Alan and Jase Robertson gave an update on their father Phil Robertson’s health in a Feb. 24 interview with conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey. Jase explained why he believes his dad improved after the news about Phil’s failing health went public, and the brothers also shared news about a recent fall their mother had.

“It’s hard to explain that in one sentence,” Jase said, referring to people who ask how Phil is doing. “Overall, not great because he looks…”

“Emaciated,” Alan interjected. 

“Yeah, he just doesn’t look well,” Jase agreed. “It’s kind of shocking when people come visit him. He’s lost so much weight.”

How Phil Robertson Is Doing

Phil Robertson is the creator of the Duck Commander duck call and the founder of the company of the same name. He and his family came to fame from being featured on A&E’s reality TV show, “Duck Dynasty,” which ran from 2012-2017 and which will return in a reboot this summer. 

RELATED: ​​‘Quack, Quack! Duck Dynasty Is Back’—A&E Announces Show’s Return

In December, Alan and Jase revealed on an episode of their podcast, “Unashamed With the Robertson Family,” that Phil had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and a blood disorder. Later that month, Phil’s son Willie shared that Phil’s back was fractured and that Phil was in a lot of pain. 

When Stuckey asked Alan and Jase for the latest news about Phil Robertson’s health, Jase responded that it is a “very difficult” question to answer. “We’re kind of in the bowels of the new normal,” he said. 

Jase mentioned his father’s blood disorder, saying that it attacks Phil’s bones and that doctors have “likened it to blood cancer.” What’s more, “[Phil] has had multiple back fractures and even one in his tailbone.” Jase described his father’s condition as “not really correctable.” Phil just gets procedures that make “it stop hurting.”

The “redneck version” of what Jase was told is “they’re basically just putting cement in his back. But your back is not designed to have cement in it…it’s supposed to be flexible.” At the same time, Phil has Alzheimer’s, or at least some version of it. “I’m not sure they exactly know what he has,” said Jase, “but it’s a form of Alzheimer’s.”

Tim Somers, a youth pastor for Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church in North Carolina, has been fired after being accused of engaging in sexual misconduct with students while serving with the youth ministry of Oaks Church in Red Oaks, Texas. 

The alleged abuse reportedly occurred around the same time frame as the abuse allegedly perpetrated by Jerry Nickerson, who was also serving at Oaks Church. 

Nickerson was fired in January from his position as the youth pastor at the Frisco West campus of Hope Fellowship Church in Texas after allegations came to light that he had “inappropriate contact with a minor” while serving at Oaks Church roughly a decade ago.

No charges have been filed against Somers at this time, but the allegations against him were revealed during an investigation of sexual abuse conducted by the Red Oaks Police Department.

RELATED: Former Youth Pastor Pleads Guilty to Sexual Battery of Minor, Receives 10-Year Prison Sentence

The investigation is ongoing, said Red Oaks Police Department Chief of Police Garland Wolf.

“These are serious allegations that can or will impact a person’s life for many years,” said Wolf. “We are doing what we need to do to seek justice for the victims, prosecute the offenders, and exonerate the innocent as may be the case.”

“We are scheduling meetings with persons who have come forward and we are conducting interviews and taking statements from those who want to cooperate with our investigation,” Wolfe added. “We hope to move forward soon.”

Wolf said that detectives are “still attempting to narrow down the timeline of events, the actual location of the offense(s), who may have been involved as suspects, and who may have been involved as victims.”

RELATED: NAMB Responds to ‘Some Speculation Online’ About Executives’ Salaries Following Johnny Hunt’s Claim of $610K in Annual Earnings

Oaks Church confirmed in an email to ChurchLeaders that Somers served as an intern at Oaks Church from 2009-2011 and then worked on staff from 2011-2013. 

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Doctors said there has been a “slight improvement” in Pope Francis’ condition on Monday (Feb. 24) after he suffered a respiratory crisis and blood work showed initial signs of kidney failure over the weekend. Despite the promising report, however, the doctors said their prognosis remains guarded.

“The critical clinical conditions of the Holy Father demonstrate a slight improvement,” read a statement by the medical team issued by the Vatican. The pope did not have another episode of asthmatic respiratory crisis, and the laboratory tests have also improved, the statement added.

Francis admitted himself to the hospital Feb. 14 after suffering from bronchitis for more than a week. At Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where popes are traditionally treated, doctors found that he had a polymicrobial infection that caused pneumonia in both lungs. Medical experts were hopeful that the 88-year-old pontiff would recover, but Francis’ health suffered a reversal on Saturday (Feb. 21), when he had a prolonged asthmatic respiratory attack.

