EDITOR’S NOTE: “Signs and Wonders” is a column that shares thoughts on news items that either do not rise to the level of a news story for MinistryWatch or are slightly (even significantly) outside of our normal charity and philanthropy “beat.” My goal is to be punchy, opinionated, and not to worry much about being slightly off brand. If that is not for you, no hard feelings. But if it is…read on.
National Debt Tops $40 Trillion. If you believe “thou shalt not steal,” then you should be distressed by this milestone, passed this week. When you borrow money that you have no ability or intention to pay back, that’s stealing. We are stealing from our children and grandchildren. This behavior will not “make America great again” — it will hasten its demise.
Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813) reportedly said, “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.” He’s right.
Whistling Past the Graveyard. The decline of the Episcopal Church has gone on so long, and has been so well documented, that noting it again almost feels like “piling on.” And yet propagandists within the Episcopal Church continue to work hard to convince the mostly elderly, affluent faithful that nothing is wrong.
The latest example comes from Matthew Heyd, the Episcopal Bishop of New York. Writing for Religion News Service, he says, “the Episcopal Church is a story of renewal, not decline.” For the record, Bishop Heyd’s diocese had about 17,000 in Sunday attendance in 2016. In 2024, the most recent year for which numbers are available, average Sunday attendance in his diocese was about 9,500 — a decline of nearly 45% in a decade. These numbers come from the Episcopal Church’s own news service. Kind of makes you wonder what else Bishop Heyd is not telling the truth about.
Number of SBC Baptisms Grows. According to Lifeway Research, “As baptisms in Southern Baptist congregations increase, a growing percentage of those entering the baptismal pools are adults.”
A Lifeway report said, “In the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Church Profile (ACP), baptisms grew for the fifth straight year to reach 263,075, the highest total since 2016. This was the first time in 75 years that the SBC saw five consecutive years of growth in total baptisms. Within this broader increase is a shifting portion of baptisms across age groups. According to additional Lifeway Research analysis of the 2025 ACP, adults 30 and older accounted for a third (33%) of all baptisms, the largest share among the four age groups.”
“Over the last half century, the age of those being baptized in Southern Baptist congregations has changed dramatically,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Minors used to compose two-thirds of baptisms, but today the majority are age 18 or over.”
In 1971, children 11 and younger accounted for the highest percentage (37%), followed by youth ages 12 to 17 (31%), young adults ages 18 to 29 (18%) and adults 30 and older (15%).
Since then, however, the share of adult baptisms in Southern Baptist congregations has continued to climb, first passing young adults in 1985, youth in 1990, and children in 2014.
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Charlie Kirk’s Latest Book. Christianity Today’s Bonnie Kristian will surely draw wrath from the Charlie Kirk faithful with her suggestion that his posthumous book on the Sabbath, “Stop, In the Name of God,” was written at least partly by AI. She stops short of accusing him directly, but the evidence she presents is convincing.
Honoring Afghan Allies. The Christian ministry World Relief did something unusual last week: It issued a statement calling on Congress to pass permanent solutions for Afghans in limbo. The statement, released by the benevolence arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, said:
“In the aftermath of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after nearly twenty years of engagement, tens of thousands of Afghan mission partners — translators, drivers, analysts, pilots, judges and many others — were thrust into grave danger due to their association with the United States and, at times, for their faith. While in the initial days, veterans, advocates and volunteers, including hundreds of evangelical churches, were at the forefront of a coordinated, multi-agency, public-private response to evacuate as many as possible, five years later, many thousands of Afghan allies remain vulnerable, within the U.S. and overseas. Today, World Relief calls on Congress to resume the unfinished mission, beginning by ensuring Afghans residing in the U.S. have stable residency by restoring Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghan allies by passing the Afghanistan TPS Act and by ensuring Afghans waiting abroad in third countries are among those included in the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program in Fiscal Year 2027.”
In July 2025, TPS ended for an estimated 12,000 Afghans, despite strong pushback from evangelical leaders at groups such as the National Association of Evangelicals, Focus on the Family, Family Research Council and the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
“As Christians and as Americans, we should be deeply troubled that arriving in the U.S. has not meant permanent safety for many Afghan allies,” said World Relief President and CEO Myal Greene. “In the days following the fall of Kabul, we witnessed beauty amidst tragedy in the outpouring of support from churches across the country, stepping up to welcome men, women and children rendered vulnerable because of their association with the U.S. and sometimes their faith. It’s a travesty that we have not been able to offer them stability, and it’s time to legislate permanent solutions that mean they do not need to live their lives in fear.”
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Readers in Greenville/Spartanburg. I am in the Upstate of South Carolina at the end of August. If you live in Greenville or Spartanburg, reach out to me. I would love to share a meal or a cup of coffee with you. My email is wsmith@ministrywatch.com.