SAN MARTIN, Peru—A Texans on Mission team recently brought water and the gospel to a village on Rio Itaya, a tributary of the Amazon River in northern Peru.

“Thank you so much, brothers, for this incredible and kind gesture towards our children, families and community,” said Alexander Tapullima, the community agent. “We are honored and valued.

“Last year, the drought we had was horrible. It was impossible for us to have good water. We had to walk far and find little water. And now this well that is next to our church is a great blessing and help.

“May you be blessed brothers and gentlemen. It helps us a lot to have clean and abundant water for our daily needs and health care.”

Mitch Chapman, director of Texans on Mission Water Impact, said: “We are on a quest to change the world physically and spiritually—one community at a time. One of the things that makes this difficult is that some communities seem almost impossible to reach. It truly is God directing our partners’ every step and their resilience in following this direction that is leading the effort to reach every community.”

The Texans on Mission crew brought the well, hygiene classes, children’s activities and the Jesus film to the village on the Rio Itaya.

“It was a blessing to be in this community and to be able to serve this community and give them the facility of having clean water,” said Keny Ojanama, director of Water Access Peru, with whom Texans on Mission partners.

Getting needed equipment to San Martin presented challenges, Ojanama said. It required a two-hour van ride from the city, three hours by boat and then a 30-minute walk from the river.

After completing the work, the Texans on Mission team found the river level had dropped while they worked, Ojanama said. The team pushed the boats downstream for three hours before being able to continue their homeward journey via the river and van.

Remote places where God already is at work

“It’s the rhythm that we have,” Ojanama said. “We enjoy this. We are encouraged to know that we are only one piece in the puzzle of the Lord and to know that he will continue to complete and do what he has to do in each community.

“We are encouraged to know that we are going to places where he is already doing something.”

Texans on Mission’s Water Impact efforts include providing people with access both to water and spiritual care. Four people in San Martin professed faith in Christ, and two others reconciled with Christ, according to Ojanama’s report.

Thirty-five people participated in hygiene classes in nearby Progresso. These classes are an important tool in bringing health to remote villages.

“There was a good reception in this community,” Ojanama reported. “One of the authorities was with us the whole time and was ready to help us obtain wood for the shell of the protective fence of the well. There was an interest and gratitude from the community, very collaborative.”

Each afternoon, the team hosted sports activities and competitions for children and young people.

They screened Christian films at night and presented the message of salvation after each showing.

The community’s well “inauguration” emphasized ongoing care of the well with schedules for maintenance and distribution of the water.

“They were encouraged to take care of the well and its fence, which is solid,” Ojanama said. And the pastor/leader of the local church holds the keys to the fenced-in well.

For 50 years, W.A. Criswell reigned as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas. In a recently published biography, Criswell: His Life and Times, O.S. Hawkins aims to acquaint a new generation with this man, whom Hawkins held so dearly he regarded him as a father.

The biography, published by B&H Publishing Group, draws on numerous primary sources, including interviews with eyewitnesses to the accounts in the book, Criswell’s oral histories maintained by Baylor University, various dissertations, previous biographies of Criswell, and the more than 4,000 sermons of Criswell available online.

But the new, never-before-published information—including Criswell’s three regrets—came from a lengthy interview Hawkins conducted in 1994, “with the promise that I would not make it known and would not write this book until 20 years after his death,” Hawkins said.

“In many ways, he was a polarizing figure in Baptist life,” said Hawkins, Criswell’s chosen successor to the First Baptist Dallas pastorate and former GuideStone president and CEO.

“I wanted to bring a semblance of balance into both streams of perception, as well as introduce him to new generations of evangelicals and church leaders who may not have known much about him.”

Hawkins said he sees this biography as a natural sequel to his earlier book, In the Name of God: The Colliding Lives, Legends, and Legacies of J. Frank Norris and George W. Truett, rewritten from his dissertation on these “two types of Baptists.”

“Since it is a well-known fact that Criswell grew up in a home where his father was a fierce supporter of Norris and his mother was a devotee of Truett,” when the agreed-upon time frame expired, Hawkins dug in to their impacts on the life of Criswell.

“Criswell lived his entire life with the two warring influences of Norris and Truett fighting for control within the inner recesses of his own heart and mind,” Hawkins said. He asserts Criswell was outwardly Truett, but inwardly, “where it counted,” he was Norris.

The book discusses matters ranging from Criswell’s Panhandle upbringing, in near poverty, to his strained family-life and his wife’s spy-network within the church, to Criswell’s magisterial approach to church leadership.

Hawkins also discusses Criswell’s leadership in producing what critics call a fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention from within, having learned a lesson from Norris’ unsuccessful efforts from without.

Hawkins agreed to answer questions raised by his book by email. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you come to be close enough to the Criswells to accompany them on the European vacations the book mentions?

I was pastor of First Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for 15 years (1978-1993). The church there saw rapid and explosive growth that became known through evangelical circles.

During the 1980s, the Criswells came to an antique show in Miami and called to see if we could join them for lunch after they attended our Sunday services. At lunch, I mentioned that I exchanged pulpits with the pastor of Westminster Chapel in London each summer in August.

He mentioned they were vacationing that same time in London that year, so we spent several days together in London that summer.

From that experience, we began to travel each summer together to various places in Europe and the Middle East and developed a true father/son relationship, enjoying time together with our wives.

You write about the warring influences of Norris and Truett on Criswell, describing him as a confluence of two lives into one—that he was Truett on the outside, but Norris on the inside.

You make this observation only a paragraph removed from a lengthy quote of Criswell giving his opinions of his two mentors where he says, “… Norris could do anything with a crowd… he was a gifted man, and knew crowd psychology … how to manipulate people, but oh, underneath Frank Norris, there were personal attributes that were diabolical.”

Did you ever see Criswell display similar ability and willingness to influence—even manipulate—a crowd?

Criswell readily recognized the strengths, as well as the weaknesses, of both Truett and Norris, discarding the worst and seeking to incorporate the best traits of both men.

No one could “rise to the occasion” like Criswell. Whether it was his message on the communist threat the Sunday after the Kennedy assassination [or] his message of the open door when he publicly acknowledged the church’s long history of racial injustice and declared without question its repentance and open-door policy, he challenged people without the tinge of manipulation, but also built on a solid biblical basis. For example, simply listen to his message “Whether We Live or Die” from the SBC Pastor’s Conference, available at wacriswell.com.

What is your perspective on what led to Criswell’s change-of-mind on race relations and abortion?

Dr. Criswell, in the midst of his greatness, possessed the unique ability to own his own mistakes, readily admit them, correct them and move on. As to the race issue, he began his ministry with stellar convictions regarding this—as evidenced by his telling the church he pastored at White Mound if they did not allow him to baptize the Sandoval family simply because of the color of their skin, they could find a new pastor.

What happened was that he inherited a church from George Truett that was deeply imbedded with the stain of white supremacy. … Sadly, he allowed himself to fit into its mold, and a few years later delivered the infamous speech on segregation to the South Carolina legislature. He called it the greatest mistake and most colossal blunder of his life and spent his last decade trying to atone for it, as documented in the book.

