Baptist Press Archive

Thursday, June 18, 2015

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  • WRAP-UP: SBC seeks awakening, supports marriage
    by David Roach, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo by Matt Miller
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Spiritual awakening, the defense of marriage and the preservation of religious liberty were among key themes addressed by messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 16-17 in Columbus, Ohio.

    The meeting was highlighted by a Tuesday night prayer gathering led by SBC President Ronnie Floyd, at which an estimated 7,000 Southern Baptists spent two hours asking God for a third Great Awakening in America and the global advance of the Gospel. The gathering was watched by an additional 8,000 people online and broadcast on Daystar television. Read More

  • S.C. massacre 'demonic,' Baptist pastor says
    by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    CHARLESTON, S.C. (BP) -- Christians are uniting in prayer and benevolence across racial distinctions in Charleston, S.C., after a 21-year-old man massacred nine Christians in a June 17 prayer service at historic Emanuel AME Church, said neighboring Southern Baptist pastor Keith Biggs. Southern Baptist leaders issued responses to the tragedy. Read More

  • SBC panel: Value love, Gospel with LGBT community
    by Tom Strode, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo by Matt Miller
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Christians should not undervalue the effect of love or the Gospel in relating to gays and lesbians, recognizing, however, that faithfulness to the biblical definition of marriage will prove costly, members of a special panel told messengers at the 2015 Southern Baptist Convention.

    During the Wednesday afternoon session (June 17), five panelists answered questions from SBC President Ronnie Floyd about how churches and pastors can minister in an American culture that increasingly approves of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Read More

  • ERLC to open Mideast office, honors embattled florist
    by Art Toalston & Erin Roach, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo by Paul W. Lee
    COLUMBUS (BP) -- An international religious freedom office in the Mideast will be opened by the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Russell Moore announced at the SBC annual meeting June 17.

    Moore, the ERLC's president, told messengers, "We must contend for religious freedom for our brothers and sisters in Christ and for everyone else wherever they are on the globe." He added, "We will not stand idly by while those with whom we will share eternity are being led to the slaughter." Read More

  • LifeWay reports strategic changes
    by Lisa Cannon Green, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo by Paul W. Lee
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- LifeWay Christian Resources is poised to reach a million people this fall with its Christ-centered curriculum, The Gospel Project, leaders announced at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Columbus.

    During his report to SBC messengers, LifeWay President Thom S. Rainer laid out three strategic changes LifeWay is making to prepare for the future and serve churches more effectively. These strategic changes include selling its sprawling headquarters in downtown Nashville later this year and building a smaller facility nearby. Read More

  • 5,406: SBC's unofficial Columbus registration
    by Brian Koonce, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo by Van Payne
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting drew 5,406 messengers to Columbus June 16-17 from the nation's 46,000-plus Southern Baptist churches. The unofficial total is a 2 percent rise from last year's 5,295 messengers in Baltimore.

    SBC registration secretary Jim Wells said the results were slightly below his pre-annual meeting guess, but good nonetheless, especially from Ohio. Read More

  • IMB, NAMB celebrate missionaries, sending churches
    by Laura Fielding, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo by John Swain/NAMB
    COLUMBUS, OHIO (BP) -- In a darkened convention center hall filled with Southern Baptist messengers, individual pinpoints of light illuminated the darkness. Moments earlier, in passionate pleas, IMB President David Platt and NAMB President Kevin Ezell urged Southern Baptist messengers not to be cold toward the vast lostness in the world, but to join in God's global mission as church planters, missionaries and sending churches to take the light of the Gospel to a dark world. Read More

  • Platt envisions 'limitless' missionary pathways
    by Laura Fielding, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo by Bill Bangham
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Messengers resoundingly affirmed David Platt's June 17 report that noted IMB trustees' recent policy changes are focused on throwing open the funnel of missionary sending so more Southern Baptists called by God can make disciples and multiply churches among those who've never heard the name of Jesus. Read More

  • IMB celebrates 50 years of journeymen

    by Laura Fielding, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    IMB Photo
    RICHMOND (BP) -- Fifty years ago, a group of 46 college graduates answered God's call to missions through a new effort called the "Missionary Journeyman Program."

