BOCA RATON, Fla. (BP) – An appeals court reversal of laws in Florida banning counseling for teenagers experiencing same-sex attraction has the potential to overturn such bans nationwide, the winning attorney told Baptist Press. In a 2-1 decision, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned separate bans in Boca Raton and Palm Beach County, Fla., Friday (Nov. 20), deeming them unconstitutional and a violation of free speech. Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which … [Read more...]
New mandated sex education in Washington state bucks biblical teaching
OLYMPIA, Wash. (BP) – Newly mandated sexual health education in kindergarten through senior high public schools in Washington state includes guidance contrary to Scripture, according to several groups opposing the change. Referendum 90 passed with 57 percent of the vote Nov. 3, despite opposition from a coalition including pro-life and pro-family advocates, leaders of five public school districts and Republican legislators. Those opposed decried what they called the “early sexualization” … [Read more...]
Voters approve Louisiana abortion restriction and Alabama church gun laws
BATON ROUGE, La. (BP) – Louisiana’s new constitutional amendment restricting abortion is especially close to Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn’s heart. His adopted 10-year-old son Dru was born after the birth mother sought help at a pro-life pregnancy center. “It’s hard to get my head wrapped around what could have been,” Horn said Wednesday after the passage of Louisiana Amendment 1 declaring no state constitutional right to abortion nor abortion funding. The pro-life … [Read more...]
Worship God by tithing, Floyd says in free biblical stewardship resource
NASHVILLE (BP) – The financial offering is an exciting part of worship deserving preparation and exhortation on par with sermons, SBC Executive Committee President and CEO Ronnie Floyd believes. That’s a main point of the new resource he authored, “Ten percent: A Call to Biblical Stewardship,” available in digital format and in print at sbc.net. “Giving is an act of worshipping God; therefore, as we give, we should give our best with a pure heart,” Floyd said. “Pastors are privileged … [Read more...]
CP feeds international students during COVID-19 economic slump
EDITOR’S NOTE: October is Cooperative Program Emphasis Month in the Southern Baptist Convention. BATON ROUGE (BP) – Longtime Baptist collegiate minister Steve Masters received a call from an international student at the start of the COVID-19 economic shutdown. The Louisiana State University student’s job was no longer available. “He wanted to know if we could provide him with some money or some food. So I gave him some personal money and I provided him with some direct food,” Masters … [Read more...]
Franklin Graham announces national prayer march in Washington
WASHINGTON (BP) — Evangelist Franklin Graham is asking Americans to join him in a Washington prayer march Sept. 26 to plead for God to save the nation from its present distress. “Our communities are hurting. Our people are divided, and there’s fear and uncertainty all around us,” Graham said in a video announcing the event. “So let’s join together and do the most important thing, and that is to pray.” Amid a global COVID-19 pandemic and an international uprising decrying injustice and … [Read more...]
Racial healing, Great Commission, Cooperative Program headline SBC Advance event, June 2
NASHVILLE (BP) – Amid unprecedented challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as racial unrest and tumult after the recent death of an African American man in police custody, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee offered a healing balm June 2 with SBC Advance. The two-hour online event was not intended to replace the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting (originally scheduled June 9-10 in Orlando, but canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic), but instead to … [Read more...]
Paycheck Protection Plan draws feedback from pastors, ethicists
SEATTLE (BP) – As pastor of Epic Life Church in Seattle with only five employees, Keith Carpenter sees the Paycheck Protection Plan loan as a godsend during a devastating economic downturn prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. So does pastor A.B. Vines, whose multisite New Seasons Church in Spring Valley, Calif., employs about 50. But some pastors have theological and ethical concerns with the loan, which is administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration. "The purpose behind the loan … [Read more...]
SBC EC grants Uth extension for Pastors’ Conference response
ORLANDO, Fla. (BP) – SBC Pastors' Conference president David Uth has been granted an extended time for fasting and prayer before responding to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee's stipulation that program adjustments be made before space is allocated at the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting venue. Responding to dissension over the 2020 SBC Pastors' Conference (SBCPC) speaker roster, the SBC EC originally voted Feb. 18 to give the SBCPC until Feb. 24 to make suitable changes to its … [Read more...]
Love story spotlights Jeremy Camp’s creative muse
NASHVILLE (BP) – Jeremy Camp was driving down California’s Big Bear Mountain, fasting and praying for a breakthrough from pain and grief. Melissa had died only three months after their wedding. Camp sought solace in the mountains, he recalled in an interview with Baptist Jan. 21, nearly 20 years later. It was his song “Walk by Faith,” still on a demo that day in 2001, that helped him heal. “I remember saying, ‘I will walk by faith, even when I cannot see, because this broken road prepares … [Read more...]
One Christian killed, 12 kidnapped in Nigeria
KADUNA, Nigeria (BP) – A Baptist woman is dead and 12 Christians including church members, school students and teachers remain kidnapped in two successive incidents in Kaduna, Nigeria, widely attributed to militant Fulani herdsmen. In the latest incident, herdsmen killed Ezra Haruna of Godiya Baptist Church in Ungwan Barau village and kidnapped four of her fellow church members, Morning Star News reported Thursday (Oct. 10). Many residents fled into nearby bushes, Morning Star … [Read more...]
School year spurs religious liberty battles
CHICAGO (BP) – The 2019 school year has brought religious liberty challenges for college and high school students in the U.S., including action in Illinois, Tennessee and North Carolina. In Illinois, four Wheaton College students have sued the city of Chicago for the right to distribute religious flyers and preach in a public park after the city set new rules against such action. In Tennessee, two high schools faced backlash from the Freedom from Religion Foundation when a coach led … [Read more...]
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