What other issues do you think Criswell would view differently today if he were still living?

I feel certain he would weigh in on the women in ministry debate going on today. While he strongly believed that the office of senior pastor was scripturally defined for men only, he built the church with women staff members who labored tirelessly at their assigned ministries. These included the likes of Millie Kohn, Libby Reynolds, Ann Hood, Edith Marie King, June Hunt, Jane Mann and countless others.

Libby Reynolds directed the children’s ministries at [First Baptist Dallas] for decades and was still here upon my own arrival. I have never known anyone who “shepherded” those children and their parents in the tender, yet bold, way she did, leading literally thousands of whole young families to faith in Christ.

Given the way prime actors—Paige Patterson, Paul Pressler—in the conservative resurgence have fallen so far from grace, what do you think his thoughts/feelings would be about the lasting legacy of that movement and/or those men?

Any serious student of Baptist history would, or should, attest to the fact that the SBC was in need of a theological course correction during the 1960s and 1970s. This was always Criswell’s focus. For him, it was never about people or personalities, but about principle.

He lived to see the lasting legacy of the conservative resurgence in the fact that every single professor in all six SBC seminaries unashamedly adheres to the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 and holds to biblical inerrancy. To Criswell, this was the lasting legacy of the conservative movement.

You clearly loved W.A. Criswell. What did you love most about him, and what do you consider to be the most valuable contribution he made to the world?

What I loved most about him was that in the midst of his accomplishments and recognized achievements, all the success of his books and his far-reaching influence, he never lost the wonder of it all. He maintained a childlike faith.

He brought a respectability to fundamental scriptural truth that had been lacking. Known primarily for his pulpit prowess, his greatest strength was his pastoral heart and his love for his people. And they loved him back.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—When “How Great Is Our God” first hit the worship charts in the fall of 2004, George W. Bush was in the White House, Barack Obama was a little-known Illinois lawmaker just elected to the U.S. Senate, Donald Trump was a would-be reality TV star and scholars were just starting to pay attention to an uptick in the people known as “nones.”

Twenty years later, the song, co-written by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves and Ed Cash, remains a hit—currently No. 4 on the CCLI worship chart, popular in small groups and stadium worship concerts.  

It’s also become the theme song for Christian nationalists.

Protesters sang “How Great Is Our God” during the Jericho marches that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and it has been a staple at Christian nationalism conferences in recent years.

Last week, when MAGA activist and worship leader Sean Feucht stood at the gates of Columbia University to oppose pro-Palestinian protesters and to demand that the school’s president resign, “How Great Is Our God” was on his lips.

“Our hearts will sing how great is our God,” he sang into a bullhorn, with a drummer in the background and a flag bearing the Stars and Stripes alongside a blue and white Star of David waving overhead.

Powerful and popular song

At first listen, “How Great Is Our God” seems an unlikely candidate for a Christian nationalism protest song. There is nothing overtly political or partisan about the lyrics, and the song is sung in churches of all shapes and sizes.

And it remains extraordinarily popular. The song first appeared on the Top 100 list compiled by Christian Copyright Licensing International, which licenses music for use in churches, in October 2004 and has remained there ever since, often among the top 10 songs.

Leah Payne, a religious historian and author of God Gave Rock & Roll to You, said “How Great Is Our God” showcases the skill of Tomlin and his co-writers—who fused the power of stadium rock anthems with Christian lyrics, creating songs with infectious hooks that draw a crowd into singing along.

“I don’t think they get enough credit for being skilled at what they do,” she said.

“How Great Is Our God” also harks back to an earlier era of worship music, she said, before megachurches such as Hillsong, Bethel and Elevation dominated the industry. The hit songs churned out by those churches often rely on vocal acrobatics and sophisticated arrangements—filled with white space and instrumentals, which makes them harder to pick up spontaneously.

By contrast, “How Great Is Our God,” at its heart, is a guy with a guitar. The song is so simple and catchy that Tomlin admitted he was a bit embarrassed when he first wrote it. But the chorus had magic to it, giving it the kind of power of a song like “We Shall Overcome,” sung at protests for generations.

“A guy with a guitar—or a woman with a guitar—could just pick it up,” Payne said. “It’s just a well-written pop song.”

Payne said worship songs like “How Great Is Our God” work well at protests, regardless of what the protest is about. For example, she said, “Waymaker,” another hit song, was sung both at Black Lives Matters protests and at anti-vax rallies in 2020.

Open to interpretation and application

The lyrics of a song like “How Great Is Our God” can be vague enough that verses describing the God of the Bible could easily be adapted to mean the God of America or the God of a particular group of people.

“When I think of ‘How Great Is Our God,’ I wonder: Who is the ‘our’?” Payne said.

Matthew D. Taylor, a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies and author of a forthcoming book about the New Apostolic Reformation, says there’s a reason why activists like Feucht pick popular worship songs to play at their rallies.

If Feucht, a musician and worship leader, sang his own songs, which can be more overtly political, no one would sing along, since they are relatively obscure.

Taylor said in recent years, evangelical worship has become increasingly political, especially as congregations became more polarized in the wake of Trump’s 2016 election. Folks who sing songs like “How Great Is Our God” are more likely to share the same political views than they did when the song was first released in the early 2000s.

The COVID-19 pandemic amped up that polarization, Taylor said, with Feucht and other activists turning worship into a partisan act during pandemic-era lockdowns. Feucht began holding outdoor impromptu worship rallies in places such as Portland and Seattle, near the sites of protests that followed the death of George Floyd.

“We are here as citizens of America and citizens of the kingdom of God,” he said during a 2020 worship protest in Seattle. “And we will not be silenced.”

Worship as a weapon

For Feucht, worship is a weapon that empowers Christians for political action as an act of spiritual warfare, as the one-time congressional candidate put it in a sermon posted on his YouTube channel. Singing a worship song can show your political allegiance and fill the act of singing with political meaning.

“It’s the idea that Christian worship is itself a political act, a partisan act,” said Taylor. “And one that baptizes the agenda of one party or one presidential candidate, and demonizes the agenda of the other party.”

Feucht did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Ironically, Taylor noted, the same folks who love “How Great Is Our God” would be aghast if protesters began shouting out “Allahu Akbar”—an Arabic phrase that means the same thing for Muslims.

Adam Perez, a musician and assistant professor of worship studies at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., said “How Great Is Our God” differs from other popular worship songs because it focuses on praising God, rather than testifying to the worshipper’s faith.

“‘How Great Is Our God’ is more straightforward praise and worship,” he said.

The song also draws clear lines between good and evil, darkness and light, which lends itself to partisan politics. Perez said the songwriters didn’t intend the song to be political, and for many people, it is not. But it still has language that works for partisan goals.

“How Great Is Our God” also has a triumphant tone to it, in that God will overcome any obstacle, and that could include political enemies, Perez said. And that can make it a fit for protests.

