By Alliance Defending Freedom staff WASHINGTON – Alliance Defending Freedom asked a federal district court Friday to order the Internal Revenue Service to identify records it has withheld for nearly two years that are related to secret procedures for investigating churches. The existence of the secret procedures became known through the agency’s settlement of an atheist group’s lawsuit, but the IRS has stonewalled the release of details. In 2014, ADF filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for the records. The IRS refused to produce any records for a full year. When it finally started producing documents in July 2015, months after ADF filed suit through its attorneys with Judicial Watch, the agency withheld more than 10,000 out of 16,000 pages requested, and of the pages it did produce, more than 2,000 are almost entirely blacked out. Now ADF is asking the court to order the IRS to comply with its legal duty to justify the thousands of records withheld or else produce them. “The IRS is not above the law, and Americans deserve to know the truth about the agency’s secret deals with activists,” said ADF Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb. “The IRS has a legal obligation to explain why it is hiding things or else … [Read more...]

By Tobin Perry, Christian Examiner LAKE FOREST, Calif. (Christian Examiner)—At worship services last weekend Saddleback Church commissioned Danny Duchene —who had spent 33 years in a California prison—as a pastor. Duchene will lead the church's efforts to put a church in every prison in the United States. "As I stand here today, I'm aware I'm only here by God's mercy," Duchene told the assembled crowd during one of Saddleback's worship services. "I am very grateful to the pastors, friends and family that God has shown his mercy through. The Bible says in James 2:13 that 'mercy triumphs over judgment.' My life is an example of that truth." Duchene's testimony came as part of Rick Warren's sermon called "God Can Use Anybody," during a message series on "The Miracle of Mercy." To read the rest of the story, click here. … [Read more...]

By Joni B Hannigan, Christian Examiner ST. LOUIS (Christian Examiner) – A week after a Florida pastor announced 42-year-old J.D. Greear would be nominated as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Johnny Hunt, a former SBC president, announced he would nominate Steve Gaines, 59, pastor of the Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church, to the post during the denomination's June meeting. The second nomination earlier this month for the position marks the first time in six years — since the election of Marietta, Georgia Pastor Bryant Wright in Orlando in 2010 — there has been at least three nominees. Baptist Press announced March 24 that New Orleans pastor David Crosby would be nominated for president by former SBC president Fred Luter. To read the rest of the story, click here. … [Read more...]

By Joni B Hannigan, Christian Examiner ST. LOUIS (Christian Examiner) – Some would say there hasn't been a full out campaign for president of the Southern Baptist Convention since 1989 in Las Vegas, but one pastor says it's time to throw in the wild card, admit it's a political process, and allow the nominees to press forward. Passions ran high in 1989 during what is commonly referred to as the Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention. Conservatives had elected Jerry Vines in 1988 in San Antonio and were set to elect him for a second straight year. Moderates couldn't win against Vines in 1998 even with Texan native Richard Jackson, the mega pastor who led North Phoenix Baptist Church in explosive growth; and so in 1989 moderate supporters launched an unprecedented campaign for Daniel Vestal, who later became the executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. To read the rest of the story, click here. … [Read more...]

JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has signed into law a bill that provides protection for individuals, organizations and businesses who deny services based on their belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. “I have signed HB 1523 into law to protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations from discriminatory action by state government or its political subdivisions, which would include counties, cities and institutions of higher learning,” Bryant posted on his Facebook page after signing the bill today. “This bill merely reinforces the rights which currently exist to the exercise of religious freedom as stated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. “This bill does not limit any constitutionally protected rights or actions of any citizen of this state under federal or state laws,” he continued. “It does not attempt to challenge federal laws, even those which are in conflict with the Mississippi Constitution, as the Legislature recognizes the prominence of federal law in such limited circumstances. The legislation is designed in the most targeted manner possible to prevent government interference in the lives of the people from … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor ALEXANDRIA – International Mission Board President David Platt denies he knowingly endorsed J.D. Greear for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, stating he was not aware Greear’s request for a video clip was for the purpose of creating a campaign ad. The controversy emerged when Greear, pastor of the Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina, and a leading member of Acts 29, a neo-Calvinist church planting network, began circulating a promotional video March 14 featuring a number of Southern Baptist personalities, including three SBC entity heads: Platt; Russ Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; and, Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Platt responded to an IMB trustee via email March 23, explaining, “while I was overseas in the Middle East, J.D. asked me to shoot a 2-second video saying, ‘It’s tricky,’” a phrase repeated throughout the online commercial. But Platt said Greear did not divulge how the clip would be used. “I had no idea what it was for,” Platt clarified, although he said he knew beforehand Greear “had been nominated.” Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of First Baptist Church, West Palm Beach, Florida, announced … [Read more...]

By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner NASHVILLE (Christian Examiner) – A new study from LifeWay Research finds that American Christians are facing an increasingly intolerant culture and, perhaps, complaining too much about being persecuted. The survey asked 1,000 Americans in September 2013 and September 2015 if Christians were facing increasing intolerance in society. The results of the two studies were then compared to examine the trend in opinion. Results varied by geographic region, but surprisingly a majority of respondents in both the American West also believed Christianity is now seen in a less favorable light. To read more about this story, click here. … [Read more...]

By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner MEMPHIS (Christian Examiner) – Church security officers and police averted tragedy at the 4,500-member Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis today when a man entered the church with several weapons. According to police, church security officers saw the man in the church and contacted police during the Easter Sunday Service. He was armed with a semi-automatic rifle, 40-caliber Beretta handgun and was carrying a backpack, the contents of which were not reported. Officers arrived at the church and took the man into custody without incident. A local television station reported the man, Marcus Donald, 31, was "arrested for emergency commitment." Donald reportedly told police "people in society are a threat to him and that he must be vigilant." Emergency commitment is the "only time a mentally ill person can be taken into custody solely for being mentally ill," a spokesman for the University of Memphis Crisis Intervention Team told another local news station. After the morning services, Jim Barnwell, a Bellevue spokesman, said in a statement no one was injured in the incident: "A heavily armed man entered our building today about 11:00 a.m. He was stopped by our security people … [Read more...]

By Tom Strode, Baptist Press Washington Bureau WASHINGTON (BP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court considered arguments Wednesday (March 23) that the federal government is intent on forcing Christian and other religious ministries to violate their consciences by accepting a rule that makes them complicit in abortion. Lawyers for the objecting institutions -- including some Southern Baptist-related entities -- and the Obama administration made their cases before the justices regarding the abortion/contraception mandate, a federal regulation issued to help implement the 2010 health-care reform law. The mandate requires employers to provide for their workers not only contraceptives but drugs and devices that can potentially cause abortions. Those who refuse to abide by the requirement face fines in the millions of dollars. GuideStone Financial Resources, the Southern Baptist Convention's health and financial benefits entity, and two of the ministries it serves, as well as three Baptist universities, are among the challengers to a mandate accommodation provided by the federal government to religious nonprofits. During the arguments, Paul Clement, representing those challenging the accommodation, told the justices the Little Sisters … [Read more...]