ISRAEL (BP) – Ric Worshill learned early that it was not something his family discussed, the murder of 6 million Jewish civilians during World War 2 that ended an entire side of his family. “It’s too heartbreaking, I think. It’s very hard,” Worshill told Baptist Press as Israel marked the beginning of Yom HaShoah on the evening of April 17. “It’s a whole side of the family that basically doesn’t exist anymore because they were killed in the camps, or killed in the resistance. Some of the … [Read more...]
State of the Bible 2023: Scripture engagement still down, but interest up
PHILADELPHIA (BP) – Scripture engagement remains down among Americans, but a widespread curiosity gives ground for evangelism, the American Bible Society (ABS) said in releasing the first chapter of its 2023 State of the Bible survey. Only 47 million Americans, or about 18 percent of the adult population, ranked as Scripture-Engaged in the 2023 study, using a descriptor based on Bible use and its impact in one’s life. Scripture-engaged described 49 million adults in 2022, down from 71 … [Read more...]
Easter story in Muscogee language spreads gospel, revives Native tongue
SEMINOLE, Okla. (BP) – Mary Emarthle, an Oklahoma Seminole Creek grandmother, became enamored in her childhood with the similarity between English and Muscogee when her mother read Scripture to her in their native tongue. Her father had always told her never to stop speaking Muscogee, rendered Mvskoke, and she had spoken it exclusively until she entered first grade in Seminole County public schools, where she was required to speak English. “I began to look at the (Mvskoke) Bible and … [Read more...]
Jerusalem pastors ask Israel for safety at Easter amid rising violence
JERUSALEM (BP) – Pastors of churches in Jerusalem appealed in their joint Easter message for freedom to worship safely in the Holy Land this Easter as violence has mounted against Christians. In their 2023 joint Easter message, the patriarchs and heads of the churches of Jerusalem noted violence that Christians have suffered at worship services, funerals and other public gatherings, as well as government intervention that limited access to holy sites during Holy Week of 2022. “For … [Read more...]
After Christian school mass shooting, Woodmont Baptist provides sanctuary
NASHVILLE (BP) – They had never ridden a bus before, youth minister Beth Howe said of preschoolers bussed to Woodmont Baptist Church after an active shooter targeted their private Christian elementary school two miles away. One little girl asked why there were bad guys. Howe bandaged the scratches on the arm of another who had been at recess when the shooting began. “She jumped in the bushes to hide when they heard the gunshots,” said Howe, Woodmont’s minister of students and … [Read more...]
With 21 dead, churches respond to tornado damage amid personal tragedies
ROLLING FORK, Miss. (BP) – Pastor Bob Gilliland’s son Roger called and told him to turn on the weather; a tornado was approaching. “I was getting ready to go to bed and she was watching her Hallmark,” the 81-year-old Gilliland said of himself and his wife Betty, 79. “We turned on the weather and they were showing pictures of the tornado and said it was heading towards us. She got in the bathroom and I stood in the hall. The tornado came through and shook the house but neither one of us … [Read more...]
King David’s reign confirmed in text on ancient stone, scholars say
PARIS (BP) – New readings of text on the Moabite Stone studied for 150 years give new evidence that the stone includes an extra-biblical reference to King David, scholars have announced. The latest reading reveals previously illegible characters to complete the phrase “the House of David” on the 31st line of the 34-line inscription written in the ninth century B.C., scholars assert in the current issue of the Biblical Archeology Review. Southern Baptist archeologist and theologian Jim … [Read more...]
Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List shows persecution spiking in Sub-Saharan Africa
ORANGE, Calif. (BP) – Violence against Christians is spiking in Sub-Saharan Africa, driven by violence nurtured in Nigeria by Islamic and Fulani terrorists, Open Doors U.S. said Jan. 17 in its 2023 World Watch List tracking Christian persecution globally. Nearly 90 percent of the 5,621 Christians killed in the study period were in Nigeria, Open Doors U.S. said, verifying 5,014 such killings there. “Open Doors only records the events that we can verify. In reality much persecution, … [Read more...]
Pakistan eyeing more stringent blasphemy law despite growing outrage
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (BP) – Pakistan’s lower house of parliament has passed a bill strengthening punishment for blasphemy despite international outcry and security concerns among Christians and other religious minorities there. Blasphemy already carries punishment as severe as death in the majority-Muslim country, but the Criminal Laws Bill amendment passed Jan. 17 in the National Assembly would increase jail terms from three years to 10 years for insulting the prophet Mohammad’s … [Read more...]
Top 10 findings, ministry insights from State of the Bible 2022
PHILADELPHIA (BP) – Scripture engagement improves life in all areas except financial wealth, but Bible use continues to lag behind levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Bible Society said in recapping key findings from the 2022 State of the Bible. “People live better lives when they engage with the Bible – reading it frequently, applying its teachings to their decisions, and making it central to their faith,” the ABS said. “Personally, they experience less stress, less … [Read more...]
Election day results: Religious freedom dismissed in Nevada, Arkansas; legal marijuana results vary
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article includes additional reporting from Pathway staff. CARSON CITY, Nev. (BP) – Voters in Nevada and Arkansas took steps deemed contrary to and problematic for religious freedom in Nov. 8 midterm elections, while legalized marijuana passed in two of the five states that considered it. Nevada voters added gender identity and sexual orientation to freedoms protected in the state constitution with 57.11 percent of voters approving the Equality of Rights Amendment, … [Read more...]
Steven Curtis Chapman bares soul in latest ‘I Am Second’ film
PLANO, Texas (BP) – Halfway between Possum Trot and Monkey’s Eyebrow, Ky., – Paducah, that is – Steven Curtis Chapman grew up hearing his father intervene with prayer when family discord arose. “I remember as a little boy hearing my dad pray prayers like, ‘God, I don’t know how to be a good father or a good husband ‘cause I didn’t have a dad in my life. But you’re my Father now, and will you please teach me how to do that?’ “And so, as a little guy,” Chapman said, “I got to see the … [Read more...]
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