The U.S. Supreme Court this week gets its first chance to consider new curbs on abortion rights with President Donald Trump’s two conservative appointees on the bench as it examines the legality of a Louisiana law that could force two of the state’s three clinics that perform the procedure to shut down.

The court, with a 5-4 conservative majority, is scheduled on Wednesday to hear arguments in an appeal by Shreveport-based abortion provider Hope Medical Group for Women seeking to invalidate the law. Chief Justice John Roberts may be pivotal in deciding the outcome, with Trump’s appointees Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch also in the spotlight.

The clinic sued to block the 2014 law, which requires that doctors who perform abortions have a difficult-to-obtain arrangement called “admitting privileges” at a hospital within 30 miles (48 km) of the abortion clinic. A federal appeals court ruled against the clinic and upheld the law.

The Supreme Court struck down a similar Texas requirement in 2016 when conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired in 2018, joined the four liberal justices to defend abortion rights. Trump has tightened the conservative grip on the court with his 2018 appointment of Kavanaugh, who replaced Kennedy, and his 2017 appointment of Gorsuch.

In their prior stints as federal appellate judges, neither Kavanaugh nor Kennedy ruled directly on abortion rights. But Trump promised during the 2016 presidential race to appoint justices who would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion and legalized it nationwide.

The Louisiana case will test the willingness of the court to uphold Republican-backed abortion restrictions being pursued in numerous conservative states.

Roberts, a conservative, cast the deciding vote when the court last year on a 5-4 vote blocked Louisiana’s law from going into effect while the litigation over its legality continued.

When the Supreme Court in 1992 reaffirmed Roe v. Wade, it prohibited laws that placed an “undue burden” on a woman’s ability to obtain an abortion. In the Texas case, Roberts concluded that an admitting privileges requirement did not represent an undue burden, but he was in the minority in the ruling.

Known to be concerned about the court’s institutional reputation and integrity, Roberts may be wary about reversing such a recent precedent even though he was one of the dissenters in the 2016 case.

“Everyone is looking to the chief justice to see what he is going to do,” said Nicole Saharsky, a lawyer who regularly argues at the Supreme Court.

Baton Rouge-based U.S. District Judge John deGravelles cited the undue burden precedent when he struck down Louisiana’s law in 2016, prompting the state to appeal to the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 5th Circuit upheld the law despite the 2016 precedent, concluding there was no evidence any Louisiana clinic would close due to the admitting privileges requirement.

Graphic – U.S. state abortion laws: here

Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights legal advocacy group representing the Hope clinic, said the justices must know that Louisiana’s law was in “open defiance” of their 2016 precedent.

“The real issue for the court in this case is: are they going to follow their own precedent from four years ago?” Northup said.

Louisiana Solicitor General Liz Murrill, who is defending the law, said “big differences” between the Texas and Louisiana laws mean the justices do not need to treat them the same way.

“The state has a significant and compelling interest in showing there’s a safe environment. We can’t rely on them to do it,” Murrill said, referring to the clinics.

The Hope clinic has said implementation of the law would force it and another facility in Baton Rouge to shut, leaving a single clinic, located in New Orleans, for the entire state of about 4.6 million people. The state disputes that finding.

The Hope clinic, in a windowless brick building in Shreveport often with anti-abortion protesters outside, draws women not just from northwestern Louisiana but also eastern Texas and southern Arkansas.

Abortion remains one of the most divisive social issues in the United States, with Christian conservatives among those most opposed to it. A Supreme Court ruling in favor of Louisiana’s law could lead other states to pass similar measures.

Abortion rights advocates have argued that restrictions such as admitting privileges are meant to limit access to abortion not protect women’s health as proponents say.

Anti-abortion activists are hoping the Supreme Court, with Gorsuch and Kavanaugh and perhaps additional Trump appointees on the bench if he wins re-election on Nov. 3, will scale back or even overturn Roe v. Wade.

Amanda Nottingham, an activist with the Louisiana Right to Life advocacy group that supports Louisiana’s law, said the court is “far more favorable now than it was a few years ago.”

“Obviously our goal is to see the end of abortion,” Nottingham added.

Louisiana’s law, Nottingham said, “makes a statement to the rest of the nation that Louisiana is pro-life and we are here to protect women, and we want the highest level of care and safety for them.”

