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It's Saturday, July 8, 2023.

Today’s edition covers a Maryland protest over mandatory LGBTQ lessons for children, blasphemy charges against a Pakistan man, why going to church isn’t optional for Christians, and more.

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Of Christian Concern

RELIGIOUS PARENTS IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY PROTEST THE REMOVAL OF OPT-OUT OPTION FOR LGBTQ CURRICULUM

Screenshots from a video uploaded by Gigi De La Torre on Twitter.

Hundreds of residents in Montgomery County, Maryland rallied last week in protest of the school board’s decision to remove parents’ choice to opt-out from LGBTQ curriculum for elementary-aged children. On Tuesday, June 27, Christians, Jews, and Muslims gathered outside the Montgomery County Public School’s board meeting in a unified protest, chanting “education over indoctrination,” “we shall never surrender our children,” and “leave our kids alone.” 

Many of the protestors were parents who reportedly took off work to assemble at the 1:30pm board meeting. One parent explained it’s “because I am responsible for bringing up my kids in the right way,” The Daily Signal reported. In a possible violation of Maryland’s Open Meetings Act, protestors were not allowed to enter the meeting.

The demonstration was organized by Family Rights for Religious Freedom, supported by other organizations, and largely attended by residents of East African descent. It was promoted especially among Ethiopian Orthodox churches and on social media.

A group of Muslim and Christian parents are suing over the school board’s policy, The Washington Times reported.

MAN IN PAKISTAN CHARGED WITH BLASPHEMY FOR POSTING BIBLE PASSAGE ON FACEBOOK, CHRISTIANS FLEE HOMES IN FALLOUT

Photo by SyedWasiqShah.

Haroon Shahzad, a resident of Chak 49 Shumaali village, Punjab Province in Pakistan, posted the text of 1 Corinthians 10:18-21, a passage about food sacrificed to idols, on Facebook last Thursday. The 45-year-old Christian missionary included no commentary with the verses, but the post came as Muslims were beginning the four-day Feast of the Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha), which involves slaughtering animals.

A Muslim villager took offense and began circulating a screenshot of the post on social media. Tensions mounted, and the following day (Friday, June 30) announcements from mosque loudspeakers rallied people to protest, causing Sargodha District police to intervene to protect the 250-300 local Christian families.

The police successfully prevented attacks or damage to property, but the mob action was enough that dozens of Christians fled their homes in fear of violence, Morning Star News reported.

Subsequently, the police charged Shahzad with blasphemy and took him into “protective custody.” Shahzad’s legal representatives are fighting the charge and also seeking legal action against his complainant for endangering him, his family, and other Christians.

These events come after Pakistan officials signed an agreement on June 17 to allow some blasphemy cases to be tried under anti-terrorism law, which would result in harsher punishments.

Also Noteworthy

→ Elevation Church, the megachurch pastored by Steven Furtick, has withdrawn from the Southern Baptist Convention. The letter of withdrawal did not cite reasons, but some have speculated the action relates to the SBC’s expulsion of churches over female pastors.

→ Google disaffiliated from a drag show featuring Joshua Grannell (stage name “Peaches Christ”) after hundreds of Christian employees signed a petition taking issue with the performer’s “direct affront to the religion beliefs and sensitivities of Christians.” In a response to the action on TikTok (where his handle adds “666” to the end of his stage name) Grannell called the Christian petitioners “bigoted.”

→ Gunmen attacked a church in Ogun State, Nigeria on Saturday, killing the pastor and abducting seven others. Officers rescued the kidnapped victims, killing one of the suspects in the process.

→ 61% of voters with an opinion on the issue agree that introducing young children to transgenderism, drag shows, and LGBTQ+ themes harms their emotional and psychological development, according to a recent national survey released by Summit.org.

→ Planned Parenthood is now banned from presenting in schools in the Canadian province of Regina, after a presenter brought a sexually graphic resource to a high school class.

→ A Catholic priest, Father Fidelis Moscinski, was sentenced on Friday to six months in prison for placing locks on the gate leading to a Planned Parenthood facility in Hempstead, NY. During his sentencing hearing, he argued that the law for which he was found guilty is illegitimate “since it attempts to give legal protection to actions which are intrinsically evil and unjust.”

→ Pope Francis has ordered the establishment of a new commission to create a catalogue of all the Christians (not only Catholics) who have been martyred for their faith since the turn of the century, to be honored in the Jubilee of 2025.

→ Only 1.6% of Germans read the Bible daily, and only 3.2% weekly, though more than half own a copy, according to a new study at the University of Leipzig. Despite the low number of readers, however, even 40% of those “without confessional affiliation” have interest in biblical content.

Content Catch-Up

Recent, notable content by Christian creators.*

→ Virginity Is Outdated and Hurtful?: In an op-ed for The Washington Times, Christian journalist and author Billy Hallowell takes aim at “the absurdity” of Planned Parenthood’s recent claim that “The idea of virginity comes from outdated — let’s be real, patriarchal— ways of thinking that hurts everyone.” (Article)

→ “Amen”: Singer Jimmy Levy released a new single title Amen, about his escape from a dark past to find his purpose in Christ. The song reportedly hit #3 on iTunes this morning. (Song)

→ Is God Reaching Out to Joe Rogan?: Christian YouTuber Ruslan KD discusses recent evidence that God may be “trying to reach Joe Rogan,” host of the long-form podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, which is of the most popular podcasts in the world. (Video)

*Not necessarily an endorsement

The Bible, Briefly

Churchgoing Is Not Optional 

The Bible commands Christians to gather regularly: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25, emphasis added).

It’s simply not an option for Christians to not meet together. 

In fact, the original Greek word that translates as “church” (ἐκκλησία / ekklēsia) literally means “assembly.” So, the Bible has no category for Christians who, by choice, are disconnected from a formal, regularly gathering group of believers.

Now, when this word ekklēsia refers to the church, it’s used in two different ways. First, it refers to all of the true Christians in the world collectively (e.g., 1 Corinthians 12:28; 15:9; Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18.). This concept is sometimes called the universal church, and in modern-day writings it’s often portrayed with a capital C (“the Church”). 

Second, “church” sometimes refers to a local assembly of Christians (e.g., 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Corinthians 11:8).. This is called the local church. While all Christians are members of the universal church, they can only express that reality through participation at a local church.

We need each other. In the words of the apostle Paul, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. . . . The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you’” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 21).

These verses point to yet another truth: it’s not enough to gather with believers. We have to be members with them. Not only is church attendance important, but so is church membership.

So, here’s hoping you find your way to a local church on Sunday. 

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Why "18:15"? The name Project 18:15 is based on Proverbs 18:15: “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” The aim is for this weekly email—a Christian news briefing, a Bible study, and a Church history lesson rolled into one—to be one way you keep abreast of current events and acquire knowledge you might not acquire elsewhere.

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