Baptist Press Archive

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

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  • Human trafficking during Super Bowl week prompts ministry
    by Tim Ellsworth, posted Tuesday, January 29, 2019 (3 years ago)

    Submitted photo
    ATLANTA (BP) -- When Heather Havard was a freshman in high school, she heard the song "27 Million" by worship leader Matt Redman about the number of slaves in the world.

    She was moved enough to begin doing her own research and taking measures to fight human trafficking. This weekend, she's leading a group of 10 people, most of them students at Sam Houston State University, where Havard is now a sophomore, to Atlanta to raise awareness during the Super Bowl about the problem of human trafficking.

    "The Super Bowl is the number one event every year where human trafficking rates skyrocket," said Havard, a member of University Heights Baptist Church in Huntsville, Texas. "Traffickers will come from all over the country, and some from places all over the world. They'll rent out whole hotel floors. Sometimes you'll find that entire hotels are rented out by traffickers." Read More

  • N.M. suicide bill spurs call to pray
    by David Roach, posted Tuesday, January 29, 2019 (3 years ago)

    iStock
    SANTA FE, N.M. (BP) -- A New Mexico assisted suicide bill that has been described as "devastating" to the sanctity of life is drawing opposition from Baptists and other pro-family groups in the state.

    Two of the bill's most controversial provisions -- suicide prescriptions via telemedicine and a broad definition of terminal illness -- were removed Jan. 28 by a committee of the New Mexico House of Representatives. But the legislation still would allow non-physicians to prescribe lethal doses of medication and could endanger vulnerable members of society, according to the Family Policy Alliance of New Mexico, a partner organization of Focus on the Family. Read More

  • Former Baptist minister charged with child sex crime
    by Diana Chandler, posted Tuesday, January 29, 2019 (3 years ago)

    FLOWER MOUND, Texas (BP) -- A former children's minister at The Village Church has been charged with indecent contact with a child, allegedly in 2012 during his church ministry.

    Matthew David Tonne, the 35-year-old accused, was dismissed as associate children's minister from the Southern Baptist megachurch on an unrelated matter in June, senior pastor Matt Chandler said Jan. 24 in video and printed comments at thevillagechurch.net. The alleged crime occurred at the Mt Lebanon Retreat and Conference Center, a Baptist ministry in Cedar Hill, Texas.

    "We want to state clearly that there are no persons of interest in this investigation that have access to children at The Village Church," Chandler said. "We would not let anyone who is under investigation for a crime like this be near any of our children at TVC." Read More

  • Christian mayor's release stirs blasphemy concerns
    by Diana Chandler, posted Tuesday, January 29, 2019 (3 years ago)

    Screen capture from Al-Jazeera
    JAKARTA, Indonesia (BP) -- International religious liberty advocates are praising the early prison release of a former Christian governor in Indonesia, but decrying unjust blasphemy laws that enabled his conviction.

    Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, sentenced to two years' imprisonment in May, 2017, was released Jan. 24 from a prison in Depok, West Java, after two remissions reduced his sentence. The ethnic Chinese Christian had been convicted of blasphemy for comments he made during a 2016 reelection campaign for governor, comparable to a U.S. mayoral post.

    International Christian Concern (ICC), Human Rights Watch and United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) are among those reacting to his release and calling for the repeal of blasphemy laws in the majority Muslim country. Read More

  • KBC exec. search team sets Feb. 15 deadline
    by David Roach, posted Tuesday, January 29, 2019 (3 years ago)

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- The Kentucky Baptist Convention committee tasked with finding Paul Chitwood's successor as KBC executive director "has been hard at work" toward building "a large pool of names" to consider, said search committee chairman Tom James.

    The committee is asking Southern Baptists to help them in that endeavor by recommending candidates by Feb. 15. Recommendations should include at least a candidate's name and contact information, James told Baptist Press. If a resume is not included in the recommendation, James will contact the candidate and request one.

    Chitwood served as KBC executive director from 2011-18 before being elected president of the International Mission Board Nov. 15. Read More

  • Young leaders summit called 'fountain of wisdom'
    by Ishmael LaBiosa, posted Tuesday, January 29, 2019 (3 years ago)

    SBCV Photo
    GLEN ALLEN, Va. (BP) -- More than 70 church leaders age 40 and younger from across Virginia gathered at the Young Pastors' Summit on Jan. 15, an annual event hosted by the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia.

    Clyde Meador, interim executive vice president of the International Mission Board, and Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, were keynote speakers. A panel of SBC of Virginia pastors and Christian leaders also led a discussion.

    Sean Couch, pastor of Christiansburg Baptist Church, described the summit as "really encouraging.... It was just a fountain of wisdom. I was writing down as much as I could as quickly as I could." Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: Teach our children
    by Christian Phan, posted Tuesday, January 29, 2019 (3 years ago)

    Teaching children to become Christ's disciples, Christian Phan writes, is a joyful matter of biblical obedience. "Children like to learn the Word of God and want to discover His plan for their future," he notes. Read More