“God is going to overcome whatever blocks your way,” he said. “That triumphant proclamation of God is the clear connection in these places.”

Perez, who has studied the theology behind Feucht’s worship protests, said the context also matters. A song like “How Great Is Our God” has a different meaning during a Stop the Steal protest or a God and Country rally than it does at a Sunday morning worship service.

But the simplest explanation may be that lots of Christians love “How Great Is Our God.” So it makes sense that Christian nationalists would love it.

“It’s a really popular song,” Perez said.

NASHVILLE (BP)—Four recommendations released May 1 are designed to “prioritize and emphasize the authority of messengers in defining the boundaries of our cooperation while clarifying and refining our structure,” the Southern Baptist Convention Cooperation Group stated.

The group was tasked at last summer’s annual meeting to study the issue of what makes a church “to be in friendly cooperation of faith and practice” with the SBC.

Published 41 days ahead of the 2024 SBC annual meeting June 11-12 in Indianapolis, the recommendations are to be considered a draft, said Chairman Jared Wellman, pastor of Tate Springs Baptist Church in Arlington. They are “subject to necessary edits” he added.

The first three recommendations are directed at the SBC Executive Committee to propose changes to SBC governing documents for consideration at the 2025 annual meeting.

They concern steps for making changes to the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, who should have authority for seating messengers at an annual meeting, and strengthening the tie between entity trustees and the Baptist Faith & Message.

The fourth recommendation is for the Executive Committee to “evaluate” the usefulness, not to mention accuracy, of a public list of Southern Baptist churches and report their findings at the 2025 annual meeting.

Recommendation 1

The first recommendation addresses how edits or amendments may be made to the Baptist Faith and Message. Last summer in New Orleans, an amendment to the Baptist Faith & Message basically rolled through to a vote with little discussion, prompting concerns about how that came to be.

That would not be able to happen under the first recommendation, which asks that such amendments require the same ratification as amendments to the SBC Constitution—a two-thirds vote in two consecutive years.

The Baptist Faith & Message is “significant” in drawing a picture of what it means to be in friendly cooperation, the group said. “The process of amending ‘The Baptist Faith & Message’ should be robust.”

Recommendation 2

The second recommendation is similar to a process already in place, but with a distinct difference. As it is, the Credentials Committee recommends to the Executive Committee churches it considers no longer to be in friendly cooperation. If the Executive Committee agrees, those churches no longer are part of the SBC, but they may appeal the decision at the annual meeting.

“The sole authority for seating messengers” comes from the messenger body, Wellman said in a Spaces discussion on X May 1, co-hosted by SBC President Bart Barber and South Carolina pastor David Sons.

As such, the Credentials Committee, in collaboration with the Executive Committee “as needed,” will present cases that will go before the messengers for a vote.

“We trust the messengers. We champion the messengers,” Wellman said in the discussion. “And we feel like messengers are the ones who ought to have this sole right to make this decision.”

The SBC Cooperation Group also recommended churches seating messengers for the first time be recognized and celebrated at the annual meeting.

“… [T]he health of our convention’s culture would be improved” by that step, the group said in its report.

Recommendation 3

The third recommendation calls for a requirement by the Committee on Nominations to nominate “only those candidates who affirm the convention’s adopted statement of faith” to seats as entity trustees or as standing committee members.

Wellman pointed to the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina as an example when it came to trustee fidelity.

“We were impressed by that model in such a way where we felt like we could mimic it,” he said.

In functionality, he and Barber noted, the current Committee on Nominations followed this model. “In fact, I think it’s fair to say that in recent memory, the Committee on Nominations has already been doing this.”

Wellman agreed, comparing it to Recommendation 1 and the ease with which the Baptist Faith & Message was amended in New Orleans. As it is, a trustee can “theoretically” not affirm the Baptist Faith & Message. A step to strengthen that step can only strengthen the trust between churches and Southern Baptist entities.

Recommendation 4

The fourth recommendation urges steps “to clarify our cooperative unity” by evaluating “the usefulness and accuracy” of a public list of Southern Baptist churches.

In the Spaces discussion, previous cases were brought up where churches were recommended to no longer be in friendly cooperation and, when contacted, were surprised they had any connection to the SBC. The result was confusion that often played out publicly.

Southern Baptists could gain “a clearer picture” of which churches are part of the SBC, whether that is through seating messengers, completing an Annual Church Profile and/or giving through the Cooperative Program.

No more ‘disfellowship’

The report included an addendum as a point of clarification. The language of “disfellowshipping” a church is inaccurate, the group said, because from a biblical standpoint, it suggests that those churches are no longer Christian.

Article XIV of the Baptist Faith and Message encourages cooperation with like-minded churches, even if they aren’t Southern Baptist, the group pointed out.

With regard to Southern Baptist matters, the suggested terminology is “not in friendly cooperation.”

Early in the Cooperation Group’s meetings, the phrase “closely identifies with” received a lot of scrutiny.

Wellman admitted he was “lukewarm” to it and the “ambiguity” it brought. But by December, he had “come to love this phrase,” calling it “not perfect” but “sufficient.”

Women with the title ‘pastor’

There is no mention of the Law Amendment in the recommendations, although Wellman and Barber said it was brought up to them often by others.

That constitutional amendment, up for a second and final vote by messengers this June, pertains to churches giving women the title of pastor.

As it wasn’t mentioned in the motion that messengers approved, Barber said, addressing it directly was deemed to be outside the scope of the group’s assignment.

“That amendment lies directly in the hands of the messengers,” he said.

The report included a statement on Article III of the SBC Constitution, which outlines the composition of the SBC.

The constitution’s language of “closely identifies with” regarding the Baptist Faith and Message “is sufficient,” the group said.

“Overall, our committee is in unanimity in trusting and championing the convention’s messengers,” Wellman wrote in a chairman’s note preceding the report that also called for Southern Baptists to pray and fast with the recommendations’ release.

In addition to Wellman, members of the Cooperation Group are Victor Chayasirisobhon, Jerome Coleman, Tara Dew, Donna Gaines, Matt Henslee, Travis Kerns, Richard Land, Jonathan Leeman, Jason Paredes, Greg Perkins, Jim Richards, Juan Sanchez, Andrew Walker, Trevin Wax and Tony Wolfe.

SBC officers serving in ex officio roles are Bart Barber, president; Kason Branch, second vice president; Don Currence, registration secretary; and Nathan Finn, recording secretary.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom added Azerbaijan to its list of 17 “worst of the worst” violators of freedom of religion or belief in 2023.

In its annual report, released May 1, the commission recommended the U.S. Department of State designate Azerbaijan as a Country of Particular Concern—a category reserved for a nation in which the government has engaged in or tolerated systemic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.

The report cites a nongovernmental organization that documented 183 individuals who were “wrongly imprisoned in connection with their religious beliefs, activities or activism.”