    Started by the Foreign Mission Board (now the International Mission Board), the program aimed to send a new generation of young Southern Baptists abroad for two years of mission service. Read More

  • Ezell shares 'NAMB Phase II' vision
    by Joe Conway, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo by John Swain/NAMB
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell shared highlights of a year of ministry expansion and introduced what he called "NAMB Phase II" to messengers in Wednesday morning's (June 17) session at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

    "I want to thank Southern Baptists for their generous and sacrificial support for the Cooperative Program and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering," Ezell said. "Thanks to the leadership of our pastors and the generosity of our congregations, the Annie offering was up 2 percent this past year. Read More

  • World Refugee Day: Refugees start more than new lives

    by Samantha Conners, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    IMB Photo
    LONDON (BP) -- Nations are preparing to recognize World Refugee Day on June 20. Many countries are focusing on the needs of the displaced peoples in their communities, and what they're finding is surprising.

    Nearly 60 million people worldwide have fled their homes due to violence from political unrest and persecution based on nationality or religion, says the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR. More than 69,000 sought refuge in the United States in 2013 alone, where they are starting more than new lives on American soil -- they are starting churches as well. Read More

  • Bumpers: 'Earnestly cry out' for awakening
    by Benjamin Hawkins, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo by Adam Covington
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- God can send the flames of spiritual awakening that the church and nation so desperately need, Eddie Bumpers told messengers during his convention sermon June 17 at the SBC annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

    "It is possible for God to send revival to bring us to a place of new obedience to God, a new commitment to the Great Commission and the Great Command of the Lord Jesus," said Bumpers, pastor of Crossway Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo. Read More

  • Motion commends review of racial reconciliation
    by Benjamin Hawkins, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Messengers proposed 10 motions during the Southern Baptist Convention's June 16-17 annual meeting. All but one were referred to SBC entities or ruled out of order. Read More

  • FATHER'S DAY: Churches promote, equip 'servant leaders' at home
    by David Roach, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo courtesy of Bell Shoals Baptist Church
    NASHVILLE (BP) -- When Fred Luter had a son, he wanted to give him a biblical name. So he decided on "Chip." As in, "chip off the old block" -- a reference to the oft neglected biblical principle that children's lives are shaped by the spiritual, intellectual and emotional leadership of their fathers. Read More

  • WMU's Lee highlights missions, new nat'l president

    by Julie Walters, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Photo by Bill Bangham
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Wanda Lee, executive director of WMU, highlighted the importance of missions and introduced Linda Cooper as the new president of the national auxiliary during her report to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 17. Read More

  • FATHER'S DAY: Resources for men's ministry
    by Staff, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    NASHVILLE (BP) -- The following are men's ministry resources recommended by Stephen Rummage of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Fla.; Fred Luter of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans; and Richard King of First Baptist Church in Las Cruces, N.M. Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: Celebrate Dad
    by Diana Davis, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Diana Davis suggests numerous ways to help children show love for Dad with a well-planned Father's Day. "Mother's Day is often celebrated well," Davis writes, "but since God's Word instructs us to honor our father and mother, why not go all out to help your kids celebrate God's gift of a dad?" Read More

  • EDITORIAL: ¡NO al Monstruo!
    by Gerardo A. Alfaro , posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Michael Lee no es el único que ha dicho que el arzobispo católico Arnulfo Romero congeniaba y apoyaba a la teología de la liberación. Muchos de nosotros también que no sólo hemos leído un poquito de la teología de la liberación, sino también de los mensajes de Romero, y que vivimos en El Salvador durante todo el tiempo de la guerra, lo hemos afirmado. Read More

  • En AVANCE, los hispanos escuchan de Ronnie Floyd, David Platt
    Por Keila Díaz / Florida Baptist Witness, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Foto de Paul W. Lee
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- En una noche marcada por adoración, compañerismo y talleres, los pastores y líderes hispanos bautistas del sur de todo el país se reunieron para AVANCE 2015 antes de la reunión anual de la Convención Bautista del Sur.

