Good News for Today

There are thirteen states potentially considering abortion-related ballot initiatives this election year. At least 11 of them have been labeled anti-life by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

In Florida, the ballot initiative amends the Florida constitution by barring the government from “prohibiting, penalizing, delaying, or restricting abortion” before fetal viability or to protect a woman’s health when a medical provider determines that it is necessary. This amendment would undo existing pro-life laws. It requires a 60 percent affirmative vote for passage.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the ERLC says voters will consider an initiative establishing in the state constitution that residents of the state are not guaranteed a right to taxpayer-funded abortions and that there is no fundamental right to an abortion. This amendment would aid in the passage of future pro-life legislation and other restrictions on abortion. The initiative is still working its way through the state legislature.

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Christian researcher Ryan Burge says the rise of the nones – those who claims no religion – seems to be slowing.

Paul Worcester, NAMB’s national collegiate director, said he can list multiple SBC collegiate ministries that saw 40 to 80 students make professions of faith in Christ this past school year.

“We are seeing a growing movement of collegiate leaders who have a relentless focus on equipping students to become laborers on campus, and the results are exponential spiritual multiplication,” Worcester told BP. “The best person to reach a student with the Gospel is another student.”

Chuck Lawless says you might be surprised if you added 15 minutes to your daily

prayers. He says you might be:

1. You’ll be more focused on God. Even if only for a few more minutes, looking toward heaven can move your heart.
2. You’ll be more convicted over your sin. That happens when you spend time with God, but that’s a good thing. Conviction leads to repentance, which leads to forgiveness and cleansing.  
3. You’ll have more confidence as you lead. Leaders who pray more sense God’s presence more keenly as they lead.
4. You will be more grateful. Most of us do indeed need to pray more – and our hearts are thankful when God helps us to make and keep that commitment. 
5. You will be a godlier spouse and parent. I’m assuming, of course, that your time with God leads to genuine change, but you’ll humbly hold your head higher in your home if it does.
6. You’ll get more work done. Taking time to be with God doesn’t take away our time to work; it refocuses it on the eternal, and it forces us to use our remaining time more wisely.

Almost a decade after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the country, most pastors remain opposed, and the supporting percentage isn’t growing.

One in 5 U.S. Protestant pastors (21 percent) say they see nothing wrong with two people of the same gender getting married, according to a Lifeway Research study. Three in 4 (75 percent) are opposed, including 69 percent who strongly disagree with same-sex marriage. Another 4 percent say they aren’t sure.

Previous Lifeway Research studies found growing support among pastors. In 2010, 15 percent of U.S. Protestant pastors had no moral issues with the practice. The percentage in favor grew to 24 percent in 2019. Today, support is statistically unchanged at 21 percent.

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Consensual adult content including nudity and sex is now OK on X, formalizing an unstated practice allowed when the platform was called Twitter.

Pornographic images and acts may be shared whether they depict actual humans, cartoons, anime or hentai – a sexualized form of anime – or are photographic or generated by artificial intelligence, X said in announcing the policy in May.

ethicist Jason Thacker called the policy “extremely disturbing and dangerous for all involved – especially minors and women,” but said it simply formalizes a longstanding policy at Twitter/X regarding pornography.

“This policy change is no surprise to those working on these issues, especially in light of the false connections drawn between free speech and pornography in contemporary law and society,” Thacker, senior fellow and director of the research institute at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), told Baptist Press.

The formal change comes as X’s usage has dropped 30 percent since 2023, with 19 percent of the U.S. population using the platform in 2024, a decrease from the 27 percent who used the platform in 2023 and 2022, Edison Research reported in March. The numbers refer to active users, not those who simply hold accounts that are mostly dormant.

Hershael York, dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary School of Theology, tweeted plans June 4 to end his account.

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Daniel Bouchoc writes, “Young adults face new life stages and challenges. They have questions about dating, marriage, finance, politics, culture, and more. They often no longer rely on their parents or tradition for answers. They need deep, robust, and coherent doctrine that addresses the complexities and hardships of life. You might get away with shooting from the hip in youth group, but young adults will suss out a run-of-the-mill answer in a heartbeat. Not only this, but as a generation coming of age amid heightened turbulence (American political context, COVID) and lack of solidity (social media), they long for rootedness and concreteness. A concreteness only deep doctrine can provide. YAs need mature doctrine so they can mature into adulthood (Hebrews 5:11-14).”

