Van Welton/ Pastor of Apple Valley Baptist Church BERRYVILLE, Va. (BP) – Can a small church pastor benefit the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)? Biblically and historically, the answer is a clear yes. Berryville is the county seat for Clarke County, the smallest county in Virginia. The latest census indicated that just over 4,000 people live in Berryville. It has a total of three stoplights, and the closest Walmart is 17 miles away. By many standards, Berryville is puny. In … [Read more...]
October CP gifts slightly above 2012
NASHVILLE (BP) – Contributions to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee in October were 0.07 percent above last year’s opening month of the Convention’s fiscal year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Page. As of Oct. 31, gifts received by the Executive Committee for distribution through the CP Allocation Budget totaled $13,611,434.14, or $9,133.50 above … [Read more...]
DR: MBC already on ground in Cebu City, Philippines
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Missouri Baptists are on the ground in typhoon-ravaged islands of the Philippines, and leaders are asking for prayer, future volunteers and funds. Dwain Carter, director of Disaster Relief (DR) for the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) and Mike Beasley, a disaster relief “white hat” from Trimble Baptist Church, left Nov. 13 for the Philippines joining two Southern Baptists from Texas at the request of the United Nations (UN), the Filipino government and Baptist … [Read more...]
Whiteheads prepare brief, attend key hearing at U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – Missouri Baptist Convention General Legal Counsel Michael Whitehead and his son, Jonathan, co-wrote the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s (ERLC) brief in defense of prayer for the city of Greece, N.Y., in its case argued recently at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Whiteheads, who are members of Abundant Life Baptist Church in Lee’s Summit, also attended the oral arguments on the case before the U.S. Supreme Court. “While some justices were tempted to parse the words of … [Read more...]
Sending a gift for disaster relief? Maximize your gift’s effectiveness with prudence
As I write today the images from Tacloban, Philippines, are unbelievable. Massive relief efforts are underway to assist those who survived the howling 200+ mph winds and the estimated 20-foot storm surge generated by super typhoon Haiyan. The death toll is rising. We all have seen the images of thousands of survivors attempting to leave the area where water, food and medical assistance evaporated within a matter of hours after the storm. Yet, the roads and flights into Tacloban and other … [Read more...]
Missouri WMU holds missionary retreat
ROCKY MOUNT – A missionary retreat held Oct. 7-8 at Cross Pointe Retreat Center here drew 46 missionaries, including 35 emeritus missionaries who spent time refreshing, fellowshipping and swapping stories from their times of service on the mission field. This year’s theme was “Down Memory Lane” and was hosted by the Madge Committee of the Missouri WMU (MWMU). Both IMB and NAMB missionaries attended this event, according to MWMU Missionary Advocate Maryetta Dennis. Mike Dennis led two Bible … [Read more...]
Seminary-educated rapper releases new album
ST. LOUIS (BP) — If it seems odd for a hip hop artist to do seminary coursework, the idea was even more foreign to veteran rapper Flame. The Grammy-nominated artist is now a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s undergraduate Boyce College, but at one point Flame (Marcus Gray) said the idea of studying the Bible in an academic setting had never crossed his mind. Flame was stirred to think about going to seminary by Christian hip hop pioneers The Cross Movement. Formed in … [Read more...]
GuideStone, two others file litigation challenging contraceptive mandate
Article courtesy of GuideStone DALLAS — GuideStone Financial Resources, along with Oklahoma-based Reaching Souls International and Truett-McConnell College in Georgia, filed suit Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, objecting to the Obama Administration’s contraceptive mandate. This action is in response to the Administration’s regulations that require certain religious employers to provide health benefit plans for their employees that include coverage … [Read more...]
Luter wows crowd with fiery keynote
KANSAS CITY – President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Fred Luter closed out the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) annual meeting with a bang Oct. 30 when he challenged Missouri churches to get back to the personal, powerful, practical, persistent gospel. Luter, who serves as pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, made history in 2012 when messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting elected him the first black president of the denomination. His fiery message at the … [Read more...]
‘Peace came over me’ on Korean hillside
NORTH FORK, Va. (BP) – St. Louis native, Chaplain Parker Thompson, can recall the moment – more than 60 years ago – he knew he was where God wanted him as an Army chaplain in the Korean War. With the war’s end in sight in the summer of 1953, fighting grew furious as the two sides hammered out an agreement over the transfer of prisoners of war. On the backside of a blood-soaked hill near some of the deadliest fighting of the war, Thompson waited for 10 to 20 troops – whoever could make … [Read more...]
Messengers pass resolutions on DOMA court ruling, Boy Scouts policy change overwhelmingly expressed dismay
KANSAS CITY – Reaffirming traditional marriage and lamenting changes in Boy Scout membership requirements were hot topics in resolutions passed by messengers at the 2013 Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) annual meeting Oct. 30. Resolution 2, on the U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Striking Down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), blasted the June ruling that federally recognized same-sex “marriage.” “… Redefining the concept and legality of marriage to mean anything other than the union between … [Read more...]
Coleman: Prayer key for spiritual revival
KANSAS CITY – The adage is familiar: prayer leads to revival. This was the gist of a talk by author and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary professor Robert Coleman during the CORE conference at the Missouri Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, Oct. 29. “Revival puts it all in perspective,” said Coleman, author of The Master Plan of Evangelism and The Master Plan of Discipleship. “Authentic revival is the springboard of what you see in the book of Acts.” “Jesus told the disciples … [Read more...]