‘All War Is Anachronistic’: Pope Francis Struggles to Gain Traction for Peaceful Vision

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April 25, 2022

Pope Francis War — Pope Francis shows a flag that was brought to him from Bucha, Ukraine, during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The night after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Pope Francis lay awake in bed at the Vatican thinking about what he could do to prevent “one more death in Ukraine. Not one more,” he told the Argentine daily La Nacion in an interview published Thursday (April 21).

The next day he jumped on a papal white utility vehicle to meet with the Russian ambassador to the Holy See to voice his concerns about the war in a last-ditch attempt to preserve the last remnant of peace in Ukraine.

The war, of course, continues today, and the pontiff’s hope for a meeting between the pope and Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has been shelved. For all his peacemaking efforts, the media’s primary takeaway about Francis regarding the war is that he refuses to call out President Vladimir Putin directly as the aggressor.

In his interview with La Nacion, the pope said: “I am willing to do everything” to prevent further bloodshed, explaining why he believed mentioning Putin was inappropriate. “A pope never names a head of state, much less a country, which is superior to its head of state,” Francis said.

Recent history, at least, bears him out: Popes have avoided pointing a finger at political leaders or nations. The Vatican’s long experience in jostling the ever-bubbling rivalries among European nations dictates that remaining above the fray is essential to brokering peace.

Nonetheless, his take on the war has been dismissed as idealistic and even pro-communist by his detractors.

While Francis may sound idealistic publicly, his public voice is not the only one Russia is hearing. “Pope Francis’ moral judgment of the war is absolutely severe,” said Massimo Borghesi, a professor of philosophy at the University of Perugia and author of “The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Intellectual Journey.”

The Vatican’s diplomatic corps “never rests” in its effort to promote peace, Francis said in his Nacion interview, adding that this work is typically happening behind the scenes.

“There are backchannels, and they are functioning,” said journalist Victor Gaetan, author of “God’s Diplomats: Pope Francis, Vatican Diplomacy, and America’s Armageddon,” pointing to Vatican diplomacy in the Middle East and Africa that has positioned Francis to be a bridge for peace.

“Publicly the pope appears to be a lonely voice,” Gaetan told RNS, but some countries have been drawn in by his “mantra of diplomacy, of dialogue and encounter, where you can’t bully or insult your interlocutor into a positive outcome.”

What makes Francis’ position difficult for many politicians is that he opposes not just Putin’s war, but a lack of commitment to peace on both sides. “Pope Francis sees this escalation, where the only answer that Europe has undertaken is to send weapons and issue sanctions, but it doesn’t have a shred of negotiation for a political and peaceful solution,” Borghesi said.

Always the Right Time for Baptism, 90 Year-Olds Say

By

Timothy Cockes

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April 25, 2022

NASHVILLE (BP) – As Baptism Sunday [April 24, is Baptist Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention] approaches, stories of older Christians being baptized are serving as a reminder that it is never too late to take a step of obedience.

One of those is Bernice Oliver at Glasgow Baptist Church in Glasgow, Ky.

Erdie Carter, senior pastor at Glasgow, said Bernice’s wife Evelyn had been a faithful member and attender at the church all the way up until the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the couple began watching the church’s services on a local TV broadcast.

Carter said the couple have been married for 67 years, and Evelyn has faithfully prayed for Bernice to receive Christ as his personal savior.

Carter visited Bernice, 93, many times in their home and shared the Gospel with him, but had never seen a responsiveness from him. That all changed a few weeks ago.

Carter said Evelyn told him that her husband had begun faithfully watching the church’s Sunday services with her.

After a few weeks, members of the church visited their home to bring food as part of the church’s community outreach program. While at the home, Bernice said he was ready to make a decision for Christ.

After walking him through this decision, the church members followed up by asking if he would like to be baptized. He said he would.

Carter said Glasgow also observed the Lord’s Supper the day that Bernice was baptized, adding that seeing the transformation in Bernice deeply affected him and his congregation.

“Pastors often talk about that it’s never too late … but to actually see this man at 93 come to this spiritual realization and then want to publicly profess his faith in Christ, it was joy,” Carter said. “It overwhelmed me with emotions. It renewed the strength of my church members’ prayers for their own lost loved ones.”

Ena Campbell-Reid began attending Grace Fellowship: A Church for All Nations in West Palm, Fla., when a friend in her neighborhood invited her.

Campbell-Reid, 92, grew up going to a Methodist church in Jamaica and had never been baptized by immersion.

After being immersed at Grace Fellowship Campbell-Reid told Baptist Press she was glad she made the decision to do it.

“I would encourage anyone else in the church to get baptized because everyone at the church is very nice and they will treat you very well,” Ena said.

She said another factor in her decision to get baptized was the encouragement from pastors at the church such as lead pastor Jeff Robinson.

Robinson, who also serves on the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, said Campbell-Reid provides a great example for his church to reflect on the importance of following through in baptism.

“We routinely remind our church family that in spite of the suffering and brokenness we see around us, in the news, and on social media, to never forget that God is still very much at work in the world,” Robinson said.

“Ms. Ena’s following Jesus in public believer’s baptism by immersion is both an encouragement and a powerful motivation for our entire faith family.”

Carter said seeing Bernice and others be baptized goes right along with celebrating with the SBC is supposed to be about.

“The mission of the SBC is to go and preach the Gospel so that people may know and believe in Christ,” Carter said. “His desire to be saved and baptized just reminded me what Christ will do. When Christ changes our heart, it changes our perspective.”

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

Colorado Church Collects $61,000 for Ukrainian Relief on Easter Sunday

By

Scott Barkley

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April 25, 2022

Ukrainian Relief — Cross Fellowship Church in Colorado Springs hosts a prayer service prior to Easter Sunday. The church had 12 events leading up to April 17, where attendees at its Black Forest campus gave $61,000 toward Ukrainian relief. Photo from Cross Fellowship courtesy of Baptist Press.

COLORADO SPRINGS (BP) – A culture of generosity and missions was on display April 17 at Cross Fellowship Church and shows what is possible through having a heart for those in need of the Gospel and a cup of cold water, said Pastor Bob Bender.

On Easter, church members responded to a request to help Ukrainian refugees in a big way – by giving approximately $61,000. That amount was in addition to, not instead of, members’ regular tithe.

“See the need. Say the need. Seize the day to meet the need,” Bender told Baptist Press on the church’s philosophy toward missions. “Our people saw the need. All they needed was a valid venue to express their concern.”

Sunday was far from the first time Cross Fellowship has expressed such concern.

