BALTIMORE (BP) -- In a year when the Southern Baptist Convention focused on "Restoration & Revival Through Prayer," Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd, who has sought to encourage Southern Baptists to deepen their spiritual walk through books, Sunday School studies and pastor prayer meetings, has been elected as the Southern Baptist Convention's president.Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas for 27 years, topped fellow nominees Maryland pastor Dennis Manpoong Kim and Kentucky … [Read more...]
Cowboy church leads people – and horses – forward
LINDA REDEFFER/Banner Press PATTON – Whether you’re horse or human, life can be a struggle. And horse or human, it takes a lot of trust to stay on the right path. Pat Patterson, a circuit-riding preacher, attempted to make the connection between trust and salvation to an 8-year-old wild mustang named Corazon, and to those humans who came to the Lamplighter Cowboy Church near Patton April 5-6, to see Patterson work with the horse and to connect with their Savior the way the horse began to … [Read more...]
HGTV cancels show for ‘anti-gay’ stars
David Roach/Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) – The Home & Garden Television network has cancelled an upcoming reality show, and the program’s stars believe the move came in response to a firestorm of controversy surrounding their traditional Christian views on abortion and gay marriage. HGVT had slated for its fall lineup a show called “Flip It Forward,” starring twin brothers David and Jason Benham. Each episode was to feature the brothers finding a “fixer-upper” house and remodeling it … [Read more...]
Nigerian Christians hopeful amid persecution
William Bagsby/Baptist Press NIGERIA (BP) – The Nigerian church leader was secretly housing new followers of Jesus, former Muslims. When the time came for his second child to be born, he left his house to carry his wife to a clinic. “While he was away with her, his home was attacked and the group scattered throughout the area,” said Aaron Bryson,* an International Mission Board (IMB) worker in Nigeria, recalling the situation in 2010. One man was killed at the scene and the group … [Read more...]
Texas church tops 1% CP Challenge
Karen L. Willoughby/Baptist Press MESQUITE, Texas (BP) – Accepting the 1% CP Challenge to increase giving by 1 percent to the Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program wasn’t enough for Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas. They decided to give 2 percent instead. The congregation of more than 1,400 Sunday morning worshippers gives a standing ovation each time founding pastor Terry Turner announces that the good work Southern Baptists are doing is partly funded by … [Read more...]
Filipino village awakened to gospel by relief efforts
Jane Rodgers/Southern Baptist TEXAN AGOJO, Philippines (BP) – A small-scale spiritual awakening continues in Agojo, a Filipino fishing village devastated by Typhoon Haiyan last November. Nearly 80 Filipinos have made decisions for Christ followed by dozens of ocean baptisms and the start of multiple Simbalays, or Filipino home churches. Garry and Sherry McDugle of Bois d’Arc Baptist Church in Palestine, Texas, are disaster relief chaplains with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention … [Read more...]
Bivocational ministry not a stretch for those called
Scott Barkley/The Christian Index DULUTH, Ga., (BP) – Wesley Thompson would probably contend he’s devoted to ministry. A student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he’s pursuing a degree in church ministries, with an emphasis on students and families, to improve his ability at presenting the gospel. Wesley Thompson also might say he is devoted to being a better educator. A teacher at a small private school about 20 minutes from Southern’s campus in Louisville, Ky., Thompson looks … [Read more...]
Yeats’ SBC nomination to be made by MBTS’ Allen
BALTIMORE (BP) – Jason K. Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, will nominate John L. Yeats for an 18th term as recording secretary of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) at the June 10-11 annual meeting in Baltimore. As executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention since 2011, Yeats has demonstrated leadership and love of Southern Baptists, Allen said. “Since coming to Midwestern Seminary, one of my great joys has been getting to know John Yeats and to … [Read more...]
Pakistani Christians on death row
LAHORE, Pakistan (BP) – A couple from Pakistan’s Christian minority was sentenced to death April 4 for allegedly sending blasphemous text messages, bringing the number of Christians on death row to four. The sentence for Shafqat Emmanuel and Shugufta Emmanuel in Pakistan’s Punjab province came eight days after a court in Lahore sentenced Sawan Masih to death for allegedly insulting Islam’s prophet Muhammad. The case against Masih, a street sweeper, stemmed from an alleged drunken … [Read more...]
Religious Liberty Law
Tom Strode/Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) – The White House and Congress need to make specific changes to combat persecution 15 years after enacting legislation to promote religious liberty globally, a federal watchdog says in its annual report. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called Wednesday (April 30) for the Obama administration to improve its implementation of the 1998 law designed to protect the rights of people of faith worldwide. In its 2014 report … [Read more...]
Mohler open to meeting with gay author
David roach/Baptist Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — Through an exchange on Twitter, R. Albert Mohler Jr. has expressed his willingness to meet with author Matthew Vines, whose new book God and the Gay Christian argues that Scripture permits monogamous homosexual relationships. Four Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professors who contributed with Mohler to an e-book critiquing Vines also apparently have shared their interest on Twitter in meeting with him. Mohler, president of Southern … [Read more...]
Gott: ‘Holy desperation’ in Ukraine
Diana Chandler/Baptist Press KIEV, Ukraine (BP) – The Ukrainian crisis has kindled an interdenominational prayer movement in the nation, said a Southern Baptist evangelist who ministers there and has accepted an invitation from Ukrainian Baptists to preach on a national day of mourning in Kiev. Ukrainian Christians believe only God can protect the nation from Russian control in the midst of upheaval that led to the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February, said Michael Gott, who … [Read more...]
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