra.
“Altogether the report offers a more positive assessment this year than in recent years,” according to the university.
“After a decade of declining interest, loss of trust, and increasing intermediation of consumption by digital platforms, 2026 shows some signs of stabilization and, in some core topic indicators, improvement.”
Interest in news increased across several age groups, particularly among people 65 and older and those ages 35-44, both of which recorded a 7-percentage-point increase. Interest also increased among people under 35. Spain rose from 16th to seventh among the 48 countries analyzed for interest in news. However, the report noted that the cumulative decline in interest since 2018 remains significant and that the age gap remains pronounced.
The report describes “a complex market marked by fragmentation and mistrust, but also by the persistence of professional journalism as reference” in the digital landscape. The report's findings indicate that professional news organizations continue to occupy a central position even as people increasingly encounter news through social media, search engines, aggregators and other digital platforms.
Young people, however, remain less engaged with traditional news media. The report found that 53% of those under 25 have low trust and low interest in news, compared with 35% of the general population. These young people also access news less frequently and rely on sources that differ significantly from those used by the general population, particularly audiovisual social media.
The report also found that influencers and content creators are playing an increasingly significant role in news consumption. Forty percent of Spaniards said they had obtained news through influencers or content creators during the previous week.
“The audience perceives creators as more approachable, understandable, and entertaining than professional media outlets,” noted the university.
“However, they clearly rank them behind journalistic media in the attributes most closely linked to news quality standards: authenticity, knowledge of the issues, reliability, and impartiality.”
Researchers interpreted the findings as showing that influencers are complementing rather than replacing professional journalism.
“Influencers attract, explain, and connect with their audiences, but rigor continues to be associated with professional journalism. In fact, when Spaniards pay for digital news, they do so almost exclusively to news organizations, not to content creators.”
The report also examined public media. Thirty-five percent of respondents said public media had a positive impact in Spain, compared with 28% who viewed the impact negatively.
“Spain thus ranks in the middle of the European standings, far from the countries most critical of their public broadcasting,” noted the university.
“Citizens acknowledge its contribution to universal access to relevant news, reliable information, and democratic pluralism, although they also express serious criticism of political interference.”
Meanwhile, 74% of respondents said they were concerned about distinguishing between true and false news online, 5 percentage points higher than in 2025 and the highest level recorded in the series. Researchers said the finding underscored the continuing importance of professional journalism.
“In an environment saturated with noise, where citizens fear they cannot distinguish truth from falsehood and where most access to information is determined by algorithms, news brands are the ones the public continues to identify as the most reliable, the most chosen when payment is required, and the ones that best embody the attributes associated with quality information.”]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[FEBC breaks ground on Phnom Penh ministry center after Cambodia broadcast expansion]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/febc-breaks-ground-on-phnom-penh-ministry-center-after-cambodia-broadcast-expansion</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/febc-breaks-ground-on-phnom-penh-ministry-center-after-cambodia-broadcast-expansion</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[A groundbreaking ceremony in Phnom Penh marks the start of construction on a new FEBC ministry center for Voice of Love Cambodia, which will house radio, podcast and video production studios.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ FEBC ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ A groundbreaking ceremony in Phnom Penh marks the start of construction on a new FEBC ministry center for Voice of Love Cambodia, which will house radio, podcast and video production studios. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2026 14:37:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Far East Broadcasting Company has begun construction on a ministry center in the Cambodian capital that will house studios for radio, podcast and video production, the broadcaster said in an announcement on Sept. 1.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Far East Broadcasting Company has begun construction on a ministry center in the Cambodian capital that will house studios for radio, podcast and video production, the broadcaster said in an announcement on Sept. 1.
Staff, ministry partners and board members gathered at the site for a groundbreaking and prayer ceremony, FEBC said. The building will serve Voice of Love, the organization's Cambodian ministry, and construction is expected to take roughly 12 to 15 months.
The project follows a broadcast expansion completed last year. A new tower and transmitter that entered service in mid-2025 gave FEBC the potential to reach about 80% of Cambodia's population by radio, the organization said. The center is intended to build on that reach by adding production capacity for streaming, digital audio and video, and by providing space to meet listeners in person.
"This is about much more than constructing a building," said Ed Cannon, president and CEO of FEBC USA. "Radio remains an extraordinarily important part of how we reach people, but today we also have opportunities through streaming, social media, podcasts, video and personal relationships that our founders could never have imagined."
Plans for the facility include expanded production space for both traditional broadcasting and audio and video podcasts. The ground floor is to include meeting rooms where FEBC can receive listeners, run conferences and training sessions, and make space available to partner organizations.
FEBC described the meeting space as central to how it wants to work in Cambodia — connecting listeners with local believers and churches and creating occasions for people to respond in person, rather than relying on broadcast alone.
"Our desire is to be close to the listener," said Samphal Makara, national ministry director for FEBC Cambodia. "With the new tower, we can reach more people across Cambodia. With this new Ministry Center, we will have the space and technology to serve those listeners in new ways."
The organization said the project was financed by donors, with Northwestern Media providing engineering and technical consultation along with financial support. Scott Jones of Northwestern Media said in the announcement that the combination of engineering work and technology would help the Cambodian team "reach and serve more people for generations to come." No construction cost was disclosed.
Construction is taking place during FEBC's 80th anniversary year. The organization was founded in 1946 and now distributes programming through terrestrial radio, digital audio, streaming, social media and video. Comparable expansion projects are in discussion or design stages in other countries where FEBC operates, according to the broadcaster, which did not name them.
"The technology will continue to change," Cannon said. "There will undoubtedly be ways of communicating 10 or 20 years from now that we cannot even imagine today. We want to build facilities and equip our national teams so they are ready to use those platforms when they arrive."]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Bible societies mark Bible Month with festivals, exhibitions and two anniversaries]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/bible-societies-mark-bible-month-with-festivals-exhibitions-and-two-anniversaries</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/bible-societies-mark-bible-month-with-festivals-exhibitions-and-two-anniversaries</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Diario Cristiano]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[The Biblia del Oso is a great legacy of faith for Spanish-speaking Christians. Reinas version was the first translation of the complete Bible into Spanish to use the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts as its textual basis.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Christian Daily International / Lizzie Sotola ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ The Biblia del Oso is a great legacy of faith for Spanish-speaking Christians. Reina's version was the first translation of the complete Bible into Spanish to use the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts as its textual basis. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2026 13:02:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Bible societies in Argentina, Spain, Peru and the Dominican Republic are marking Bible Month this September with conferences, exhibitions, festivals and anniversary celebrations.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Bible societies in Argentina, Spain, Peru and the Dominican Republic are marking Bible Month this September with conferences, exhibitions, festivals and anniversary celebrations.
