Diana Chandler/Baptist Press LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP) – On the first anniversary of their son’s suicide, Saddleback Church founders Rick and Kay Warren are using the painful experience to uplift others, incorporating Facebook, YouTube, a mental health seminar and worship services scheduled at Saddleback campuses this Easter weekend. “The old Rick and Kay are gone. They’re never coming back,” Kay Warren wrote in a March 13 Facebook post with more than 3.2 million views and more than 10,000 … [Read more...]
‘Heaven Is For Real’ stirs discussion of heaven
DAVID ROACH/Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptists have mixed reviews of “Heaven Is For Real,” a Sony Pictures movie released April 16 about a 4-year-old boy who claimed he was transported to heaven as he underwent emergency surgery. Commentators said the movie presents opportunities for evangelism and considering the Bible’s teaching on heaven. But they also warned that the film is theologically inaccurate and reveals Christians’ propensity to trust “fanciful” accounts rather … [Read more...]
‘Subjective discrimination’ fuels religious freedom bills
David Roach/Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) – Concern that anti-discrimination laws infringe on religious liberty is among factors that have prompted more than a dozen states to consider religious freedom bills to protect Christians’ right to speak against homosexuality. Currently, 18 states have passed versions of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a bill signed by President Clinton in 1993 that prohibits government infringement of religious liberty unless the state shows a … [Read more...]
Animated ‘CP Rant’ video targets younger generations
NASHVILLE (BP) – The new Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) “CP Rant” video communicates to younger generations the vitality and necessity of the Cooperative Program (CP), incorporating humor, fact and colloquial terms, said the team of Louisiana Baptists who produced the video. “This video presents the absurdity of NOT cooperating and defends the concept of CP through humor and in a way young adults, those who grew up in the ‘Seinfeld era,’ might enjoy and more readily understand,” Matt … [Read more...]
ERLC’s Moore, Obama discuss immigration
WASHINGTON (BP) – Southern Baptist ethicist Russell D. Moore and other religious leaders have met with President Obama to discuss the continuing effort to pass immigration reform this year. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission president joined Obama and others in an oval office meeting April 15 as the attempt to reform the immigration system awaits action in the U.S. House of Representatives. Flaws in both the system and its enforcement have resulted in an estimated 11 million to … [Read more...]
Feds admit abortion mandate at Hobby Lobby hearing
WASHINGTON (BP) – The Obama administration’s acknowledgment that its stance would require businesses to underwrite abortions without the right to a legal challenge may have been a particularly telling moment in a March 25 U.S. Supreme Court case that likely will be a landmark in religious liberty. It seemed that way to some who oppose the government’s position, and they expressed an opinion that it seemed that way to some of the justices. The Supreme Court heard 90 minutes of oral … [Read more...]
Golden Gate Seminary sells campus
Ben M. Skaug/Baptist Press MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) – Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary has reached a sale agreement for all its campus property in Mill Valley, Calif., and has initiated relocation of its primary campus to Southern California. In a special gathering of faculty, students and staff, President Jeff Iorg announced the agreement with North Coast Land Holdings. The seminary’s board of trustees approved the sale agreement unanimously. “The final sale agreement will … [Read more...]
Committee on Resolutions named for 2014 SBC
BALTIMORE (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Fred Luter has named the members of the Committee on Resolutions for the June 10-11 SBC annual meeting in Baltimore. Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, appointed the committee in keeping with the provision in SBC Bylaw 20 that its members be named 75 days prior to the start of the annual meeting. Luter named David Dykes of Texas as committee chairman. Dykes is pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in … [Read more...]
Study: Cremation gaining acceptance
Bob Smietana/Baptist Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Cremation may be the new American response to death, according to a survey by LifeWay Research. The study, which surveyed 1,036 Americans, shows that about 4 in 10 (41 percent) say they plan to be cremated. Six in ten (58 percent) say being cremated won’t keep you from being resurrected to live in heaven. And few (14 percent) say cremation is wrong. The LifeWay online survey reflects the growing acceptance of cremation, which has become … [Read more...]
Phil Roberts joins faculty at Truett-McConnell College
CLEVELAND, Ga. (BP) – Truett-McConnell College (TMC) is adding to its faculty Phil Roberts, former president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Roberts led Midwestern, a Southern Baptist seminary in Kansas City, from 2001-12. He will teach in Truett-McConnell’s new master of arts in theology program beginning this fall. Brad Reynolds, TMC’s vice president for academic services, said Roberts and another new faculty member, Mael Disseau, “not only bring with them a vast … [Read more...]
‘Home-field’ helps St. Louis church planters
TOBIN PERRY/North American Mission Board ST. LOUIS - When Steven Helfrich first sensed God leading him into church planting while still a student, he figured it would be in some far-off land where customs would be different and language would be a barrier. Since his wife came from Poland, the idea of church planting in Europe made a lot of sense. Matt Bartig served as a youth pastor in churches throughout the United States – and never dreamed he’d return to the St. Louis area to start … [Read more...]
MBTS launches training network with churches
Tim Sweetman/Baptist Press KANSAS CITY (BP) – Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has launched its Midwestern Training Network (MTN), a partnership that includes St. Louis-area church The Journey as the first of 30-plus churches that have joined the ministry initiative. The network is a group of churches and individuals partnering with Midwestern Seminary to establish an accredited, accessible and affordable master of arts in theological studies degree program with emphases in … [Read more...]
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