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.

I was getting ready for work Monday morning and I went to put on my favorite necklace. It has two necklaces joined together, one shorter than the other. One of the strands has a heart on it, and I love hearts. That is why this is one of my favorite necklaces. When I got it out of my jewelry drawer, it had a knot in it.

Sergio Ramos is joining Texas Baptists to develop further and direct the emerging network of Great Commission and Great Commandment, or GC2, churches and ministries in Texas and beyond.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Powerful winds and hundreds of lightning strikes from thunderstorms rattled eastern Oregon and Idaho Wednesday afternoon, cutting power and stoking fires, including one in Oregon that is already the largest active blaze in the nation.

PARIS (BP) – With the Olympic Games opening in Paris later this week, Southern Baptists have already been working in and around the city, capitalizing on the event as a bridge to spread the Gospel.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A plane crashed Wednesday just after taking off from Nepal’s capital, killing 18 people and injuring a pilot who was the lone survivor. All the people aboard the Saurya Airlines flight including the co-pilot were Nepali except for one passenger, who was a Yemeni national, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A man who severely injured author Salman Rushdie in a frenzied knife attack in western New York was motivated by a Hezbollah leader's endorsement of a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death, prosecutors said Wednesday in announcing new terrorism charges.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “total victory” against Hamas on Wednesday in a speech to Congress boycotted by dozens of Democratic lawmakers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters converged on Washington on Wednesday to condemn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit, marching toward the Capitol before police deployed pepper spray on some in the crowd.

NEW YORK (AP) — A wipeout on Wednesday sent U.S. stock indexes to their worst losses since 2022 after profit reports from Tesla and Alphabet helped suck momentum from Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A surprise eruption of steam in a Yellowstone National Park geyser basin that sent people scrambling for safety as basketball-sized rocks flew overhead has highlighted a little-known hazard that scientists hope to be able to predict someday.

ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Steer drove in three runs with three extra-base hits, Elly De La Cruz also had three hits, including a home run, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the slumping Atlanta Braves 9-4 on Wednesday in the first game of a split doubleheader.

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Hawks rookie guard/forward Nikola Djurisic of Serbia has had surgery on his left foot and is out until at least November.

DALLAS — Recent key research findings into pastoral wellness reveal that many pastors struggle with financial, physical, and mental wellness.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan shuttered offices, schools and tourist sites across the island Wednesday ahead of a powerful typhoon that already worsened seasonal rains in the Philippines, killed at least eight people and displaced 600,000.

TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — A group of 2,000 migrants from dozens of countries set out on foot Tuesday through southern Mexico as they attempt to reach the U.S., although recent similar attempts have failed, with groups disbanding after a few days without leaving the region.

ATLANTA (AP) — The game between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night was postponed because of rain.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Members of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s executive committee acknowledge the events of the last 24 hours have brought confusion and frustration as conflicting press releases have tried to clarify that Brent Leatherwood is still at the helm of the SBC entity.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (BP) – Southern Baptist pastor Kevin Smith announced Tuesday morning, July 23, that he has resigned as chairman and from the board of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Smith’s resignation comes on the heels of a turbulent 24 hours for the Southern Baptist public policy entity.

U.S. regulators are investigating how Delta Air Lines is treating passengers affected by canceled and delayed flights as the airline struggles to recover from a global technology outage.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the Secret Service said Tuesday she's resigning following the assassination attempt against ex-President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.