(RNS) — Thomas Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida, and head of Founders Ministries, was hospitalized Sunday (Dec. 8) after collapsing during church.

According to a statement from Founders Ministries, Ascol was ministering to his church on Sunday morning when he “suddenly fell to the ground and was unresponsive.” He was then rushed to a hospital where he is reportedly “in and out of responsiveness,” but has stabilized.

“We request your earnest prayers for Pastor Tom, his family, Grace Baptist Church, and Founders Ministries,” reads the statement. “We are all worshiping our good and sovereign God. We are putting our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ whose gospel is the only way of salvation. Thank you for praying with us.”

Founders later published a second update saying that Ascol had become “more coherent and responsive” and was talking, although he had “little mobility.”

Ascol created Founders Ministries with other Baptists in 1982. In his capacity as president of the group, the ardent theological conservative has criticized the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention and recently protested what he described as the creeping influence of progressivism within evangelical Christianity.

Ascol told Religion News Service in July that he is especially concerned with how claims of social justice have “infiltrated” the SBC, and that Russell Moore, head of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty…

Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts didn’t want to take personal credit for the Sooners’ Big 12 championship season Saturday. Instead, he thanked those around him – his teammates and coaches – and thanked God.

“This is not about me,” he said during a postgame news conference after Oklahoma defeated Baylor in overtime, 30-23. The next day, Oklahoma was selected as one of the four teams for the College Football Playoff.

Hurts is known for his faith. His profile picture includes a graphic reading, “Be who God called you to be.” 

His story is unique. He was the starting quarterback for Alabama his first two years there before being benched the final game his sophomore season in favor of his then-backup, Tua Tagovailoa, who threw the game-winning touchdown pass in the national title game against Georgia. Hurts was a backup his junior season but still had a flash of heroics when he came off the bench to help the Crimson Tide win the SEC Championship game against Georgia.

Hurts then transferred to Oklahoma, where he completed 71 percent of his passes this year for 3,634 yards, 32 touchdowns and seven interceptions. A dual-threat quarterback, Hurts also rushed for 1,255 yards. Statistically, it was his best season yet.         

Hurts, on Saturday, acknowledged it’s been a wild journey. 

“I told [Oklahoma Coach Alex] Grinch after this game just how crazy…

’Tis the season for giving and San Francisco 49ers’ cornerback Richard Sherman has risen to the occasion. Earlier this week, the NFL star cleared over $27,000 worth of student lunch debt for California children, according to ABC.

“It’s the most generous thing to happen for these kids,” said Cabrillo Middle School principal Stan Garber. “There’s plenty in need and he didn’t neglect them. It was the perfect way to give back and help them. It was the kindest, most generous gesture.”

Cabrillo received a personal check for over $7,000 from the NFL star while the Tacoma Public Schools District received $20,000.

“Richard’s gesture created such goodwill for the 49ers that they went on to sack Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers the next day on national TV by a score of 37-8,” Garber said on the school’s website. “Go 49ers, Go Richard Sherman.”

The donation came a day after the cornerback was awarded the National Football League Players Association’s Week 11 Community MVP. Sherman has gained a solid reputation for his generosity. He started two nonprofits—the Richard Sherman Family Foundation and Blanket Coverage Foundation—which have collectively raised $1.5 million since 2013 and helped more than 70,000 people in need. Many of the recipients have been students in low-income communities who need school supplies and clothing.

The compassionate player…

The U.S. Supreme Court handed the pro-life community a major victory Monday, upholding a Kentucky law that requires abortion doctors to show and describe an ultrasound to the pregnant woman and let her listen to any heartbeat, too.

The justices, without comment, refused to hear an appeal of a decision from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which in April upheld the law in a 2-1 decision. 

The law, H.B. 2, doesn’t require the women to watch or listen, but nevertheless is one of the more strict ultrasound laws in the country, according to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute. 

The law requires the abortion doctor show the woman the images and provide an “explanation of what the ultrasound is depicting,” which must include “the dimensions of the embryo or fetus and the presence of external members and internal organs, if present and viewable.” Further, it requires the doctor to allow the woman to hear a heartbeat if a “heartbeat is audible.” 

The pregnant woman then must sign a form indicating she either viewed the images and listened to the heartbeat or declined to do so.

“Neither the physician, the qualified technician, nor the pregnant woman shall be subject to any penalty if the pregnant woman refuses to look at the displayed ultrasound images or to listen to the heartbeat if the heartbeat is audible,” the law says.

The American Civil Liberties Union had…