Tuesday, March 02, 1999

• SBC Cooperative Program down for month; year up

  by , posted Tuesday, March 02, 1999 (25 years ago)

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program receipts for February were down slightly compared to a year ago while the year-to-date total remains ahead of the similar period a year ago, according to Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the SBC Executive Committee.

  For February 1999, CP receipts totaled $13,969,070 compared to February 1998 of $14,072,308, a decrease of .75 percent or $105,237.

  For the SBC fiscal year, after five months, CP g... Read More

• Annuity Board posts record in benefits paid during 1998

  by Curtis D. Sharp, posted Tuesday, March 02, 1999 (25 years ago)

  DALLAS (BP)--A 10 percent permanent increase in benefits on Jan. 1, 1998, for most annuitants, and 2,906 newly established benefits, resulted in a record for total benefits paid last year by the Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, trustees were informed during their March 1-2 meeting in Dallas.

  President O. S. Hawkins said, "… we have closed the 81st year of the Annuity Board operations with thanksgiving for significant accomplishments."

  A strong fourth quarter in finan... Read More

• Covenant marriage law won’t reduce divorce rate ‘overnight̵

  by Tom Strode, posted Tuesday, March 02, 1999 (25 years ago)

  AUSTIN, Texas (BP)--Most couples in Louisiana did not choose covenant marriage in the first 18 months after his precedent-making legislation was adopted, but Tony Perkins said he is "not looking for quick results" in "turning our nation back to one of commitment."

  Perkins, a first-term member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and the author of the country's first covenant marriage law, spoke in the opening session of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's annual ... Read More

• Loving Christian family greatest tool to bring people to Christ, Trent says

  by , posted Tuesday, March 02, 1999 (25 years ago)

  AUSTIN, Texas (BP)--The church's most important evangelistic tool in this day is "a distinctively Christian home that loves Jesus Christ," popular author and speaker John Trent said March 1 at the annual conference of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

  Trent, coauthor with Gary Smalley of such award-winning books as “The Blessing” and “The Language of Love,” told how his mother and both brothers received salvation "because one family said, 'I'm... Read More

• Most Americans believe life support should not be denied, survey shows

  by , posted Tuesday, March 02, 1999 (25 years ago)

  WASHINGTON (BP)--About eight in 10 Americans believe a doctor should not be able to withhold life support against the wishes of a patient or the patient's family, according to a recent poll.

  A Wirthlin Worldwide survey announced in late February showed 79 percent of adults think a family should be able to choose life support for an unconscious patient even when a physician believes the patient's quality of life does not warrant such action. In the same poll, 85 percent of respondents said lif... Read More

• Teen girls’ self-image needs more than just ‘You go, girl!̵

  by Art Toalston, posted Tuesday, March 02, 1999 (25 years ago)

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--With Madonna, Mariah Carey and Ally McBeal seen as today’s “new feminists,” teenage girls need the “vital role” church youth groups can exert in developing their self-worth.

  Pointers for nurturing teenage girls’ self-worth are relayed in an article in Youth Ministry Update, April 1999, published by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

  The writer is Susan West Richardson, a high school media and theater te... Read More

• Inner-city minister cites his life to show how God redeems ‘junk̵

  by Cory J. Hailey, posted Tuesday, March 02, 1999 (25 years ago)

  FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--God is in the recycling business, taking people who might be considered "junk" by others and using them to accomplish his will, the leader of an inner-city ministry said at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Feb. 23.

  "God loves taking junk and incorporating it into his will," said Tom Mahairas, director of the New York ministry City Vision. "He loves taking the most bizarre situation and showing his grace."

  Mahairas, speaking in chapel at the Fort Worth, Texa... Read More

• 48-hour ‘Urban Plunge’ pushes students ‘to look need in t

  by Jason Skinner, posted Tuesday, March 02, 1999 (25 years ago)

  MOBILE, Ala. (BP)--According to Webster, plunge means: "To thrust or cast oneself quickly and forcibly into something."

  That's a fitting description for what a group of University of Mobile students experienced as they took part in UM's first-ever “Urban Plunge.”

  Taking the plunge were almost 70 collegians and leaders who traveled to five cities in five different states for a 48-hour inner-city missions experience.

  The five groups, made up of about 13 members each, traveled ... Read More

• Man with unique name, passion for discipleship joins college staff

  by Jason Skinner, posted Tuesday, March 02, 1999 (25 years ago)

  MOBILE, Ala. (BP)--When a college seeks our that perfect person to head its Baptist Campus Ministries, direct its Fellowship of Christian Athletes and lead its chapel programs, who better to take responsibility than a man named Moses?

  The University of Mobile, however, not only recruited a Moses but also a Caesar -- Moses Caesar, that is -- as the school’s director of spiritual development.

  “I consider myself an enabler,” said the 32-year-old native of Bangalore, India, w... Read More