Baptist Press Archive

Tuesday, March 06, 2018

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  • Transgender teens: New study 'no surprise,' says ethicist

    by David Roach, posted Tuesday, March 06, 2018 (5 years ago)

    iStock
    NASHVILLE (BP) -- A medical journal's finding that the number of transgender teens may be three times greater than previously thought should not shock believers, says a Southern Baptist ethicist, but it should summon them to ministry.

    "It should come as no surprise that more teens are identifying as transgender or gender-conforming," said Andrew Walker, director of policy studies for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and author of "God and the Transgender Debate." Read More

  • WEEK OF PRAYER: Carving new path in Las Vegas’ spiritual desert
    by NAMB Staff, posted Tuesday, March 06, 2018 (5 years ago)

    NAMB Photo
    LAS VEGAS (BP) -- Established in 1905 near the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, this city that was once a pass-through in the Mojave Desert has become one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. Las Vegas hosts more than 42 million visitors each year. The draw includes novelty resorts and casinos with enough lasers and neon lights to make it visible from space, earning NASA's distinction for Brightest Spot on Earth. But spiritually, the statistics tell a different story.

    The city's resident population is estimated to be around 630,000. Of that number, 92 percent reportedly do not know Jesus. Less than 37 percent of residents identify as religious; less than 5 percent align with the Protestant faith. The numbers underscore the reputation by which this place is known -- "Sin City" and "The Entertainment Capital of the World" -- but a new church plant is at work to bring transformation. Read More

  • Racial reconciliation is college's day-long topic
    by Marilyn Stewart, posted Tuesday, March 06, 2018 (5 years ago)

    Photo by Marilyn Stewart
    CLINTON, Miss. (BP) -- Supernatural unity of the heart is the key to racial reconciliation, speakers said at a day-long event sponsored by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Mississippi College.

    As part of Mississippi College's annual Evangelism Lectures, NOBTS President Chuck Kelley and Ken Weathersby, vice president for convention advancement with the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, spoke on unity for the sake of the Gospel in the morning chapel service.

    "We very naturally seek out people like us. Division, separation is natural," Kelley said during a panel session with Weathersby. Read More

  • Seek 'missing persons,' Merritt exhorts 800 at rally
    by Tim Ellsworth, posted Tuesday, March 06, 2018 (5 years ago)

    Photo by Kristi Woody
    JACKSON, Tenn. (BP) -- Christians must ask everyone to follow Jesus and willingly associate with those who don't, James Merritt, a former Southern Baptist Convention president, said during the third annual West Tennessee Evangelism Rally at Union University.

    "The business of the church, and the business of every follower of Jesus Christ, is to find missing people and invite them to follow Jesus," said Merritt, pastor of Crosspointe Church in Duluth, Ga. "If we are not in that business, we are out of business."

    Merritt was the keynote speaker at the rally that drew more than 800 people for a worship service, dinner and breakout sessions March 4 at Union's campus in Jackson, Tenn. The event included for the first time a women's track and a student track. Read More

  • New VBS resource helps churches 'go, tell' worldwide
    by Aaron Wilson, posted Tuesday, March 06, 2018 (5 years ago)

    NASHVILLE (BP) -- Packing for your next mission trip may have just gotten a whole lot easier.

    LifeWay Christian Resources has produced a new Vacation Bible School program called "Go & Tell Kids" to serve as a gospel presentation tool that's easy to transport to the mission field and works anywhere.

    "'Go & Tell Kids' is themeless, meaning people don't have to drag a bunch of stuff with them halfway around the world, and it's stripped of uniquely American cultural references," said Melita Thomas, VBS and kids ministry specialist at LifeWay. "It's relevant to kids in any culture and setting." Read More

  • TRUSTEES: GuideStone's 2018 year of 'new beginnings'
    by Roy Hayhurst, posted Tuesday, March 06, 2018 (5 years ago)

    GuideStone photo
    DALLAS (BP) -- This year's 100th anniversary of the founding of GuideStone Financial Resources will be a time to glance to the past but remain focused on the ministry's future, GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins told trustees during their Feb. 26-27 meeting in Dallas.

    Each year Hawkins frames the upcoming 12 months with a verse of Scripture and a theme, with 2018 being the Year of New Beginnings, drawn from Ruth 1:16–17.

    In addition to the annual theme, trustees elected a new board chair and vice chair and heard reports from the Southern Baptist entity's various ministry areas. Trustees also toured the location of GuideStone's new offices, to which the ministry will relocate in late summer. Read More

  • ERLC joins Supreme Court brief for pro-life centers
    by Tom Strode, posted Tuesday, March 06, 2018 (5 years ago)

    WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's ethics entity has joined with other organizations in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to protect fully the free speech of pro-life pregnancy centers.

    The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and three other groups signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Christian Legal Society (CLS) calling for the high court to review a lower-court decision they say restricts the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. The justices will be considering whether to accept the appeal by a California pregnancy care center. Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: Scared to share?
    by Doug Munton, posted Tuesday, March 06, 2018 (5 years ago)

    Don't let fear keep you from sharing your faith, Doug Munton counsels, and "don't let it keep you from the joy of learning that God uses people like us -- fears and all -- to accomplish His purposes." Read More