In an online conference announcing the report’s release, Commissioner Stephen Schneck added, “Authorities [in Azerbaijan] are regularly accused of torturing or threatening sexual violence to elicit false confessions from detainees, with those perpetuating such violence facing no accountability.”

Four members of the commission—Abraham Cooper, Susie Gelman, Mohamed Magid and Nury Turkel—dissented from what they termed the “ill-advised recommendation” to designate Azerbaijan as a Country of Particular Concern.

The dissenting commissioners acknowledged religious freedom violations in Azerbaijan and noted the State Department added the country to its Special Watch List last year for the first time. That second-tier designation is reserved for nations that engage in or tolerate severe violations of religious freedom but not in a “systemic, ongoing and egregious” manner.

The four dissenting commissioners agreed with officials at the State Department that “conditions in Azerbaijan are not at the level of a Country of Particular Concern.”

Other Countries of Particular Concern recommended

In addition to Azerbaijan, the commission again recommended the State Department add four nations—Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Vietnam—to its Countries of Particular Concern list.

Last year, the commission recommended Vietnam be named as a Country of Particular Concern. It has recommended that status for Afghanistan since 2022, India since 2020 and Nigeria since 2009.

The commission also recommended the State Department continue to identify a dozen nations as Countries of Particular Concern—Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The report singles out China and Russia as “among the world’s worst violators of their people’s religious freedom, as well as among the most active perpetrators of cross-border repression and other malign activities abroad, including in the United States.”

The commission similarly points to India’s “acts of transnational repression” of religious minorities. Its report states India is guilty of “discriminatory nationalist policies” and “perpetual hateful rhetoric,” along with a failure to address violence against Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews and indigenous people.

The report notes 687 incidents of violence against Christians in India, as well as the destruction of more than 500 churches and two synagogues in Manipur State, where more than 70,000 were displaced.

Additional offenders cited

The commission recommended the State Department include 11 countries on its Special Watch List—Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

It recommended Kyrgyzstan for the first time “due to its deteriorating religious freedom conditions,” particularly noting the government targeted Muslims “who practice a form of Islam that deviates from the state’s preferred interpretation.”

The commission also recommended seven “nonstate actors” as Entities of Particular Concern,” all of which the State Department designated as such in December 2023: Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, the Houthis, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, Islamic State Sahel Province, Islamic State in West Africa Province and Jamaat Nasr al-Islam.

The commission called on Congress to:

• Request a Governmental Accounting Office report of all U.S. foreign assistance to nations the State Department designates as Countries of Particular Concern or that are on the Special Watch List.
• Make U.S. security assistance to Countries of Particular Concern and nations on the Special Watch list conditioned on improvements in religious freedom.
• Permanently reauthorize the Lautenberg Amendment to allow legal U.S. residents to facilitate the resettlement to the United States of persecuted religious minority groups from their countries of residence.
• Prohibit any person from receiving compensation for lobbying on behalf of foreign governments designated as Countries of Particular Concern or places on the Special Watch List.

Also in its report, the commission recommended the Biden administration impose asset freezes or visa bans on individuals and entities for severe religious freedom violations; advocate for the release of religious prisoners of conscience in multilateral and bilateral meetings with relevant governments; and appoint to the National Security Council a special adviser to the president on international religious freedom.

Frederick A. Davie, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said U.S. officials can advance freedom of religion by “raising the names of victims persecuted for their faith each time the U.S. government engages with foreign governments.”

Anniversary of International Religious Freedom Act

The release of the commission’s annual report marked the 25th anniversary of enactment of the International Religious Freedom Act.

A quarter-century after the act became law, “many individuals and communities around the world still cannot freely practice their religion or belief,” said Abraham Cooper, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The commission is “disheartened by the deteriorating conditions in many countries,” he added.

“While 25 years has passed since USCIRF was created, it is more important now than ever to ensure that promoting freedom of religion or belief remains a key tenet of U.S. foreign policy,” he said.

“USCIRF’s independence and bipartisanship enables it to unflinchingly identify threats to religious freedom abroad, and despite there being dissent on certain issues included in the annual report, commissioners remain committed to advancing religious freedom for all.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 were revised slightly after the article initially was posted.

Houston Christian University and Houston Theological Seminary announce Scot McKnight will join the Doctor of Ministry faculty, teaching and supervising students in the program. McKnight brings decades of teaching experience and an active engagement with the church to the study of the New Testament. He has written more than 50 books, including The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others and volumes in the New International Commentary on the New Testament, NIV Application Commentary and the Story of God Bible Commentary series. In 2023, he completed a fresh translation of the New Testament, The Second Testament–as a sequel to John Goldingay’s The First Testament. Phil Tallon, dean of the School of Christian Thought, said, “Dr. McKnight is one of the nation’s most prominent biblical scholars, who also knows how to communicate to a popular audience. This mixture of scholarship and ministry fits perfectly with our mission to bring biblical studies from the academy to the church.”

The Baptist Student Ministry at Hardin-Simmons University hosted its second annual ANDY24 earlier this month. During this time, the community came together for 24 hours of prayer. Worship, prayer and speakers were split between Logdson Chapel and a tent on the lawn. From 8 p.m. on April 9 to 8 p.m. on April 10, HSU students, staff and faculty prayed for the campus, Abilene and the world. The BSM also held three chapel services. The tent contained five stations for self-reflection and prayer, ranging from hand-written notes with prayer requests for others to pray over to journaling reflections on prayer to share with others. Guest speakers during chapel were Ryan Eastman from Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Manny Silva, HSU’s BSM director, and Landri Bayless, a current HSU student. During Silva’s chapel service, he cited Matthew 5:23-24 as the most important lesson. “It’s not about the act,” he explained. “God cares about your heart.”

Wayland Baptist University celebrated five new endowed scholarship dedications that will benefit students. The Barrera Family Endowed Scholarship, the Paulie and Mary Louise Jones Endowed Scholarship, and the Randy and Carol Kaufman Endowed Scholarship were dedicated at Wayland’s board of trustees luncheon, April 25. Joe and Frances Barrera and family are long-time residents of Plainview with a heart for business, ministry and missions. This scholarship is established to assist first-generation students at Wayland who are active in missions and aspire to work in a mission field. Paulie Christian Jones and Mary Louise Jones of Clovis, N.M., were passionate supporters of higher education and Christian service throughout their careers. With this scholarship, the Jones family continues their commitment to Christian higher education, hoping to assist students in need as they pursue their educational goals. Randy and Carol Kaufman are passionate about Christian education. He graduated from Wayland with an accounting degree in 1991 and has been working in his local CPA firm since 1987. He attributes his professional success to the education he received while attending Wayland. Additionally, the previously established Lt. Col. Odis V. and Edith R. Sims Endowed Scholarship and the Dr. Charles and Susie Starnes Endowed Scholarship were dedicated, April 18, at the Pioneers of Excellence donor appreciation dinner. Endowed scholarships at Wayland require a minimum $25,000 gift and are then invested as part of the university’s endowment. Earnings are pulled annually to provide scholarships for students, with the main corpus remaining intact for generations to come.

