Renowned actor Neal McDonough told Glenn Beck in Dec. that ‘something’s changed’ in Hollywood’s relationship with faith in 2024.
McDonough told Beck that when people like us here at Million Voices, or you wonderful folks at home, go out and buy movie tickets to see faith-based films, we’re sending a direct message to the movie studios in Los Angeles. “I love that,” said McDonough of this new trend in American culture.
Is our culture healing? Actor Neal McDonough tells me: "I DO think it's turning a positive corner. In the Declaration of Independence, it says 'God' 4 times. It's on our coins. It's who we are. [It's great that] we get to discuss THAT again and not worry about being chastised." pic.twitter.com/aCiGBtZpDA
“I was reading [the breakdown] of all the studios, what they’re looking for, and this project and that,” McDonough continued. “And never ever, ever, have I seen before, of the 10 [studios] four or five of them at the bottom say, ‘oh, by the way, if you have something of faith, we’re very interested this year.’”
“Something’s changed,” McDonough continued. “Whether it’s Angel Studios or maybe it’s the amazing Erwin brothers, whether it’s Dallas Jenkins, or whether it’s the Kendricks, whomever it is that’s going out there on the limb and telling stories of faith so the whole family can go to a theater together, grab popcorn, grab a soda, hang-back and watch a movie for two hours, then after have a discussion with your eight-year-old, or your 80-year-old.”
Hollywood veteran Neal McDonough tells me faith-based films ARE making a difference in Hollywood: “Never, ever, EVER have I seen before 4 or 5 [studios] saying, ‘oh by the way, if you have something of faith, we’re very interested this year.’ Something’s CHANGED.” pic.twitter.com/kQ6vFBDn5k
Kroger has removed the abortion pill mifepristone from the Health Savings Club website Monday, a huge win for pro-life supporters everywhere.
The drug appears to have been removed following a story from The Washington Stand, which detailed how mifepristone was available via the website. An email to the outlet from Kroger the following day stated: “The Kroger Company Family of Pharmacies do not carry Mifepristone, nor do we dispense it.” At the time of writing (and at the time they received the statement), TWS claims the drug was still listed on the company site.
“The Kroger Family of Pharmacies doesn’t carry Mifepristone and was listed on the Kroger Health Savings Club site in error,” a statement later claimed. Within 24 hours of these communications occurring, TWS claims the drug was officially removed from the site.
From The Washington Stand: “Soon after Biden’s Food and Drug Administration announced that retail pharmacies could dispense the abortion pill in January 2023, Kroger along with other major retailers received a letter from 19 state attorneys general warning the companies that they would be violating federal law if they send abortion pills through the mail. But Democratic lawmakers like Senator Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) fired off their own letter in March 2023 demanding that Kroger and other retailers ignore the state AGs and “expand access” to the drug. A year later, CVS and Walgreens both began dispensing the pills, with Sam’s Club joining the list at some point this month.
“After having quietly followed suit and offering the abortion pill on its site for an unknown period of time, Kroger has apparently backtracked in the wake of press coverage of the listing.”
Million Voices spoke to a representative from Kroger who shared what really happened, and why the pill was listed on the company website. “A third-party organization erroneously listed the pill as available at Kroger – we do not sell, nor have we ever sold, mifepristone. It was an error on a third-party site to list it,” the representative for Kroger said in an email to Million Voices.
It’s unclear what really happened, as Bloomberg Law reported in August 2024 that Christian groups were pressuring Kroger and other major grocery stores, like Costco, Walmart, and Albertsons.
The Chosen” creator-director Dallas Jenkins defended the portrayal of an interaction between Jesus and Judas Iscariot on a livestream in December.
Apparently some people think that Jenkins’ choices with the scene between Jesus and Judas was “unbiblical,” according to the Christian Post. “You have a choice to make, Judas,” Jesus says in the scene in which Judas challenges Jesus to “reclaim” his “birthright.” “Who [do] you belong to? Who has your heart? I want it, and I’ve had it before. You followed me willingly.”
“I want to continue,” Judas replies. “There’s nothing more that I want than that.”
Jesus takes an emotional Judas’ hand, telling him, “Then I will pray for you. But for now, please leave me in peace.
Why Are People Reacting To This?
