Archive for February 2009
Nominalism threatens Christian liberty, WORLD magazine founder says
HORSESHOE BAY, Texas ? Nothing catalyzes Americans to action more than the violation of personal, physical freedom, said WORLD magazine founder Joel Belz, speaking during the 2009 Association of State Baptist Papers fellowship in Horseshoe Bay, Feb. 10-13. Describing Western culture's captivation with civil liberties, Belz warned against a grosser [...]
Continue Reading
Baptist editors urged to remain truth-tellers
HORSESHOE BAY, Texas ? Baptist editors were urged to remain faithful to their calling as truth-tellers for Southern Baptists during the 2009 Association of State Baptist Papers fellowship in Horseshoe Bay, Feb. 10-13. The meeting was hosted by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Keynote speaker and founder of WORLD magazine, [...]
Continue ReadingEvangelism Conference draws large crowds
EULESS?The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention's Empower Evangelism Conference, held Feb. 16-18 at First Baptist Church of Euless, drew large crowds to hear country/bluegrass musician Ricky Skaggs and his Kentucky Thunder band and preachers such as Jerry Vines, Will Graham, Lee Strobel and Jonathan Falwell. Actor Clyde Annandale performed between [...]
Continue ReadingIke-damaged church flourishes with help from Virginians
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. (Isaiah 43:2a) SAN LEON?In the middle of this storm-ravaged community still struggling to overcome the devastation of Hurricane Ike stands a lighthouse. And the beacon of San Leon Community Church [...]
Continue ReadingANNIE ARMSTRONG EASTER OFFERING: Willie and Ozzie Jacobs share Christ in Memphis Delta regions
MEMPHIS, Tenn.?Six people were found shot and stabbed to death in a mass murder in Memphis' dangerous Binghamton neighborhood. Three children who survived the attack were hospitalized in critical condition. And before the dead bodies were cold, yet another shooting and robbery took place in the same gang- and drug-plagued Binghamton [...]
Continue ReadingSBTC Disaster Relief clears debris in Ark.
HARRISON, Ark.?SBTC Disaster Relief (DR) chainsaw volunteers cleared debris for Arkansas families affected by the ice storm that hit Jan. 27-28 across the mid-South and Midwest. Paul Morrow, an SBTC chainsaw team supervisor from Forest Home Baptist Church in Kilgore, who along with his wife, Billie Sue, traveled to Harrison, [...]
Continue ReadingSBTC offers financial guidance for churches, members
GRAPEVINE?For churches and individuals struggling with debt and other financial needs in the current economic climate, the SBTC offers written and personal assistance. The convention's Church Ministries department is the primary provider of financial consultation. Bob Eklund of Eklund Stewardship Ministries serves as the SBTC's financial ministry consultant. Eklund [...]
Continue ReadingMalakoff church donates pews for damaged church at providential time
GALVESTON?Hurricane Ike took its toll on Cove Baptist Church in Orange last September, with the church sitting in the epicenter of the storm. So when the First Baptist Church in the East Texas town of Malakoff saw fit to donate its church pews to Cove Baptist, its gift was well [...]
Continue ReadingDo something to get the gospel out
The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Empower Evangelism Conference is a major emphasis each year. The conference is a time of refreshment and refocus?a time to get our hearts prepared to do the work of an evangelist. Don Cass, your SBTC director of evangelism, and the team that works with [...]
Continue ReadingKeep an eye on first things
A co-worker from long ago had a Yogi Berra moment in staff meeting and said, "We've got to have some priorities and some of them need to be first." The rest of us eventually understood what he meant. It's one of the biggest challenges of any life to do [...]
Continue ReadingTips for a tough economy
Investment managers commonly say "past performance is no guarantee of future returns." This statement has never been truer than in today's economic environment. Though investment managers say "past performance is no guarantee of future returns," ironically they use past performance from normal market conditions to assist in their current investment [...]
Continue ReadingCollege Station team ministers in Uganda
A six-person missions team from Central Baptist Church in College Station ventured to the AIDS-ravaged country of Uganda late last year to assess needs for future work, with plans to return this summer. In Uganda, with 31 million people in an area the size of Oregon, medical supplies and [...]