The decades-long increase in the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans in surveys – sometimes called the rise of the “nones” – may be slacking off, according to a recent analysis, but the reasons for that remain unclear.

“The rise of the nones may be largely over now. At least it won’t be increasing in the same way it did in the prior 30 years,” Ryan Burge, an American Baptist pastor and data analyst on religion, wrote at graphsaboutreligion.com in May.

Burge’s best guess for why is that marginally attached people switched to “no religion” on surveys for so long that eventually very few marginally attached respondents remained.

“All you had left were the very committed religious people who likely won’t become nones for any reason,” Burge wrote. “The loose top soil has been scooped off and hauled away, leaving nothing but hard bedrock underneath.”

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After meeting with church music leaders, Lifeway Christian Resources announced its commitment to continue operating lifewayworship.com.

Lifeway President and CEO Ben Mandrell said he and the leadership team appreciated the feedback they received over the last several months. “We’ve held listening sessions with over 200 church leaders from across the country since last fall,” Mandrell said. “Worship leaders told us this is their curriculum for discipling the people they lead in their ministries, and they rely on Lifeway Worship for music that has been vetted theologically and that encourages congregational singing.”

Mandrell continued, “Lifeway has decided to continue offering this essential resource and provide new arrangements of music for worship teams.”

Last summer, Lifeway announced it would shut down the website that provides arrangements, charts, sheet music and other music resources for church worship. 

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The founder of the Navigators, Dawson Trotman, thought Christians should pray for more. He once said, “Do you know why I often ask Christians, ‘What’s the biggest thing you’ve asked God for this week?’ I remind them that they are going to God, the Father, the Maker of the Universe. The One who holds the world in His hands. What did you ask for? Did you ask for peanuts, toys, trinkets, or did you ask for continents?” Trotman taught that we should pray for God-sized agendas. Was he right?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us history’s most famous prayer.  He advised us to pray like this, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10) That is a God-sized prayer! It asks a lot. In regard to this prayer, Greg Laurie once said, “If His Kingdom is going to come, my kingdom has got to go.” In other words, praying for more will always bring our small, self-serving interests into conflict with His bigger, Kingdom plans.

Communicating with the Deaf community in its heart language is a key concept of Jesus: A Deaf Missions Film portraying the story of Jesus entirely in American Sign Language (ASL), billed by Deaf Missions as the first-ever ASL adaptation for the silver screen.

The film removes all barriers Deaf people face when viewing spoken-language films with subtitles, a standard that Josselyn says makes it difficult for Deaf viewers to experience the emotions critical to any given story.

“Having an experience where Jesus is Deaf, is signing, and a Deaf cast where they’re all signing, so they could see all the emotion, they could see what was happening,” is what Josselyn sees as critical to the production. “There wasn’t anything they had to detach from. There were no barriers. They didn’t have to go through an interpreter … or a second party to get that information. To me, that’s why this is so important.”

Showings are scheduled in at least 275 theaters in the U.S. June 20 and 23. Deaf Missions recommends early ticket purchases and group attendance to encourage theaters to expand the schedule.

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Almost all churches believe they are welcoming places for everyone. But many families that include individuals with special needs often feel otherwise. Experts say it doesn’t have to be this way.

Churches that want to welcome everyone, including those with special needs, should begin by asking questions, said Sandra Peoples, the disability ministry consultant for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and mother of a son with autism. Leaders often make assumptions about what happens in their congregation and whether needs are being met.

Nearly every U.S. Protestant pastor (99 percent) and churchgoer (97 percent) believe a person with disabilities would feel welcome and included at their church, according to a 2020 Lifeway Research study. However, for many on the other side of that question – families of people with special needs – churches’ actions don’t always match their intentions.

Find resource at Lifeway.com/SpecialNeeds

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During the growth of the early church, Gentiles, people from non-Jewish backgrounds, were coming to faith in Jesus Christ. The church had to ask whether someone first had to become Jewish to follow Jesus — whether they had to be circumcised and follow the law. Some believed that they did, while others did not.