Each society has a program running through the month. Two are also marking milestones of their own: 190 years of work in Spain and 75 years in the Dominican Republic.
September was chosen for two reasons. The first complete Bible in Spanish was printed in September 1569. And Sept. 30 commemorates Jerome of Stridon, who translated the Bible into Latin.
In Argentina, the Argentine Bible Society (Sociedad Bíblica Argentina) will hold MDB Conf '26 on Sept. 19 in Quilmes, Buenos Aires. The event will bring together young people, families, leaders and pastors, with biblical teaching, music, worship, an exhibition of Bibles and study materials. More information.
In Spain, the Bible Society (Sociedad Bíblica) will celebrate 190 years of work. Every Monday in September it will offer an online seminar on Bible translations, the Biblia del Oso and the history of Casiodoro de Reina. It will also visit churches in Valladolid, hold a conference and a public reading in Segovia, and present the exhibition "Bible and Culture" in Guadix. Full program.
In Peru, the Peruvian Bible Society (Sociedad Bíblica Peruana) will take part in ExpoBiblia and the Christian Book Fair, held Sept. 11-27 in Lima. The fair will feature Bibles, books, Christian resources and a Bible Museum. A Children's Bible Festival and a Youth Festival are set for Sept. 12, and a United Service for Bible Day for Sept. 30. Schedule in Lima.
In the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic Bible Society (Sociedad Bíblica Dominicana) will celebrate its 75th anniversary under the motto "The Word of God: light for the Dominican Republic." The program includes services, Bible workshops, activities for children, music, webinars and celebrations in the churches, along with a banquet to mark the anniversary. Program of activities.
The 1569 translation was produced by Casiodoro de Reina and is known as the Biblia del Oso ("Bear Bible"). Cipriano de Valera later revised the text, producing the Reina-Valera version.
Original reporting by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Austrian state broadcaster makes Graz pop-music worship service available online]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/austrian-state-broadcaster-makes-graz-pop-music-worship-service-available-online</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/austrian-state-broadcaster-makes-graz-pop-music-worship-service-available-online</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Worshippers clap during the Aug. 23 Schlager service at the Christuskirche in Graz, Austria, broadcast live by ORF III.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Screenshot from ORF broadcast ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Worshippers clap during the Aug. 23 Schlager service at the Christuskirche in Graz, Austria, broadcast live by ORF III. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:40:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[A Protestant worship service built around German-language pop songs, held Aug. 23 at the Christuskirche in Graz, Austria, can now be watched online through the media library of Austrian public broadcaster ORF, the congregation said.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
A Protestant worship service built around German-language pop songs, held Aug. 23 at the Christuskirche in Graz, Austria, can now be watched online through the media library of Austrian public broadcaster ORF, the congregation said.
The service was the third in the church's series of Schlager services and the first to be carried live on national television and radio. In a notice published on the parish website on Aug. 26, Stefan Raubal wrote that the recording would remain available in the ORF media library for the coming weeks. ORF III and Radio Steiermark broadcast the event, according to the parish announcement.
Pastor Friedrich Eckhardt and his team led the service under the motto "Hier ist ein Mensch," or "Here is a human being." The parish said the music consisted of Schlager standards from the 1960s through the 1980s, performed by singer Helmut Hussler, who has provided live music at earlier services in the series. Schlager is a genre of melodic, often sentimental German-language popular music with a long following in Austria and Germany.
Christian Daily International reported in July that the Aug. 23 service was structured around the Gospel of John's account of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, and that the song list included "You Lied to Me a Thousand Times," "You Are Not Alone" and "The Sun Rises Again and Again."
The congregation has described the format as an attempt to reach people outside regular church attendance. "We want an open door for everyone, including those who have not felt addressed by traditional worship services until now," Eckhardt said, as reported by the German Christian news site Jesus.de.
An account of the second Schlager service, held in Graz in May during the week of the Eurovision Song Contest, was published by Jesus.de on Aug. 14. Writer Rüdiger Jope reported that the church was full, with some participants travelling more than 50 kilometres (31 miles) after hearing a short-notice announcement on Radio Steiermark, and that the program drew on Eurovision songs alongside the apostle Paul's image of one body with many members.
Eckhardt told Jesus.de that he saw no reason to restrict the range of music used in church. "Church music ranges from Bach to Schlager," he said. "Why should we limit ourselves? God is bigger than our pigeonholes."
The recording of the Aug. 23 service is available at religion.orf.at.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Meta reaches multibillion-dollar settlement over claims it harmed children online]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/meta-reaches-multibillion-dollar-settlement-over-claims-it-harmed-children-online</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/meta-reaches-multibillion-dollar-settlement-over-claims-it-harmed-children-online</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Meta sign in front of its headquarters in Menlo Park, California]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Justin Sullivan/Getty Images ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ 'Meta' sign in front of its headquarters in Menlo Park, California. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2026 11:34:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Meta Platforms has agreed to pay billions of dollars and overhaul core features of Facebook and Instagram to settle claims from dozens of U.S. states that the company designed its platforms to be addictive to children.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Meta Platforms has agreed to pay billions of dollars and overhaul core features of Facebook and Instagram to settle claims from dozens of U.S. states that the company designed its platforms to be addictive to children.
The agreement, announced Wednesday and reported by Reuters, The New York Times, and others, ends one of the most closely watched legal tests yet of allegations that social media companies contributed to a youth mental health crisis. Meta denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement, the news outlets reported.
Reuters reported a maximum payout of $16.68 billion tied to claims from 29 states, plus a separate $459.3 million to resolve privacy lawsuits linked to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The New York Times put the figure at up to $17.1 billion, covering 47 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, with an initial payment of about $12 billion and a further $5 billion contingent on rival platforms Snap, TikTok and YouTube also reaching settlements.
Product changes target child use
At the center of the case were product features that lawyers for the states argued kept children scrolling and engaged for hours, often at the expense of sleep and mental health.
Under the settlement, Meta will impose daily time limits on Instagram and Facebook use by teenagers and restrict access overnight. Notifications will be silenced during school hours and late at night, and the company has agreed to interrupt features that encourage endless scrolling.
Meta also agreed to limit tools that researchers have linked to negative social comparison among young users, including beauty filters and visible counts of "likes" on posts. The company committed to stronger age verification systems and expanded parental controls, both outlets reported.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement carried by The New York Times that the case was aimed at protecting children by curbing nighttime alerts, encouraging breaks from the platforms and limiting harmful features. He said the settlement went further than what courts might otherwise have ordered.
