NASHVILLE (BP) - Most Americans want more religious meaning to the Christmas season, and for some that includes the seasonal greetings we say to each other. A new study from LifeWay Research found two-thirds of Americans (65 percent) say, "Christmas should be more about Jesus." Those looking for more Christ in Christmas in 2018, however, are significantly fewer than four years ago. A 2014 LifeWay Research study found 79 percent of Americans at that time said Christmas should be more … [Read more...]
‘Love One Another’ 2019 Nat’l Day of Prayer theme
ROGERS, Ark. (BP) – “Love One Another” is the theme for the 2019 National Day of Prayer May 2, event president Ronnie Floyd announced today (Oct. 30). Anchored in John 13:34, the theme seeks to mobilize the nation in prayer on May 2 in every U.S. locale across generational, ethnic and linguistic lines, said Floyd, senior pastor of the multisite Cross Church in northwest Arkansas. “I realize that our task today is daunting and quite intimidating,” Floyd said in his Facebook announcement, … [Read more...]
Zamperini tells background of ‘Unbroken’ at HLGU
HANNIBAL – Luke Zamperini, son of Olympic hero and World War II prisoner of war Louis Zamperini, and now an executive producer of the recent movie about his father’s path to Christ, held the audience’s attention in the palm of his hand here Nov. 7 at the Hannibal-LaGrange University Booster Banquet. The younger Zamperini discussed in detail his father’s remarkable and miraculous life. Louis was saved from a life of juvenile delinquency by sports, and made his way on to the 1936 U.S. … [Read more...]
Social media strategy & the church
NASHVILLE (BP) – By the time churches have fully embraced Facebook, many of their members and those they are trying to reach may have left it behind. Nearly three-quarters of Facebook users (74 percent) have adjusted their connection with the social media platform in some way over the past year, according to Pew Research. That reportedly includes the 54 percent who adjusted their privacy settings, 42 percent who took a break from checking it for several weeks or more, and 26 percent who … [Read more...]
Lessons from my little ones: Hawley’s new book offers mother’s view of how God calls us to be His children
JEFFERSON CITY – Erin Hawley’s faith and dependence on God has grown the most – not in her years at Yale Law School or while working as a clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, not even as a supportive and loving wife to Missouri Attorney General and current Missouri Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Josh Hawley – but it’s been during her role as mother to her two young sons, Elijah and Blaise, that God brought Hawley closer to Himself. Hawley, who has worked primarily … [Read more...]
Major League’s umpire Marvin Hudson: ‘You never know who’s watching’
ST. LOUIS – Marvin Hudson’s goal is to never be the highlight of a game. But sharing his testimony at South County Baptist Church here before taking his place behind the plate at the Sept. 16 Cardinals-Dodgers game, Hudson, a Major League Baseball umpire, said he knows what it’s like to stand out for exactly the wrong reason. A former college catcher, Hudson worked his way up through the minor leagues as an umpire. Eventually, he was promoted to call games during Spring Training and in … [Read more...]
Inspiring ‘Unbroken’ tells ‘rest of the story’
I’ll get this out of the way quickly: “Unbroken: Path to Redemption,” is a better-than-average movie. It’s worth your $10 to go see it. After being thoroughly depressed by another movie with “broken” in the title (still-in-theaters “God Bless the Broken Road”), I was prepared to sit through another 90 minutes of shoddy workmanship with a thin, Christian veneer tacked on as an afterthought. Just two or three minutes into Unbroken (I refuse to write out again that unnecessarily cumbersome … [Read more...]
‘God Bless the Broken Road’ conveys clean message, falls short on artistic depth
Before we get into God Bless the Broken Road, let’s take a second and chat about C.S. Lewis. In his book, An Experiment in Criticism, Lewis wrote a Christian artist’s “first priority ought to be excellence and delight in the craft itself, first and foremost, as a painter, musician, poet, writer, and so on, else the artistic craft suffer misuse and abuse. The kingdom content and implications will then be there … naturally, latent, even if indirect, bubbling up.” Practice good art, and the … [Read more...]
Sight & Sound’s ‘Moses’ schedules three dates in theaters
BRANSON – Sight & Sound’s epic musical drama Moses is adding a Sept. 20 encore showing. Strong early demand through Fathom Events for the original two events – Sept. 13 and 15 – drove the bonus presentation. Filmed in front of a live audience, the original stage production was seen by nearly two million people at Sight & Sound’s two live venues in Lancaster, Penn. and Branson. Set adrift as a baby and now wandering in the wilderness, Moses is one unlikely hero—until God calls him … [Read more...]
‘Queen of soul’ Aretha Franklin rooted in Gospel
DETROIT (BP) – From the submissive surrender of her “Amazing Grace” to the womanly exclamations of “Respect” and other provocative hits, the late queen of soul Aretha Franklin is widely remembered for the gospel music foundations she learned at her father’s Baptist church. New Bethel Baptist Church (non-SBC), the Detroit congregation where Franklin grew up singing in the choir and performing solos, grieved her death Aug. 16 at age 76 of advanced pancreatic cancer. Franklin’s popularity in … [Read more...]
Teens’ screen time linked to ADHD, spiritual problems
NASHVILLE (BP) – Teens who report high-frequency digital media use are twice as likely to develop attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports. Christian mental health practitioners say excessive screen time can damage the soul as well. “Screens today are the modern-day Baal,” said Joshua Straub, a marriage and family strategist for LifeWay Christian Resources, “the socially acceptable thing that keeps us from a … [Read more...]
Satanists erect statue outside Ark. Capitol
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BP) – A group from The Satanic Temple temporarily erected a goat-headed, winged statue on the Arkansas State Capitol grounds on Thursday (Aug. 16) to protest the Ten Commandments monument already placed there. "If you're going to have one religious monument up then it should be open to others, and if you don't agree with that then let's just not have any at all," said Satanic Arkansas cofounder Ivy Forrester, a rally organizer, according to AP. The 7.5-foot-tall … [Read more...]
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