CHRISTIAN FAITH IN THE NEWS — WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 2, 2026
Here are this week's Christian Faith in the News updates, highlighting key stories impacting faith, freedom, and culture.
FLORIDA
BREAKING: FLORIDA GOVERNOR AND CABINET FORMALLY DESIGNATE CAIR, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, AND ANTIFA AS DOMESTIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS UNDER FLORIDA LAW. UTHMEIER: "TODAY FLORIDA DREW A LINE ON TERRORISM." ACLU ANNOUNCES LEGAL CHALLENGE.
Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet voted Tuesday September 29 to formally designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Muslim Brotherhood, Antifa, and more than 90 other organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations under Florida law. The vote was unanimous. The designations were authorized under HB 1471, signed by DeSantis in March 2026, which empowers the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to label organizations as terrorist groups based on specific criteria. Uthmeier stated: "Today, Florida drew a line on terrorism. With the Governor and Florida Cabinet, we voted to protect your tax dollars from funding terrorist activity by designating Antifa, the Muslim Brotherhood, and CAIR as terrorist organizations under Florida law. CAIR's leaders sat with Hamas operatives in 1993 to discuss deception, camouflage and a front organization. The free state of Florida will not launder terrorism through our schools." The ACLU announced a legal challenge. DeSantis previously designated CAIR via executive order in December 2025. A federal judge temporarily blocked that order. CAIR sued again following Tuesday's vote.
Why It Matters: Florida's Governor and Cabinet just formally designated as terrorist organizations the same CAIR that backed the Massachusetts Muslim Commission to recommend Muslims for government positions, whose Oklahoma executive director trained pastors at Faithful America's Pride events funded by George Soros, and whose documented connections to Hamas operatives were cited by AG Uthmeier at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. The legal challenge is coming. But the documented facts Uthmeier cited are the reason Florida's voters elected this Cabinet. The free state of Florida drew a line.
FLORIDA COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION ISSUES FORMAL ULTIMATUM TO ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS: REMOVE PORNOGRAPHIC CONTENT FROM SCHOOL LIBRARIES OR FACE ENFORCEMENT INCLUDING LOSS OF FUNDING. AG UTHMEIER: "WE WILL ENSURE THOSE RESPONSIBLE LOSE THEIR JOBS."
Florida Commissioner of Education Henry Mack issued a formal memorandum September 23 to every school district superintendent and charter school leader in the state demanding removal of sexually explicit and pornographic content from school libraries before parents are forced to discover it and read it aloud at public board meetings. The memorandum names specific books found in Hillsborough County school libraries whose passages parents read aloud as examples of content that does not meet Florida's legal standard, including Call Me by Your Name, Jack of Hearts, Beyond Magenta, A Court of Wings and Ruin, The Bluest Eye, Kingdom of the Feared, Kingdom of the Wicked, Kingdom of the Cursed, and 1Q84. Enforcement authority includes withholding state funds. AG Uthmeier stated his office is prepared to provide legal support and will ensure those responsible lose their jobs.
Why It Matters: Commissioner Mack called it what it is: administrative neglect. Parents should not have to find pornographic content in their children's school library, read it aloud at a board meeting, and wait for the district to respond. Florida is telling every superintendent that pattern ends now.
"Train up a child in the way he should go." — Proverbs 22:6
VICTORY: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FORMALLY RESCINDS BIDEN'S ILLEGAL TITLE IX REWRITE AND REINSTATES 2020 REGULATIONS. TITLE IX PROTECTIONS NOW BASED ON BIOLOGICAL SEX. McMAHON: "BOYS AND MEN ARE IN BOYS AND MEN'S SPORTS. GIRLS ARE IN THEIRS."
The U.S. Department of Education announced September 28 that it is formally rescinding the Biden administration's April 2024 Title IX rule from the Code of Federal Regulations and reinstating the 2020 Title IX regulations. Title IX is the 52-year-old federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs receiving federal funding. The Biden administration's 2024 rule had rewritten Title IX to cover gender identity and sexual orientation, allowing males to use female bathrooms and locker rooms based on gender identity. Two federal courts had already struck down the Biden rule as unlawful. Today's formal rescission removes the Biden rule entirely. Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated: "We're just acknowledging that boys and men are in boys and men's sports and girls are in theirs. Title IX was set up to give everyone, including women, equal opportunity to sports. It is in law, it exists, it's a statute, and it should be obeyed." Schools that defy the Title IX stance can face tighter funding controls, DOJ referrals, and investigations.