C.J. Mahoney, Meta's chief legal officer, wrote in a company blog post that Meta wanted teenagers to have "a safe and productive experience" on its platforms and called on competitors to adopt similar standards, saying an industrywide approach was needed because teenagers use many apps at once.
Broader legal exposure remains
The settlement halts a federal trial in Oakland, California, where four states had sought penalties they estimated at close to $200 billion, and separately ends a trial in Nashville, Tennessee, brought by that state's attorney general.
Meta still faces thousands of other lawsuits from school districts, individual families and additional states over similar claims, some scheduled for trial in the coming months. Snap, YouTube-owner Alphabet and TikTok-owner ByteDance also remain defendants in related litigation alleging their platforms were designed to foster compulsive use among minors.
Earlier this year, a New Mexico jury and judge separately ordered Meta to pay more than $940 million combined after finding the company misled consumers about platform safety and created a public nuisance, according to Reuters. In a separate case, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google liable for a young plaintiff's depression and anxiety, ordering the companies to pay $6 million. Meta has said it will appeal that verdict.
Governments outside the United States have also moved to restrict children's social media use. Australia last year became the first country to bar children under 16 from social media platforms, and Denmark, France, Germany and several other nations have adopted or are weighing similar measures.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Dolly Parton dies at 80: 'In the arms of Jesus']]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/dolly-parton-dies-at-80-in-the-arms-of-jesus</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/dolly-parton-dies-at-80-in-the-arms-of-jesus</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Dolly Parton]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Wikimedia Commons ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Dolly Parton at the Grand Ole Opry in 2005. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:18:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Dolly Parton, the country singer and songwriter who carried the hymns of a small Tennessee mountain church into a career that ended with No. 1 hits on Christian radio, died Tuesday (Aug. 25) in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Dolly Parton, the country singer and songwriter who carried the hymns of a small Tennessee mountain church into a career that ended with No. 1 hits on Christian radio, died Tuesday (Aug. 25) in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80.
Her family announced the death in a video posted to Parton's official channels, saying she died peacefully. The announcement described a "rhinestone life" and a legacy of "love, compassion, and resilience" built over a seven-decade career. 
Parton was known internationally for "Jolene," "9 to 5" and the Dollywood theme park in the Smoky Mountains. Alongside that work she recorded steadily with contemporary Christian artists in her final years, including the Grammy-winning duet "There Was Jesus" with Zach Williams and a version of "God Only Knows" with the Australian duo for KING & COUNTRY.
The family's announcement was delivered by Parton's nephew Bryan Seaver, who served as her head of security for more than two decades and said she had asked him years earlier to record it.
"Our sadness lies with us, not with Dolly," Seaver said. "Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens."
Parton was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Carl Thomas Dean, who died in 2025, and by her parents, Robert Lee Parton Sr. and Avie Lee Owens Parton.
Church beginnings
Parton was born Jan. 19, 1946, one of 12 children in a farming family in East Tennessee. Her maternal grandfather, Jake Owens, was a preacher, and Parton has said she began singing in church at age 6 and playing guitar not long after.
In an interview with Country Woman magazine reported by The Christian Post, Parton connected her early religious upbringing to the ambition that followed. "We grew up believing that through God all things are possible," she said. "I think I believed that so much that I made it happen."
Speaking to the same publication about the pressures of a long career, Parton said her convictions had held her steady. "It's all kept me sane. It's kept me stable," she said. "A belief in God is essential." She added that her family kept her grounded, saying she knew both what it was like to be without and what it was like to have things.
Faith surfaced throughout her catalog rather than only at its edges. Her first gospel record, "The Golden Streets of Glory," was released in 1971, followed decades later by "For God and Country" in 2003 and, in 2024, the sprawling family project "Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith and Fables," recorded with relatives.
Work with Christian artists
Parton's collaborations with contemporary Christian musicians began in 2019, when for KING & COUNTRY invited her to record a new version of "God Only Knows." Joel Smallbone, one half of the duo, has said the group approached her after seeing her Netflix film "Dumplin'."
"When I first heard 'God Only Knows' I thought it was one of the best songs I'd ever heard," Parton said in remarks published on her website. Smallbone described hearing her sing the chorus as "an out of body experience for us as writers and artists." The recording spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Christian Songs chart and won song of the year at the K-LOVE Fan Awards.
Her duet with Williams on "There Was Jesus" reached No. 1 across Christian radio charts and won the Grammy for best contemporary Christian music performance/song in 2021 — Parton's 11th Grammy. Accepting the award, she said: "Thank you Jesus, thank you Zach Williams, and thank you to the Grammys and all of our fans."
Parton said she took the song partly because she wanted material of that kind at that point in her life, calling it "a Godsend." The two recorded together again on "Lookin' For You," released in 2024 on the extended edition of Williams' album "A Hundred Highways."
Final years
Parton's last two years were shaped by grief and illness. Dean died in March 2025 after nearly six decades of marriage. In a June 2025 television interview, Parton said her faith had carried her through the loss.
"My faith has helped me through it all because I am a person of faith, even though I lost him on this earthly plane," she said, adding that she found comfort "knowing that he's in God's arms now."
She postponed a planned Las Vegas residency in September 2025, citing health challenges, and told fans in a social media post the following month, "I ain't dead yet!" Speaking at Dollywood in March 2026, she said she had been "worn down and worn out, grieving over Carl," and had needed to rebuild herself "spiritually, emotionally and physically."
The Christian Post has previously reported Parton's insistence that her success could not be separated from her religious convictions.
In lieu of flowers, her family asked that donations be made to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, the childhood literacy program she founded in 1995 in memory of her father, which mails free books to children in several countries.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Museum of the Bible to host 'Dawn of Christianity' exhibit on Jordan's biblical heritage]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/museum-of-the-bible-to-host-dawn-of-christianity-exhibit-on-jordan-s-biblical-heritage</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/museum-of-the-bible-to-host-dawn-of-christianity-exhibit-on-jordan-s-biblical-heritage</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Daoud Kuttab]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Al-Maghtas, the UNESCO World Heritage Site on the East Bank of the Jordan River traditionally identified as the baptism site of Jesus Christ, is among the Christian heritage sites featured in Jordan: Dawn of Christianity, coming to the Museum of the Bib]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Jordanian Embassy ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Al-Maghtas, the UNESCO World Heritage Site on the East Bank of the Jordan River traditionally identified as the baptism site of Jesus Christ, is among the Christian heritage sites featured in "Jordan: Dawn of Christianity," coming to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., in 2027. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2026 08:50:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., signed an Aug. 1 agreement with Jordan's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to host "Jordan: Dawn of Christianity," an international exhibit tracing key biblical sites in modern-day Jordan.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., signed an Aug. 1 agreement with Jordan's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to host "Jordan: Dawn of Christianity," an international exhibit tracing key biblical sites in modern-day Jordan. Ambassador Dina Kawar signed on behalf of the ministry, alongside museum President and CEO Dr. Carlos Campo.
