EVANSTON, Ill. (BP) – Ric Worshill remembers the beatings he endured his eighth grade year. They always happened in the same place as he walked to Hebrew school. He remembers the humiliation. He remembers the perpetrators as attendees of the “religious school” (he won’t give the name). He remembers being confused because, as he puts it, “They were supposed to be Christians.” Worshill identifies as a Jew who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah. And as a North American Mission … [Read more...]
IMB mission impact strengthened through global partners
UGANDA (IMB) – On another sunny day in northern Uganda, Hector steps into the river and turns to extend his hand to Oketa Robert, a new believer. Oketa Robert walks into the water, ready to take the next step of faith and be baptized. He is one of 34 believers baptized on this day in early spring. Each new follower of Jesus is a refugee from the Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement. Hector Cabrera is a global missionary partner who works closely with International Mission Board teams in Uganda. … [Read more...]
House completes congressional approval of same-sex marriage
WASHINGTON (BP) – Congress has given final approval to enshrining same-sex marriage in the law. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 258-169 for the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) Thursday (Dec. 8), 10 days after the Senate approved the same legislation. With the votes, Congress has decided to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). While the measure does not require states to legalize same-sex marriage, it mandates federal and state recognition of any gay marriage considered … [Read more...]
MBC’s Historical Commission offers scholarships to students at Missouri Southern Baptist schools
JEFFERSON CITY – A fourth higher education institution has been added to those for whom a scholarship from the Missouri Baptist Convention's (MBC) Historical Commission has been offered. Four $2000 Baptist Heritage scholarships are offered to current and future students at Hannibal LaGrange University, Hannibal; Missouri Baptist University, St. Louis; Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar; and now Spurgeon College, Kansas City. Spurgeon College, which is part of Midwestern Baptist … [Read more...]
Missionaries take gospel to global cities
Everyone in the small church wondered if the baptism was ever going to happen. In this Central Asian city visited by thousands of tourists each year, the delays kept stacking up. Delay one: A new believer fell through a double-paned glass sliding door, landing him in the hospital. Delay two: The pool overflowed, flooding everything around it. Finally, everything fell into place and the new believers were baptized. They shared stories of meeting Jesus and choosing to follow Him. The … [Read more...]
Supreme Court debates website designer’s freedom of speech over same-sex marriage
WASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. Supreme Court debated with lawyers at length Monday (Dec. 5) whether a state has the right to compel speech in the latest case involving the intersection of religious freedom and same-sex marriage. The justices heard oral arguments for more than two hours in a designer’s challenge of a Colorado policy that requires her to create custom websites for same-sex weddings in violation of her religious beliefs. After two lower courts ruled in favor of the state, the … [Read more...]
God brings healing to Ukrainian refugees
UKRAINE (IMB) – Olga wanted to go to church for years, but her husband forbade it. He didn’t believe in God and didn’t want his family dabbling in a faith he understood to be false. After Russia invaded Ukraine in the spring of 2022, Olga, her daughters and grandchildren fled and were welcomed at the border of Moldova by Christians from Dancu Baptist Church in Dancu, Moldova. Moldova shares an eastern, southern and northern border with Ukraine and a western border with Romania. When news … [Read more...]
Oregon church grows through evangelism
EUGENE, Oregon (BP) – Alan Gayle keeps several “hooks in the water,” he says, in his quest to lead the church he’s pastored since 2004, Fairfield Baptist, to share God’s love with the people around them and throughout the world. One of those is a six-week, new-member class Gayle leads every two months. During it (and during church services throughout the year) he talks about the Cooperative Program, the way Southern Baptists work together in missions and ministry in the United States and … [Read more...]
Short-term student missionaries make impact in the Philippines
PHILIPPINES – Across the 2,000 inhabited islands of more than 7,600 that make up the Philippines, is a vast spiritual darkness. People are not only trapped by the islands, but trapped in their sin — separated from God because many have not yet heard the life-saving gospel. International Mission Board missionaries Jess and Wendy Jennings committed their lives to bringing the gospel to these islands. The Philippines is their home, the place where they raised their three children, who are … [Read more...]
Lessons from a letter writer
When I was much younger, I had the opportunity to be part of a team transcribing unopened Charles Spurgeon letters. Charles H. Spurgeon, the renowned “Prince of Preachers,” was reported to pen up to 500 personal letters per week. Over the course of his ministry, hundreds of his letters were deemed undeliverable for one reason or another. Many ended up in the “dead letter” bin of London’s General Post Office. Given Spurgeon’s popularity, most of these letters were preserved and eventually … [Read more...]
160 years in the making: The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon project completed this fall
KANSAS CITY – While working on his Ph.D. in London in the early 2010s, church historian Christian George had no idea he was about to stumble upon a goldmine of academic and spiritual material, let alone that it would all end up at a Baptist seminary in Kansas City. It was a cold January day, more than 160 years earlier, when the 16-year-old Charles Haddon Spurgeon began preparing to write his first sermon for the congregation at St. Andrews Baptist Church in Cambridge, England. The year … [Read more...]
FBC St. Charles ‘refuels’ during mid-week service
ST. CHARLES – Sundays have always been a time to gather for worship and Bible training to energize the week. But First Baptist Church, St. Charles, has found a way to invigorate members midweek. “Refuel” is the Wednesday worship service with lunch that FBC St. Charles offers. “This service has grown more that 50% since our start up,” Jerry Dudley, associate pastor, and speaker at the Wednesday service, said. “After COVID, we looked at ways to build in more Bible study and push the … [Read more...]
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