BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally, days before he was to accept the Republican nomination for a third time. A barrage of gunfire set off panic, and a bloodied Trump, who said he was shot in the ear, was surrounded by Secret Service and hurried to his SUV as he pumped his fist in a show of defiance.

Summer is here, and in many churches across Georgia, that means it is time for Vacation Bible School. VBS has been a mainstay of children’s ministry programs for decades, if not longer.

LINCOLNTON, Ga. — Former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia once said, “Some people are inherently likable. If you are not – work on it.” Paul Reviere is a man who is inherently likable and one of the most interesting individuals you could ever hope to meet.

MILWAUKEE (BP) – A release of the Republican National Convention’s platform reveals a potential shift in the party’s focus on a federal abortion ban. The announcement came hours after the RNC’s platform committee met on Monday morning.

MATAGORDA, Texas – Hurricane Beryl made landfall early Monday morning near Matagorda as a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds after wreaking havoc in the Caribbean as a Category 5 storm where it claimed the lives of at least 11 people. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and Send Relief are already helping survivors.

Hurricane Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 storm along the Texas coast on Monday morning. The first storm of the Atlantic hurricane season — which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 —  to make landfall in the U.S. has already left reportedly 1 million residents in the Houston area alone without power. The storm reportedly killed at least 10 people in Caribbean islands last week.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A long-running heat wave that has already shattered previous records across the U.S. persisted on Sunday, baking parts of the West with dangerous temperatures that caused the death of a motorcyclist in Death Valley and held the East in its hot and humid grip.

The burgers aren't the only things sizzling this Fourth of July: Millions of people are under heat warnings as large numbers of Americans traveled to toast their nation’s birth with parades, cookouts and fiery splashes of colors against the evening sky.

CHESNEE, S.C. (BP) — The Battle of Cowpens is considered a hinge moment in the American Revolution. A string of British victories at Savannah, Charleston and Camden had swung momentum. Continue the winning streak, the thinking went, and more Loyalists would join the cause. A Redcoat wave would proceed northward and ultimately snuff out the rebellion.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will award the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry on Wednesday to two Union soldiers who stole a locomotive deep in Confederate territory during the Civil War and drove it north for 87 miles. U.S. Army Pvts. Philip G. Shadrach and George D. Wilson were captured by Confederates and executed by hanging. Biden is recognizing their courage 162 years later with the country's highest military decoration.

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Thousands of people at a religious gathering in India rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed at least 116 people and injured scores, officials said.

ROME, Ga. — Seven students made salvation decisions and 39 answered the call to ministry at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s SURGE Music Camp held last month at Shorter University in Rome. Nearly 400 people, including students and teachers, gathered for the event. Rhon Carter, the Board’s worship and music catalyst, said 30% of the almost 300 students were attending for the first time.

ROME, Ga. - Earlier this month, the Georgia Baptist Mission Board's Worship and Music Ministry held its annual SURGE Music Camp for students. Over the course of the week-long camp, seven students professed faith in Christ and 39 accepted the call to ministry.

BOONEVILLE, Ky. (KT) — When COVID shut down the homeless mission he pastored in Savannah, Ga., Brandon Davis told the Lord he would “go anywhere you need me.” That commitment led him to Booneville, Ky., population 161, where “the Lord has really blessed.”

On a winter Sunday morning in February 1779, the sound of gunfire broke the silence along the marshy bottom at the juncture of two small creeks in Wilkes County, Georgia, as men engaged in a life and death struggle. The Battle of Kettle Creek, a pivotal battle and one of the few patriot victories in Georgia, had begun.

CUTHBERT, Ga. — David and Gay Crowdis said they believe it’s not the size of a church’s congregation that matters, but rather what that congregation does to serve its mission, regardless of its size. David is the pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Cuthbert. His wife said the church is “off the beaten path” near the border of Randolph and Calhoun counties, which each have fewer than 7,000 residents.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Most churchgoers believe Christians have a good reputation with Americans in general, but they worry those feelings are starting to sour. A Lifeway Research study finds 53% of U.S. Protestant churchgoers say most Americans have a positive perception of Christians. Two in 5 (40%) disagree, and 8% aren’t sure.

MACON, Ga. —  Dr. Tim McCoy, pastor of Ingleside Baptist Church in Macon, will celebrate his 66th birthday on June 29, just one day before his last Sunday as pastor of the dynamic and influential church he has served for 35 years.

Church planting was part of NewBranch Community Church’s vision from the beginning, says Teaching Pastor Ken Rucker. The question for this Georgia church, which began gathering in 2008, had always been, “When’s the right time to plant?”

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — After 30 years of service, Don Startup, worship pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cartersville, Ga., is retiring. On Sunday, June 16, one week before his final service as worship pastor, the church celebrated Pastor Startup and his ministry.

COLUMBUS, Ga. – Tony Dickerson is known as a Baptist statesman, an anointed expository preacher, and a loving pastoral shepherd who is about to enter his 52nd year as senior pastor of Pinehurst Baptist Church in Columbus. He is also a proven leader and a genuine man of God.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Late last Wednesday afternoon, June 12, the gavel dropped at the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis and thus officially ended the service of those on the Convention’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force. However, several weren’t there to see it.

INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – In anticipation of the 100th anniversary celebration of the Cooperative Program (CP) in 2025, Baptist Press editor Brandon Porter interviewed Tony Wolfe, executive director-treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and John Kyle, communications director at the Louisiana Baptist Convention, on the CP Stage in the Exhibit Hall prior to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

TOCCOA, GA – James reminds us that pure and undefiled religion will prompt believers to care for widows (James 1:27). The writer of Proverbs penned, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed” (Proverbs 19:17).

MARIETTA, Ga. — Dr. Randy Cheek was approaching 70 years old when he was called as senior pastor of Eastwood Baptist Church in Marietta. His first Sunday he preached a message that has become his personal prayer, “Lord, whatever you want, I want.”