Archive for June 2011
Church van tragedy stirs upcoming revival
OAK GROVE, La. (BP)--Five people killed in a church van crash June 22 all had made professions of faith within the last 18 months, said Greg Dunn, a pastor in Oak Grove, La. Providentially, Dunn added, the 50 or more churches of several denominations in West Carroll Parish began planning for [...]
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Laredo: 727 new Christians, 4 new churches
LAREDO, Texas (BP)--Many times in the darkest and most dangerous places the light of the Gospel shines even brighter. Such is the case in Laredo, Texas, stemming from the "GPS 2020" evangelism and church planting initiative of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The darkness and danger are readily apparent in [...]
Continue ReadingTexas disaster relief volunteers endure quake
ISHINOMAKI, Japan A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck at 6:51 a.m. June 23 off the northeast coast of Japan, rattling not only the communities devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami but also a nine-member Southern Baptists of Texas Convention disaster relief team. The crew is divided and serving in [...]
Continue ReadingGay leaders meet with SBC president
PHOENIXA coalition of homosexual leaders and their allies met for more than 30 minutes June 15 with Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright, with the leaders demanding an apology from the SBC and Wright refusing to budge, saying that Scripture is clear on the issue. The remarkable meetingcordial the entire timetook [...]
Continue ReadingMission board leaders: Reach the unreached peoples
PHOENIX—In their first reports to the Southern Baptist Convention, mission board leaders challenged Southern Baptist churches to take steps toward reaching previously unengaged people in population centers of North America and even the remote areas around the world. Hundreds of people made a public commitment at the closing session of the [...]
Continue ReadingEzell: new day for church planting
PHOENIX—Missionaries and chaplains, a U.S. Army general, a barber, two tornado victims and a redeemed young man mirrored the work of the North American Mission Board during its report to messengers June 14 at the 2011 SBC annual meeting. “Knowing there are 318 million people in North America who need to [...]
Continue Reading1%, Page says, would boost CP by $100M
PHOENIX—A pastor, a seminary student and Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, delivered a challenge for renewed commitment to unified ministry through the SBC’s Cooperative Program. The pastor and seminary student were part of the Executive Committee report to the SBC annual meeting in which Page urged [...]
Continue ReadingCriswell students find divine appointments in Phoenix
PHOENIX—Criswell College student Esther Jeong’s eyes teared up as she talked about her stay in Maricopa, Ariz., a growing desert community 45 minutes south of Phoenix. A South Korean native and single mother of two college students, Jeong clearly saw God’s plan for her to stay with her host family [...]
Continue ReadingKay Warren recounts lessons in suffering
PHOENIX—When suffering came into her life, Kay Warren’s natural response was to view it as an enemy she needed to fight and push away. “I want it gone and I want it gone now,” she told the Pastors’ Wives Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Pastors’ Conference June 13. Warren began [...]
Continue ReadingWright calls for unity in SBCs new era
PHOENIX—Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright broke with tradition following his re-election to a second term June 14 as he asked SBC entity leaders Frank Page, Kevin Ezell and Tom Elliff to join him in the customary president’s news conference. Wright thanked “the people of the convention who felt led for [...]
Continue ReadingSouthern Baptists vote historic ethnic measure
PHOENIXSensitive to the need for greater diversity in leadership and increased participation of ethnics, the Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly June 14 to ask for greater accountability regarding their involvement in SBC life. During a news conference after the vote, Paul Kim, pastor emeritus of Antioch Baptist Church in Cambridge, Mass., [...]
Continue ReadingTexans prominent at SBC Pastors Conference
PHOENIX—Texans were prominent on the platform of the 2011 SBC Pastors’ Conference, with Houston’s Greg Matte, Frisco’s Afshin Ziafat and Keller’s Bob Roberts among the preachers addressing the conference under the theme “Aspire: Yearning to Join God’s Kingdom Activity.” Grant Ethridge, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton, Va., was elected [...]
Continue ReadingMessengers offer 17 motions at SBC
PHOENIX—Messengers offered 17 motions during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix, June 14-15. All but one of the motions, however, were referred to SBC entities or ruled out of order during the subsequent business sessions of the convention. The remaining motion was referred by messengers for a vote [...]
Continue ReadingNew CP Resource debuted at SBC meeting
Attendees of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix quickly realized there were many things new this year. New executive leadership represented the SBC Executive Committee, North American Mission Board, and the International Mission Board. Along with new leadership, the NAMB shared an overview of their new strategy to [...]
Continue ReadingAnother theological crisis?
Are we who affirm biblical orthodoxy on the brink of a theological crisis that will change everything, similar to the Copernican revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries? Some scholars think so. Here’s some minimal background. Copernicus was a physicist of the 16th century who developed a theory that the earth [...]
Continue ReadingPartnership brings seminary education to Texas prisoners
DARRINGTON MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON UNIT, NEAR ROSHARON, Texas—Through an unusual partnership, 40 long-term inmates at the Darrington maximum-security prison unit are now receiving pastoral seminary training behind bars. The new program, open to any inmate meeting the academic standards to enter college and given clearance by the state, is being funded [...]
Continue ReadingTexans, by way of Vietnam, proclaim gospel to villagers on Cambodian lake
ON THE TONLE SAP LAKE, Cambodia—For a moment, Josh Nguyen thought he was back in Vietnam. Rubbing the wooden floor of a floating home in this remote village on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, the 44-year-old physician from Houston remembered the country he left as a refugee in 1975. Nguyen joined a [...]
