After facing harsh criticism for allowing a Chinese spy balloon to make its way across the United States before finally being shot down off the South Carolina coast earlier this month, the Biden administration has been taking much swifter action to take down suspicious airborne objects. This article from CP highlights four things to know about the latest developments involving the balloons shot down by the U.S. military, including that one balloon may have belonged to a hobbyist organization, and the U.S. may not be able to recover the remains of the three most recent balloons due difficulties searching near the locations where they were shot down. Read more.

A study conducted by the Correctional Service of Canada has found that the majority of inmates claiming to be trans-identified have been convicted of violent offenses, and nearly half have a history of sexual offenses. Men who identify as women made up the largest group of "gender diverse offenders" (61.6%), followed by 21% of women who identify as men. Seventeen percent of participants were categorized as "other" in the study, which consisted of individuals identifying as "gender fluid" or "gender non-conforming/non-binary." The data showed that 91.6% of male inmates who identified as the opposite sex had been incarcerated for a violent offense, 44.3% had a history of sexual offenses, nearly 42% had been convicted of homicide, and 30% were found to have committed a sex-related crime. Meanwhile, 71.4% of women identifying as men were incarcerated for a violent offense, and 28.6% had been convicted of homicide. Zero percent of female inmates identifying as men had a most serious offense that was sex-related, and 0% had a history of sexual offenses. Read more.

Emmanuel Church of God in Brooklyn, N.Y., is mourning following the death of the wife of its senior pastor, who also served as assistant pastor. Aracely Courtenay, 50, tripped while trying to cross the street, fell to the ground and was struck by a 2015 Toyota Highlander driven by a 58-year-old man who stopped at the scene. She was rushed to a nearby hospital with head trauma and was pronounced dead. The driver of the vehicle has not been charged. The church requested prayer in a Facebook statement on Sunday, writing, "Family at this time we must keep our 1st family in our prayers. Our Bishop, her children Gesai, Curt Jr. and Kayris will need our prayers and strength even more at this time. We ask that you respectfully give them time to process this news." The church's website described Courtenay as "a dynamic woman who has a passion for assisting the women of her community." Read more.

Dr. Michael Brown discusses Gen Z's empathetic nature and tendency to side with the perceived underdog and outcast, which has influenced why so many in this cohort both stand with and identify as being LGBT. Brown shares details on a recent presentation he gave to hundreds of Gen Z ministry students and how, even when working to approach the topic sensitively, a young woman was still offended by a video that transformed Sam Smith and Kim Petras' "Unholy" song into a song about accepting God's love and living a holy life. "Even as a follower of Jesus, she felt more solidarity with Sam Smith, who sang a song called 'Unholy' while dressed like the devil himself, than with a godly Christian woman who changed the call to do something unholy into a call to do something holy," writes Brown. "This underscores the degree to which Gen Z not only feels empathy for the perceived underdog and outsider, which is commendable, but also the degree to which this generation has been massively indoctrinated, even brainwashed, by the spirit of the age." Having grown up in the era of "same-sex" marriage, where trans is trendy and gay is cool, it is important that believers recognize that Gen Zers have experienced a radically different world than past generations and have been taught to believe that any rejection of LGBT activism is hateful, he explains. Read more.

As Christians increasingly experience threats, accusations and legal actions aimed at silencing their voices, they should look to the early Church to better understand how to live amid opposition to truth, writes Wanda Alger. In this op-ed, Alger winds through the book of Acts, detailing the experiences of the early disciples and how they responded in the face of threats. "They did not ask for protection, but the boldness to say more. They had an unshakable faith in God's promises and were convinced of His power to heal and deliver the broken culture around them. Even death threats would not stop their charge to tell the world about this higher Kingdom of love and power," Alger writes. Read more.

As we think about February being the month of love, we wanted to take a moment and celebrate an inspirational, Christian community that encourages, prays, and financially supports each other in difficult times.

Our friends at Medi-Share have gathered a community of believers who commit to loving each other by praying for each other’s health concerns and sharing in the costs of each other’s medical bills, every single day. Since 1993, they have shared in almost 6 billion dollars in medical expenses from their community.

For Medi-Share, it’s more than just the dollars they’re able to help with… it’s about the people and families on the other side who are experiencing the love of Jesus through sharing burdens and prayers. Learn more about this loving community today!

Asbury University moved its revival event off-campus due to concerns about overcrowding in the small town of Wilmore, Ky., where the school is located. The university's continual worship and prayer on campus over the last two weeks has sparked global interest, resulting in lengthy queues to gain entry. Beginning Tuesday, services available to the public will be held at another location in the central Kentucky area. Separately, starting on Friday, students' evening services will be hosted at other locations off campus. "We just had some people arrive from Finland, from the Netherlands, they have been coming from all over the country," Asbury’s Communications Director Abby Laub told WKYT. Asbury University President Kevin J. Brown explained to WDRB that the institution needs to balance the needs of students with the overwhelming turnout at the event, saying, "We recognize life for the students had to return to normal, they have to go to school, they have midterms next week. They know this is a gift, they have received it as a gift, so we are going to change them with now you take this to your job, your family, your church." Read more.

In the wake of Asbury University's revival, several other Christian academic institutions around the U.S. are also experiencing similar gatherings of spontaneous worship among students. Among them is Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., which has held several regular prayer and worship services since last Wednesday. Bobby Gatlin, a campus pastor at Samford University, told CP that their nightly prayer and worship meetings began "very organically" last week when "a Christian ministry class prayed for God to bring a spirit of revival to campus similar to what was happening at Asbury." The revival has also influenced students at Lee University of Cleveland, Tenn., with campus pastor Rob Fultz telling CP that a group of students who watched the events of Asbury "asked their professor if they could go to the chapel and pray that God would move on our campus as well." Within hours of a handful of students heading to the chapel to pray, the room filled with students, faculty, and staff, Fultz added, describing the continuous time of prayer and worship at Lee as "a predominately spontaneous movement of prayer" and "a beautifully sacred movement" that has continued into this week. Read more.

The body of devout Christian soccer star Christian Atsu was recovered on Saturday, nearly two weeks after he went missing following a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Turkey on Feb. 6. He was 31. Tributes for the soccer star began to pour in after his death was announced by his agent on Twitter. Among those to react to his death was Ghana's president, Nana Akufo-Addo, who quoted from Job 1:21 in a Facebook statement, writing, "The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away. ... May his soul rest in the Bosom of the Almighty until the Last Day of the Resurrection when we shall all meet again." The Ghanian-born player represented his home country in the World Cup and also played professionally for soccer clubs in England's Premier League such as Chelsea and Newcastle before joining Hatayspor in Turkey's Süper Lig last September. Read more.