The rise of online gambling is affecting all of us

Russell Moore on how the rise of online gambling is affecting our culture, our children, and our churches.

Young Christian influencers under the Communist regime in Cuba are taking to social media to call for freedom. But their activism comes with real risks.

A new study has found that among Gen Z, young women are increasingly outpacing their male counterparts in claiming no religious affiliation.

Behind the Story

From CT contributor Hannah Herrera: I first heard about @el4tico, a social media account created by two Christians that speaks out against Cuba’s authoritarian government, through a contact from a previous story. There’s an online resistance movement, she told me, and "people are saying most of them are Christian, but you’d have to investigate to find out."

So I did, and she was right. These influencers, some of them as young as 20 years old, are facing all kinds of risks—imprisonment, exile, fines, threats—but they refuse to back down.

The article came with challenges. The sources and I had to be creative on how—and when—we communicated. One contact was in the process of fleeing to Spain for political exile. Other contacts frequently had no internet access due to rolling blackouts or targeted cell service cutoffs.

Additionally, I reported the article in Spanish and wrote it in English, which requires constant switching between different mental train tracks. There are some words—and even entire concepts—that exist in Spanish and not in English, which were difficult to concisely translate. Thankfully, my editors were a great help, and I’m glad readers will get to hear the story of these Christians’ bravery and conviction.

In Other News

President Donald Trump read 2 Chronicles 7:14 as part of a Bible-reading marathon event. Christianity Today covered how that passage was the top-searched-for Bible verse of the 2016 presidential election. Thousands of Christians are still protesting the passing earlier this month of a harsher anti-conversion law by government officials in Chhattisgarh state. The area is one of the hotbeds in India for violence against Christians. Andy Riemersma used to dream of playing in the NBA. Now, he’s a hip-hop artist, pastor, and chaplain to players in the Noblesville Boom.

Today in Christian History

April 23, 1538: John Calvin and William Farel (whom Calvin was assisting) are banished from Geneva. The day before, Easter Sunday, both had refused to administer communion, saying the city was too full of vice to partake. Three years later, Calvin returned to the city he would forever be associated with.