SOURCE: Reuters, Lawrence Hurley

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The leader of a religious sect in South Korea will be investigated over some of the country’s coronavirus deaths.

The city government of the capital Seoul has asked prosecutors to charge Lee Man-hee, the founder of the Shincheonji Church, and 11 others.

They are accused of hiding the names of some members as officials tried to track patients before the virus spread.

South Korea is battling the worst coronavirus outbreak outside China.

The country has reported 3,730 cases and 21 deaths so far. More than half of all infections involve members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a fringe Christian group.

Authorities say Shincheonji members infected one another in the southern city of Daegu last month, before fanning out around the country.

SOURCE: BBC News

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Evangelist Franklin Graham has taken legal action against two more venues for canceling his U.K. tour events planned for May due to his biblical views on homosexuality, according to a spokesperson of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

After launching legal proceedings against the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, BGEA has now sued the FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield and ICC Wales in the city of Newport, South Wales, Christian Today reported.

The Scottish Event Campus, owners of the Glasgow Hydro, had been given time until Thursday to explain why it canceled Graham’s event slated for May 30 — the first night of his tour — but the spokesperson said the SEC leaders “intend to resist the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s request for judicial relief, and have been advised that they will have another seven days to file a substantive answer,” The Herald (of Scotland) reported.

BGEA, which Graham heads, will “continue trying to work toward a resolution that will allow the Graham Tour U.K. to be held at The SSE Hydro as planned,” he added.

All eight venues booked by the BGEA for Graham’s U.K. tour pulled out, allegedly due to pressure from LGBT activist groups.

Graham’s spokesperson said the cancelations had “alarming” implications for free speech and religious freedom.

“BGEA’s position remains that in nearly 70 years of public evangelistic outreach ministry, there is no evidence whatsoever that any BGEA event involving Franklin Graham has ever caused a danger to public safety or incited public disorder,” he said.

“The actions taken by these venues and those responsible for them to publicly repudiate these contracts are clear efforts to distance the decision-makers from BGEA, Franklin Graham and other Christians who hold similar beliefs,” he continued. “There is no question that this was done under pressure from those with opposing views who have demonstrated a relatively predictable pattern of harassment and bullying of those doing business with BGEA.”

The spokesperson added, “This disregard for principles of good faith and fair dealing, based on the mere suggestion that a person’s sincerely held religious views or statements are ‘hateful’ or would result in public disorder, should be very alarming to anyone who is genuinely concerned about diversity, inclusion and tolerance, let alone free speech and the free exercise of religious beliefs.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Anugrah Kumar

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This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International with the Whyte House Daily Devotional Bible Reading Episode #95. Where I read three chapters of the Holy Bible in the King James Version a day with my family as a part of our family devotions, to encourage you to read the Holy Bible in a year’s time. We are using a modified version of the Five Day Bible Reading Plan. It is modified because we read the Bible everyday and not just five days a week. The benefit of using the Five Day Bible Reading Plan is: you can read the entire Bible in a chronological reading plan that helps the Bible make sense. Today we are reading Numbers 9, Psalm 32 and Acts 21.

Thomas Watson said, “Meditate on what you read. The Hebrew word for “meditate” means to be intense in the mind. Meditation without reading is wrong and bound to err; reading without meditation is barren and fruitless.”

John Stott said, “The Bible is the portrait of Jesus Christ.”

Numbers 9
1 And the Lord spake unto Mo’-ses in the wilderness of Si’-nai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of E’-gypt, saying,

2 Let the children of Is’-ra-el also keep the passover at his appointed season.

3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

4 And Mo’-ses spake unto the children of Is’-ra-el, that they should keep the passover.

5 And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Si’-nai: according to all that the Lord commanded Mo’-ses, so did the children of Is’-ra-el.

6 And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Mo’-ses and before Aa’-ron on that day:

7 And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Is’-ra-el?

8 And Mo’-ses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.

9 And the Lord spake unto Mo’-ses, saying,

10 Speak unto the children of Is’-ra-el, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the Lord.

11 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.

13 But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

14 And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the Lord; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.

15 And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.

16 So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

17 And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Is’-ra-el journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Is’-ra-el pitched their tents.

18 At the commandment of the Lord the children of Is’-ra-el journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.

19 And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Is’-ra-el kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not.

