Month: September 2021

Israeli archaeologists uncover evidence of biblical earthquake mentioned in Amos, Zechariah

Israeli archaeologists have discovered what they say is the first physical evidence in Jerusalem of an earthquake referenced in the biblical books of Amos and Zechariah.

The earthquake took place some 2,800 years ago after the reign of Solomon and during the time of the divided kingdom.

It is mentioned in Amos 1:1, which says Amos lived “in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.” It also is referenced in Zechariah 14:5: “And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.”

Archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) say they found broken vessels, bowls, lamps and jars. The discovery was made in the City of David National Park.

“When we excavated the structure and uncovered an eighth-century BCE layer of destruction, we were very surprised, because we know that Jerusalem continued to exist in succession until the Babylonian destruction, which occurred about 200 years later,” IAA excavation directors Joe Uziel and Ortal Chalaf said.

“We asked ourselves what could have caused that dramatic layer of destruction we uncovered,” the two archaeologists said. Examining the excavation findings, we tried to check if there is a reference to it in the biblical text. Interestingly, the earthquake that appears in the Bible, in the books of Amos and Zechariah, occurred at the time when the building we excavated in the City of David collapsed.”

—The Jerusalem Post

O.S. Hawkins’ latest book met with a swarm of interest

The book, “In the Name of God: The Colliding Lives, Legends and Legacies of J. Frank Norris and George W. Truett,” was released Sept. 1 and has already earned the title of being Amazon’s No. 1 new release in Christian Church Growth. Hawkins said via Twitter the book is now back in stock on Amazon.

“In the Name of God” tells the stories of two iconic figures who each led one of the largest churches in the world in the 1920s and 30s: George W. Truett, of First Baptist Church Dallas, and J. Frank Norris, of First Baptist Church in Forth Worth. According to B&H Academic, which published the book, each man shot and killed someone during their lifetimes (one by accident, the other in self-defense) and their lives were “a panoply of intrigue, espionage, confrontation, manipulation, plotting, scheming and even blackmail – in the name of God.” Yet each man, Hawkins notes, changed the world.

“(This book) is full of important applications for our day,” said Hawkins, Guidestone Financial Services president and chief executive officer. “When you finish ‘In the Name of God’ my desire is the reader can see that there is good even in those for whom we may think the worse. Those we tend to place on pedestals actually dwindle into ordinary men when you learn more about them. We are all crippled and need a crutch – Jesus!”

Hawkins, the author of more than 50 books, is currently working on a biography of legendary FBC Dallas pastor W.A. Criswell.

Montana church expands reach with CP

HAVRE, Mont. (BP) – Chris Richards’ job for 28 years was keeping America safe. Since his retirement from the U.S. Border Patrol in 2015, he’s turned his focus to shepherding Immanuel Baptist Church in Havre. And in 2018, he added Chief Cornerstone Baptist Church, 30 minutes south on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in north-central Montana.

As a border patrol agent, Richards nabbed illegal immigrants, drug smugglers, felons and even terrorists. (See today’s related story.) As a teacher and now Southern Baptist pastor, Richards has reinvigorated a dying church, led in efforts to reach out to the communities of Havre and the nearby reservation, started a church boxing club and is training others to be Christian leaders.

Two years ago, Immanuel Baptist started the Rock Hound Boxing Club. An oversized upstairs room at the church was turned into a gym, complete with boxing ring, punching bag and gloves.

“Leaders who earn the love and respect of their people, will have people who are invested in helping them succeed,” Richards said. “Leaders must also cast vision and direction.”

Since the Cooperative Program’s origin in 1925, it has earned love and respect by what it has produced, Richards said. The Cooperative Program is the way Southern Baptists work together in state conventions and throughout the world.

“I understand how much more we can do cooperatively, and I can’t help but support that,” the pastor said. “Southern Baptist missionaries don’t have to worry each month about losing support the way other missionaries do. Our missionaries are free to focus on the ministry God called them to.”

His congregation, which has grown to about 60 people, allocates nearly 12 percent of undesignated offerings to missions through the Cooperative Program.

“The Cooperative Program comes back to us through the Montana Southern Baptist Convention and the Triangle Baptist Association in support of Chief Cornerstone Baptist Church,” Richards said. “I see the start-up of church plants and house churches and realize it is Cooperative Program funding that makes them possible, and that’s how God is using Southern Baptists to grow His kingdom.”

While Richards served a two-year stint in Washington, D.C., in his role as a border patrol agent, Immanuel Havre was in decline, withering to a handful of families.

After preaching at Immanuel Baptist on Sunday mornings, Chris Richards travels to the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation to preach at Chief Cornerstone.

“We [the church] were too poor to pay the electric bill and the pastor,” Richards said, “so the pastor was leaving. We had a ‘What are we going to do?’ meeting and decided that we had our Bibles, so why not just open them and learn? So I started by teaching adults in Sunday School.

“We were a sad, small, little church, with hit-and-miss supply pastors, and then a young couple came in. He was a new highway patrol officer, and one Sunday we talked and I told him, ‘If the church is OK with it, you take over Sunday School and I will preach.’”

The church has slowly rebounded over the last decade, Richards said, as God has brought people who have a desire to hear God’s Word.

“One family at a time,” he said. “We are a teaching ministry, verse by verse, this way it’s the Word that elicits convictions. Every week I prepare a sermon, I’m discovering new truth for myself. More than anything I don’t want to get it wrong. This is God’s message, not mine.

In addition to Immanuel’s active small-groups ministry and outreach to students at nearby Montana State University-Northern, the church started the Rock Hound Boxing Club in 2019.

“A Rock Hound is someone who seeks out precious stones or diamonds in the rough,” Richards said. “It reminds us to look for those who may come from rough circumstances in hope of showing them their worth in Christ.”

The idea for the boxing club ministry came from his youngest daughter, Taylor, who started training under Ted Reiter, a one-time professional boxer and member of the church.

An oversized upstairs room at the church was turned into a gym, complete with boxing ring, punching bags, gloves and related items. It started as a ministry to reservation youth, picked up each week in a newly purchased church bus for the 30-minute ride to the Havre church, and gained steam as word spread.

“It’s got real potential as an outreach,” Richards said. “We want our fighters to consider that they’re fighting for Jesus. It’s also about character because club members not only represent Immanuel Baptist Church, they represent the name of Jesus.”

Chief Cornerstone Community Church was started by Alabama Southern Baptists Carl and Rose McElrath in the mid-1990s in Box Elder, and the church lies among the poorest villages on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation. Yet a building constructed by mission teams in 2001 was paid for in seven months.

Earl and Lorna Shetler followed after the McElraths retired in 2010, and led Chief Cornerstone for six years. They were followed by a series of short-term, fill-in preachers until Richards was called to take on the ministry.

After preaching at Immanuel Sunday mornings, Richards travels to the reservation to preach at Chief Cornerstone. Services for an average of eight adults plus a dozen youngsters start at 1 p.m. each Sunday, followed by a potluck fellowship meal.

“There’s much spiritual opposition going on here,” the pastor said, including both Havre and the reservation in his statement. “Sometimes I feel like we’re on the front lines of battle, and there’s always temptation toward discouragement.

“The Gospel is the only answer, and I’ve seen it penetrate hearts in the most unlikely circumstances. During a baptism service one Sunday evening, I preached a small verse in Romans 6, and in the midst of chatter and crying children, a young mother heard the Gospel and was saved. God’s Word overcomes. It just takes prayer and people doing what He wants them to do.”

Explainer: What you should know about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan

Earlier this week, the military completed its mission to evacuate American citizens, third-country nationals, and vulnerable Afghans from Afghanistan. Over the previous few weeks, more than 123,000 civilians were extracted in what was the largest noncombatant evacuation in the U.S. military’s history. Here is what you should know about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Why was the withdrawal and evacuation from Afghanistan conducted so suddenly?

In February 2020, the Trump administration signed an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw the U.S. military presence by May 29, 2021. President Biden renegotiated that agreement to complete withdrawal from Afghanistan to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. That deadline was moved up by the Biden administration to Aug. 31.

The military withdrawal was completed on Aug. 30 at 3:20 p.m. EDT, officially ending the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

How many Americans remain in Afghanistan, and what happens to them now?

In the weeks since the Taliban took control of major cities and the capital of Kabul, roughly 5,500 U.S. citizens were airlifted out of the country. There are between 100 to 200 Americans remaining in the country. President Biden has said that most of those remaining are dual citizens who did not want to leave because of family ties.

Biden has promised to help get out any Americans who still want to be extracted from the country. “For those remaining Americans, there is no deadline,” said Biden. “We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out.” But getting those Americans out will now require diplomatic negotiation with the Taliban.

How many Afghan allies were extracted from the country?