Continue ReadingSouthern Baptists vote historic ethnic measure
PHOENIXSensitive to the need for greater diversity in leadership and increased participation of ethnics, the Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly June 14 to ask for greater accountability regarding their involvement in SBC life. During a news conference after the vote, Paul Kim, pastor emeritus of Antioch Baptist Church in Cambridge, Mass., [...]
Continue ReadingCrossover brings 'Living Water' to Arizona desert
PHOENIXEven as scorching temperatures bumped 102 degrees in Arizona's Urban Corridor, Southern Baptists mobilized in Crossover 2011 to bring the Living Water to people throughout the region's parched deserts. Some 5.2 million people live and work in the corridor, which stretches from the Phoenix metro area down to Case Grande and [...]
Continue ReadingChurch Positions
Northside Baptist Church, Texas City, seeks experienced FT Pastor. Send resume to northsidebaptist@comcast.net or Northside Baptist Church, P. O. Box 367, Texas City, TX 77592. Bullard Southern Baptist is seeking a full time senior pastor. BSBC is a growing, mission minded body of believers located in Bullard, TX. Mail resumes to [...]
Continue ReadingBus ministry in Longview adapted to the times
LONGVIEW—John Wallingford knows a good missions outreach when he sees it. As missions minister at Macedonia Baptist Church in Longview, Wallingford has led mission teams to Burkina Faso, sharing the gospel through storytelling. However, he didn’t have to go far to find another unreached people group—children in Longview without a [...]
Continue ReadingSouthern Baptist leaders respond to Lottie Moon shortfall
RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Southern Baptist leaders are reacting to the news of the $145.6 million given through the 2010 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering with a mixture of gratefulness and hope for even greater sacrifice for the sake of sharing the Gospel. The offering is $3 million less than the $148.9 million Southern [...]
Continue ReadingMinistry couple hosts R&R for fellow ministers
TARPLEY—Situated at the southern edge of the Texas Hill Country, and just a few miles from Utopia, there is a 400-acre ranch where missionaries and ministers can retreat with no agenda other than relaxation and restoration. Individuals, families, and smaller church staffs are welcome to enjoy lodging in the four [...]
Continue ReadingMinistry couple hosts R&R for fellow ministers
TARPLEY—Situated at the southern edge of the Texas Hill Country, and just a few miles from Utopia, there is a 400-acre ranch where missionaries and ministers can retreat with no agenda other than relaxation and restoration. Individuals, families, and smaller church staffs are welcome to enjoy lodging in the four [...]
Continue ReadingBible Driller with extra challenge excels at state
KELLER—Because Tyler Siedell was born missing three and a half fingers on his left hand, you might expect him to have trouble flipping through Scripture quickly in a Bible Drill competition. But physical challenge was no obstacle for this 11-year-old. Siedell, who just completed fifth grade, achieved a rating of “excellent” at [...]
Continue ReadingAmid scandals, 5 questions to ask yourself
Salacious scandals seem to be everywhere. Recently it became public that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a child by his housekeeper. The despicable case of New York Congressman Anthony Weiner sending self-made pornographic images to women became a leading news story. Sports legends like Brett Favre and Tiger Woods had [...]
Continue ReadingThey know where you work: 'gay marriage' supporters target employers, employees
WASHINGTON (BP)--Peter Vidmar seemed like the perfect choice to serve as the Chief of Mission for next year's Olympics in London. A corporate motivational speaker and former Olympic champion, Vidmar since 2008 has been chairman of USA Gymnastics. Yet while he was offered and accepted the post, come summer 2012, [...]
Continue ReadingVBS 2012 to have aviation theme
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--"Amazing Wonders Aviation: Encountering God's Awesome Power" will be the 2012 Vacation Bible School theme for LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. A LifeWay news release June 6 noted: "Think vintage aviation from the 1930s and 40s: biplanes and bomber jackets. "Children, students and adult VBS participants will fly [...]
Continue ReadingEthnic leaders' summit: 'different ships, same boat'
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--"We all came over on different ships, but now we're all in the same boat." That's what Chris McNairy, a leader on the North American Mission Board's multiethnic mobilization team, told about 40 pastors and leaders at the 2011 Ethnic Leadership Summit at NAMB's offices in Alpharetta, Ga. Twenty-seven Southern [...]
Continue ReadingObama gay pride month proclamation ignores the 'real persecution,' SBC leader says
WASHINGTON (BP)--For the third straight year, President Obama has issued a proclamation naming June "Lesbian Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month," a statement that one evangelical leader says alienates those who have chosen to leave homosexuality. The statement for the first time declares that "history is on our side," but other [...]
Continue ReadingCP: 1.92% below previous year's pace
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Year-to-date contributions to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee are 1.92 percent below the same time frame last year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Page. The total includes receipts from [...]
Continue ReadingRETROACTIVE GIVING: 'I just wept' for years of indifference
LONGVIEW, Texas (BP)--Ten minutes. That's all it took for God to thaw a 10-year freeze that left LeRoy Williamson with a stone-cold heart for the lost. The 59-year-old Texas banker hadn't given a penny to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions -- or any other missions endeavor -- in [...]
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