Beware Spiritual Attacks in Your Home, Warns Christian Actress Candace Cameron Bure

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May 13, 2022

candace cameron bure — Screenshot from YouTube / @Jeannie Ortega

When family members’ moods go haywire, don’t discount Satan’s efforts to chip away at your faith and peace. That’s the message Christian actress Candace Cameron Bure shared online this week.

In an Instagram story Wednesday, the mother of three admits that her home’s atmosphere felt weirdly “cranky” for three days. Although her family members are “usually really peaceful and happy,” lately “everyone’s been irritable, including me, and everyone is just like at each other.”

Candace Cameron Bure: Don’t Overlook Spiritual Attacks

Bure, who stars on “Fuller House” and in many Hallmark Christmas movies, says she finally realized all the irritability, crankiness, and confusion were signs that “the enemy’s attacking.” Spiritual attacks can be easy to overlook, she says, causing family members “to just blame one another when things go wrong.”

The devil is “a very real and powerful enemy at work every single day of our lives,” says Bure. She rebukes Satan, saying he “has no control or authority in my home.” Instead, “Jesus has all authority, all power in my home, and reigns in my home!”

In her video post, Bure calls on the Holy Spirit and prays out “any evil spirits that are in here.” She says she fills her house with worship music, Scripture, and God’s power and truth. The actress encourages anyone facing tough times or “unexplainable” things to “not forget what’s going on in the world around us.”

Candace Cameron Bure Inks Media Deal With GAC Family

Last month, Bure jumped ship from the Hallmark Channel to partner with its newest competitor. She signed a deal with the rebranded GAC Family, accepting an executive role. Bure will develop, produce, and star in films and TV shows, create year-round seasonal content, and be involved with the company’s Great American Christmas.

“I’m very excited to develop heartwarming family and faith-filled programming and make the kind of stories my family and I love to watch,” Bure says. “I am constantly looking for ways that I can inspire people to live life with purpose.” GAC is a great fit for her “brand,” she adds, because “we share a vision of creating compelling wholesome content for an audience who wants to watch programming for and with the whole family. Great, quality entertainment with a positive message is what my partnership with GAC is all about.”

Facing 20 Years in Prison for Child Pornography, Josh Duggar Pleads With Judge for Mercy

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Jesse T. Jackson

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May 13, 2022

34-year-old former “19 Kids and Counting” reality star Josh Duggar is pleading to a federal judge for mercy before his sentencing on May 25, 2022. Duggar was convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography last December.

Duggar and his wife Anna have been married 13 years and have seven children. Anna’s husband was arrested on April 29, 2021 by U.S. Marshals for child pornography found on a computer he used at his Arkansas car dealership. Since his conviction, Duggar has been in prison awaiting sentencing.

Although he was charged with one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography, which involved sexually explicit images of girls under the ages of nine and one that showed torture and abuse of an infant, Duggar maintains that he is innocent.

Federal prosecutors are seeking a 20-year sentence, detailed in a memorandum submitted this past Wednesday. Prosecutors cite that Duggar is a “grave” risk to commit similar crimes again, referencing his “prior sexual exploitation of multiple minors,” that is, the molestation of his four sisters and babysitter when he was a teenager.

“Duggar has a deep-seated, pervasive, and violent sexual interest in children and a willingness to act on that interest,” the memorandum said.

Prosecutors further argued that Duggar’s computer expertise increases the likelihood he will reoffend.

“Duggar is a very sophisticated computer user with a history of downloading, installing, and utilizing peer-to-peer file-sharing programs and an understanding that his use of those programs would—and, indeed, did—result in the distribution of the material to others,” prosecutors said.

Duggar‘s attorneys are requesting a sentence of only five years with supervision after his release. In their own memorandum, Duggar’s attorneys paint their client as a victim, saying his life “has already been shattered. His reputation, career, and family have all suffered.”

The computer seized from Duggar’s car dealership wasn’t only used by their client, the attorneys have argued, suggesting the possibility that another employee downloaded the illegal images.

Duggar’s attorneys are attempting to make the case that whoever downloaded the explicit underaged material only viewed some of it, “deleted all of it within a few days, and then never sought anything like it ever again.”

“It is only fair that this Court place the allegations into the context of cases of this nature,” the attorneys said. “And, in that way, this is less severe than the lion’s share of child pornography cases that end up in federal court.”

Dallas Church, Investors Snag Real Estate Award for Grocery Store in Food Desert

By

Diana Chandler

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May 13, 2022

DALLAS (BP) – When Cornerstone Baptist Church began developing a grocery store in a food desert in southern Dallas, a local college professor railed that a store without beer, wine, lottery tickets or cigarettes wouldn’t attract clientele, senior pastor Chris Simmons lamented to Baptist Press.

The professor’s assessment proved only an insult. Southpoint Community Market, offering fresh meats, vegetables and other items to residents at deep discounts, captured the Dallas Business Journal’s award for “Best Real Estate Deals of 2021: Neighborhood Impact.”

“It is an effort, because we are in a food desert, to bring fresh and affordable items to the neighborhood so that individuals don’t have to pay a $5- to $6- bus ride to get some of their basic essentials,” Simmons told Baptist Press. “It’s been a great success. We’ve seen a 600 percent increase since we opened. The community is really responding.”

Dallas Business Journal honored the market April 21, choosing it over finalists the City of Dallas Fire Station #6 and The Pocket Sandwich Theatre.

“Located at 2839 S. Ervay St., Southpoint Community Market is a nearly 1,300-square-feet store providing access to affordable and healthy food for residents in the area,” the Dallas Business Journal wrote in announcing the award. “In its first month, the store made about $2,500 in revenue, and last month, the store generated about $14,000.”

In addition to Simmons, Cornerstone Community Development Corporation Program Director Donald Wesson, The Real Estate Council’s (TREC) Associate Leadership Council Class of 2020 and TREC Community Investors including Mike Galindo, Jacob Prince and Matt Ballard are identified as key players in the real estate deal.