From Aug. 14 to Aug. 31, U.S. military aircraft have evacuated more than 73,500 third-country nationals and Afghan civilians from Hamid Karzai International Airport in the capital city of Kabul. That category includes those with special immigrant visas, consular staff, and at-risk Afghans as well as their families. Regarding those left behind, the ERLC joined other organizations in an Evangelical Immigration Table letter to President Biden and requested that the administration “keep our commitment to those at risk for their service to the United States and to others fleeing a credible fear of persecution globally.”

How many Afghan refugees will be coming to the U.S.?

The U.S. government is currently declining to say how many Afghan refugees have arrived in the U.S. since the evacuation from Kabul began last month.

How many translators, interpreters, and other workers were extracted from the country?

Afghan nationals who worked for the U.S. government in such roles as translators and interpreters and who feared reprisal from the Taliban were allowed to apply for a special humanitarian visa.

In July 2021, the Emergency Security Supplemental Appropriations Act authorized 8,000 additional Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for Afghan principal applicants, for a total of 34,500 visas allocated since Dec. 19, 2014. These visas were available to Afghan nationals who meet certain requirements and who were employed in Afghanistan by or on behalf of the U.S. government or by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), or a successor mission, in a capacity that required the applicant to serve as an interpreter or translator for U.S. military personnel while traveling off-base with U.S. military personnel stationed at ISAF or to perform activities for the U.S. military personnel stationed at ISAF. Afghans seeking SIVs must complete a 14-step application process that includes a visa interview and security screening.

An estimated 5,000 SIV applicants have already been evacuated from Afghanistan, according to a report released by the Association of Wartime Allies, a group advocating for SIV applicants in Afghanistan and Iraq.

There is also a SIV program available to persons who worked with the U.S. Armed Forces or under Chief of Mission authority as a translator or interpreter in Iran and Afghanistan. This program offered visas to up to fifty persons a year (plus spouse and children).

The Association of Wartime Allies estimates there are around 65,000 SIV applicants remaining in Afghanistan.

How much military equipment was left behind in Afghanistan?

The U.S. Central Command says that about 170 pieces of equipment were left in Kabul during the evacuation. The equipment left behind included 70 light tactical vehicles, 27 Humvees, and 73 aircraft. All of this equipment was demilitarized (i.e., rendered unusable for military purposes). The only equipment left operable were a couple of fire trucks and forklifts that could be used at the Kabul airport.

The post Explainer: What you should know about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan appeared first on ERLC.

Senate committee passes bill forcing women to register for draft

A U.S. Senate committee passed a groundbreaking proposal in July that would force young women to register with Selective Service and be eligible for a future draft.

Current law requires men to register with Selective Service when they reach the age of 18. Selective Service keeps a list of all men ages 18-25 eligible for the draft.

But under the proposal passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, young women, too, would be required to register. The proposal passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, criticized the proposal.

“American women are free to serve and proud to serve, but they shouldn’t be forced to serve,” Nance said. “Young women today need to know they are respected for their female status and the many essential roles women embrace in all seasons of life as workers, wives, mothers and caregivers. Setting women up to be sent to war shouldn’t be one of them.

“The selective service is not a social experiment,” Pence added. “Women do not need to be conscripted to fight on the frontlines of war to prove their worth. Nor should we be denied the respect of our intrinsic value based on the inherent physical differences we embody. God-given distinctions between the sexes have everything to do with military readiness in wartime.”

Seminary president Albert Mohler also denounced the idea, saying drafting women would have been unthinkable “throughout most of our nation’s history.”

“A society that will send its women into war is a society that, to some significant extent, is at war with itself and at war with nature,” said Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

—The Hill, CWFA, AlbertMohler.com

SBTC DR helps Ida survivors: ’20,000 hot dogs a day,’ how to donate

GONZALES, La. Twenty thousand hot dogs is a lot. But every hot meal (each containing two hot dogs) was appreciated by the survivors of Hurricane Ida who received the food prepared by Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief volunteers and delivered to area shelters and neighborhoods by the Salvation Army.

“More wieners and fajitas than I want to see again for a while,” said Debby Nichols of De Kalb, Texas who is serving as lead cook for the SBTC DR mass feeding team of 18 volunteers from the Unity Baptist Association near Lufkin and serving in Gonzales, La. in support of the Salvation Army.

The Unity crew began cooking on Tues., Aug. 31. Because the demand has been so great, a second mass feeding unit from First Baptist Pflugerville arrived on site late Wed., Sept. 1 and set up the larger kitchen the next day.

It took the Pflugerville team 11 rather than the expected 7 hours to make the trek from Central Texas to Louisiana because of heavy traffic at the state border, team leader Mike Northen told the TEXAN.

Feeding teams began fixing 10,000 meals per day on Aug. 31 and prepared to double that by Sept. 3.

