Explainer: The latest developments on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
As Russia continues to illegally wage war on Ukraine, new information breaks every few days, especially as this conflict is lived out in a digital age that offers 24/7, real-time access. Here are several important developments that you should know and pray about.
Are you ready for the Supreme Court decision on abortion?
Right now, the Supreme Court is considering the most important abortion case in a generation: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. As we prepare for the ruling in this case, we want to be faithful to pray.
This free Dobbs prayer guide contains a list of 48 specific prayer requests to guide you, your family, and your church in your prayers over the coming weeks and months.
This Week in Washington, D.C.
This week in Washington, D.C., attention has been focused on Congress as they have worked to pass a 1.5 trillion dollar omnibus spending package that funds the government through September. On Thursday evening, the Senate passed the legislation that it included long-standing pro-life riders such as the Hyde and Weldon amendments. We are deeply grateful for the inclusion of these importantment amendments. We were also pleased to see that the package included $13 billion in humanitarian and military aid for the people of Ukraine and the neighboring nations who have taken in Ukrainian refugees.
The omnibus did not increase domestic or international family planning dollars, but still included over $800 million dollars for organizations and funds that support and promote abortion internationally as well as $286 million for Title X funding that supports Planned Parenthood and similar organizations.
You can read more about these pro-life riders and why they are important to Southern Baptists here.
Featured Podcasts
On this week's episode of the ERLC Podcast, Chelsea and Lindsay discuss Ukrainian refugees, the U.S. ban on imports of Russian oil, and the $1.5 trillion omnibus bill. They also talk about high level talks between Russia and Ukraine, what the war in Ukraine is teaching us about courage, and rebuilding our moral infrastructure.
From The Public Square
Florida Republicans send 15-week abortion ban to governor
Associated Press
Abortions after 15 weeks would be banned in Florida under a proposal Republican senators have given final passage and sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his expected signature.
Texas clinics battle strict abortion law as legal hopes dim
Associated Press
The nation’s strictest abortion law went before the Texas Supreme Court on Thursday but an attorney representing abortion clinics said he no longer sees a way in this case to halt the law.
States push 15-week abortion bans as the right argues over a post-Roe strategy
Politico
Legislators say they’re taking what they see as a politically and legally safer approach, even if it means the vast majority of abortions in their states could still take place.
Recent Research Debunks Myth That Economic Factors Are Driving Falling Birth Rates
Institute for Family Studies
Diagnosing the decline in fertility, and addressing it, will require more than attributing it to a rising cost of living, the purported pressures of late-stage capitalism, or other economic factors.
What You Need to Read
Casey McCall with What the war in Ukraine is teaching us about our culture’s longing for virtue: Zelensky and courage on display
Cultivation of virtue depends on living pictures. We need to see examples of virtue being lived so that we will have well-trod trails in the wilderness of our own experience to follow. Christian people have always understood this. We know that we can only love and learn how to love by looking to the God who is love. How does Christ love us? Courageously, all the way to the cross and beyond.
Jake Stone with Why 21st century Baptists need 18th century Baptists like Isaac Backus: 3 areas in ecclesiology where Baptists need retrieval
Backus published many writings on the church and models for contemporary Baptists how to think about polity, biblically and consistently. He wrote on these issues as a minister in Massachusetts where the Congregationalist Church enforced strict order. Backus’ faithful ministry in a hostile environment provides modern Baptists with a model to follow in how to be faithful to our Baptist distinctives while being good citizens. Backus shows us three areas in ecclesiology where Baptists need retrieval.
Jordan Wootten with How rebuilding our moral infrastructure can prepare us to thrive in the tech age
With technology advancing at such a dizzying pace, how can we keep up? How can we maintain our moral bearings when the tech world has cracked open so many new frontiers of possibility, so many gray areas, so many moral dilemmas? In short, we must rebuild what we’ve so casually let fall into disrepair: our moral infrastructure.