Currently, the church directly supports 14 missionaries around the world in addition to taking part in local missions. The goal for its annual missions offering is at least $150,000. Send Relief President Bryant Wright spoke at Cross Fellowship’s missions conference last October while North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell is scheduled for this fall. In 2021, the church gave 16.6 percent of its budget toward missions, including 7 percent of undesignated gifts through the Cooperative Program.

The April 17 offering came from the approximately 800 in attendance at Cross Fellowship’s Black Forest campus. Its other campus in Palmer Park continued with a regular offering benefitting a local pregnancy care center.

The church’s “boots on the ground,” as Bender calls them, are Michael and Jan Gott, missionaries in Ukraine and Poland with whom Bender has had a friendship for years.

“Michael preached at First Baptist Church in Warsaw [April 17] to the Ukrainian refugees and saw many come to Jesus,” Bender said.

Leading up to Easter, the goal was to raise $20,000 “to fill one boxcar with food, clothes and Jesus,” he said. “We knew we were in good shape before our first offering when two families offered to give $4,000 each.”

Prior to raising enough for three boxcars’ worth of supplies, Cross Fellowship had already joined Southern Baptist churches that altogether have contributed more than $8 million toward Ukrainian relief thus far.

The physical needs notwithstanding, Bender pointed to the spiritual ones of utmost importance and the lengths those like the Gotts are taking to deliver both.

“He was in the [Kyiv] subways sharing Christ with Ukrainians while the bombs were falling,” Bender said. “He said, ‘Bob, what you see on TV is half the story. It’s heartbreaking.’”

Originally, Gott told Bender that $3,700 would fill a van of clothes, supplies and food for refugees. Bender shared that with Cross Fellowship, as well as how much it would take to fill a boxcar.

“I quoted 1 John 3:17,” he said. “That ‘if anyone has the world’s good and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?’

An upper-middle class existence in a city like Colorado Springs can create some blind spots to the plight of others, not only across the world but down the street. It’s important to have a Christlike perspective of those needs, he said, adding: “We want to see the world through the eyes of the poor.”

See the need. Say the need. Seize the day to meet the need.

Before this year, Cross Fellowship’s Easter offering record was approximately $10,000. The church held a dozen Easter-related events that totaled 2,000 in attendance and led to 10 first-time decisions for Christ. Bender makes no apologies for making such financial appeals in a crowd containing many guests.

“Tell the people and trust the Lord,” he said. “We hit an open nerve. The Lord led us to make this appeal and it struck a responsive chord in people. I think they were waiting for a ministry of integrity that had zero percent overhead [and] the money went to meet human needs – a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name.

“The Gospel is the hope of the world, not just food and medicine by itself. Like Jesus did, when you meet that physical need, it opens them to the Gospel.”

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

Pastor-Led Shelters Bring Schooling Options to Migrant Kids

By

Giovanna Dell'Orto

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April 25, 2022

Mexico Migrants — A student focuses on her lesson at Casa Kolping, an alternative education center where child migrants from two pastor-run shelters take classes every weekday morning, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Monday, March 28, 2022. Education is a big challenge for children on their migration journey, but opportunities like this give them a chance to catch up on academics and to find emotional support. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — His completed geometry exercise in hand and a smile lighting up his eyes above his face mask, Victor Rodas rushed to the teacher as other students were still drawing.

“I’m winning the race!” the 12-year-old exclaimed. “I’m already done, teacher. I beat everyone.”

Being enrolled in a school program designed for migrant children in Ciudad Juarez, Victor does have a leg up on many others like him who, fleeing poverty and violence, lose months or even years of schooling on their journeys.

Giving them access to education is a daunting and urgent challenge.

Just in this vast desert metropolis next to El Paso, Texas, thousands of migrant families have hunkered in shelters, waiting to cross into the United States. They’re prevented from seeking asylum there by U.S. policies that made some wait in Mexico for their court hearings and banned others under a pandemic-era order set to expire May 23.

Pastor-run shelters have partnered with educators to help — either busing children to an alternative school that teaches everything from math to reading to dealing with emotions, or bringing in specially accredited teachers.

While the curriculum is not religious, faith animates these projects, as it does many other migrant relief efforts at the border. It also informs many of the educators, who recognize schooling as crucial to the youths’ future, including their ability to socialize and eventually find jobs and feel at home wherever they end up.

“They get integrated in the educational system so they can keep gaining confidence,” said Teresa Almada, who runs Casa Kolping, where Victor studies, through a local organization funded three decades ago by lay members of Catholic parishes. “It’s also important … that the families feel they’re not in hostile territory.”

Victor’s oldest sister, Katherine Rodas, 22, fled death threats in Honduras with him and two other siblings she raised after their mother died. While she and her husband are so fearful of gangs that they don’t dare leave their Catholic-run shelter, she leapt at the chance for the children to be bused to Casa Kolping.

“They say the teacher always takes good care of them, plays with them,” Rodas said. “They feel safe there.”

Their shelter, Casa Oscar Romero, is named for a beloved Salvadoran archbishop, known for ministering to the poor, who was assassinated during his country’s civil war and later made a saint by Pope Francis. Many housed at this shelter and elsewhere in Ciudad Juarez fled Central America; growing numbers of Mexican families from areas engulfed in cartel warfare are arriving, too.

For a while after the school program started in October, teachers encouraged parents to join their children in the classrooms to build trust. Among them was Lucia, a single mother of three who fled the Mexican state of Michoacan after a drug cartel “took over the harvest and everything” in their home. She asked to be identified by just her first name for safety.

A Calvin Professor Officiated a Same-Sex Wedding. It Likely Cost Him His Job.

By

Bob Smietana

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April 25, 2022

Calvin Same-Sex Marriage — Calvin University professor Joe Kuilema, right, officiates the wedding of Nicole Sweda and Annica Steen on Oct. 15, 2021. Photo courtesy of Nicole Sweda

(RNS) — When a former student asked Calvin University professor Joe Kuilema to officiate her wedding last fall, he said yes right away — despite a school policy that views same-sex marriage as sinful.

That decision will likely cost him his job.

Kuilema learned this week that Calvin’s Professional Status Committee decided not to renew his two-year appointment to the Calvin faculty due to his ongoing conflict with Calvin’s leaders over the issue of LGBT inclusion.

“I know this is not the outcome you were hoping for, Joe,” Calvin Provost Noah Toly wrote in a letter dated April 18. The letter and several supporting documents were published online by the Chimes, Calvin’s student newspaper. The university confirmed the letter and documents are authentic.

Kuilema, who plans to appeal the decision, said he was not surprised by the news.

