Brian Houston, Hillsong Church's founder and former global senior pastor, said public statements made by the church's board led to his abrupt resignation earlier this year and not "mistakes" he made in ministry. Houston, who specified that he did not resign because he breached the church's code of conduct, said the board's statements led to public speculation and allowed "people’s imagination to run wild and draw their own conclusions" about his departure from Hillsong. He also insisted that he is not an alcoholic or addicted to sleep or anxiety medication, despite statements from the church indicating otherwise. The pastor is set to fight charges that he covered up his father’s child sexual abuse in an Australian court in December. Read more.

Benjamin Netanyahu has once again become prime minister of Israel in the country's fifth election in less than four years. Yair Lapid conceded defeat on Thursday after nearly all the votes were counted. In 2019, Netanyahu became the first sitting prime minister in the history of the modern state of Israel to be indicted, with various charges, including breach of trust, bribery and fraud. He denied the allegations and called the indictment "a political coup" and "a contaminated process," in which he felt the investigators "were after me personally." He subsequently lost his position as prime minister in June 2021 after 12 years in the role. Read more.

Changed Movement's David Reece discusses Oregon's focus on indoctrinating children with gender dogma through avenues such as the Oregon Department of Education's multi-million dollar annual spending on LGBTQ2SIA+ education initiatives. Meanwhile, the Oregon DOE and Governor's office have lowered or removed the Essential Learning Skills requirements to accommodate the state's falling academic scores, with the state ranking 46th in the U.S. for overall academic performance and 49th for high school graduation rates. Reece cautions that many parents have been largely unaware of the state's focus on mandatory sex ed laws and sexualizing children through the promotion of resources such as amaze.org, which instructs children on transgenderism, masturbation and pornography. Children at any age can be given contraception, and children as young as 14 can be given "mental health counseling" without parental consent at school-based health clinics. Some clinics allow children as young as 15 to receive free permanent contraception, and parents are prevented from accessing student health records, including for a vasectomy or tubal ligation. "[T]he hyperfocus on LGBTQ2SIA+ content in Oregon schools isn’t producing the effect it purportedly set out to accomplish. Students are flunking out of school at astonishing rates even as they self-identify among the growing list of letters in the sexual acronym," writes Reece. Read more.

In this editorial, Christian Post Executive Editor Richard D. Land writes about the life of Mother Teresa and her outspoken eloquence on the topic of abortion. Land recounts Mother Teresa's speech during the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., with her comments about protecting the unborn agitating then-First Lady Hillary Clinton. "As I contrasted the peaceful serenity of Mother Theresa’s countenance with Hillary’s purplish-red, contorted features, I understood in a new and deeply spiritual way that this is not a debate between right and wrong, but rather a spiritual struggle between good and evil," Land says. Read more.

At World Vision, we’re big fans of Giving Tuesday. This "global generosity movement," started in 2012 as a day for doing good, occurs the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This year, that’s November 29. It’s a day to flex those generosity muscles and support your favorite nonprofits or charities. Think of Giving Tuesday like an extension of that moment when everyone around the Thanksgiving table shares what they’re grateful for — a day for not only counting blessings, but also passing them on to others in need. Ready to give back as you give thanks? Read on for five reasons why Giving Tuesday’s the perfect day to do so. Read more.

Canadian Pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary has been acquitted of violating COVID-19 worship restrictions after spending 21 days in jail last year for holding worship services. The Provincial Court of Alberta acquitted Stephens of charges that he violated public health orders imposed by the provincial government during the pandemic. A previous court dropped four of the tickets levied against the pastor, while Tuesday's decision dealt with the remaining two. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which represented Stephens, praised the acquittal, stating, "This decision sets the record straight about the justifiability of his actions and about the importance of respecting Charter rights and freedoms." Read more.

The Rev. David Wilson, assistant to the bishop of the Oklahoma and Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, was elected Wednesday as a bishop in the United Methodist Church South Central Jurisdictional Conference, making him the first Native American bishop in the history of the mainline Protestant denomination. Delegates meeting in Houston, Texas, chose the 59-year-old Wilson on the first ballot, with him getting 92 votes out of 151 valid ballots cast, passing the minimum requirement of 77 votes, or 60%, reported UM News. The Rev. Dee Williamston also made history, becoming the first female African American bishop in the history of the South Central Jurisdictional Conference. Read more.

Sadie Robertson Huff of "Duck Dynasty" fame has announced that she and her husband, Christian Huff, are expecting baby No. 2. The author and speaker took to Instagram share the big news, writing, "Another little miracle is in motion." The news was announced with a photo of the couple and their 1-year-old holding a sonogram photo. Read more.

The hit Christian series "The Chosen" was honored with a Pillar Award for cultural impact from the Museum of the Bible at the museum's fifth-anniversary gala last weekend. The Impact Award centers on criteria weighing the level of impact among people who promote the Bible via their "public platform." Other winners included the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association winning the Pillar Award for the "Narrative" category, and Wycliffe Bible Translators President John Chesnut winning the award for the "History" category. Read more.