Faith Facts

• Jackson Street Church of Christ in Monroe, Louisiana, launched a Young Men’s Lectureship to train seven young believers in preaching and lead worship.
• Caleb Hambelton, a Central Church of Christ minister and graduate of Crowley’s Ridge College and Freed-Hardeman University, baptized five inmates at the Howell County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri.
• Kenneth Okwuonu, a physics and engineering teacher at Westbury Christian School in Houston, received the 2026 Innovative Teacher of the Year award from the Stanley M. Herzog Foundation.

In Monroe, Louisiana, the Jackson Street Church of Christ responded to concerns over a preacher shortage and youth leaving the faith by investing in its young men. Minister Ken Stegall, a graduate of the White’s Ferry Road School of Preaching, is training seven young believers to prepare and deliver sermons each Sunday evening. Other young men lead singing and prayer during the services.

The congregation reports growing attendance, renewed excitement among members, and a stronger sense of unity. “We are experiencing a number of additional blessings resulting from these efforts,” Stegall said.

“We can either sit around and be pessimistic about the future or we can invest ourselves in helping our youth,” he added. Two of the young men have already expressed a desire to become full-time preachers, and nearby congregations have invited them to speak.

In West Plains, Missouri, Caleb Hambelton shared the Gospel with inmates at the Howell County Sheriff’s Office and baptized five men in a stock tank on the back of a trailer outside the jail. “What an opportunity for CRC alum Caleb Hambelton to share the hope and love of Christ,” Crowley’s Ridge College said in a Facebook post.

The sheriff’s office noted the powerful reminder that “faith, hope, and second chances can reach people wherever they are.” The jail welcomes representatives from several local churches to minister to inmates.

Across the nation, Churches of Christ continue to recognize faithful service. Mark Hamilton received the Spiritual Formation Mentorship Award and was named an inaugural Distinguished Professor at Abilene Christian University. At Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Ritchie Pickens was named 2026 Staff Member of the Year, Becky Starks earned 2026 Coach of the Year, and Beth Whitman was honored as 2026 Teacher of the Year.

Kenneth Okwuonu was one of only twelve educators nationwide to receive the 2026 Innovative Teacher of the Year award from the Stanley M. Herzog Foundation. He teaches high school physics and engineering at Westbury Christian School in Houston.

Kirk Brothers, Hunter Puckett, and Kaylan Stewart were named to the board of the M2Y (Ministering to Youth) conference. Beth DeBauche was appointed executive-in-residence and lead faculty for the undergraduate sport management program at Lipscomb University. Archie Shelton was named director of advancement and major gifts at Crowley’s Ridge College, and Garries Wamundila was appointed manager of Namwianga Community Radio in Kalomo, Zambia.

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Faith Facts

• Human ingenuity reflects God’s image as Creator when technology serves the common good rather than replacing human dignity.
• Scripture teaches that mankind was given dominion over creation, not over one another, calling Christians to steward innovation wisely.
• Traditional American values emphasize the worth of every individual and warn against reducing people to mere economic units or tools.

New Yorkers encountered an unusual sight over the weekend when a California robotics company brought its latest creation to the streets of Brooklyn.

Faraday Future EAI Robotics Ecosystem showcased its Futurist humanoid robot, a machine priced at nearly ninety thousand dollars.

“New Yorkers gawked and wrestled with a mix of emotions over the weekend as Faraday Future EAI Robotics Ecosystem, a California-based company that produces humanoid and bionic robots, promoted a model of its nearly $90,000 all-new Futurist humanoid robot in Brooklyn.”

The display prompted conversations about the future of work and the role of machines in everyday life.

Faith communities are urging believers to approach such developments with discernment, remembering that technology should serve humanity rather than diminish it.

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Faith Facts

• Scripture warns believers to stay vigilant against deception and the rise of false peace that leads to tyranny.
• Christian teaching emphasizes that true peace comes only through Christ, not through human systems of control.
• Freedom, including financial liberty, is a gift from God that must be defended by people of faith.

A newly surfaced report details a series of private lectures given by tech investor Peter Thiel in which he examined biblical prophecy and its connection to modern technology and global power structures.

According to the account, Thiel described a future world leader who would emerge by promising universal peace while simultaneously eliminating financial autonomy.

The lectures reportedly drew heavily from Revelation 13, where Scripture describes a figure who exercises control over commerce and requires allegiance for participation in the economy.

Thiel is said to have pointed to the growing influence of centralized digital systems as a potential pathway for such control, noting that technology once promised to liberate individuals but now risks concentrating power in unprecedented ways.

“The Antichrist will abolish financial freedom,” the report quotes Thiel as saying in reference to the biblical warnings about a coming authority that dictates who may buy or sell.

He also reportedly linked the push for “peace at any price” to the same prophetic pattern, arguing that calls for global harmony can mask the erosion of individual liberty.

The lectures are said to have examined how figures such as Bill Gates have used technology and global health initiatives to shape worldwide policy, raising questions about unelected influence over populations.

Thiel reportedly urged listeners to recognize these patterns before they reach their full expression, framing the discussion as a call to spiritual and cultural awareness rather than political alarmism.

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