By David Roach, Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) - As Pope Francis visits the U.S., Southern Baptist leaders say they stand with his statements of biblical morality but urge Catholics to reject the Vatican's official teaching on salvation in favor of a personal relationship with Christ by faith alone. Russell Moore, president of Southern Baptists' Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, hopes Francis will speak to key moral concerns being debated in the public square during his Sept. 22-27 U.S. visit. "I hope the pope speaks with clarity about the dignity of all human life, including that of the unborn; the stability of the family, including the necessity of mothers and fathers for children; and religious liberty for all," Moore told Baptist Press in written comments. "I also hope he speaks directly as he has before to our responsibility for the most vulnerable among us, the poor, the prisoner, the immigrant and the orphan." R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, agrees and wants Francis to clarify his "decidedly mixed signals" regarding multiple issues, including human sexuality. "This pope's method is to speak to the theological left and the theological right with two different … [Read more...]
Critics say Janet Napolitano’s university statement against intolerance could violate free speech
By Kelly Ledbetter, Christian Examiner OAKLAND, Calif. (Christian Examiner) – The University of California (UC) system, under pressure to address recent anti-Semitism demonstrations, has proposed a draft of a Statement of Principles Against Intolerance, which could potentially infringe on the free speech rights of students, faculty, and staff. "Intolerance has no place at the University of California," the statement declared. "Everyone in the University community has the right to study, teach, conduct research, and work free from acts and expressions of intolerance." Numerous critics have raised the concern that UC's statement, written by UC President Janet Napolitano and others, would unnecessarily limit free speech rights on campus. Napolitano served as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2009-2013 for the Obama administration. To read more, click here. … [Read more...]
WMU: More than ever, pray for IMB missionaries
By Julie Walters, WMU BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- As International Mission Board personnel who are eligible for the organization's voluntary retirement incentive prayerfully consider God's leading, Woman's Missionary Union leaders are calling for more intense prayer and support for Southern Baptist missionaries. "Ongoing, focused prayer for our missionaries has always been a foundational component of missions discipleship through WMU," said Wanda S. Lee, executive director of national WMU. "It is both a privilege and responsibility to lift up our missionaries in prayer, and so vital right now as they are making potentially life-changing decisions." National WMU will host a special time of prayer for international missionaries during an observance of the Week of Prayer for International Missions at WMU's headquarters in Birmingham, Ala., Dec. 3. In addition to prayer, WMU is seeking to help missionaries who decide to return to the U.S. with housing and transportation. Missionary housing has long been a ministry provided by WMU through a password-protected database of available housing for missionaries. WMU provides counsel to those who want to learn more about starting a missionary house ministry and facilitates … [Read more...]
Not so fast: Federal judge says Arkansas cannot defund Planned Parenthood
By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Christian Examiner) – A little more than a month after Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchison ordered his state to dissolve its Medicaid provider contract with the scandal-plagued abortion provider Planned Parenthood, a federal judge has ordered it reinstated – but perhaps only temporarily. On Sept. 18, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker granted a request from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the Arkansas branch of the American Civil Liberties Union to block the defunding of the organization for 14 days, even after a series of 10 videos surfaced showing abortion providers negotiating the sale of fetal body parts with undercover operatives from the Center for Medical Progress. The cancellation of the Medicaid provider contract – a state contract – was to have taken effect Sept. 20. Now, both sides in the case will have two weeks to prepare further arguments as to why the funding should be permanently reinstated or denied. To read more, click here. … [Read more...]
Pope’s abortion absolution ‘disconnected’ from Gospel
By Erin Roach, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) - Pope Francis has extended to priests worldwide the authority to offer absolution for the sin of abortion during the Catholic Church's "Holy Year of Mercy," which begins Dec. 8 and runs through Nov. 20 of next year. Most priests in the United States already have such authority, but in other nations they must seek permission from bishops, a formal process that has led to frustration among those seeking absolution. Under Roman Catholic canon law, abortion brings automatic excommunication unless the person who has had an abortion or performed an abortion confesses and receives absolution. Southern Baptist women's ministry leaders Kathy Ferguson Litton, Dorothy Patterson and Rhonda Kelley, in comments to Baptist Press, however, lamented the misguided nature of the pope's decree that forgiveness must be sought from anyone but Christ. The New York Times noted that Pope John Paul II enabled priests to offer the same absolution during the last Holy Year, in 2000. "Yet it shows [Pope Francis'] broader push to make Catholicism more merciful and welcoming," The Times noted. Vatican officials said it's possible the pope will allow the abortion absolution practice to … [Read more...]
