Good News for Today

Residents of Florida, Georgia and Alabama need your prayers today as they deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The storm quickly intensified before coming ashore in the Florida panhandle on Thursday afternoon before zipping north into Georgia and Alabama overnight.

Disaster relief crews are on standby as first responders do their work and assessors move into the area. 

Despite the tragedy, it’s a blessing to know that people who care are quick to rush to the help of others facing dark days.

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You are learning every day. You don...

Millions of elementary through college students gathered at flag poles on their campuses yesterday file in the U.S. and 63 other countries to pray in the student-led “See You at the Pole” initiative in its 33rd year.

The early sunrise, clouds and rains variously served as the backdrop for social media photos attesting to student participation.

The event is designed to spark a continual prayer movement and lifestyle change, with resources available through the partner ministry Claim Your Campus, and was preceded in some communities by prayerwalks and student ministry events, organizers said.

Held...

Words are important.

Southwestern Seminary professor Malcolm Yarnell says, “Christians ought to have a leavening influence on their society.” “But when we forget our primary allegiance to Jesus Christ [in favor of] political parties, movements or leaders, we begin to run into trouble.”

An average of Gallup polls in 2023 found that 68 percent of Americans identified with the Christian religion. However, that reflected a consistent drop from the high point of 96 percent in 1956.

Christians are being educated by something, he added. That can be the culture, social media, mainstream media or the church. All have a w...

In north Georgia close to 50 football players on the team at Shorter University made decisions for Christ this year before the season started, and 17 followed through with believer’s baptism.

Zach Morrison, in his seventh year as head coach, described what happened after players arrived at the school in early August for preseason training and conditioning camp. “We took them to a couple of local churches,” he said, “and about 150 players visited Life Church.”

That Sunday, Morrison recalled, Life Church Pastor Jason Stockton preached and closed with an invitation. Team chaplain Topher Stockton (no relation) said 48 pl...

In 2022, opioid abuse resulted in 82,000 Americans’ deaths, the most ever recorded, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2021, an estimated 2.5 million adults in the U.S. dealt with opioid use disorder, while more than 10 million people misused prescription opioids in 2019, according to the CDC. Many churches felt the impact.

Lifeway Research found around 2 in 3 pastors (64 percent) say a family member of someone in their congregation has been affected by opioid abuse. Around half (51 percent) say a local neighbor they know or a member of their congregation is dealing with opioids, while 45 percent say a...

A group of local and national church leaders are working to help the situation in Springfied, Ohio where a relatively small town has become the focus of the national immigration discussion.

Tensions rose in the city after the Republican presidential ticket spread claims on social media and during the presidential debate that immigrants in Springfield were eating people’s pets. Bomb threats forced the closure of city buildings, schools and hospitals, and made the city the subject of national and international news for a week or more.

Kenny Felix, president of Southern Baptist Convention National Ha...

Each summer thousands of elementary, middle and high school students flock to Lifeway summer camps. In addition to games and ice cream machines, those kids love missions.

This week, Lifeway President Ben Mandrell presented $678,283.32 to the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board. That’s right students across America gave more than $678-thousand to missions.

Lifeway camps have been around for 40 years…and the total missions offerings have exceeded $17 million.

Lifeway camps give students the opportunity to hear stories of faithful missionaries and God’s work arou...

The financial appropriations decision making process is working its way through Congress.

Some of the priorities highlighted by the ERLC in the letter include pro-life issues, religious liberty concerns and opposing taxpayer funding for harmful “gender transition” surgeries.

“As a nation, our values and priorities are most clearly displayed through the allocation of our resources,” ERLC President Brent Leatherwood said in the letter. “It is our desire for those resources to be used in a way that promotes life, religious liberty and the flourishing of all our neighbors. It is in light of these core principles...

While the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is in the rearview mirror and may be the only time the presidential candidates take to the debate stage, Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley says believers should recognize the “transcendent policy issues of our time,” which he lists as the sanctity of life and marriage, gender issues and religious liberty.

“Cling tenaciously to a biblical worldview, and don’t be manipulated,” he said. “Pray for God to give us wise and discerning leaders. Trust that God is sovereign and that Christ’s kingdom is not of this world.”

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Thousands of residents in New Orleans are finally receiving power after Hurricane Francine made landfall across the Gulf Coast late last week.

Disaster Relief workers from at least Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas are working in Louisiana. Feeding teams, chainsaw teams and chaplains are work.

Thousands of meals are being served as people pick up from the heavy winds and rains.

You can learn how to affect those affected by visiting SendRelief.org.

