Baptist Press Archive

Friday, October 26, 2012

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  • Bakkan oil field fuels need for church plants in Dakota region
    by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    WILLISTON, N.D. (BP) -- Unemployment is nearly nonexistent in the boomtown of Williston, N.D., enriched by a flurry of drilling in the Bakken oil field that reaches into Montana and Canada.

    "I believe God is moving us towards becoming a missionary outpost for this entire region."

    -- Pastor Ashley Olinger

    Schools and the housing market are hard-pressed to accommodate the many families and workers the economy has drawn to Williston, where the estimated population of 30,000 is more than double what it was two years ago.

    There's only one Southern Baptist church in town.

    Ashley Olinger, its pastor, sees in the changing landscape an opportunity to plant churches but says he will need resources from across the Southern Baptist Convention to respond to God's call.

    "I'm a truck driver from Northern Canada trying to wrap my head around such a spiritual opportunity. I don't even know how to describe it," said Olinger, who pastors Cornerstone First Baptist Church in Williston. "It's daunting, exciting, and I guess my greatest fear is we drop the ball and miss the opportunity that God has placed in front of us."

    Olinger's not speaking of a short-term evangelistic outreach but an opportunity to plant several vibrant churches in the area that will flourish from an estimated 50 years of Bakken drilling.

    "I believe God is moving us towards becoming a missionary outpost for this entire region," Olinger said. "Ministry goes beyond chaplaincy to single guys, to family ministry, to youth ministry. Church planting and long-term discipleship is a huge, huge part of it.

    "I believe that God will not only allow churches to be planted across this region, but those that are here temporarily, we'll be able to send back to wherever they're from, hopefully as missionaries back to their hometowns."

    That's why the church planter who came to Williston from Canada more than two years ago is corralling support by hosting a Bakkan Oil Field Summit Nov. 12-14, hoping to attract partners and support for church planting.

    "In our region, there are only two or three of our [SBC] churches located up here," he said. "The next closest one [to Williston] is 50 miles away, the church in Watford City. The next closest would be in Minot, which is 100 miles away."

    Olinger presents Williston as a rich field for biblical harvest. Read More

  • World Series gives Mich. Baptists an entree
    by Tim Ellsworth, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    DETROIT (BP) -- Michigan Baptists are using the World Series in Detroit as an opportunity to share the Gospel with fans headed to the games between the Tigers and the San Francisco Giants at Comerica Park. Read More

  • SBC's Richard Land endorses Romney
    by Art Toalston, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    NASHVILLE (BP) -- Southern Baptists' most prominent policy commentator, Richard Land, has endorsed Mitt Romney for president. Read More

  • Death penalty repeal is on Calif. ballot
    by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP) -- California will vote Nov. 6 whether to repeal its death penalty and replace the maximum punishment for murder with life in prison without parole. Read More

  • New ads: gay marriage will be taught in schools
    by Michael Foust, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    BALTIMORE (BP) -- Legalizing gay marriage will lead to it being taught as normative in elementary schools, according to new TV ads in three states where the issue is on the ballot. Read More

  • Hispanic Consortium looks at outreach strategy
    by Benjamin Hawkins, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's Hispanic Consortium met at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Oct. 11-13 to explore strategies, especially through education, for reaching the nation's rapidly growing Hispanic population.

    In 2010, 50.3 million Hispanics lived in the United States, with their numbers continuing to grow rapidly even in areas where Hispanics have not traditionally lived, said Daniel Sanchez, chairman of the consortium and professor of missions... Read More

  • How to share Christ with your Muslim friends
    by Jeff Brawner, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    EDITOR'S NOTE: In the second of three articles about how to share Christ with friends of another faith, seminary professor Jeff Brawner focuses on sharing Christ with Muslims. [URL=http://bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=39001]Yesterday's article[/URL] focused on witnessing to Mormons; Monday's will focus on Hindus.