East Texas Baptist University celebrated the legacy of David Dykes at the David Dykes Servant Leadership Award & ETBU Scholarship Dinner, April 23. Guests honored Dykes’ servant leadership and raised funds for scholarships supporting ETBU students. Dykes, senior pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler from 1991 to 2021, has long been recognized for his dedication to Christ and servant leadership principles, university leaders noted. Throughout his tenure, he made significant contributions to the Tyler community and beyond, embodying the spirit of faith in action.“Whether at home or abroad, in classrooms with our faculty or in the community with our partners, we are developing devoted Christian servant leaders like Dr. Dykes,” ETBU president Blair Blackburn said. “Through Dr. Dykes’ service on the ETBU board of trustees, his training of Christian ministry students in religion classes, and his biblical teaching at ETBU Chapel Services, Brother David has modeled for our students true spiritual leadership that exemplifies the humble servanthood of Jesus Christ.”

East Texas Baptist University honored 159 graduating seniors with the presentation of their official ETBU Class Ring. The Ring Blessing ceremony was held April 24. Inspired by Deuteronomy 6, the class ring allows ETBU alumni to carry and display the love of Christ. “The Ring Blessing ceremony at ETBU is a cherished tradition where graduating seniors receive their class rings, symbolizing their journey at our university,” Vice President for Advancement and Administrative Affairs Scott Bryant said. “We take pride in these students, knowing they will carry the values of faith and excellence forward into the world, representing both the Lord and our institution with honor.” As a gift of appreciation from the university to graduating seniors, the ETBU class ring symbolizes the university’s blessing over students as they commence from ETBU to pursue their career callings.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor honored students Michael Alvarado, Isabella Peña and Maggie Spellings with the Gary and Diane Heavin Servant Leadership Award during the final chapel service this semester. The award recognizes the students’ extraordinary time and energy devoted to ministry and community service during their years of study at UMHB. The award is named for Gary and Diane Heavin of Waco, who established an endowment at UMHB to fund this recognition annually. The honor included a $1,000 cash award for each student, a portion of which could be donated to an organization of their choice. Michael Alvarado is a senior small business and entrepreneurship major from Rockwall. Alvarado is giving a portion of his cash award to Grace Church Salado. Isabella Peña is a senior exercise physiology major with a concentration in strength and conditioning from Waco. Peña plans to donate a portion of her cash award to Unbound Now Waco, a nonprofit organization that serves survivors and resource communities to fight human trafficking. Maggie Spellings is a senior social work major from Round Rock. She is giving a portion of her cash award to Feed My Sheep, Temple-based, nonprofit organization formed to provide nourishment and basic human needs to homeless and needy people of Bell County.

After storms rolled across Texas, Oklahoma and other parts of the country in recent days, Texans on Mission disaster relief teams responded.

The devastating tornado that hit Sulphur, Okla., has attracted much media attention, and Texans on Mission—formerly Texas Baptist Men—is deploying two chainsaw teams, a temporary roof team, man lift and heavy machinery, said Wendell Romans, state chainsaw coordinator.

A Collin County team will leave Texas Sunday and begin work Monday. A Denton team will deploy, as well. Romans expects the work to take about two weeks. Texans on Mission is also sending a temporary roof team from Georgetown.

“My guess is this is only the tip of the iceberg, and more teams from Texas will be needed,” Romans said.

Texans on Mission chainsaw volunteers already completed five jobs in the Pittsburg area, and they served in Fort Worth, where lightning split a tree on church property.

David Wells, state disaster relief director, said: “We’re always ready to serve because we know God will provide” through our network of support.

“We have the tools we need, the fuel required and a cloud of angels who are praying for protection and guidance for us. That helps us have an impact for Christ everywhere we go,” Wells said.

Meanwhile, multiple Texans on Mission teams are responding in their local areas.

“On Friday, 10 tornadoes hit Texas as part of a wave of storms that swept across the state,” said Mickey Lenamon, executive director/CEO of Texans on Mission. “Within hours, Texans on Mission volunteers had visited the site of every one of them. Thankfully, most of them hit sparsely populated land.”

Four disaster relief teams are deployed in Southeast Texas because of recent flooding in Kirbyville and a tornado in Port Arthur. Texans on Mission already logged more than 700 volunteer work hours, and more crews are heading to Port Arthur this week.

Lenamon sent a thank you note to supporters of Texans on Mission disaster relief.

“This kind of quick response is possible because of your prayer and financial support,” he wrote. “You are there with every team who responds, whether they are serving in Texas or around the world.”

More than 100 Baptists in Hidalgo State, Mexico, were forced to leave their homes in the villages of Coamila and Rancho Nuevo on April 26.

Village leaders cut off electricity, vandalized and blocked access to some homes and their church, and posted guards at the entry points to the villages, Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported.

The 139 displaced individuals—including 75 infants and children whose families are members of Great Commission Fundamental Baptist Church—sought refuge in Huejutla de los Reyes, where they are asking the government to intervene on their behalf.

Evangelicals in Huejutla are providing the displaced families with food and water, evangelicodigital.com reported.

History of violating religious freedom

Rancho Nuevo and Coamila—indigenous Nahuati-speaking communities in Hidalgo—have a history of violating the religious freedom of minority faith groups dating back at least to 2015.

The villages are governed under Mexico’s Law of Uses and Customs, which recognizes the right of indigenous communities to maintain their cultural and traditional local governance.

The law stipulates local authorities must govern in line with rights guaranteed in the Mexican constitution and international conventions. However, the state and federal government does little to protect minority rights in those areas, human rights organizations assert.

Women from Hidalgo were among more than two dozen participants in research CSW—a United Kingdom-based human rights organization—conducted in 2021 focusing on religious freedom violations indigenous religious minority women in Mexico face.

The report that grew out of that research, “Let Her Be Heard,” documented violations including harassment, threats and attacks on property, denial of basic services and forced participation in religious activities of the majority Roman Catholic population.

In December 2022, a Baptist woman was hospitalized after being tied to a tree and beaten, and her pastor was assaulted when he tried to intervene.

Pastor detained, members assaulted

The same pastor—Pastor Regelio Hernández Baltazar of Great Commission Fundamental Baptist Church—most recently was taken into custody by authorities on March 25 and detained for 48 hours, along with two other church leaders.

Several weeks ago, village leaders approved the takeover of five plots of land owned by church members, cutting down trees and destroying crops. Three houses were surrounded, and the homeowners were denied entry.

Some members of the church were attacked physically—including with machetes—and villagers repeatedly tried to break down the pastor’s door at night, evangelicodigital.com reported.

The forcible displacement of the Baptists was “entirely preventable, had the government done its job and upheld the law,” said Scott Brewer, chief executive officer of CSW.

“Freedom of religion or belief is guaranteed to all in Mexico, including those in indigenous communities, and yet the attacks on this right in Rancho Nuevo and Coamila have been egregious and ongoing now for almost a decade,” Brewer said.

