I have been leaving toxic environments since I was twelve years old. Prepared for the coming of Jesus as a new convert, I’m surprised my list now includes the segregated North American church. I leave stores when I am followed around under the suspicion of shoplifting. I leave in the middle of cyclical conversations because I know where this is going, so let me stop you.  I have left oppressive work conditions because who has time to be nickeled and dimed concerning their worth? Since I’m alive and, thus, still on the clock, I want my life’s time to count for something meaningful. Maybe i ..read more

Earlier this month, +972 Magazine and Local Call published the accounts of six Israeli intelligence officers claiming Israel was using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system known as Lavender to assist in the selection of targets for military strikes in Gaza.  The Lavender system was allegedly designed to sift through mountains of data and select suspected Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operatives for potential military airstrikes. According to sources, the system had identified 37,000 potential targets linked to Hamas or PIJ.  Because there were so many potential targets ..read more

Summertime can often be the hungriest time for Alabama children. By investing in Summer EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer), our policymakers can take an important step toward addressing that problem. School kids who receive free breakfast and lunch during the school year– too often the only meals they eat during the day– lose access to these meals over the summer. Nearly one in four children in our state don’t always know where their next meal will come from.  Though some in-person summer feeding programs exist in Alabama, they reach barely 6% of the kids who need the meals. And unfortunat ..read more

‘Monkey Man’ Attempts to Reclaim Hinduism for the Underdog (CNN) A Stunning Victory With the Shield Creates an Opening for Israel (Washington Post) Americans are Not Evenly Divided on Culture Wars, Robert Jones Explains in BNG Webinar (Baptist News Global) FBI Director Speaks at Birmingham Civil Rights Conference (Federal Bureau of Investigation) The post April 16, 2024 appeared first on Good Faith Media ..read more

The American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) hosted their biennial gathering, Space for Grace & Spiritual Caregivers Conference, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, on April 9-11. The theme was “Engaging Intergenerational Faith: Listen. Learn. Live.” The event was hybrid, drawing attendees online and in person.  Inspired by Colossians 3:16, the event’s planners aimed to speak to the needs of the times for transformational ministry in and beyond the local church and across generations. “This year’s theme is prompted by the growing sense of urgency to invite emerging generations of ..read more

The March 2024 CAPS-Harris poll revealed that inflation and immigration remain Americans’ most pressing personal concerns. The survey, conducted between March 20 and 21, asked 2,111 registered voters which issues were most important to them personally.  Inflation remains at the top of the list, with 38% saying it is important. This is down 3% from the February survey. Immigration, at 21%, saw a 4% increase from the previous month.  Along partisan lines, Democrats (33%), Republicans (42%), and Independents (40%) share concerns about inflation at similar rates. There is a greater polit ..read more

“Monkey Man” tries hard to be an action movie. At the center is the Kid, played by Dev Patel. He carries himself as a man on a mission of revenge, reminiscent of John Wick.   But the subtext of the film is about God.    The movie begins with the young Kid, played by Jatin Malik, being told the legend of Hanuman, a Hindu deity who is a monkey. The monkey god runs afoul of the other gods and is condemned to having his godly powers stripped.   Shifting to the present, the Kid makes money in the underground world as a fighter wearing a monkey mask. The crowds hat ..read more

6 in 10 Catholics in Favor of Abortion Rights, Pew Research Report Finds (National Public Radio) Polish Opponents of Abortion March Against Recent Steps to Liberalize Strict Law (Associated Press) Jelly Roll Took Country Thunder Arizona to Church in Inspiring Set: ‘Everything I Dreamed’ (Arizona Central) The Guardian View on Pilgrimage: a 21st Century Spiritual Exercise (Guardian) The post April 15, 2024 appeared first on Good Faith Media ..read more

I sat in 33F, a window seat, on my way from Dallas to Pennsylvania for the annual Space for Grace & Spiritual Caregivers Conference hosted by the American Baptist Home Mission Societies. Sitting next to me, in the middle, was a mom who I presume to be South Asian and in her mid-30s. Her young children and husband sat in the row behind us. A Black woman in her mid-20s sat in the aisle seat. Once we were all situated, I just had to know, so I asked: Did the kids see the eclipse?  I had scheduled the flight several weeks earlier, and when I received the confirmation email, I noticed some ..read more

A new Lifeway Research analysis finds the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) lost more than 1,200 churches in 2022.  As part of a three-year trend, the denomination lost more than 1,000 churches each year from 2020 to 2022. The downward spiral continues despite church plants and new church-type missions associated with the Convention.  The most recent Annual Church Profile found that 1,253 congregations were disaffiliated, the primary reason being disbandment. More than three-quarters of SBC churches (79%) disbanded or closed, which resulted in 984 fewer churches. In tandem, 813 of th ..read more