“I was deeply disappointed by the committee’s decision,” he said. “I love Calvin University. I love working here. I love our mission. And I think it’s important to say that I did what I did, because of that mission.”

The social work professor, who was a church elder at the time he officiated the wedding, has long been known for his support of LGBT students at Calvin, which is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He said that even though the wedding was a civil ceremony, he consulted with the pastors at his church ahead of time.

That church, like Calvin, is part of the Christian Reformed Church, a denomination that opposes same-sex marriage and teaches that sex should be limited to within a marriage between a man and a woman. Unlike other churches in the CRC, though, Kuilema said his congregation affirms same-sex marriage.

“I thought I had the personal academic and ecclesial freedom to do what I did,” he said.

In a March memo, Dean Benita Wolters-Fredlund called Kuilema’s decision to officiate the wedding a “serious lapse in judgement,” given that Calvin adheres to the CRC’s teachings forbidding same-sex marriage.

“Thus, despite Prof. Kuilema’s stellar record in the areas of Christian Reformed commitment, teaching, scholarship and service, and in contradiction with the unanimous recommendation of the tenured faculty in the Sociology and Social Work Department, I am unable to recommend that Prof. Kuilema be reappointed,” Wolters-Fredlund wrote.

The memo also detailed that Kuilema, who began teaching at Calvin in 2008, was denied tenure in 2018 due to “concerns around his tone and strategy with regard to controversial theological topics and LGBT+ advocacy.”

Movement To Build Affordable Housing on Church Land Reaches Florida

By

Alejandra Molina

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April 25, 2022

Affordable Housing — Photo via Unsplahs.com @paralitik

(RNS) — As Miami-Dade County in Florida grapples with a housing affordability crisis, houses of worship are being recruited to build affordable homes on vacant or underutilized church land.

The national nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners on Thursday (April 21) announced $1.3 million in grant funding from the Wells Fargo Foundation that would go toward helping 15 South Florida congregations convert underused church property.

The nonprofit will assist clergy, who may lack the resources or knowledge to cut housing deals, in navigating the development process, negotiating long-term ground lease agreements and vetting development partners, such as architects and designers.

This effort is part of the nonprofit’s Faith-Based Development Initiative that launched in 2006 in the Mid-Atlantic region, where it has helped faith-based organizations create or preserve more than 1,500 affordable homes and one community-based health clinic.

So far, $8.5 million has been committed in a new push to help congregations in Atlanta, New York, Baltimore, Miami and Seattle build affordable housing on their properties.

In South Florida, this money is being made available just as Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in early April declared a state of emergency over housing affordability.

Faith leaders, along with county and housing officials, on Thursday (April 21) gathered at Koinonia Worship Center to talk about the steps congregations could take to build housing on their church land. The gathering was held in partnership with the Collective Empowerment Group of South Florida, a group of local churches that aims to provide homebuyer training and credit counseling services in the area.

David Bowers, vice president at Enterprise Community Partners, said this effort makes “radical common sense,” allowing congregations that are “sitting on a resource” to “be good and faithful stewards.”

“We will share lessons from you with others in cities around the country who are at work as we expand this movement,” Bowers, who is also an ordained minister, said Thursday.

Over the last few years the county has partnered with faith-based organizations to build seven affordable rental developments, said Jorge Damian de la Paz, a representative of the mayor, at the Thursday gathering. These projects stretch across Miami-Dade County, from Miami Gardens down to Richmond Heights.

Citing property records, de la Paz said there are more than 1,220 parcels in Miami-Dade County currently being used exclusively for religious purposes. This includes churches, synagogues and mosques. In total, houses of worship sit on at least 95 million square feet of land in Miami-Dade County, he said.

“Religious organizations, in aggregate, are some of the largest owners of land in Miami-Dade County,” de la Paz said.

“Some of these lots could potentially be used to build affordable housing or … some type of community facility to serve congregants in a new way and generate additional revenue to the organization,” he said.

One example is Second Baptist Church of Richmond Heights. In 2016, the church opened the Reverend John & Anita Ferguson Residence Apartments, which provides 79 units of affordable housing for seniors.

The Rev. Alphonso Jackson, pastor of Second Baptist Church, helped oversee the project, which was a vision of the former pastor, the Rev. John Ferguson, who secured the land adjacent to the church.

“It was our desire to complete the vision he had,” Jackson said on Thursday.

Jackson said they sought to secure the necessary funds to build the project in a way that “wouldn’t be a burden to the church.” They formed a community development corporation and dealt with housing bonds, tax credits and grant funding.

Although it was years in the making, “it ended up being a wonderful project,” Jackson said.

“It adds to the community. It increased the property value of the community. It is not an eye sore. It is something very nice … We are very proud of it,” he said.

This article originally appeared here.

Praying the Psalms: 10 Psalms to Bolster Your Prayer Life

By

Andrew Hess

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April 25, 2022

It wasn’t too long ago that praying the Psalms was an unfamiliar phrase to many Evangelicals. But now recent books on prayer have begun to open the eyes of many to see the value of praying the Psalms. We believe praying each psalm is a great way to grow in prayer and agree with Robert Murray M’Cheyne who famously encouraged a friend to “Turn the Bible into prayer.” We hope you’ll join us in turning each psalm from the Psalms into prayer in the weeks and months ahead.

Praying the Psalms: 10 Psalms to Bolster Your Prayer Life

Psalm 139:1-18

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

Don’t Change People – Love Them

By

Jarrid Wilson

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April 25, 2022

I love change. I love helping people. And I love seeing people changed by the love God. But regardless of how much God decides to use me, I alone cannot change people. This is God’s job, not mine. I remember when I first became a believer in Jesus and somehow thought that it was my duty to change people for the sake of advancing The Gospel—which is funny because I myself wasn’t even changed by a man or women, but instead was loved and directed toward the only true source that could bring me change: God.

I would rejoice when people would find hope in Christ, but would feel like a failure when someone would turn away from wanting to know Jesus as Lord. I took it personally. It was a little discouraging, but that’s because my mindset was completely off. I was focusing way too much on what “I” was doing for God, and not enough on the bigger picture: God’s omnipotent power and preeminent role in the business of life change.

I believe many of today’s Christians put too much weight on themselves to bring people to Jesus. It’s our job to love people, not change them. And we must understand the reality that only the Holy Spirit has the power and authority to do such a thing. Our calling is to simply share The Gospel in love and truth, showcasing the character of Jesus through our everyday lives. This alone is the calling of a Christian. This alone is a weighty yet fulfilling purpose for each and every person who chooses to pick up their cross daily.