20 And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.

21 And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.

22 Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Is’-ra-el abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.

23 At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Mo’-ses.

Psalm 32
A Psalm of Da’-vid, Mas’-chil.
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Se’-lah.

5 I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Se’-lah.

6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Se’-lah.

8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.

11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Acts 21
1 And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Co’-os, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Pat-a-ra:

2 And finding a ship sailing over unto Phe-nic’-ia, we went aboard, and set forth.

3 Now when we had discovered Cy’-prus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syr’-i-a, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden.

4 And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Je-ru’-sa-lem.

5 And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.

6 And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they returned home again.

7 And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptol-e-ma’-is, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day.

8 And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Cae-sa-re’-a: and we entered into the house of Phil-ip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.

9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Ju-dae’-a a certain prophet, named Ag’-a-bus.

11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Je-ru’-sa-lem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gen’-tiles.

12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Je-ru’-sa-lem.

13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Je-ru’-sa-lem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Je-ru’-sa-lem.

16 There went with us also certain of the disciples of Cae-sa-re’-a, and brought with them one Mna’-son of Cy’-prus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.

17 And when we were come to Je-ru’-sa-lem, the brethren received us gladly.

18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.

19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gen’-tiles by his ministry.

20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

21 And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gen’-tiles to forsake Mo’-ses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.

22 What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.

23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;

24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

25 As touching the Gen’-tiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

27 And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of A’-sia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,

28 Crying out, Men of Is’-ra-el, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.

29 (For they had seen before with him in the city Troph’-i-mus an Eph-e’-sian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)

30 And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut.

31 And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Je-ru’-sa-lem was in an uproar.

32 Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.

33 Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.

34 And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle.

35 And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people.

36 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.

37 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?

38 Art not thou that Egyp’-tian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?

39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tar’-sus, a city in Ci-lic’-i-a, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.

40 And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the He’-brew tongue, saying,

________

PRAY
________

When I was a teenager I wanted to get wisdom and knowledge, so I set out the read the big family Bible that many families had in those days. But I couldn’t get past Genesis 2 before I got bored with reading the Bible. I found out later in life that you have to believe on Christ and get saved before you can understand the Bible. So here is how I became a Christian and how you can too:

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now that is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please email me at [email protected] and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.

God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.

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SEATTLE (BP) — Sometimes, the benchmark for what counts as success has to be redefined. That’s what Dave and Mary Elliff discovered as they planted Roots Community Church in Seattle.

“I have met a lot of people who had never heard of Jesus,” Mary recounted. “It’s starting from scratch, talking to one person at a time and explaining what we believe and why.”

Nearly 40 percent of the population in the Seattle metro area are identified as religiously unaffiliated — nones. Between 92 and 96 percent of the population do not attend an evangelical church at all.

So, the distance between hearing the Gospel and responding to the Gospel is much greater than some may experience in the Bible Belt South. Yet, Roots Community Church averages between 95 and 110 people every Sunday, and they have seen God at work in their neighborhood.

The Elliffs, 2020 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering Week of Prayer missionaries, moved to Seattle from Little Rock, Ark., in 2015 because of their heart to reach people with the Gospel.

“I came to Seattle during a vision trip and instantly got gripped by the sense of spiritual need that’s in the city and the need for more churches,” Dave said.

Dave previously served as a missionary in Southeast Asia with the International Mission Board through its two-year, Journeyman program. He has noticed the spiritual condition in Seattle resembles the Asian nation where he served overseas.

“We live in a city that celebrates every lifestyle, spiritual or gender choice except Christianity,” Dave said. “Despite that, we see many who are searching spiritually for truth and meaning.”

The particular neighborhood they have moved to has been described as the “metaphysical belt” of the city. Several shops and buildings are dedicated to a New Age religious mysticism, whether that be crystal healing rooms or a temple dedicated to myriad religious figures and deities.

“For me, coming here from such a Christian-saturated part of the United States, it was a mental and emotional and spiritual shift for me,” Mary said.

In Little Rock, Mary had successful stints as a broadcast journalist and in marketing. She had to come to grips with losing that identity ahead of their eventual transition to ministry in Seattle, but God would lead her to see how key her role would be in the ministry.

“If you were to ask anybody at our church who has been one of the most effective at building relationships with people who don’t know Jesus and bringing people to Roots,” Dave said, “the answer would definitely be Mary 10 times over.”