"We are excited to share the importance of locations in Jordan and their ties to stories from the Bible," Campo said in an exclusive interview with Christian Daily International. He added that the museum expects the exhibit to encourage visitors to view Jordan as "a country full of history and deep significance."
The exhibit, which was previously shown at the Vatican and later in Assisi, Italy, features a collection of rare archaeological artifacts tracing the history of Christianity in Jordan from its earliest beginnings to the present day, according to an announcement by the Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Washington D.C. on social media.
Sites represented include Bethany Beyond the Jordan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site identified as the baptism site of Jesus Christ; Machaerus, associated with John the Baptist; Umm Qais; the ancient churches of Rehab; the Aqaba Church, regarded as one of the world's earliest purpose-built churches; the churches of Petra; Um er-Rasas, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site; and Madaba, known for its mosaic heritage.
Among the items featured will be a replica of the Madaba Map, a historic pilgrimage guide used to direct travelers along routes associated with biblical events. "This pilgrimage map served as a roadmap for walking the path of those individuals who are in the Bible," Campo said. He noted the exhibit is intended to inspire visitors to see the original map at St. George's Church in Madaba and explore other locations it highlights.
In addition to displaying artifacts, it will offer educational programming centered on Jordanian history and the care of Christian pilgrimage sites.
Beyond the exhibit itself, the museum framed the project as a broader effort to strengthen cultural and historical cooperation. "We see this as more than just a partnership with Jordan," Campo said. "We see it as an opportunity for our countries to work together and highlight the deep, rich archaeological history that supports the Bible."
The exhibit also aligns with Jordan's preparations for the global commemoration of the 2,000th anniversary of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, a milestone that is expected to draw international attention to Bethany Beyond the Jordan, also known as Al-Maghtas.
Campo said the museum will highlight John the Baptist's role in Jesus' early ministry, including the site of Machaerus, where John the Baptist was killed. "This archaeological site is one of the best-preserved sites directly connected to the Bible anywhere," he said.
Media access is expected to be available, with the museum saying members of the press are always welcome to visit its exhibitions. Campo also indicated that U.S. officials may show interest in attending, describing the partnership as "an important connection between our two countries."
The exhibit is expected to open during the first quarter of 2027. Campo said visitors should plan to attend from that period through the summer.
The museum anticipates large public engagement, estimating tens of thousands of visitors will come to learn — many for the first time — about how Jordan has helped preserve significant biblical sites.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Keith Getty says Christians must ‘sing the Bible’ in the age of AI ahead of Sing! Conference]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/keith-getty-says-christians-must-sing-the-bible-in-the-age-of-ai-ahead-of-sing-conference</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/keith-getty-says-christians-must-sing-the-bible-in-the-age-of-ai-ahead-of-sing-conference</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[The Christian Post]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Keith Getty says Christians must ‘sing the Bible’ in the age of AI ahead of Sing! Conference]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Gareth Russell/Jersey Road PR ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ The Getty's live at Sing! 2019 ]]>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Keith Getty says Christians must ‘sing the Bible’ in the age of AI ahead of Sing! Conference]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Wikimedia Commons ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ A 19th century portrait of William Tyndale (c.1490-1536), a Protestant theologian best known for his work to translate the Bible into English. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:05:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Ten years after Keith and Kristyn Getty launched what was intended to be a one-time event celebrating a book about congregational singing, the Sing! Conference has grown into an international gathering of pastors, theologians, musicians and believers focused on strengthening the singing life of the Church.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Ten years after Keith and Kristyn Getty launched what was intended to be a one-time event celebrating a book about congregational singing, the Sing! Conference has grown into an international gathering of pastors, theologians, musicians and believers focused on strengthening the singing life of the Church.
This year, the conference will return to Nashville on Sept. 7–9 with the theme “Symphony of Scripture,” marking the 500th anniversary of William Tyndale’s English New Testament and examining the influence of the Bible on worship, theology, language, culture and the arts.
For Keith Getty, the Grammy-nominated hymn writer behind worship classics including “In Christ Alone,” “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death” and "The Lord Is My Salvation," the focus reflects what he says has always been at the heart of the Sing! movement: helping Christians sing the truth of the Scriptures.
“There are many goals with the Sing! Conference: congregational singing, to improve high artistry, but I think at the heart of it is helping people sing the Bible,” the Irish artist told The Christian Post.
Getty, who shares four daughters with his wife, said the timing of the anniversary was particularly meaningful because the first Sing! Conference was deliberately postponed until 2017 so it could coincide with the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
Now, its 10th gathering falls 500 years after Tyndale’s English New Testament helped make Scripture accessible to ordinary English-speaking Christians. The conference will also coincide with the 25th anniversary of the English Standard Version Bible. 
According to Getty, this year’s conference will highlight not only how Scripture has shaped Christianity but also how singing biblical truth has shaped American life and the global Church.
The event, held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, will feature speakers alongside large-scale hymn sings, theological discussions, instructional sessions and orchestral performances. Crossway is also launching its “Symphony of Scripture” project, Getty said, and a full symphony orchestra will accompany the opening day's programming before the Getty band takes a larger role beginning on the second day.
“We’re excited about all the potential this has to touch people, to bring the Bible to people in a fresh way and to a wider audience. It's a really amazing missional opportunity,” he said. 
Music and poetry are embedded throughout Scripture itself, Getty contended, and have historically functioned as a way of teaching and preserving biblical truth.
“Scripture itself is about 20 percent poems and songs,” Getty said. “The Bible is more biased towards songs and poetry than any Christian book written since. … Singing is exhilarating. It's a holy privilege. It is doxological worship to our God and Heavenly Father. But it's never less than instructional.”
What Christians sing, Getty said, helps shape what they believe and remember. He pointed to Martin Luther’s vision for the Reformation: Scripture should be opened in the language of ordinary people, pastors should faithfully explain it, and believers should carry biblical truths through song.
Luther, who Getty said is his “hero,” envisioned Scripture being opened “in the language of the people" so ordinary Christians could read the Bible while pastors explained and applied its truths. But Luther's vision didn't stop at biblical literacy, he said.
“People would carry the Bible out of church by being able to sing the Bible in their own tongue,” Getty said. “In other words, he thought the singing of the Bible had more to do with Monday to Saturday than the preaching or the reading of the Bible.”
For that reason, the hymn writer said strengthening congregational singing is “hugely important to our Christian health.”