“It’s over the issue of, ‘Did Jesus pray for people? Did Jesus pray specifically for Judas? Did Jesus want Judas to change His mind? Did Judas have free will? Was Judas ever saved?’ — all the typical Judas questions started to come up,” Jenkins said during his broadcast. “There’s a measurable amount of people who believe that we got it wrong,” Jenkins added, “that I got it wrong.”
“While I’m somewhat surprised that the concept of Jesus saying the words ‘I’ll pray for you’ are controversial, I’m not actually that surprised that something like this comes up because it’s a sensitive topic,” he added. “Whether it’s Jesus and Judas or whether it’s eternal salvation or not, these are important issues, and that’s why I’m actually glad sometimes when this happens.”
Jenkins reshaped the debate into a conversation about how best to interpret these things. He also clarified that the work was designed to speak specifically to those seeking a greater understanding about the show. “I’m talking to you, the person who is either genuinely seeking or genuinely trying to understand, or maybe isn’t as familiar with some of these topics or issues, or also has a friend who came to you and said, ‘Why do you watch this heretical show’ and [it would] be good for you to have an answer,” he continued.
Your Own Will
“No, we are not implying that Jesus is going to pray that Judas will change his mind,” he said. “Yes, Judas’ betrayal is part of the Father’s will. It is part of this crucifixion and, ultimately, salvation story. So Jesus did not say in the scene, ‘I’ll pray for you, Judas, that you’ll change your mind from whatever you’re about to do.’”
Jesus “has known for a while that Judas would betray Him,” Jenkins stressed, claiming “we are not implying that at this point in the story [that] Jesus wasn’t sure what was going to happen [or] was hoping things wouldn’t happen bad. Jesus knew.”
“So no, I’m not saying that Jesus didn’t know or that Jesus was hoping things would change,” Jenkins continued, noting that “Jesus and the Father share the same will and that their wills are inextricably united.”
“To me, it matters little because if Jesus could pray for unbelievers while they were crucifying Him, it seems that Jesus could pray for Judas even while Judas was planning to betray Him,” Jenkins later stated.
Comedian Matt Rife recently revealed that he was baptized following the death of his grandfather in 2024.
Rife was baptized in August 2024 in someone’s pool, according to an interview he did with comedians Yannis Papas and Chris Distefano. Though he apparently “hates” going to Church, he believes in God. He also wasn’t raised in Christian household and so only attended church with friends a few times each year. “I hate church; I find it excruciatingly boring,” said Rife. “But I want to believe in God, and it’s obviously a huge part of the process.”
“I’ve never been a super religious person, but when my grandpa passed away, something hit me that I was like, ‘I’ll never see this person again,’” he explained. “So something has to exist. I skew Christian, so I started going to church a little bit more.”
Rife Joins Other Famous Comics
“Saturday Night Live” legend Rob Schneider spoke to the Daily Caller’s Kay Smythe — now Million Voices’ Managing Editor Kay Hill (thanks to her recent marriage) — earlier in 2024 about his own conversion to Christ and what it means for America’s right now.
“I would say I’m assured that we are in a spiritual war, let’s not mince words. But is it something equal parts good and evil?” Schneider asked. “Good and evil don’t cancel each other out. But there’s just enough evil right now to give good a run for its money.”
Russell Brand turned his life around from crude comedy to Christ-follower. Over the summer he led a crowd of an estimated 25,000 people in the Lord’s Prayer.
A report published in early December detailed how scripture-engaged Americans are the most “giving.”
Ninety-four percent of the respondents to the American Bible Society’s ninth and final “State of the Bible USA 2024” report said they donated to charitable causes throughout the past year. The median amount given was $2,000.
“People who consistently read the Bible and live by its teachings are more likely to give to charity,” the organization’s Chief Innovation Officer and editor-in-chief John Farquhar Plake said in a statement accompanying the report. “Our data shows that they also give far more — not only to their churches, but also to religious and non-religious charities. At a national level, we could say that Scripture-engaged people form a massive engine of generosity and philanthropy.”
Just 37% of non-Christians gave to charity, according to the state. The mean amount among this group was listed as $1,466 in the report, but a substantial (“extremely large”) donation from a single individual skewed these results significantly and did not reflect the actual average when controlled. “The median donation amount among non-Christians was measured at $0, meaning that more than half did not give anything at all,” The Christian Post wrote in their analysis of the data.
