Thursday, February 05, 2015

• TRUSTEES: LifeWay outlines vision for future

  by Carol Pipes, posted Thursday, February 05, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- LifeWay Christian Resources President and CEO Thom S. Rainer outlined for LifeWay's trustees a vision for the entity's future that includes an organizational restructuring, leadership changes, and a probable relocation.

  "In 2015 we are moving forward in one of the most strategic times of change LifeWay has ever known," Rainer told trustees during Feb. 2-3 meetings in Nashville. Read More

• Ore. bakers' religious liberty 'steamrolled'

  by Tom Strode, posted Thursday, February 05, 2015 (9 years ago)

  "Religious liberty and freedom of conscience are essential for a free church and a free state."

  -- Russell Moore

  GRESHAM, Ore. (BP) -- A judge's verdict against a Christian couple in Oregon has religious liberty advocates counting this as the latest loss in the escalating clash against sexual liberty.

  Administrative Law Judge Alan McCullough ruled that Aaron and Melissa Klein -- owners of a Gresham, Ore., bakery -- unlawfully discriminated against a lesbian couple by declining, based on their religious convictions, the couple's request for a wedding cake. Read More

• Skip 'Fifty Shades,' critics urge

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, February 05, 2015 (9 years ago)

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- The movie "Fifty Shades of Grey" offers no benefit to the Christian life and should be avoided by followers of Christ, said Southern Baptist pastor Jay Dennis, founder of the One Million Men anti-pornography ministry.

  The New York Times best-selling book trilogy, including "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed," was originally marketed primarily to women. But with reportedly 114.4 million people tuned in for the Super Bowl, a trailer for the film aired during the big game Feb. 1. Read More

• AT THE MOVIES: Films difficult to watch

  by Phil Boatwright, posted Thursday, February 05, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  KANSAS CITY, Kan. (BP) -- There are some films difficult to view because of their portrayal of the human condition, or their presentation of man's inhumanity to man. Most of us seek escape from the realities of life whenever we venture into a movie theater. Indeed, that's the main duty of the cinema, to entertain us.

  Occasionally a film can open our eyes to injustice and offer solutions to correct such wrongs. There isn't a single film on the following list I wanted to see, due to their subject matter or some imagery I knew would upset or unnerve me. Read More

• Minister pleads innocent to wife's murder

  by Staff, posted Thursday, February 05, 2015 (9 years ago)

  BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- A former church staff member accused of murdering his wife entered a not guilty plea in a mid-January hearing.

  Richard Shahan, 53, entered the plea in a Jefferson County circuit court in Birmingham, Ala. Reports of the Jan. 16 hearing were carried in such media as the New York Daily News and People magazine's website. Read More

• Bible Study: February 8, 2015

  by Staff/LifeWay Christian Resources, posted Thursday, February 05, 2015 (9 years ago)

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, LifeWay publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.

  This week's Bible study is adapted from the Bible Studies For Life curriculum. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Urban bivocational ministry

  by Terry Dorsett, posted Thursday, February 05, 2015 (9 years ago)

  HARTFORD, Conn. (BP) -- Bivocational ministers are key to urban outreach, Connecticut Baptist leader Terry Dorsett writes. “We need to shake off the stereotype that this is just a rural phenomenon. … These pastors are part of the team that can reach urban areas effectively,” Dorsett writes, posing the question, “Will we let them have a seat at the table?” Read More