He also sees that mission increasingly extending beyond the Western Church. The songwriter noted that much of Christianity's growth is now occurring outside the English-speaking West, often in places without centuries-old traditions of hymnody. Part of Sing!'s mission, he said, is to “be a supporter” and “help stimulate” the singing life of churches around the world.
“The goal is, number one, to really reform it in the Western Church, and then to go out and be a supporter and someone who could help stimulate and contribute to the singing life of the Church around the world,” he said.
And that emphasis on theology and the power of worship is reflected in the speakers selected for this year's conference, among them John Piper, John Lennox, Wes Huff, Sinclair Ferguson, Malcolm Guite and Os Guinness, among others. 
“We take a theme each year and we share the platform with many people who we believe are wiser and more holy than we are,” he said. “The Sing Conference every year is, to some degree, what Kristyn and I have been learning in the last year, what we've been doing, what we've been writing, what we've been sharing.”

 Unlike previous years, Piper won’t deliver expository Bible teaching at the conference, but will instead tell the story of Tyndale and the extraordinary personal cost of his determination to give English-speaking Christians access to Scripture.
“I think a lot of how grace is taught today is just way too casual. It's way too easy,” Getty said, adding that for Tyndale, faithfulness meant being “turned down 100 times” and ultimately being killed for his work. “I think Piper has a great way of telling that."
Huff, a Canadian Christian apologist who has gained a significant following, will focus on the credibility of Scripture. Getty said Huff is “appealing to a new generation” that churches and Christian conferences have not always successfully reached.
Meanwhile, Guite, an Anglican priest, poet and longtime Cambridge educator, will examine Tyndale's influence on the English language and subsequent literature, while Guinness will address Christianity's engagement with culture. Ferguson, a prolific author and speaker, will focus on theology and worship.
Read: 5 highlights from John Lennox on 'Diary of a CEO': AI, transhumanism and Christ
The conference will also address a decidedly 21st-century issue: artificial intelligence. Getty revealed that Huff and Oxford mathematician and Christian apologist John Lennox will participate in what he described as a first-of-its-kind conversation between the two on “biblical intelligence versus artificial intelligence and the future.”
“As we enter the AI age, both the confusing disparity of what people have known to be true in the past and what is the new reality that they're going to discover in the next one to 10 years will be so dislocating,” Getty said. “With the internet ... rose depression, and then social media rose anxiety. And I think what AI is going to do for loneliness and just the lack of any sense of friendship is so crazy.”
The response, according to Getty, shouldn't be fear, but be to root Christians more deeply in eternal truths and in the physical community of the Church.
“I think all the more important that we sing of Heaven, that we think of Heaven, that our trust is [in] eternal things. Ultimately ... our hope has to be in Heaven,” he said, adding that throughout Christian history, movements of renewal have consistently produced new songs.
“All great movements result in doxology,” Getty said. “They result in people singing because, as the hymn writer says, how can we keep from singing? We just can't. That's how we're made.”
“The world was sung into being," he added. "Heaven is a picture of God's people singing, and we want to help equip the Church to engage more fully in worship.”
Learn more about the Sing! Conference here.
Originally published by The Christian Post.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[UN warns children are 'guinea pigs' for unregulated AI as online risks mount]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/un-warns-children-are-guinea-pigs-for-unregulated-ai-as-online-risks-mount</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/un-warns-children-are-guinea-pigs-for-unregulated-ai-as-online-risks-mount</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Imaginary Friend]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Pheniti/Adobe Stock ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ The United Nations is urging a fundamental shift: the burden of protecting children online must fall on the platforms generating harm, not on children, parents or caregivers. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 07:55:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The United Nations is calling on governments, technology companies and advertisers to act on what it describes as a pressing and consequential policy challenge — the safety, rights and digital future of the world's most connected generation.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The United Nations is calling on governments, technology companies and advertisers to act on what it describes as a pressing and consequential policy challenge — the safety, rights and digital future of the world's most connected generation.
The United Nations is calling for urgent, coordinated action to protect children and young people from escalating dangers in digital information spaces, warning that business models built on capturing attention and harvesting personal data are shaping the online experiences of a generation with little recourse against harm.
A new UN report released ahead of International Youth Day on Aug. 12 found that disinformation, algorithmic manipulation, targeted advertising, online harassment and opaque AI systems now pose serious and compounding threats to children's safety, development and rights. The brief, published Aug. 10 by the UN Department of Global Communications, is the third in a series examining how to strengthen integrity across global information environments.
"No child should be a guinea pig for unregulated AI," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. "When a child is harmed, the answer must never be 'the algorithm did it.'"
More than 80% of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are now online worldwide, the brief reported. In lower-income countries, young people are nearly twice as likely to use the internet as the broader population — even as significant digital divides persist within and across regions. In higher-income countries, children's relationship with digital platforms often begins in early childhood and deepens through adolescence.
Children and youth now engage with digital technologies across nearly every dimension of daily life: education, social connection, economic opportunity, entertainment and civic participation. Yet the platforms shaping those experiences were not designed with child welfare at the center.
Built for revenue, not for children
Technology companies have constructed their platforms around what researchers call the "attention economy" — business models that depend on maximizing the time users spend online and the data that can be extracted from their behavior, habits and emotional states. This model funds hyper-personalized advertising that can be tailored in real time to individual vulnerabilities and insecurities, the UN report said.
Children's still-forming cognitive and emotional capacities make them particularly susceptible to design features engineered to exploit psychological weaknesses. Algorithmic systems can trap young users in escalating content loops, exposing them to increasingly extreme material — including content related to self-harm, suicide, pornography, extremism and violence. Gaming and social media environments use deceptive interface designs, intermittent reward mechanics similar to slot machines, and "fear of missing out" tactics to drive compulsive engagement and spending.
Children also struggle to tell the difference between organic content and paid advertising, a gap that commercial interests are structured to exploit. Some technology companies have begun placing advertisements within AI-generated results and summaries, deepening an already wide literacy deficit.
"Protecting them and including them are not competing goals. We have to do both," said Charlotte Scaddan, UN Senior Adviser on Information Integrity.
The brief argues that framing these problems as a matter of parental oversight or individual screen time misses the structural forces driving harm. Digital systems are now so deeply woven into commercial, educational and social life that opting out is neither feasible nor realistic for most families. The burden, it says, must rest on the platforms generating the harm and the regulatory systems needed to govern them — not on children, parents or caregivers.
A global wave of regulation — with gaps
Governments around the world are moving to fill what the UN describes as critical policy gaps. Australia sparked international regulatory momentum in 2024 by requiring social media platforms to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts. The European Union is weighing a comparable measure across its 27 member states, while Indonesia and Malaysia have enacted similar laws. The United Kingdom plans to introduce age restrictions in early 2027.
