Archive for May 2011
Porn's destruction is infiltrating the church
LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, Md. (BP)--Foes of pornography are losing, and an onslaught of sexual attacks likely will result, Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land believes. "We're losing this war. We haven't lost it, but we're losing it," Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said at a conference on porn and [...]
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Joplin church just 'helping people like Jesus would'
JOPLIN, Mo. (BP)--Pastor John Swadley was still huddled in the crawl space under his house when he began forming the plan for Forest Park Baptist Church's response to the tornado. Swadley and his family carried a radio with them as they took cover the night of May 22. The local station [...]
Continue ReadingSBTC's Smith elected Jacksonville College president
JACKSONVILLE—The Jacksonville College Board of Trustees unanimously elected Mike Smith president of the two-year Baptist school during a meeting on May 23 in Jacksonville, according to the website of the Baptist Progress, newsjournal of the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas. Smith serves as the director of minister/church relations for the SBTC. [...]
Continue ReadingSo you want to be a church planter?
Acknowledging the increasing spiritual lostness in the Lone Star State and the evangelistic success of new churches, the SBTC has made the connection and developed ambitious plans to reach Texas for Christ through biblical church planting. A key ingredient to successful church planting, regardless of the model, is the planter himself, [...]
Continue ReadingSBTC church planting process much more than dollars
Judging by the dollars, planting churches is No. 1 on the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s to-do list. It’s the largest line item in the SBTC’s annual in-state budget—that portion of Cooperative Program giving kept for Texas ministry. In 2011, that amount is $1.4 million, plus an additional $400,000 from the [...]
Continue ReadingOffering bread for life renders Bread of Life
FORT WORTH—The book of James instructs Christians not to merely tell naked and hungry people to be warm and well fed; instead, true faith is demonstrated by clothing and feeding them. Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth has done that over the years as it has ministered to the needy [...]
Continue ReadingChurch planting by the numbers
When it comes to counting church plants, one persons dozen may be a bakers dozen to the next guy counting. Although most evangelistic and church planting strategies lead to new converts, not all can rightly be called churches, said Terry Coy, SBTC missions director. Unfortunately for those who track such things at [...]
Continue ReadingWhats wrong with established churches?
One most often-cited and easily demonstrable reason for our denomination’s emphasis on church planting is the contention that new churches reach more lost people per 100 members than do churches over 15 years old. According to Professor J.D. Payne of Southern Seminary, new churches reach more than three times as [...]
Continue ReadingLa Iglesia un Cuerpo Viviente
Cuando hablamos de la iglesia muchas veces pensamos en un edificio o en un local. A través de los siglos en muchos países cuando uno hace referencia a una iglesia siempre se piensa inmediatamente en un templo, una catedral o en una basílica. La verdad es que en la palabra [...]
Continue ReadingRA missions education transferred to WMU
Beginning in September 2012, Texas Southern Baptist churches offering Royal Ambassador (RA) and Challenger programs will no longer be able to order their missions materials through the North American Mission Board. Responsibility for the historic missions education program created for boys in grades 1-12 has been shifted to the Woman’s Missionary [...]
Continue ReadingGov. Perry signs sonogram bill
AUSTIN—Gov. Rick Perry on May 19 signed a bill requiring most women seeking abortions in Texas to undergo a sonogram at least 24 hours prior to the procedure and to hear a description of the baby’s physical features. It passed both chambers of the Texas Legislature on May 5. House Bill [...]
Continue ReadingCriswell College announces full-tuition scholarships for children of IMB missionaries
DALLAS—Full-tuition scholarships are being offered by Criswell College to children of career missionaries employed by the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, according to an announcement May 20 by Jerry A. Johnson, president of the Dallas-based school. "We want to partner with our missionaries by continuing the training they [...]
Continue ReadingBama DR efforts wrap up, recovery ongoing
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—Throughout the month of May, SBTC Disaster Relief volunteers joined Southern Baptists from around the country to assist victims of the F5 tornado that hit Tuscaloosa, Ala., on April 27. The mile-wide tornado tore through neighborhoods, damaging hundreds of homes and taking dozens of lives. As is typical of tornadoes, [...]
Continue ReadingIn Muslim-majority Nazareth, Baptist school nurtures faith
NAZARETH, Israel (BP)--Flat-roofed houses still dot the Nazareth skyline like they did in Jesus' time, but these days they're covered with satellite dishes. A good bit has changed since Jesus grew up in the Galilean city. But one thing rings true across the years: Christ's hometown still needs His peace, said [...]
Continue ReadingNavy reverses course on 'gay marriages'
WASHINGTON (BP)--The U.S. Navy rescinded May 10 its permission for chaplains to perform "same-sex marriage" ceremonies on base when the ban on open homosexuality in the military is lifted. The switch came after members of Congress charged the change in policy violates the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Chief of Chaplains [...]
