Lights in the Darkness, Afghan Refugees & New ERLC President

For families who don’t know, it’s tough to comprehend the stress of being a police officer.

Approaching a crime scene requires a double-awareness to identify it as real or an ambush. Often you may find yourself berated by the very people you’re trying to protect and serve. There is no “normal” day, as something like serving a warrant can turn deadly.

Dan Middlebrooks understands the stress that comes with the job.

After a 26-year military career, Middlebrooks’ began serving as a Southern Baptist-certified chaplain in multiple agencies around Plant City, Fla. From 2019-2022 he also was pastor of First Call Church in Dover, Fla., a congregation that places a significant focus on ministry to first responders. He is also the founder of Chaplaincy Care, which focuses on first responder agencies in Hillsborough County, Fla.

In a story on Baptist Press, reporter Scott Barkley talks to a number of police chaplains who share the ups and downs of their ministry.
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More than a year after the Taliban reasserted control of Afghanistan following the United States military withdrawal, humanitarian groups are continuing to address the needs of thousands of refugees who are seeking to flee the oppressive government.

While many continue mourning the ongoing tragedy of Afghanistan’s collapse, God has also shown up in increasingly powerful ways because of the overwhelming generosity of Southern Baptists and other Christians.

Send Relief has been able to provide emergency food rations to 1,500 Afghans overseas, as well as temporary housing to nearly 1,000 Afghan refugees. In the stream of that response, more than 600 people got to hear the Gospel message for the first time, and at least 50 people accepted Christ as their Savior.
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Good News for Today is sponsored by The Voice of the Martyrs

Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.
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A year of supposedly temporary leadership convinced a presidential search committee it need look no further for the next president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the leader of that effort said Tuesday (Sept. 13).

Though Brent Leatherwood was not originally a candidate, the search committee presented him with “great confidence, joy and honor” as the nominee for president of the entity, Todd Howard told his fellow ERLC trustees in their annual meeting. The full board responded to Leatherwood’s nomination with a unanimous vote to approve him as the ninth president in the commission’s history.

Leatherwood, 41, had served as acting president of the entity charged by Southern Baptists with addressing moral and religious freedom issues since the trustees placed him in that role at their September 2021 meeting. He succeeds Russell Moore, who served as the ERLC’s president for eight years before resigning June 1 of last year to become public theologian for Christianity Today, which he now serves as editor-in-chief.

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