Barber, Wright promote SBDR in Arkansas; ERLC defends moral objections; Developing future leaders.

So far, disaster relief teams have assisted nearly 100 homeowners across Arkansas with clean-up and recovery, and they’ve provided thousands of meals.

Southern Baptist volunteers from Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas have been clearing trees off homes, affixing temporary roofing to damaged roofs and providing meals to survivors of the deadly tornadoes that touched down in Arkansas as part of a storm system that spun off tornadoes across the nation last week.

The Little Rock tornado measured as an EF-3 and cut across multiple residential areas on its 32-mile stampede and left an indelible mark on central Arkansas.

A newly proposed rule would crush the freedom of conscience for Americans who have a moral objection to the provision of “life-threatening contraceptives,” according to the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

The group is pushing back against the Biden administration’s proposal to repeal the exemption for employers’ moral objections to coverage of contraceptive services under the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

The 2011 rule under President Obama that helped implement mandatory coverage of contraceptives including those can potentially induce abortions.

A 2018 regulation by the Trump administration blocked the mandate.

However, the block expired in February and the Biden administration has indicated they plan to forward with the requirement.  

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Have you given much thought to the next generation of leaders in your church? In a piece in the Baptist Press Toolbox, Pastor Darryl Nelson offers some helpful tips.

First, he encourages pastors and church leaders to call out future leaders.

Nelson encourages current leaders to pray for young people as they begin to grow in their desire to leader. Even more, he calls on current leaders to ask younger leaders if God may be calling them to leadership in the local church.

Then, current leaders should train young leaders.

Leaders must invest in leaders, he says. This won’t be an overnight process, but it is a worthwhile investment.

Finally, be ready to send them out.

While it’s difficult to release leaders from a local fellowship, Nelson says it’s necessary so that the young leaders can grow and the kingdom of God can be expanded.