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Generation Z, the first to grow up with smartphones and tablets, is the most...

What was once a major port for enslaved people is now a harbor for diaspora groups, and Southern Baptists are playing a key role.

Diaspora refers to “the movement, migration, settlement or scattering of people away from one’s indigenous homeland.” In North America, diaspora people comprise immigrants, refugees and international students.

Christians’ outreach to internationals in Charleston is a great example of what Diaspora Missions Collective wants to accomplish in reaching all nations, people, languages and tribes with the Gospel, no matter where they live.

With help from The Hub Ministry Center, Charlest...

Residents of the Gulf Coast are reeling from the effects of Hurricane Francine after it made landfall on Wednesday. Heavy rains and strong storms ripped across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. 

Disaster Relief workers huddled in areas hours away from the gulf to see how they could help one the storm came ashore. When first responders give them the greenlight, they’ll work quickly to help those in need.

The storm is forecasted to drift up the Mississippi River through the weekend bringing heavy rains.

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A somber sight...

Sept. 11 is a day many Americans can never forget and a day younger Americans should never forget. It’s a day when terrorists killed innocent Americans who were going to about their daily routine on a typical weekday. Thousands of families were affected forever as loved ones left for a work day and never returned home. Millions of Americans were impacted that Tuesday as our normal hustle and bustle ground to a halt as we prayed that God would lead first responders in their search and recovery efforts and that He would comfort those whose lives had been shattered.

Reports showing sustained increases in food and home prices alongside a cooling labor market highlight a continuing challenge for churches.

That information impacts everything from attaining goods for ministries like food pantries to hiring new staff. Inflation sits in the middle of it all and while it remains high, the rate is decreasing.

In addition, wage increases can also impact a church’s ability to hire support staff. When your local fast food restaurant  and other places raise their wages, churches must follow suit to attract candidates for custodial services or setup...

The Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Seminary has established a partnership with Reformation Heritage Books to republish Charles Spurgeon’s 63 volumes of sermons.

The partnership will produce five sets of volumes containing sermons preached by Charles Spurgeon in his church and originally published from 1855 to 1917. The first set was released in August 2024.

Seminary President Jason Allen says he’s thrilled about the new partnership as he reflects on how Spurgeon’s writings were helping him during his call to ministry and early years of serving as a pastor.

In 1855, while pastoring the New Park Street...

Area churches responded quickly to a school shooting in Winder, Georgia Wednesday.

Four people were killed by the 14 year old gunman.

Bethlehem Church sits three miles from the shooting and has numerous members connected to Apalachee High including students, teachers and coaches.

Pastor Jason Britt confirmed with Baptist Press that there were members harmed in the shooting but could not provide any further information. Many churches held a night of prayer on Wednesday and offered counseling services.

Barrow County School System Superintendent Dallas LeDuff said schools would be closed for the...

Bill Denman in Independence, Missouri retired from construction work in his early 60s. He had used heavy equipment machinery to build water and sewer lines most of his adult life. First, he was an operator and then a foreman. He worked hard.

Retirement was good. He picked up a hobby as he bought a classic car and began entering it in car show competitions. It was a 1938 Ford Coupe, and Denman kept it shining as he showed it off in car shows.

He also began going on his church’s annual mission trips for 16 consecutive ye...

Send Relief continues to aid Sudan, as half the nation faces acute hunger and famine chases refugees and internally displaced persons.

Cholera and heavy rains exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, according to international governmental agencies.

Jason Cox, Send Relief’s vice president of international ministry, said the war is not getting enough attention in the U.S., even as Send Relief continues to send aid.

“This war has created what is now the largest population of forcibly displaced people in the world. The humanitarian needs are overwhelming, and growing. But the opportunities are also grea...

Alabama meteorologist James Spann has found his passion in life. The longtime TV weatherman in Birmingham says that since he was a young boy he wanted to do what he’s had the opportunity to do for decades.

Spann can be seen every weekday in the Birmingham area and heard on radio across the United States.

Though he’s thankful he’s able to work a job he loves, he says he’s had to learn that one’s career is not all there is to life. He says he’s dealt with a season of life when...

Today is Labor Day. The Museum of the Bible writes, “Labor activists first put forward the concept of a federal holiday to celebrate “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” in the late 1800s. Although times had changed and agriculture was giving way to a more industrial economy, there was still an imbalance of power. At the height of the Industrial Revolution in the US, the very poor and immigrants worked in the most unsafe conditions, with little sanitary facilities, fresh air, or even occasional breaks. The average American worked 12-hour days and 7-day weeks...