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Funding the deal was a $78,000 grant from TREC Community Investors and $273,000 in in-kind and pro-bono services secured by the Associate Leadership Council class.

“One thing we were able to do is get a donor who was able to help us, and so we’re able to bring some of the items that they’re not able to get on the EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer card) down to affordable prices,” Simmons said. “He (the developer) is able to go to the dollar store and get paper towels, toilet paper, and then we charge half of what he pays for it. They all pay something because we want them to have the dignity of paying something, but they don’t pay the full price.”

The market is one of many outreaches by Cornerstone Baptist Church and the Cornerstone Community Development Corporation to serve the community, including a kitchen, a medical clinic, a laundromat, a clothes closet, a shower room and other services.

“Our vision was to bring 7-11 convenience at a Walmart price, so individuals could still affordably shop in their neighborhood,” the Dallas Business Journal quoted Simmons. “We discovered that we’re in a poor community, but people have access to funds and will spend money if you provide the items that they need and want, so that’s been very encouraging.”

The market is open six days a week including Sundays and employs one fulltime and three part-time workers. Wesson and church volunteers also staff the market. Local business owners can sell their items there.

Measuring COVID-19’s Effect: Southern Baptists Report 19% Attendance Drop

By

Adelle M Banks

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May 13, 2022

(RNS) — Anecdotally, clergy have talked about the disruption in worship attendance in this pandemic age. Now, Southern Baptists have statistics to prove it.

The average in-person weekly attendance at Southern Baptist Convention churches declined 18.75%, from 4,439,797 in 2020 to 3,607,530 in 2021.

Christian education saw an even larger decrease of 22.15%, with Sunday school, Bible study and small groups reduced from 2,879,130 to 2,241,514.

The Annual Church Profile, a compilation from the denomination’s state conventions, was released Thursday (May 12) by Lifeway Christian Resources, the convention’s data gathering division.

Researchers also blamed COVID-19 for the slowdown in baptisms in the past two years. While there has been a 26% annual increase in baptisms at Southern Baptist churches, from 123,160 in 2020 to 154,701 in 2021, overall baptisms are nowhere near the total of 235,748 reported in 2019, the year before the pandemic began.

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said the recent rise in baptisms was due not only to churches’ reopening as the pandemic eased earlier this year, but to the increased evangelism the easing allowed.

“Some people could have been ready to be baptized but delayed it until their church was meeting again,” he told Religion News Service. “But we attribute most of the growth to individuals and churches resuming activities where they have shared the gospel with others.”

Willie McLaurin, the SBC Executive Committee’s interim president and CEO, said in Lifeway’s announcement of the 2021 profile that he rejoiced at the “uptick” in baptisms.

“I am incredibly proud of local churches that have stayed steady with evangelism during the pandemic,” said McLaurin. “The increase in baptisms highlights that local pastors and churches prioritize soul-winning, evangelism and discipleship.”

The only other growth Southern Baptists saw in 2021 was in financial giving. Contributions increased by $304 million for a total of $11.8 billion overall.

But membership is continuing its decline of many years with a 3% loss, from 14,089,947 in 2020 to 13,680,493 in 2021.

‘My Body Is Not a Prayer Request’ Imagines a Disability-Centered Church

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Kathryn Post

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May 13, 2022

(RNS ) — “God told me to pray for you!” is about the last thing Amy Kenny wants to hear when she cruises into church riding Diana, the mobility scooter she has named after Wonder Woman.

It’s not that she has anything against prayer. Kenny, a Shakespeare scholar and lecturer at the University of California, Riverside who is disabled, would simply like other Christians to quit treating her body as defective. “To suggest that I am anything less than sanctified and redeemed is to suppress the image of God in my disabled body and to limit how God is already at work through my life,” Kenny writes in her new book, “My Body Is Not a Prayer Request.”

The book, which comes out this month, invites readers to consider how ableism is baked into their everyday assumptions and imagines a world — and a church — where the needs of disabled people aren’t ignored or tolerated, but are given their rightful place at the center of conversations.

Kenny combines humor and personal anecdotes with biblical reflections to show how disabilities, far from being a failure of nature or the Divine, point to God’s vastness. She reframes often overlooked stories about disability in Scripture, from Jacob’s limp to Jesus’ post-crucifixion scars. Abolishing ableism, she concludes, benefits disabled and nondisabled people alike.

Religion News Service spoke to Kenny about making the church what she calls a “crip space,” her belief in a disabled God and why she prefers Good Friday over Easter. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

At what point did you begin seeing your disability as a blessing?

I was told often by doctors that my spine and my leg and my body was crooked. I began seeing how crooked and jagged creation is, the way elm trees have snaking branches and maple leaves are ragged and kangaroos don’t walk but hop. I didn’t have any trouble thinking about those elements as beautiful and divine. Yet when applied to humans, disability was thought of as dangerous and sinful. That just didn’t make sense to me. So based on the idea that creation is delightfully crooked, I started to think about how my body, too, is made in the image of the Divine and its crookedness isn’t anything to be ashamed of.

Can you explain the difference between curing and healing?

I think of curing as a physical process, usually a pretty rapid one — in Western society, going to the doctor and wanting a fix for whatever illness you are experiencing. Healing is much richer than that. It’s deeper. Healing is messy and complex. It takes time. It’s about restoring someone to communal wellness.

What is “crip space” and what does it look like in the context of a church?

Crip space is a disability community term that is reclaiming what has been used as a derogatory slur against us, cripple, as a way of gaining disability pride. It’s saying that we are not ashamed to be disabled, that our body-minds are not embarrassments. Crip space puts those who are most marginalized at the center and follows their lead. So folks who are queer, black, disabled people.

Generally, churches want a checklist or a list of don’ts. It’s much more nuanced and human than that. It’s noticing that there’s no ramp to the building you’re in, or no sensory spaces for people to take a break. It’s noticing that the language of the songs or the sermon is ableist and changing those words. It’s recognizing when the community is missing disabled folks. I’ve often had that as an excuse: “We don’t have any other disabled people but you.” Well, I wonder if that’s related to your lack of accessibility.

