Author: Texas Gospel

Sin’s wages versus a believer’s struggle

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JEFF TURNER

Let’s consider sin within the Christian life. It’s worth emphasizing how scripture distinguishes between sin’s ultimate consequence for unbelievers and the ongoing experience believers face even after salvation.

While sin’s wages remain death for anyone outside of Christ, those already forgiven through faith continue wrestling against sin’s pull throughout their earthly lives, a struggle that itself testifies to genuine spiritual transformation rather than indicating a lack of salvation.

This recurring biblical theme reassures believers that internal conflict over sin is not evidence of spiritual failure but rather confirmation of authentic new life within them, since only those possessing God’s Spirit experience this particular kind of resistance against wrongdoing. Recognizing this distinction helps believers avoid both unwarranted despair over continued struggle and false confidence rooted in misunderstanding grace.

The hope offered throughout scripture is that this present tension will ultimately resolve completely when believers receive glorified bodies in eternity.

Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Romans 8:1-2

Christian aid groups respond as Colombia quake toll feared to rise

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Hundreds of people have died in a devastating earthquake in Colombia this month, and officials fear the death toll will increase.

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake caused buildings to collapse and badly damaged infrastructure across the affected region. The Colombian Geological Service said it was the strongest earthquake recorded in the country since 2000. The quake was followed by several strong aftershocks.

Operation Blessing quickly began providing aid after the earthquake. The relief effort has included hygiene kits, food, clean water, solar lanterns and other emergency supplies for people affected by the disaster. Operation Blessing already has teams working in Venezuela, continuing to assist with earthquake relief efforts there, and the organization said that work will continue uninterrupted even as it responds in Colombia.

The organization’s president Drew Friedrich said the it’s first priority is to get involved as quickly as possible and provide aid wherever it is needed. “Whenever disaster strikes, our first priority is to get on the ground, understand the needs and determine where we can make the greatest difference. As our work continues in Venezuela, we are now mobilizing an additional team to Colombia to stand alongside families there and provide practical help and hope during an incredibly difficult time.”

Report finds shift in Hispanic Americans’ religious identity

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The share of Hispanic Americans who identify as religiously unaffiliated rose from 18% in 2013 to 23% in 2025, according to Axios, which cited a review of data from the Public Religion Research Institute.

A later PRRI summary added detail to that trend, showing the unaffiliated share climbed to 25% in 2024 before slipping back to 23% in 2025. The increase from 2013 to 2025 was not a steady, uninterrupted rise each year.

Separately, Pew Research Center found that the share of Latino adults identifying as Catholic fell from 67% in 2010 to 43% in 2022. Pew described the share of Latino adults identifying as Protestant as relatively stable over that period, standing at 21% in 2022.

The joy of the Christian life

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

God’s forgiveness brings freedom, and believers are called to enjoy the inheritance He has given them in Christ. The Christian life is meant to be marked by joy rather than a constant appearance of burden and sadness.

Faith is not simply a list of activities or duties. It is the reality of Christ living through His people. Because God has set believers free, they can live with gladness and confidence in Him. A joyful life reflects the work of Jesus within and serves as an example for those who have not yet come to faith.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1

The Rogers Family isn’t slowing down

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

The Rogers Family isn’t giving anyone time to catch their breath. Barely a month after “A place to spend the night” hit Southern Gospel airplay, and just weeks removed from the stately “Secret place,” the Horizon Records group is back again, this time with a reimagining of the classic “When Jesus comes in the clouds.” Three releases in the span of a few months is a good pace for any group, but for the Rogers Family, it’s become the norm.

The track opens with studio veteran David Johnson’s fiddle and Samuel Shields’ electric guitar, setting a lively tone from the first note. Samuel handles lead vocals on the opening verses, with sisters Hannah and Rebekah trading harmonies behind him and a banjo threading through for extra old-timey flavor. Soon the energy edges even higher, as Rebekah steps into the lead for the final choruses, and by the time the track winds down, the arrangement has climbed to a full boil, the kind that makes it nearly impossible to stay seated, let alone keep from tapping a foot or singing along.

“We are enjoying putting our own spin on this great classic red back song,” the group said in a press release to radio. “It’s been sung in many, many churches across the country, and we are excited to keep it going. It has the true southern gospel sound we love so much, and we’re anxious to share it with you!”

There’s a reason the song hits differently for this particular family. Long before it was a single, “When Jesus comes in the clouds” was a memory, one stitched into childhood church pews and Sunday mornings. “It takes us back to hearing it as children,” the group notes, “and it serves as a fresh reminder that all sorrow will be past, when Jesus comes in the clouds.” That kind of continuity, between what a song meant growing up and what it means now standing behind a microphone, is at the heart of what makes the Rogers Family’s music feel lived in rather than performed.

That sense of continuity runs deep in the group’s history. The Rogers Family traces its roots back to Northeast Georgia, where Ray and Helen Rogers first raised their voices in local churches, their daughter Kim playing piano alongside them. It was at a church in North Carolina that Kim crossed paths with Sammy Shields, and the two married in 1999, eventually settling in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where they raised three children: Rebekah, Samuel, and Hannah.

When Ray passed away in 2010, the family’s music ministry didn’t fade, it evolved. The next generation stepped into more prominent roles, with the children increasingly taking the lead while Kim and Helen remained steady, passionate fixtures within the group. Today, the Rogers Family, Helen, Kim, Sammy, Rebekah, Samuel, and Hannah, travels together sharing their love of Southern Gospel music, with Kim still anchoring the sound from the piano bench.

It’s a family that has weathered loss, generational change, and the natural growing pains of six people building something together, yet they’ve come out the other side with a sound that feels both classic and current. “When Jesus comes in the clouds” isn’t just another single for the Rogers Family, it’s a torch passed from one generation to the next, carried by voices that grew up hearing it in the very pews they now sing from.