“Nominal” Christians — those who identify as Christians but do not attend church at least once a month — had a charitable giving rate of 53%. “Casual” Christians had a charitable giving rate of 88% with a median donation amount of $600.
“While 73% of Catholics told pollsters they gave to charity, their mean giving amount of $1,320 was much lower than those reported by mainline Protestants ($4,066) and slightly lower than the average donation among historically black Protestants ($1,726). However, the median amount given to charity among Catholics was $300, higher than the median amounts donated by mainline Protestants ($250) and historically black Protestants ($127),” wrote The Christian Post.
The results also found those who donate to charitable purposes have significantly higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction ever, suggesting that we really do get back what we put into this life.
“Americans with the lowest household income levels give the greatest percentage to church or charity, with giving exceeding 10% of their income. Among the highest-earning households, about 60% donate something,” the report noted.
The research in the report was based on responses collected from 2,506 American adults from Jan. 4–23. The survey has a margin of error of +/-2.73 percentage points.
For the first time in human history, the Nativity scene was displayed on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in December. What an incredible win for religious freedom and our First Amendment rights!
The display was accompanied by prayer, the singing of Christmas carols, and a reading of the Christmas story, according to the Christian Post. All of this was made possible after a federal-level court decision granted Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, and his supporters, the right to peacefully celebrate our faith on Capitol grounds.
7 months ago, we would've been arrested for having this Nativity Display on the steps of the US Capitol. However, we won an historic federal lawsuit through the incredible work of the Center for American Liberty which allowed us on the steps! @Liberty_Ctr@pnjaban… pic.twitter.com/0yObLMhCvw
“We are so very thankful for the opportunity to share the joyful and powerful message of Christmas at the steps of the U.S. Capitol,” said Mahoney, according to the outlet. “In a hurting and wounded world, there is no more redemptive and healing message than the Christmas story.”
In his lawsuit, Mahoney stated that “The ‘People’s House,’ as the U.S. Capitol Building is so rightly called, must be a place where all Americans are afforded the right to come and peacefully celebrate and express their First Amendment rights. Tragically, those rights and freedoms are being denied and prohibited.”
An official statement from Mahoney touched upon the significance of the decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “This is also a significant victory for religious freedom and the First Amendment,” he said. “This event has ended and won the war on Christmas in the public square. For if Christmas can be celebrated and displayed in the most powerful public square in America, it can be celebrated publicly everywhere.”
WalletHub released data Monday detailing America’s most caring cities, and the results may surprise you.
“The most caring cities donate a lot of money to charity and have high volunteer rates, but being a caring city overall requires much more than just giving time or money,” analyst Chris Lupo said in a statement released with the results of WalletHub’s research. The team looked at the top 100 most populated cities across the U.S., assessing their citizens by three key metrics related to caring for the community, the vulnerable, and within the workforce.
Metrics included things like violent crime rates, driving fatalities, but also clothing and food distribution, share of income donated to charity, share of registered volunteer fire departments. Child poverty, adoption rates, number of childcare workers, and many other key variables were used to determine the findings.
Top Most Caring Cities In 2024
Virginia Beach, Virginia, ranked as the #1 most caring city, with an overall score of 68.61, followed closely by Scottsdale, AZ, Boston, MA, Gilbert, AZ, and Chesapeake, VA. Fremont and San Francisco ranked #6 and #7 respectively, while many other California cities ranked in the Top 20. Many of these places are tech hubs, like San Jose, Irvine, as well as Chula Vista and Santa Ana.
The least caring cities were Birmingham, AL (#100), Baton Rouge, LA (#99), Memphis, TN (98), New Orleans (#97), Detroit, MI (#96), San Bernardino (#95), Tulsa, OK (#94), Winston-Salem, NC (#93), Albuquerque, NM (#92), Houston, TX (#91) and Cleveland, OH (#90)
Stats Broken Down
Fort Wayne, IN, gives the highest percentage of their income to charity. Though ranking incredibly low overall, Tulsa, OK, residents give the second highest percentage of income to charity, followed by Birmingham, AL, and Memphis, TN.
Bizarrely, San Diego, Chula Vista, and Sacramento, CA, give the lowest amount of their money to charity. These cities are only outranked by Pittsburgh, PA, Honolulu, HI, and Laredo, TX.