A Missouri ballot initiative to enshrine abortion and contraceptive rights into the state constitution would repeal all laws regulating such reproductive technologies as human cloning and in vitro fertilization for stem cell research, the Thomas More Society said in a lawsuit challenging Amendment 3.

Missouri Attorney General John Ashcroft, a pro-life Republican, violated state and constitutional law by not listing with the ballot initiative the laws it would repeal, and by certifying a ballot initiative that covers more than one subject, Thomas More Society Senior Counsel Mary Catherine Martin told Baptist Press.

As preborn life is...

Telling other people about hope and salvation in Jesus is one the primary things He told His disciples to do. This summer, over 350 short-term missionaries served for six to eight weeks in 26 cities and neighborhoods that need a greater Gospel presence. Together, the students reported having just shy of 4,500 Gospel conversations.

The students served through GenSend hosted by the North American Mission Board.

GenSend Summer affords college students an opportunity to explore the call to the mission field, and the program is designed to encourage participants to consider whether God might be calling them to...

The Kendrick brothers’ latest movie “The Forge” had a strong opening weekend at box offices nationwide, bringing in $6.6 million, according to reports. The film came in fifth overall in box office ticket sales between Aug. 23-25.

The Forge features Cameron Arnett from previous Kendrick film “Overcomer” in a leading role as Joshua, a business owner who goes out of his way to disciple into Christian manhood Isaiah, played by Aspen Kennedy. The newcomer portrays the shiftless teenage son of Cynthia, one of two twin sisters portrayed by Priscilla Shirer, adding to her role of Elizabeth from “War Room,” the b...

Darren Casper believes in missions. As the executive director of the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association (often called STL Metro), he leads a staff of eight full and part-time missionaries. Their task is to equip churches to reach out with the gospel to the city of more than 300,000 people and a little more than 2 million people living on the Missouri side of the greater St. Louis metro area. 

Casper led the association to sell its office building in Bridgeton a few years ago. Those funds are being rerouted into ministry, especially efforts to bolster church planting.

When God called Rhonda Schrage to leave a traditional career and build a new one based on her art, some thought she was crazy, but she stepped out in obedience and found the Lord walking with her every step of the way.

Schrage, who lives in Jefferson City, Missouri, starts with a Bible passage written on a canvas. Then she begins to sketch out her design as she continues to pray through the passage. As she paints, the passage is usually covered as she completes the work of art – which typically resembles something that has come to mi...

A health care triad – including a hospital, a rural clinic and a nursing college – in East Java, Indonesia is reaching far beyond the island’s, and even the country’s, borders.

The history dates back to 1951, when missionaries first went to the island nation. Medical work wasn’t far behind, and it soon became a key strategy for Gospel access.

Today, the medical facilities are led by Indonesian medical professionals who are committed to the Gospel and the vision to use health care to make the Gospel known to all nations. 

IMB missionary Jacob Stanl...

Only 2 percent of an estimated 80 million Deaf people alive today have ever been told the Gospel in their sign language, with at least 380 sign languages in use globally, according to ministry leaders.

The International Mission Board (IMB) and Wycliffe Bible Translators are among more than 95 organizations and churches collaborating globally to change the dismal statistic.

Eurasia, IMB and Wycliffe have collaborated with others to begin Bible story translations in more than 75 new sign languages, said Andy Keener, Wycliffe’s senior director of global partnerships.

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Send Relief crisis response exp...

The Supreme Court rejected an emergency request from the Biden Administration that would have required the enforcement of new Title IX regulations released in April of this year.

The rule expands the definition of “sex” in Title IX’s language to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational program or institution that receives federal funds.

Opponents of the new rule, including the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, argued that the rule would remove protections women have previously enjoyed from Title IX by al...

Arizona and Missouri are the latest states to add measures to the November ballot allowing voters to enshrine abortion rights in their respective state constitutions, joining at least six other states with similar measures.

In at least two states, Nebraska and Pennsylvania, ballot initiatives to protect life are pending.

State ballot measures in Arizona and Missiouri would allow abortion to be restricted or banned after fetal viability, except to protect the life or health of the woman.

The initiative would also protect from prosecution providers of abortion.

Both states define fetal...

Bogdan Kipko immigrated to the United States from eastern Europe, arriving in Seattle with his parents in 1992 where a Baptist church provided space for his family and others to worship. Thirty years later, God has used Kipko to launch a church planting movement among Slavs who are dispersed throughout North America.

Kipko planted Forward Church in Irvine, Calif., through Send Network, the North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) church planting arm, and began connecting with Slavic pastors and ministry leaders throughout North America to point them to the resources Send Network utilizes to help churches plant churches.