Why It Matters: The Biden administration spent four years rewriting a 52-year-old civil rights law designed to protect women and girls. Two federal courts said it was unlawful. Today the Department of Education made it official: the Biden rewrite is gone. Title IX protects women and girls based on biological sex. That is what Congress wrote in 1972.
"So God created man in his own image; male and female he created them." — Genesis 1:27
SECRETARY HEGSETH ESTABLISHES OFFICE OF RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS AT THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR REPORTING DIRECTLY TO THE SECRETARY. NO BUREAUCRATIC FILTERS. "OUR CHAPLAINS WILL FINALLY HAVE AN ADVOCATE AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS."
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday September 30 the establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs at the Department of War, effective immediately, reporting directly to the Secretary of War with no staff filters and no bureaucratic intermediaries. Hegseth stated: "Starting today, and for Secretaries of War after me, the Office of Religious Affairs will report straight to the top. No staff filters. No bureaucratic dilution. A direct line to the Secretary. This won't be a policy shop pushing paper. It will have real teeth. It will protect budgets, demand infrastructure, and strengthen religious support. The experts, our chaplains, will finally have an advocate at the highest levels." In March 2026 Hegseth announced chaplains would replace rank insignia with religious insignia and streamlined military faith codes from more than 200 to 31 usable categories. 82% of service members identify as religious.
Why It Matters: For the first time in documented history America's military chaplains have a direct line to the Secretary of War with no bureaucratic filters. 82% of service members identify as religious. Their chaplains now have a direct advocate at the highest level of the Department of War.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." — Matthew 5:9
DOJ INTERVENES IN EU CASE AGAINST X AND ELON MUSK TO CHALLENGE 120 MILLION EURO FINE. FIRST CASE CHALLENGING DIGITAL SERVICES ACT TO REACH EU'S GENERAL COURT. ADF SUPPORTING X'S LEGAL TEAM.
The United States Department of Justice filed an application September 24 to intervene before the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union in support of X Corp. and Elon Musk's challenge to a December 2025 European Commission decision imposing a 120 million euro fine calculated against the total worldwide annual turnover of the single economic unit ultimately controlled by Elon Musk. The Digital Services Act, or DSA, is European Union legislation regulating online platforms and content. The DOJ raises two concerns: jurisdictional overreach in extending liability to companies not present or operating within EU jurisdiction, and corporate veil violation in extending scrutiny to Musk personally and to entirely separate unrelated American corporate entities under his ownership. ADF attorneys from both the United States and Europe are supporting X's legal team. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate stated: "We will not tolerate the European Commission engaging in regulatory overreach to try and control American engines of innovation and economic growth."
Why It Matters: The European Union's Digital Services Act is the most significant attempt by a foreign government to regulate American speech online. The DOJ has now formally intervened to say foreign governments do not have the authority to regulate American speech, reach American individuals, or pierce the corporate veil of American companies. ADF is in the courtroom alongside X's legal team.
"Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants." — Leviticus 25:10
ADF SUES VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY FOR STRIPPING ALL CHRISTIAN STUDENT GROUPS OF RECOGNIZED STATUS WHILE EXPLICITLY EXEMPTING THE MUSLIM STUDENT ASSOCIATION. CAMPUS MINISTER WHEN ASKED WHY: "BECAUSE YOU PURPORT JESUS CHRIST AND FAITH."
Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit September 24 on behalf of Women of Victory and Bethel Campus Fellowship against Virginia State University. VSU's Campus Ministries office adopted a new policy in August 2026 stripping all Christian student organizations of their registered status, severing their affiliation with their national organizations, and placing them under the sole authority of Campus Minister Thomas Wynn. Wynn has complete discretion to approve or reject all Christian religious meetings, events, and guest speakers. The Muslim Students Association and the VSU Community Faith Alliance are explicitly exempted from the policy by name. When student leaders asked Wynn why the policy restricts only Christian groups he replied: "Because you are all faith-based… because you purport Jesus Christ and faith." Wynn also eliminated Sunday shuttle transportation to a local church because "the school wants to crack down on transportation to outside churches." The policy has been used to prohibit Christian students from gathering even for a pajama party in a residence hall.
Why It Matters: A Virginia public university placed every Christian student group under government control while explicitly exempting every other faith group. The campus minister admitted on the record it is because they follow Jesus Christ. That statement is now in a federal complaint. ADF has won this case before at other universities.
CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR NEWSOM VETOES BILL THAT WOULD HAVE BLOCKED EXTRADITION OF ABORTION AND GENDER TRANSITION PROVIDERS. DEMOCRATIC SUPERMAJORITY PASSED IT 57-14 AND 30-10. NEWSOM CITES EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY. 2028 PRESIDENTIAL BACKDROP.
California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 2164, which would have required the governor to refuse extradition requests from states seeking to prosecute abortion and gender transition providers. The Democratic supermajority passed it 57-14 in the Assembly and 30-10 in the Senate. Newsom's stated reason was preservation of executive authority. Newsom is widely seen as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, currently polling at 14% in the Democratic primary. Pro-abortion groups condemned the veto.
Why It Matters: California's supermajority passed a bill permanently restricting the governor's extradition authority. Newsom vetoed it citing his own executive authority as an outgoing governor. The political reality is that Newsom is positioning for 2028 and does not want to limit his future executive flexibility. Watch who the next governor of California is.
FEDERALLY FUNDED ST. LOUIS NONPROFIT RECEIVING $33.3 MILLION IN GOVERNMENT GRANTS OFFERS AFGHAN FAMILIES THREE MONTHS FREE RENT, SECURITY DEPOSITS, MONTHLY GIFT CARDS, AND $20,000 BUSINESS GRANTS TO RELOCATE. AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURS CANNOT APPLY.
The International Institute of St. Louis is actively recruiting Afghan families from other states to relocate to St. Louis through its Afghan Support Program, offering three months rent assistance, security deposits, monthly gift cards until food stamps begin, bus passes, and $20,000 business grants. The grants are limited exclusively to Afghans who arrived in the United States after August 2021. American citizens and other St. Louis residents cannot apply. The Institute reported $33.3 million in government grants in 2024. Its strategic plan explicitly states a goal of reversing St. Louis's decades-long population decline through increased immigrant resettlement and calls for the organization to play a role in shaping the public discourse around immigration while insulating the agency from political and economic circumstances.
Why It Matters: A federally funded nonprofit is using taxpayer dollars to offer a documented benefits package exclusively to Afghan families to reshape a city's demographic future by its own stated language, while American citizens and local entrepreneurs cannot apply for the same business grants funded by the same taxpayer dollars. The equal treatment principle applies here as it applies in the Dearborn lawsuit.
"You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God." — Leviticus 24:22
ACLJ SUING CHICAGO FOR ARRESTING CHRISTIAN STREET PREACHERS NEAR MILLENNIUM PARK FOR SHARING THE GOSPEL. FEDERAL COURT REJECTED CHICAGO'S MOTION TO DISMISS. CITY STONEWALLING DISCOVERY. CRIMINAL TRIAL MOVING FORWARD.
The American Center for Law and Justice is representing three young Christian street preachers, Brett Raio, Perez Ndi, and Reetik Dhamala, in a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Chicago after police arrested them for peacefully sharing the Gospel on public sidewalks near Millennium Park. Raio's criminal charges were dismissed after ACLJ presented video evidence proving his innocence. Chicago police returned to the same location the next day and arrested Dhamala and Ndi. The federal court rejected Chicago's motion to dismiss. Chicago then missed discovery deadlines and inserted untimely objections. ACLJ filed a motion to compel. The criminal trial for Dhamala and Ndi is moving forward. ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow confirmed the case is headed to federal trial.
Why It Matters: Three young men stood on a public sidewalk and told people about Jesus. Chicago police handcuffed them. Charges against the first preacher were dismissed. Chicago arrested two more the next day. When ACLJ sued, Chicago tried to have the case thrown out. The court said no. When ACLJ asked for evidence, Chicago stonewalled. The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that religious speakers have the right to preach on public sidewalks. The federal trial will test whether Chicago agrees.
UNITED STATES — PARENTAL RIGHTS AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
VICTORY: PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL DISTRICT RESCINDS POLICY THAT FORCED TEACHERS TO HIDE STUDENTS' GENDER TRANSITIONS FROM PARENTS AND MAINTAINED A SECRET DATABASE TRACKING WHICH PARENTS KNEW. ADF AND INDEPENDENCE LAW CENTER.
The Chester County Intermediate Unit in Pennsylvania has agreed to rescind Policy 103.2, which required school staff to withhold knowledge of students' gender transitions from parents and maintained a database tracking which parents had been informed. Staff who told the truth faced disciplinary action. ADF and the Independence Law Center sent a demand letter in May on behalf of a client connected to Brandywine Virtual Academy. The district rescinded the policy. ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer stated: "Children across the country have suffered for too long because of the lies of gender ideology. Schools must cease participating in this dangerous experimentation on kids and respect the right of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and healthcare of their children."