Could you share why you use the term body-minds?

It’s a disability community term that is attempting to undo some of that mind/body dualism. And it’s asking for us to think about how our bodies and our minds work in concert with one another. It’s also a way of being inclusive, making sure that when we talk about disability, we’re not just talking about mobility issues. We’re not just talking about visible disabilities. We’re also talking about hidden disabilities.

Women Settle Suit Alleging Liberty Mishandled Assault Cases

By

Sarah Rankin

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May 13, 2022

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit twelve women brought last summer against Liberty University, accusing the Christian institution of fostering an unsafe environment on its Virginia campus and mishandling cases of sexual assault and harassment.

A notice of dismissal filed Wednesday by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Jack Larkin, said the case had been settled but provided no details about the terms.

In a statement Thursday, Liberty said a settlement had been reached with all the plaintiffs and all but two additional women Larkin represented. The university did not disclose the terms of the agreement but outlined a number of other changes it has undertaken in recent months to improve campus security and review how it responds to incidents of sexual harassment or violence.

“Liberty University president Jerry Prevo made it clear when the Jane Does filed their lawsuit that, despite certain claims being potentially outside of the statute of limitations, the university was committed to doing what it could to ‘make things right’ with the plaintiffs,” the statement said.

Larkin did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. But he told TV station WDBJ the settlement terms were confidential.

The development comes as the prominent evangelical school in Lynchburg faces continued scrutiny over its handling of sex assault cases. It is facing other lawsuits that raise similar allegations and recently acknowledged to news outlets that the U.S. Department of Education is reviewing its compliance with the federal Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to maintain and disclose crime statistics and security information.

In a statement, the department acknowledged the oversight work was ongoing but said no further comment would be provided until “the outcome officially has been communicated to the institution.”

The recently settled lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York and made various claims under Title IX, the federal law that protects against sex discrimination in education.

It alleged that Liberty’s strict honor code makes it “difficult or impossible” for students to report sexual violence. It said the university had a “tacit policy” of weighting investigations in favor of accused male students, and it said the university retaliated against women who did make such reports.

The women, former students and employees, all filed suit anonymously and were identified as Jane Doe 1-12. Their allegations spanned more than two decades.

Some plaintiffs in the lawsuit described being raped or sexually harassed and having their cases mishandled or effectively ignored. One woman alleged pregnancy discrimination.

A status report filed in the case in February said that if it was not resolved “amicably” an amended complaint would be filed adding new plaintiffs, including a current student.

In its statement, Liberty said it has spent over $8.5 million on campus security upgrades, including the installation of security cameras, blue light emergency call boxes and enhanced lighting, along with a new cellphone app for emergency reporting.

Liberty said it has made donations to community sexual assault response programs and is reviewing its counseling services to ensure there are more services available from licensed mental health providers, “including in rapid response scenarios resulting from sexual assault.”

The university is also revising its amnesty policy to “better communicate” that it will not discipline parties who engage in behaviors, in connection with a case of sexual harassment or assault “that would have otherwise violated its student honor code.”

Liberty has also been in the spotlight recently for its acrimonious split with former president and chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. in 2020. Litigation between Falwell and the school is ongoing.

This article originally appeared here.

No More Murder Charge for Women in Louisiana Abortion Bill

By

Kevin McGill

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May 13, 2022

abortion bill — Anti-abortion demonstrators outside the Louisiana Capitol show support for legislation that would subject women who get abortions to possible murder charges on Thursday, May 12, 2022 in Baton Rouge, La. The legislation was to be debated Thursday night by state House members. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The sponsor of a bill that would have subjected Louisiana women to murder charges for having abortions abruptly pulled the proposal from debate Thursday night after House members voted 65-26 to totally revamp the legislation, eliminating the criminal penalties.

The controversial bill would have ventured farther against abortion than lawmakers’ efforts in any other state. It would have made women who end their pregnancies subject to criminal homicide prosecutions.

“This is a thorny political question, but we all know that it is actually very simple. Abortion is murder,” Rep. Danny McCormick, a Republican from Oil City, proclaimed as he opened debate. He noted that a majority of Louisiana lawmakers in the heavily Republican Legislature say they are anti-abortion, and briefly chided those abortion opponents who also oppose his bill. “We’re faltering and trying to explain it away.”

But McCormick’s measure had drawn increasingly strong opposition from many anti-abortion stalwarts. Gov. John Bel Edwards, an anti-abortion Democrat, said he would veto it. Louisiana Right to Life, the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the National Right to Life Committee were among the prominent anti-abortion opponents of the measure.

Edwards, a devout Catholic, declared prosecuting women for abortion “absurd.”

McCormick had just as strongly disagreed, saying a woman who has an abortion should be in the same legal position as a woman who takes the life of a child after birth. “When I give equal protection to the unborn, that’s the possibility,” he said in a Wednesday evening phone interview.

Supporters of the bill were adamant. Scores of them gathered at the Capitol to pray and show support. As the group watched from the House balcony as the bill was pulled, one shouted “Shame.”

The House had not yet started debating the controversial legislation when the building was temporarily evacuated Thursday after the speaker interrupted proceedings and said an unknown, unclaimed package had been found in the capitol’s Memorial Hall — a gathering area between House and Senate Chambers.

It came on a day when legislation was already moving slowly as lawmakers tried to find a compromise on McCormick’s bill. The House recessed for more than an hour while lawmakers broke into groups behind closed doors to discuss the legislation.

Pending at the time was the amendment by Rep. Alan Seabaugh. The Shreveport Republican is an anti-abortion stalwart. But his amendment overhauled McCormick’s bill, declaring that women would not face criminal penalties for abortion. It also allowed abortion to save the life of a pregnant woman. And it eliminated language in McCormick’s original bill that appeared to make contraceptive drugs and at least some aspects of in vitro fertilization illegal.

The amendment also stripped language from McCormick’s bill widely regarded as blatantly unconstitutional — a declaration that any federal law, regulation or court ruling that allows abortion is void and that any judge who blocks enforcement of the bill’s provisions could be impeached.