The Jerusalem Council met to resolve this dispute. Peter argued that because Gentiles received the Holy Spirit and God knows the hearts of all, He doesn’t make a distinction between circumcised and uncircumcised. Peter affirmed that faith for all is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Affirming the sufficiency of faith in Jesus for justification, the apostles, elders, and the entire church selected representatives to accompany Paul and Barnabas to Antioch with a letter confirming the council’s decision. The church in Antioch was encouraged and strengthened by this news, finding unity in Christ alone.

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has released a letter urging Congress to consider three pro-life policy priorities during funding negotiations for the 2025 fiscal year.

With Congress beginning the negotiations process for the 2025 appropriations bills (the 12 bills which annually fund the government), the ERLC authored the letter to express its desire for both the House and Senate appropriations committees to consider several pro-life policy areas during the process. 

The three pro-life policy priorities outlined in the letter include:

• Retaining and expanding existing baseline pro-life protections
• Ensuring conscience protections remain steadfast
• Resisting any expansion of taxpayer funding for IVF and establishing baseline ethical standards for its practice

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Selecting the right insurance plan is the first way to save money, says Harold Roe, a Nashville based insurance consultant. Consumers tend to seek insurance policies with low deductibles and high premiums. But generally, savings come through the opposite approach: buying insurance with high deductibles and low premiums, paired with a health savings account that enables tax-free spending on health care.

Roe cited as an example an employer he worked with recently. Employees could choose between a health plan with a $1,000 family deductible and a plan with a $6,000 family deductible. The high-deductible plan had a $10,000 annual out-of-pocket maximum for a family compared with a $3,000 maximum for the lower-deductible plan.

“The vast majority of the employees are enrolled in the [low-deductible] plan even though it would take $13,720 in claims or more for it to be superior financially to the high-deductible health plan,” Roe said. “We know statistically that less than 10 percent of the population in a given plan year will hit that level of claims, yet most people still opt for the low deductible and low out-of-pocket maximums because they have not been educated about health plan math and its particular variables.”

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Thom Rainer says church decline happens gradually and then all of a sudden.

Three common “gradually, but then all of a sudden” moments occur in churches every week in increasing numbers. The first of these wake-up calls was simply the decline in attendance. The pandemic exacerbated the numerical declines, but it did not cause them. A church with 432 attending wakes up, and over half the congregation is gone.

Second, related to the attendance decline is a financial decline. Fewer attendees are directly correlated to lower giving. For a season, many of the higher givers can keep the church financially afloat, but when they leave or die, the church’s financial health deteriorates rapidly.

It is the second “gradually, then all of a sudden” wake-up call.

The third of these moments relates to the physical facility of churches. It is common for churches to neglect the upkeep of the buildings and grounds. When money is tight, reserve funding for capital needs gets neglected first. The building deteriorates gradually, but then, suddenly, a part of the roof collapses. Or the HVAC system shuts down. Or the parking lot has so many potholes that it is unsafe for vehicles and those walking to and from their cars.

Many of us are feeling the pinch of increasing health insurance costs. Your pastor is probably among that group. Over the past 10 years, the average family health insurance premium has increased 47 percent while inflation has been just 30 percent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, an organization that compiles health care information.

Yet the U.S. health care system applies the greatest pinch to workers at the salary levels pastors often receive.

“The lowest-end corporate people” are suffering most, said Harold Roe, a health care benefits consultant in Nashville and co-founder of Employee Prosperity Partners, an organization that works with employers to increase employee wellness.

Roe suggests that independent brokers might be helpful for people to search for the best health care option for their family.

Independent consultants can be found through the website of the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals or by Googling “employee benefits consultants near me.”

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In front of an Olympic venue, her phone camera hovers over the Olympic pin. The link appears and she selects her language, scans the landing page, and then decides she’d like to chat live with someone. Hesitatingly, she types “Hello” and waits.

From there, a conversation starts, diving into the “Who am I” question she and so many people grapple with today. 

Thousands of people from across the globe will descend on Paris for the Olympics. The IMB is looking for digital responders who might be able to point to the answer. Learn more at IMB.com.

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Tennessee pastor Adam Dooley says Jesus’ death on the cross is a reason for believers to be a part of a local church.