Blood tests also found low levels of platelets in the pope’s blood and symptoms of kidney failure, which raised alarms that the infection in his respiratory tract was impacting other vital organs. But on Monday, following observation, doctors said the mild failure of the kidney “is not a cause for concern.”

He has been given oxygen since the respiratory attack, which the doctors said was continuing, “although with slightly reduced flows and percentage of oxygen,” their statement said. Given the pope’s preexisting conditions, including having a portion of his right lung removed when he was a youth in Argentina, the doctors have opted for “prudence” when discussing outcomes.

The statement said Francis received the Eucharist on Monday morning and resumed his work in the afternoon. He also returned to his daily routine of calling the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza, the statement said, “to express his fatherly closeness.”

“Us young people are very, very close to Pope Francis for what he did for us, the open-mindedness he brought and the progress he ushered into the church,” said Giuseppe Ciavarella, 21, who studies at Universitá Cattolica medical school, whose campus is at Gemelli Hospital.

“For us who live in the campus of the Cattolica feel as if he were being treated in our home, so we feel like we are close to him in this moment, and we also see how the entire world mobilized to follow his situation,” said Michele Ferrantino, 22, another student.

Dario Russo, 20, who is also a student, said Francis stands as an example. “He taught us to give a lot to others, to be open toward everyone,” he said.

(RNS) — Thirty historically Black churches and projects, including those with ties to Civil Rights leaders who led churches and protests across the United States, are receiving grants totaling $8.5 million from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The awards are part of the third annual Preserving Black Churches grant program that focuses on historic African American sites across the country and assists them in avoiding demolition, paying for maintenance and fixing structural problems.

“We are honored to support the ongoing legacies of these churches, which have stood at the forefront of social progress for generations,” said Brent Leggs, executive director of the trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, in a Monday (Feb. 24) statement. “This $8.5 million investment marks a critical step in safeguarding historically Black churches as enduring symbols of faith, strength and community leadership. By preserving them, we ensure that their powerful presence continues to live on in their communities and inspire future generations.”

Among the recipients of the grants, which range from $50,000 to $500,000, is The Historic Bethel Baptist Church Community in Birmingham, Alabama. It was led by the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who died in 2011 and was known for fighting against segregation in his city. The funding will be used to help expand programming to feature augmented reality and visual interpretation to aid visitors in learning about the church’s role in the Civil Rights Movement, according to the Preserving Black Churches news release announcing the funding.

Another Alabama church, First Congregational Church of Marion, which was formerly led by the Rev. Andrew Young, will receive a grant to help stabilize the building’s steeple, among other repairs. Young later became president of the National Council of Churches and the first African American U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and recently eulogized former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral in January.

West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Atlanta, once led by the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, who died in 1990 and was a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., will receive funds to aid in the hiring of a preservation manager for restoration projects at the church.

The trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has raised more than $150 million to preserve historic African American sites. The Preserving Black Churches program specifically, supported by Lilly Endowment, has raised a total of $60 million to protect the legacies and assets of the historic buildings.

Two 2025 recipients are receiving larger grants than in previous years.

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion denomination, a historically Black denomination based in Charlotte, North Carolina, received $500,000 to create a denomination-wide preservation endowment to aid in historic preservation of its churches across the country. Its members have included abolitionists Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth.

The Cleveland Restoration Society was allocated $300,000 for its Historic Black Church Initiative. Some of Cleveland’s churches were locations for organizing efforts led by Malcolm X, King and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. Several of the churches have decades of deferred maintenance and structural issues.

Recent weeks have brought a wave of concerning news from central Africa’s Democratic Republic of the Congo.

There, terrorist forces are sweeping through large tracts of land and seizing cities in a lightning offensive that has rapidly shifted the frontlines of a decades-long conflict that has killed about 6 million people and displaced many more.

This week, local sources revealed the massacre of 70 Christians in DRC’s eastern Lubero Territory near the country’s border with Uganda and Rwanda. While no group has formally taken responsibility for the attack, reports indicate that the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) were responsible.

Members of the militia reportedly detained many Christian villagers before tying them up in a local Protestant church and decapitating them with machetes.

Responding to ADF attacks in January that left 15 dead, pastors in North Kivu province told International Christian Concern (ICC) that the violence often targets Christians and has decimated churches.

