Archive for July 2010
Denominational leader Avery Willis remembered for missionary heart
BELLA VISTA, Ark.?"Feed the sheep, guide them through the rough places and lead the lost ones to Christ." That was the commitment Avery Willis shared in 1960 with the second Texas church he pastored. It remained his legacy through those early years of ministry while a student at Southwestern Baptist [...]
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Our man in Richmond
If our convention's continued existence can be justified, our mission boards must be exemplars of efficiency, vision, and effectiveness. Sure, we have 10 other agencies but denominationally, they undergird our Great Commission work or we don't need them to the degree we have them. Our North American and International mission [...]
Continue ReadingIndependence brings new era at Criswell College
DALLAS?August 1will markthe beginning of a new era at Criswell College, according to the parties involved in navigating the school's independence from First Baptist Church of Dallas where former pastor W.A. Criswell launched a Bible institute 40 years ago that he said would be "based on conservative evangelical Christianity as [...]
Continue ReadingDR volunteers serve displaced families in Rio Bravo
RIO BRAVO--The young mother braved difficult circumstances and gave birth to a baby girl right around the time a tropical storm overflowed the waters of the Rio Grande, engulfing her home in its currents. Her family, left without a home, food, water or even shoes, now has a new [...]
Continue ReadingFCC law changes affect churches nationwide
Are the wireless microphones in your church legal? Recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rulings banned the use of wireless microphone systems operating in the 700-megahertz (MHz) band; enforcement of new laws began June 12, when the regulation took effect. The law applies to all wireless equipment users such as schools and churches, [...]
Continue ReadingLAND ISSUES: A tale of two churches
Location, location, location. Real estate agents tout it, but for Memorial Baptist Church in Spring and University Baptist Church in San Antonio, their locations presented distinct problems. Memorial was surrounded by a changing neighborhood it wasn't able to reach and University owned acres of land it could neither use nor sell, [...]
Continue ReadingTexas student ministers in S. Africa during World Cup
GRAND PRAIRIE?The World Cup of Soccer is over, and the vuvuzelas?those horns some found insufferable?are silent. But for some youngsters in Kayamandi, a township outside of Capetown, South Africa, the ministry of Daniel Thomae will resound for a long time, even for eternity. Thomae (pronounced Tommy) spent almost three weeks in [...]
Continue ReadingSBTC offers facilities consultation
"If you build it, they will come." Many churches operate by this motto, believing that once construction is complete, the work is done. However, operating a facility and using it to its fullest potential is an ongoing task, requiring churches to consider multiple factors over the years, such as building [...]
Continue ReadingWar is better than?
In 1983, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to observe a day of prayer for world peace on the first Sunday of August beginning the next year. That day corresponds to the nearest Sunday to the anniversary of the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945?the first and [...]
Continue ReadingThe GCR and the SBTC
The dust has settled from the June annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention held in Orlando. Messengers overwhelmingly approved the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force Report. What does this mean for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention? There are several components that directly impact the ministry of our churches in [...]
Continue ReadingBible drillers excel in nationals
DALLAS?Three SBTC Bible Drill finalists were among 20 students from nine states who competed in the eighth National Invitational Bible Drill Competition in Dallas in June. Sisters Clara and Hannah Boyett from Tanglewood Baptist Church in Jasper both earned a perfect score in the Bible drill competition, joining nine others [...]
Continue ReadingVBS children collect 150k pennies
ST. AUGUSTINE?Liberty Hill Baptist Church hadn't had a Vacation Bible School in some time when Frank Holrath came as pastor nine years ago. Since then, the church has taken on VBS with an added twist: Penny wars. No one gets hurt in this girls vs. boys contest; the respective groups compete [...]
Continue ReadingFlood transforms mission for Arlington volunteers
In a matter of hours, the river rose. Homes vanished, swept away by the swirling floodwaters. Roads and bridges flooded, making them completely impassable. The mission team from The Church on Rush Creek in Arlington watched and prayed for the families who had just lost everything. The team was stranded, [...]
Continue ReadingMen's event draws harvest
TYLER?It was a milestone for Harvest Ministries and evangelist Jay Lowder, an accomplished outdoorsman whose hunting prowess has placed him on the cover of ESPN Outdoors magazine. But his satisfaction in duck hunting and other outdoor sports doesn't belong in the same category as the joy of seeing 234 men [...]
Continue ReadingNew Criswell counseling prof: Christ is key
DALLAS?Since his youth, David Livingstone Henderson desired to become a physician. All the while God was developing in him a deep passion for imparting the spiritually and emotionally healing truth of the gospel. During his psychiatric rotation of medical school, God told him, "You can do both." Now holding Criswell College's [...]
Continue ReadingCriswell offering distance learning
DALLAS?Recognizing the need to train Christian leaders in different settings, Criswell College is offering a new distance learning program this fall, giving students the opportunity to receive a quality education away from Criswell's Dallas campus. Under the direction of Barry Creamer, recently named dean of distance education, the program will offer [...]
Continue ReadingAmid floods, Living Water found in Monterrey
BROWNSVILLE?Disaster relief volunteers from First Baptist Church of Brownsville delivered 9,000 gallons of drinking water labeled with the gospel message into regions of northeastern Mexico flooded by rains from Hurricane Alex, resulting in dozens of salvations decisions. Steve Dorman, pastor of First Baptist Church of Brownsville, said all 9,000 gallons [...]
Continue ReadingDR teams, BGR responding to Mexico floods
BROWNSVILLE?Disaster relief volunteers from First Baptist Church of Brownsville were loading 9,000 gallons of drinking water labeled with the gospel message for distribution across the border into regions of northeastern Mexico flooded by rains from Hurricane Alex. Meanwhile, those living along the Rio Grande in Texas and northern Mexico were [...]
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