Wednesday, April 25, 2018

• FUGE celebrates 40 years of ministry to students

  by LifeWay staff, posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo provided by LifeWay

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Randy Parks remembers the music, the games, and the wacky events from the first summer he attended Centrifuge in 1979. But most of all, he remembers the clear message of the Gospel and the strong conviction that a life following Christ was exciting and worth living.

  That summer at Glorieta, N.M., when Parks was only a high school junior, laid the foundation for his future as a hospital chaplain.

  "Centrifuge changed the direction of my life," said Parks, now a chaplain at Newton Medical Center in Newton, N.J. "It was there I answered what I believed to be a call to follow God in the path of Christian ministry. Read More

• IMB Facebook Live event confronts missions barriers

  by David Roach, posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from Facebook

  RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- Church size, budget limitations and fear should not prevent local congregations from engaging in global missions, said panelists at a Facebook Live event today (April 25) hosted by the International Mission Board.

  Pastors "are not just called to tend sheep," said Cliff Jordan, pastor of Movement Church in Richmond, Va. "We're called to send them" to the nations. "It's just part of the job."

  The event featured IMB President David Platt interviewing Richmond-area pastors from churches of various sizes about "major barriers to engaging a church in missions." Read More

• Q&A: Greear responds to Bapt. editors' questions

  by Staff, posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  DALLAS (BP) -- North Carolina pastor J.D. Greear, one of two candidates to be nominated for Southern Baptist Convention president in June, responded to six questions from Baptist Press and Baptist state editors.

  Florida pastor Ken Whitten announced Greear's nomination for SBC president Jan. 29. Read More

• Q&A: Hemphill responds to Bapt. editors' questions

  by Staff, posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  DALLAS (BP) -- University administrator and former seminary president Ken Hemphill, one of two candidates to be nominated for Southern Baptist Convention president in June, responded to six questions from Baptist Press and Baptist state editors.

  A coalition of Southern Baptists announced the nomination Feb. 1 via a Baptist state paper. Read More

• Calif. bill could bar Bible's teaching on sexuality

  by Tom Strode, posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  iStock

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Southern Baptists and other religious conservatives are warning a bill making its way through the California legislature would violate free speech and religious freedom protections by prohibiting biblical teaching on sexuality.

  The California Assembly passed in a 50-18 vote April 19 an amendment that adds "sexual orientation change efforts" to the categories of activities barred by the state's consumer protection law. The proposal, Assembly Bill (AB) 2943, still needs to gain approval in the Senate before it goes to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature. Read More

• USCIRF: Persecution grows despite elevated awareness

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- While egregious acts of religious persecution are more likely to cause global protest 20 years after the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, many countries are increasingly denying such freedoms, a federal watchdog commission reported today (April 25).

  The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) noted the dichotomy in releasing its 2018 Annual Report on 2017 religious freedom violations in 28 countries.

  "Sadly, religious freedom conditions deteriorated in many countries in 2017, often due to increasing authoritarianism or under the guise of countering terrorism," USCIRF Chairman Daniel Mark said in releasing the report. Read More

• SBC Executive Committee, boards, commission, seminaries, committee nominees announced

  by Staff, posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (6 years ago)

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Nominees to serve on the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, the four denominational boards -- International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources and GuideStone Financial Resources -- the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the six seminaries and the Committee on Order of Business have been selected by the 2018 SBC Committee on Nominations. Read More

• Bible Study: April 29, 2018

  by Staff/LifeWay Christian Resources, posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (6 years ago)

  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. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: A normal Baptist church

  by Randy C. Davis, posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (6 years ago)

  Randy Davis tells of visiting a "normal" Baptist church in a "normal" rural community led by a "normal" bivocational pastor. But churches like First Baptist Howell are "pretty exceptional in my book," Davis writes. Read More