KANSAS CITY, Kan. (BP) – Faith-based films are becoming more and more like real movies, not just cinematic sermonettes. Better still, many Hollywood actors looking for roles of substance are embracing film characters that depict the spiritual nature of mankind. Greg Kinnear brought a gravitas to the film “Heaven Is for Real.” Reese Witherspoon took basically a supporting role in “The Good Lie” (opening on Oct. 3). Nicolas Cage is soon to be seen in the reboot of the “Left Behind” end-times … [Read more...]
Survey: Prayer ‘red phone for help’
NASHVILLE (BP) – Many Americans pray for divine help, their friends, families, and sometimes their enemies. But few of them offer praises to God or pray for politicians and nonbelievers, according to a new LifeWay Research survey. “Most people pray when they need the red phone for help,” said Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research, adding that many of them may not have a prayer life “rooted in a relationship with God.” The online survey, conducted Aug.7, 2014, asked 1,137 … [Read more...]
SBC pastor salaries not keeping up with inflation
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Compensation for full-time Southern Baptist pastors has not kept pace with inflation over the past two years, while salaries for other full-time ministers and office staff increased at a rate higher than national inflation. These findings are part of the SBC Church Compensation Study, an in-depth survey of 12,907 staff members in Southern Baptist churches. Baptist state conventions along with LifeWay Research and GuideStone Financial Resources conduct this survey … [Read more...]
Court considers pastors’ housing allowance
CHICAGO (BP) – Supporters of the ministerial housing allowance should be hopeful about a federal appeals court’s anticipated ruling on the 60-year-old provision, a religious liberty lawyer said after oral arguments in the case. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago appeared Sept. 9 to lean toward either dismissing the case because the allowance’s challengers lack legal standing or upholding the allowance as constitutional, a lawyer with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty … [Read more...]
ERLC: Town’s sign code violates church freedom
WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's religious freedom entity has called for the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a municipal sign ordinance it says violates a church's free speech and assembly rights. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) joined in a friend-of-the-court brief filed Sept. 22 that contends the sign code of Gilbert, Ariz., discriminates against churches while favoring political and ideological messages. The brief, filed by the Christian … [Read more...]
Boko Haram gaining ground in Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria (BP) – Boko Haram’s incessant capture of villages in northeastern Nigeria is gaining attention from United States and United Nations security officials, who say the terrorists’ victories are troubling and pose a serious threat to Nigeria’s overall security. The U.S. is “very troubled by the apparent capture of Bama and the prospects of an attack on [Borno state capital] Maiduguri,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a group of international … [Read more...]
Tim Tebow joins ‘Good Morning America’
NASHVILLE (BP) – Tim Tebow, the popular former college and pro quarterback revered and criticized for his Christian faith and his on-the-field prayers that coined the word “Tebowing,” continues to make headlines this year as a football commentator – and now as a morning show contributor. Tebow, an analyst for the SEC Network and ESPN, has signed on with “Good Morning America,” ABC News announced Thursday (Sept. 11). A member of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., Tebow will be a … [Read more...]
Stand for religious liberty
NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptists must boldly proclaim the Gospel as they fight for religious freedom in the United States and globally, David Platt said in an interview conducted by the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Platt, newly elected International Mission Board president, participated in an interview with Dan Darling, vice president of communications for the ERLC, focusing on religious persecution. The ERLC posted the interview, which took place during … [Read more...]
CP ‘takes the attention off ourselves’
BRISTOL, Fla. (BP) – Local lore – spun by a Baptist preacher in the 1950s – has it that the Garden of Eden may have been in the Southeast. The Apalachicola River that flows near the town of Bristol, Fla., has four main tributaries akin to what Genesis 2:10 recounts. A rare species of evergreen called gopher wood grows on the Apalachicola's banks – – the same species that Noah used to build the ark, according to Genesis 6:14. The Rev. Elvy E. Callaway "claimed that only two rivers in the … [Read more...]
Mohler: Osteen message ‘aims for so little’
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) – The evangelical world, joined by no shortage of secular observers, has been abuzz about the latest soundbite of note from the Pastors Osteen – this time offered by Victoria Osteen as her husband Joel beamed in the background. In her message, Victoria Osteen tells their massive congregation to realize that their devotion to God is not really about God, but about themselves. “I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for … [Read more...]
Concerns voiced over PBS’ airing of ‘After Tiller’
WASHINGTON (BP) – The premiere on America's public television stations of a documentary about late-term abortion doctors has prompted concerns and criticisms from pro-life advocates. On Sept. 1, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) telecast "After Tiller," a 2013 movie about the only four doctors who openly perform third-trimester abortions in the United States. The nearly 90-minute film is available for viewing online at the PBS website through Oct. 1. Point of View (POV), the PBS … [Read more...]
Street boys in Senegal find refuge
THIES, Senegal (BP) -- Moise Al-Jahani* clutches his green plastic bowl with dirt-crusted hands and shakes its contents side to side. Most street children, like this small boy, end many days with not much more than a few sugar cubes, a handful of beans and a handful of rice. But Jorge Reina is working to change that for Al-Jahani and other street kids. Every morning at Reina's house in Senegal, the bulky Venezuelan man wraps the dirty little boy in a bear hug, slathers spreadable … [Read more...]
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