Tuesday, January 20, 2015

• Floyd on Fox: America must 'return to God'

  by David Roach, posted Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- As Americans focus on President Obama's State of the Union address, they should also consider the spiritual state of the Union, Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd said during an appearance on the Fox News Channel Jan. 20.

  "I believe it's time that the faith leaders of our country stand up and encourage our country to return to God," Floyd said via Skype on Fox's "The Real Story." "This country was based off of a strong Christian faith many, many years ago, and it's time that we understand that no longer can we check our faith at the door like a piece of luggage." Read More

• Court upholds inmate's religious liberty

  by Tom Strode, posted Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (9 years ago)

  "Religious liberty isn't a prize earned by those with the most political clout."

  -- Russell Moore

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously delivered a victory for the religious liberty of prison inmates Tuesday (Jan. 20).

  The justices ruled the Arkansas Department of Corrections violated the religious free exercise of a Muslim prisoner by prohibiting him from growing a beard in order to practice his beliefs. The high court found the prison system failed to abide by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a 2000 federal law. Read More

• GGBTS announces site of new N. Calif. campus

  by Staff, posted Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (9 years ago)

  MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) -- Following the relocation of its main campus to Southern California, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary will retain a presence in the San Francisco Bay area by opening a new campus in Fremont, Calif., on land donated by a local congregation that is moving to a house church ministry model.

  The new campus will be situated just north of San Jose about 50 miles southeast of the present Mill Valley campus. Read More

• Ergun Caner steps down as Brewton-Parker president

  by Joe Westbury/The Christian Index, posted Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  MOUNT VERNON (BP) -- Citing his ongoing brokenness following the suicide of his teenage son in July, Brewton-Parker College President Ergun Caner resigned Jan. 20 to return to Texas.

  Caner's family had never moved to the South Georgia town where the college is located since he accepted the presidency on Dec. 2, 2013. Caner cited his November heart catheterization as being linked to the stress of losing his son in the midst of a grueling yet ultimately successful reaccreditation process with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Read More

• Reports: Nigeria too unstable for election

  by Diana Chandler, posted Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  BAGA, Nigeria (BP) –- Boko Haram's January attack on Baga and its sustained control of several towns in northeastern Nigeria make credible February presidential elections impossible, Nigeria relations expert Adeniyi Ojutiku told Baptist Press.

  "There is no way there can be … free, fair and credible elections while Nigeria is engaged in war against terror, because people cannot feel free to be able to cast their ballot," Ojutiku said after Boko Haram's January attack on Baga and surrounding towns that killed about 2,000 and displaced 30,000 more. Read More

• Missions in postmodern culture WMU focus

  by Julie Walters, posted Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (9 years ago)

  TALLADEGA, Ala. (BP) -- Equipping leaders, preparing children for missional living and focusing on small church ministries will be Woman's Missionary Union priorities through 2018, WMU Executive Director Wanda S. Lee announced at the group's 2015 board meeting.

  The national WMU "will focus on equipping for missional living in as many different formats and avenues as possible," Lee said, outlining leadership development and training opportunities planned the current fiscal year. Read More

• Ark. church explores partnering with Ivorian believers

  by Elaine Gaston, posted Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (BP) -- Rain hits the metal church roof as a visiting team of volunteers watches and learns. "I would like to tell you a story," begins Mike McAfee, an International Mission Board urban church planter in Abidjan. Next to him, Bakary Bamba, a former Muslim, translates sentence-by-sentence into the rich tones of West African French.

  "The story is true," McAfee says. "We know this story is true because it comes from God's Word. The story starts with God. In the beginning, there was nothing but God." Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: The Spiritual State of the Union

  by Ronnie Floyd, posted Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (9 years ago)

  SPRINGDALE, Ark. (BP) -- This is the State of the Union season, where our president will address the nation, governors will address their respective states, and mayors will address their respective cities. They will unveil their dreams for today and hopes for tomorrow.

  Questions worth asking Read More