CARY, N.C. (BP) — Southern Baptist leaders are responding to the headline “God isn’t fixing this” that dominated the Dec. 3 cover of the New York Daily News. Images of tweets from Republican leaders surrounded the headline, displaying sympathetic “thoughts and prayers” for the people affected by a Dec. 2 mass shooting.

“I’m hard-pressed to think of a more cynical and exploitative headline at a time of national mourning,” Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told the Washington Post.

The massacre occurred in San Bernardino, Calif., at Inland Regional Center, a state-run facility for individuals with developmental disabilities. Two heavily-armed assailants dressed in tactical attire opened fire at a party located inside the building, killing 14 and wounding 17 more, according to the Los Angeles Times. [Read more…]

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — The National Association of Evangelicals and LifeWay Research released an evangelical beliefs research definition Nov. 19 for accurate and consistent use among researchers.

NAE initiated development of the research definition more than two years ago. In partnership with LifeWay Research, the definition was crafted, reviewed, and tested for validity.

Numerous surveys seek to capture the opinions and practices of evangelicals in the United States. From tithing behaviors to political inclinations, evangelicals are regularly identified in research and polls. Because researchers use different tools to identify evangelicals, results vary from poll to poll. Even the estimated number of U.S. evangelicals ranges from 23 percent to 35 percent of American adults. [Read more…]

LifeWay news office

NASHVILLE — Many women with unplanned pregnancies go silently from the church pew to the abortion clinic, convinced the church would gossip rather than help, a new study by LifeWay Research shows.

More than four in 10 women who have had an abortion were churchgoers when they ended a pregnancy, researchers found in a survey sponsored by Care Net, a nonprofit organization supporting more than 1,100 pregnancy centers across North America.
“That’s a huge opportunity for the church to have an impact on those decisions,” said Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research.

But only 7 percent of women discussed their abortion decision with anyone at church. Three-fourths (76 percent) say the church had no influence on their decision to terminate a pregnancy. [Read more…]

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — As retailers open the Christmas shopping season, One Million Moms is calling for a boycott of American Girl products and the parent company Mattel, because American Girl Magazine’s November/December cover features a gay couple and its four adoptive children. The morality watchdog group’s call comes even as various media outlets report that some Christians are opposed to the new Starbucks holiday cup, although no Christian group has been specifically identified as calling for a Starbucks boycott. Instead, Christians have decried news of a boycott of the coffee chain.

The American Girl controversy arose after the magazine featured a story about an 11-year-old girl and her two adoptive dads, whom she refers to as “Daddy” and “Dada.” The magazine could have spotlighted adoption with a family that promotes biblical values, One Million Moms said. [Read more…]

By Todd Deaton
Baptist Press

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (BP) — Messengers to the 178th annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention elected an African American as convention president, called for an end to federal funding of Planned Parenthood and launched a strategy to boost their voice at the state capitol.

Messengers also approved a $21.5 million Cooperative Program budget goal for the coming year, raising the bar by a quarter million dollars. The 2016-2017 budget equally divides Cooperative Program receipts between KBC missions and ministries and Southern Baptist Convention causes, allocating $10,750,000 to each after deducting 7 percent for shared CP resourcing. [Read more…]

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

JACKSON, Miss. (BP) — Racism is from Satan and his demonic forces, and the only hope for its defeat is the church of Jesus Christ united across societal divisions, Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd told a culturally diverse group of Baptists in Mississippi Nov. 4.

“I believe that the issue of racism is from Satan and the demonic forces of hell,” Floyd told hundreds gathered at Mission Mississippi’s racial reconciliation celebration at the Jackson Convention Center. “Racism is completely opposite from the message of Jesus Christ; it is completely opposite of the message of love, it is completely opposite of the message of dignity, value and the sanctity of human life. It is completely opposite of the message of reconciliation.”

Floyd spoke to Southern Baptists, National Baptists and others at the event aimed at exhorting and energizing pastors and the church to demonstrate the love of God in ending racism in Mississippi and the nation.

“One of the reasons I came to this city was to notify Satan and his demonic forces that … enough is enough,” Floyd said. “The power of God is greater than the forces of evil, even the evil of racism, because greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.” [Read more…]