Abedini prayer vigils set globally September 26
By Diana Chandler, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) - The wife of imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini is on a 21-day "Daniel" fast and is organizing prayer vigils internationally Sept. 26, the third anniversary of her husband's imprisonment in Iran for his Christian faith. Naghmeh Abedini, in asking Christians to pray for her husband and the persecuted church, also is promoting a letter-writing campaign to ask United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to advocate for Abedini's release when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks Sept. 28 at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Naghmeh Abedini will attend a prayer rally for her husband and other persecuted Christians at 7 p.m. Sept. 28 at Calvary Chapel in Old Bridge, N.J. In advance of the U.N. sessions that began Sept. 15, she addressed over 100 members of parliaments from 50 nations who held a meeting on international religious freedom in New York, urging the lawmakers to take action in their home countries to encourage her husband's release. Imprisonment is taking its toll on 35-year-old pastor, his wife said on Facebook today (Sept. 16), but he was encouraged to learn of the prayer vigils today from a family member, the first visitor Iran has allowed him in … [Read more...]
The Syrian refugee crisis and you
By Travis Wussow, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Commission EDITOR'S NOTE: A FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about the Syrian refugee crisis follows this article.</i> NASHVILLE (BP) - Turkey's shores received the body of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi minutes after a small boat capsized while carrying him into the Mediterranean in early September with his father, mother and 4-year-old brother and other refugees from the Syrian Civil War. They left with hope of finding safety and security. Instead, Aylan and his brother became two of more than 11,000 children -- at least 230 of whom were also 3 years old -- killed as a result of the war, as recounted in a Washington Post report on Sept. 5. Aylan's mother also died. But Aylan will never be forgotten, because a nearby photographer made him an international symbol of the Syrian refugees' plight. Also not to be forgotten: the reports of systemic rape and sexual slavery of women across Syria and Iraq. The so-called Islamic State continues to wreak havoc in the region, its campaign of terror emanating from Raqqa, Syria, its de facto capital. The world is presented with the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Nearly 8 million Syrians have been internally … [Read more...]
Is any marriage safe in an adulterous culture?
By Erin Roach, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) - Amid news of men, women and families being thrust into the shadow of the Ashley Madison adultery website hacking, Baptist Press asked the wives of a few longtime Southern Baptist leaders how Christian wives can feel safe in their marriages. Carol Ann Draper, Jodi Chapman and Janet Vines expressed gratitude for their husbands and discussed how the Lord has strengthened their marriages through challenges along the way. Tony Rose, a Kentucky pastor with years of pastoral care experience, also offered some reasons why wives of godly men can feel secure despite today's adultery-ridden culture. "The thing that makes me feel secure is first of all just knowing God and knowing that God put us together," said Draper, whose husband Jimmy Draper was president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1983-84 and, later, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. "We were 18 and 20 when we married, and so we literally were growing up together and we had no one else to depend on except each other." Draper realizes, though, that in many homes the trust has been broken, and in every home Satan wants to plant seeds of doubt. She can recall times when news of divorce or something in the … [Read more...]
Jenner’s view on gay marriage is lukewarm, surprising to LGBT community
By Kelly Ledbetter, Christian Examiner BURBANK, Calif. (Christian Examiner) – The former Olympian and reality television star Bruce Jenner, who has asked the media to address him as "Caitlyn," may be seeking to demonstrate a social distance between himself and the LGBT community that previously accepted Jenner as a figurehead. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Jenner said, "I'm a traditionalist." He said he was "okay" with gay marriage, but he was not resoundingly supportive, USA Today reported. Jenner has said he is a republican and a Christian, but he ascribed his views to his age: "I'm older than most people in the audience. I kind of like tradition, and it's always been a man and a woman. I'm thinking, 'I don't quite get it.'" To read more, go to the Christian Examiner website. … [Read more...]
Hamas leader calls for unified operation to free Temple Mount, Jerusalem from Jews
ERUSALEM (Christian Examiner) – A spokesman for the Palestinian terror group Hamas, which claims in its charter its desire to annihilate Israel, said Hamas militants are ready to commit "martyrdom" operations to defend the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, the Iranian News Agency has reported. Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said the mosque needed to be defended from the "occupiers," or the Jews, after Israeli police and soldiers raided the Temple Mount Sunday, Sept. 13, while Muslim worshippers were inside the mosque. “Any more provocation in Jerusalem will affect the relationship between Jordan and Israel.” - King Abdullah II of Jordan The police took action after Palestinian youths tried to disrupt the visit to the Temple Mount of both Jews and foreign tourists on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, which began at sunset. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.] To read more, go to the Christian Examiner website. … [Read more...]