“We can’t grant ourselves the power to order a court to rule future acts unconstitutional,” Seabaugh argued.

Freedom and Comfort in Truth

By

Randy Alcorn

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May 13, 2022

As Nanci dealt with suffering and faced her death, I saw greater joy and more profound happiness in her than ever before. She had been happy in Jesus all our marriage, but great suffering is a big test. She didn’t merely pass it, she aced it. Sure, she had tough days where she longed for relief and release. But her light didn’t gradually go out; it shined brighter until the last week or so where it really did fade, as her eyes were looking at another world. A far better one.

In October 2018, Nanci wrote in her journal that she was “above all, eternally thankful for the incredible growth in my heart spiritually. I honestly would not trade this cancer experience to go back to where I was—which wasn’t bad. I believed and experienced God’s hand on my life before cancer. But these last months have been used by God to propel me into a deeper understanding and experience of His sovereignty, wisdom, steadfast love, mercy, grace, faithfulness, immanency, and trustworthiness and omnipotence.”

Nanci’s journals have so much Scripture and so much Charles Spurgeon woven into them, way more than personal details of her battle with cancer. In her own words, she expresses the depth of her trust in the love and sovereignty of God. She is a wonderful example of seeking comfort and perspective in God’s solid truth, just like I talk about in today’s blog, excerpted from 90 Days of God’s Goodness:

I am laid low in the dust;
preserve my life according to your word.
I recounted my ways and you answered me;
teach me your decrees.
Let me understand the teaching of your precepts;
then I will meditate on your wonders.
My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
Keep me from deceitful ways;
be gracious to me through your law.
I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws.
I hold fast to your statutes, O Lord;
do not let me be put to shame.
I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.

(Psalm 119:25–32)

Don’t you love the heartfelt honesty of the words God has chosen to include in the Bible? “My soul is weary with sorrow.” It’s the burden of life in a hurting world that causes the writer to turn to Scripture for strength: “Preserve my life according to your word.… Strengthen me according to your word.”

If abuse, rape, desertion, paralysis, debilitating disease, or the loss of a loved one has devastated you, then the issue of evil and suffering isn’t merely theoretical, philosophical, or theological. It’s deeply personal. Logical arguments won’t satisfy you; in fact, they might offend you. You need help with the emotional problem of evil, not merely the logical problem of evil. Like children at times, each of us must snuggle into our Father’s arms, and there receive the comfort we need.

But remember this: you are a whole person. Truth matters. To touch us at the heart level—and to keep touching us over days, months, years, and decades—truth must work its way into our minds.

Never seek comfort by ignoring truth. Comfort in falsehood is false comfort. Jesus said, “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32). When you try to soothe your feelings without bothering to think deeply about ideas, you are asking to be manipulated. Quick-fix feelings won’t sustain you over the long haul. On the other hand, deeply rooted beliefs—specifically a worldview grounded in Scripture—will allow you to persevere and hold on to a faith built on the solid rock of God’s truth.

In writing His magnificent story of redemption, God has revealed truths about Himself, us, the world, goodness, evil, suffering, and Heaven and Hell. (I capitalize those terms as proper nouns because they are actual places, like New England or Saturn.) Those truths God reveals to us teem with life. The blood of man and God flows through them. God speaks with passion, not indifference; He utters fascinating words, not dull ones. To come to grips with the problem of evil and suffering, you must do more than hear heart-wrenching stories about suffering people. You must hear God’s truth to help you interpret those stories.

‘Beam Me Up’…Pastor? Holographic Technology Allows Pastor To Be in Nine Locations at Once

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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May 12, 2022

Pastor Randy Bezet of Bayside Community Church in Bradenton, Florida, is using something straight out of Star Trek to preach to the church’s nine campuses simultaneously.

Bazet uses a new holographic technology called PROTO, a device that, according to its developer, “lets people beam themselves to a location thousands of miles away and interact with people there.”

The holographic technology allows Bezet to interact with those in the congregation, even though he’s not actually there. The PROTO Epic model has a camera on it, so the pastor can see the people he’s “beaming” to. Unlike a traditional live video stream, Bazet can actually hear sounds from the congregation.

“This really is, I think, putting me in nine locations at one time or has the potential to do that and make it much more personal than if it was just a video or kind of a flat-screen,” Bazet told Fox 13 News.

The hologram producing device can be operated with an iPad or cell phone and can be used to play pre-recorded videos as well. However, the tech doesn’t come cheap, starting at a hefty price tag of $100,000.

Bazet said, “We’ll do whatever we can to actually reach and impact as many people as we can, and, in this case, try a new technology like this.”

The church says that “whether it be through our high-energy weekend services, small groups, missions trips, youth services, counseling, or growth classes, Bayside believes in giving you the tools you need to gain a deeper relationship with God.”

Samuel Rodriguez, senior pastor of New Season Church in Sacramento, California, used similar technology to deliver a sermon on July 4, 2021 to a church in New Zealand. Rodriguez described the experience to CBN News as an “encounter between Star Trek and Christianity.”

Conservative Christian Leaders Blast Democrats for Attempting to Codify Abortion Rights

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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May 12, 2022

“You can no longer pretend to support life and vote Democrat. Period,” former Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee member Rod Martin tweeted yesterday after Senate Democrats forced a vote in an attempt to codify the right to an abortion into federal law.

Every Senate Democrat except Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted in favor of advancing the bill, called the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA).

The bill would have not only preserved abortion rights but would have allowed for abortion to take place up until the moment of birth, as long as a medical professional deem the pregnancy a threat to the mother’s life. (Emotional health is included in that evaluation.) Further, the bill would have barred states from placing any restrictions on abortion.

The Senate vote failed 49-51, because Manchin voted with every Senate Republican to strike the bill down.

Democratic Senators pushed to pass the bill in light of last week’s leak of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion, which signaled the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said, “For the first time in 50 years, a conservative majority—an extreme majority—on the Supreme Court is on the brink of declaring that women do not have freedom of their own bodies.”