“We are no longer talking about simple violence,” one pastor said. “We are losing fellow innocent Christians time and again. Our churches are now remaining empty…the people of the Lord are suffering, and it’s just not bearable to watch.”

The ADF is one of many African terrorist organizations aligned with the jihadist Islamic State movement. It stands out among the country’s 120 militant groups for its brutal tactics and explicit animosity toward Christianity.

Another militant group, known as M23, is backed by neighboring Rwanda and has taken over multiple cities since January, including Goma, a major regional hub and the capital of North Kivu province.

In response, the U.S. sanctioned a Rwandan government official and another individual associated with M23 in the DRC. Though Rwanda denies supporting M23, years of mounting evidence have proved that Rwanda is deeply involved in supporting the group’s activities.

U.N. peacekeepers in the country are working to protect hundreds of thousands of displaced persons but have experienced increasing difficulty in executing their mission in recent weeks because of rebel advances.

In recent years, the U.N. mission has become increasingly unpopular with Congolese government leaders. In December 2023, the U.N. Security Council approved the withdrawal after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi requested a fast-tracked withdrawal some months earlier.

The U.N. mission, known as MONUSCO, began to withdraw from the country in February 2024. MONUSCO had worked in the country for more than 13 years and, before the drawdown, boasted nearly 18,000 personnel, including about 14,000 armed troops. Recent terrorist victories seem to be partially a result of the power vacuum left by the forced U.N. withdrawal.

The first phase of withdrawal was focused on bases in South Kivu province, with U.N. troops leaving Ituri and North Kivu province, where the violence is concentrated, later in 2024.

This article originally appeared here.

Scott Turner, President Trump’s new secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), told attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Feb. 21 that he is “purpose-driven” and passionate about being “your new servant leader.”

During Friday’s speech at the annual gathering near Washington, D.C., Turner, a Baptist preacher, quoted several Bible verses and said God had been “preparing” him for this “mission” at HUD.

Turner, who turns 53 this week, is an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. As ChurchLeaders has reported, Turner played football in the NFL for nine years. During Trump’s first presidency, he served as the first executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. While there, former HUD Secretary Ben Carson served as a mentor.

Turner and his wife also launched a family foundation, the Community Engagement & Opportunity Council, to “revitalize communities across America through sports, mentorship, and economic opportunity.”

RELATED: ‘To God Be the Glory. Let’s Get to Work!’—Trump Nominates Prestonwood Pastor Scott Turner to Cabinet

Pastor Scott Turner on His Role as HUD Secretary

On the main CPAC stage Friday, Scott Turner introduced himself as a “purpose-driven person” who’s “not really concerned with status [or] media attention.” He recalled growing up in Texas, where his first job was washing dishes at a barbeque joint.

After graduating from the University of Illinois, Turner was a last-round pick in the 1995 NFL Draft. He retired from pro football after playing 101 games and then entered politics. Turner was elected to two terms in the Texas State House, where he served from 2013 to 2017.

“All along the way, you know, I believe the Lord was preparing me,” Turner said, adding, “I believe God is a sovereign God.” He quoted Jeremiah 29:11 and then said, “I believe that from before the womb of my mother that [God] was preparing me for this moment, for this day, for such a time as this.”

Turner has been blessed with opportunities to make a “generational impact,” he told CPAC attendees. When faced with difficulties, he has “had to rely on God’s grace to overcome obstacles that the enemy tried to use to stop me from carrying out the Lord’s calling on my life.” Turner quoted James 1:2-4, about trials and the testing of faith producing steadfastness.

New HUD Secretary Scott Turner Restores ‘Biological Truth’

About his work at HUD, Scott Turner pledged to “restore integrity at our agency” and “identify and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.” Describing how his father took inventory while working at Safeway, the secretary said he’ll work on “stewarding the budget” for the American people.

Turner said HUD will tackle the “housing affordability crisis” that’s affecting so many young Americans, including his 24-year-old son. One focus will be lifting people out of poverty by expanding Opportunity Zones through public-private partnerships.

Pastor Gabriel Hardy, 42, who is with Army of the Lord — Ministry of Defense church in Vancouver, Washington, has been arrested for allegedly whipping a 6-year-old child with a belt hard enough to leave bruises and welts on the child’s body. A report from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) states that Hardy claimed to be ordained by God to administer corporal punishment to children.