“CSW calls on Governor Julio Ramón Menchaca Salazar to work to establish a culture of rule of law where the fundamental rights of all are guaranteed, and where swift action is taken to hold those responsible for the criminal acts committed in association with the violations of these rights to account.”

Covenant Fellowship in Huntsville seeks to engage ex-offenders in ministry to the incarcerated population—for the mutual benefit of both.

“Men on the inside are more likely to listen to guys who have worn the same white uniforms and walked in the same state-issued shoes they wear,” said Scotty McKinley, pastor of discipleship and missions at Covenant Fellowship.

Since Covenant Fellowship launched in 2008, the church has ministered to individuals inside Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities—both inmates and correctional officers—through multiple avenues.

Involving ex-offenders in ministry to currently incarcerated men benefits those who have reentered the free world and those who are preparing to do so, Eddie Harmon said.

‘Not just a Sunday thing’

Harmon, lead elder at Covenant Fellowship, became involved in prison ministry 14 years ago when he accompanied Pastor David Valentine inside a correctional unit.

“I had never been inside a prison before,” Harmon said, but added he soon realized, “This is where I’m supposed to be.”

Within the course of a few weeks, he saw how God was changing inmates’ lives in dramatic ways.

“They ‘get’ Jesus more than those in the outside world do. They understand he can do for them what they can’t do for themselves,” Harmon said. “It’s not just a Sunday thing for them.”

Harmon became a certified volunteer chaplain assistant with the TDCJ. He serves at least one day a week—often more—in the John M. Wynne Unit.

‘No playing games with them’

He considers preparing inmates for life in the outside world as a key part of his ministry, along with staying in close touch with men after their release.

“I stay in contact with guys all over the state,” he said.

For those who live within driving distance of the Wynne Unit, Harmon seeks to involve them in ministry to current inmates. He recognizes they have an instant rapport and built-in credibility with the men inside prison.

“I’m just an old, retired white man who lived a pretty good life. I don’t have much to offer them,” Harmon said.

Incarcerated offenders are more likely to listen to the Christian testimony of someone who has been in prison and who successfully transitioned to life in the free world, he said. Some of the ex-offenders served lengthy sentences at the Wynne Unit, and men on the inside knew them—before and after God changed their lives.

“There’s no playing games with them. They can’t hide anything. They’ve seen it all,” Harmon said. “It helps guys on the inside realize there’s life after prison.”

Returning to prison as a volunteer also benefits the ex-offenders, he added.

“It helps them stay strong,” Harmon said. “They realize it’s such a privilege getting out, and now they can do some good, helping people inside.”

Celebrate Recovery—inside and out

Recognizing many offenders and ex-offenders have a history of alcohol and drug abuse, Covenant Fellowship seeks to provide recovery groups—both for men inside prison and for anyone in the community.

McKinley oversees both a Celebrate Recovery 12-step group at his church and a Celebrate Recovery Inside group in the Wynne Unit. He recognizes the value of the program from firsthand experience.

“A decade ago, I realized I had a problem with alcohol I could not fix myself and needed help,” McKinley said. “Celebrate Recovery was life-changing for me.”

Saddleback Church in Southern California launched Celebrate Recovery in 1991 as a Christ-centered program for people dealing with addictive, compulsive and dysfunctional behaviors.

The Celebrate Recovery Inside group at the Wynne Unit grew out of McKinley’s encounter with an inmate. Like Harmon, McKinley was accompanying Valentine on visit to the Wynne Unit.

An inmate spotted the Celebrate Recovery logo on McKinley’s shirt and asked if a group was starting at the unit. McKinley asked him to pray about it and agreed to do the same.

The next time McKinley saw the inmate, the man asked how soon a group would start. McKinley said he would need to talk to the chaplain to see if it could be scheduled.

“There’s a slot open on Thursdays,” said the inmate, who worked as a clerk in the chaplain’s office.

Celebrate Recovery Inside began at the Wynne Unit in 2016. Up to 60 inmates can participate at one time. Currently, a group of 20 is working through the Celebrate Recovery curriculum each Wednesday.

“We try as much as possible to model what a [Celebrate Recovery] group looks like on the outside,” McKinley said.

Need for a supportive community

Incarcerated men learn the steps toward recovery, and they discover the value of being part of a supportive small group, he noted.

The biggest barriers standing between ex-offenders and successful reentry into the free world are the lack of jobs, housing, transportation and community. Celebrate Recovery addresses that latter need, McKinley said.

“When men get out, they not only tend to go back to the same geographical area, but also tend to pick up their old friends,” he said. As a result, they often find themselves getting “back into the same stuff” that led to their previous arrest and imprisonment.

Once inmates have a release date, McKinley seeks to connect them in advance with a “family of believers” who can provide the supportive community they need.

“If they don’t already have a church home, we try to find them a church that has a Celebrate Recovery group” who will welcome them, he said.

As much as possible, McKinley seeks to encourage ex-offenders not only to be ministered to by a supportive church family—or at least a supportive Celebrate Recovery group within a larger congregation—but also to minister to men inside prison.

“Current inmates listen to guys who have been where they are now,” he said. “It’s an encouragement to them to say, ‘If they can do it, so can I.’”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Hollywood, the USA Gymnastics team, Penn State, the Boy Scouts: Sexual abuse has proved pervasive across institutions. And when it comes to faith groups, no creed, structure, value system or size has seemed immune.

“We’ve got to stop saying that could never happen in my church, or my pastor would never do that,” said David Pooler, a professor of social work at Baylor University who researches clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse of adults.

With more victims coming forward and more research done on abuse within religious contexts, the evidence has shown that when sexual abuse happens in a place designated not only safe, but holy, it’s a unique form of betrayal. And when the perpetrator is a clergy member or spiritual leader, the abuse can be seen as God-endorsed.

As the scope of this crisis has been revealed, houses of worship and religious institutions—from Southern Baptists to Orthodox Jews to American atheists—have looked to shore up their safeguarding protocols and protect their constituents against abuse.

But rather than scrambling to respond in the wake of a crisis, faith groups need to adopt policies tailored to their setting and connected to their mission, says Kathleen McChesney, who was the first executive director of the Office of Child Protection for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“When you do that, people will have a greater understanding of what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how you’re doing it,” said McChesney, one of a growing group of abuse experts and survivor advocates consulting with religious institutions.

Experts suggest a few steps every faith group can take to improve safeguarding protocols.

Accept it can happen anywhere

One of the most dangerous—and common—assumptions religious groups make is to think of sexual abuse as a “them” problem.

As the founder of international nonprofit Freely in Hope, Nikole Lim has worked for years to combat sexual violence in Kenya and Zambia, and more recently has been helping U.S.-based groups prevent sexual abuse locally. For Lim, the reality that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men worldwide are survivors of sexual abuse is evidence this is a problem that permeates every level of society.

“That’s a global statistic that doesn’t only exist in poor communities,” said Lim. “That also exists within your family, within your congregations.”

