Monday, July 06, 2015

• Pastor's plan to raise the Christian flag

  by By K. Allan Blume, Biblicial Recorder Editor , posted Monday, July 06, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  SHELBY, N.C. (BP) -- North Carolina pastor Rit Varriale wants to see churches fly the Christian flag above the American flag as a biblical statement, reversing flag etiquette that calls for the American flag to be flown in the prominent position.

  Varriale, as senior pastor of Elizabeth Baptist Church in Shelby, N.C., said the church installed its first-ever flagpole in order to raise the two flags in a special ceremony after morning worship on Sunday (July 5) in which the Christian flag was raised in the higher position -- which prompted interviews by Charlotte-area NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates. Read More

• Moore: Court ruling sets Christian 'distinctiveness'

  by Tom Strode, posted Monday, July 06, 2015 (9 years ago)

  Christians "can be Americans best when we're not Americans first." -- Russell Moore

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court's legalization of same-sex marriage has given clarity to Christians of their "distinctiveness" in American life, Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore told an audience in the country's capital.

  As a guest for the July 1 edition of Politico's Playbook Breakfast, Moore told interviewer Mike Allen he believes Christians "can be Americans best when we're not Americans first, when we have a sense of understanding of who we are in terms of our distinctiveness. Now that time is here." Read More

• Boko Haram attacks claim hundreds in Nigeria

  by Daniel Woodman, posted Monday, July 06, 2015 (9 years ago)

  JOS, Nigeria (BP) -- Twin explosions rocked the Nigerian city of Jos and left dozens dead or severely injured, according to the BBC and Associated Press.

  The attacks have been tied to the terrorist group Boko Haram, who had also been connected to a string of terrorist attacks throughout Nigeria in which as many as 300 people were killed earlier in the week. Read More

• James Dunn, soul freedom 'firebrand,' dies at 83

  by Art Toalston, posted Monday, July 06, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (BP) -- James Dunn, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs from 1981-99, died Saturday, July 4, in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was 83.

  Dunn led the church-state organization, now called Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, during turbulent years in its relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention. Disagreements between SBC leaders and the BJC over public policy and other issues led to the convention's defunding of the organization over a two-year span at the 1990 and '91 SBC annual meetings. Read More

• BP Ledger, July 6, 2015

  by Staff, posted Monday, July 06, 2015 (9 years ago)

  Today's BP Ledger contains items from: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary;

  Louisiana College. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: A country in chaos: What Southern Baptists should do

  by Ronnie Floyd, posted Monday, July 06, 2015 (9 years ago)

  SPRINGDALE, Ark. (BP) -- Never in my lifetime have I seen our nation in such turmoil," SBC President Ronnie Floyd declares in conveying five key suggestions for what Southern Baptists should do. "We need God and one another more than ever before," he writes. Read More