Prayers for Earthquake Victims, Protecting Users from Explicit Content & Recognizing God’s Character

More than 20,000 people are dead after powerful earthquakes shook Turkey and Syria on Monday. Dozens of countries have responded with recovery and assistance teams.

In Turkey alone, more than 61,000 people have been injured because of the disaster.

SendRelief, the compassion ministry of the SBC, is among the groups helping the injured and grieving.

SendRelief has setup a page at SendRelief.org where people can make financial donations to relief efforts. They’ve also created a prayer guide so people will know specific ways they can pray for the suffering.

Officials are racing to help the thousands without shelter as winter storms set in to south Turkey and northern Syria.
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Google will automatically blur sexually explicit images in search results regardless of security settings, the company announced Feb. 7 in one of the latest moves among tech giants to limit unintentional pornographic viewing online.

The announcement comes months after YouTube demonetized content with sex, violence and profanity. Videos with such content within the first eight seconds of play are ineligible to receive ad revenue, Gamespot.com reported.

Such changes are welcomed, but more is needed to safeguard the public from damaging content online, technology ethicist Jason Thacker told Baptist Press.

“Technology companies have a moral responsibility to empower parents and guardians with the tools necessary to protect themselves and their children online,” said Thacker, director of the Research Institute and chair of Research in Technology Ethics at the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
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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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How would you respond if your friend claimed that God told him he didn’t have to forgive someone?

In a Lifeway Bible study, Richard Blackaby writes, “God is holy and loving. As a result, God will never say or do anything that is unholy or unloving. He would never call us to do something unholy or unloving. When people say that God told them to do something that’s contrary to His nature, we can be confident that they have not heard from God. He always speaks in ways that are consistent with His character. He makes no exceptions. God never speaks out of character.”

He says, “People are quick to give advice and even imply they speak for God. But if what we hear doesn’t reflect the character of God, it isn’t worth listening to.”

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