WASHINGTON (BP) -- Three states have acted swiftly to accomplish what the U.S. Senate could not -- defund Planned Parenthood. Alabama, Louisiana and New Hampshire all have eliminated funding for the country's leading abortion provider after the release of videos providing evidence Planned Parenthood trades in baby body parts. Since mid-July, an investigative group has released five undercover videos that show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of organs from aborted children for research. It is expected more videos will be released in the next few weeks. Thirteen states have initiated investigations into Planned Parenthood, according to The Christian Science Monitor. After investigations in their states, Florida and Indiana officials have reported they found no evidence of violations by the organization regarding fetal tissue. While some states have canceled contracts with Planned Parenthood, supporters of defunding in the U.S. Senate fell short in their attempt Aug. 3. Senators voted 53-46 to bring to the floor a bill to eliminate federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and its affiliates. While a majority of senators favored consideration of the proposal, the attempt to invoke … [Read more...]

NASHVILLE, (BP) -- When Mark Bagwell started Golden Corner Church in Walhalla, S.C., 22 years ago, he was shocked by the prevalence of domestic violence among the people he sought to reach. "A huge number of the people I was counseling -- within just a short time of even the first meeting, I would start discovering that they had been abused," Bagwell, now Golden Corner's care pastor, told SBC LIFE. That reality "broke my heart and started bringing about a great passion" to confront the problem. Consistent with Golden Corner's vision of "loving God, loving people," Bagwell educated himself about ministering to domestic violence victims. Today, along with other area ministers, he works in conjunction with a local women's shelter to help abuse victims. He was quoted last year as an advocate for battered women in a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles on domestic violence by Charleston, S.C.'s The Post and Courier. Bagwell is among a growing coalition of Southern Baptists encouraging pastors to place more emphasis on combating domestic abuse -- a common but often overlooked problem within churches. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that more than one in three women (35.6 percent) and one in four … [Read more...]

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Pastors believe not all divorces are created equal, but for many Americans any reason is as good as another, a new study shows. "Pastors make a distinction about the rightness of a divorce based on the reasons behind it," said Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research in Nashville. "They want to account for the parts of Scripture that speak of possible rationales." However, Americans view virtually all reasons for ending a marriage in the same moral light. In a phone survey of 1,000 Americans, LifeWay Research found 39 percent say divorce is a sin when an individual's spouse commits adultery; 38 percent when the couple no longer loves one another; 38 percent when a spouse abandons the other; 37 percent when a spouse is abused; and 35 percent when a spouse is addicted to pornography. Close to the same (37 percent) say divorce is not a sin in any of these. "About one in seven Americans are saying divorce is a sin in all of these cases, more than a third don't think any of these would be a sin, and almost half believe some circumstances would be sinful, but not others," McConnell said. In a separate phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors, less than a third want to classify as sinful an … [Read more...]

FERGUSON, Mo. (BP) -- More than 200 Baptist pastors and leaders gathered at First Baptist Church in Ferguson, Mo., on the day violence had broken out in the early morning hours during the one-year anniversary weekend of the shooting death of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer. Baptist leaders from the Missouri and Illinois sides of the Mississippi River met to hear plans for and the challenges of Crossover St. Louis, which will precede the Southern Baptist Convention's 2016 annual meeting, June 14-15 in St. Louis. "This has been a city in crisis for more than a year," SBC President Ronnie Floyd said during the sessions at First Baptist in Ferguson. "When we set up this meeting, we didn't realize it would be the anniversary of that horrible event. But God did. "The entire metropolitan area needs an awakening," Floyd continued. "We need to pray for an outpouring of God's Holy Spirit. God is getting His people ready and this is our moment to make a difference." On Sunday (Aug. 9) after an estimated 1,000 protesters had marched peacefully in Ferguson, police returned gunfire from a suspect around 11:15 p.m., critically wounding the man. Dozens of protesters were arrested throughout the day on Monday, the St. Louis … [Read more...]

By David Roach, Baptist Press CLEVELAND (BP) -- Abortion, gay marriage and God were among the topics addressed Aug. 6 at a Republican presidential debate in Cleveland involving the top 10 candidates in polls as determined by Fox News. While no candidate expressed support for abortion rights, one -- Ohio Gov. John Kasich -- said the country should not divide over gay marriage. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee criticized the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration last month for not securing the release of four American political prisoners including Pastor Saeed Abedini, though he did not mention Abedini by name. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson invoked the biblical concept of a tithe to illustrate a fair system of taxation. Among the reactions of Southern Baptist commentators was approval of at least two explicit mentions of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, prompting Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson to tweet, "Heard more Gospel content in Republican debate than one often hears in some churches." When candidates were asked whether they had received a "word from God" related to their candidacy, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Southern Baptist, responded, "I am blessed to receive a word … [Read more...]