Experts agree faith groups often embrace the myth that good intentions, theology and ethics can stop sexual abuse from landing on their doorstep. Amy Langenberg, a professor of religious studies at Eckerd College, along with her research partner Ann Gleig, a religious and cultural studies scholar at the University of Central Florida, have shown Buddhist ethics about doing no harm and showing compassion are insufficient to prevent abuse in Buddhist contexts.

“You really do need these other ways of thinking about ethics, which are coming from outside of Buddhism, and which are coming usually from feminism, from advocacy, from the law,” said Langenberg.

Because faith communities often think of themselves as the “good guys,” they’re vulnerable to blind spots. That’s why conducting a risk assessment, much like you’d do for fire insurance, can help pinpoint what protocols are most needed, according to McChesney, who now leads a firm that consults on employee misconduct investigations and policy development.

Once concrete anti-abuse measures are in place, ongoing education can remind people at all levels of the organization to remain vigilant.

Define abuse

Faith groups often struggle to respond effectively to sexual misconduct because they lack consensus on what “counts” as abusive.

Gleig, who is teaming up with Langenberg on a book-length study called “Abuse, Sex, and the Sangha,” told Religion News Service that in Buddhist contexts, the category of abuse often is contested. In some cases, Gleig said, “abuse can be framed as a Buddhist teaching—for example, that this wasn’t abuse, it was actually some kind of skillful form of pedagogy.”

In churches, Lim has found loose definitions of abuse can lead to a form of “spiritual bypassing,” where abuse is framed as a mistake to be prayed about, rather than an act of harm that requires tangible accountability.

Conversations about sexual abuse in religious settings are often framed around clergy abuse of children. But faith groups must also account for peer-on-peer violence among children and teens, as well as abuse of adults.

Key to preventing such abuse, Pooler said, is having a robust definition of sexual abuse that goes beyond mere legal metrics and includes things such as sexual conversations, nonconsensual touch and sexual jokes and language.

Recognize power dynamics

The unequal power dynamics inherent to religious settings are an enormous barrier to equitably addressing sexual abuse. But the law is beginning to account for this imbalance.

In at least 13 states and the District of Columbia, it’s illegal for clergy to engage in sexual behavior with someone in their spiritual care—and many experts believe this standard, widely embraced when it comes to doctors and therapists, should be universal in religious settings, too.

According to Pooler, religious groups should work to share power among multiple leaders and ensure that the broader community has decision-making authority.

When sexual abuse allegations involve a religious leader, “the person should be placed on some type of leave where they are no longer influencing or speaking,” said Pooler, “because what I have seen is abusive people will try and grab ahold of the microphone and shape a narrative immediately.”

Center survivors

Experts commonly observe a default reaction in religious settings to protect the reputation of the faith group or clergyperson over investigating an abuse allegation. But defensive postures often overlook the person who, at great risk, reported the abuse in the first place.

When a survivor shares abuse allegations, faith groups often fear what will happen if they take the report seriously.

For example, Navila Rashid, director of training and survivor advocacy for Heart, a group that equips Muslims to nurture sexual health and confront sexual violence, said Muslim communities can be hesitant to address sexual violence because they don’t want to add to existing Islamophobic narratives about the violence of Islam. But Rashid told RNS it’s vital to believe survivors.

“If we can’t start off from that premise, then doing and creating preventative tools and methods is not going to actually work,” she said.

Pooler advises groups to make sure survivors “sit at the steering wheel” of how the response is handled—if and when personal details about the survivor are shared, for example, should be entirely up to them.

Caring for abuse survivors requires taking their needs seriously at every juncture, even before abuse is reported, according to Pooler and other experts. That’s why background checks are vital.

“You don’t want to put somebody that has abused a minor ever in a role of supervising minors,” McChesney told RNS.

Get outside help

Faith communities are known for being close-knit, which makes avoiding conflicts of interest difficult, if not impossible, when it comes to holding offenders accountable. That’s why many experts recommend hiring outside groups to hold trainings, develop protocols and steer abuse investigations.

“They don’t have any investment in the church looking good or their leaders looking good,” Pooler said about hiring groups such as GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) or other third-party organizations that investigate abuse allegations. These organizations, he said, are committed to laying out the facts so faith groups can make informed decisions.

Groups that are trauma-informed can also ensure that gathering testimony from survivors doesn’t cause additional harm.

Rashid recommended faith communities create a budget line for hiring outside groups who focus on addressing sexual abuse. Rather than offering quick fixes, she said, such groups are designed to help faith communities unlearn biases, recognize power dynamics and adopt long-term solutions at individual, communal and institutional levels that prioritize the safety of all community members.

“What we want to see with policies is pushing for a culture shift,” she said, “not a Band-Aid fix.”

NASHVILLE (BP)—The only thing matched by the pomp and festivities of the NFL Draft, held April 25 in Detroit, may be the level at which gambling has become entwined with the league.

NFL partners include the Caesar’s Sportsbook Stage, BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel, not to mention Genius Sports, the league’s exclusive sports betting data provider.

The concern spreads to all sports. When the interpreter and best friend of baseball’s biggest star becomes embroiled in a $41 million betting scandal, some begin to wonder about gambling’s ultimate payout.

 “We want to show that the detriments are more than the benefits,” said Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. “Gambling supporters point to the tax revenue and how it can help fund education.”

He specifically targets predatory gambling such as sports betting, pari-mutuel horse racing and video poker machines. There is a definite grooming aspect to draw people, even minors, into participating, he noted.

“We’ve seen the data on how addictive gambling can be and that up to one-third of [compulsive] gamblers will attempt suicide,” he said. “It’s going to end up costing you.”

Legal sports betting in 38 states

A 2018 Supreme Court decision took out a federal ban on state authorization for sports betting that had exempted Nevada. Other states jumped at the opportunity practically overnight, and today 38 offer legal sports gambling.

The Texas Constitution prohibits gambling in most instances but permits pari-mutuel betting on horses and greyhounds, charitable bingo and raffles within certain parameters and three Indian casinos. Online sports betting remains illegal in Texas.

All of the professional sports franchises in Texas—as well as betting platforms—are partners in the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, a well-funded group seeking to legalize sports betting in the state.

“Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission has long opposed the efforts of groups like the Texas Sports Betting Alliance to amend the Texas Constitution to expand gambling in Texas. We’ve seen that the societal harms exacerbated in jurisdictions that have legalized gambling far outweigh any financial benefit a percentage of gambling profits can provide,” said John Litzler, public policy director for the CLC.

“We anticipate opposing similar gambling legislation in 2025 as we work to inform legislators about the immense cost exacted on residents by legalized gambling.”

Russ Coleman, chair of Texans Against Gambling, noted his organization also will continue to resist gambling expansion in the state.

Politically, there is little connecting California and Georgia. But they are rare examples of states where sports gambling legislation has been defeated outright. A 2022 rejection by California voters has set up a massive showdown over the issue.

Research shows harm gambling causes

As sports betting has gathered steam, many are beginning to wonder if it is out of control. Studies show how it rewires the brain. A late three-pointer can affect the point spread and bring death threats, as one Purdue basketball player experienced this year.