Continue ReadingNavy reverses course on 'gay marriages'
WASHINGTON (BP)--The U.S. Navy rescinded May 10 its permission for chaplains to perform "same-sex marriage" ceremonies on base when the ban on open homosexuality in the military is lifted. The switch came after members of Congress charged the change in policy violates the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Chief of Chaplains [...]
Continue Reading5th week: China arrests more Christians
BEIJING (BP)--At least 13 members of a Beijing church were arrested Sunday, May 8, in the fifth straight week of its defiance of the Chinese government, which continued to force people out of their homes in an effort to pressure the congregation. One family learned they were being kicked out of [...]
Continue ReadingTwo fine books for pastors
Newspaper editors regularly get copies of new books the authors hope will get some promotion in the state paper. Many just don’t ever make it to the top of my “good intentions” book pile. That’s regrettable. I’d really enjoy providing notification and even reviews of more books that come my [...]
Continue ReadingHow about a state paper?
Twice in my work as a Baptist editor I’ve met someone who wondered aloud if there could be a tool the state convention would offer to tell people what Baptists are doing in their cooperative work. Think of it—some kind of mailing that explains the Cooperative Program and how it [...]
Continue ReadingSonogram bill headed to governor's desk
AUSTIN—A bill requiring most women seeking abortions to undergo a sonogram at least 24 hours prior to the procedure and to hear a description of the baby’s physical features has passed both chambers of the Texas Legislature and awaits the promised signature of Republican Gov. Rick Perry. House Bill 15 would [...]
Continue ReadingSBC 2011: Phoenix Crossover: Phoenix-Tucson corridor
PHOENIX—Tom Elliff believes it’s time to stop talking about the estimated 3,800 unengaged and unreached people groups (UPGs), preferring instead to get the ball rolling this summer at the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting June 14-15 in Phoenix. Although he’s happy the staff of the International Mission Board has developed all [...]
Continue ReadingKay Warren to address ministers wives
PHOENIX—The annual Pastors’ Wives Conference will follow the same theme—“Aspire”—as the Southern Baptist Convention’s Pastors’ Conference. Kay Warren, wife of California pastor Rick Warren, will be the keynote speaker. It is scheduled 8:30-11:45 a.m. Monday, June 13, in the North Ballroom A/B of the Phoenix Convention Center. There is no cost [...]
Continue ReadingCriswell prof promotes true Greek fluency through oral language learning methods
DALLAS—Easter and Christmas pageants in ancient Greek? Texas college students texting each other in the language of Paul’s day? A Chihuahua that obeys the command to sit—when she hears it said the way the apostle Peter would have? This is the not-so-far off world of Daniel Streett, associate professor of Greek [...]
Continue ReadingBoard hears good CP report, hires Hispanic & Ethnic Ministries associate
SAN ANTONIO—Cooperative Program receipts were ahead of budget in the first quarter of 2011 and were $480,777 ahead compared to the same time last year, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Executive Board was told during its April 26 meeting in San Antonio. The board hired a new Hispanic Initiative & [...]
Continue ReadingBible literacy aim of new study
JACKSON, Tenn.—For decades Southern Baptists have mourned biblical illiteracy among children and adults in local churches and more broadly among the general population. Former Texan George Guthrie experienced this frustration firsthand as a Baptist college professor who found incoming freshmen averaging just 57 percent on a basic biblical literacy exam [...]
Continue ReadingBible literacy aim of new study
JACKSON, Tenn.—For decades Southern Baptists have mourned biblical illiteracy among children and adults in local churches and more broadly among the general population. Former Texan George Guthrie experienced this frustration firsthand as a Baptist college professor who found incoming freshmen averaging just 57 percent on a basic biblical literacy exam [...]
Continue ReadingPatriotism and missional contextualization
As we approach the summer there are a couple of patriotic celebrations on the calendar. Memorial Day is at the end of May and Independence Day is in July! On Memorial Day we recognize the sacrifice of those who died in military service for our freedom. The 4th of July [...]
Continue ReadingHouse OKs wide ban on abortion funding
WASHINGTON (BP)--The U.S. House of Representatives passed a government-wide ban on abortion funding in a 251-175 vote May 4. The bill -- the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, H.R. 3 -- would institute a permanent prohibition on federal funds and subsidies for abortion. It would serve to standardize bans on [...]
Continue ReadingBin Laden's death prompts overseas prayer
SOUTH ASIA (BP)--While some Americans danced in the streets and chanted "USA! USA!" in response to Osama bin Laden's death on Sunday, others fell to their knees in prayer. American workers in South Asia prayed for doors to open in the Muslim world to the Gospel with the death of the [...]
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