If we were to scour the Bible, we’d see there is not a single passage that states we are called to change people. Why? Because it’s not our job, and it was never intended to be. We must take a step back and realize that God’s job is to be God, and our job is to lead people toward the door that is hope. Once we’ve done this, we must let go and allow Him who created the world to take care of the rest.

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” —John 13:34

Don’t waste your time trying to change people. Instead, focus on loving well.

My 7 Worst Pastoring Mistakes – Joe McKeever

By

Joe McKeever

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April 25, 2022

Way back in the August 5, 2010, edition of the Baptist Message (our Louisiana state weekly), Lifeway (former) President Thom Rainer talked about seven pastoring mistakes he had made in his ministry. Give him credit, he admitted that if he wrote about all the pastoring mistakes he’d made in the Lord’s work, “it would have to be a multi-volume series!”

Before getting into my list, Thom’s deserves a look-see.

He wishes he had spent more time in prayer … given his family more time … spent more time sharing his faith … had loved his community more … had led his church to focus more on the nations … he wishes he had focused on critics less … and last: He wishes he had accepted the reality that he cannot be everywhere and meet every need.

My hunch is that almost everyone who has spent a few years in the Lord’s work can say ‘amen’ to everything on that list. My second hunch is that there is no one among us without regrets we did not do more of this and less of that. In fact, the more years you log in this work, the more scars you accumulate, the more experiences you pile up and the more regrets hound your attempts to sleep.

Pastoring Mistakes – They Come With Job

“A pastor lives in a world of unfinished jobs.” That’s one of my foundational truths. If the preacher cannot learn to turn it off at night, he’ll never get any sleep and not last. There’s always someone else who needed a call, a meeting that needed planning, a sermon going neglected. There’s always something.

“Regrets? I’ve had a few …” I’m hearing Reverend Frank Sinatra’s voice in my head now.

Want my list? Pull up a chair; this may take a while. I have 10 mistakes as a preacher, 10 as a pastor, 10 as a visionary leader for my church, 10 as a leader of the church ministerial staff, 10 as a denominational worker …

Get the idea? Anyone who does anything for the Lord and mankind in this life is going to do a less than perfect job. No one wants to grovel in regrets. I assure you I don’t. (Even though I’m still going to give you my list.)

But there is a huge reason for not going into a litany of our pastoring mistakes: God works even in our mistakes and can make good emerge from them. As a result, even though we look back and see the times we dropped the ball, we give thanks for what He accomplished through it all.

If you plotted on a graph the “advancement of my ministerial career”—as Paul said, “I speak as a fool”—you might conclude that I made a serious boo-boo in moving from Charlotte N.C. in 1990 to suburban New Orleans. Until then I had progressively moved upward. Suddenly, I’m took a nosedive and assumed the leadership of a church one-half the size of my previous congregation. The new church was still smarting from a massive blowup 18 months prior. Money was tight, feelings were raw, leadership was fleeing.

2 Enemy Attacks We Must Recognize

By

Chuck Lawless

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April 23, 2022

I’m writing today about two particular attacks of Satan and his forces on believers, but I could list others (like false teaching, idolatry, etc). I focus on these two ways today because I increasingly see them in local churches and in pastoral ministries today. One is more corporate, and the other is more individual:

Division. Since the Garden of Eden when Adam blamed Eve for his sin, the enemy has sought to turn the people of God on one another (in fact, Genesis 4—the next story after the fall of Adam and Eve—is about a brother turning against his own brother). Divisions in families, among believing friends, and in corporate church bodies are nothing new—but they can be agonizing and tragic. The enemy knows we will not threaten him as long as we are shooting each other in the back.
Isolation. God created us to be in relationship with Him and with others; thus, it truly is not good to be alone (Gen 2:18). Like the roaring lion who separates its prey from the pack, the enemy seeks to devour us in our aloneness, in our vulnerability as we fight our battles unaided and unsupported (1 Pet 5:8). Temptations increase in the darkness of isolation, and the enemy delights when he finds us unprotected, un-prayed for, and unaware of his wiles.

Thus, here are some questions all of us must consider:

“Do I need to mend any broken relationships?”
“Do I foster unity or promote division and disunity in the body of Christ?”
“Am I intentionally isolating myself from other believers for some reason?”
“What battles am I losing in the darkness?”

If you see yourself in this post, I encourage you to seek intentionally to build relationships with others – and then lean on them in the power of the Spirit. Reject the enemy’s lies by standing on the truth of God’s Word.

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

Why Churches Should Be Talking About the Environment

By

Philippe Lazaro

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April 23, 2022

Sermons about the environment are not common in American churches. At a time when companies are increasingly concerned about sustainability, individuals are more and more engaged in conversations about climate change, and members of the younger generation express feelings of “climate anxiety,” some may say the church’s approach could be characterized as avoidant.

The reasons why some churches are disengaged with the environmental conversation are numerous, and not difficult to guess. For starters, in the United States, environmental dialogue is often characterized as political or controversial. Furthermore, some pastors or church leaders might question whether this topic is relevant or of spiritual significance. However, these reasons are more closely related to how our relationship with creation has been framed in American culture, rather than God’s design for creation.

Our care of creation is a highly relevant component of our spiritual lives.

“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” – Psalm 24:1

God created a world designed for perfect relationships. These relationships include the ones between people and God, people and each other, as well as people and creation. The problems our planet faces—poverty, pollution, inequality, climate change—are the results of broken relationships.

Sermons about stewardship of our resources are a little more familiar to today’s congregations, however those messages often primarily speak to the stewardship of financial resources, or perhaps the way we use our time or gifts. However, the environment and our natural resources are also things we are called to steward lovingly and responsibly. As Sandra Richter says in her Paraphrase of Proverbs 14:1, “The Earth is the Lord’s and all it contains. You may make use of it in your need, but you shall not abuse it in your greed.’”

Taking care of creation, as well as taking the time to learn from creation and practice wonder, can also stir our hearts toward worship. Many of Jesus’ teachings called on His followers to consider lessons from sparrows, wildflowers, and other elements of nature. George Washington Carver explained, “I love to think of Nature as wireless telegraph stations through which God speaks to us every day, every hour, and every moment of our lives.”

Following the act of creation, God took the time to reflect on creation and acknowledge its goodness (Genesis 1:31). We can grow spiritually by being intentional about doing likewise.

Christians can be a unique voice of hope in environmental dialogue.

It cannot be ignored that by and large, conversations about the environment in today’s culture often stir up feelings of anger, helplessness, and anxiety. The church has the opportunity to speak into these concerns and offer an outlook of hope.

