Happiness has a greater impact on a person’s giving than their wealth, according to the results of a worldwide study on charitable behaviour.

The World Giving Index, published today by the Charities Aid Foundation, was compiled from Gallup surveys conducted in 153 countries.

The surveys asked people whether they had given money to charity or volunteered in the last month, and to rank how happy they were with life on a scale of one to ten.

Australia, New Zealand and the US came out on top for overall giving, while the UK came in at eighth place. The UK remains one of the top overall givers in Europe, coming behind only Switzerland and the Netherlands.

In terms of money, the UK was also one of the top givers, with 73% of the population saying they had donated to charity.

Last year, adults in the UK donated £9.9 billion to charity, with work in the fields of medical research, hospitals and hospices, and children and young people taking the greatest share.

The UK lagged behind in terms of happiness, with an average wellbeing score of 5.6, just slightly above the global average of 5.4 …

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Sorted this week become one of the world’s first Christian magazines to launch an iPad app. “More apps have been downloaded than there are people on the planet and they're the biggest technological phenomenon since the smart phone,” said Steve Legg editor of Sorted the UK’s first Christian magazine for men.

 He added: “For us as an evangelistic ministry with a heart to reach the world with the Gospel, it really is a no-brainer for us to have apps on the iPhone and iPad. To be honest, I'm staggered that we're one of the few Christian magazines in the world that are using this technology to get the Christian message out there.” The Sorted app now available both on the iPad and IPhone contains Sorted in its entirety, including the latest edition that features Tom Jones talking about his new Gospel album.

 “Viewers are getting the special features, regular columnists and even advertisers in glorious colour, making the Sorted app a very attractive resource.” Legg says this is a great opportunity to reach to engage with the young apps generation: “Latest research shows that people aged 16 to 24 years old use 10 apps daily which is …

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In Jewish-Evangelical Christian relations, a hot button issue is the Messianic movement. Gentile Christians are often perplexed that Jews who believe Jesus as divine and the savior cannot retain their Jewish identity within mainstream Jewish thought. After all, Romans 1:16 states: “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

Mainstream Jewish thought and law do not subscribe to the belief in Jesus or the sacredness of the Christian Testament. If a Jew believes in Jesus as divine and savior, he has taken himself out of Judaism and is in error. While I may understand the need to retain the Jewish identity while maintaining a belief in Jesus, in no way can one dilute the law to affirm the desire to be part of Judaism. Believing that God has come down to embody himself in the person of Jesus to atone and redeem the world is a Christian doctrine and what makes a person Christian. Judaism believes the Messiah has not yet come.

Orthodox Jews believe that Judaism …

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Popular author and preacher Francis Chan was recently questioned by fellow pastors who are trying to get their heads around Chan's decision to leave his megachurch.

"I'll be honest. Everybody thinks you're cuckoo for cocoa puffs. You got a good church going on and you hit the eject button and now you're the international man of fu Manchu mystery," said Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. "What is going on? What are you thinking?"

Chan announced in April that he would be letting go of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California – a church he founded 16 years ago – to follow a stirring in his heart. He preached his last sermon there in May and has since been speaking to Christians and pastors alike about his restlessness with comfortable Christianity and his desire to surrender himself fully to God.

Responding to Driscoll during a frank discussion – that also included Pastor Joshua Harris of Gaithersburg, Maryland – about his decision, Chan said, "A lot of it is personal. A lot of it is when I look at the Scriptures I see this commitment, this devotion, this hardcore 'we will follow, we'll do …

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An aid worker for Christian relief organisation Samaritan's Purse was released on Monday after being held hostage for 105 days in Sudan. The 35-year-old employee, Flavia Wagner, is exhausted but in good health, according to a spokesman for Samaritan's Purse. She is currently in Khartoum.

In May, Wagner, a Sudanese Samaritan's Purse employee and a Sudanese driver were abducted after their two-vehicle convoy was stopped by eight armed men 15 miles southwest of Nyala in Sudan's Darfur region. The three hostages were part of a ten-person team engaged in educational assessments in local communities in the region.

On May 25, seven days after the kidnapping, the two Sudanese men were released unharmed and without explanation in Thur, Darfur. Wagner, however, remained in captivity but was allowed to contact her family and Samaritan's Purse staff on several occasions.

For the past three months, Samaritan's Purse worked with US and Sudanese government officials to secure the aid worker's release. “We thank God that Flavia is safe and free,” commented Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse.

“We appreciate the help of the government of Sudan and the United States government. “People around the world have been praying for …

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