Monday, July 18, 2016

• Baton Rouge shooting stirs nearby churches

  by Staff/Baptist Message, posted Monday, July 18, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  Baptist Message photo.

  BATON ROUGE, La. (BP) -- Though heartbroken from Sunday's deadly attack on Baton Rouge law enforcement officers, the community has hope for the future through Christ, said the pastor of a church mere feet away from a police barricade of the incident, which left three law enforcement personnel dead and three others wounded.

  "In the midst of our sorrow there is hope that God will redeem even this for His good purpose," said Jeff Ginn, pastor of Istrouma Baptist Church. "What Satan intends to destroy and divide, God will use to unite." Read More

• Turkey leader's social media counters military coup

  by Art Toalston, posted Monday, July 18, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  CNN screen capture

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Turkey's Islamist-leaning president, Tayyip Erdogan, survived a July 15 coup attempt by narrowly escaping a band of soldiers at a coastal resort and then launching "a counteroffensive that marshaled military might, technology and religion," as described by Wall Street Journal reporters.

  The coup attempt failed, leaving more than 250 people dead and 2,800 military personnel detained for questioning, as estimated by The Journal on July 17, while the BBC placed the number of overall detainees as climbing past 6,000. Read More

• First Amendment Defense Act gets a hearing

  by Evan Wilt/WORLD News Service, posted Monday, July 18, 2016 (8 years ago)

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Republicans and Democrats may agree on the need for religious liberty but not on the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA).

  After stalling in Congress for more than a year, FADA had its first public hearing July 12 in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Introduced shortly before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, FADA prohibits federal government discrimination based on marriage beliefs -- including in tax treatment, accreditation and federal licensing. Read More

• Pokémon Go delivers evangelistic opportunities

  by Scott Barkley/The Christian Index, posted Monday, July 18, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  Photo by Bryan Nowak/Georgia Baptist Convention

  DULUTH, Ga. (BP) -- Kevin Smith and others noticed visitors in the parking lot of the Georgia Baptist Missions and Ministry Center. While none made it to the front door, it wasn’t for lack of hospitality from Georgia Baptist Mission Board staff.

  The visitors may have arrived for Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle or some other resident of the Pokémon universe. The Pokémon Go mobile game, released earlier this month, has introduced the tiny characters to new generation of gamers, many of which may not have even been born when the first Pokémon games were released by Nintendo in 1996.

  The game has led players to the Pentagon, the White House and maybe even your church. (See Baptist Press story.) Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: The idol of ease

  by Melanie Lenow, posted Monday, July 18, 2016 (8 years ago)

  The temptation to take it easy can become an idol, Melanie Lenow, a mother of four, writes. God intends for His followers to "work diligently and faithfully in whatever job, location or season He has for us," she notes. "When He calls you to rest, rest well. But in the meantime, work hard for the Lord, casting down any idol that stands in your way." Read More