    CORDOVA, Tenn. (BP) -- Muslims aren't just people "over there" in the Middle East and parts of Asia. They live in major cities across the U.S. and many smaller towns as well. More a... Read More

  • Ind. Baptists urged to reach state's 7M people
    by Steve McNeil, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    FORT WAYNE, Ind. (BP) -- Indiana Baptist leader Cecil Seagle challenged messengers to the 54th annual meeting to reach the estimated 85 percent of Indianans who have no relationship with Jesus.

    Seagle, executive director of the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana, told messengers to avoid the trap that says, "We live in the Midwest and it's a hard place to take the Gospel." To accept such a perspective denies the power of Jesus to change lives, Seagle said during the Oct. 14-15 meeting ... Read More

  • ERLC search committee aims toward 2013 SBC
    by Dwayne Hastings, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    NASHVILLE (BP) -- As the first phase of the search for a new president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission comes to a close, the trustee search committee's chairman said he is pleased with the committee's progress.

    "I have been encouraged both by the attitude and work of the search committee itself and by the engagement of a wide variety of leaders among Southern Baptists," said Barry Creamer, vice president of academic affairs and professor of humanities at Criswell College in Dal... Read More

  • CULTURE DIGEST: Bible verses allowed on cheerleaders' banners
    by Staff, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    NASHVILLE (BP) -- Cheerleaders at a Texas high school can continue their practice of using Bible verses on inspirational banners for football games now that a judge has issued a temporary injunction.

    School officials had told the cheerleaders they could not include messages such as "If God is for us, who can be against us?" on banners that football players run through before games. Students and their parents then sued the school district, and a trial is expected to start next summer.

    T... Read More

  • Estudiante universitaria se lanza a la aventura en la ciudad porteña chilena de los '42 cerros'
    Por Emily Pearson, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    VALPARAÍSO, Chile (BP) -- María había tocado fondo. Al no ver otro medio para escapar de su problemática vida, estaba considerando el suicidio. Pero gracias a la fidelidad de la estudiante universitaria chilena Ruth Aguirre y la misionera de los bautistas del sur Karen Wright, María eligió vivir para Cristo.

    Foto de Wilson Hunter
    María había recibido el Evangelio de Juan cuando Aguirre y Wright estaban haciendo una caminata de oración en el Cerro Polanco, uno de los 42 cerros sobre los cuales se construyó Valparaíso, Chile. Para cuando Aguirre la visitó varias semanas después, María ya había leído toda esa porción de las Escrituras. Ese día aceptó a Cristo y aceptó que Aguirre comenzara un estudio bíblico en su casa.

    Aguirre estaba aún más sorprendida cuando el esposo de María dijo que él también quería aprender más sobre Cristo.

    Aguirre ha "adoptado" al Cerro Polanco como parte del "Proyecto de los 42 Cerros," una iniciativa que comenzó Wright, uniendo a iglesias estadounidenses con creyentes chilenos para alcanzar los 42 cerros de Valparaíso -- el mayor puerto de Chile -- con el Evangelio.

    Para Aguirre, fue durante un viaje de visión con Wright que ella sintió el llamado para alcanzar al Cerro Polanco, un peligroso lugar para cualquier fuereño, pero en especial para una mujer soltera de 22 años. Aguirre se dio cuenta que tendría que confiarle su vida a Dios cada vez que pudiera un pie ahí. Read More

  • Consorcio hispano examina oportunidades de educación
    Por Benjamin Hawkins, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- El Consorcio Hispano de la Convención Bautista del Sur se reunió en el Seminario Teológico Bautista Southwestern del 11 al 13 de octubre para explorar estrategias, especialmente a través de la educación, para llegar a la rápidamente creciente población hispana de la nación. Read More

  • El mercado laboral se está convirtiendo en un campo misionero
    Por el personal, posted Friday, October 26, 2012 (11 years ago)

    Foto de Matt Miller
    RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- En las montañas de Ecuador, la pequeña oficina de Scott Tye sirve como algo más que un satélite para su negocio, cuya base está en Allen, Texas. Y hace más que proveer ingresos para ocho de sus empleados. Read More