“SVU [Special Victims Unit] investigated this case and learned from witnesses that Hardy openly preached about corporal punishment of young children and professed that he was divinely ordained to chastise children,” said CCSO in a statement Feb. 21. “Hardy admitted to the child’s mother that he had whipped the child with a belt to discipline the child.”

RELATED: SBC Has Disfellowshipped 7 Churches in 2 Years for Failing To Comply With Sexual Abuse Reporting and Prevention Standards

Clark County Sheriff’s Office Arrests Army of the Lord Pastor

According to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, the child’s mother contacted CCSO on Feb. 17 about “potential child abuse” that allegedly took place at Army of the Lord — Ministry of Defense, which is located in a residence in Hazel Dell. 

The mother said that because she was unable to attend a church service on Sunday, Feb. 16, a friend of hers took her child to church. The mother asked her friend to ask Hardy to talk to the child about “recent disrespectful behavior.”

“The child returned home after the service with bruising and welts across their lower back, hips, and buttocks,” said CCSO. “The child told the mother that Hardy had whipped them with a belt approximately 12 times.”

CCSO requested help from SVU, after which investigators learned of Hardy’s view of corporal punishment. The Major Crimes Unit (MCU) and the Tactical Detective Unit (TDU) assisted SVU with executing a search warrant at the residence on Feb. 20.

“Hardy was not present at the time of the search warrant, but evidence of the crime of Assault of a Child was located inside the residence and seized pursuant to the search warrant,” said CCSO. “Hardy was contacted by detectives later in the day and admitted he struck the child in this case with a belt.”

Each actor in “The Chosen” feels that the groundbreaking project is more than playing a role. The content and drama have become more personal than any other role.

Actor Alaa Safi has played the role of Simon the Zealot (or Simon Z) and recently said he relies heavily on his own transitions in life to help connect with the transformation Simon Z experiences after meeting Jesus.

“He goes from superhero conditioning to the most humble version of a person,” said Safi. “And that’s real growth.”

Alaa Safi Shares How His Character in ‘The Chosen’ Embraces ‘Powerlessness—Which Doesn’t Mean Weakness’

Over the first five seasons of “The Chosen,” actors have become “deeply invested in their characters’ journey.” The series produces “In My Words,” where those portraying key roles articulate their personal journeys and how they connect with their characters.

French actor and director Alaa Safi has portrayed one of Jesus’ disciples, Simon the Zealot, since the second season of “The Chosen.” Years of Tae Kwon Do training prepared Safi well for the role of the warrior-turned-disciple.

Safi described Simon the Zealot as “probably the most mysterious and cool disciple of all.”

While Scripture is unclear as to whether Simon the Zealot was an actual member of the radical Zealot party or if the term “zealot” merely described his religious eagerness, creator and director Dallas Jenkins chose the former to develop Simon Z’s character in “The Chosen.”

In Bible times, Zealots directly opposed Roman rule and taxes. Many scholars argue that Jesus selected disciples who were rivals—Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector—to communicate that he offered new life to everyone.

Safi shared that he was “drawn to troubled characters.” Simon Z was “the warrior, the samurai of the group” who seemed to be “seeking a sense of purpose out of the pain.”

“He’s the guy who needs to learn how to go non-violent about everything in his life,” said Safi. Simon began “bracing, preparing, building himself, strengthening himself, and it’s all based on a fearful approach to the world and life.”

As a trained Zealot, Simon naturally handles situations with violence, but then he meets Jesus—the Messiah. Safi described how Jesus “strips me away from my past life, from the dagger, symbolizing everything I believed so hard so far.”

Theologian Dr. John Piper recently offered a stern warning to preachers leveraging generative artificial intelligence (AI) to draft sermons, emphasizing that AI will never be able to worship God and arguing that using it to create sermon material is dishonest.

Piper is the author of numerous books and was the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for more than three decades. He remains the chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. 

Piper’s comments came in the context of his “Ask Pastor John” podcast, in which Piper responds to listener questions about ministry and theology. 

In an episode released on Feb. 24, Piper focused on two questions. The first was whether it is appropriate for a ministry leader to use AI to write newsletters to ministry supporters, and the second was whether pastors should use AI for sermon preparation.

RELATED: How Pastors Who Feel ‘Overwhelmed’ by AI Can Engage With It Well

“Let’s start with a definition,” Piper said, joking that he got the definition from Google and that it was “artificial intelligence defining artificial intelligence.”

