The northeastern Malaysian state of Kelantan has implemented amendments to its criminal code based on sharia law, banning about two dozen activities, including attempts of converting out of Islam. Violators could face prison, fines or canings.

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has joined several other religious and secular businesses in suing the Biden administration over its mandate requiring most private sector businesses to force their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine or risk facing insurmountable fines or firing employees. “It is unacceptable for the government to force religious institutions to become coercive extensions of state power,” Dr. Albert Mohler, the SBTS president, stated.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has voiced concern about measures adopted by the Chinese government this year to further tighten state control over government-sanctioned churches, including requiring full support of the Chinese Communist Party and banning religious activity by house churches. Since the new regulations were issued earlier this year, USCIRF notes that Chinese authorities have “detained and arrested scores of underground Catholic priests,” including Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu of Xixiang, Hebei province.

Actor Josh Brolin celebrated eight years of sobriety by thanking his family, friends and God for helping him along the challenging journey. "Sobriety is knowing that God is in everything and that it is made up of every color and mixture of color that exists," Brolin wrote in an Instagram post.

Pastor Brian Cole details his more than three decades embroiled in the occult and how discovering Lee Strobel’s "The Case for Christ" on his jail cell floor changed his life forever. "When I got done with that book, I could no longer deny the fact that Jesus existed on this Earth,” he said. “All my life I had sought truth.”

Robin Schumacher writes about Bible prophecy and the dark side of the second coming of Christ. "The Bible’s words on this subject send a strong shiver down my spine. The reason is, if you’re like me, you know people who the puritan Matthew Mead calls 'The Almost Christian.' They count themselves as believers when in reality their house is built on the sand."