Many of these unpleasant feelings surrounding environmental conversations, come from the fact that environmental destruction produces suffering around the world. This can take the form of the extinction of species, unstable weather patterns, or the struggle of a rural farmer to grow enough food due to drought.

Romans 5:3-4 offers us a roadmap to go from these present realities to the greater hope: “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

As Christians, we have a responsibility to speak into important conversations of our time, and even to lead, in the name of Jesus. Being silent can be interpreted as us not caring about something that is so important to the world we hope to impact for Christ. After all, the wonder of nature is, in itself, a testimony of our Creator.

Caring for the environment allows us to respond to the Great Commandment.

The environment is a leading contributor to poverty around the world. Look at the population of any country with high poverty and see how much of the population is rural, how much of the population relies on agriculture for a living. You’ll find conservative estimates around 70%, but in countries with extreme poverty, that number often runs as high as 80% or 90%.

In quantity, that means about 800 million of the world’s most vulnerable people rely on the land for their survival, nutrition, and income (subsistence or small holder farmers). They would love to be able to work fairly and overcome the barriers of poverty, but climate change and other environmental issues make it increasingly difficult to do so. One of the greatest things you can do to love your neighbor globally is to help them heal their land. And did you know that in some countries, up to 70% of these farmers are women?

As Kara Ball, director of Blessed Tomorrow, explains, “The faithful have a long tradition of ministering to and seeking justice for the most vulnerable and providing the action we need to achieve a just and healthy world. As such, the faithful are leading on climate solutions today.”

It is worth noting that across the global church, conversations and sermons about the environment are far more commonplace. Many church leaders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America understand the relationship between our faith and how we treat the environment. They represent about two out of every three Christians, and many of them live in much closer proximity to nature than many of us in the United States.

Churches in many parts of the world already play a critical role in this conversation, protecting forests, opposing environmental destruction, and leading efforts in support of stewardship and sustainable living. As a church leader, consider what role you and your church can play in both supporting creation care and encouraging others to do the same.

Download a free church Earth Day resource kit at plantwithpurpose.org/renew-the-earth. We also recommend this podcast from Church Leaders, featuring theologian and environmental advocate Sandra Richter.

Shepherding: Where the Shepherds Are Shaped by the Sheep

By

Jason Seville

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April 23, 2022

At our final evening prayer service before we left Shanghai to repatriate to the States, our church members took the time to tell us how thankful they were for themselves. Sounds a bit pretentious, doesn’t it? But, in a sense, it’s true. I’ll explain. After a difficult 2019, we prayerfully decided to transition from the church where I had served as the senior pastor for the past six years. This congregation is incredibly sweet, generous, and encouraging; I’ve been so thankful to the Lord for the opportunity to serve them. I can’t imagine a better scenario or a sweeter season for my first pastorate. I learned that in shepherding, the sheep shape the shepherd.

As we were on our way out, our congregation really went over the top to encourage us, bless us, and serve us. In the aforementioned prayer meeting, another elder opened up a portion of the time for church members to share thoughts of thankfulness for me and my wife, Kim. And then the church parlayed those categories of praise into a time of prayer for us and for the whole church.

It all felt a little like one of those encouragement sessions from a mission trip or a summer camp. You’re in the “hot seat,” feeling somewhat awkward while people say nice things about you. Part of you wants it to end as quickly as possible and another part of you is filled to the brim with godly encouragement. You hate it but you love it. You want to avoid it but it gives you life.

As the meeting concluded, the presiding elder looked my way and said: “Unless, Jason, you have anything you’d like to say.”

I instinctively said, “Yeah”—and then I wiped some tears from my eyes, stalling while I thought about what I should say.

My mind raced back over all the encouraging things that had been said about us in the last half hour. Then this truth hit me: they were responsible for the things they were thanking us for!

So I spoke up: “Thank you guys so much for all of those kind words. But let me point out that all of the positive things you have said are things that were forged through our friendships with you. So, in a weird sense, I guess you’re thankful for yourselves.”

That last line was said half-jokingly, but I believed it. And the more I’ve thought about it, the more I realize how true and essential it is. There’s a necessary and proper symbiosis.

For example, one church member said they felt challenged by our practice of hospitality. But it was the Wards and the Tylers and the Ans and the Lius who had challenged us in hospitality. They pushed us to be more sacrificial with our time, to look for people on the fringes of our community, to ask good questions, to do a lot with a little, and many other lessons.

John Piper Imparts Wisdom From His Five Decades of Ministry and an Article He Wrote Titled ‘Missions and Masturbation’

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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April 22, 2022

Mark Dever interviewed theologian John Piper on Wednesday night after his message at Together for the Gospel (T4G) regarding his 50 years of ministry service.

The 76-year-old encouraged the 12,000 in attendance with words of wisdom from a lifetime of pastoral ministry. “It’s a great calling,” Piper said. “I love it. I loved it. God was so good to me.”

Piper, who stepped down from Bethlehem Baptist Church’s senior pastor in 2013 after 33 years and still attends the church as pastor emeritus, is currently the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary and continues to teach through books, conferences, and DesiringGod.org, which he founded in 1994.

The self-proclaimed “Christian Hedonist” also had the crowd of mostly pastors in an uproar of laughter when he discussed the time he released an article he titled “Missions and Masturbation” in his church newsletter.

Piper wrote the article after going to hear a message from George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization, in the 1980s. In that message, Verwer preached about what keeps young people off the mission field. Verwer explained it was “masturbation and sexual failure,” Piper told the T4G crowd.

“So I come over fired up and I write an article for our church newsletter called “Missions and Masturbation,” Piper shared while Dever put his face in his hands and the crowd howled with laughter.

The “Desiring God” author told those in attendance, “It’s gets better,” as he asked Dever, “You sure you want me to go on?”

Dever replied, “I think they do!”

Piper explained that, at the time he wrote the article, his church was filled with older single women, saying, “One of them stopped at door the next Sunday, and she took my hand and she said, ‘You’re sick.’”

A leader in the church sat down with their pastor and told him, “John! What are you thinking?”

To the amazement and laughter of the crowd, Piper told said, “I think I would do it again,” elaborating that he received letters from all over the country, including one from the chaplain of West Point telling Piper he handed the article out to all the cadets.

“I said okay that’s good enough,” Piper said. Dever turned to his T4G co-founder Ligon Duncan sitting in the crowd asking him, “Are you sure you didn’t want to do this interview?”

As the interview went on, Piper shared that he misses the interactions with the church elders, that they used to energize him in ministry, and that he is saddened when he hears stories of elder conflicts within the church today.

