Did You Hear? #2

Prayer Sweeps Through Tennessee

In July, a tsunami of prayer swept across Tennessee with observances occurring in all of the state’s 95 counties. Preparing the way for the remarkable phenomenon was HJR0051, a prayer resolution signed on May 2 by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. The resolution designates the month of July as an annual time of prayer and fasting to seek God’s mercy on the state and its citizens.

A grassroots prayer emphasis had begun earlier by Love Sings Ministries founders Terry and Barbi Franklin (www.lovesings.com). The Franklins’ 40-year ministry began with music, then broadened to include strong prayer emphasis and teaching. Currently, they also offer in-person marriage and family events and resources. American Family Studios (resources.afa.net) produced the Franklins’ The Artistry of Marriage, a DVD series of six 30-minute sessions.

Colleges Correct Title IX Trans Policies                        

Wagner College in Staten Island, New York, has revised its policies and issued apologies after being ruled in violation of Title IX federal regulations. Wagner is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and has about 2,000 students. It had allowed Redmond Sullivan, a male student, to participate on its women’s fencing squad.

Wagner’s is the second such reaction to President Donald Trump’s move to withhold federal funding from colleges and universities that ignore Title IX law by allowing men to compete on women’s athletic teams. The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia had earlier taken the same route as Wagner. UPenn has more than 23,000 students.

campusreform.com, 8/4/25

Liberal PBS, NPR Lose Tax $$$                          

In late July, Congress cancelled its $535 million annual handout to the liberal Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). An August CPB press release revealed that it plans to have the agency completely shut down by the end of January 2026. That means more than 1,500 locally owned Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio (PBS and NPR) stations will now have to raise all of their own funds, not depend on tax dollars, to keep their liberal attitudes on the air.

President Donald Trump had dubbed CPB a “disinformation machine.” Since CPB was founded in 1967, its tax-funded PBS and NPR affiliates had moved steadily to CPB’s present liberal bias of the political left.

[email protected], 8/4/25; cpb.org, 8/1/25

California Young Adults Curious About Bible                           

Curious about the Bible? Responding to that question, Gen Z and Millennials (ages 14-44) in the San Francisco Bay Area surpassed their Baby Boomer neighbors (ages 61+) by 58% to 31%. The nine-county area includes the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.

American Bible Society (ABS) reported the numbers in its annual State of the Bible survey. An ABS press release said the discovery was “VERY unexpected. The Boomers in the Bay Area are closed to the Bible while the younger generations are full of curiosity and interest.”

Fred Jackson, director of American Family Radio News, responded to the stark contrast: “Millennials and Gen Z live in a very chaotic world. Perhaps they realize the things Boomers turned to for escape (drugs, sex, money, etc.) do not satisfy.”

[email protected], 8/5/25

China Will Pay Parents to Have Children                    

In the late 1970s, China initiated its infamous one-child-per-family policy to slow its booming population growth rate. By 2015, however, the policy had apparently worked too well. Consequently, China announced that the one-child policy would end in 2016.

Fast forward to 2025, and the nation’s population has declined for three years in a row. Thus, Beijing’s state media announced in late July that it will begin paying parents $500 (US) per childbirth.

britannica.com; reuters.com, 7/28/25