NC Ministry Leader Receives Award, Union’s 200th Birthday Party & ERA Deadline Debate

Longtime North Carolina ministry leader Larry Phillips has been honored with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest award for state service granted by the governor.

Phillips received the award last November during a surprise presentation at the conclusion of a worship service at First Baptist Church of Hickory, where he currently serves as associate pastor of missions mobilization and administration.

Phillips has been serving in ministry for 53 years and counting, during which time he has served as a pastor, missionary, church consultant, chaplain and more.
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Union University turned 200 years old Feb. 3 with a special chapel service, bicentennial birthday party, a documentary release and more. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver, Union’s current president said the anniversary is a testament to the students and alumni who love and continue to invest in its Christ-centered mission.

During the celebration, A.J. Massey, the Madison County mayor, read an official proclamation declaring Feb. 3 to be Union University Day in Jackson and Madison County.
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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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Senators and lawyers disagreed Tuesday (Feb. 28) in a congressional hearing regarding the latest attempt to revive the Equal Rights Amendment more than four decades after the controversial proposal reached its deadline for ratification.

The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on a resolution that would retroactively eliminate the 1982 deadline for ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and make the proposal a valid constitutional amendment approved by three-fourths of the states.

Democratic committee members and their witnesses contended Congress has the power to take such a step, while Republicans and their witnesses asserted it does not.

Hannah Daniel with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission said the ERA could eliminate not only all restrictions on abortion and its federal funding but also conscience protections for pro-life health-care workers and, in effect, spaces segregated by sex for privacy and safety.

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