    La reunion de Junio 14 comenzó a las 5 p.m. con adoración dirigida por Julio Arriola, de Cross Church en el noroeste de Arkansas, seguida por una cena en la cual hablo es ... Read More

  • Red alimentara comunicación entre hispanos Bautistas
    Por Keila Diaz, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Foto de Paul W. Lee
    COLOMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- El comité de misión y visión de la nueva Red de Pastores y Líderes Hispanos expuso un resumen de los planes organizativos y estratégicos durante la conferencia AVANCE el 14 de Junio en Columbus, Ohio.

    El equipo de cinco miembros fue nombrado durante una reunión el pasado Diciembre patrocinado por el Comité Ejecutivo de la CBS y Recursos Cristianos LifeWay en Nashville, a la que asistieron 65 líderes hispanos de 23 convenciones estatales bautistas. Read More

  • Herramienta de evangelismo de NAMB disponible en español

    Por Meredith Yackel, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    ALPHARETTA, Georgia. (BP) -- Menos de un año después de que el presidente de la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas (NAMB por sus siglas en inglés) presentara 3 Círculos: Guía para Conversar sobre la Vida en la Convención Bautista del Sur en Baltimore, NAMB está publicando una versión en español de la guía y la está obsequiando.

    "Ha sido una prioridad proveer más recursos en español," dijo Al Gilbert, vicepresidente de evangelismo de NAMB. "Estoy agradecido de que ahora podamos ofrecer estas herramientas a nuestras iglesias hispanas. Read More

  • Elección de NHCLC de Moore, la más reciente colaboración

    Por Tom Strode, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    "Ansiamos tenerlo [a Moore] uniéndose a nuestros esfuerzos de difundir la lucha por la justicia durante este tiempo crítico." -- Samuel Rodríguez
    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP) -- La adición del líder ético y defensor de la libertad religiosa de la Convención Bautista del Sur a la junta de la Conferencia Nacional de Liderazgo Cristiano Hispano (NHCLC por sus siglas en inglés) es el último paso en el continuo esfuerzo cooperativo.

    La NHCLC anunció la selección de Russell Moore, presidente de la Comisión de Libertad Religiosa y Ética (ERLC por sus siglas en inglés), como miembro de su junta de directores el 5 de junio. Read More

  • El Crossover nutre la relación entre la iglesia y la comunidad
    Por Joe Conway y K. Faith Morgan, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    Fot o de Bob Carey
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- "¿Sabes por qué estamos aquí, corazón?" preguntó Paulette Foster a una jovencita recibiendo uno de los brazaletes de admisión al Festival Parsons en el Centro Recreativo Indian Mound en el sur de Columbus.

    "¿Estás aquí para contarle a las personas acerca de Jesús?" preguntó la niña. Read More

  • CE afirma el reporte de la diversidad racial
    Por el personal, posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- El Comité Ejecutivo de la Convención Bautista del Sur afirmó un reporte que evalúa el progreso que la convención ha hecho en relación a la diversidad racial en su reunión del 15 de junio en Columbus, Ohio.

    El CE también votó retirarle el compañerismo a una congregación de Huntsville, Alabama, con base en lo que una recomendación del comité administrativo declaró era "una clara evidencia de la afirmación y aprobación de la iglesia del comportamiento homosexual." Read More

  • EDITORIAL: ¡NO al Monstruo
    Por Gerardo A. Alfaro , posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 (6 years ago)

    FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Michael Lee no es el único que ha dicho que el arzobispo católico Arnulfo Romero congeniaba y apoyaba a la teología de la liberación. Muchos de nosotros también que no sólo hemos leído un poquito de la teología de la liberación, sino también de los mensajes de Romero, y que vivimos en El Salvador durante todo el tiempo de la guerra, lo hemos afirmado. Read More