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Source of Light Bible Correspondence Courses

Free Bible correspondence courses are offered in addition to home school and family resources.

And of some have compassion, making a difference: Jude 22

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What The Bible Says Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

The Lord's hearers wondered what the Lord's prediction about rising FROM the dead meant! This message was preached on Sunday morning, Apr. 11, 2021, ...

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https://bbcgf.org.

https://bbcgf.org.

How the life and lyrics of the late rapper challenge our notions of sanctification and struggle.Earl “DMX” Simmons kept it real whether he was testifying about his angels or his demons.While it’s common for grief, depression, anxiety, and faith to come up in popular music today, Simmons rose to fame at a time when hip-hop songs about flashy cars, jewelry, and expensive clothes ruled the charts. The rapper best known by his stage name DMX shot videos in his childhood neighborhood wearing workman’s jumpsuits and few gold chains.Simmons—who died last week at age 50—is the first and only rapper to have five albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and he did so while making Christianity a central element of his music. DMX’s witness over his 30-year career reshaped how the genre engages faith in public.“Before DMX, black R&B artists would generally wear a cross, briefly mention they were reared in the black church in their youth, or thank Jesus for their success during award shows,” said Cassandra Chaney, a professor at Louisiana State University who researched how rappers discuss heaven in their music. “When DMX came on the scene, he showed the world that they could and should have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.”Simmons grew up in the projects of Yonkers, New York, the only son of a teenage mother. Raised a Jehovah’s Witness, his favorite childhood book was a Jehovah’s Witness children’s Bible. But Simmons wrote in his autobiography that he left the Witnesses when his mother declined an insurance settlement after he was hit by a car as a child, citing a religious belief against accepting charity.Simmons had a troubled childhood. His father abandoned the family. His mother was abusive and sent him to a children’s ...Continue reading...

Family Research Council wrapped up another busy week monitoring activity in Congress that affects life, family, and religious freedom and being your voice on Capitol Hill. Here are the most important Hill items FRC worked on this week.Discharge Petition Filed to Bring Born-Alive Bill to the FloorYesterday, one of the newly elected pro-life women in 117th Congress, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), filed a procedural motion known as a "discharge petition" in the U.S. House of Representatives to bring the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act up for a vote. If 218 members of Congress sign the petition, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be required to hold a vote on the bill. In the previous Congress, Pelosi refused to bring this legislation up for a vote over 80 times.So far, 205 members have signed the petition, with several more Republican members expected to sign in the coming days. By collecting over 200 signatures in a day, the petition broke the previous record of most signatures. You can track which House members have signed the petition here.The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act is an important bill that would require medical practitioners to provide the same level of care to an infant that survives an abortion as they would to any other infant born at the same gestational age. Currently, there are no federal protections or mandates to protect these young lives. FRC has worked hard to inform House members about this important issue. In the nine states that require reporting on abortion survivors, FRC found at least 203 cases in which an infant survived a failed abortion.It is past time for Congress to pass a federal law that protects the lives of infants who have survived abortion. FRC has been monitoring the states that have passed protections and has found that federal law and 32 states do not adequately protect the lives of abortion survivors. We will continue to monitor this issue and push for full legal protection for abortion survivors.See FRC's resources for more information on the Born-Alive issue:Issue BriefOne-Page GraphicBorn-Alive MapHHS Secretary Doubles Down on Abortion Policies in First Committee HearingThe secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, appeared before the House Appropriations Committee to testify on the FY22 budget request. During this hearing, Democratic members raved about how excited they were to see their colleague of 24 years, known for his pro-abortion record, serving as HHS secretary. The FRC team monitored this hearing and applauded those members of the committee who took a stand for the unborn. This includes Congressman Ben Cline (R-Va.), who grilled Secretary Becerra on his abortion record.Representative Cline urged Becerra to support the Trump administration's policy banning the use of fetal tissue for federal research. Cline also set the stage for bipartisan support of the Hyde Amendment. After getting Becerra to admit his belief that Roe v. Wade is settled law, Cline reminded the secretary that Hyde, which prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion, was passed only three years after Roe, and should similarly be considered settled law. It is more important than ever to stand up in defense of life, especially considering the Biden administration's pro-abortion actions just this week.Just this past Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that they would not be enforcing the safety requirement that chemical abortion pills only be distributed in person. These requirements were put into place to protect women from severe health complications that have been known to arise from the use of abortion pills. Now the Biden administration has taken action that prioritizes pro-abortion ideology over protecting women's health. On Thursday, HHS followed up on the FDA's announcement by proposing the removal of pro-life protections in the Title X Family Planning Program. Removing these protections would allow pro-abortion entities that refused to abide by them (entities like Planned Parenthood) to receive Title X funding.The Biden administration's intent to dismantle federal law that protects life was on full display this week, but do not be dismayed. The pro-life community has many opportunities to hold this administration accountable.See FRC's resources for more information on Becerra:Talking PointsBlogPaycheck Fairness ActThe U.S. House of Representatives passed the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7) by the slim margin of 217-210. This bill undermines its well-intentioned goal of creating fair wages for men and women by redefining sex in a way that is harmful to women and ignores the biological realities of men and women.In the Equality Act and women's sports debates, we are already seeing the harm gender identity ideology poses to women's rights, privacy, and safety. If it were to become law, the Paycheck Fairness Act could mandate employers to fund hormones or surgeries as a "treatment" for gender dysphoria and abortions as a benefit to employees. The FRC team worked quickly to inform members about the negative implications of this bill before the vote this week.Other Notable Items FRC Tracked This Week:The Senate Judiciary Committee held a nomination hearing on the nominations of Kristen Clarke to be the associate attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. Clarke has perpetuated the left-wing narrative that Bible-believing Christians are bigoted and discriminatory. Her pro-LGBT efforts in law underscore her disregard for the First Amendment right to religious liberty.The Senate Finance Committee held a confirmation hearing for Andrea Joan Palm to be a deputy secretary of HHS and Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to be the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Both nominees have close ties to Planned Parenthood and have been endorsed by the abortion industry for their forceful support of abortion.The House Oversight Committee held a markup of H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, which seeks to make D.C. a state. This effort has a host of problems, primarily that it does not reflect our Founders' intention for the federal seat of government to be independent of any one state in the Union. This markup sets up a likely vote on this bill next week.