Why It Matters: A Pennsylvania district maintained a secret database tracking which parents knew about their children's gender transitions at school. Staff were required to hide that information. Any staff member who told the truth faced disciplinary action. ADF and the Independence Law Center sent a letter. The district rescinded the policy. The database is gone. Parents win.
"Train up a child in the way he should go." — Proverbs 22:6
THREE CALIFORNIA FAMILIES ASK SUPREME COURT TO STRIKE DOWN STATE BAN ON USING CHARTER SCHOOL FUNDS FOR RELIGIOUS CURRICULUM. LIBERTY JUSTICE CENTER: "THE FIRST AMENDMENT DOES NOT PERMIT THE GOVERNMENT TO OPEN AN EDUCATION BENEFIT TO EVERYONE EXCEPT FAMILIES WHO WANT TO PRACTICE THEIR RELIGIOUS FAITH."
Three California families have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review Woolard v. Thurmond, challenging California's prohibition on using charter school homeschool funds for faith-based curriculum even when those materials meet state educational standards. California allows families to use the same funds for secular curriculum. The Ninth Circuit upheld the California policy. The Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus brief arguing the Ninth Circuit's ruling conflicts with Supreme Court precedent in Carson v. Makin and Espinoza v. Montana, which protect religious individuals from discrimination in generally available government benefit programs. Liberty Justice Center counsel Katie Cosgrove noted the policy disproportionately harms low-income families who cannot afford to purchase religious curriculum outside the program.
Why It Matters: California opens a homeschool curriculum fund to everyone and then closes the door specifically to faith-based materials meeting identical educational standards. The Supreme Court has already ruled states cannot exclude religious schools from tuition assistance programs. Three California families are asking whether that same principle applies to curriculum. Watch for the cert decision.
"Train up a child in the way he should go." — Proverbs 22:6
NEW YORK AMISH COMMUNITIES RETURN TO SUPREME COURT AFTER STATE REFUSES RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS FROM SCHOOL VACCINE MANDATE. FIRST LIBERTY: "IF THE AMISH DO NOT WIN THIS CASE, THEY COULD BE FORCED TO LEAVE NEW YORK."
New York's Amish communities have returned to the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. New York seeking review of New York's elimination of religious exemptions from school vaccination requirements. New York granted religious vaccine exemptions for more than 50 years before revoking them in 2019 after legislators called religious objections fake, garbage, and selfish and misguided. New York then imposed catastrophic fines on Amish schools attended exclusively by Amish children on Amish land funded by the Amish. The Amish lost at the Second Circuit a second time after the Supreme Court ordered reconsideration in light of Mahmoud v. Taylor. They have returned to the Supreme Court. The Amish hold a sincere religious conviction that vaccines require placing faith in medicine rather than God. New York permits medical exemptions and does not require teachers or staff to be vaccinated, only students. Forty-five other states allow religious vaccine exemptions. First Liberty Senior Counsel Becky Dummermuth stated: "If the Amish do not win this case, they could be forced to leave the state of New York. They've lived in New York for nearly 200 years."
Why It Matters: The Supreme Court said in 1972 that forced migration of a religious minority was an evil at the heart of the religion clauses. New York is asking the Amish to migrate. The Supreme Court is being asked whether that is still an evil.
WAKE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL DISTRICT IGNORES THOMAS MORE SOCIETY'S SEPTEMBER 30 DEADLINE TO ALLOW OPT-OUTS FROM TRANSGENDER TEACHER'S REQUIRED ELEMENTARY MUSIC CLASS. DISTRICT SAID "NOTHING TO ADD." LAWSUIT NOW IMMINENT.
Thomas More Society gave Wake County Public Schools until September 30 to provide written assurances allowing religious parents to opt their children out of a required music class taught by a biological male who identifies as a transgender woman at Middle Creek Elementary School in Apex, and to protect students from discipline for using the teacher's biological pronouns. The deadline expired with no district response. Wake County's spokesperson said the district has nothing to add. Thomas More Society stated the district has a choice to work with these families in good faith or leave them no choice but to take this to court. The case cites the Supreme Court's 2025 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor and North Carolina's own Parents' Bill of Rights, which prohibits instruction on gender identity before fifth grade. Additional documented details: religious parents were called bigots at a school board meeting, another speaker urged their children be expelled, one family was doxxed online, and received a profane text from an individual connected to the district.
Why It Matters: Wake County was given 15 days to work with these families in good faith. They were called bigots. One family was doxxed. The district's response to the deadline: nothing to add. The federal lawsuit that follows will be the first direct test of how far Mahmoud v. Taylor extends into parental rights over teacher assignment.
