MARIETTA, Ga. — The Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb has a mission: "to spread the love of Christ by providing a quality healthcare home to the uninsured and underserved in our community.”

I have said, and I reaffirm, that being born again (saved by trusting in Christ Jesus) is the single most important thing any person can ever do on this earth.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – The acts of kindness Jesus performed as He shared the gospel inspired Gene Smith, administrative pastor at First Baptist Church, De Soto, and his wife, Kristi, to lead international mission trips to the Dominican Republic.

BOSSIER CITY, La. (LBM) — Cedric Davis entered Bossier Parish Maximum Facility in April, but just two months later the 45-year-old, convicted for simple burglary, gained a permanent reprieve from a spiritual death sentence.

Thelma Goolsby said now that she’s back in Alabama, she wants to keep the feeling she had all last week. She saw God at work in Huffman, Texas, as Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief teams helped clean up trees and limbs after Hurricane Beryl.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of another infamous cartel leader, were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department said.

PARIS (AP) — The Paris Olympics were getting off to a rough start Friday, with suspected acts of sabotage targeting France's flagship high-speed rail network and cloudy skies and forecast rains over the French capital ahead of its sprawling, ambitious opening ceremony.

A wildfire that has tripled in size in one day, becoming California’s largest of the year even as other blazes scorched the Pacific Northwest, was started by a burning car, authorities said. They arrested a man who was seen pushing the blazing car into a gully.

PARIS (AP) — France’s high-speed rail network was hit Friday with widespread and “criminal” acts of vandalism including arson attacks, paralyzing travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe, and thwarting Olympic athletes from travel, only hours before the grand opening ceremony of the Games.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police arrested 95 Libyan nationals in a raid on a suspected secret military training camp on Friday and authorities said they were investigating whether there were more illegal bases in other parts of the country.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jeff McNeil hit a winning single in the 10th inning on a fly ball that fell when Ramón Laureano overran it in the right-field corner, and the New York Mets beat the Atlanta 3-2 on Thursday night for their fourth straight win.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered state agencies Thursday to start removing homeless encampments on state land in his boldest action yet following a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian and Chinese bombers flew together for the first time in international airspace off the coast of Alaska, in a new show of expanding military cooperation that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday raises concerns.

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia sun scorched the slab of concrete beneath Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano’s body when nurses found him in a puddle of his own excrement, vomiting, according to a complaint.

Norfolk Southern got a boost during the second quarter from insurance payments related to last year's disastrous East Palestine derailment, but it also made progress in reducing its expenses and getting more efficient.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Grady Jarrett achieved his goal by returning to the field for the Atlanta Falcons' first training camp practice on Thursday. For new coach Raheem Morris, having Jarrett taking snaps at defensive tackle for the first time since suffering a knee injury that ended his 2023 season was the perfect way to open camp.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A strong typhoon made landfall on China's southeastern coast on Thursday evening after sweeping across the nearby island of Taiwan, where it caused landslides and flooding in low-lying areas and left three dead.

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — A former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer who was part of the slow law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School pleaded not guilty during a court appearance Thursday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific delivered 7% growth in its second-quarter profit even though the number of shipments it hauled remained essentially flat because it was able to continue streamlining its operations.

Southwest Airlines plans to drop its tradition of more than 50 years and start assigning seats and selling premium seating for customers who want more legroom. The airline said Thursday that it has been studying seating options and is making the changes because passenger preferences have shifted. The moves could also generate revenue and boost financial performance.

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge has denied a preliminary challenge to block a commission created to discipline and remove state prosecutors, finding that it doesn't violate the U.S. or state constitution.

This story has a little of everything. It’s a love story, with a suspected demon possession among a people group of firework makers. The plot twist — a people group believed to be unengaged and unreached already had two churches meeting among them.  

Kesevan Balasingham knows firsthand that he doesn’t have to look far from his Toronto home to find a mission field. It’s because he was once part of the mission field.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — When churchgoers show up to their church’s worship service, they’re often hoping to have a guest with them. A Lifeway Research study of U.S. Protestant churchgoers finds 3 in 5 (60%) say they have extended at least one invitation in the past six months for someone to attend their church, including 19% who have made one invitation, 21% with two invitations and 20% with three or more invitations.

It’s Bible School week. One sip of strawberry Kool-Aid takes me back to VBS snacks on the creek bank behind Belfry Baptist Church in the early 70s. We lined up outside, the girls wearing dresses, then marched in to “Onward Christian Soldiers.” We said pledges to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible.