Tom Strode/Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. Justice Department’s new, wide-ranging policies supporting same-sex marriages even in states where such unions are illegal came as no shock, but will hamper states’ efforts to govern on the issue, says a Southern Baptist public policy expert. Attorney General Eric Holder’s Feb. 10 memorandum officially announcing the changes marked the latest in a series of actions by the Obama administration to extend federal benefits to people in … [Read more...]
A call to faithfulness despite somber mood
O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory and the One who lifts my head. – Psalm 3:1,3 For the past two weeks I have had the privilege of visiting with executive directors from other state conventions, editors of state convention newspapers and Southern Baptist leaders. It is an annual effort I make in order to get a first-hand impression of where Southern Baptists are at the moment. Carrying the … [Read more...]
SBC.net sports new look
NASHVILLE (BP) – A more visual redesign of sbc.net, the official website of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Executive Committee (EC), has officially launched, Frank Page announced to committee members in Nashville. While the new website will feature much of the same information and resources that readers have logged on to the site to access, it also will include a variety of new visual updates, said Page, EC president. One of those updates includes a rotating slideshow of images … [Read more...]
True Love Waits Documentary
Aaron Earls/LifeWay Christian Resources NASHVILLE (BP) – After 20 years and millions of pledge cards, has True Love Waits (TLW) had a positive impact and does it still matter? A new documentary by LifeWay Films examines the history and future of True Love Waits. The international purity movement captured the national conversation in 1994 by covering the National Mall with cards from teenagers promising to remain sexually pure. The documentary “True Love Waits: The Complicated … [Read more...]
Missouri’s Annie Armstrong goal $2M
JEFFERSON CITY – Easter is fast approaching, and that means it istime for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering to support the efforts of the North American Mission Board (NAMB). Missouri Baptists have set a goal for the 2014 offering of $2 million. That is up from the $1.75 million goal last year, since Missourians blew by the goal and gave $2,002,727.17. The nationwide goal is $70 million for ministry across the country, including in Missouri. This year’s week of prayer for NAMB … [Read more...]
200,000 Hindi Bibles donated for Asia
Aaron Earls/Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) – LifeWay Christian Stores set a goal last fall of donating 100,000 Hindi language Bibles across South Asia, but customers gave enough for twice that many. “LifeWay has proven once again it is an organization with a heart for the world,” Tom Eliff, president of the International Mission Board (IMB), said. “Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine The Thomas Project would be such an overwhelming success.” Named for the disciple believed to … [Read more...]
Oscar nod rescinded, song still benefits
Diana Chandler/Baptist Press BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (BP) – The movie “Alone Yet Not Alone” lost its nomination for best original song more likely because of Oscar-related politics than prejudice against a Christian message, because another nominated movie prominently includes Christian music, a film industry insider said. The Disney animated movie “Frozen,” nominated for best original song for “Let It Go,” opens with “Vuelie,” a tune including music from the Danish Christmas hymn … [Read more...]
Ronnie Floyd to be SBC president nominee
Art Toalston/Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) – Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) at the SBC annual meeting this June, seminary president R. Albert Mohler Jr. announced Feb. 20. Floyd has “unparalleled experience as a leader among us, an unquestioned commitment to the Great Commission, and he has demonstrated an unstinting urgency to unite Southern Baptists around our shared beliefs, mission, and programs,” Mohler, … [Read more...]
God carries Poplar Bluff native through hurdles to plant NYC’s Graffiti 2
SARA SHELTON/Baptist Press NEW YORK (BP) – High school student Shamar Smith has been attending Graffiti 2 Community Ministries’ after-school program for years. Raised in the South Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven, Shamar is no stranger to the lifestyle and perils that mark the lives of many in the neighborhood; his own brother is already serving out a sentence on Rikers Island, New York’s primary jail complex. Had he not found his safe haven at Graffiti 2, Shamar knows his path might … [Read more...]
NAMB announces 2015 Send Conference date, location
By Adam Miller ALPHARETTA, Ga. - The North American Mission Board (NAMB) is developing plans for its 2015 Send North America Conference slated for Aug. 3-4 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. This will be the third time NAMB has hosted the conference to encourage, equip and mobilize lay leaders in local congregations to penetrate lostness in North America. Almost 2,000 people attended the Send North America Conference at First Baptist Church Woodstock, Ga., in 2012. The … [Read more...]
Hobby Lobby files brief with Supreme Court
ERIN ROACH/Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) – In a case that could reverberate for decades, Hobby Lobby filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Feb. 10 asking the court to protect the religious liberty of the craft chain’s owners in regard to the Health and Human Services (HHS) contraception mandate. “Our argument at the Supreme Court is simple and straightforward: The plain terms of federal law protect religious exercise wherever it occurs – in the home, in a church, in a charity or … [Read more...]
Trusteeship – a sacred trust
Just this week I returned from serving on the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. Our February meeting was full of important decisions impacting the cooperative work of churches that identify themselves as Southern Baptist congregations. My fellow trustees listened to amazing reports about our international missionaries and new church planting in North America. We were challenged to hear how our six Southern Baptist seminaries are adapting their work of equipping tomorrow’s … [Read more...]
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