"Train up a child in the way he should go." — Proverbs 22:6
NYC EPISCOPAL PRIESTESS GOES VIRAL FOR CLAIMING JESUS IS TRANSGENDER AND MARY "GOT IT WRONG." 7 MILLION VIEWS. ERIC METAXAS: "HERETICAL AND VAPID."
A March 2026 sermon by Rev. Flourish Klink, a self-identified nonbinary and transgender Episcopal priestess, went viral after a clip surfaced on X with more than 7 million views. Delivered at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine during an official Episcopal Diocese of New York service, the sermon claimed God is nonbinary and transgender, that Mary assigned Jesus a male gender based on what she observed at birth, and that Jesus's resurrection represented a transition into his true transgender self. X users immediately attached a Community Note citing Luke 1:30-31, in which the Angel Gabriel told Mary before Jesus's birth that she would give birth to a son named Jesus. Mary did not assign a gender. She received one from God through Gabriel. Eric Metaxas stated: "The Episcopal Church leadership that made her a priest is, of course, heretical and vapid." Klink was ordained in 2024.
Why It Matters: An ordained Episcopal priestess preached from the pulpit of one of the most historic cathedrals in America that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a gender transition. The angel told Mary her son would be named Jesus. The Episcopal Church's own ordained clergy is now preaching the angel was mistaken and the resurrection corrected the error.
"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching." — 2 Timothy 4:3
CS LEWIS'S FAMILY IS "VERY UPSET" THAT NETFLIX CAST MERYL STREEP AS ASLAN IN THE NARNIA ADAPTATION. FAMILY REPORTEDLY TRYING TO REGAIN CONTROL OF THE CS LEWIS COMPANY. "CS LEWIS WOULD BE TURNING OVER IN HIS GRAVE."
Netflix confirmed director Greta Gerwig has cast Meryl Streep as the voice of Aslan in the upcoming film Narnia: The Magician's Nephew. Aslan is a male lion who functions throughout C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia as an explicit Christ figure. Lewis himself confirmed in his personal correspondence that Aslan represents what Christ might be like if he entered a world like Narnia. Movieguide founder Dr. Ted Baehr, who has close ties to the Lewis family through Lewis's stepson Douglas Gresham, stated this week that the family is very upset and worried that it is going to destroy the brand. Baehr stated Lewis would be turning over in his grave. Family members are reportedly attempting to regain control of The C.S. Lewis Company, which manages the literary and media rights to Lewis's works. The Lewis family has not publicly confirmed Baehr's account.
Why It Matters: A man once wrote to Movieguide after seeing the 1979 animated Narnia: My wife has been nagging me for years about accepting Jesus, but it wasn't until I saw Aslan on the stone table and the resurrection that I understood who Jesus is. That is what is at stake. Not whether Meryl Streep can voice a compelling lion. Whether the Christ figure C.S. Lewis created will be recognizable as what Lewis intended.
"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching." — 2 Timothy 4:3
RESURFACED 2019 SERMON: TALARICO PREACHES THAT JESUS IS ONE OF MANY "PROPHETIC VOICES" ALONGSIDE BUDDHA, MUHAMMAD, THE DALAI LAMA, MR. ROGERS, TONI MORRISON, AND THE PARKLAND STUDENTS. "CHRISTIANITY, LIKE ALL RELIGIONS, IS TRYING TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN." TALARICO LEADS PAXTON BY 2.9 POINTS.
A 2019 sermon James Talarico delivered from the pulpit of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin Texas is circulating ahead of the November 3 Texas Senate election. In the sermon Talarico placed Jesus on equal footing with Buddha, Muhammad, Moses, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Rogers, Toni Morrison, and the Parkland student gun control activists, grouping all of them as prophetic voices. He stated: Christianity, like all religions, is trying to help us understand what it means to be human. He identified Jesus as the prophetic voice in my own life while placing him in the same category as the founders of Islam and Buddhism. He also preached: The clearest anti-Trump we have is Jesus of Nazareth. The RealClearPolitics average shows Talarico leading Paxton 47.6% to 44.7%, a 2.9-point lead.
Why It Matters: James Talarico is running for the United States Senate from Texas on his Christian faith and his preparation for Presbyterian ordination. Five weeks of documented theological record have now produced: a minister wishing a presidential assassination had succeeded, a minister confirming his trans pivot is an election strategy he will reverse after November 3, a minister admitting the church harbors an illegal alien and is not a belief-based church, a pastor who denies the literal resurrection, and now Talarico himself preaching that Jesus is one prophetic voice among many including Buddha, Muhammad, and the Parkland students. The Apostle Peter said there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Talarico listed eleven other names. Texas voters choose November 3.
"Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." — John 14:6
GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS. FORMER AMERICAN IDOL CONTESTANT AND CHURCH WORSHIP LEADER CALEB FLYNN CONVICTED OF MURDERING HIS WIFE ASHLEY. FACE TURNED PALE AND HE BEGAN TO SOB AS VERDICT WAS READ. SENTENCING OCTOBER 5.
A Miami County Ohio jury found Caleb Flynn, 40, guilty on all counts Tuesday September 29 in the murder of his wife Ashley Flynn, 37, shot twice in the back of the head in their Tipp City Ohio home on February 16, 2026 while their two daughters slept in the house. Flynn, a former American Idol contestant and church worship leader, had claimed an intruder broke into the home. Investigators said Flynn staged the entire crime scene. Prosecutors presented more than 100,000 text messages Flynn sent to his mistress Alleigha Botner including one stating he had been awake until 4 a.m. thinking of ways to kill her and not going to jail and another stating I want her dead and gone. No murder weapon was recovered. Flynn's face turned pale and he began to sob as the verdict was read. Sentencing is October 5.
Why It Matters: Caleb Flynn led worship in a church. He sent 100,000 text messages to his mistress including one stating he had been thinking of ways to kill his wife. He shot her twice in the head while their daughters slept. He called 911 and claimed an intruder had done it. The jury heard six weeks of evidence and found him guilty on all counts. Ashley Flynn deserved better. Her daughters deserved better. Justice was served September 29.
"For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light." — Luke 8:17
GOOD NEWS: HARRIS POLL FINDS GEN Z IS THE MOST RELIGIOUS GENERATION IN AMERICA. 33% IDENTIFY AS RELIGIOUS. 88% ACTIVELY PRACTICING SPIRITUALITY. BARNA: GEN Z MOST LIKELY TO BELIEVE REVIVAL IS COMING.
A new Harris Poll report titled The Gen Z and Religion Report finds that Generation Z adults are the most likely of any generation to identify as religious. Thirty-three percent of Gen Z adults describe themselves as religious, compared with 22% of Generation X, 19% of millennials, and 18% of baby boomers. Eighty-eight percent regularly engage in at least one spiritual practice. Fifty-four percent read Scripture regularly. Harris Poll Chief Strategy Officer Libby Rodney stated: Gen Z self-identifies as the most religious generation in America, with the practices to back it up. The old assumption was that each generation picks faith less than the last. Gen Z picked more of everything. A separate Barna Group report found Gen Z is the most likely generation to believe a spiritual revival will occur in the next 12 months, with 38% anticipating such a movement. Barna also found Gen Z includes the most frequent churchgoers of any current generation.
Why It Matters: The narrative for two decades has been that each generation is less religious than the last. The Harris Poll data challenges that narrative directly. One in three Gen Z adults identifies as religious, more than any older generation. More than half read Scripture regularly. The generation most contested throughout this week's edition is also the most religious generation in America by its own identification. An awakening cannot happen by human effort. It is an invasion by Heaven onto Earth. The data suggests Heaven may already be moving.
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." — Joel 2:28
NEW REPORT: 4,216 CHRISTIANS KILLED IN NIGERIA BETWEEN JANUARY 1 AND SEPTEMBER 8, 2026. ONE EVERY 86 MINUTES. FULANI MILITANT NETWORKS RESPONSIBLE FOR MORE DEATHS THAN BOKO HARAM AND ISWAP COMBINED. MORE THAN 5 MILLION DISPLACED. MORE THAN 600 COMMUNITIES DESTROYED.
A new report by Equipping The Persecuted titled Crisis in the Middle Belt: Religious Persecution and Security Failure in Nigeria documents 4,216 Christians killed in Nigeria between January 1 and September 8, 2026, an average of one every 86 minutes. These are documented minimums and likely understate the full scale of violence. Fulani-linked actors caused 4.2 times more recorded deaths than Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, also known as ISWAP, combined in 2026. The Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa found Fulani militant groups responsible for 53% of documented killings of civilian Christians. More than 5 million Christians have been displaced and more than 600 Christian communities have been destroyed. The report warns that framing the violence as farmer-herder clashes causes flawed policy responses and obscures the documented religious targeting of Christian farming communities. Policy recommendations include a sustained campaign to dismantle Fulani militant networks, international pressure on Nigeria to investigate and prosecute perpetrators, and broadening U.S. intelligence analytical focus beyond Boko Haram and ISWAP.
