Churches host eclipse watch events; Groups utilizing religious liberty to fight for abortion access; The power of the unseen God

Churches across the country took time to get in on Monday’s eclipse. Many churches across the nation held block parties and parking lot gatherings to invite sky watchers to find a safe spot to view the eclipse.
The path to totality covered thousands of church buildings from Texas to New England. Some churches even planned to set up portable baptisteries in their parking lot so that new believers could truly see the change that Christ brings in moving His disciples from the darkness to the light.
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The Indiana group Hoosier Jews for Choice can proceed in a class action challenge to Indiana’s abortion ban, claiming it violates their individual rights under the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), an appeals court ruled April 4.

The plaintiffs argue that their religious beliefs either teach that life does not begin at conception or give women autonomy in terminating a pregnancy. As such, the plaintiffs argue, Indiana’s abortion ban violates their religious liberty by forcing them to adhere to a religious belief that life begins at conception.

None of the plaintiffs are known to be pregnant and imminently impacted by the abortion ban.
The lawsuit is one of about 15 filed in eight states in the year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade that claim religious exemptions to abortion bans based on claimed violations of religious liberty.

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Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the hope of Jesus. Your faithful prayers will make a difference. That’s why the IMB created a free 18-month calendar, called “Impacting Lostness Through Prayer”. It provides guidance, reminders and encouragement as you pray for individuals and communities who have yet to hear the gospel. Learn more about this free resource at IMB.org/prayercalendar.

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“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God,” said missionary Corrie Ten Boom.
In 2 Chronicles 20, we meet the Israeli King Jehoshaphat who honestly admitted, “we don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (v. 12). Kie Bowman writes, “His transparency led to transformation as God stepped into his passionate prayer at the crossroads and turned an impossible situation into a miraculous intervention. In what can only be described as a direct answer to prayer, a Spirit-filled prophet in the prayer meeting stepped forward to remind the anxious king and the worried people that their greatest asset wasn’t their army but their God.”