The conditions are challenging at the open-air Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, where the DR volunteers are working. While some electrical plugs are operational, teams are relying on generators to run the field kitchen. There is no air conditioning at the center or at First Baptist Gonzales, where teams are being housed.

The Dixon center is also serving as a staging area for utility linemen, tree crews, Salvation Army volunteers and other groups responding to the hurricane, which struck Louisiana on Sun., Aug. 29, exactly 16 years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. Ida hit the Bayou State and spun into Mississippi, dumping heavy rains in Tennessee and Ohio throughout the week before eventually moving over the eastern seaboard in New England.

While contact between SBTC DR crews and survivors has been limited—since Salvation Army personnel are delivering the hot meals packed in Cambro containers—the DR volunteers are having opportunities to pray with the work crews and first responders congregating in the Dixon center, Nichols said.

Other SBTC DR workers are joining hundreds of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers to help Louisiana and the affected states.

Shirley and Cliff Spencer of Spring set up the SBTC DR shower and laundry unit from the Bowie Baptist Association on Sept. 2 in West Monroe, where they began doing laundry for survivors at a shelter there.

An incident management team from SBTC DR has been at work in Alexandria, La., since Aug. 30 to help coordinate SBDR across Louisiana. The IMT is staying at the Tall Timbers Baptist Camp and Conference Center.

Debra Britt, the IMT’s operations officer, told the TEXAN that as of Sept. 1, more than 450 requests for help had been received. Britt said seven mass feeding sites had been established and volunteers from multiple state Baptist DR teams had arrived or were expected. Besides Louisiana and SBTC DR, volunteers from Texas Baptist Men, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky are on site or on the way with recovery teams, Britt said.

"We will continue to serve in mass feeding till public utilities come back online and then focus on recovery operations soon to start."

Scottie Stice, SBTC DR Director Tweet

“We are only on week one,” Scottie Stice, SBTC DR director, said. “We will continue to serve in mass feeding till public utilities come back online and then focus on recovery operations soon to start. We are so proud of our yellow-shirted volunteers out there working under difficult, hot, humid conditions.”

A recovery team from Clay Road Baptist Church in Beaumont escorting the feeding teams to Gonzales was able to complete a few jobs before returning to Texas.

As for the feeding volunteers at Gonzales, Thursday’s menu in Gonzales featured hamburgers, chips, baked beans and chances for spiritual contacts.

“We don’t come across many survivors when we’re in the kitchen,” Northen said, “But we look for opportunities with the delivery and service people. There are lost people all around us.”

Northen added that when he and other DR volunteers go to pick up supplies at Home Depot and other stores, people come up to thank them for their service.

“We just try to rub shoulders with all we can,” he said. “They see our [yellow] shirts and that makes for good conversation.”

A lady came up to the Pflugerville group at a Buccee’s stop as they made their way to Louisiana and asked if she could make a donation.

Northen gave her the website address which anyone can use to donate to Hurricane Ida relief: https://sbtexas.com/disaster-relief/.

At least 80 Louisiana churches damaged; Hurricane Ida relief ramps up

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP) – More than 80 Southern Baptist churches in South Louisiana suffered structural damage in Hurricane Ida, Louisiana Baptist Convention Director of Missions John Hebert told Baptist Press Wednesday (Sept. 1).

“We have churches ranging from desperate to recovering, and the desperate ones need help. They’re below I-10. Insurance rates are out of this world. It’s going to be tough for them,” Hebert said. “But most of our churches will be OK in the long run. It’s just right now, we have a crisis at hand and we need all the help we can get.”

Churches in several communities in Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. John the Baptist and Jefferson parishes were damaged, including churches on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain and spanning more than 150 miles inland to Denham Springs. Ida killed at least eight people in the state.

“Devastation runs straight up 55, massively damaged all the way to Denham Springs,” said Hebert, who is assisting churches and pastors in recovery efforts as Southern Baptist Disaster Relief focuses on the larger community.

“Churches are just trying to get through the week right now,” he said. “We’re trying to just take care of the basic needs. … But they can’t think beyond getting the power back on right now.”

Louisiana deaths include four nursing home residents who died today (Sept. 2) and were among hundreds evacuated to Tangipahoa Parish ahead of the storm, nola.com reported. The bulk of the deaths from Hurricane Ida, at least 23, occurred in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland as the remnants of the storm system caused massive flash flooding Wednesday in the Northeast.