Brazil's Digital Statute of the Child and Adolescent, enacted in September 2025, stands as one of the most comprehensive approaches to date. It prohibits behavioral advertising targeting minors, bans the use of children's personal data in ways that violate their rights and mandates the highest default privacy settings for users under 18 — while also requiring age verification mechanisms.
A UNICEF analysis across six jurisdictions — Australia, the European Union, India, Kazakhstan, South Africa and the United Kingdom — identified a cluster of common business obligations present in at least half the frameworks reviewed, including safety-by-design requirements, impact assessments, complaints procedures and transparency reporting. The African Union adopted a Child Online Safety and Empowerment Policy in 2024, though the UN brief notes that its effect depends heavily on the capacity and political will of individual member states.
Despite the breadth of this regulatory momentum, the brief warns that existing frameworks were not designed to address what is coming. AI technologies are introducing risks — synthetic content, AI-facilitated exploitation and opaque algorithmic systems shaping children's information environments — that current rules cannot adequately reach. The UN and children's rights experts have warned against a "wait-and-see" approach to AI governance, arguing that legislative frameworks should incorporate children's rights from the outset, before this window of opportunity closes.
Coalition puts children's rights at the center of AI governance
One month before the brief's publication, UN News reported on the launch in Geneva of the Coalition for Children's Rights and Protection in the Age of Artificial Intelligence — a new international body whose founding members committed to ensuring that children are treated not merely as technology users to be protected after the fact, but as rights holders whose perspectives shape how AI systems are designed in the first place.
Seventeen countries signed on at launch: Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and Spain. UN founding members include the Department of Global Communications, the UN human rights office, the International Telecommunication Union, the Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, UNICEF and UNESCO.
The coalition is anchored in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the world's most widely ratified human rights treaty. Its formation followed Secretary-General Guterres's call for an AI Child Safety Pledge at the Global Dialogue on AI Governance in July, and a landmark G7 agreement among digital and technology ministers on common principles for safer digital spaces for children.
Youth as actors — and targets
The UN brief presents young people as active participants in public life — creators, advocates, organizers and civic leaders — whose capacities the information ecosystem should be designed to support rather than exploit.
Youth-led movements have demonstrated the power of digital platforms to mobilize rapidly and across borders, using shared cultural symbols to build transnational solidarity around issues from government corruption to climate change and human rights. These movements have, in some cases, outpaced governments' own messaging capabilities.
Yet the same environments enabling that civic energy also expose young activists to serious risks. Women and girls who enter the public sphere — as journalists, human rights defenders, politicians or activists — are disproportionately targeted by technology-facilitated violence, the brief said. Youth protesters have faced online harassment, state and non-state surveillance, disinformation campaigns designed to discredit their movements, internet shutdowns and the exploitation of algorithmic amplification by actors seeking to polarize and destabilize.
The brief also identifies a structural problem of representation. Despite the scale and sophistication of youth-led movements worldwide, young people's perspectives remain underrepresented in the policy forums where decisions about information integrity are made and contested. Closing this gap, the brief argues, is both a rights obligation and a practical requirement for building effective, durable solutions.
What the UN is calling for
The UN's recommendations are organized around five core principles drawn from its Global Principles for Information Integrity, launched by Guterres in June 2024.
On trust and resilience, the brief calls for states to require safety-by-design from technology companies and hold platforms accountable for outcomes rather than intentions alone. Age-appropriate design, it says, must be embedded in product architecture from the start — with the highest available privacy and safety settings as the default for younger users, not something they must navigate menus to find.
On advertising, the brief calls on advertisers to stop targeting minors with behavioral advertising and to ensure commercial messaging is clearly distinguishable from organic content. It points to Brazil's law and the EU's Digital Services Act as models, while calling for industry coalitions to establish shared norms around what constitutes manipulative or exploitative practice when directed at young audiences.
On public empowerment, the brief calls for digital and media literacy to be integrated into formal education from an early age, with content and methods tailored to children's developmental stage. It also calls for accessible, child-friendly mechanisms for reporting harm and seeking redress — including mental health referrals — available in local languages and designed with direct input from young people themselves. Accountability measures must ensure that platforms and other actors can be held responsible when their products cause measurable harm.
On independent media, the brief identifies the decline of local journalism and the spread of "news deserts" as a compounding problem for children's access to reliable, relevant information about their communities. AI companies are exacerbating that decline, it notes, through aggressive data scraping and zero-click summaries that bypass direct access to news websites. Young people are also increasingly media producers in their own right — through social media, podcasting and other platforms — and the brief argues that the same press freedom protections extended to professional journalists should apply to children and youth engaged in civic and journalistic expression online.
On transparency, the brief identifies a significant systemic barrier: technology companies hold vast quantities of data on how their platforms affect users, but that data is largely inaccessible to independent researchers. Without it, neither policymakers, educators, parents nor children themselves have the evidence needed to make informed decisions. The brief calls for data-sharing arrangements that protect user privacy while enabling rigorous independent scrutiny — with particular urgency around the AI systems now mediating so much of what children encounter online.
The brief also flags a geographic blind spot in the existing evidence base. Most research on children and digital environments has been conducted in North American and European contexts, despite the fact that most of the world's children and young people live in the global South. It calls for sustained investment in research capacity in underrepresented regions, alongside genuine partnerships with institutions and young people there.
Physical spaces as a necessary counterweight
A different kind of recommendation also included is an emphasis on physical environments. Community centers, libraries, youth clubs and other shared spaces outside the home and school — sometimes called "third spaces" — are essential foundations for information integrity, the UN report said. These are places where young people encounter different perspectives, practice civic engagement and develop the habits of mind that digital platforms alone cannot build.
The brief calls on states to work with all stakeholders to support the conditions for children and youth to have dynamic, varied lives beyond digital platforms — treating this not as a cultural preference but as a structural necessity for building resilient, informed and participatory societies.
Young people are not only among the populations most affected by the failures of the global information ecosystem, but also among the most motivated and capable of helping to fix it, the brief argued. The question, it says, is whether institutions — governments, technology companies, civil society, media organizations and the UN itself — are willing to bring them in as genuine partners rather than treating their protection as the whole of the problem.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Michael W. Smith warns worship must not become ‘celebrity driven,' says he's seeing revival among Gen Z]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/michael-w-smith-warns-worship-must-not-become-celebrity-driven-says-he-s-seeing-revival-among-gen-z</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/michael-w-smith-warns-worship-must-not-become-celebrity-driven-says-he-s-seeing-revival-among-gen-z</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[The Christian Post]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Michael W. Smith warns worship must not become ‘celebrity driven, says hes seeing revival among Gen Z]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Courtesy of Michael W. Smith ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Michael W. Smith ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2026 10:07:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[After more than four decades of standing on stages, with crowds singing his songs by heart, Michael W. Smith is convinced that one of the greatest dangers for a worship leader can be the very thing that signals success: attention and celebrity. ]]></description>
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After more than four decades of standing on stages, with crowds singing his songs by heart, Michael W. Smith is convinced that one of the greatest dangers for a worship leader can be the very thing that signals success: attention and celebrity. 