The book of Hebrews reads like a sermon about the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross, with a main point of emphasis on the access we have to God the Father through Christ the Son. Hebrews 10:19 says we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus. As a result, we are told to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering (Hebrews 10:23). In other words, individual believers faithfully worship the Lord because Jesus made it possible.

Immediately after assuring that God invites all Christians into His presence, the writer of Hebrews admonishes the faithful to gather in local churches in order to worship God together. Doing so motivates us to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24).

Believers should not forsake our assembling together with other believers (Hebrews 10:25). The progression here is instructive. Because God welcomes our individual access to His presence, the right response is to gather corporately as a unified body in order to magnify His grace toward us.

Relief crews are at work across the U-S as disaster relief continues following deadly weekend storm.

Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky and other states are dealing with the aftermath of strong storms that killed almost two dozen people and affected thousands of families.

Send Relief is working to provide help to those who need it most.

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The Supreme Court is expected to rule on a Texas case centered on whether or not existing federal law prohibiting individuals perpetuating domestic violence from possessing firearms.

The defendant, Zackey Rahimi, was subject to a civil protective order in Texas after an alleged assault on his ex-girlfriend. The order prohibited him from possessing firearms under a federal law that has been in place since 1996. However, Texas police later found Rahimi in possession of several guns following his involvement in five separate shootings, leading to an indictment under federal law.

Rahimi argued that this existing federal law violates the Second Amendment.

The federal government argued that the Second Amendment does not protect the right of individuals convicted of domestic abuse to possess guns due to safety concerns for the women and children that may be harmed as a result.

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We know we should pray, but when we struggle, it isn’t how we feel that will make the difference. It is our faith, rather than our feelings, that brings us back to prayer. 

Feelings, unfortunately, can betray or mislead us. James reminds us to, “…ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6-7). Our feelings of doubt are like unpredictable ocean waves, leaving us with the unwanted condition of believing and doubting simultaneously. We are like a man driving a car with his foot on the gas and the brake at the same time. 

The question for us, then, is: How can we build our faith? The answer is found in Paul’s counsel to the Roman church, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Strengthening your faith may be as simple as adding more Bible reading to your daily devotional schedule. Reading Scripture with a heart open to the voice of God builds an “on ramp” for prayer. 

Once your spirit is preconditioned by the Word of God, you’ll find it much easier to pray. That’s what Jesus promised in His last formal training with His disciples. He permanently united prayer and Scripture when He said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). 

 The State of Idaho v. United States of America case involves a dispute on the relationship between the State of Idaho’s pro-life Defense of Life Act and the federal government’s law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

In 1986, Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which ensured that hospitals could not deny emergency care to individuals due to an inability to pay, requiring them to treat and/or stabilize all patients.

• Originally, EMTALA was designed to ensure hospitals that receive Medicare funding provide emergency care to stabilize patients for transfer to another hospital, regardless of ability to pay.
• The law specifically provides that both the mother and the “unborn child” are viewed as patients who must be stabilized and cared for. In extreme cases where the mother’s life is at risk, an abortion may be provided under EMTALA where there is no other option.

The Biden administration is attempting to overturn Idaho’s pro-life law by arguing it violates EMTALA. However, both laws seek to protect and safeguard life; the Biden administration is attempting to pit these two laws against one another.

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Jeff Strickland is working to help plant The Fields Church in Westfield, Indiana, just north of Indianapolis. The city famous for fast cars is in great spiritual need.

Strickland is asking believers to pray that he and the church planting team are bold as they share the good news with their neighbors.

He says they need God’s help to provide stamina and perseverance in the work. Let’s pray with these folks as they plant The Fields Church.

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Southern Seminary professor Jason Thacker says believers must flip the script when it comes to the abortion debate following the Roe vs. Wade decision. Thacker writes, 

“Many pro-life advocates rightly recognize that the abortion debate often comes down to a particular question: is the preborn child actually a human being?  At the core of, most if not all, contentious debates in society is this fundamental question of what it means to be human. In the abortion debate, we see this question framed often as asking if the fetus in the womb is truly human and thus deserving of our respect and protection. 

“One vital aspect of flipping the script in this debate is pursuing richer engagement with the robust biblical, theological, and philosophical principles that undergird our Christian pro-life ethic. This necessarily entails understanding and articulating reasoned and robust arguments for the dignity and inestimable value of every human being, no matter the stage of development or location.”

