Religious broadcasters oppose California law limiting speech; Churchgoers’ desire to serve not fully realized; SBTS course on spiritual distinctives.

The National Religious Broadcasters, an association of Christian media outlets, has joined a lawsuit seeking to block a California law that requires social media companies to publish their policies on removing hate speech from their platforms.

Under the law, companies must disclose in detail how they remove content, including hate speech, disinformation, extremism, harassment and foreign political interference. They are also required to submit terms of service reports to the state attorney general by Jan. 1, 2024. Fines for noncompliance were set at up to $15,000 per violation per day.

Internet freedom and tech lobbying organizations, as well as the California Chamber of Commerce, have opposed the bill since it was introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel.

Faith-based and culturally conservative groups have also objected to the law. In adding its name to the lawsuit, NRB joins the Babylon Bee, a conservative-leaning satirical site, and Tim Pool, a conservative podcaster who has been labeled a bigot by Media Matters.

NRB said the law affects its members “by having their speech repressed,” adding that by having to directly comply with the statute, members “would become agents of the state for First Amendment suppression.”

Although most churchgoers want to serve in their communities for Gospel impact, there is a noticeable gap when it comes to the number who are already volunteering for a charity.

Most Protestant churchgoers say their churches encourage them to serve people not affiliated with their church and that they want to do so. But few have volunteered in the past year. More than 4 in 5 churchgoers say their churches encourage every adult to serve people outside their church (84 percent) and they want to serve these people in hopes of sharing the Gospel (86 percent).

Despite saying they want to serve people who are not a part of their church, few churchgoers are even serving within the context of their own churches. Two in 3 (66 percent) churchgoers say they have not volunteered for a charity (ministry, church or non-ministry) in the previous year. Three in 10 (30 percent) say they have, and 4 percent are not sure. According to the latest findings of the U.S. Census Bureau, 23 percent of Americans volunteered through an organization between September 2020 and September 2021.

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When a student chapel service extended into days and weeks this past winter at Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky., observers far and wide questioned whether the stage was set for the next Great Awakening?

Months later, theologian Tim Beougher will equip students to see distinctives of spiritual awakenings, revivals and personal renewals in an online summer course at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS).

The course, as SBTS promotes it, “is a study of the history and theological and biblical principals involved in awakenings and the sociological milieu in which they emerged. Some attention will be given to analyzing current awakenings and revival methods in the light of historical, biblical and theological principals of awakenings.”

Learn more at sbts.edu.