“All of us will have to answer for this vote for the rest of our time in public office,” Schumer told fellow Senators before the vote. “Before the day is over, every member of this body will make a choice to stand with women to protect their freedoms or stand with MAGA Republicans to take our country into a dark and repressive future.”

After the bill failed to receive the necessary votes, Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters, “Sadly, the Senate failed to stand in defense of a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.”

In a statement released by The White House, President Joe Biden scolded Republicans for not supporting the WHPA.

“Republicans in Congress—not one of whom voted for this bill—have chosen to stand in the way of Americans’ rights to make the most personal decisions about their own bodies, families and lives,” the statement said.

“To protect the right to choose, voters need to elect more pro-choice senators this November, and return a pro-choice majority to the House,” Biden continued. “If they do, Congress can pass this bill in January, and put it on my desk, so I can sign it into law.”

Reiterating his commitment to codifying Roe, Biden said, “While this legislation did not pass today, my Administration will not stop fighting to protect access to women’s reproductive care.”

Last week, Biden said he believes that being “a child of God” gives someone the right to an abortion.

‘Good, Good Mother’—On Mother’s Day, Texas Church Worships God As Female

By

Stephanie Martin

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May 12, 2022

At Austin New Church in Austin, Texas, several parts of last Sunday’s Mother’s Day service featured feminine pronouns and imagery for God.

A video shows the worship team altering the chorus of the song “Good, Good Father” by Housefires featuring Pat Barrett. Also during the service, female pronouns for God were used in recitations of Psalm 23 and the Lord’s Prayer.

Austin New Church describes itself as a progressive community “based on belonging, not beliefs.” Brandon and Jen Hatmaker founded the congregation in 2008 but are no longer mentioned on the church website. The couple divorced in 2020, after 27 years of marriage.

Austin New Church: ‘Now We Know Better’ Than To Limit God

In her message, Creative Pastor Samantha Beach Kiley says, “We profess that we all bear the image of God, but how can we see God in ourselves if we don’t see ourselves in God? If God is only male, if God is only white, what possibilities does that limit for those of us whose identity markers are different?” She quotes from Christena Cleveland’s book “God Is a Black Woman,” about how a “narrow” view of God restricts our imagination.

Kiley admitted the topic was daunting and full of “landmines”—including the risk of “just setting up another binary” by labeling God as female.

About Psalm 23, Kiley says, “David wrote as if God were Father. How could he not?… That was the outermost tree ring of revelation during his time, but now we know better… We get to read our Scripture with a more expansive method of interpretation.” She adds, “Even when David wrote to God as Father, God was already Mother. God was already both. God was already neither. Even if David couldn’t see it yet.”

Kiley was joined by her mother, Nancy Beach, who shared some Scriptures that use mothering imagery for God and Jesus. Then Beach asked, “What if God transcends gender?… How would our picture of God and our relationship to God be different and more whole if we could embrace this idea of God as Father as well as Mother?”

‘Great Faith Systems…Have Always Understood’ God As Female

In his message, Lead Pastor Jason Morriss said that as expansive as God-as-Mother might seem, it’s something “we should always have understood—that God is not contained in the binaries of our linguistic symbols.” For example, “We have always known that God is relentless in pursuit…and unconditional in love. These are the hallmarks of mothering.”

David Platt’s McLean Bible Church Prepares for New Elder Election Following Lawsuit

By

Dale Chamberlain

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May 12, 2022

McLean Bible Church, an evangelical multisite church with several locations in the Washington, DC area, is preparing to elect new elders for the first time since a legal dispute surrounding the congregational voting process in June 2021.

McLean lead pastor David Platt had become the center of controversy after speaking to issues of racial justice in America, causing some within the broader evangelical movement as well as within his own church to doubt his leadership, stoking a conflict that came to a head in a bitter dispute over the 2021 McLean Bible Church elder selection process.

According to Platt, a small group of disgruntled church members had begun a whisper campaign against him during the spring and summer of 2021, accusing him of planning to sell church property to a Muslim group to be used for a Mosque. This group also allegedly spread rumors that Platt was going to change the church’s pro-life stance, as well as broaden its definition of biblical sexuality. None of these claims were true.

Nevertheless, on the strength of these claims and the alarm they caused, this group then campaigned to call together members, former members, and inactive members of McLean Bible Church to vote down any elder candidates presented at the June 2021 congregational meeting.

The campaign was successful, and for the first time in the church’s nearly 60-year history, the three new elders presented to the congregation failed to receive the required three-quarters vote.

Aware that a number of votes were cast by former and inactive members who traveled to the church specifically to vote down elder nominees, McLean church leadership presented three new elder nominees in a subsequent meeting, requiring identification for current members and giving provisional ballots to inactive members. The three new elders received 80% of the vote and were subsequently confirmed.

Following that meeting, five members of McLean Bible Church filed suit against Platt and other church leaders, alleging that they violated the terms of the church constitution in order to silence the voices of those who disagreed with them.

Almost a year later, McLean now faces the task of nominating a new class of elders, and McLean leadership is hoping to do so without incident.

To that end, the church’s website is extending an invitation to church members to approve a clearly defined course of action, accounting for the various contingencies that may occur in the election process.

Department of Interior Releases First Report Detailing US Indian Boarding Schools

By

Emily McFarlan Miller

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May 12, 2022

(RNS) — The United States operated 408 boarding schools for Indigenous children across 37 states or then-territories between 1819 and 1969 — half of them likely supported by religious institutions.

That’s according to the first volume of an investigative report into the country’s Indian boarding school system that was released Wednesday (May 11) by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

“Our initial investigation results show that approximately 50% of federal Indian boarding schools may have received support or involvement from religious institutions or organizations, including funding, infrastructure and personnel,” Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland said at a news conference on the progress of the department’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative.