As a mother of four young children, she has connected with other moms in the area, whether through social media or simply by starting conversations in the park.

Source: Baptist Press

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FRANKFORT, Ky. — As pastors and lay leaders left Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky., on Monday afternoon (Feb. 24), another stop on the Who’s Your One Tour drew to a close. This week marked the one-year anniversary of the Who’s Your One evangelism emphasis, which launched February 26, 2019.

“We have seen here in Kentucky, which was evidenced at Buck Run, there has been great momentum around Who’s Your One here in our state,” said Rob Patterson, the evangelism team leader for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. “Many of our churches have rallied around it saying, ‘this is who we are, and this is what we need to be doing.’”

The tour has been one avenue of the Who’s Your One emphasis that is designed to help pastors and their congregations begin praying for and reaching out to at least one person whom they know needs to respond to the Gospel.

“It is amazing how this has become a real, genuine movement thanks to Southern Baptists across North America,” said Johnny Hunt, senior vice president of evangelism and leadership at the North American Mission Board (NAMB). “Let’s continue to be faithful and remember to keep the main thing, the main thing. Let’s focus on reaching our family members, friends and neighbors with the Gospel.”

More than 27,000 Who’s Your One resource kits have been distributed to pastors and churches across North America. Nearly 23,000 people have sent in commitments to pray for and share with their ‘one’ through whosyourone.com. With 13 tour events now completed, there are 16 more tour stops remaining in 2020, and more are scheduled for 2021.

Who’s Your One also has thousands of people talking on social media. There have been 10.3 million impressions and 1.1 million engagements on social media.

Who’s Your One launched in coordination with J.D. Greear, Southern Baptist Convention president and pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C. Greear has focused his presidency on a “Gospel Above All” theme and has made Who’s Your One a key element of that emphasis.

Source: Baptist Press

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BOLIVAR, Mo. (BP) — Accusations that a pastor did not cooperate with police during a 2005 sex abuse case are bringing into question his appointment as a trustee at a Baptist university supported by the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC).

At issue is whether pastor Mike Roy, a trustee of Southwest Baptist University (SBU) in Bolivar, Mo., appropriately responded when then-music minister Shawn Davies was accused and later convicted of sexually abusing and sodomizing boys at First Baptist Church of Greenwood, Mo.

Both the MBC, whose Nominating Committee appointed Roy a trustee in October 2019, and SBU are investigating the accusations by the sex abuse victims’ advocacy group For Such a Time as This. For Such a Time as This cites news reports from more than a decade ago reporting that police accused Roy of not cooperating with the investigation. The advocacy group says the MBC and SBU did not adequately vet Roy before appointing him a trustee.

Roy, currently a bivocational senior pastor at Pathway Church in Raymore, Mo., told Baptist Press he cooperated with police at the time.

“I did cooperate with the police in whatever they asked for,” Roy told BP Wednesday (Feb. 26). “There were times when they were wanting to talk to me about the case and situation, and then I got stuck in a tug-of-war between the church insurance lawyer and the local police as to … my statement concerning that offender and the situation.”

The SBU Board of Trustees responded to the accusations, announced its intention as early as Feb. 21 to investigate the claims, and clarified that SBU trustees are appointed by the MBC, not the university.

“SBU was not involved in this year’s nomination process,” SBU President Eric Turner told BP in a written statement, “and we received no background information on the nominees.”

The MBC is still considering its next step, a representative told BP Wednesday on behalf of MBC.

“We continue to work through our processes to gain additional information and insight. We caution against doing damage to Christ’s reputation by engaging in public speculation, rushing to judgment, or manipulating selected details to advance an agenda,” Rob Phillips, MBC director of ministry support and apologetics, said. “We plan to continue honoring the process Missouri Baptists have given us for dealing with conflicts involving our institutions and their duly-elected boards. This includes talking candidly and graciously with all parties involved, and working with the MBC’s Executive Board, SBU’s Board, SBU leaders, and Dr. Roy to arrive at a resolution that honors the Lord and preserves the integrity of our cooperative work.”

Roy described the Greenwood Police Department, which according to its website has about 10 officers, as a small-town force that had never encountered a sex abuse case of that magnitude, but a department which he “believes in” and has supported in the interest of justice.

Source: Baptist Press

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