“I never, ever experienced it that way. They knew all my marital problems. They knew all my kid problems. We had an absolutely glorious fellowship on that council,” Piper said of the elder board, which grew from 12 elders to 40 elders by the time he stepped down as senior pastor.

Piper said that the “greatest thing in the world” for him during his 33 years of pastoring at Bethlehem Baptist Church were the older people in the church.

Praying Football Coach Asking Supreme Court for His Job Back

By

Gene Johnson

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April 22, 2022

Praying Football Coach — FILE - Bremerton assistant football coach Joe Kennedy, obscured at center in blue, is surrounded by Centralia High School football players as they kneel and pray with him on the field after their game against Bremerton on Oct. 16, 2015, in Bremerton, Wash. After losing his coaching job for refusing to stop kneeling in prayer with players and spectators on the field immediately after football games, Kennedy will take his arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, April 25, 2022, saying the Bremerton School District violated his First Amendment rights by refusing to let him continue praying at midfield after games. (Meegan M. Reid/Kitsap Sun via AP, File)

SEATTLE (AP) — The clock ran down at the end of the homecoming game and spectators stormed the football field, knocking over members of the high school band — all to gather around an assistant coach as he took a knee in prayer, surrounded by uniformed players.

Six years later, after losing his coaching job and repeatedly losing in court, that former Washington state coach, Joe Kennedy, will take his arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, saying the Bremerton School District violated his First Amendment rights by refusing to let him continue praying at midfield immediately after games. Four conservative justices have already expressed concerns with how his case has been handled.

Kennedy’s effort to get his job back helped earn him an appearance at a 2016 Donald Trump rally and quickly became a cultural touchstone, pitting public school employees’ religious liberties against what his critics describe as longstanding principles separating church and state and protecting students from religious coercion.

Lawyers for the school district say officials had no problem letting Kennedy pray separately from students or letting him return to the field to pray after the students left. But allowing him to pray at midfield immediately after games with students there risked being seen as government endorsement of religion.

While Kennedy insists he never cared whether students participated in the prayers and he never asked them to join him, at least one player — anonymously — later reported participating contrary to his own beliefs, for fear of losing playing time.

“This case is challenging well-established case law that has protected students’ religious freedom for decades, and that has been supported by conservative and liberal justices alike,” said Rachel Laser, chief executive of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which is representing the school district. “If the court rules the wrong way, teachers and coaches could pressure students to pray in every public school classroom across the country.”

For Kennedy’s supporters, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ holding in the case would force public school employees to drop their religious identities at the schoolhouse door — something they say the Constitution does not require.

“If a teacher prays over her lunch in the cafeteria and students can see her — just that little blessing over her salad — that’s enough to terminate that teacher, according to the school district,” said Jeremy Dys, an attorney with First Liberty Institute, which is representing Kennedy.

Kennedy, a former Marine whose day job was at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, began coaching football at Bremerton High in 2008. He was new to religion and coaching, and said he was inspired by the movie “Facing the Giants” — about a Christian high school football coach — to give thanks to God “on the battlefield” after each game.

What began as a solitary practice soon attracted students. He agreed, citing the district’s policy of neither encouraging nor discouraging student prayer. Over the years he began leading locker room prayers before games, as well as group prayers and religious motivational talks at midfield after them.

The school district said it did not learn Kennedy was leading players in prayer until it heard it from another team’s coach in September 2015. Administrators told him he was not to participate in religious activities with students, and any of his own religious observation must be either non-demonstrative or should occur without students.

Former Harvest Pastor James MacDonald Shares News of Reconciliation

By

Stephanie Martin

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April 22, 2022

More than three years ago, pastor and broadcaster James MacDonald was fired from Harvest Bible Chapel, a Chicago-area megachurch. The messy controversy was marked with vitriol and numerous resignations and lawsuits. Now, however, hopeful signs are emerging of restoration and reconciliation.

On Facebook last week, MacDonald posted photos of him riding motorcycles with one man who helped end the pastor’s tenure at Harvest. “Recently had another reconciling conversation with one of the Elders from the board that fired me back in 2019,” MacDonald writes. “This time Marcel Olar, praising God to be reconciled to this dear brother. #mutualhumility #forgiveoneanother #gratefultoGod”

Reconciliation: ‘The Best Testimony of Your Life’

More than 6,000 people have liked MacDonald’s post, with many offering encouraging words about the relational progress. “The essence of our Lord is as a peacemaker,” one person writes. “The best testimony of your life would be to be reconciled one to another to [each] leader involved. ‘As far as it depends on you’ be at peace with all men. It does take two willing parties. Praise be to God.”

Someone writes, “In God’s timing and under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness, peace, reconciliation and restoration can happen!! GLORY TO GOD!!” Another comment reads: “Your attitude of Biblical forgiveness to those that wronged you throughout all of this continues to inspire me to be more like Christ brother!”

Someone else notes: “I’ve learned walking through almost 40 years of church ministry, elders are like all of us. They are broken and jacked up like everyone else, sometimes they just have to get to the recognition.” Another comment reads: “I can’t imagine the [loss] and grief you’ve experienced from this. Praise God there’s communication and hopefully More healing and reconciliation on the way.”

James MacDonald and Harvest: Years of Discord

ChurchLeaders has reported extensively on MacDonald and Harvest, which began experiencing unrest back in 2013. The headlines really heated up after the December 2018 publication of “Hard Times at Harvest,” a lengthy exposé by investigative journalist Julie Roys.

Roys detailed evidence from former Harvest elders, employees, and members that alleges MacDonald engaged in “an ongoing pattern of relational and financial abuse, a lack of transparency and outright deception.” MacDonald sued several of his critics—something that would happen more than once.

After Harvest elders fired MacDonald in February 2019, calling him “harmful” to the church, the two parties went through arbitration regarding his former broadcast ministry Walk in the Word. Several elders and leaders at Harvest resigned during all the upheaval.

Last June, MacDonald launched a public attack on Roys, calling her website a “millstone ministry.” The former pastor is still after Roys, tweeting earlier this month that she’s hosting a “faux #discernment [conference] = Slanderers For Jesus.” MacDonald linked to a Protestia.com article about a “fake charity,” regarding a request for donations through a partnership with Judson University.

Jesus Would Be Called a ‘Groomer’ Were He ‘Alive Today,’ Says MSNBC Political Analyst

By

Dale Chamberlain

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April 22, 2022

MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd is making waves after saying that Jesus would be accused of being a “groomer” were He preaching today.

Dowd’s words came in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” where a panel discussed a recent feud between Michigan state senators Lana Theis and Mallory McMorrow, wherein Theis accused McMorrow of wanting to “groom” and “sexualize” kindergartners and teach “that 8-year-olds are responsible for slavery.”

