Monday, March 19, 2018

• Missed opportunity? Families affected by physical, mental challenges

  by Bonnie Pritchett/Southern Baptist TEXAN, posted Monday, March 19, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  Image: iStock/license purchase required.

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Down syndrome. It was a discouraging, dark diagnosis, Brian Kuiper said. He and his wife Treshia, seven months pregnant, gathered their two children to break the news. But instead of the anticipated heartache and tears, the children responded with enthusiasm and dancing.

  "Timmy is going to be amazing! Timmy is going to be incredible! Timmy is going to change the world," Brian Kuiper, Focus on the Family executive event producer, recalled them shouting. His children had a far different perspective of who Timmy ... Read More

• IMB missionaries 'died for what matters most'

  by Julie McGowan, posted Monday, March 19, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  IMB Photo by William Haun

  RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- International Mission Board missionaries Randy Arnett, 62, and Kathy Arnett, 61, died March 14 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Missouri-native missionaries served as theological education strategists for Africa.

  IMB leaders and colleagues reflected on the Missouri-native missionaries' love for missions and the people of Africa.

  "Randy and Kathy Arnett in so many ways represent what is best about the IMB," ... Read More

• Hemphill: No CP funds used for SBC candidate website

  by David Roach, posted Monday, March 19, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- A Louisiana Baptist Convention-hosted website promoting Kenneth Hemphill's candidacy for Southern Baptist Convention president was not funded by any Cooperative Program money, Hemphill told Baptist Press today (March 19). Nonetheless, the site is being moved to an independent server this week to avoid "any impression that it was inappropriate."

  "I'm working for the Cooperative Program and certainly wouldn't do anything to abuse it," said Hemphill, former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Read More

• MercyMe saga opens big with two more faith films due

  by Diana Chandler, posted Monday, March 19, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  Wikipedia photo

  LOS ANGELES (BP) -- "I Can Only Imagine" opened third at the U.S. box office this past weekend as the Easter season heralds two more faith-based films.

  The saga of forgiveness and triumph based on the hit MercyMe ballad brought in $17 million from just over 1,600 locations March 16–18, based on Box Office Mojo statistics, far exceeding industry insiders' advance projections of $12 million. It was the best opening of a faith-based film since "Heaven is for Real" opened at $22 million in 2014.

  Affirm Film's "Paul, Apostle of Christ" opens March 23, followed March 30 by Pure Flix's "God's Not Dead: A Light in the Darkness." The latter is the third installment of the "God's Not Dead" series highlighting freedom of speech and religion, which debuted in 2014 as the highest grossing faith film that year at $60 million, according to Pure Flix Studio. Read More

• Calif. bill threatens Bible-based therapy

  by Kiley Crossland/WORLD News Service, posted Monday, March 19, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  Image: iStock/license purchase required.

  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP) -- A proposed law in California could outlaw helping people with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender-identity confusion. If passed, the bill, introduced last month by Assemblyman Evan Low, would be the most expansive ban on therapy related to sexual orientation and gender in the country.

  Other bans across the country restrict the practice of licensed therapists, but this law would label as fraudulent any message that aligns with the Biblical view of sexuality and gender. Read More

• EDUCATION DIGEST: Stan Norman named Williams College president; Danny Akin underscores Scripture at SBTS chapel

  by Arkansas Baptist News, Southern Seminary & BP Staff, posted Monday, March 19, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  Photo courtesy of the Arkansas Baptist News.

  In today's Education Digest: Oklahoma Baptist University's Stan Norman named Williams College president; Danny Akin underscores Scripture at SBTS chapel.

  WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. (BP) -- Stan Norman has been named as Williams Baptist College's seventh president after serving the past nine years as Oklahoma Baptist University's provost and executive vice president.

  The March 16 announcement by the college, which is transitioning to university status this summer, caps a five-month search process for a successor to Tom ... Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Ministry moments

  by Chuck Lawless, posted Monday, March 19, 2018 (one year ago)

  For Chuck Lawless, "seeing the look of absolute joy on a new believer who has just been baptized" and "telling Bible stories to children who hang on every word" are among the many joys of ministry. Read More