Monday, December 04, 2017

• WEEK OF PRAYER: Ministry among Muslims in Moscow

  by IMB staff, posted Monday, December 04, 2017 (4 years ago)

  

  IMB photo

  MOSCOW, Russia (BP) -- Argun* is tough. He and his friend Carlos*, a businessman who moved to Russia to share Christ with Muslims, spend many nights at a martial arts club in Moscow.

  And when they do, Argun doesn't lose very often.

  When he first met Carlos, Argun was very closed to the Gospel, even hostile. He associated Christians with the Russian army, the ones who bombed his childhood home in Chechnya. But ever since Argun moved to Moscow, his friendship with ... Read More

• Nat'l CP 5.67% under projection

  by Staff, posted Monday, December 04, 2017 (4 years ago)

  

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Contributions to Southern Baptist Convention national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee in November were 0.05 percent below the first two months of last year's SBC fiscal year, and 5.67 percent below the projected budget for the first two months of the current fiscal year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and CEO Frank Page.

  As of November 30, gifts received by the Executive Committee for distribution through the Cooperative Program Allocation Budget totaled $30,185,535.65, or ... Read More

• Hark! Skipping Christmas carol verses discouraged

  by David Roach, posted Monday, December 04, 2017 (4 years ago)

  

  Image: iStock/license purchase required.

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- As worship pastor Andrew Lucius selects songs for Christmas worship, he is considering specific needs in the Georgia congregation he serves. Among his conclusions: singing only the first verse of familiar carols could leave worshipers spiritually malnourished.

  The widow "who's going through the Christmas season the first time this year without her husband ... needs more than the first verse of 'Joy to the World!'" said Lucius, associate pastor of music and worship at Bull Street Baptist Church in Savannah, Ga. "She needs to sing, 'No more let sin and sorrow grow, nor thorns infest the ... Read More

• Support of Israel wanes among younger evangelicals

  by Bob Smietana, posted Monday, December 04, 2017 (4 years ago)

  

  LifeWayResearch.com graphic

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Older American evangelicals love Israel, but many younger evangelicals simply don't care, according to a new survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research.

  Three-quarters (77 percent) of evangelicals 65 and older say they support the existence, security and prosperity of Israel. That drops to 58 percent among younger evangelicals, those 18 to 34.

  Four in 10 younger evangelicals (41 percent) have no strong views about Israel. Read More

• Sierra Baptist splits firewood to build God's kingdom

  by Karen L. Willoughby, posted Monday, December 04, 2017 (4 years ago)

  

  Photo submitted by church.

  PIONEER, Calif. (BP) -- Beetles attacking 150-foot ponderosa pines in the heavily-forested Sierra Nevada mountains provide a ministry opportunity for Sierra Baptist Church, where Eugene "Gene" Overstreet has been pastor for 22 years.

  Downed trees that had died in a matter of weeks from a drought-induced bark beetle infestation caught the eyes of Sierra Baptist men, who saw the potential for ministry. After the infested trees were professionally felled, Sierra Baptist's men cut the timber into 16-inch sections, split the sections into stove-sized firewood, and loaded it on pickup trucks to give to the needy. Read More

• COOPERATIVE PROGRAM: Why we're a cooperating church

  by Curtis Cook, posted Monday, December 04, 2017 (4 years ago)

  When pastor Curtis Cook is asked, "Why do we choose to cooperate as a part of the Southern Baptist Convention?" the SBC's shared theological commitment and its missionary vision are among the reasons he gives. Read More