Thacker serves as a research fellow at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

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A bill to make abortion pills controlled substances received final approval of Louisiana legislators May 23, positioning the state to be the first to add such limitations to the medications.

The bill becomes law upon Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s signature, which is expected, further regulating mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV controlled substances, on par with various sedatives, pain pills, and depression and anxiety drugs with a low potential for abuse and dependence.

Prescriptions for mifepristone and misoprostol are already illegal in Louisiana, as is abortion, with only limited exceptions related to the expectant mother’s health. Currently, unlawful possession of Schedule IV drugs in Louisiana is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment of one to five years, according to the law.

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A missionary couple with roots in Missouri are dead after being killed gang members in Haiti, policy say. The families of Davy and Natalie Lloyd are asking believers to pray for them as they grieve.

The missions organization Missions for Haiti says the Lloyds were leaving a church meeting earlier this week when they were ambushed by a gang of three trucks full of people.

The organization’s website says they work to serve children in the country.

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On this Memorial Day, we hear from a former soldier who served with those paying the ultimate price to protect the freedoms Americans share.

Chief Warrant Officer Anthony “Tony” Prescott can’t forget the evening of August 7, 2015. At 10:15 p.m., when a Taliban suicide bomber breached the gate of Camp Integrity, a small coalition base near Kabul, Afghanistan, Prescott was among the first on the scene.

The soldier in front of Prescott was killed. Shrapnel from the explosion injured Prescott’s face and hands, and the blast ruptured his eardrums. Despite his injuries, Prescott engaged the enemy heroically, as did many others.

Following the attack, Prescott worked for four days straight – without sleep – to help find whoever assisted the insurgents with the attack. As a counterintelligence officer, he wrote the operations plan that led to the capture of the person who provided the insurgents with access to the base. His dedication and expertise were crucial in preventing further attacks and saving lives.

Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are working alongside peers in Iowa to help residents recovering from an EF-3 tornado that destroyed sections of this city May 21. It was among a tornado outbreak that ultimately killed at least five people and injured at least 35.

The size estimate of the Greenfield tornado could increase as National Weather Service investigators continue to survey damage, reported The Weather Channel.

The storms were fast and mostly hit rural areas, said Iowa Disaster Relief director Gared Schaffer.

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Pulling off Vacation Bible School (VBS) for 700 children is a daunting challenge for most churches. Pulling off VBS for 700 children during community upheaval is not just challenging, it is practically impossible.

But Anna Yumnam* and her team from TMG Bible Church* in Manipur, a state in northeast India, managed to accomplish the seemingly impossible in June 2023.

This was Yumnam’s first year as the church’s children’s ministry director. She expected hurdles of course, but perhaps not trials of this intensity.

Just one month before the VBS, community conflicts had begun to erupt between two ethnic groups in the state of Manipur. While the situation was fairly contained in early June, people in the area were on edge. The government suspended the internet in the entire state, leaving everyone in a communications dark hole. Colleges and schools in the state capital were shut. In some regions, neighbors began turning against each other.

In the town where TMG Bible Church is located, the situation remained relatively peaceful, but not having access to the internet was a huge obstacle for the team organizing the VBS.

This was the church’s fourth year running the Lifeway VBS program. They said they didn’t want the year to pass without the children learning solid biblical truths through VBS.

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In the Baptist Press toolbox, Scott McConnell writes about some things that will immediately help discipleship in your church.

Praying for courage

Another element of prayer is a strong predictor of spiritual growth: Praying for the courage to stand up for Jesus. This question is not in the core assessment or a specific discipleship signpost. This practice tells a broader story.

There is a mental aspect to following Christ that often is more difficult than actions or beliefs themselves. Praying for courage is a request for the desire to say “it is worth it to follow Christ” in every circumstance.

Spending time praising God

Personally setting aside time for private worship, praise, or thanksgiving to God more often has the fifth most significant impact on spiritual maturity.

We often think about the Bible-reading part of a quiet time with God and listening to Him. But another essential element is to personally praise and thank God for who He is and what He is doing. This is, after all, a relationship. While we do ask Him for things, we also should intentionally enjoy Him and put that into words.