Continue ReadingWomen leaders consultation at SWBTS draws across generations
FORT WORTH?In 1990, a small group of women were invited to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for the first Women's Leadership Consultation (WLC). Current Southwestern first lady Dorothy Patterson was part of this initial group of women who had a shared commitment to equip women for kingdom ministries. This one-time [...]
Continue ReadingRegional Evangelical Theological Society meeting returning to Criswell in March
DALLAS?Alvin Plantinga will lecture during the Southwest Regional Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society March 26-28 at Criswell College, 4010 Gaston Ave., Dallas, 75246. The lectures will also serve as the 2009 Criswell Theological Lectures. The theme will be "Religion and Science." "The content will be philosophical and theological in [...]
Continue ReadingHouston pastors protest massive abortion clinic
HOUSTON?A diverse group of pastors gathered on the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision to condemn renovation of a six-story Houston building into what they described as "the largest abortion clinic in the world." Some of those same pro-life advocates days later questioned the Houston City Council about [...]
Continue ReadingDebate over Texas science standards continues
AUSTIN, Texas?Those on both sides of a debate over science instruction in Texas public schools are calling the latest in a series of meetings by the Texas State Board of Education a mix of success and failure. The state board, in meetings Jan. 21-23 to revise state science standards, voted [...]
Continue ReadingConference encourages women toward team- and church-oriented women's ministry
NEW BRAUNFELS?More than 420 women filled First Baptist Church of New Braunfels to capacity Jan. 23-24 for an SBTC Women's Ministry Forum designed to equip them for ministry in their local churches and encourage them spiritually. The women were divided among 10 two-hour learning labs, where common themes emerged as [...]
Continue ReadingPro-Life Lobby Day Feb. 24 in Austin
AUSTIN?Pro-Life Lobby Day is planned for Feb. 24 at the Capitol Auditorium in Austin with special guests such as Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Attorney General Greg Abbott. The event, with the theme "2 Heartbeats," is sponsored by such groups as Texans for Life Coalition, Concerned Women [...]
Continue ReadingNew SBTC field strategy aims at high-touch service
The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention is employing a new strategy it hopes will strengthen its service to churches, pastors and associational leaders. The new field ministry strategists will relate to churches in assigned areas of Texas, which SBTC Facilitating Ministries Director Tom Campbell said would help give the SBTC [...]
Continue ReadingThe SBTC's '09 legislative agenda
As the 81st Texas Legislature gets underway, important deliberations affecting Texas families will take place every day. While most news stories and politicians will focus on pragmatic issues such as taxation, a variety of moral issues will also arise. Moral issues have a practical aspect, to be sure. That [...]
Continue ReadingLet free scientific inquiry prevail in classrooms
Leave it to the "experts" instead of "scientifically illiterate" elected officials to decide what constitutes legitimate science education for your kids. That's the message the New York Times editorial board and Darwinist advocacy groups want recorded as the moral of the story after the Texas State Board of Education last [...]
Continue ReadingSermon-based small groups foster effective discipleship, speaker says
Pastors and church leaders attending a small groups seminar at the SBTC offices in Grapevine on Jan. 13 were encouraged to reinforce expository preaching with sermon-based small groups. Presenter Alan Stoddard, executive pastor at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington who is doing doctoral research on sermon-based small group (SBSG) ministry, [...]
Continue ReadingFt. Worth couple advocates adoption in words, deed
FORT WORTH?Just mentioning the word "adoption" causes John Mark Yeats' eyes to light up. Yeats, assistant professor of church history at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, not only has four adopted children, but he and his wife, Angie, counsel potential adoptive parents and advocate adoption wherever they can. The idea of [...]
Continue ReadingFIRST PERSON: Infertility journey was worth it
NASHVILLE, Tenn.?My 11-month-old son Graham is saying "da-da" now. Actually, it's more like "da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da," and he rarely says it when looking at me, but I'm not complaining. I'm just enjoying the moment. He says it when he's going to sleep, when he's waking up, when he's playing. I'm not even sure [...]
Continue Reading
