By Baptist Press WASHINGTON — With the U.S. suicide rate increasing 24 percent over the past 15 years according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, mental health experts have called pastors to prepare for ministry to suicidal individuals. While a pastor need not mention mental health issues every week from the pulpit, “a bit of regular exposure to such human realities has a way of breaking down

By Baptist Press WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has issued an order May 13 instructing all public schools to permit transgender students to use the restrooms and locker rooms of their gender identity instead of their biological sex. The across-the-board directive met quick protests from Southern Baptist leaders. Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, described the federal guidance as “an outrageous attack on our Creator Himself, human sexuality

By Tom Strode Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) — Donald Trump’s striking victory in Indiana Tuesday (May 3) apparently settled the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but it did little to resolve the divisiveness among conservatives and evangelical Christians over his controversial candidacy. The brash billionaire triumphed easily in the latest primary over both of his rivals for the GOP nomination, leaving him seemingly with no opponents and an open

By Bob Smietana LifeWay News NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Most Protestant pastors believe Jesus will return in the future. But few agree about the details of the apocalypse. A third of America’s Protestant pastors expect Christians to be raptured—or taken up in the sky to meet Jesus—as the end times begin. About half think a false messiah known as the Antichrist will appear sometime in the future. A surprising number think

Baptist Press JACKSON — At least nine U.S. cities and five states have banned non-essential travel by government employees to North Carolina, Mississippi, or both, claiming religious liberty bills adopted there discriminate against homosexual and transgendered persons. A Mississippi pastor told Baptist Press he’s proud of his state legislature’s courage and confused by the seeming hypocrisy of some critics. Pastors in Vermont and Washington — two states to enact bans

SBC Editors’ Network YouTube Video BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A YouTube video promoting J.D. Greear for president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has raised concern. The question is the participation of three SBC entity presidents who appear to be endorsing Greear’s election. The “It’s Tricky” video is a parody of the late 80s rap song with the same name by Run-DMC. The concern emerged when Greear — pastor of The