The report revealed nearly 40 more schools than the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition previously had identified in the U.S. — and nearly three times more than the number of schools documented in Canada’s residential school system by that country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

It also recorded the deaths of more than 500 children and identified marked or unmarked burial sites at more than 50 schools across the Indian boarding school system. The department expects those numbers to go up as it continues to investigate.

The findings also compiled previous reports describing an “unprecedented delegation of power by the Federal Government to church bodies.”

The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative was announced last summer by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to investigate the history and lasting consequences of the schools. That announcement came as Indigenous groups across Canada confirmed the remains of more than 1,000 Indigenous children buried near former residential schools for Indigenous children there.

The Department of the Interior was “uniquely positioned” to undertake such an initiative, according to the report released Wednesday, because it had been responsible for operating or overseeing the boarding schools.

From 1819 through the 1960s, the U.S. implemented policies establishing and supporting Indian boarding schools across the nation. The report includes the first-ever inventory of those federally operated schools, including profiles and maps of each school.

The boarding schools supported a “twin United States policy” to culturally assimilate Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children and to seize Indigenous land, according to Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community (Ojibwe).

‘On the Business’: McLaurin Reflects on Interim EC Post Ahead of 2022 SBC

By

Diana Chandler

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May 12, 2022

NASHVILLE (BP) – Willie McLaurin expresses a difference between working “in the business” and working “on the business.”

“So many leaders, they’re working in the business. They’re putting out fires. They’re crossing the Ts and dotting the Is. That’s working in the business,” McLaurin said. “But I’ve learned how to work on the business.

“That just simply means that on a regular basis, I have to constantly plan [for] the future. I need to be thinking strategically about the future, vision casting, and just thinking futuristically about our work together. So somebody has to be thinking and working on the business.”

With 20 years of service in Southern Baptist leadership, much of it with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, McLaurin is a few months into his post as interim president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee.

Between much travel and many meetings in serving an increasingly diverse body of Southern Baptists, he sat down with Baptist Press to reflect on issues related to his job and Southern Baptist life.

He spoke of his appreciation for being warmly received by Southern Baptists, and the joys and challenges of leadership at this particular time in history. The importance and health of the local church, committed pastors, entities he described as Christ-centered and a diligent Executive Committee staff were among topics.

He addressed unity in the SBC, as opposed to uniformity. He views the challenge of restoring unity across the SBC as among the most important faced.

“No network of churches is without its challenges. And I think if you would ask any number of Southern Baptists what the challenges are, that they will articulate those challenges from their culture, from their context or from their point of view,” he said. “We just need to make sure that as a network of churches, a network of Great Commission Baptists, that we are unified around the core issues.

“We’re unified around the Gospel. We’re unified around the fact that there are people that are lost and they’re on their way to hell and they need Jesus, and that we’re unified around the fact that we’ve got to get the Gospel to our nations and our neighborhood.”

McLaurin is accustomed to numbering his days, inspired by Psalm 90:12, that pleads for God to teach His people to number their days, that they might gain a heart of wisdom.

When he spoke with Baptist Press, McLaurin was on his 860th day of service to the EC, where he began in 2019 as vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization, and approaching his 100th day serving as interim CEO and president of the EC, a post EC officers appointed him to Feb. 1.

In Historic Housing Market, the Parsonage Becomes a Trendy Choice

By

Scott Barkley

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May 12, 2022

NASHVILLE (BP) – Charlie Houck loves serving as lead pastor at Mesa Church in San Diego. Just as much, he’s a fan of the parsonage that came with the building when Mesa launched in October 2020.

“We love it,” he said. “My family couldn’t afford rent in this city, let alone a home purchase.”

A historic housing boom has seen U.S. home prices jump 34.4 percent and 19.8 percent over the last year, according to Fortune magazine. In San Diego, Houck and other prospective buyers must contend with an average home value of $969,595. Rent for 700 square feet that includes one bedroom, one bath will run you $2,700 a month.

All of it has brought a renewed appreciation to the parsonage – or pastorium, if you prefer. Images bring to mind a one-story brick ranch just across the church parking lot from the main building, simple in style but useful for a pastor and his family.

Today, it has become a critical asset for churches in a housing market that pushes the boundaries of the typical pastor’s salary.

“Many churches have a church-owned home that has served generations of pastors,” Seth Hawkins, director of retirement solutions at GuideStone Financial Resources, told Baptist Press. “This can be a good thing for church and pastor especially in high-cost areas where it may allow the pastor and his family to live closer to the church’s field.”

Jacob Smith is one of those pastors.

“As a young man fresh out of seminary, my wife and I simply did not have the money to purchase a home,” said Smith, pastor of Union Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, Texas. “Furthermore, we could not afford to pastor where I am at while also paying rent.”

Those comments came, with permission to share here, from a question posed to a private Facebook group for Southern Baptist church leaders. Alongside those words of appreciation, others added a well-known caveat to the parsonage.

“One of the downsides is that it prevents pastors from building up equity in a home they own,” Hawkins said. “Even if a pastor serves most of his ministry in one church with a parsonage, when he enters vocational retirement, he will lack equity in a home that can then be used to purchase a home for him and his family to live in in retirement.”

“I lived in parsonages for 20 years and can say it was a blessing to not have to worry about housing,” said Chad Hodges, associational missions strategist for Jefferson Baptist Association in Missouri. “But as I got closer to 50 it became more of a concern. I have since changed ministries and bought a house.”

Tony Watson, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Palestine, Texas, agreed.

“There’s a time and a place when it makes sense for both church and pastor in the short-term, but in the long-term it doesn’t really make sense for either, in my opinion,” he said.

First Palestine doesn’t currently have a parsonage, but Watson wouldn’t be surprised if at one point it did. “I lived in parsonages in two churches and they were blessings,” he said. “But I’m thankful to be a homeowner now.”

Hodges shared his appreciation for how a parsonage can be a better fit for a pastor, depending on his season of life.

US Annual Conferences Can’t Just Leave the United Methodist Church, Rules Top Court

By

Emily McFarlan Miller

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May 12, 2022

(RNS) — No, an annual conference in the United States can’t just up and leave the United Methodist Church. At least not yet.