The Bible's diverse narratives help us disciple those entrusted to our care.

Introducing a new master's degree cohort for Anglican Church in North America at the Wheaton College School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership. The School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership at Wheaton College Graduate School is pleased to introduce a specialized cohort in our Master of Arts in Ministry Leadership degree program, specifically for students preparing for or currently in ministry in the Anglican Church of North America. This unique cohort begin in Fall 2021. In this program, we will specifically engage the normal master’s degree topics and class, but will also engage Anglican history, theology, ecclesiology, and formation in order to prepare students for more effective spiritual leadership in ACNA churches.The core of the M.A. in Ministry Leadership curriculum focuses on three competency areas: Bible / theology, mission, and leadership. In the ACNA cohort, students will study each of these areas with a focus on ministry in the Anglican Church.In all our programs, we have a strong focus on gospel, church, and culture.Students will have the opportunity to learn from faculty and guests of Wheaton College who are affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America like M. Daniel Carroll R (Rodas), Rick Richardson, Emily Hunter McGowin, Andrew Abernathy, Keith Johnson, Junias Venugopal, Esau McCaulley, and others.Wheaton College has been uniquely impacted by Anglican leaders over the years, so we are privileged to have so many ACNA-related faculty members.In addition, Ed Stetzer, Dean of the School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership with Alan Hawkins, the ACNA Chief Operating Officer, will co-teach on leadership.In this modular program of online and in-person courses, students work alongside other like-minded students and are empowered to infuse classroom knowledge and insights back into their ministry setting. Additionally, thanks to the flexible ...Continue reading...

Tracing the terrain of Scripture's stories shows us how God works in our physical world.How can we read Scripture as embodied people who will live with an embodied Savior for all eternity? One unexpected answer to this question is to study biblical geography. If the word geography causes you to doze off, I can relate. I failed the map reading section in social studies in second grade, which spurred my dislike of Bible maps for the next 15 years. Only when I began teaching at a Christian school that included maps in its Bible curriculum did I realize how illuminating geography can be.I now know that it’s not only possible to learn the geography of Scripture; it’s spiritually and missionally formative. Tracing God’s work in the physical world prepares us to participate in his work of resurrection in our lives and communities. Here are five reasons why.1. Geography reminds us that God has always been at work in the physical world.When we read Genesis 25–33 with a map beside our Bibles, we notice that God shows up at crucial thresholds in Jacob’s life: at Bethel before he flees the promised land and at Peniel before he reenters it, as David W. Cotter has noted. Jacob names these locations “house of God” and “face of God” to commemorate his encounters with God’s gracious presence and power during these moments of vulnerability. God’s revelation isn’t abstract or purely spiritual. It is rooted in significant geographical locations.Since Genesis, God has been weaving himself into the terrain of history, seeking us out and calling us home. The study of biblical geography shatters the false dichotomy between the physical and the spiritual by highlighting specific places where God stepped into our world. Tracing God’s mission on a map reminds ...Continue reading...