Wednesday, November 08, 2017

• Protecting children from porn called 'daily war'

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, November 08, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Image: iStock/license purchase required

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Churches and parents must model and emphasize a godly respect for human sexuality to protect children from the pervasive and savvy culture of pornography, speakers in a religious webinar addressing the subject said Tuesday (Nov. 7.)

  No longer adequate are the internet filters parents have relied on to prevent exposure to pornography, said Dean Inserra, lead pastor of City Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Tallahassee, Fla. He was the main speaker in the webinar hosted by the interfaith Religious Alliance Against Pornography (RAAP). Read More

• Pakistani death sentences show blasphemy laws' threat

  by Tom Strode, posted Wednesday, November 08, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Image: iStock/license purchase required

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- The October death sentences for three Pakistani men demonstrate the threat of blasphemy laws in many countries to the life and liberty of Christians and other religious minorities.

  The judgments for the Pakistanis -- all members of the Ahmadi Muslim sect -- came two months after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a report that showed more than one-third of the world's countries have blasphemy laws. Most of the blasphemy laws in those 71 countries not only transgress international human rights standards but fail to fully protect freedom of expression and impose unduly severe punishments on violators, according to the report. Read More

• Calif. pro-life centers win fight against abortion law

  by Samantha Gobba/WORLD News Service, posted Wednesday, November 08, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Image: iStock/license purchase required

  LOS ANGELIS, Calif. (BP) -- Pro-life pregnancy care centers in Los Angeles will not be forced to promote abortion after a state trial judge last week halted enforcement of California's Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency (FACT) Act.

  Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gloria Trask issued a permanent injunction against the 2015 law that required pregnancy care centers to post signs or distribute literature telling women the state offers free or low-cost contraception and abortions. The law also required pro-life centers to give women a local abortion provider's phone number. Read More

• SWBTS cuts staff due to health care, utility costs

  by Tammi Reed Ledbetter, posted Wednesday, November 08, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  SWBTS Photo

  FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Escalating health care costs, increased expenses for utilities and other higher education costs have prompted personnel cuts at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

  Initial adjustments to operations were not sufficient to stay within the $36.8 million 2017-2018 fiscal year budget set by the seminary's trustees last spring, according to a Nov. 7 news release by Charles Patrick Jr., vice president for strategic initiatives and communications. Read More

• Wyoming Baptists adopt new convention name

  by Karen L. Willoughby, posted Wednesday, November 08, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo courtesy of the Wyoming Southern Baptist Mission Network

  CASPER, Wyo. (BP) -- The new name of the Wyoming Southern Baptist Convention is Wyoming Southern Baptist Mission Network, messengers decided during their 34th annual meeting on Nov. 2-3.

  Wyoming Baptists also approved selling the property on Casper Mountain Road that it has owned for 23 years, a budget $110,000 smaller than last year's budget, changing the name of its state missions offering, and a re-working of responsibilities for state convention vocational staff. Read More

• N.C. Baptists pray for revival, celebrate record CP support

  by BSC & Biblical Recorder staff, posted Wednesday, November 08, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo courtesy of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

  GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) -- Messengers from churches across North Carolina huddled in small clusters for an extended prayer service emphasizing revival and spiritual awakening to climax the Baptist State Convention (BSC) of North Carolina's annual meeting Nov. 6-7 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, N.C.

  Messengers also approved a record 2018 budget, passed a resolution denouncing racism, and affirmed another on human sexuality and marriage. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Where in the world is God?

  by Frank S. Page, posted Wednesday, November 08, 2017 (6 years ago)

  Frank Page notes that Christians are not immune from questions that arise amid perplexing, horrific tragedies. Even so, he notes, "God has planted a hunger and thirst for Himself within every human heart." Read More