“’Artificial intelligence is a technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem-solving, decision-making, creativity, and autonomy,’” Piper recited. He then drew attention to “the fact that missing from that definition, that list of things that it simulates, is emotion.”

Piper argued that the absence of emotion is significant, because “the ultimate purpose of the universe is that God be glorified, and he is glorified not merely by being rightly thought about, logically comprehended, but by rightly being enjoyed, admired, appreciated, valued.”

“And God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him, which means no artificial intelligence will ever be able to worship,” Piper said. “Worship is not simply right thinking, which computers can do. Worship is right feeling about God.”

“We are not bothered—I’m not bothered anyway—that a computer can simulate human logical reasoning,” Piper added. “But we consider it ludicrous when a machine attempts to rejoice or delight or be glad or stand in awe or be amazed or feel grief or fear…The very phrase ‘artificial emotion’ is an oxymoron.”

RELATED: How Well Does ChatGPT Understand Christian Theology?

While Piper conceded that generative AI tools can produce “an astonishingly well-written sermon,” he argued that using that work as one’s own would be “wicked.”

(RNS) — A religious row has erupted among conservative Christians over President Donald Trump’s decision to re-appoint Paula White-Cain to run the White House Faith Office, with theological fissures erupting within Trump’s Christian coalition as leaders stake out different positions on the Florida pastor.

The debate escalated on Tuesday (Feb. 19), when Doug Wilson, an influential Reformed pastor who has emerged as an oft-cited religious thinker in conservative circles, derided White-Cain, a Pentecostal pastor, on his podcast. While responding to others on his show who were critiquing White-Cain, the Idaho pastor referred to her appointment as “a bad pick for all kinds of reasons.”

In a separate interview with Religion News Service on Thursday, Wilson said he hails from a “conservative Christian quadrant that objects to women preachers in the first place,” and described White-Cain as an “erratic woman preacher who has been all over the map.”

He went on to describe White-Cain, long regarded as Trump’s closest religious adviser, as “the kind of person that embarrassing video footage can be rolled out almost at will.”

“It’s not the greatest pick in the world,” he added.

The remarks are the latest in a back-and-forth that began shortly after Trump announced earlier this month that White-Cain would once again be heading his Faith Office, a reveal that concluded a week of faith-themed appearances featuring the president and the vice president. While White-Cain’s appointment was widely expected —  she served in the same position near the tail-end of Trump’s first term — news of her return to the White House sparked blowback in some conservative Christian online spaces.

Unlike critiques from Trump and White-Cain’s numerous liberal detractors, the latest round of criticism has pitted prominent Pentecostal and charismatic Christians such as White-Cain, who have made up an important part of Trump’s evangelical Christian base, against a cadre of conservative Calvinists — including a subset influential among some of Trump’s advisers and cabinet members.

Matthew Taylor, a scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies who has studied the influence of charismatic Christianity on Trump, said the broader evangelical discomfort with Pentecostalism — traditions that engage in practices such as prophecies, faith healing and speaking in tongues — has been around for some time. During Trump’s first campaign and term in office, Taylor said, it was moderate evangelicals such as Russell Moore, then a Southern Baptist, who voiced their disapproval of White-Cain as well as Trump himself.

But this time the fight is more of a “sibling rivalry” between different factions of the “Christian far-right,” Taylor said, with Calvinists such as Wilson becoming power players over the past four years, alongside stridently conservative forms of Catholicism that have garnered favor with Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert.

“Paula White and her circle truly dominate the Trump advisory circles, the evangelical advisory circles,” he said. “Now you have these kind of natalist, radical traditionalist Catholics that see an avenue to power through JD Vance, and you see these kind of Reconstructionist Calvinist-types who see an avenue through Pete Hegseth and maybe Russ Vought. So now there’s real power and policy in play.”

Efforts to reach White-Cain for comment were unsuccessful, but the criticism quickly spurred her supporters — particularly people who, like White-Cain, operate in Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions, as well as preach a prosperity gospel, or wealth-focused, theology — to publish video testimonials in her defense.

“What was the date that it became okay, in the body of Christ, all of a sudden, to trash people by name that you’ve never met?” said Jonathan Shuttlesworth, a Pentecostal pastor of Revival Today Church, who was among the first to rush to her defense, in a video posted to X. The pastor, whose church meets in both Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in Texas, is seen as ascendant among Trump’s religious advisers, posting on Friday that he was traveling to the White House to “discuss and write national policy for religious freedom.”