Wednesday, January 04, 2017

• Former atheist shares how she became a pastor's wife

  by Lonnie Wilkey/Baptist and Reflector, posted Wednesday, January 04, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  Photo by Corinne Williams

  SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Pardon Tiffany Bowen for laughing when the following question was posed to her and a room full of other ministers' wives: "Did you think you would ever marry a minister?"

  During The Good Cup event for ministers' wives, held during the Tennessee Baptist Convention's annual meeting in November, the question served as a reminder to her of God's apparent sense of humor.

  At the time she met her future husband Jason Bowen, now pastor of First Baptist Church, Trenton, Tiffany was a self-professed "atheist, feminist bartender." Read More

• 'What we do for God' most important, pastor says

  by Karen L. Willoughby, posted Wednesday, January 04, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  Submitted photo

  HARRISBURG, Pa. (BP) -- The global missions vision of East Shore Baptist Church radiates outward from Lower Paxton Township in Harrisburg, Pa., with sights set as far as Central Europe's Czech Republic for 2017.

  The missions ripple effect starts with the church's local community and stretches outward past the capital area region of the Pennsylvania/South Jersey Multiplying Church Planting Center Network, to Lebanon, Pa.; Kingston, Jamaica; and the Dominican Republic, with hopes of possibly ministering in the Czech Republic this year, pastor Brian Harrison told Baptist Press. Read More

• Baby burial decision expected Jan. 6

  by Samantha Gobba/WORLD News Service, posted Wednesday, January 04, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  Image: iStock/License purchase required

  AUSTIN, Texas (BP) -- Texas abortion centers can continue disposing of aborted baby body parts in sewer systems and landfills for now, due to a federal judge's ruling.

  A law that was set to go into effect Dec. 19 would have required abortion centers and abortion-providing hospitals to bury or cremate the remains of aborted babies. ... Read More

• Nat'l CP .04% above last year's 1st quarter

  by Staff, posted Wednesday, January 04, 2017 (7 years ago)

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention's portion of the Cooperative Program are .04 percent ahead of the same time frame at the end of 2015 and 3.11 percent under the SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget projection for the year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and CEO Frank S. Page. Read More

• Bapt. missionary fighting Russia anti-evangelism law

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, January 04, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  BOURBONNAIS, Ill. (BP) -- A longtime Baptist missionary convicted under Russia's anti-evangelism law has returned briefly to his Illinois home as lawyers appeal his conviction and challenge the law's constitutionality.

  Donald Ossewaarde was compelled to end his ministry months ago after his arrest under the July 2016 law. He hopes other Baptists might find ways to continue to minister in Russia as his attorneys defend religious freedom in the nation more than 25 years after the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Leading in the need of prayer

  by Nate Adams, posted Wednesday, January 04, 2017 (7 years ago)

  The dawn of a new year is a time for "fresh vision for the future and power for daily living," Nate Adams writes, noting the need for quality prayer that, just like love, takes time as "an expression of my love for God." Read More