NOVAK DJOKOVIC A PRACTISING CHRISTIAN
Various media have reported on the fact that tennis player Novak Djokovic is an Orthodox Christian, and he does not hesitate to say it publicly. It is not uncommon to observe Djokovic invoking Christ during a meeting or wearing a cross around his neck to witness to his faith. For him, his religious beliefs come before his 68 titles, including 12 Grand Slam tournaments earned since the beginning of his career.

FIRST NEW CHURCH IN CUBA
The Christian Post reports that the first new Catholic church to be built in Cuba in over 60 years opened its doors recently in the rural town of Sandino, providing what some say is “a new sign of faith” in the socialist country. With the help of a parish in Tampa, Florida, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish became the first of three new parishes to be completed across the island nation. The bright yellow church that seats about 200 people is the first Catholic parish to be dedicated since the days of the Cuban Revolution and the revolutionary government’s crackdown on organized religion.

CHURCH SERVICE ENDS IN THE HAGUE
According to Eternity News, A church service that has run continuously for nearly 100 days in The Hague has finally ended after a political agreement was reached that offers the Armenian family being sheltered there a safe future in the Netherlands. The Dutch government agreed to pardon the Tamrazyan family who had been threatened with deportation as part of a wider amnesty that will affect more than 600 families. Derk Stegeman, a pastor at Bethel church, said the Tamrazyan family had been reassured that they would be included among those allowed to stay in the country.

JOYCE MEYER RETHINKS HER MESSAGE
Eternity News reports that Joyce Meyer, the popular American charismatic Christian author and speaker, has told a US audience that her views on prosperity and faith had got “out of balance.” Meyer, who heads up the multi-million-dollar Joyce Meyer Ministries, has been repeatedly criticised for some of her teachings and her lavish lifestyle. Her teachings have been labelled the “prosperity gospel”. Meyer’s recent comments do not back away entirely from prosperity teaching, but rather point to it as an example of one “movement” among many that has got ‘out of balance’.

HILLSONG’S GLOBAL EXPANSION
Started by Brian Houston and wife, Bobbie, in 1983, Hillsong Church has become a global phenomenon with campuses in New York (led by hipster pastor Carl Lentz), London, Copenhagen, and Buenos Aires to name a few. Writing in Christianity Today, Clint Bryan notes that ‘the Hillsong music itself, with such singable titles as “Mighty to Save” or “I Surrender,” cuts across denominational lines. But in certain cultural or geopolitical contexts beyond Seattle or Sydney, the music has also served to subvert church and state confines. Kinga Povedák, a religion research fellow in Szegad, Hungary, notes how Hillsong’s music fueled an alternative, faith-based youth movement that resisted the tenets of socialism in her country in recent decades.’

NEW TV SHOW ABOUT JESUS
The History channel has announced that they will be releasing, in March, a new TV mini-series that follows the life of Jesus as both a man and the Messiah. The show which is called Jesus: His Life is set to be an eight-part television series that shows Jesus’ life from the perspective of those who were around him. The Christian Post reports that episodes will show Jesus’ life through the perspective of friends, family, and followers including, Joseph, Mary, John the Baptist, Peter, Judas, Caiaphas, Pontius Pilate and Mary Magdalene.