Why It Matters: One Christian killed every 86 minutes in Nigeria. 4,216 documented minimum deaths in eight months. More than 5 million displaced. More than 600 communities destroyed. Fulani militant networks responsible for more deaths than Boko Haram and ISWAP combined. The Nigerian government has not arrested the perpetrators of the overwhelming majority of these killings. The President named this persecution at the United Nations on September 22. Nigeria is the most documented example of that persecution on earth. Those are 4,216 people made in the image of God. One every 86 minutes. Every day.
"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter." — Proverbs 24:11
GUNMEN ATTACK FRIDAY MARKET IN MANGU, NIGERIA'S PLATEAU STATE. FIVE DEAD. 750 MWAGHAVUL CHRISTIANS KILLED IN THREE YEARS.
Armed gunmen attacked the Friday market in Mangu town in Nigeria's Plateau State on the evening of September 19, 2026, killing at least five people and injuring several others. Assailants stormed the perishable goods section and opened fire as traders were closing for the evening. The attack occurred hours after the Mwaghavul Development Association, representing the predominantly Christian Mwaghavul people of Mangu Local Government Area, formally warned that more than 750 of their people had been killed in terror-related attacks since 2023. Association president Bulus Dabit confirmed the market attack. Security forces arrived after the attackers had already fled.
Why It Matters: The Mwaghavul Development Association warned on the same day gunmen attacked their market and killed five more that 750 of their people had already been killed since 2023. The warning and the attack arrived the same day. Security forces arrived after the attackers fled. The pattern is documented. The dead are real.
"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter." — Proverbs 24:11
PRIEST KILLED WHILE HEARING CONFESSIONS IN POLISH BENEDICTINE ABBEY. FIVE STABBED. 31-YEAR-OLD UKRAINIAN NATIONAL. NO MOTIVE ESTABLISHED. ZELENSKYY CONDEMNED IN POLISH.
A 31-year-old Ukrainian national stabbed five people at the Benedictine Sisters' Abbey in Jaroslaw in southeastern Poland on September 24, killing Father Stanislaw Zbojnowicz, who was hearing confessions when the attacker entered. He reportedly tried to stop the attacker and died from his injuries. A second priest, Father Marek, underwent surgery and remains in serious condition. The suspect entered Poland from Germany overnight and took a kitchen knife from the abbey's own kitchen. No motive has been established. Prosecutors have not classified the attack as terrorism. Zelenskyy wrote in Polish: We are shaken by this evil. The perpetrator of this evil must bear full responsibility in accordance with the law. The mayor of Jaroslaw declared mourning until the end of the week.
Why It Matters: A Catholic priest was killed while hearing confessions in a 17th-century Benedictine abbey. Father Stanislaw was at his post, doing exactly what priests do. We pray for Father Stanislaw, for Father Marek, and for the Benedictine Sisters of Jaroslaw.
"Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them." — Hebrews 13:3
CANADA EUTHANIZED A MOTHER WHO WAS NOT TERMINALLY ILL. SHE ATTEMPTED SUICIDE DAYS BEFORE. SHE WAS DISCHARGED FROM A PSYCHIATRIC WARD WITHOUT HER DAUGHTERS' KNOWLEDGE AND GIVEN A LETHAL INJECTION THE SAME DAY.
Donna Duncan's daughters Alicia and Christie were given just 48 hours notice that their mother would be euthanized through Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying program, also known as MAID. The daughters say Donna was not terminally ill but experiencing a severe mental health crisis. A psychiatric assessment less than a month before her death diagnosed a psychosomatic disorder, meaning her physical symptoms resulted from mental or emotional distress rather than physical illness. Just days before her scheduled death Donna attempted to take her own life. She was admitted to a psychiatric ward and discharged without her daughters' knowledge two days later. She died by lethal injection the same day she was discharged. Alicia stated: There was nothing that we could legally do. She later told the UK Parliament: If the safeguards aren't strict, there will be fatalities for people that should not have died, who just needed help to live. They needed help to live, not help to die.
Why It Matters: Canada has recorded more than 100,000 MAID deaths since 2016. Donna Duncan was not terminally ill. She had attempted suicide days before. She was discharged from a psychiatric ward without her daughters' knowledge. She died by lethal injection the same day. Donna Duncan needed help to live. She got help to die.
"Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you." — Isaiah 46:4
CHINA DETAINS PASTORS AND WORKERS FROM BEIJING JIAQUAN CHURCH, A 1,000-MEMBER HOUSE CHURCH OPERATING IN THE CAPITAL FOR OVER TWO DECADES. ARRESTS CAME DAYS BEFORE XI'S SUMMIT WITH TRUMP.
Chinese authorities have detained several pastors and church workers from Beijing Jiaquan Church, a 1,000-member independent house church that has operated in Beijing for more than 20 years with affiliated congregations in multiple Chinese cities. Its leaders have operated Noah Music School for more than ten years, training worship leaders for house churches throughout China. The arrests occurred days before President Xi's summit with President Trump, following a September 16 Washington forum on religious freedom where advocates highlighted cases of Christian persecution ahead of Xi's visit. ChinaAid President Bob Fu is urgently concerned for the safety, health and legal rights of every Jiaquan pastor and church co-worker who has been taken away. Eight Zion Church pastors and co-workers also remain in custody in Beihai. Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu has been repeatedly raided.
Why It Matters: China detained the leadership of a 1,000-member house church that has operated openly in Beijing for more than two decades, days before President Xi sat down with President Trump. The pattern is documented and escalating. China is systematically eliminating independent Christian leadership from its largest urban house churches. The arrests happened between Trump naming Christian persecution at the UN and Xi sitting across from him.
"Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them." — Hebrews 13:3
INDONESIA: MUSLIMS USE PERMIT ADDRESS DISCREPANCY TO HALT APPROVED CHURCH CONSTRUCTION IN SURABAYA. CHURCH HAS FACED OPPOSITION SINCE 2013. VALID PERMIT ISSUED BY MAYOR. ATTORNEY: "AN ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR DOES NOT INVALIDATE A STATE ADMINISTRATIVE DECISION."
Muslim residents in the Dukuh Kukun area of Surabaya in East Java Province, Indonesia are using an administrative error in a building permit to halt the approved construction of a Christian church that has faced community opposition since approximately 2013. The church was approved for construction in Neighborhood Unit RT 1 of the CitraLand housing complex, but the permit was issued listing RT 7. Muslim residents who protested on August 14 warned they will halt construction if the issue is not resolved. Attorney Hartony Edi told Morning Star News: An administrative error at the lowest level occurring after the issuance of the Building Permit does not constitute grounds for rejection that would invalidate a state administrative decision. The permit is valid. It was issued by the mayor of Surabaya. Indonesia ranks 38th on Open Doors' 2026 World Watch List of countries most dangerous for Christians.
Why It Matters: A Christian congregation has waited more than a decade for a church building. They obtained a legal permit from the mayor of Surabaya. Muslim residents are now using an address discrepancy to halt construction. The permit is valid. The attorney says the law is clear. The pattern of permit obstruction documented in Surabaya has been repeated in dozens of Indonesian communities.
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." — John 1:5
Heavenly Father, we come before You this Sunday morning, October 5, 2026.
We thank You for every victory documented this week. For the Department of Education finally removing Biden's Title IX rewrite from federal law. For the Pennsylvania school district that shut down its secret database. For the Department of War giving chaplains a direct line to the Secretary. For ADF and Independence Law Center and Thomas More Society and First Liberty and the Liberty Justice Center and the ACLJ and every lawyer who stood up for parents and preachers and Amish farmers and charter school families who just want to raise their children in the faith You gave them.
We pray for Ashley Flynn's daughters. They lost their mother to the secret sin of a man who led worship in a church. Give them safety. Give them healing. Give them truth. Give them a future.
We pray for the church in Nigeria where one Christian is killed every 86 minutes. For the 5 million who have been displaced. For the 600 communities that have been destroyed. Lord, You see every name in that register. We are praying every name.
We pray for Father Stanislaw's family in Poland. He was in the confessional when a man with a knife walked in. He tried to stop him. He died doing his job. Receive him, Lord.
We pray for the detained pastors of Beijing Jiaquan Church in China. For the Zion Church pastors still in custody in Beihai. For Wang Yi still in prison. For the lawyer who fled with her children and does not know where they will land. You are not diminished by the gates of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.
We pray for the Amish families in New York who have lived there for nearly 200 years and are being told they must choose between their home and their faith. Give them four justices.
We pray for Texas voters who go to the polls November 3. They have now heard five weeks of documentation from James Talarico's own church and his own mouth. Give them the discernment to know what they heard.
And we pray for the 38% of Gen Z who believe revival is coming. Lord, let them be right. Let them be the generation that proves it: an awakening cannot happen by human effort. It is an invasion by Heaven onto Earth.
The battle belongs to You. We are just the watchmen.