In Louisiana, Southern Baptists have established about 10 mass feeding units in New Orleans, Morgan City, Hammond and multiple locations on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

“We need volunteers, we need money, we need relief supplies, and that’s what we’re focused on right now, is relief,” Hebert said. “The next phase of this is rebuild. You help them get stabilized, and then you can think about starting to rebuild and get it back the way it was. We need help getting these churches stabilized right now.”

First Baptist Church of Golden Meadow, which lost part of its roof in the storm, is preparing to serve as a feeding site Friday, according to its Facebook page. Water, tarps, diapers and wipes, hygiene products and cleaning supplies will be available. The church is also setting up a shower trailer, but said it won’t be usable until water service is restored.

Grand Isle, the lone inhabited barrier island on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, was decimated in the storm. First Baptist Church of Grand Isle, the only Southern Baptist congregation there, already had been without a pastor for months, previous pastor Nathan Stanford said. No one associated with the church was available for comment today.

“Grand Isle is wiped out. I’m understanding that the devastation’s like we’ve never seen in a storm,” Hebert said. About 80 miles north of Grand Isle, the more than 30 churches in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes were also hard-hit.

“The churches there, almost all of them are damaged, and damaged pretty severely,” Hebert said. “Roofs are gone. Pastors that live there, their homes are affected. Probably everybody down there has to have a roof. Unless it’s a real heavy duty steel roof, it’s gone.”

The Louisiana Baptist Convention lists supply drop-off locations and needed supplies on its website, requesting gas cans, brooms, disposable masks, latex gloves and other items, and is collecting information from pastors regarding damage to churches and homes.

Electrical power remains out in the area, with perhaps 1 million residents lacking power across several parishes. Entergy New Orleans said it was still assessing damage and hopes to have an estimate this evening of when more power will be restored, nola.com reported. Entergy restored power to about 11,500 customers in New Orleans Wednesday, focusing on critical services such as hospitals.

Nearly all of New Orleans is in the dark, as well as about 220,000 customers in East Baton Rouge, Ascension and Livingston parishes, 200,000 in Baton Rouge, and all of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. Water is also turned off.

FIRST-PERSON: What if abortion finally became illegal?

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) – Several years ago, when videos of Planned Parenthood selling baby parts went viral and lawmakers around the country responded with warranted shock and disgust, we began to notice a renewed mission to protect pre-born children by advocating for alternatives that support, protect and defend the sanctity of life.

Only two years ago, Alabama passed a bill that made it a felony for doctors to perform abortions. Just yesterday Texas implemented a law that bans abortion after a baby’s heartbeat is detected. And last night, in a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Texas law, thus declining to block it from implementation. Thankfully, our nation is finally taking steps to recognize the dignity and right to life of every unborn child!

However, we must ask ourselves this question: If abortion becomes illegal nationwide, is the Church prepared to respond to the needs of mothers who choose life and their children?

It is beyond encouraging to see men and women rise up to defend the lives of babies in the womb, yet, there is still much work to be done. We can sometimes forget that expectant mothers face enormous circumstances that many times leads them to abortion. However, what they need now is the same thing they needed in 1973 at the iconic Roe v. Wade decision – they need to be met with biblical truth, open arms, compassion and active concern. If we believe the fight for life has been won in legislatures and courtrooms but fail to mobilize as an army of hope to women in need, then our wins are hollow at best.

I fear that our energy and attention within the Church can be so laser-focused on ending the atrocity of abortion that we are left unprepared to respond to real women around us, in desperate need of help and hope. I am convicted that more than ever the Church must be prepared to take Gospel hope and Gospel action to vulnerable women. At Lifeline Children’s Services, we have been praying and preparing for the day when abortion is illegal, knowing that the fight for life will just be beginning.

Here are several steps the Church can take today:

Offer love and compassion to women facing unexpected pregnancies. If abortion becomes illegal, a woman will have two options: parenting or making an adoption plan. Some will choose to parent but may not feel equipped. We must open our homes to women and children needing a safe place to stay. We must come alongside these vulnerable families by providing jobs, training and other resources needed to thrive as a parent. We can journey with them by mentoring them and connecting them with quality parenting classes and resources. We want these women to flourish and thrive in their role as mothers. Ultimately, we want to point them to the Great Rescuer – Jesus Christ, in whom they can find their valued identity and hope for their future.

Cheer on women who choose adoption. Some women will courageously choose adoption instead of parenting. She is not “giving up” her baby, she is “lovingly placing” her baby for adoption, and sacrificially giving that child a better future. Praise God! Women must know that both parenting and placing for adoption are life-affirming choices, and only after exploring all the options can they make an informed decision. They must know that in adoption they have options in which family they choose. And just like with those who choose to parent, women choosing adoption will need the church to comfort and support them both before, during and after an adoption decision.