Andrew Hurley is a senior walk-on for the national champion University of Connecticut. Occasionally his coach and dad, Dan, would put him in at the end of Huskies blowouts, and the younger Hurley would hear chants to shoot the ball. He would wonder later if money was riding on those shots.

“It’s scary at the end of games,” he told the Boston Globe. “I don’t fully understand how much of [sports betting] works. … During the game I’m not thinking about that, but in the locker room after the game I’m thinking, ‘I hope nobody is out there jumping me for what I did in the game.’”

The NFL previously never broached the idea of having anything to do with Las Vegas due to its gambling background, and yet, the city hosted the Super Bowl in February. The result was a record $185.6 million in wagers on the game by Nevada’s sportsbooks.

States are noticing an alarming rise in calls to gambling hotlines, with numbers more than doubling. It’s costing homes and relationships and skewing toward men in their 20s and 30s.

 “We believe, nationwide, the rate and severity of gambling problems have increased across the United States since 2018,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling which operates a helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER, in an NBC News report.

Griffin is in his 11th year as Georgia Baptists’ public policy representative. His predecessor, the late Ray Newman, also was pushing back on attempted sports betting legislation as early as 2010.

This year there were at least 12 gambling bills, which Griffin shared in detail in a column for Georgia Baptists’ state news journal, The Christian Index. He knows he’ll have to suit up for battle again next year against gambling proponents.

“It won’t stop trying until Jesus comes back,” he said.

“They are misled into thinking that they can fix a problem by regulating it. … If you regulate it too well, though, there won’t be as much money to make. You need the problem gamblers. You need to increase the opportunities to gamble and entice more people to do it.

“The house has to win.”

With additional reporting by Managing Editor Ken Camp.

NEW YORK (RNS)—Christian nationalist activist and musician Sean Feucht, pastor Russell Johnson and conservative author Eric Metaxas headed a pro-Israel rally at Columbia University in response to the “Gaza solidarity encampment” established by students a week ago.

The “United for Israel” rally on April 25 was promoted on social media and intended to show support for Israel, Jewish students and faculties.

It drew a crowd of a few hundred, who circled the Columbia campus singing hymns and praying without entering its gate. Instead, they traded shouted slogans and threats through the Upper Manhattan school’s iron fences.

The rally was a sign of political evangelicalism’s increasing interest in campus politics writ large and in the pro-Palestinian campus protests in particular. Earlier in the week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, an evangelical Christian, made an appearance at Columbia to decry antisemitism on the campus and meet with school officials to demand the resignation of Columbia President Minouche Shafik.

The rally was billed as an attempt to “redeem Columbia University,” in the words of Feucht, who gained notoriety during the COVID-19 pandemic for holding worship concerts to protest restrictions on gathering.

He organized the rally with Russell Johnson, the conservative lead pastor of Pursuit NW Church, and Metaxas, a 2020 election denier and supporter of former President Donald Trump. Metaxas—who wrote a 2010 biography of the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed for opposing Hitler in World War II—toted a poster of Bonhoeffer’s image during Thursday’s event.

Feucht kickstarted the event by intoning the Christian anthem “How Great Is Our God” before blessing the crowd and praying for Israel.

‘These are the end days’

“Today, we say enough is enough. This anti-Christ, antisemitic agenda that has risen up in New York City, that has risen up in universities,” he said.

The day before, in a livestream, Feucht said there had been a rise in antisemitism on campuses due to the pro-Palestinian student protests and that it was a sign the end times were near.

“We’re seeing this rise and this flood of antisemitism across the world. These are the end days. I know people say this all the time, and everyone’s saying this is the end of the day. … Well, these are the end days, and we’re one day closer to the return of Jesus,” he said.

Adding that the Israel-Hamas war is “one of these end times issues,” Feucht said that Christians need to “get right’’ by siding with Israel.

Reading aloud a verse from the 12th chapter of the Bible’s Book of Genesis referring to God’s covenant with Abraham, Feucht said it was a Christian duty to support Israel.

Feucht then led the protesters in a procession around Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus. Their march, he claimed, mirrored that of Joshua’s army circling the walls of Jericho, as told in the Book of Joshua.

Some protesters blew shofars, musical horns used in Jewish religious ceremonies, emulating the biblical story.

Noreen Ciano, a 63-year-old Christian from New Jersey, closed her eyes and prayed in tongues as she marched.

“I was praying for peace. I was praying for the Lord’s presence in this place,” she told Religion News Service.

A nondenominational Christian, Ciano is a member of the International House of Prayer Eastern Gate Church, for which she hosts a radio show. As a Christian, she said, supporting Israel should be an easy decision, as “the whole Bible is Israel-centric.”

Contrasting perspectives

Some in the crowd waved Israeli and American flags and yelled, “Bring them home,” in reference to the estimated 130 hostages still thought to be held by Hamas since the Oct. 7 attacks.

Along their path, the marchers encountered members of the anti-Zionist Hasidic group Neturei Karta, who held signs reading “Judaism rejects Zionism and the State of Israel.”

Pro-Palestinian Christian activists also clashed with the crowd, some of them bearing signs reading “Jesus lies under the rubble in Palestine.”

At the end of the rally, the march faced off with pro-Palestinian student protesters at the campus gates on Amsterdam Avenue and 116th Street in a tense confrontation. The two groups yelled at each other through the gates, and the pro-Israel crowd sang the Israeli anthem and “God Bless America.”

Members of Passages, a pro-Israel Christian organization that plans “Christian birthright trips” to the Holy Land, came bearing signs reading “Christians stand with Israel.”

Ariel Kohane, a Modern Orthodox Jew who wore a yarmulke printed with the name of a Jewish activist group, Young Jewish Conservatives, under a red “Trump was right” cap, said the marchers’ support of Christian Zionists was much appreciated at this juncture in the war in Gaza.

He also praised the efforts of other evangelical groups, such as Christian United for Israel and its leader, John Hagee, who headlined a rally for Israel late last year in Washington.

“We share conservative political views and religious values. We are allies, and we work together, hand in hand. It’s so wonderful that they are standing side-by-side with us, shoulder-to-shoulder,” Kohane said.

Kohane, who lives near the Columbia campus, denounced the “Gaza solidarity encampment” and said the situation should prompt donors to withdraw funding from the institution. He said Shafik should resign due to her poor handling of the situation.

Anya Andreeva, a Christian living in Brooklyn, came to pray and support Israel. She said she heard about the rally on Facebook but made sure it would be a peaceful demonstration focused on prayer before she decided to attend. She vetted the organizers before coming.

“I saw enough to trust it. I’m keen not to side with anything that uses Christianity as a promotion for any kind of agenda,” she said.

The rally ended in a prayer session. The crowd prayed for the “salvation and safety” of the hostages and blessed Jewish participants who attended.

“Lord, we pray even tonight that a miracle would take place, a miracle across the Middle East,” Feucht said.