The 68-year-old Christian music veteran has sold more than 15 million albums, written or recorded more than 36 No. 1 songs and collected four Grammy Awards and more than 45 Dove Awards over a career that helped define contemporary Christian music. His songs, from the crossover hit “Place in This World” to “Friends” and worship anthem “Agnus Dei,” are beloved by generations of Christians.
But these days, Smith said, he's concerned about what happens when the person leading worship becomes more visible than the God being worshiped.
“I just think we have to be careful that this thing is not celebrity-driven,” Smith told The Christian Post. “We can all say, ‘Well, oh, we’re doing it all for Him.’ But you watch social media, and it’s just a little me-focused.”
Perhaps, he added, modern worship has also “lost the reverence.”
Emphasizing he’s not “throwing anyone in particular under the bus,” Smith clarified his warnings come from someone who knows firsthand how easily accolades can distort even the most sincere of intentions.
“The Lord doesn’t share His glory with anybody,” Smith recalled his friend and fellow worship leader Michael Olson telling him several years ago. “Those words sort of took my breath away.”
“It was convicting, honestly, and he was right,” Smith said. “As we’re leading worship, we’re not supposed to be a celebrity. We’re supposed to kind of disappear, honestly, and our goal is to change the atmosphere and allow God to meet people. That’s our job.”
Smith approached “House of Worship,” a new cinematic event arriving in more than 400 theaters nationwide beginning Aug. 23, with that same mindset. Presented by The Fuel Music and Ori Music in association with K-LOVE and Air1, the film gathers 25 prominent Christian artists and songwriters to revisit the songs that helped shape modern Evangelical worship.
Smith and Australian worship pioneer Darlene Zschech serve as executive producers, with a roster that includes CeCe Winans, Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Naomi Raine, Matt Redman, Israel Houghton, Paul Baloche, Brian and Jenn Johnson, Charity Gayle, Hillary Scott and others.
Recorded in the round at World Wide Stages in Spring Hill, Tennessee, the project pairs artists across generations. Winans joins Zschech for “Shout to the Lord,” Redman and Scott perform “The Heart of Worship,” Tim Hughes and Carnes revisit “Here I Am to Worship,” while Smith and Elevation Worship’s Chris Brown perform “Agnus Dei.”
“There was just such a unity in the room for two days,” Smith said of the atmosphere as the artists worshipped together. “All the songs, they never really stuck to the template of what we were doing. They all kind of took on a life of their own.”
“Nobody kind of came and sang and left,” he said. “Everybody just stayed. … It was just an emotional two days for me. I’m glad I was a part of it. … It was all I could do to fight the tears.”
Songs like “The Heart of Worship,” “Shout to the Lord,” “Come Now Is the Time to Worship” and others featured in the film have endured for decades because they have “stood the test of time,” he said.
“I think a lot of these young worship leaders and people who worship today, they don’t know a lot of those songs,” Smith said. “And I think they need to.”
Smith still sings “The Heart of Worship,” one of his favorite worship songs, and said he expects to sing “Breathe” for the rest of his life.
“I just hope this next generation can find themselves sort of going back and listening to some of those songs,” he said, “because they probably need to be back in the set list, at least from time to time, in churches around the world.”
Since beginning his recording career in the early 1980s, Smith’s catalog now includes more than three dozen No. 1 songs, and his albums A Million Lights and Surrounded became his 30th and 31st Top 10 entries on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart, more than any other solo artist at the time. 
He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and a 2019 tribute at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena brought together artists including Amy Grant, Vince Gill, CeCe Winans, Wynonna, Randy Travis and others to celebrate his career.
His influence has also extended beyond Christian radio. Smith performed “Friends” at the funeral services of evangelist Billy Graham and former President George H.W. Bush, and founded Rocketown, a Nashville-based youth organization.
But despite his success, the artist said time, and a deeper walk with the Lord, have given him a different relationship with acclaim over the years.
“I really don’t care what people think of me,” he said. “You just want to lead with humility. You’ve got to have a great spirit.”
“My intent was always right,” Smith said, reflecting on his early years in the music industry. “But you get distracted. You get distracted by the attention, and everybody’s applauding, and you sometimes just kind of lose your way.”
Smith traces a turning point to the recording of Worship, the landmark live album released Sept. 11, 2001. The project, which included “Agnus Dei,” “Above All,” “Breathe” and Rich Mullins’ “Awesome God,” became the bestselling album of Smith’s career. He recalled leaving the stage after the recording in Lakeland, Florida, and finding the artists backstage overwhelmed by what had occurred.
“We all just wept,” Smith recalled. “We were just weeping backstage because we felt like something shifted in the atmosphere.”
The artist said he wondered then whether what they had experienced in the room could translate to a recording, “and it did.”
Today, before Smith steps onto a stage to lead worship, he prays three prayers: that God would be pleased with what he says, does and sings, that he would be “clothed in humility,” and that his motivations would remain pure.
Despite his warnings, Smith said he sees much to celebrate in contemporary worship; young songwriters, he said, are giving their generation language with which to express faith.
“There’s this real move of God, and I love that,” he said. “You’re watching young kids worship and cry. It’s overwhelming. It’s beautiful to watch.”
Smith said the spiritual hunger he’s seeing among young people reminds him of another period that changed his life: the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, which impacted even his hometown of Kenova, West Virginia.
“I probably have not seen anything like this since the ’70s,” he said. “I was there for the Jesus Movement. It swept into my little town of Kenova, West Virginia, when I was a teenager, and it changed my life. … I’m having this interview with you because of the Jesus Movement.”
Smith recently attended a concert by Forrest Frank, whose hits like “Lemonade” and “Your Way’s Better” have attracted a large Gen Z following. Smith said he was struck by watching young fans sing every word while Frank openly proclaimed his Christian faith.
“To see Forrest up there sharing the Gospel, and he’s not ashamed, it just was awesome,” Smith said, adding that artists like Frank are “young Joshuas” who are “stirring it up.”
“I believe we are at least seeing the beginnings of it,” he said of revival. “We might be in the middle of it, but I think it’s going to get much bigger.”