Engage through foster care. There are currently more than 400,000 children in U.S. foster care. The Church has to be ready to stand in the gap for these children and parents by providing stable interim care and by engaging birth families with Gospel-centered parenting resources designed to show them Christ and to help them parent with purpose.

By starting a foster care support ministry at your church, volunteers can assist foster and adoptive parents by coming alongside them to meet some of their tangible needs, such as providing meals, transportation and babysitting. It’s equally as important to equip your church’s childcare team to care for children from hard places. Additionally, the Church can engage with foster care by mentoring women who choose life through Lifeline’s Families Count program.

Today, abortion is still legal, but join me in praying for the day when the inherent dignity of every human life is protected by our government. Let’s pray and prepare to meet women and children with the love, care, compassion and action in the Gospel of Christ Jesus.

Herbie Newell is the President of Lifeline Children’s Services, the largest Evangelical Christian adoption agency in America, and author of “Image Bearers: Shifting from Pro-birth to Pro-Life.”

More than 20 deaths after Ida remnants slam Northeast

NEW YORK (AP) – A stunned U.S. East Coast woke up Thursday to a rising death toll, surging rivers and destruction after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain, filling low-lying apartments with water and turning roads into car-swallowing canals.

In a region that had been warned about potentially deadly flash flooding but hadn’t braced for such a blow from the no-longer-hurricane, the storm killed at least 22 people from Maryland to New York on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Nine people died in New York City, police said, one of them in a car and eight in flooded basement apartments that often serve as relatively affordable homes for low-income people. Officials said at least eight died in New Jersey and three in Pennsylvania’s suburban Montgomery County; one was killed by a falling tree, one drowned in a car and another in a home. An on-duty state trooper in Connecticut was swept away in his cruiser and later taken to a hospital, state police and local authorities said.

George Russ, executive director of the Metro New York Baptist Association, told Baptist Press he has been calling and texting local pastors all day today (Sept. 2).

“All appear to be well,” he said. “One church in New Jersey had nine families with flooded basements. One of our churches in Queens was flooded but all appear to be cleaned up by now. One of our pastors in Queens has to do some extensive repairs to his apartment. Some have no power.

“Our staff has been calling their contacts across the association territory. With an association of 250 churches in the NYC metro, roughly in a 75-mile radius from Times Square, it’s a huge task.”

Russ said he and others in the association have heard from friends across the country, adding, “we appreciate those prayers so much.”

“We lament the loss of life in our area,” he said. “Those numbers have been going up throughout the morning. Please pray for these families. Pray that they have a community of faith to be with them.”

Deborah Torres said water rapidly filled her first-floor Queens apartment to her knees as her landlord frantically urged her neighbors below to get out, she said. But the water was rushing in so strongly that she surmised they weren’t able to open the door.

“I have no words,” she said. “How can something like this happen? And the worst is that there’s a family downstairs with a baby, and they couldn’t get out.”

The remnants of Ida lost most of the storm’s winds but kept its soggy core, then merged with a more traditional storm front and dropped an onslaught of rain on the Interstate 95 corridor, meteorologists said.

The National Hurricane Center had warned since Tuesday of the potential for “significant and life-threatening flash flooding” and moderate and major river flooding in the mid-Atlantic region and New England.

Still, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the storm’s strength took them by surprise.

“We did not know that between 8:50 and 9:50 p.m. last night, that the heavens would literally open up and bring Niagara Falls level of water to the streets of New York,” said Hochul, a Democrat who became governor last week after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned.

De Blasio said he’d gotten a forecast Wednesday of 3 to 6 inches of rain over the course of the day. The city’s Central Park ended up getting 3.15 inches just in one hour of the deluge, surpassing the previous recorded high of 1.94 inches in one hour during Tropical Storm Henri on Aug. 21.

Water cascaded into subway tunnels, trapping at least 17 trains and forcing the cancellation of service throughout the night and early morning. Videos online showed riders standing on seats in cars filled with water. All riders were evacuated safely, officials said.

The FDR Drive in Manhattan and the Bronx River Parkway were under water during the storm. Garbage bobbed in the water rushing down streets. Some subway and rail service had resumed Thursday morning.

Among the other deaths reported in New York City, a 48-year-old woman and a 66-year-old man died after being found at separate residences, and a 43-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man both died after being found inside a home. Causes of death and identifications were pending.

