Tuesday, March 09, 1999

• No illness reported by employees after ‘anthrax scare’ at SBC o

  by Art Toalston, posted Tuesday, March 09, 1999 (25 years ago)

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--No illness was reported by employees as the Southern Baptist Convention Building reopened March 9 after a suspicious letter opened March 5 prompted a number of precautionary steps by Nashville, Tenn., emergency officials.

  Four employees of the SBC Executive Committee and a fire department captain underwent a decontamination wash of 10-percent Clorox and water, in addition to being given antibiotics, for possible exposure to deadly anthrax bacteria. The SBC Building was ... Read More

• Teacher-author Beth Moore urges missions workers to a deeper walk

  by Mary E. Speidel, posted Tuesday, March 09, 1999 (25 years ago)

  RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Seated in a waiting area at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, Beth Moore fixed her gaze on her open Bible as she memorized a Scripture passage.

  Like the other travelers around her, Moore, a popular Bible study teacher and author from Houston, tried not to stare at an elderly man slumped in a wheelchair nearby. His matted gray hair flowed down his back. His fingernails were overgrown. His clothes hung loosely from his emaciated frame.

  As Moore studied her Bible, she felt th... Read More

• Helps for women’s ministries relayed in 7th annual consultation

  by Kelly Coakley, posted Tuesday, March 09, 1999 (25 years ago)

  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Women from 11 states attended the seventh annual Women’s Leadership Consultation for people working in women’s ministries and encouragement for today’s Christian women.

  “Are you tired or are you weary?” noted author and speaker Dorothy Patterson asked as she kicked off this year’s conference, focusing on “Encouraged and Equipped for the Task” and drawing 180 women to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.,... Read More

• Landgrave overcomes serious injury to finish gospel-based musical drama

  by Steve Smartt, posted Tuesday, March 09, 1999 (25 years ago)

  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Philip Landgrave usually walks off the tennis court after a match. Last Jan. 15, paramedics carried him off. The professor of church music at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., slipped and hit his head on the floor, fracturing his skull.

  Landgrave’s injury left him unconscious for three days. Doctors considered his condition grave, so they instructed his wife to “call in the family.” Family members were told to prepare for the wor... Read More

• Baptist presence made official at Church of God university

  by Lonnie Wilkey, posted Tuesday, March 09, 1999 (25 years ago)

  CLEVELAND, Tenn. (BP)--Persistence finally paid off for Steve Roper, a collegiate ministries specialist with the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

  For about a decade, Roper, campus minister at Cleveland (Tenn.) State Community College, saw the need for an official Baptist work on the campus of Lee University, the only institution of higher education owned by the Church of God denomination based in Cleveland, Tenn.

  “I was convinced there was a need to develop a community to Baptist studen... Read More

• Missions a joke to most Christians, speaker laments at student conference

  by Cindy Kerr, posted Tuesday, March 09, 1999 (25 years ago)

  FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--World missions is insignificant to most Christians because they are reading only half of the Bible, Bob Sjogren told 300 students at Mpact 99, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s annual student missions conference Feb. 26-28.

  “To the average person on the pew, missions are a joke,” Sjogren said. “The average Christian can think of eight verses of the 8,000 in the New Testament that focus on God’s global purpose. Missions has at bes... Read More

• To reach into Generation X culture, he urges innovation, understanding

  by Matt Sanders, posted Tuesday, March 09, 1999 (25 years ago)

  FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--They speak a foreign language, dress exotically, have odd eating habits and participate in strange tribal customs, including piercing and coloring their bodies.

  And they are as close as the bedroom down the hall, the neighborhood high school or nearby college or the local shopping mall.

  They are disgusted with the world and want to change it, but they are not sure how.

  Their generation has been labeled “X” to symbolize their seeming apathy and worthle... Read More

• Ed Young Jr.: Mesh creativity with Bible truths in worship

  by Ken Walker, posted Tuesday, March 09, 1999 (25 years ago)

  LEXINGTON, Ky. (BP)--Creativity is the spark missing from many churches’ and Christians’ lives, according to a pastor whose sermon illustrations have included live sheep, interviews with baseball players and sugar and salt piled on a plate.

  “God says create,” said Ed Young Jr., senior pastor of the Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. “Every time we do, it’s an act of love and worship to God. A lot of us get creativity cramps. We trade in creativity for d... Read More

• Clinton support for religious liberty panel questioned

  by Tom Strode, posted Tuesday, March 09, 1999 (25 years ago)

  WASHINGTON (BP)--The Commission on International Religious Freedom awaits three presidential appointments for completion of its membership amid questions about President Clinton's commitment to the panel's purpose.

  While supporters of the commission are pleased with the six members named by congressional leaders, some have criticized Clinton's failure to fund the panel in his new budget and his tardiness in making his selections.

  The commission was established as a result of the adoption o... Read More