Wednesday, August 16, 2017

• Adoptee's first act of love: aiding his homeland

  by Lily Jameson, posted Wednesday, August 16, 2017 (5 years ago)

  

  Photo by Micah Fries

  CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (BP) -- People huddled in blankets near Ha Tsolosa, Lesotho. The January rain drizzled around them, a sign the recent drought was ending. The lack of rain had lasted two years and had devastated crops so badly many villagers had run out of food.

  Soon, aid workers -- both foreign and local -- started unloading relief items including bags of mealie (corn meal), oil and beans from trucks.

  But one worker looked a little different to the crowd. Read More

• SBC evangelism task force holds first meeting

  by David Roach, posted Wednesday, August 16, 2017 (5 years ago)

  

  Photo by Neil Williams

  FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- How to increase Southern Baptists' passion for personal evangelism and encourage preachers to include evangelistic invitations in every sermon were among the topics discussed Aug. 14-15 at the first meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention's task force on soul winning and evangelistic preaching.

  "I cannot remember a meeting that encouraged my heart as much as this one," task force chairman Paige Patterson said in a statement released to Baptist Press. "We had a large portion of the task force who were able to attend and they seriously and humbly pursued the convention-assigned task. Read More

• Tillerson's religious liberty stand draws praise

  by Tom Strode, posted Wednesday, August 16, 2017 (5 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from Twitter

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Southern Baptist and other religious freedom advocates praised Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's defense of religious freedom -- especially his unequivocal labeling of the crimes of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as genocide -- upon the release of an annual report Tuesday (Aug. 15).

  In introducing the International Religious Freedom Report for 2016, Tillerson said he was removing "any ambiguity from previous statements or reports by the State Department." Read More

• Amid Charlottesville turmoil, Baptists active in outreach

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, August 16, 2017 (5 years ago)

  CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (BP) -- As alternative-right white supremacists and others flooded Charlottesville, Va., to protest the removal of a Confederate statue, Southern Baptists were already actively promoting racial harmony in the small community where former mayor Alvin Edwards has pastored 36 years.

  Edwards, pastor of Mount Zion First African Baptist Church and a member of the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV), had already organized the multidenominational Charlottesville Clergy Collective to build unity among faith leaders in the city and Albermarle County region. Read More

• Market volatility: GuideStone offers tips, new fund

  by Roy Hayhurst, posted Wednesday, August 16, 2017 (5 years ago)

  

  Image: iStock/license purchase required.

  DALLAS (BP) -- As the U.S. stock market continues to eclipse all-time highs -- the S&P 500 Index has recorded 43 new all-time highs between November 8 and August 11 -- analysts with GuideStone Financial Resources caution that the markets may be set for a period of extended volatility.

  GuideStone also announced Tuesday (Aug. 15) they have launched a new fund that offers diversification aiming to address increased market volatility. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Preaching under pressure

  by H.B. Charles Jr., posted Wednesday, August 16, 2017 (5 years ago)

  SBC Pastors' Conference President H.B. Charles Jr. shares principles for preaching through seasons of congregational conflict. "Preaching through a storm," he writes, "anchors the pulpit to the tried and proven Word of God." Read More