The ferocious storm also spawned tornadoes, including one that ripped apart homes and toppled silos in Mullica Hill, N.J., south of Philadelphia.

Record flooding along the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania inundated homes and commercial buildings, swamped highways, submerged cars and disrupted rail service in the Philadelphia area. In a tweet, city officials predicted “historic flooding” on Thursday as river levels continue to rise. The riverside community of Manayunk remained largely under water.

The rain in the region ended by daybreak Thursday as rescuers searched for more stranded people and braced for potentially finding more bodies.

Heavy winds and drenching rains punched a hole in the roof of a U.S. Postal Service building in New Jersey. Rain rushed through a terminal at Newark International Airport Wednesday and threatened to overrun a dam in Pennsylvania. Meteorologists warned that rivers likely won’t crest for a few more days, raising the possibility of more widespread flooding.

Rescues took place all over New York City as its 8.8 million people saw much worse flooding than from Henri, which was followed by two weeks of wild and sometimes deadly weather across the nation. Wildfires are threatening Lake Tahoe, Tropical Storm Henri struck the Northeast and Ida struck Louisiana as the fifth-strongest storm to ever hit the U.S. mainland, leaving 1 million people without power, maybe for weeks.

Amtrak service was canceled between Philadelphia and Boston.

At least 220,000 customers were without power in the region at one point, with most of the outages in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Southern New England awoke Thursday to inundated roads, commuter delays and an ongoing flash flood warning. Some students at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., were forced to relocate from their dorms. In Plainville, Conn., authorities said they used boats to rescue 18 people from a flooded neighborhood.

A section of Route 24 in southeastern Massachusetts was shut down because of water on the highway. In Portsmouth, R.I., a road crumbled under the onslaught of rain.

The National Weather Service said it was investigating a possible tornado touchdown on Cape Cod around 1 a.m. Thursday. Meteorologist Bill Simpson said reported damage including downed trees.

Parts of Johnstown, Pa., where 2,200 people died after an infamous dam failure in 1889, were evacuated for a time Wednesday after water reached dangerous levels at a dam near the city. An official said later Wednesday that the water levels near the dam were receding.

In Frederick County, Md., first responders used a boat to rescue 10 children and a driver from a school bus caught in rising flood waters. The county’s school superintendent faced criticism for not dismissing students early. He apologized, saying the decision to remain open led to “stress and anxiety for many,” The Frederick News-Post reported.

The Atlantic hurricane season is far from over. Larry became a hurricane Thursday morning, forecast to rapidly intensify into a potentially catastrophic Category 4 storm by Sunday. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it’s moving west but remains far from any coast.

Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. AP reporters Bobby Caina Calvan, Karen Matthews and Jennifer Peltz in New York City; Seth Borenstein in Washington; Michael Catalini and Shawn Marsh in Trenton, New Jersey; Ryan Kryska in Hoboken, New Jersey, Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

Remote work here to stay

As the deadly effects of COVID-19 wax and wane in the United States, employers who shuttered the high-rise offices and sent their employees home to work are calling them back to the office—back to in-person collaboration, office intrigue, traffic jams and dress codes.

But some employees are balking.

Recent studies reveal a significant number of employees have grown accustomed to working remotely—family relationships grew stronger, work hours became flexible, and clocking in meant rolling over in bed, opening the laptop and logging in.

A study commissioned by the online collaborative platform Miro indicated 62 percent of parents with children under 18-years-old said their at-home work experience has improved their relationship. Forty-nine percent reported working from home improved their relationship with their spouse/partner (The study did not make the distinction between married and unmarried couples living together.)

And, if given the opportunity to work remotely full-time, 34 percent of those surveyed said they were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to move to be closer to family and friends. Another third said they’d stay put.

A May 25 Wall Street Journal article details how some major corporations are trying to accommodate new employee demands while keeping an eye on their bottom line. For example, Sabre Corporation, a travel-technology company with its global headquarters in Southlake, Texas, surveyed its employees and managers about workplace options.

The result? The company will trim its use of its four-building campus to one building. About 25 percent of the company’s 7500 employees will return to office, the WSJ reported. The remainder will work remotely full-time or flex their time between the office and home.

How much should either side press to get what they want? What are employers’ responsibilities regarding their employees’ new-found appreciation of the work-from-home life? What is an employee’s obligation to comply with a return-to-the-office demand?

The TEXAN asked three men who have been employers and employees about the office-home work paradigm.

Remote working or telecommuting is nothing new to Norm Miller, a veteran communications leader currently serving with Yellowstone Christian College.

