The Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board is asking for a rehearing of an employment termination lawsuit by a federal appeals court and claims that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision contradicts an earlier ruling against the agency. 

Attorneys representing NAMB, SBC’s domestic missions agency, filed a petition Thursday for a rehearing en banc at the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a three-judge panel earlier this year overturned a lower court’s dismissal of a complaint filed by the former executive director of Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.

The former executive director, Will McRaney, filed a lawsuit in 2017 alleging that NAMB, which works with state SBC conventions and other partners to plant new churches, defamed him through false statements and influenced the convention’s decision in 2015 to terminate him after a dispute about a partnership agreement.

McRaney’s lawsuit further claimed that NAMB sought to prevent McRaney from speaking at conferences and that his…

More than 100 U.S. senators and representatives have signed a letter urging the Department of the Treasury to change IRS code so that abortion expenses are no longer tax deductible. 

Under current IRS code, money paid for any legal abortion is tax-deductible as “medical care.”

The letter, signed by Sens. James Lankford (Okla.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Joni Ernst (Iowa) and others, was dated Aug. 12 and says the IRS “must cease considering abortions (except in the case of physical endangerment to the life of the mother) to be medical care” under IRS code. It was sent to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

“Abortion is not health care,” the letter says.

The letter asserts that “when the deduction for medical care was first enacted in the Revenue Act of 1942,” abortion “was a crime in virtually every state.” 

“However, shortly after Roe v. Wade, the IRS imposed on the then-three-decade-old statute a meaning of ‘medical care’ that would have been unthinkable” to the “Congress that enacted it,” the letter states.

“Any procedure for which a successful outcome depends on the death of a living human being, born or unborn, cannot be considered health care,” the senators and representatives say in the letter. “For this reason, the willful killing of an unborn child has for over two millennia been…

A federal appeals court on Thursday declared the male-only draft constitutional, overturning a lower court ruling from 2019 that had sparked an outcry from social conservatives and Christian leaders.

At issue is the requirement by the Selective Service System that men, upon reaching age 18, register with the agency within 30 days. Selective Service keeps a list of all men ages 18-25 eligible for the draft.

The lawsuit was brought by the National Coalition For Men, which argued that permitting women to avoid Selective Service violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Last year, U.S. District Judge Gray Miller sided with the organization, but on Thursday, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Miller and said they were bound by Supreme Court precedent. The high court upheld a male-only draft as constitutional in a 1981 case, Rostker v. Goldberg.

“Only the Supreme Court may revise its precedent,” the Fifth Circuit ruled.

The 3-0 unanimous decision was issued by Judges Jacques Loeb Wiener Jr. (nominated by George W. Bush), Carl E. Stewart (President Clinton) and Don Willett (President Trump). Miller, who was nominated by George W. Bush, argued that since “women are now eligible for and have been integrated into combat units,” they also can be drafted. When the Supreme Court ruled in 1981, women were not eligible for combat.

In 2016, when the issue was…

A historic peace agreement has been made between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, making it the first time Israel has struck a deal with a major Arab state in over 25 years.

“HUGE breakthrough today! Historic Peace Agreement between our two GREAT friends, Israel and the United Arab Emirates!” President Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

HUGE breakthrough today! Historic Peace Agreement between our two GREAT friends, Israel and the United Arab Emirates!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2020

The agreement features a joint statement issued by President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahya.

In the next several weeks, delegates from Israel and the UAE will meet “to sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit,” the statement says.

“Opening direct ties between two of the Middle East’s most dynamic societies and advanced economics will transform the region by spurring economic growth, enhancing technological innovation and forging closer people-to-people relations,” the statement continued.

The peace agreement also notes that the UAE and Israel “will immediately expand and accelerate cooperation…

President of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, Evangelist Franklin Graham, is urging believers to realize what a Biden-Harris ticket entails when it comes to abortion.

“Joe Biden & Kamala Harris are labeled as the most pro-abortion presidential ticket in the history of our nation,” Franklin wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “This should be a great concern to all Christians. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am pro-life & believe every life is precious to God.”

.@JoeBiden & @KamalaHarris are labeled as the most pro-abortion presidential ticket in the history of our nation. This should be a great concern to all Christians. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am pro-life & believe every life is precious to God. https://t.co/SkKccmuZlH

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) August 13, 2020

Graham’s post included a Breitbart article where several pro-life leaders warn of Biden and Harris’s extreme stance on abortion.

