Emanuel Sarfraz, a senior journalist and general secretary of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Lahore Chapter, passed away in Lahore on Jan. 13 following cardiac failure. He was 56 years old. A well-respected figure in Pakistan’s media industry, Sarfraz had over three decades of experience with prominent national and international media organizations.
A well known Swahili proverbs observes, "when elephants fight, the grass suffers". It is a direct analogy to the human condition when our leaders enter into geopolitical conflict and the ordinary people suffer the most. It can seem overwhelming but here are some basic things followers of Jesus can do to help minimize the damage.
The political positioning of new regimes is matching an ideology that has been forming for some time—Dark Enlightenment. We are watching a new world order emerge that will cause great suffering. As the performance of Bach's St Matthew's Passion unfolded, it resonated deeply with the times we find ourselves in.
Among many other things, Easter is an opportunity to reflect on Jesus' relationship to political power. Modern readers of the Gospels and Epistles too easily miss the political significance of Jesus' death and resurrection. Far from leaning into and leveraging political and imperial power, Jesus and his followers are called to righteously and justly subvert it for God's glory alone.
We are being tempted afresh to give our allegiance to men who wield great power and wealth in the hope that we will benefit from their rule over us. This is a temptation as old as humanity. The true follower of Christ should give no allegiance to anyone but Jesus.
The National Assembly Prayer Breakfast of Korea held its 2025 New Year Service on Jan. 8 in the second conference room of the National Assembly Members’ Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul. Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties gathered to pray for the nation and parliament, including Yoon Sang-Hyun, chair of the ruling party’s prayer breakfast group, and Song Ki-Heon, chair of the opposition group.
Three leading Baptist care providers in Australia—Baptcare, Baptist Care SA, and BaptistCare—have announced their merger into a single, yet-to-be-named organization, making it one of the largest care associations in the country. The merger, publicly unveiled in November 2024, is set to be completed by March 2025.
Last November, The Spectator, a secular British news magazine, published an article titled “The Rise of Christian Cinema,” recognizing a “new wave of biblical movies catering to the Netflix generation – and audiences are flocking to them.” The article highlighted the success of productions like The Chosen, a historical drama series that quenches the faith-thirst of online audiences seeking representations of their Christian beliefs on screen.
MonitorLatino, the renowned platform that tracks radio airplay and ranks the most popular songs in the Latino music industry, has unveiled its much-anticipated annual Top 100 list.
Fans of legendary British rocker Sir Cliff Richard - known for his appearance at Billy Graham rallies after his conversion experience - have been warned about imposters pretending to be the world famous pop star as he plans to visit Oceania later this year, 2025.
Sudan’s national football team remarkably qualified for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) despite an on-going civil war that has engulfed the country for nearly two years. The team’s head coach, Ghanaian Kwesi Appiah, gave “glory to God” for the qualification amidst a devastating civil war and stiff competition from other teams.
The Sahel continued as the region where most terrorist violence occurred in 2024, with Burkina Faso again the country with the most killings while Niger shot from 10th to fifth worst in the world, according to the 2025 Global Terrorism Index (GTI).
