....These are stressful days, friends. Of course they are. But they can also be days of reflection. Days of revelation. And ultimately, days of opportunity.

....despite COVID-19 being the primary event of 2020, numerous other significant discoveries and events occurred during this disruptive year. Here are nine such events and discoveries from 2020 you may not have heard much about.

Evidence of idol worship, evil kings, and Christian churches add to our understanding of the world of the Bible.

The US logged its highest ever daily death toll from the coronavirus Wednesday as the world prepares to turn the page on a grim year defined by the pandemic, with much of the globe united in one hope for 2021: that a slew of new vaccines will stamp out Covid-19.

....“We have taken the pandemic seriously from the start, and have prudent measures in place,” said Legacy Church in a statement about a service it held on Christmas Day. “But when governments exceed their constitutional authority and contradict what we are called on by God to do, we answer first to His authority.”

....“The irony of the reshaping of the spiritual landscape in America is that it represents a post-Christian reformation driven by people seeking to retain a Christian identity... Unfortunately, the theology of this reformation is being driven by American culture rather than biblical truth.”

Ministries of all sorts, and especially the church need to evaluate how the post-pandemic world will differ from what was. Here are ten ways I believe that the world will be different for the church and will divide the thriving from the merely surviving.

Nearly twice as many Americans now believe it’s not crucial to be married before having kids as opposed to about 15 years ago, a new survey says.

....The Middle East Media Research Institute reported that because of the peace deals, Palestinian officials want to restart the negotiations with Israel and renew security and civilian coordination.

....When the pandemic hit last spring, schools nationwide dumped letter grades, extended deadlines, and canceled tests to cope with the sudden switch to online learning.

According to a well-known pastor, Christian conservatives who have been lulled into a false sense of security from the power of the religious right in the '90s to the gains for religious freedom under President Trump will be "astounded" by the "harsh" new sheriff coming to town.

Zhang Zhan, a 37-year-old Christian journalist in China, has been sentenced to four years in prison in Shanghai due to her reporting of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, the epicenter of the viral spread that sparked the ongoing pandemic.

....The governor said in a statement, "There is a lot we don't know about this new COVID-19 variant, but scientists in the United Kingdom are warning the world that it is significantly more contagious."

Three unidentified men shot and killed a pastor in the east Indian state of Jharkhand while he was returning home with his wife after baptizing new believers, according to a report.

Though religious persecution in China and India is expected to increase in 2021, exposure to the Bible is increasing in North Kora, the world's most repressive country, according to the annual Persecution Trends survey from Release International.

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are locked in a legal tussle over membership as the organizaitons continue to blur the lines on biological sex.

President Trump has ended former President Obama's 12-year run as the most admired man in America, edging out his predecessor in the annual Gallup survey released Tuesday.

Christians in China faced increased persecution throughout the Christmas season, with authorities shutting down many worship services and caroling events.

....Fauci said, "When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75%. Then, when newer surveys said 60% or more would take it, I thought, 'I can nudge this up a bit,' so I went to 80, 85."  He said he doesn't really know what the real number is.

Nissim Vaturi is the second Likud Knesset member to not only enter the Temple Mount, but to call for the construction of the third Temple this month.

The ruling noted that the state of New York allowed other secular events to continue while unfairly restricting religious events.

A writer for The Guardian newspaper has labelled Christian teaching on forgiveness and redemption as “insidious” and “a dog-whistle for conversion therapy”. 

President Trump issued a powerful proclamation on religious liberty Tuesday to commemorate the 850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket.

Rep. Mo Brooks Monday insisted that the evidence is "overwhelming and compelling" that there was "serious voter fraud and election theft" in the November presidential election, and that "dozens" of House Republicans who have reached the same conclusions will object to the Electoral College vote returns during congressional confirmation proceedings on Jan. 6. 

.... Just 24% of likely GOP voters see the average congressional Republican as a better model for the party than Trump, while 72% say the GOP should be more like the outgoing president.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was hit with several lawsuits Monday for allegedly covering up decades of sexual abuse among Boy Scout troops in Arizona, marking the latest litigation before the state's end-of-year deadline for adult victims to sue.