The Lee University annual tradition of Homecoming will have a centennial theme this year. The university anticipates more than 2,000 alumni and friends to be on campus for the much anticipated weekend of celebration.

One hundred years ago on November 6, 1918, the young life of a visionary missions mobilizer in the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) prematurely ended. The extraordinary missions influence L. Howard Juillerat was cut short by the global influenza pandemic of 1918. It is estimated that 70 million people worldwide died in that horrible plague. Those seventy million, and millions more of his generation, were carried constantly on his compassionate heart.

When Sarah Williams learns that the baby she is carrying will likely not survive birth, her world crashes down around her. Amidst the voices of well-meaning onlookers offering to pray for healing, the bittersweet companionship of a pregnant best friend, medical staff who question her decision, and the loving support of friends who respect it, Williams and her family learn to celebrate life while preparing for the birth and subsequent death of their youngest daughter, diagnosed with a lethal skeletal deformity.

Ron Hepperly, regional superintendent for the Church of God in the Southeast Asia Region, is also director of RIO Missions. Its vision and mission are “to go boldly in Christ where no one dares, to shine His light, to share His name, to meet the need, to help, to feed, to reach this world ‘til Kingdom come.”

Paul McCartney easily took the top spot on the Billboard 200 this week when his new album Egypt Station blew past 153,000 equivalent album units — a forceful 147,000 of which were traditional album sales. Eminem’s Kamikaze, now two weeks old, slotted in at Number Two with 136,000 units.

LOS ANGELES – On a recent fall day, a group of protesters gathered in a university courtyard, many holding rainbow flags. About 100 students and faculty members were fighting for LGBTQ rights on campus.

Cleveland, TN–Lee University saw its ranking rise once again this year in the popular U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) “Best Colleges 2019” edition. The Church of God’s oldest educational institution was also recently ranked sixth in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ranking of “Colleges Where Students Feel Most Engaged.”

When’s the last time you said thank you to your pastors and let them know you are praying for them? October might be a good time, since it’s National Clergy Appreciation Month. And if your pastor is like many, they are feeling stress.

Saifura Khorsa and Leah Sharibu—these are the real faces of global Christian persecution.