WASHINGTON (BP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court contemplated the right of business owners to exercise their religious beliefs in the face of a government decree upon their companies during oral arguments in a case that is expected to have a long-lasting impact. On Tuesday (March 25), the justices heard lawyers for the Obama administration and two corporations debate the constitutionality of the federal government's abortion/contraception mandate, which requires employers to provide … [Read more...]
A disaster in the desert: what the veto of Arizona 1062 means
Brandon McGinley/Pennsylvania Family Institute Arizona is populated largely by warty, crooked-fingered Christians who were waiting excitedly to eject LGBT people from their restaurants, flower shops, and laundromats until Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed Senate Bill (SB) 1062. This is the only conclusion one can draw from the hysterical claims peddled by LGBT activists, business leaders, and several prominent Republicans about the infamous religious liberty bill. If the bill were to have been … [Read more...]
Hobby Lobby Q&A with Attorney Joshua Hawley
Joshua Hawley, associate professor of law at the University of Missouri, will speak at the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) annual Worldview Conference here, April 3, less than two weeks after he stands before the United States Supreme Court in a landmark case on religious liberty. Hawley serves on the legal team that will defend Hobby Lobby before the Supreme Court, March 25. The Green family – the Southern Baptist owners of Hobby Lobby – filed a lawsuit against the Department of … [Read more...]
True Love Waits Documentary
Aaron Earls/LifeWay Christian Resources NASHVILLE (BP) – After 20 years and millions of pledge cards, has True Love Waits (TLW) had a positive impact and does it still matter? A new documentary by LifeWay Films examines the history and future of True Love Waits. The international purity movement captured the national conversation in 1994 by covering the National Mall with cards from teenagers promising to remain sexually pure. The documentary “True Love Waits: The Complicated … [Read more...]
Hobby Lobby files brief with Supreme Court
ERIN ROACH/Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) – In a case that could reverberate for decades, Hobby Lobby filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Feb. 10 asking the court to protect the religious liberty of the craft chain’s owners in regard to the Health and Human Services (HHS) contraception mandate. “Our argument at the Supreme Court is simple and straightforward: The plain terms of federal law protect religious exercise wherever it occurs – in the home, in a church, in a charity or … [Read more...]
U.S. Religious liberty on decline
Bob Smietana/LifeWay Research NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Americans have always had mixed feelings about religious liberty. Most say it’s important, but they don’t always agree how much liberty is enough or too much. That’s the issue at the heart of the upcoming Supreme Court hearings between Hobby Lobby and the Obama Administration over the Health and Human Services (HHS) contraceptive mandate. It’s a dispute that is unlikely to go away, no matter what the Supreme Court … [Read more...]
IMB’s Elliff to retire
AUSTIN, Texas (BP)—IMB President Tom Elliff, today asked the chairman of the mission agency’s board of trustees to appoint a search committee for his successor. Elliff made this request during his report at the mission agency’s Feb. 25-26 trustee meeting in Austin, Texas. He said he will remain president until the next IMB president is in place. A 15-member search committee was named to begin the process. “Based on what (Jeannie and I) believe to be the Lord's clear leading, today I … [Read more...]
Video: Don Hinkle interviews Gail McWilliams
Pathway Editor Don Hinkle begins an on-going series of occasional, brief interviews with newsmakers and interesting people of the Christian faith. His initial interview is with author and inspirational speaker Gail McWilliams, who shares her testimony and how she sacrificed her eyesight in order to save her baby. The interview was filmed in January 2014 in a studio at the Baptist Building in Jefferson City, Mo. … [Read more...]
Survey: Donors to give more this holiday season
DALLAS – Donors say they plan to give more to charity this holiday season than in 2012, according to a study released by Dunham+Company. The percentage of donors who said they would give more increased from 6 percent in 2012 to 9 percent in 2013. But the real shift came in what older donors said they would give. Although the majority of donors 60 and older said they would give the same amount to charity this holiday season, four times as many indicated they were more likely to increase … [Read more...]
Elliff: Southern Baptists taking gospel to the world
Laura Fielding/International Mission Board CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP) – In a “Thanksgiving report” to International Mission Board (IMB) trustees during their Nov. 7-8 meeting in Charlotte, N.C. , IMB President Tom Elliff expressed gratitude to God for Southern Baptists’ support of IMB through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Elliff also expressed thanksgiving for the untiring work and interest of IMB trustees, the dedication of IMB personnel in the U.S. and … [Read more...]
DR: MBC already on ground in Cebu City, Philippines
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Missouri Baptists are on the ground in typhoon-ravaged islands of the Philippines, and leaders are asking for prayer, future volunteers and funds. Dwain Carter, director of Disaster Relief (DR) for the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) and Mike Beasley, a disaster relief “white hat” from Trimble Baptist Church, left Nov. 13 for the Philippines joining two Southern Baptists from Texas at the request of the United Nations (UN), the Filipino government and Baptist … [Read more...]
Baptist tornado relief continues in Midwest
By Tobin Perry KOKOMO, Ind. – For many exhausted homeowners in Kokomo, Ind., working around the clock to clean up their homes, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) has been a welcome reprieve. SBDR volunteer Karol Jones, a member of Ladoga Baptist Church in Jamestown, Ind., says over and over this week she has talked to worn-out homeowners who can’t believe Southern Baptists would help them—even in the midst of freezing rain—with cleanup, yet not ask anything in return. One … [Read more...]