In Harris’ previous role as California Attorney General, she directed California officials to conduct a raid on the house of David Daleiden the leader of the Center For Medical Progress (CMP). Daleiden, along with CMP have released undercover videos that revealed that Planned Parenthood had been conducting sales on fetal tissues. 

It was later revealed at Harris and Planned Parenthood collaborated to produce legislation that…

Legal counsel for John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church said that Los Angeles County is seeking a restraining order to stop the pastor from holding any in-person services on Sunday.

During a Thursday interview with The Daily Wire’s Andrew Klavan, MacArthur’s attorney Jenna Ellis revealed that L.A. County is now seeking a temporary restraining order to prohibit Grace Community Church from “allowing any form of indoor worship and also outdoor worship that does not comply with its ridiculous mandates.”

“They are trying to restrain Grace Community Church and we, of course, will defend their constitutionally protected rights,” she said. 

“This is not Pastor John and Grace Community Church defying the law,” Ellis, who is also a senior legal adviser of the Trump 2020 presidential campaign, said. “The law in America and the state of California is the Constitution and those protections. This is Grace Community Church standing on the side of the law against these overreaching tyrants that are defying their oaths of office when they are commanded, mandated by the…

When you say the name Chris Tomlin, it’s likely that a catalog of great music from over the last two decades immediately comes to mind.

Recently, Tomlin sat down for a rare interview with Christian Headlines to talk about his new album and to offer some insight on what he has learned over the last two decades.

Tomlin’s new album, Chris Tomlin & Friends, came out on July 31, but the Grammy Award winner shared that a year ago, the collaborative album could not have exists because “I didn’t know any of these people a year ago.”

Chris Tomlin & Friends is Tomlin’s 13th studio album. It has a cast of some of country music’s greatest artists from Lady A to Florida Georgia Line.

This is where the story starts for this album. While on vacation, Tomlin decided to go to the gym. While there, he recalled, he ran into Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line.

Little did Chris know that Tyler had been a fan of his for years and even used some of Tomlin’s music when he led worship while attending Belmont University. This, Tomlin shared, is when things for the new album started to fall into place.

Tomlin would connect with other artists who would come to be featured on the album – which debuted at number on the Billboard charts – in similar ways.

For many of Tomlin’s fans, they may not be aware of his roots. Tomlin grew up in East Texas where he was surrounded by country music. “I…

More than 100 Democratic politicians are asking the Democratic National Committee in a letter to adjust its official position on abortion.

The letter says that “extreme” policies on abortion are alienating voters.

“We are concerned that many Democratic leaders support policies on abortion that are radically out of line with public opinion,” the letter from Democrats for Life of America says. “Many Democratic leaders support abortion at any time, for any reason; this position is opposed by 79% of Americans. The 2016 Democratic 1 Platform endorses taxpayer funding of abortion, opposed by a supermajority of the population.”

According to the letter, there are some 21 million Democrats that are pro-life.

“Finally, we are concerned about the betrayal of Democratic Party values,” the letter says. “An extreme position on abortion rights violates our commitment to inclusivity and diversity. Polling consistently shows that one in three Democrats are pro-life.”

The letter asks that the Democratic Party avoid pushing forward “extreme” policies, such as a law in Congress defining abortion or taxpayer-funded abortion.

“In the US, pro-life Democrats have been a critical part of the coalition to expand voting rights, improve health care, and pass criminal justice reform,” the letter says.

Of the 104 signees on the letter, 82 are current…

(RNS) — After the killing of George Floyd on May 25, George Fox University, a Quaker-founded evangelical Christian school in Oregon, announced plans to change its campus culture, improve police engagement and diversify its board of trustees.

Gordon College, a Christian institution in Massachusetts, said it would consider adding a Black history course to its core curriculum. Calvin University in Michigan offered a summer class on “Faithful Anti-Racism in a Time of Pandemic.”

They were among the dozens of evangelical colleges and universities that issued statements grieving Floyd’s death in police custody and pledging to find practical steps to address racial justice on and beyond their campuses.

But the schools’ promises to correct an often-common history of failing to prioritize racial justice and reconciliation left some students unsatisfied. 

“You failed me and so many other black students,” a George Fox graduate commented on a George Fox Facebook post. “Do better than just putting words on facebook.”

“You fail to support students of color in and out of the classroom. Your retention rates for students of color are lower because y’all don’t know how (to) hire diverse faculty who are able to connect with the students,” another commented. 

Students and staff at Calvin University were also vocal about their desire for a more decisive response from…