Biden’s Action to Protect Abortion, American’s View on Scripture & Celebrating Recovery

President Biden took further action Friday in his administration’s ongoing effort to offset the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision, and Southern Baptist and other pro-life advocates again declared their opposition.

Biden signed an executive order Friday (July 8) intended to protect access to abortion and reproductive healthcare. The action occurred two weeks after the justices reversed the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion throughout the country.

The executive order includes directives calling for expanded safeguards for access to drugs that end the lives of preborn children, the establishment of an interagency task force to coordinate protections for abortion access and the assembling of volunteer lawyers to represent women and abortion providers.

A survey of Americans and their view of Scripture reflects a trend of disassociation from religion. One’s exposure to Scripture, however, can also factor in those results.

The number of Americans accepting the Bible as the literal Word of God has reached its lowest point since Gallup began the study in 1976, according to its most recent findings. The new figure of 20 percent is down from the 24 percent of the most recent poll in 2017.

Fifty-eight percent of Christian adults view Scripture as the inspired Word of God, compared to a quarter who see it as the actual Word of God. Among all U.S. adults, 49 percent consider it inspired while 20 percent see the Bible as the actual Word of God.

Those attending church weekly are most likely to hold a view of Scripture as the actual Word of God, though even that number came in at 44 percent.

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Many people know that Celebrate Recovery (CR) is a place for those struggling with hurts, hang-ups and habits. But Marc Bartholomew, the CR pastor and a leader at Emmanuel Church in Huntingtown Maryland, knows it’s more than that. “It’s a discipleship factory,” he said.

Every Friday the CR group has a meal together, a large group meeting with recognitions, worship and prayer, and then breaks into various small groups for those struggling with addictions and other issues. Then throughout the week, groups go through Scripture-based studies together.

Emmanuel Church Pastor Rick Hancock, who previously served as director of evangelism and interim executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, agrees. “It’s everything you want a discipleship program to be about,” Hancock said. “…it’s about the truth from the Word of God and dependency on Scripture, and trusting in God to transform lives.”