“The human species evolved large brains because childcare was collective. Individual families were not burdened with constant individual care like other mammals are. Look at any village or small-scale, family-oriented society ever and you will see a pattern of collective care,” said UNC Wilmington sociology and criminology PhD Christopher S. Elliott. “Modern nations reverse the progress that evolution gave our species. Our society is forced through the discipline of the market to pay for everything, including care, and it is a pressure cooker. It is demoralizing. It feeds the debt machines and work machines.”
“There is no such thing as a ‘caring city’ in this society,” he added. But we may disagree. We know you’ve got stories of greatness, power, faith and purpose from 2024 just waiting to uplift others into His grace.
Bible sales are officially up 22% in the U.S. compared to the same time last year (2023), with first-time buyers fueling the surge.
“People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren,” Evangelical Christian Publishers Association president Jeff Crosby told the Wall Street Journal about the sudden boom in Bible sales. “It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles…and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”
Booksellers say folks are coming into their stores to find the Bible as means of rediscovering hope. And the stats are pretty startling. “Bible sales rose to 14.2 million in 2023 from 9.7 million in 2019, and hit 13.7 million in the first 10 months of this year,” WSJ wrote in their article. Readers are also stocking up on related works, such as analyses, insights, and modern interpretations of the Word.
“I’d like to say there is a craving for knowledge of scripture, but a lot of smart people are thinking about Bible marketing and catering to every whim for Bible study,” J. Mark Bertrand, founder of Lectio. org said.
House Majority leader Steve Scalise joined “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” shortly after the Nov. election to discuss his projections for the upcoming 119th Congress.
“[W]e’ve got a very unique opportunity with unified government,” Scalise told Perkins. “Doesn’t happen often. … [W]e’re going to make the most of it by going and fighting for those families who are struggling. We ran on a very strong agenda of getting our economy back on track, of securing America’s border, standing up for our allies around the world, getting rid of these crazy regulations, promoting more American energy. We’re going to be focused on doing those things in the first 100 days.” (READ: Trump’s Promises To America: How To Hold Him Accountable)
“When you think about literally starting in January, the first 100 days— delivering on some really big things and getting the economy moving again, lowering costs at the grocery store, at the gas pump — I think you’re going to see this economy turn around quickly. Look, the day after the election, the stock market took off like something we hadn’t seen since 2022, because people are optimistic and excited again, because the Marxists, the communists, were defeated. This direction they were trying to take our country — we couldn’t sustain the spending, the radical policies, the open border, all the things they were doing. And now we’re going to finally have an opportunity to turn around. We’re not going to blow this opportunity,” he continued.
No Tax Increase
“One of the first things we do is make sure we don’t have a tax increase,” Scalise noted. “President Trump was very clear about this. … [W]e will all be on the same page. We don’t have the luxury of spending a few months trying to figure it out. We are going to start bullish on day one with a bold conservative agenda. Keep tax rates low … no taxes on tips and no taxes on overtime.” (READ: YouTube/Google Censors Biden’s Hateful Words Pre-Election)
“Democrats, unfortunately, walked away in 2017 from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Not a single Democrat voted to cut taxes. Of course, it turned our economy around. It was great for the American people, but the Democratic Party just doesn’t believe in giving you more of your money back. We do as Republicans. … [W]e’re going to be working with a small majority, but we’re still going to be a focused majority working with President Trump to deliver some big wins for those hard-working families who are struggling,” he added.
Trump To Clean House?
“Donald Trump’s going to clean house,” Scalise seemed to promise. “He’s going to get rid of all the dirty cops. And it needs to happen because I think people really want … a restored faith, and they deserve a restored faith in these agencies that we used to trust. With law enforcement agencies at the federal level that used to stand for law and order, that started focusing on their political enemies [instead of] keeping Americans safe — that has to change. I think that’s going to be front and center in the things President Trump does when he appoints an attorney general and other people in those positions. It’s going to be critical who he picks, because he’s going to need to bring in tough people who want to clean house.”
“I believe in the teachings of Christ,” Musk told what appears to be a town hall audience, as seen in a video shared on X. “I believe that He is … I believe in the Christian principles, you know, ‘love thy neighbor.’ I believe in ‘turn the other cheek,’ which is very important, to have forgiveness because if you don’t have forgiveness then you have an endless cycle of retribution.”
The footage was shared by the America PAC, founded by Musk to champion secure borders, sensible spending, safe cities, fair justice systems, free speech, and self-protection.
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