While the term “grooming” has most often been understood in the context of human trafficking, wherein a trafficker gains the trust of a victim to ensnare them into sexual slavery, some Republicans have recently employed the word in reference to Democrats who oppose legislation that would limit how LGBTQ issues are discussed in public school classrooms.

A similar battle of language has been fought around Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which Florida governor Ron DeSantis recently signed into law. While the legislation was referred to by its opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, its supporters touted it as an “Anti-Grooming” bill. This trend seems to be mainstreaming the once fringe notion among far-right conspiracy theorists that leadership within the Democratic Party is riddled with pedophiles.

Theis’ criticism of McMorrow also referenced Critical Race Theory, another legislative battleground when it comes to public school curriculums.

In the panel discussion regarding the feud, Dowd said, “We are in a culture war. This has been a culture war launched by many Republicans against the country—not only against Democrats, but against the country as a whole.”

Dowd served as a political strategist for a number of Republican politicians, including for George W. Bush’s 2004 presidential bid, before becoming a political analyst for ABC. He briefly ran for Texas lieutenant governor as a Democrat in 2021 before returning to political commentary, this time with MSNBC.

“You don’t win a culture war by talking about ‘Build Back Better.’ You don’t win a culture war by talking about ‘you fixed a road,’” Dowd went on to say. “You win a culture war by presenting an argument on the opposite side of the culture war and win the day.”

Referencing the fact that the feud between the two Michigan state senators began near Easter weekend, Dowd said, “The entire message of the gospels of the Easter holidays was, ‘Love one another.’ And I have said this before and I’ll say it again: if Jesus Christ was alive today, He would be called a groomer. He would be called woke. And He would be called a socialist, if He was alive today.”

The Vineyard Was Built on Friendship and Shared Values. Then a Leading Pastor Split.

By

Bob Smietana

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April 22, 2022

(RNS) — When Dave King heard his Anaheim, California, church was about to call Alan Scott to be its pastor in 2018, he was thrilled.

King, who had long been part of the Vineyard movement of churches, known for their charismatic practices and popular worship music, had met Scott and his wife, Kathryn, while visiting their home country of Scotland and had been impressed.

The Scotts, King felt, were the kind of leaders Vineyard Anaheim needed. A onetime booming congregation under John Wimber, a legendary Vineyard leader who died in 1997, the Southern California church had struggled in recent decades and needed a shot in the arm.

Alan Scott, King felt, could help turn the church around.

“The truth was, no one pushed harder for the Scotts than me and my wife,” said King. “I thought he was my friend.”

Things went well at first. The Scotts settled in and began attracting new people to the church, located just 10 miles from Disneyland. Then COVID-19 hit, shutting down in-person worship services. During the pandemic, the Anaheim church’s board of directors turned over. Most of the people who had been there before the Scotts were gone, replaced by friends and allies of the pastor and his wife.

In an early February dinner meeting with Vineyard USA leaders, the Scotts made a surprise announcement. God had spoken to them, and Vineyard Anaheim would cut ties with the national movement.

“As per our conversation tonight, we are writing to formally notify you of our decision to withdraw Vineyard Anaheim as a member of the Association of Vineyard Churches USA with immediate effect,” they wrote in a letter dated Feb. 24.

According to an account of the dinner, distributed to Vineyard USA leaders, the Scotts gave few specifics about their decision to leave, saying mostly that God had told them to do it. They did, however, mention King twice, complaining about a small group gathering King had been leading in his backyard during COVID-19.

Alan Scott, lead pastor of the Vineyard Anaheim in Anaheim, California, preaches on Feb. 27, 2022. Video screen grab

The disassociation letter was met with shock, dismay and dozens of questions — along with frantic efforts by national Vineyard leaders to try to head off Vineyard Anaheim’s departure, or at least to slow it down to give the movement time to get used to the idea.

Those efforts failed.

Though Alan Scott would eventually apologize for “missteps” in how the decision to leave was communicated — he and his wife, backed by the church’s board of directors, did not back down or change their minds.

Nationwide Teacher Shortage, Lingering Effects of COVID Shutdown Contribute To Massive Needs in Schools

By

Scott Barkley

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April 22, 2022

teacher shortage — Libbie Drake (left), a middle school counselor and member of CrossWinds Church in Wyoming, Mich., helps prepare hats and mittens for school children. (Photo from CrossWinds Church)

WYOMING, Mich. (BP) – As a middle school counselor, Libbie Drake feels she’s seen it all. And at the same time, knows she’s going to see more.

Stressed teachers. Unmotivated students. Increases in failure rates, truancy and behavior issues. While responding to questions for this article, a sixth-grader told her one of his friends was vaping in the bathroom.

It’s not just at the urban school where she works, either. “It’s being seen around the country,” she told Baptist Press. “My brother teaches in a rural school and they’re having major behavioral issues. We’re also fighting social media trends that are encouraging kids to steal things.”

The role of the educator has long been labeled a calling. And while America’s public schools have endured unsteady times before – unrest in the 1960s and integration efforts come to mind – it’s difficult to nail down a season when a potential Great Resignation of teachers looms as students continue to recover in numerous ways from a worldwide pandemic.

At least a year before COVID-19 became a household term, a teacher shortage was seen as real, large and growing. Those schools with the greatest needs typically get hit hardest all while politicians and other leaders demand high test scores and attendance rates. It’s a situation leading many to ask “How bad could it get?”

Whatever the challenge, CrossWinds Church in Wyoming, Mich. will be there to respond, said David Drake, pastor and Libbie’s husband.

“Anything the school needs, they know they can call us,” said David, who was also an assistant high school football coach for 12 years before resigning so he could serve as a board member for Godwin Heights Public Schools. He continues to coach, though, now as an unpaid volunteer.

Those calls from the school have led CrossWinds to provide lunches and classroom supplies for teachers and backpacks filled with clothes and jackets for students.

“For years we provided hats and mittens to every student at one of the local elementary schools,” he said. “This week, we’re helping with kindergarten registration and providing school supplies.”

As at CrossWinds, several members at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Colonial Heights, Va., work and volunteer in area schools.

It took a number of years after Joe Mayes joined MPBC as student pastor, but eventually a level of trust was built with the local high school. Then, Garrett Oppel came on board as children’s minister and focused on the elementary schools.

“I started Good News Clubs there and it helped bridge a great relationship with those principals,” Oppel said. “We also started giving the schools money each month to help pay for students who couldn’t afford lunch.”

