Baptist Press Archive

Friday, February 12, 2016

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  • SBC celebrates racial reconciliation progress
    by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    BP file photo
    NASHVILLE (BP) -- When the late Victor Glass led the Home Mission Board's outreach to black Baptists, he would conduct an exercise in phonetics with fellow white Southern Baptists at the board's frequent racial reconciliation conferences.

    "He would have everybody bend into a bending position, with their hands on their knees, and say 'Negro-o-o'" is how Emmanuel McCall, the first black to hold a professional leadership position within the Southern Baptist Convention, remembers it. McCall began working with Glass as associate director of the board's Department of Cooperative Ministries with National Baptists. Read More

  • Racial reconciliation: Nev. Baptists 'being proactive'
    by David Roach, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    Screen capture from Vimeo
    LAS VEGAS (BP) -- Nevada may not be the first place that comes to mind when the topic of racial reconciliation arises.

    After all, the latest U.S. Census data reveals more than three-quarters of the state's population is white. Plus, the Silver State is more than a thousand miles removed from the South -- the region of America most known for its need to overcome a heritage of racial prejudice. But Nevada's Southern Baptists say God is uniquely at work there breaking down racial and cultural barriers. Read More

  • Valentine's Day: vendors, consumerism evaluated
    by David Roach, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    NASHVILLE (BP) -- As a Christian watchdog group released its evaluation of which Valentine's Day-related companies are most and least friendly to consumers motivated by faith, a seminary counseling professor cautioned that consumerism should not be the focus of believers' Valentine's Day weekend.

    John Babler, professor of counseling at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Baptist Press that he views celebrating Valentine's Day as optional for married couples as long as they focus on communication and honoring God in their relationships. Singles should "use the cultural emphasis on romantic love as a springboard to focus on deepening their love for God," he said, and parents would do well to ensure their children both give and receive Valentine's Day treats. Read More

  • Helping prostitutes in Indonesia leave the streets
    by Elaine Gaston, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    ]INDONESIA (BP) -- International Mission Board worker Rosemary Brackey* and her daughter Patricia* had a dream: to offer a safe place for women to escape lives of prostitution; receive job training, medical care and psychological counseling; and even bring a child there if they have one.

    An Indonesian Christian had told Rosemary that if prostitutes with a child want to change their lives, they usually have to put their child in an orphanage. Read More

  • Into the trenches: an IMB worker's visit to the streets
    by Rosemary Brackey, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    INDONESIA (BP) -- We got out of the car and walked away from the bright, crowded market and into the darkness. We went down the path of broken bricks and past the rats and bonfires with seedy-looking men to a clearing where we saw the outlines of two girls standing at the edge of the shadows. It was impossible to see any details, but we knew from their location that they were likely prostitutes. Read More

  • DR teams continue work amid Flint water crisis
    by Roger Alford/Kentucky Today, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    Photo by Tony Lynn, Baptist State Convention of Michigan
    FLINT, Mich. (BP) -- Teams of Kentucky Baptists with expertise in providing clean drinking water to villagers in Third World countries are planning to head to Flint, Mich., next week to install water purification systems for Flint-area families dealing with lead contamination.

    Meanwhile, local Baptists continue to distribute bottles of water and offer encouragement where they can. Read More

  • Wheaton prof's departure spurs fast for solidarity
    by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    CHICAGO (BP) -- A group including students and alumni of evangelical Wheaton College will fast for solidarity and peace until Easter in response to Wheaton professor Larycia Hawkins and the school announcing the two were amicably ending her employment. Read More

  • Iorg: Seminary's relocation 'has no parallel'
    by Kathie Chute, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    Photo by Kate Weatherly
    MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) -- Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, said he didn't lose sleep over the decision to build two new campuses and relocate the seminary.

    "What caused many sleepless nights was the personal changes I was asking you to make," Iorg told an audience of students, faculty, staff and seminary supporters Feb. 4. Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: Life and death, blessing and cursing
    by Gary Ledbetter, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    Gary Ledbetter, editor of the Southern Baptist TEXAN, voices hope that "some will be saved" in a culture afflicted with "hate for God and love for death." Thousands of churches and millions of Christians still understand "that their neighbors, even the inconvenient ones, bear the image of our Creator," Ledbetter writes. Read More

  • EDITORIAL: Poniendo nuestra mirada sólo en Dios
    by Michael A. Gonzales, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    Cada día nos enfrentamos con un sin número de distracciones que nos hace quitar nuestra mirada en Dios. Pasamos por pruebas o vienen situaciones en nuestras vidas que no podemos controlar y pronto pasamos por momentos de gran confusión. ... Read More

  • Trump y Sanders dominan en New Hampshire
    Por Tom Strode, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    CNN captura de pantalla
    WASHINGTON (BP) -- Los heterodoxos candidatos Donald Trump y Bernie Sanders fácilmente ganaron el martes (9 de febrero) en la primera elección primaria para determinar a los nominados de los principales partidos políticos a la Casa Blanca.

    Trump -- el descarado, hombre de negocios billonario y una celebridad -- sobrepasó el abarrotado campo republicano por casi 20 puntos para ganar la victoria en las primarias de New Hampshire. Sanders, el senador estadounidense del vecino Vermont quien se describe a sí mismo como socialista, dominó a Hillary Clinton para ganar la primaria demócrata por ... Read More

  • EDITORIAL: Poniendo nuestra mirada sólo en Dios
    Por Michael A. Gonzales, posted Friday, February 12, 2016 (7 years ago)

    GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) -- Cada día nos enfrentamos con un sin número de distracciones que nos hace quitar nuestra mirada en Dios. Pasamos por pruebas o vienen situaciones en nuestras vidas que no podemos controlar y pronto pasamos por momentos de gran confusión. Y muchas veces pedimos consejos en los lugares equivocados. Siempre es bueno pedir consejo de personas que están caminando diariamente con el Señor o que son personas entregadas completamente al Él. Tarde o temprano vamos a pasar por luchas, pruebas, fracasos y contratiempos en esta vida. Read More