While the denomination’s Book of Discipline has provisions for individual churches wishing to leave the United Methodist Church with their properties, there’s nothing within church law that would allow an annual conference — one of the United Methodist Church’s 53 regional networks of churches and ministries within the United States — to do the same, according to the denomination’s Judicial Council.

The Judicial Council ruled Tuesday (May 10) that only the General Conference, the denomination’s global decision-making body, can determine the process and conditions for annual conferences to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church.

And the General Conference hasn’t done that.

“There is no basis in Church law for any annual conference to adopt stopgap policies, pass resolutions, take a vote, or act unilaterally for the purpose of removing itself from The United Methodist Church,” Decision 1444 reads.

The decision by the Judicial Council, the denomination’s top court, comes just over a week after the launch of the Global Methodist Church, a new denomination formed by theologically conservative Methodists.

The name and logo of the new "Global Methodist Church,” which is splitting from the United Methodist Church. Image courtesy of the Global Methodist Church

The name and logo of the Global Methodist Church. Image courtesy of Global Methodist Church

It also comes ahead of annual conferences’ yearly meetings, which take place in May and June.

At least two annual conferences — Northwest Texas and South Georgia — were set to consider resolutions to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church at their meetings this summer, the Judicial Council noted in its decision. The Northwest Texas Annual Conference also approved a nonbinding resolution last year indicating it planned to leave the United Methodist Church for a conservative denomination should the General Conference pass a proposed Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace through Separation, according to United Methodist News Service.

And the Bulgaria-Romania Provisional Annual Conference already has voted to leave and join the Global Methodist Church over its bishop’s objections, according to United Methodist News Service.

Bulgaria-Romania Bishop Patrick Streiff has requested the Judicial Council rule on whether an annual conference in one of the denomination’s central conferences — including those in Europe, Africa and the Philippines — has the authority to vote to separate from the United Methodist Church. That question remains on the council’s spring docket.

Keith Boyette, who chairs the Transitional Leadership Council of the Global Methodist Church and will step into the role of its chief executive next month, told Religion News Service he was “very disappointed” by the Judicial Council decision.

The Cross and Flame is the official logo of the United Methodist Church. Image courtesy of United Methodist Church

The ruling, he said, will lead to the kind of litigation the 16 United Methodist bishops and advocacy group leaders who negotiated a proposed Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace through Separation — including Boyette — had hoped to avoid. Now churches and annual conferences potentially will challenge the denomination’s trust clause, which maintains that the denomination — not the churches or their conferences — own church properties, he said.

Louisiana Debates Murder Charge for Women Who Get Abortions

By

Kevin McGill

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May 12, 2022

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A bill scheduled for debate Thursday in the Louisiana House would make women who get abortions subject to criminal prosecution and prison — a position that has drawn opposition from Louisiana’s anti-abortion governor and groups including Louisiana Right to Life and the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Republican Rep. Danny McCormick is pushing the bill despite the crescendo of opposition from traditional supporters of abortion rights allies, for the moment, with some opponents of legal abortion.

“To suggest that a woman would be jailed for an abortion is simply absurd,” Gov. John Bel Edwards, a devout Catholic and a Democrat who has long broken with his party on the abortion issue, said in a news release Wednesday.

“Our longstanding policy is that abortion-vulnerable women should not be treated as criminals,” Louisiana Right to Life said in a statement.

McCormick disagrees, saying a woman who has an abortion should be in the same legal position as a woman who takes the life of a child after birth. “When I give equal protection to the unborn, that’s the possibility,” he said in a Wednesday evening phone interview.

McCormick’s bill has come under high scrutiny in light of last week’s leak of a draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion indicating the high court is preparing to overturn decisions upholding a constitutional right to abortion. But it was introduced in March, on the legal theory that it could end abortion regardless of what any court does.

In addition to rewriting homicide statutes to include abortion, it declares that any federal law, regulation or court ruling that allows abortion is void and that any judge who blocks enforcement of the bill’s provisions could be impeached.

Members of the committee that advanced the bill last week expressed doubt about its constitutionality. Edwards called it “patently unconstitutional” on Wednesday.

Edwards joined critics of the bill saying it criminalizes some types of contraception and parts of the in vitro fertilization process. McCormick on Thursday said forms of contraception that don’t destroy a fertilized egg are not affected by the law. And he disputes that the contention by Edwards and others that the bill would criminalize some aspects of in vitro fertilization, pointing to state law that already grants rights to an “in vitro fertilized human ovum.”

Arrested Hong Kong Cardinal a Fiery Critic of Beijing

By

AP News

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May 12, 2022

HONG KONG (AP) — Cardinal Joseph Zen, the 90-year-old Catholic cleric arrested by Hong Kong police on national security charges, has long been a fiery critic of Beijing’s control of religion and political monopoly, along with efforts by the Vatican to reach a working arrangement with the ruling Communist Party.

Zen left a police station on bail Wednesday night following his arrest alongside other former trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Support Fund, which provides assistance to people arrested during 2019 anti-government protests. The former Hong Kong archbishop has not yet commented on his arrest.

A police statement said the former trustees were suspected of endangering national security by making requests of foreign countries or overseas agencies and calling for sanctions against Hong Kong.

Widely condemned abroad, the arrests further a campaign to quash all forms of dissent in the city under a sweeping national security law passed in 2020, a year after authorities subdued pro-democracy protests that challenged China’s rule over Hong Kong.

The crackdown is increasingly penetrating into the city’s long-respected economic, religious and educational institutions, along with non-governmental organizations, many of which have closed down their Hong Kong operations. The city was promised that it could keep freedoms of speech, assembly and judicial independence when it was handed over from Britain to China in 1997, but critics say Beijing has reneged on its guarantees.

China’s Foreign Ministry fired back at the criticism, with spokesperson Zhao Lijian saying, “We are firmly opposed to any act that denigrates the rule of law in Hong Kong and interferes in Hong Kong affairs.”

