DALLAS – As employers nationwide – including most churches – prepare for 2014, the year that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act becomes more fully applicable, questions are understandably arising from pastors, business administrators and church personnel and finance committees. GuideStone Financial Resources continues in its role as an advocate for church plans in general and for pastors and others in ministry it serves specifically. “Since the enactment of ObamaCare in 2010, … [Read more...]
Southern Baptists seeing like a camera
JACKSON, Tenn. (BP) – “OK, I know it’s here somewhere. I know I took it! I pulled the car over, rolled down the window, and CLICK! The beautiful field, mountains in the background and that fabulous elk standing right there in front of me!” Undaunted, you begin going through your pictures again, and then on the third time through, you find it. But somehow, the elk seems so much smaller. In fact, he’s a tiny little thing, hardly even noticeable in the picture. It’s just not how you remember … [Read more...]
Surviving on Campus Without Toadying
Many colleges are starting classes this week, and some conservative students have to make a decision. Say you have liberal professors and are not a career suicide bomber: You don’t want to be a classroom wimp, accepting propagandistic statements without protest, but you also don’t want to flunk. How, then, shall you live? The Intercollegiate Review, which circulates largely to conservatives, asked me to offer some suggestions for speaking truth to classroom power, so I came up with 10 that … [Read more...]
Heads should roll at MTV over Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga vulgarities
HOLLYWOOD, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Sexually explicit performances at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) have caused a parents group to demand reform of the cable industry. In the opening act, the always provocative Lady Gaga stripped down to a thong bikini that left little to the imagination. However, it was former child star Miley Cyrus' performance that dominated headlines and newscasts around the country. The young star, who rocketed to fame as the lead character in Disney's … [Read more...]
New Mexico Supreme Court: Progressives run off the cliff
Southern Baptists and other people of faith in New Mexico have been told by their state Supreme Court that the price of U.S. citizenship is to subordinate their faith to the homosexual agenda. This appears to be the first ruling of its kind by a Supreme Court. So it merits our attention. The case involved Elaine and Jon Huguenin, co-owners of Elane Photography of Albuquerque, who were asked by two lesbians in 2006 to photograph their “commitment ceremony” (homosexual “marriage” is not … [Read more...]
Top five cyber security tips for ministry
The Internet is a wonderful tool for ministry, yet it is fraught with danger. To protect yourself, your equipment and your church, here are my top five cyber security musts for ministry. 1. Internet filtering. To avoid the deviously driven and inappropriate content available on the Internet, employ an Internet filter. There are many available, but one I use and recommend is OpenDNS.com. It is free or reasonably priced. This ad-driven Internet filter is effective and customizable. There is … [Read more...]
ACLU Defeated in Missouri Court
UNION – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has abandoned their legal challenge to invocations offered before meetings of the Franklin County Commission. The lawsuit was dismissed on July 19th in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Missouri. The ACLU had taken the Franklin County Commission to court last year, alleging that prayers offered before meetings of the county’s governing body amounted to an establishment of religion. Lawyers for the ACLU filed the suit after the County … [Read more...]
Students impact cities, prepare for missionary service
NEW YORK CITY- Student missionary Season Helms can pinpoint the day in July of 2012 when she began to look at New York City and urban ministry differently. Traveling with friends on the subway, Helms spotted a young woman dressed less than modestly. As Helms looked beyond her clothing to the puffy eyes, scrapes and bruises, she saw a young girl obviously in pain. Helms and her friends soon discovered the girl had been attacked at Coney Island and her phone, money and extra clothing had … [Read more...]
Success without love for God is failure
FORT WORTH, Texas (SWBTS) – Great academic and ministerial success without a burning, genuine love for the Lord will ultimately result in failure, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president Paige Patterson told a bumper crop of new and returning students, Aug. 22. Patterson’s remarks came during Southwestern’s convocation chapel service on the first day of fall classes. “If you came to seminary and you learned everything that every professor knows until you could recite it in your … [Read more...]
NM Supreme Court: Christian photographers must shoot gay ‘commitment ceremonies’
In a concurring opinion, Justice Richard C. Bosson said Christians must “compromise” their religious beliefs as “the price of citizenship.” BY Ben Johnson SANTA FE, NM, August 22, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Supreme Court of New Mexico has ruled that Christian photographers do not have the right to decline photographing a gay “wedding,” even if doing so violates their religious beliefs. In a concurring opinion, Justice Richard C. Bosson said Christians must “compromise” their religious … [Read more...]
Hinkle: Hoover’s warning of socialism haunts Christian America
Former President Herbert Hoover, while offering remarks at a reception for his 80th birthday in West Branch, Iowa on Aug. 10, 1954, chose to emphasize the connection between the Bible and America’s founding documents. He warned that socialism would cause government to become an idol, elevating itself above the very God that created it for our good and His glory. This will happen as it enslaves the people, making them dependent on government rather than embracing free enterprise based on … [Read more...]
‘Sheepdog’ sessions prep churches for violence
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) – Churches have long been considered safe havens for worship but, with 433 people killed on church property since 1999, they have become more dangerous than schools. Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, knows such violence firsthand. A shooter entered a youth service in 1999, killed seven and wounded seven others. Wedgewood hosted a “Sheepdog Seminar” this spring, providing training for 350 church representatives to prevent and respond to violent attacks. … [Read more...]