JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Four Missouri taxpayers filed a lawsuit on Jan. 8 challenging Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s recent executive order that permitted some same-sex couples to file a Missouri combined income tax return as “husband” and “wife” for 2013, in spite of a 2004 state constitutional amendment which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. The lawsuit challenges Executive Order 13-14 as being unconstitutional, and alleges that the governor is trying to thwart the will … [Read more...]
McWilliams bringing her touching story to Legislative Prayer Service Jan. 8
JEFFERSON CITY – As a young, pregnant mother, Gail McWilliams was faced with a decision that would impact her and her baby for the rest of their lives. A rare medical condition forced her to decide between keeping her baby or losing her eyesight. She chose life for her baby and has been blind ever since. A Rolla native, McWilliams, now a member of Prestonwood Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, will bring her inspiring story of love, courage and self-sacrifice to Missouri as the Missouri … [Read more...]
Marriage suffers another blow with polygamy ruling
As most Americans were thinking thoughts of Christmas cheer, a federal judge in Utah dropped a bomb on the institution of marriage, striking down the most crucial sections of the Utah statute outlawing polygamy. Dec. 13, Judge Clark Waddoups of the United States District Court in Utah ruled that Utah’s anti-polygamy law is unconstitutional, violating the free exercise clause of the First Amendment as well as the guarantee of due process. In one sense, the decision was almost inevitable, … [Read more...]
Saeed Abedini’s wife testifies before Congress
WASHINGTON (BP) – Less than two weeks before Christmas, Naghmeh Abedini testified before Congress on behalf of her husband, U.S. citizen and pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been imprisoned in Iran since last June because of his Christian faith. “My husband is suffering because he is a Christian,” Abedini said when she addressed a subcommittee hearing of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee on Dec. 12. “He is suffering because he is an American. Yet, his own government … [Read more...]
Attorney: Hobby Lobby will win at Supreme Court
Editor’s note: Joshua Hawley, who teaches at the University of Missouri Law School, is on the legal team that will defend Hobby Lobby before the U.S. Supreme Court in March. Joshua Hawley/associate professor of law COLUMBIA – Just before Thanksgiving, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would decide the suit brought by Hobby Lobby, the national arts-and-crafts store whose owners are Southern Baptists, challenging what is sometimes called the contraceptive mandate. The mandate is … [Read more...]
SBC entities defend ministerial housing allowance
Tom Strode/Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention’s religious freedom and financial benefits entities both expressed their opposition to a federal court ruling invalidating the ministerial housing allowance. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and GuideStone Financial Resources protested a Nov. 22 decision by federal Judge Barbara Crabb that struck down the portion of a 1954 federal law that allows clergy to exclude for federal income tax … [Read more...]
Legislative Prayer Service
The Legislative Prayer Breakfast and Service bring together Missouri government leaders and citizens for a time of worship and prayer for the new legislative year. The governor along with many members of the Missouri General Assembly, the Missouri Supreme Court, and their families and staffs are expected to attend. One of the undergirding principles of the prayer service, which is sponsored by The Pathway, the Christian Life Commission, and the host church, has been that Christians have … [Read more...]
ERLC’s Russell Moore emphasizes gospel-centered political engagement
Tom Strode/Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) – A new, more conservative generation of evangelical Christians should engage politics, not retreat from it, because of the gospel of Jesus, Southern Baptist Ethicist Russell D. Moore says in the latest issue of First Things. Writing in the influential journal, the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission says the apparent return to a confessional, gospel-centered faith among evangelicals – which he describes as “good news” – … [Read more...]
Mocking marriage and Missouri voters
Last month Gov. Jay Nixon directed the state Department of Revenue to accept joint tax filings from same-sex couples who were “married” in another state, but live here. Now the Missouri National Guard is issuing ID cards to same-sex “married” couples in order to process spousal benefits even though they were “married” in another state. Both actions defy Missouri’s Constitution, which was amended by voters 71 percent to 29 percent in 2004, defining marriage as between one man and one … [Read more...]
Prayer lawsuit filed against Fayette school
FAYETTE – Voluntary prayer in schools is under attack in the central Missouri town of Fayette. The American Humanist Association (AHA), a progressive group that actively lobbies for separation of church and state, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri claiming the prayer sessions held at Fayette High School violated students’ constitutional rights. Also listed as plaintiffs are “GH,” a sophomore at Fayette High School last year (though no longer a … [Read more...]
American Minute: Nov. 26th
[sc_embed_player fileurl="http://www.americanminute.com/media/audio/11-26%20November.mp3"] Listen to today's edition of American Minute. In order to thank God for the First Amendment, which was passed but Congress, September 25, 1789, President George Washington issued a week later the first National Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 3, 1789: "Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me 'to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public … [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...]
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