The UMC now joins the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the United Church of Christ as being among those to ordain gay clergy. Christ has removed his lamp stand from these churches (Revelation 2:5), and the Holy Spirit is not there. Interestingly enough, the liberal African Methodist Episcopal church (AME), despite being a liberal assembly, voted to uphold its ban on gay clergy and does not recognize same-sex unions. Kamala Harris was praising of this church, despite the fact that she herself is ardently in favor of “gay marriage.”

Psalm 102:25-27 say, “Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away. But you are the same, and your years have no end.”

Another year has come and gone, but it is another year that God has shown Himself faithful, working all things for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Let’s look back at 40 of the biggest Christian headlines for 2024. This will be part 1, covering the first half of the year from January to June. I’ll post part 2 next week.

I do this Year in Review at the end of every year on my podcast (which you can find here). I look at multiple Christian news websites to compile this list, and this will obviously be from an American perspective though some international headlines are included. Links to sources are provided. Without further adieu, here are the first 20 major headlines in Christian news for 2024.

1) January 19
Alistair Begg Advises a Grandmother to Attend Her Grandson’s Gay Wedding

This story actually begins in September of last year, when on his radio program Truth for Life, Alistair Begg talked about advice he gave to a grandmother who was asking about attending her gay son’s wedding to a man who claimed to be transgender—thus making this a gay wedding. Begg advised the grandmother that she should go to the wedding to show her love.

“I suggest you do go to the ceremony,” he said. “Your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, ‘These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.’”

These comments did not surface until January of this year, and it erupted into a worldwide conversation over whether a Christian should attend a gay wedding. Solid Bible teachers such as John MacArthur, Albert Mohler, and Carl Truman weighed in to say no.

Said Mohler, a Christian should not attend such a marriage ceremony because a Christian doesn’t believe that’s a marriage at all. Marriage should be between a man and a woman, and to attend a re-definition of the ceremony would be to participate in a celebration that a Christian cannot endorse, and would therefore be bearing false witness to a marriage that isn’t really a marriage.

Said John MacArthur, “The most loving thing you could possibly do would be not to go, and to condemn the relationship. That is loving. It is not loving to help somebody celebrate stepping into the fury of God’s judgment.”

Given the opportunity to recant, Begg doubled-down on his position and referred to some of his detractors as Pharisees. His radio program was dropped by American Family Radio and The Reformation Network, and he was disinvited from speaking at the Shepherd’s Conference in March.

Later in September, Begg announced his intention to retire as senior pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland, OH, where he’s been preaching since 1983. His retirement will be effective in September of next year.

2) February 11
Online Sports Gambling Reaches an All-Time High

Get this: It took 89 years to go from one state with legalized sports betting to two states. It has taken less than six years to go from two states to 39 states, with Missouri becoming the most recent to legalize online sports betting this year.

Americans wagered over $20 billion in the Superbowl and would later wager billions more during March Madness. Now why is that considered a Christian headline story? Well in states like Alabama and Texas, where sports betting is not yet legal, the strongest opponents against it are Christians.

Greg Davis is a baptist pastor and president of the Alabama Citizens Action Program. They oppose gambling, he says, because of its harmful and addictive nature. Texas Baptists stand opposed to legalizing gambling in the Lone Star state. United Methodists have traditionally opposed gambling, calling it a “menace to society” according to their social principles.

The ease of online sports gambling is going to make that menace even larger. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils (1 Timothy 6:10). And Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”

3) February 15
Greece Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Same-sex “marriage” became legal in two countries this year: Estonia and Greece. Estonia actually legalized it last year, but the new law took effect on January 1. Then in February, Greece legalized same-sex marriage when it passed through parliament. In January of 2025, same-sex marriage will be legal in Liechtenstein and Thailand, and that will bring the total to 38 countries worldwide.

The Bible says God created marriage to be between a man and his wife only. Jesus repeated this again in Matthew 19. And the apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Nations who approve of such an abomination are under the judgment of God.

4) February 25
John MacArthur is Right About Martin Luther King Jr.

On February 19, in a Q&A session at Grace Community Church in LA, pastor John MacArthur was asked about the drift that has occurred in formerly gospel-faithful collectives such as The Gospel Coalition and T4G (Together for the Gospel).