For Smith, House of Worship offered another glimpse of what can happen when generations of Christians unite and see themselves as a family. During filming, Smith said younger worship leaders repeatedly thanked veteran artists for paving the way, while older artists responded by encouraging them to continue what they were doing.
“It was a family,” Smith said. “There was just a lot of love in the room. You see these artists who are … deep into it on every song. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.”
With “House of Worship,” Smith said he hopes audiences leave with hope — from Christians who are exhausted or grieving to those who have never heard the Gospel.
“I hope somebody sees it who doesn’t know the Lord and that they’re just convicted and they give their hearts to Jesus,” Smith said. “That would just be amazing.”
“Just turn on the film, turn on the record, and just sing the songs,” he added. “Regardless of how you feel, just sing the songs. … These songs are full of hope. I think these songs will provide that opportunity and get people through hard times.”
And after more than four decades of recording, touring and watching Christian music transform around him, Smith said he’s “grateful for the journey,” adding: “It’s been awesome.”
“I think my best days are ahead.”
"House of Worship" hits theaters Aug. 23.
Originally published by The Christian Post.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Jordan’s PM to supervise preparation of Baptismal Millennium sites; four projects totaling $120 million signed]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/jordans-pm-to-supervise-preparation-of-baptismal-millennium-sites-four-projects-totaling-120-million-signed</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/jordans-pm-to-supervise-preparation-of-baptismal-millennium-sites-four-projects-totaling-120-million-signed</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Daoud Kuttab]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Jordanian officials sign four project agreements totaling $120 million for development of lands surrounding the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ (Al-Maghtas), Aug. 12, 2026.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Jordanian officials sign four project agreements totaling $120 million for development of lands surrounding the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ (Al-Maghtas), Aug. 12, 2026. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 06:49:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The Jordanian government has taken a significant step to intensify preparations for the second millennium celebration of the Baptism of Jesus Christ at the Baptism Site, the government announced Aug. 11.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The Jordanian government has taken a significant step to intensify preparations for the second millennium celebration of the Baptism of Jesus Christ at the Baptism Site, the government announced Aug. 11.
The steering committee will be chaired by Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, who will also chair the high-level national committee alongside senior cabinet ministers, church leaders, tourism-related officials, private-sector professionals, and Christian civil society.
Plans for the site on the east bank of the Jordan are expected to include developing land adjacent to the Baptism Site into an authentic, biblical-style village for Christian pilgrims and visitors, a museum of the Baptism of Jesus Christ, a green corridor, and the development of the site's infrastructure.
Senator Michael Nazzal, chairman of the Tourism Committee in the Senate, told Christian Daily International that the prime minister's decision elevates official interest and encourages all Jordanian state institutions to participate in ensuring the success of this historic event.
Four agreements were signed Aug. 12. During the signing of agreements for the implementation of key projects within the National Project for the Development of the Lands Surrounding the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ (Al-Maghtas), Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Imad Hijazin commented, "We view these agreements as more than just cooperation documents; they represent a shared commitment, a national responsibility, and a strategic partnership that contributes to the success of this national project, strengthens Jordan's presence on the international stage, and highlights its unique cultural and human heritage."
The agreements include implementing a package of projects totaling approximately $120 million on land adjacent to the Baptism Site, covering an area of 1,400 dunams (140 hectares or 346 acres). This includes the design of the Baptism Site Museum at a cost of $50 million, designs for a comprehensive pilgrim and visitor village at a cost of approximately $40 million, infrastructure work at a cost of $27 million, and the construction of a green corridor at an estimated cost of $3 million.
Tharwat Al-Masalha, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Baptism Site Development Corporation, told CDI that these projects aim to create a global event befitting the site's spiritual and historical significance and Jordan's humanitarian mission. He added, "Today, we are taking an important executive step by signing a number of agreements related to the project."
Al-Masalha said that funding for the village has been secured from Abu Dhabi, while the Church of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) has agreed to cover 50% of the cost of the Baptism Museum.
The Baptism Site Museum project will be built on a 5,500-square-meter site (1.36 acres). The project also includes establishing an integrated village for pilgrims and visitors, enhancing the experience of visiting the Baptism Site. The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature will be responsible for designing the green corridor.
According to the project timeline, preliminary work for the museum and the integrated village for pilgrims and visitors will begin at the end of the first quarter of 2027, with main construction work commencing at the end of the second quarter of the same year. The projects are expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2029.
Biblical references of the Baptismal site
Senator Nazzal framed the milestone not as a regional affair but a global one, describing it as a celebration of a central event in Christianity "which is the 2,000-year celebration of the baptism of Jesus Christ."
Nazzal referred to the Bible, stating that John the Baptist was based in "Bethany beyond the Jordan." He said that while people may have access to the river, the site itself and the river's course have changed over centuries. "The Israelis have access to the river, but the site itself and the river were not there 2,000 years ago."
"The riverbeds change locations," he explained, adding that the Jordan River passed differently during the period when Christianity's early churches were built. "And it passed actually on the Jordanian side… in front of one of the old churches in the site itself." An exhibition, Jordan, the Dawn of Christianity, is due to open at the Bible Museum in Washington, D.C., in the spring of 2027.
The Jordanian tourism expert and member of the Senate said that the continued construction of churches on the Jordanian side strengthens the case. "Confirmed by the Vatican, by the Greek Orthodox Church, and by all other churches that have built new churches on the site itself. So yes, the baptism site is on the Jordanian side of the river."
Senator Nazzal described the reality of early Christian persecution and exclusion. "2,000 years ago, Jesus was not welcome on the west side of the river or in Jerusalem. And that's why all the old churches and all the antiquities that relate to Christianity started in Jordan and not in Palestine."
Hope for increased tourism, especially from the US
While Jordanian tourism has been severely hurt by the war in Iran, Nazzal sounded optimistic about the return of American pilgrims and tourists. He called the United States market "lucrative," noting that marketing Jordanian Christian sites must be made to a broad Christian audience.
"Marketing the baptismal site and Christianity and the Dawn of Christianity to all denominations is of utmost importance." He described Jordanian air service as enabling growth, noting that Royal Jordanian flies to multiple U.S. destinations. "Royal Jordanian now is flying to five destinations in the U.S., and we hope to add more destinations, specifically LA and Florida."
In a portion of the interview framed as an address to church pastors in America, Nazzal emphasized Jordan's openness and historic role in early Christianity. He recalled historical ties to the United States via air travel and framed early visitors as Christian pilgrims. "Our first tourists that came were Baptists and were Southerners and were people that came to visit the holy sites."
And Nazzal repeated his argument that "Christianity started on the east bank of the Jordan River."]]></content:encoded>
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