“Hong Kong is a law-based society, where no organization or individual is above the law, and all illegal acts will be punished by law,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing.

Separately, the ministry’s office in Hong Kong issued a statement saying that “safeguarding national security is justified, foreign interference is purely in vain.”

Zen had once sought to build bridges with China’s Communist Party-controlled Catholic church by visiting Beijing-approved seminaries in mainland China. But he also said those experiences showed him the lack of religious freedom in China and fed a deep distrust of the officially atheist ruling party.

China broke off relations with the Holy See in 1951 after the party took power and established its own church. Foreign priests were expelled and many of their Chinese colleagues spent decades in prison or labor camps.

In recent years, the Vatican, particularly under Pope Francis, has been eager to reach a deal with the Chinese government and unite the churches.

Zen was especially scathing of attempts by some in the Vatican to reach an arrangement with the party on the appointment of bishops on the mainland, a power traditionally wielded by the Holy See which Beijing claims for itself.

6 Things You Can Do Now to Grow More Confident

By

Gavin Adams

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May 12, 2022

How confident do you feel in your daily life?

I suspect there are elements of your day when you feel supreme confidence. There are also aspects or moments in your day where your confidence probably wanes.

Before we work on our confidence, take a second and consider when you naturally feel confident and when you struggle with self-confidence. Do you see any patterns? Do you feel more confident with people or projects?

What Is Confidence?

When you hear the word confidence, what comes to mind. Or better yet, who comes to mind?

When I think about confidence, I tend to think of a person. My mental picture is also the person I’d pick to play me in the movie of my life. My picture of confidence is Samuel L. Jackson. This guy is supremely cool. And confident. At least, I think he is. But he’s also an actor playing roles of secure and influential people. Perhaps he lives every day like Jules Winnfield, his character from Pulp Fiction. I doubt it, though, as he’d be in jail for life.

So back to our question. What is confidence?

Confidence is the faith that you can do something. Self-confidence isn’t a guarantee that you’ll accomplish a goal or task, but it is a belief that you will. That you can. This means confidence is a feeling even when it’s not yet a reality.

Our internal beliefs are highly critical in our life. Beliefs create behaviors that generate results. Take failure as an example. If you believe failure is an opportunity to grow, not a reflection on your ability, your behaviors and future results will reflect this belief. Beliefs drive all of our behaviors. Harnessing this particular belief will lead to better behaviors and outcomes.

Believe you can and you’re halfway there. (Theodore Roosevelt)

But there is the side of confidence most people miss, and, as you may expect, what’s missed often holds the greatest opportunity for us. Confidence is faith that you can do something. Confidence isn’t a guarantee that you will do it well the first time or that you’ll never stumble along the way. As we said earlier, confidence is faith that you can do something over time, even if that something requires a bit of failure, learning, and growth.

If past accomplishments dictated our confidence, our confidence would only grow, change, or evolve as our outcomes occurred. But confidence isn’t limited to a belief in your past self. Confidence must also live in our hearts as faith that we can figure out what is facing us. That we can learn, grow, and improve. Therefore, we can experience confidence in a future project, task, or client presentation when we begin believing we can learn, grow, and improve from previous experiences.

Church Salaries in the Midst of Inflation

By

Brian Dodd

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May 12, 2022

So, what do we do with our team’s salaries in the midst of all of this inflation? Here are a few things to think through as you approach the salary conversation with your leadership and staff.

Watch the conversation or view the transcript.

Read the Full Transcript

Hey there, it’s Matt Steen with another Chemistry Conversation.

So, a lot of conversations I’ve been having lately are about what do we do with our team’s salaries in the midst of all of this inflation? So, I’ve heard of denominations setting minimum increases for teams. I heard one denomination say 5.3%. I’ve heard a lot of churches and Executive Pastors talking about having an 8% cost of living adjustment at the end of the year. Others at 4%, and I’ve heard some that are just saying, hey, we have to reduce salary this year. We don’t have the ability to do this.

And so, I thought this was a good time to kind of come back and revisit some of how we approach salaries here at Chemistry. So, we don’t necessarily go in and say, hey, it needs to be this much … it needs to be that much. What we do is we tell churches that you need to be as generous as you possibly can while at the same time being good stewards of what God has entrusted us with. Okay? Now, some people may say, hey, that’s consultant-speak and you’re talking out of both sides of your mouth… and yes I am. I am. And so, you are welcome. But what we say when we do this is you do need to be as generous as you possibly can with your staff team, but you also understand that this is a finite resource.

So, there are some principles that we encourage churches that we lean into as they are setting salaries. And we encourage them to set salaries knowing that there are people in your church that understand what it costs to live where you are. What it costs to live with families with kids where you are and to kind of tap in on that. There are other resources like datausa.io, which is a great resource that Deloitte puts out, churchsalary.com is a great resource, and then your local school system should be more than willing to share their pay scale with you because that’s all public knowledge. So, I would lean into those as things that help you understand what’s fair and what’s liveable. Tap into some of the people in your congregation that would be willing to share, you know, what it’s like to live with kids and family and all that. But kinda tap into some of these principles.

The first one is this: Number one, we want our pastors to be able to model generosity as much as they can. Okay? What do I mean by model generosity? Every Girl Scout in the entire church is going to hit up the pastor with a box of Samoas at some point. Okay? Every kid that’s going on a mission trip at some point is going to come up to the pastor and say, hey, will you sponsor me on this mission trip? Every Boy Scout is selling popcorn. You kind of get where I’m going here. You may get into a building project and want the pastor to be able to lead the way in giving to this. And so one of the things that we try not to do is get to a point where, when you set up a salary for a pastor where they are going to have to choose between being generous with what God has given them and paying for groceries that week. What we’re trying to do is prevent the fights and harsh conversations between husband and wife when they say, hey, you bought a five-dollar box of cookies and we really needed that for a gallon of milk. And so, keep in mind that one of the things that you want to have happen is that you want your pastor to be able to give generously to the Kingdom, to your church, and to other entities.

Okay, so that’s one thing.

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