Within his four-and-a-half minute answer, MacArthur made a 30-second comment about Martin Luther King Jr., whom both TGC and T4G had honored as a man of God. MacArthur said that although King did a lot of good in the Civil Rights movement, he wasn’t a believer and lived an immoral lifestyle.

That is true. I’ve said the same thing. I did a video pointing out that King denied the bodily resurrection of Christ and preached other heresies. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:17, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” On top of this, King was a serial womanizer, known even to his friends and those who deeply admired him.

Well that short snippet set off a firestorm of controversy. Numerous faith outlets and even secular sources covered that short comment. An article disagreeing with MacArthur’s correct assessment became one of the most read stories published in Christianity Today for 2024. Justin Peters also reviewed MacArthur’s comments in a video on his channel. You can watch it here.

5) March 10
The Chosen’s Drama

“The Chosen” might be the most popular television show on the planet. They have reached over 200 million viewers in 2024, with a goal to reach a billion as the show continues. This is the first multi-season serial drama about Jesus and His disciples, but it’s largely speculative in its storytelling, not biblical.

Creator of “The Chosen,” Dallas Jenkins, says their metric for their storytelling is to ask, “Is it plausible?” He’s said that 95% of what you see in the show isn’t in the Bible. This reinterprets the parts of the show that are from the Bible, setting them in a different context. “The Chosen” should not be thought of as a biblically faithful adaptation.

Season 4 of the show dropped in 2024, surrounded by a lot of off-camera drama. Jenkins and company had signed a new deal with Lionsgate which got the show into more theaters, but it hindered the show from being released on their streaming service. Eventually all that drama got ironed out and Season 4 was released, but “The Chosen” had to sever its longtime deal with Angel Studios. They also added an additional streaming contract with Disney.

Jonathan Roumie who plays Jesus in the show was a special guest on “The View” on ABC. I mean, when your Jesus is welcome among those wicked women, it’s not the true Christ of the Bible you follow. Dallas Jenkins was also interviewed by Jordan Peterson, one of the foremost thought-leaders of our age. More on Peterson later.

6) March 11
Former Only Fans Porn Star Nala Ray Shares Her Testimony

A young woman who went by the name Nala Ray was one of the most popular porn stars on Only Fans (do not look up this site). She was pulling in six figures per month, having made $14 million in her five years on the website. Then late last year, she walked away from it, renouncing a life of porn and being baptized a Christian. She immediately removed all of her videos from Only Fans.

On March 11, she posted a video to Instagram briefly sharing her testimony. She was interviewed by Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire. That interview and clips from it have been viewed millions of times. She also interviewed with Lecrae which has also been seen a million times.

She’s also received backlash, from both Christians and unbelievers, who doubt that her testimony is genuine. Personally, I have no reason to believe she’s not a Christian. But I say this with great care for your soul—you would be better off not looking up who she is. Even though she’s not distributing her own pornographic content anymore, there are others who are and it’s still connected with her name (you’re safe to watch the interviews I’ve linked to above).

There may need to be a greater conversation about this in the long term, about whether men and women who have made porn content can continue to be so public on social media, or should they take time away from the limelight. It was only a year ago Nala Ray was making porn. Now she’s sharing her testimony about how she turned to Christ. Praise God for that. But shouldn’t she be stepping away from the attention to work out her own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12)?

America’s porn addiction made a lot of headlines in 2024. Congressman and pastor Dusty Deevers of OK was made fun of by Jimmy Fallon for introducing a bill that would make sexting illegal. Stats this year revealed that somewhere between 60 to 70 percent of men and women consumed porn. And at the end of 2024, the website Porn Hub will be banned in 13 states in the U.S.

7) March 25
Most Americans Don’t Go to Church

Gallup released poll findings which revealed that for the first time, as long as these numbers have been studied, over half of Americans (56%) seldom or never attend church. Only 30% say they attend church on a weekly or almost weekly basis.

Among the different beliefs, the Mormons are the most devoted, with 67% attending weekly services, 44% of Protestants attend weekly, 38% of Muslims, and only 33% of Roman Catholics attend church on a weekly basis.

There was also an increase among those who would say they are unaffiliated with any religion calling themselves cultural Christians. In an interview on Easter Sunday, famed atheist Richard Dawkins, once known as one of the four horsemen of new atheism, said that he’s a cultural Christian. And the world’s richest man Elon Musk has said the same about himself.

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