Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a global campaigner for religious freedom, has called for continued prayers for Nigeria after the release of four students and their teacher who were kidnapped in August.

The gunmen also killed one man and burned down a local church during the raid in the northwestern state of Kaduna. On Saturday, the victims were freed.

“We welcome the efforts that led to their release as we were among the organizations calling for action in their case.” said CSW’s Kiri Kankhwende.

“We must continue to pray for Christians and other vulnerable communities in Nigeria. Pray the children of all communities whose lives have been devastated by violence, and for the safety of Christian leaders, who are increasingly being targeted for abduction, and for wisdom and strategy as they lead their congregations at this difficult time,” she told Crux.

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On @Crux today: Kidnapped Christians released in Nigeria https://t.co/N5MYQhMMcS

— Crux (@Crux) October 14, 2020

For the first time in over a month, South Carolina logged more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday.

The 1,072 new cases are the highest number of positive tests the state Department of Health and Environmental Control has announced in a single day since Sept. 4, according to records maintained by The Post and Courier. DHEC’s amended data, which includes cases that were reported late, shows the department tallied 1,000 cases Oct. 8.

It’s a marked change from midsummer, when DHEC’s amended data shows the state regularly counted over 2,000 cases per day. Experts warn that cases could swell in the fall as cool weather drives people indoors, but expect masks and social distancing to mitigate the spread.

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For the first time in over a month, South Carolina logged over 1,000 new coronavirus cases today.https://t.co/E9tV3jTTcC

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) October 15, 2020

A church in the North West of England is pioneering mental health support as reports of mental health issues rise during the Covid-19 pandemic.

St Cuthbert’s Church in Croxteth Park, Liverpool, has seen an increasing demand for what it offers to those with mental health problems.

Speaking ahead of World Mental Health Day 2020, he vicar, the Revd Laura Leatherbarrow, said: “There’s a feeling across the board of people who have never suffered with mental health issues before are now getting anxious – or getting back depression or being diagnosed with depression for the first time.

“I’ve certainly seen Covid having a profound effect on all ages – younger as well as older.”

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When I was a kid, I had a recurring nightmare that a loved one in my life was possessed by a demon. Immersed in this dream world, I often thought of Jesus’ words from Matthew 17: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed,” then “nothing will be impossible for you” (v. 20). This spurred me on to fresh efforts at casting out the demon, but nothing ever worked. In response, I tried conjuring up even more faith from somewhere within myself.

A similar impulse remained throughout my adolescence and early adulthood. Whenever I came to a spiritual or religious difficulty—whether it was trying to break a sinful habit, discerning God’s will, or growing in intimacy in my relationships—my impulse was the same: If I could just believe harder (whatever that meant, I was never sure), then I’d be able to move whatever mountain lay before me.

I’ve learned over time that deepening faith is not just a mental exercise. It requires action. This lesson was recently reinforced by Rich Villodas’s The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus, which invites Christians to penetrate further into the mysteries of our faith, the history and traditions of our global church, our relationships with others, and the reality of our own inner lives.

In the midst of a national pandemic that forces us to cover our faces and mediate our social engagements (including worshiping God) through computer screens, Villodas’s book could not come at a more opportune moment.

As the lead pastor of New Life Fellowship in Queens for seven years, Villodas guides the reader from experience. He leads a flock that is one of the most multiracial Protestant churches in the United States.

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When you hit a spiritual difficulty, do you chastise yourself to "just believe harder"?

Deepening faith is not just a mental exercise. It requires action.

A review of @richvillodas's book: https://t.co/CIuSKrdA18

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) October 15, 2020

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Researchers @MIT and elsewhere have significantly boosted the output from a system that can extract drinkable water directly from the air even in dry regions https://t.co/xaoVXO9skX

— AAU (@AAUniversities) October 14, 2020

O God, who by thy Holy Spirit didst move Teresa of Avila to manifest to thy Church the way of perfection: Grant us, we beseech thee, to be nourished by her excellent teaching, and enkindle within us a lively and unquenchable longing for true holiness; through Jesus Christ, the joy of loving hearts, who with thee and the same Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever.

"If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend…"
St Teresa of Avila pic.twitter.com/YyGYBOVsdb

— Deacon Keith Fournier (@KeithFournier7) October 15, 2020

O God our Judge and Saviour, set before us the vision of Thy purity, and let us see our sins in the light of Thy countenance; pierce our self-contentment with the shafts of Thy burning love, and let love consume in us all that hinders us from perfect service of Thy cause; for as Thy holiness is our judgement, so are Thy wounds our salvation.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

pic.twitter.com/1ERTjOX27N

— Fox (@hourlyFox) October 14, 2020

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “I pray thee, Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take my life from me, I beseech thee, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” Then Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

And the Lord God appointed a plant, and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm which attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he was faint; and he asked that he might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night, and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nin′eveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

–Jonah 3:10-4:11

Ein grandioser Ausblick von der Kneifelspitze auf den Watzmann! pic.twitter.com/hQ6bwzUVz7

— Sezgin Keskin (@sezginkeskin719) October 15, 2020