CLC

Two events on two successive weekends have encouraged me. In mid-January, I witnessed busloads of people streaming into Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life. One week later, I listened to thousands of people cheer during Austin’s Rally for Life.

The Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission is pleased to announce their public policy priorities for the 86th Texas Legislative Session.

During his keynote at our 2017 Advocacy Day, Dr. Vincent Bacote, a Christian ethicist and professor at Wheaton College, said, “people’s lives as disciples ought to matter every hour of the week.” Dr. Bacote argued that our Christian discipleship should include every aspect of our lives including our political engagement, but many of us struggle to bring our politics under the full authority of Jesus Christ and Scripture.

In one day, Texas Baptists provided 1,900 meals for marginalized students in Peru. And that’s just half of it.

In the book of Exodus, a caravan of Israelites set out from Egypt to their new home in Canaan. They faced many challenges on their journey. Some groups along the way met them with kindness, while others failed to offer any grace.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember goodness when hatred and violence abound. Richard Foster’s words remind me of God’s true heart: “Our God is not made of stone. His heart is the most sensitive and tender of all. No act goes unnoticed, no matter how insignificant or small. A cup of cold water is enough to put tears in the eyes of God. God celebrates our feeble expressions of gratitude.”

#GivingTuesday 2018 is fast approaching, and we hope you are getting excited! Although our goal is to raise $10,000 for Operación San Andrés, we want to let you know other ways you can continue to take part in the ministry’s work.

By Abby Hopkins Hurricane Harvey destroyed Jessie’s floor. Jessie is diabetic, in a walker, and without a family. One day, she heard a knock on her door, but had to drag herself across the floor to answer. Mission Centers of Houston was there to repair her flooring, but found her with scratched, bloody legs and sent her to the emergency room. MCH executive director Jeff Chadwick said Jessie could have died, but the hospital amputated her leg, sending her home to find new carpet and freedom. “When you do that for someone who thinks they’re the lowest, that makes all the difference,” Chadwick said. Since Harvey, Union Baptist Association’s MCH has served families in northeast Houston through the NE Houston Disaster Recovery Network. This summer, MCH continued to receive and deploy teams to assist in the essential long-term recovery ministry. Chadwick said MCH ramped up its food distribution, taking a box truck of food to those in need. The flooding affected more than 40,000 homes in northeast Houston alone. “I’ve learned how God can provide in the most creative ways,” Chadwick said. “I’m getting to the point where I just know it’s coming.”

When Elizabeth Mejía Laguna first came to the Buckner Family Hope Center, a Texas Baptist Hunger Offering recipient, she was shy and kept to herself. She often stayed in her home and did not interact with her neighbors.

Millions of people lack access to safe water in one country of sub-Saharan Africa. Within rural areas, many women and children walk more than three hours to collect water.

During the Texas Baptist Family Gathering, I led a workshop about how Christians can steward their public witness in an age of increasing tribalism. While the workshop room was packed, I think there are lessons from my workshop that deserve a broader audience because I am increasingly alarmed by the polarization in the church and what it is doing to our ability to make disciples. Many Christians are struggling within themselves to keep their partisan identities secondary to their identities as followers of Jesus Christ and it has lead to increased conflicts among believers.

Education is a valued process of growth and development in pivotal years of one’s life, yet it is not always accessible. As a new school year begins, many are unable to afford the costs of learning.

In a country where severe food insecurity increased by 30 percent last year, affecting 7.7 million people, imagine reducing chronic malnutrition among the most vulnerable -- pregnant women, children under 5 years old, and the elderly -- and creating food security for rural communities in one of the world’s least developed countries.*

The traditional American narrative boasts that anyone can make it if he or she works hard. But the social systems and economic stratum one is born into can often exclude a person from having an opportunity to attain the “American dream.”

Monday, the Supreme Court decided Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission in a 7-2 decision in favor of Masterpiece and its owner, Jack Phillips. While Phillips asked the Supreme Court to consider his First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and free exercise of religion, the Court actually only addressed his free exercise claim.

En una resolución histórica el lunes bajo el rubro Murphy vs NCAA, la Corte Suprema de los EE.UU. abolió la ley de Apuestas en Deportes Profesionales y Amateur (PASPA, por sus siglas en inglés), una ley que de manera efectiva prohibía las apuestas deportivas en la mayoría de los estados alrededor del país desde hace 25 años.

In a landmark decision Monday entitled Murphy v. NCAA, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Betting Act (PASPA), a law that effectively eliminated legal sports betting in most states around the country for 25 years.

In 2017, 123 young women considering abortion came to a ministry in Decatur. After receiving loving assistance from Wise Choices Pregnancy Care Center, 103 of these “abortion-minded” women chose life, and the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering is playing a role in serving these new families.