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Ethics as living discipleship

Relevance, transformation and impact from a Christ-like life are the signs of living discipleship.  “I did not expect such generosity and care from your church. I was just a visitor.” This was the comment on the church website after a church volunteer showed up at the geriatric surgery unit of a big city hospital on a tense Monday morning. When asked what motivated her to go to the hospital for a stranger, the volunteer said, “I’m not on my way to India as Mother Teresa, but I cannot bear to see the elderly turned out of their nursing home without medical care. I guess I didn’t visit so much out of personal compassion about the illness, as out of a sense of solidarity – the family was facing very unjust circumstance of being turned away.”  What does it mean to be motivated by a Christian ethic of biblical justice?  Scripture is not just expressing poetic metaphor when we as Christ followers are given the compelling and impossible task of loving the world. Full Story »

Helping you stay informed about important topics so you can make a difference…

ABORTION

• Pro-life, pro-choice speakers urge common ground on abortion
• For Abortion Providers, Sonogram Law is a Complication
• Sonogram law draws complaints about two-day process
• Group files appeal against sonogram requirement
• State Health Department Now Enforcing Sonogram Law

ALCOHOL | ADDICTION

• Blame It On The Fame Game?
• Largest drug treatment facility in Central Texas to ban smoking

BUDGET

• Budget Battles Still Ahead for Texas Legislature
• Local clinic finding ways to continue services amid state funding cuts

CHILDREN

• New Report on School Breakfast Shows Texas Outperforms Most States; Houston ISD Ranks 3rd Among America’s Big Cities
• Opinion: School lunch: Eat this, not that
• School lunches get a healthy makeover 
• School Lunches To Be Healthier: Have More Fruits, Vegetables, Whole Grains

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

• New study: Texas spends 23 percent more on prisons

EDUCATION

• Studies: Education gap widens between higher, lower income children
• Classes turn bilingual students into biliterate ones
• Feria informs Hispanic students, parents about educational opportunities
• 3rd Annual Coastal Bend Feria Para Aprender
• College Rule Reminds Undocumented Students to Seek Status
• In-state tuition rule altered for illegal immigrants
• Texas tweaks tuition rule for illegal immigrants
• Little Agreement on How to Fix School Finance System (AUDIO)
• Shapiro backs delay on STAAR grade provision
• Shapiro Says TEA Can Waive STAAR Requirement
• Central Texas districts vary on handling of new end-of-course exams
• In Texas, a Backlash Against Student Testing
• Parents, officials decry STAAR grading requirements
• STAAR Faces Questioning From Lawmakers (AUDIO)
• Texas education officials decry ‘over-testing’ in public schools | Standardized tests can get too much attention, agency head says.
• Texas Schools Chief: Testing Has Gone Too Far
• Texas Schools Chief’s Remarks on Testing Draw Backlash

ENERGY

• Moorhead, Paynter: Electric rate increase will hurt churches
• Is a $22 flat fee, part of Austin Energy’s rate increase plan, the best way to pay for conservation?
• Council members propose moderate, 3.5 percent electric rate increase
• After a year of meetings and proposals, new electric rates elude Austin Energy
• Austin Energy proposal keeps same rate increase but divides it into two steps
• Austin Energy should be cautious in raising rates
• Find out how much your energy bill would go up under Austin Energy’s new rate plan

ENVIRONMENT

• Editorial: Texas leads in fracking transparency
• New Wave of Drilling Transforming Parts of South Texas (AUDIO)
• Texas Border Battle Over Mexican Company’s Coal Mine

GAMBLING

• Did the lottery go too far? Baptist group thinks so
• Who’s gambling with Texas’ future?
• Anti-tax champion calls for gambling in Texas
• Anti-tax group: Legal casino gambling may boost Texas economy
• Conservative groups disagree on gambling
• Texas gaming: It’s a revenue stream we need
• Pastor’s anti-gambling prayer criticized as political
• Oklahoma attorney general sues tribe over casino
• 11K gamblers banned from Okla. casinos
• Online Lottery Could Be Coming To A State Near You (AUDIO)
•  Senate Committee Hearing Focuses on Justice Department Internet Gambling Ruling

HEALTH

• Feds deny Texas waiver on health insurance rules
• Feds Reject Texas’ Request to Delay Insurance Reform
• Local clinic finding ways to continue services amid state funding cuts
• Medicaid changes challenge hospitals to do things differently
• Interactive: Where Are the Uninsured in Texas?
• Interactive: Who Are the Uninsured in Texas?
• Interactive: Enrollment in Texas’ Health Care Programs Increasing
• First lady Michelle Obama joins Goya Foods to announce “Mi Plato,” a healthy resources for families
• Michelle Obama Teams With Goya Foods to Bring ‘Mi Plato’ to Hispanic Families (HispanicBusiness.com)

HUNGER & POVERTY

• Working Poor: Almost Half Of U.S. Households Live One Crisis From The Bread Line 
• New Report on School Breakfast Shows Texas Outperforms Most States; Houston ISD Ranks 3rd Among America’s Big Cities
• Editorial: Help feed your hungry neighbors
• Money pours in to feed needy
• Opinion: School lunch: Eat this, not that
• School lunches get a healthy makeover
• School Lunches To Be Healthier: Have More Fruits, Vegetables, Whole Grains 
• Cottage food producers wary of new rules
• First lady Michelle Obama joins Goya Foods to announce “Mi Plato,” a healthy resources for families
• Michelle Obama Teams With Goya Foods to Bring ‘Mi Plato’ to Hispanic Families (HispanicBusiness.com)

IMMIGRATION

• A Divide on the Payoff of Legalizing Immigrants
• College Rule Reminds Undocumented Students to Seek Status
• In-state tuition rule altered for illegal immigrants
• Texas tweaks tuition rule for illegal immigrants
• Texas’ “Limited Term” Driver’s Licenses Draw Concerns

PAYDAY LENDING

• Partnerships Address Payday and Auto Title Lenders in Dallas, Dallas South News

REDISTRICTING

• Redistricting Experts Struggle to Fix Maps, Elections
• Judges Want Texas Maps in Time for April Primaries
• Redistricting deadlock continues
• Texas redistricting compromise still elusive
• Judges reject latest redistricting proposal
• Judges skeptical of Texas in redistricting case
• Abbott announces new redistricting maps; says April 3 election could proceed
• Texas Unveils Proposed Redistricting Maps
• Fed court tells sides in redistricting battle to keep talking
• D.C. court says redistricting decision a month away
• Federal judges warn April 3 primary in jeopardy, urge redistricting compromise
• Judges Make a Rush Request for Redistricting Maps
• Negotiations on redistricting under way in San Antonio
• Texas redistricting talks stall

VOTER ID

• Texas voter registration laws targeted in lawsuit
• Abbott wants fed court to OK Voter ID law
• Greg Abbott Sues Feds to Get Voter ID Implemented

Watch this 3-part series that looks apologetically and evangelically at Christmas.  In addition to the 3 short (2 minute) videos, manuscripts are available in PDF format. Full Story »