“As one who advocated for and was the first to complete a successful trial of telecommuting at a former job, I enthusiastically extol the benefits of working from home for a variety of reasons,” Miller said. “Money saved in gas, tolls, car maintenance, clothing, and meals are immediate practical and economic benefits that mitigate for the telecommuting employee.”

More significantly, Miller believes working from home “provides the opportunity to increase and enrich a family’s time together.”

Mark Coppenger, managing editor of Kairos and retired professor of Christian philosophy and ethics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, agreed with Miller, to a degree.

“I know that extra help from the hybridizing spouse in dealing with little Johnny could help,” he said. “But the Lord can equip and fortify the child-tender to deal with such domestic challenges, just as he can suit and strengthen the outside-workplace spouse to cope with the ’Johnnies,’ young and old, in the office.”

Parents can also set a godly example by leaving home each day to go to work.

“There is, I think, abroad among well-meaning Christians, the notion that the more time spent at home the better,” Coppenger said, offering the example of the well-known trope: “No man on his deathbed says, ‘I wish I’d spent more time at work.’” Coppenger continued: “Well, yes, quality and quantity time with the family is important, but there are some men who would have done much better to have spent more time at work.”

"Well, yes, quality and quantity time with the family is important, but there are some men who would have done much better to have spent more time at work."

Mark Coppenger, managing editor of Kairos Tweet

He cautioned parents not the “cast work in the world as merely a job instead of a contribution” to society. He credits Martin Luther with recognizing the “high calling” of what, to some, might seem trivial contributions to the workforce: “the conscientious bus driver who gets his wards from A to B promptly and safely; the guy who wades into a sea of poultry to load the truck, ultimately providing us Chick-Fil-A nuggets for our church fellowship.”

Christian employees and employers must remember their responsibility to God and each other when pressing for flex time or requiring office time.

“In both cases, one can be tempted, for example, to do less than his or her best at home or at work, violating the words of Christ in Luke 16:10-12 and Paul’s admonition in Colossians 3:23-24,” said Art Toalston, journalist and former Baptist Press editor.

Toalston noted a drawback of working from home is the temptation to always be at work.

“Workaholism is a danger, whether at the office or at home. At home, it might involve neglect of a spouse and children by spending long hours at the computer or on the phone,” Toalston said.

"Workaholism is a danger, whether at the office or at home. At home, it might involve neglect of a spouse and children by spending long hours at the computer or on the phone."

Art Toalston, journalist, former Baptist Press editor Tweet

They all warned against one temptation that presents itself, uniquely, in the office.

“Concerning office dynamics, this era of sexual freedom and expression runs rampant,” Miller said. “Therefore, a decrease in how much time people spend together also decreases the possibilities of immoral indiscretions and the negative ramifications they bring. Workplace affairs have ruined families, careers, lives, and sometimes the very business wherein the illicit attractions began.”

Returning to the office for the first time in over a year can provide employees the opportunity to establish new boundaries, especially when it comes to work relationships with colleagues of the opposite sex. Coppenger championed the Billy Graham Rule as an effective preventative measure. The rule, named for the famous evangelist who coined it, encourages men and women to avoid meeting individually with each other for prolonged periods. This self-imposed rule helps co-workers avoid the temptation for intimate engagement or even a hint of impropriety.

Toalston put it in even more fundamental terms.

He said, “At the office, it might involve the temptation of too chummy a relationship with a co-worker of the opposite sex. Memorizing and adopting a simple daily reminder for work and all of life is in the Beatitudes, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.’”

The massive workplace shift during the pandemic affirmed, on a large scale, Miller’s promotion of the feasibility and desirability of telecommuting.

“The data are in and have been for decades. They are unassailable, and the statistics and other results are staggeringly in favor of telecommuting,” he said.

The trend will only increase according to a study by Gartner, Inc., a U.S.-based research and advisory company. Their polling indicates that by the end of this year 51 percent of knowledge workers worldwide are expected to be working remotely, up from 27 percent in 2019.

Gartner defines knowledge workers as those involved in “knowledge-intensive occupations, such as writers, accountants, or engineers.” Hybrid employees spend at least one workday on site while “fully remote” employees work from home.

In the meantime, Christians—whether employer or employee—should strike a conciliatory attitude toward one another, the men said.

“In all, flexibility is required from employee and employer,” Miller said. “The employee must recognize that telecommuting is a privilege and not a right. And the employer must recognize that telecommuting proves that a happy employee is also a more productive one, measurably.”

—Written TEXAN Correspondents by Tammi Ledbetter and Bonnie Pritchett