It happens with a couch or mattress. It happens with two chairs facing each other across a table.

While refugees’ initial days and months in America can be complex and filled with paperwork and immigration meetings, churches have learned that there are direct, simple ways to meet needs.

Not long after it began six years ago, Living Hope Church in Columbus was helping deliver donated furniture on behalf of a group of non-profit organizations. It became apparent that the items were going toward a growing migrant population consisting of those from the Middle East and Ce...

As a French pastor was setting up for a community outreach event during the Olympics, he recalled a conversation he had overheard years before and had never been able to forget. A mother and child were walking along the street in front of his church.

“What is this place, this building?” the child asked. “It’s a museum,” his mother responded.

The pastor was inspired to set up an art show inside the church building during games. Many families visited the makeshift art gallery set up during the games.

Pastor Jason Harris said...

Chris Holcomb looks up most days…he’s a meteorologist at an Atlanta TV station…but he says these last few days have been even better days to look up at the Persied meteor showers have passed over the U.S.

Holcomb says looking up reminds him of the majesty of God and how God is in control.

“It’s good to look at the sky and just be amazed,” he said. “When that debris from the comet hits the atmosphere, it’s protecting us by burning them up and creating fireballs across t...

As rainfall totals passed 12 inches, saturated ground led to fallen trees, dams giving way and more than 100 damaged roads in Bulloch County, Georgia, from Tropical Storm Debby last week.

Pastor Todd Wiggins of Southbridge Community Church was among those affected, as floodwaters crept into his home. 

“We were blessed, because there were people who lost their whole home,” he said. “Others had damage up to 4 feet high, so in the grand scope, it’s not too bad.”

Area rivers are being monitored as they continue to swell. Wiggins has heard stories from other parts of th...

Springfield Church in Hays, North Carolina had been planning their afternoon of service for months. Weeks of preparation had gone into delivering care packages to residents near the church’s property in mountainous region of Wilkes County. They had planned to hit the streets after the morning worship service.

But as they finished the Sunday School hour before the service, they heard an elderly woman with dementia had wandered off. When they finished the morning service, local first responders had set up a command center in the church’s parking lot.

The church decided to post...

Help is on the way to Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas as the remnants of Hurricane Debby continuing churning up the east coast.

Rivers and lakes stand above flood stage from west Florida up into northeast Georgia and predictions of flooding continue through the Carolinas as what was Hurricane Debby makes its way north. At least six deaths are being blamed on the storm.

The storm is slowly churning up the East Coast dumping significant rainfall. The National Weather Service predicts the storm will still be a Tropical Depression as late as...

Two members of Providence Church in Pasadena, Texas haven’t been there for weeks. But that hasn’t stopped the church from praying for them.

Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Tracy Dyson are astronauts who are currently working aboard the International Space Station.

Dyson’s tenure on the ISS runs through September. Wilmore is waiting to catch a ride home the Boeing module currently undergoing tests while docked to the floating science lab.

Through the marvels of technology, the pair were able to join their church on Sunday morning recently via video call. 

Both say...

Disaster Relief workers in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are on alert as the remnant of Hurricane Debby sweeps across the southeast.

Damage will be assessed after its passage for a more comprehensive response, Disaster Relief leaders announced today.

Flood watches remain in effect through Tuesday across much of the southeast.

The National Weather Service says “potentially historic rainfall” will follow Debby as the storm moves with “considerable flooding” across areas of east-central Georgia, said the National Weather Service.

Charleston Southern University has moved all cl...

They may not be able to control the results, but a group of believers are being faithful to the task about the millions of people gathered in Paris for the Summer Olympics.

Jason Harris is leading a team of more than 300 short-term volunteers to hit the streets of Paris sharing the gospel.

He says they are united around a common vision to make Christ known among Europeans and a long-term goal to plant five churches in Paris over the next five years.

Harris explained that short-term volunteers are vital to sharing the Gospel...

Most Americans, even most Christians, remain supportive of IVF. Around 4 in 5 U.S. adults (82%) say IVF is morally acceptable, according to Gallup. One in 10 believe it is wrong. The more someone attends religious services, the more likely they are to see IVF as morally wrong. But even among those who attend weekly, 63% say the practice is morally acceptable while 25% believe it’s wrong.

A 2022 Lifeway Research study found 35% of Americans believe human life begins at conception. 

Jason Thacker, a Christian ethicist, says decisions concerning IVF can be challenging.

“Navigating the deep pains and reali...