Christians in Mozambique Under Growing Islamic Attack

By

Diana Chandler

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April 22, 2022

CABO DELGADO, Mozambique (BP) — Islamic insurgents have increasingly attacked northern Mozambique as Christianity increases there, the international evangelistic ministry Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) said in its latest special report.

Radical Islamists have killed nearly 3,000 and displaced more than 800,000 Christians and moderate Muslims “in recent years” who refused to recite certain creeds, VOM said in its report. A focal point includes Cabo Delgado where the Christian population has grown to 40 percent Christian since 2017. VOM cites an influx of Christians working in Cabo Delgado and growing conversions among Muslims.

In a 2020 attack that killed 70 residents of a Cabo Delgado village, Islamists decapitated all affirmed Christians.

“Islamists gathered everyone in Pastor Matateu’s village and asked each of them a single question: ‘What is your religion?’ Those who answered ‘Christian’ were decapitated, and pastors and their families were killed in especially gruesome, torturous ways,” VOM said. “The insurgents then reportedly raised an Islamic flag and declared the establishment of Sharia, or Islamic law. Pastor Matateu and his family hid in the bush for more than a month.”

The terrorists are members of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamaah, translated as “adherents of the prophetic tradition,” remnants of an extremist group from Tanzania. The group initially targeted police and government buildings, VOM said, but began targeting Christians and entire towns after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019. Locally, the insurgents are known as al-Shabab, but are not affiliated with the Somalian Islamists of the same name.

Among the towns that have been attacked is the Indian Ocean port city of Mocimboa de Praia, once home to 120,000 people, which has been devastated and largely abandoned since 2019.

Todd Nettleton, VOM chief of media relations and message integration, said pastors are especially persecuted.

“When one of our VOM staff members arrived in Pemba, Mozambique earlier this year, he was immediately taken to lunch with four pastors, all of whom had experienced Islamist attacks firsthand,” Nettleton said. “One pastor, who had been separated from his wife while fleeing attackers, still didn’t know if his wife was alive or dead months after the attack. And another pastor had suffered the traumatic experience of finding the mutilated body of his young son, who was murdered by the Islamists.”

Nettleton cited the pastors’ perseverance in faith and Christian service, encouraging prayers that Mozambique Christians remain faithful, be comforted as they comfort others, and have opportunities to show Christ’s love to their persecutors.

“Jesus is being lifted up in northern Mozambique. His great name is being glorified by men and women who value Jesus Christ more than their own safety or comfort, men and women who ‘loved not their lives even unto death,’” Nettleton said, referencing Revelation 12:11.

VOM quoted Matateu as saying, “What could separate me from God? Death, no! The war, no! So of course, I will continue to serve my God. Because He gave Himself, I will always give myself.”

Nationwide, 54 percent of Mozambique’s 32.3 million people are Christian, persecution watchdog Open Doors said in its 2022 World Watch List that ranked Mozambique as the 45th most dangerous country for Christians. It is the country’s first time on the list of the 50 countries where Christians suffer the most persecution and danger.

Constitutionally identified as a secular country with religious freedom, Mozambique “generally … has limited religious freedom,” Open Doors has said. “However, the persecution of Christians is severest in the northern Cabo Delgado Province due to ISIS-affiliated extremists carrying out violent attacks there.”

Open Doors also linked expanded persecution to Mozambique’s withdrawal of its army from the area and the presence of drug cartels.

VOM’s free report, “Mozambique: A Faithful Witness Amid a Brutal Islamic Insurgency,” is available here.

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

States Still Acting To Protect Life as They Await Supreme Court Ruling

By

Tom Strode

-

April 22, 2022

NASHVILLE (BP)—State lawmakers continue to adopt pro-life protections this year in hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will return abortion policy to their jurisdictions in a ruling expected by this summer.

Florida and Kentucky are the latest states to enact abortion prohibitions during legislative sessions that have seen more than 500 pro-life measures introduced in 2022. Those states, which both approved bans on abortion after 15 weeks gestation, joined others that have enacted pro-life laws that include a nearly total prohibition on abortion and bans at different stages of pregnancy.

Various states have taken such actions as the country awaits a decision by the Supreme Court regarding Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case regarding Mississippi’s 15-week abortion prohibition. Many pro-life and abortion-rights advocates believe the justices are likely not only to uphold the law but to reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade opinion that legalized the procedure nationwide. Such a ruling by the Supreme Court would return abortion policy to the states.

“As states continue to pass laws to protect preborn life, we eagerly await the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs case and are hopeful that a culture of life will be established in all states,” said Chelsea Sobolik, director of public policy for the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).

“We must continue to advocate for laws that protect life, and Christians should simultaneously be working towards a day when abortion is also unthinkable and unnecessary,” she said in written comments for Baptist Press.

Denise Burke, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, told BP, “[T]his has been one of the most consequential pro-life legislative years we have seen in a decade, demonstrating yet again that the vast majority of Americans oppose the Roe regime of unrestricted abortion-on-demand and that our officials are anticipating a significant ruling in Dobbs.

“Our laws should protect all innocent lives because life is a human right,” she said in written remarks. “Over 60 million American lives have been lost since Roe was decided in 1973. This devastating loss of innocent life results from refusing to recognize the dignity and worth of every human person.”

Burke also said, “Overturning Roe will place demands on all of us – the church, the state and the broader pro-life community — to resource, equip and build the vital institution of the family. Those that have worked to promote the pro-life cause are demonstrating true leadership and dedication to protecting the lives and health of unborn children and their mothers.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a 15-week abortion ban April 14, a day after Kentucky’s legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Andy Beshear of legislation that included prohibitions on abortion after 15 weeks gestation and the mailing of abortion pills. The enactment of Kentucky’s new law prompted the state’s two licensed abortion providers to close for the time being.

Florida and Kentucky are among nine states that have enacted a total of 33 pro-life laws so far this year, the Guttmacher Institute reported April 15. Another 28 pro-life protections have gained passage by at least one legislative chamber in 11 states, according to Guttmacher. A total of 536 abortion restrictions have gained introduction in 42 states in 2022, according to the report.

Guttmacher is a research and policy organization affiliated with the abortion-rights movement.

Among other pro-life laws enacted this year in addition to those in Florida and Kentucky in preparation for a possible post-Roe era:

— Oklahoma prohibited abortion except to save the life of the mother in a bill signed April 12 by Gov. Kevin Stitt. A person convicted of performing or attempting to perform an abortion may receive a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and/or a fine of as much as $100,000.

— Arizona banned abortion after 15 weeks gestation in legislation signed March 30 by Gov. Doug Ducey.

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