Wednesday, November 28, 2012

• Pastor braves Gulf of Mexico, triathlon for bivocational pastors

  by Adam Miller, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  PANAMA CITY, Fla. (BP) -- Tim Dowdy had been in training for more than a year when he looked out over the Gulf of Mexico, ready to brave it for a swim.

  

  Photo by Adam Miller

  Members of the church where Dowdy is pastor, Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Ga., had joined him on the beach to cheer him on.

  The waves were choppier and the water colder than expected, and he was about to swim farther than he ever had.

  A 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race and a marathon run would put Dowdy's mind and body to the test for nearly 15 hours.

  It would be a meaningful feat, no matter his reason for doing it.

  But Dowdy wasn't staring at the expanse of water just to prove he could finish the 140-mile Ironman Florida triathlon on Nov. 3. The 51-year-old pastor and his 25-year-old son Micah were in Panama City sending a message to Southern Baptist bivocational pastors.

  "The water's a little chilly today, but it's warm outside so hopefully they'll balance each other out," Dowdy said as the crowd of competitors gathered at the start gate. "Bivocational pastors, this is for you. I hope you're praying for me. I'm going to float on the prayers of people today. Thanks for all that you're doing."

  Iron Men of the SBC

  Early last year, as then-chairman of the North American Mission Board's trustees, Dowdy was inspired by NAMB's goal of a net gain of 5,000 congregations by 2022.

  He was also struck by the reality that it would require many more pastors ... Read More

• Zig Ziglar, renowned layman & speaker, dies

  by Jerry Pierce/Southern Baptist TEXAN, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  

  PLANO, Texas (BP) -- Zig Ziglar, known worldwide for his folksy and often anecdotal motivational talks on success through serving others, died Wednesday (Nov. 28) at a Plano, Texas, hospital of complications from pneumonia. He was 86. Read More

• Supreme Court to decide Fri. on gay marriage

  by Staff, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will meet behind closed doors Friday to decide whether to take up several cases that could lead to the legalization of gay marriage in all 50 states. Read More

• GuideStone: health care law needs changes

  by Roy Hayhurst, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  DALLAS (BP) -- President Obama's re-election virtually guarantees that his signature health care reform law, passed in 2010, will continue moving toward implementation over the coming four years. Read More

• Ill. Baptists recognize strength in cooperation

  by Meredith Flynn, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  DECATUR, Ill. (BP) -- Messengers to the 106th annual meeting of the Illinois Baptist State Association heard an urgent plea: Go -- to the places and people in the state with the greatest need and with a spirit of partnership and cooperation.

  "For Southern Baptists in particular, the strength has always been in cooperating," IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams said. "Let's choose to cooperate, to be dependent on each other."

  "Mission Illinois" was the theme of the meeting, attended by 4... Read More

• Utah-Idaho Baptists aim to double churches

  by Staff, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  SALT LAKE CITY (BP) -- Utah-Idaho Southern Baptists focused on extending their reach in line with the 2020 Vision of sharing Christ and starting and strengthening churches during their 48th annual meeting in Salt Lake City last month.

  Messengers unanimously approved the 2020 Vision report encouraging doubling the number of churches to 300 and reaching 1 percent of the population in the two states by the end of 2020. The 2020 Vision team led by Utah-Idaho convention president Kirk Baker will... Read More

• Texas church sees dramatic turnaround in year

  by Jerry Pierce/Southern Baptist Texan, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  FORESTBURG, Texas (BP) –- By September of last year, attendance at Forestburg Baptist Church in Texas had dwindled by more than half in a few months, offerings had plummeted and the small church staff had agreed among themselves on a 30 percent pay cut by year's end.

  Pastor Bill Kimbley will testify: Humble desperation bears fruit in God's economy.

  Apparently, the Lord was paying mind all along to the church's ramped-up prayers, its newfound outward focus, and a pastor who fasted by s... Read More

• Pastor: Okla. church a 'church of new beginnings'

  by Brian Hobbs/Baptist Messenger, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  HINTON, Okla. (BP) -- "And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great." -- Job 8:7

  That verse has special significance for Mike Price, pastor of Scott Baptist Church in Hinton, Okla., and his congregation.

  The church, founded in 1946, had dwindled to only a handful of members a few years ago. On Easter Sunday 2006, the church had only 13 in attendance.

  "It was very confronting," said Price, who was serving as interim pastor at the time. "I told the congre... Read More

• Journey transforms struggling congregation

  by Margaret Dempsey-Colson/Florida Baptist Convention, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  BARTOW, Fla. (BP) -- On a rainy but otherwise quiet April 2012 afternoon in a crowded room of First Baptist Church in Bartow, Fla., about 20 deacons went to their knees in prayer together. One by one they prayed, seeking God's renewal and guidance.

  Such prayerful focus among the church's spiritual leaders is a welcome change from the dissension and fragmentation that once characterized the church.

  "We had collectively lost our focus," recalled Linton Sloan, a former deacon chair at the... Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Immigration reform is not about politics

  by Barrett Duke, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  Columnist Barrett Duke says comprehensive immigration reform is the Christian response to a national problem. Read More

• WORLDVIEW: A meditation on ingratitude

  by Erich Bridges, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  Columnist Erich Bridges says this time of the year, don't be like the nine lepers who failed to express thanks to Christ after they were healed. Read More

• FROM THE STATES: Fla., N.C. & Ala. evangelism/missions news

  by Staff, posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (11 years ago)

  EDITOR'S NOTE: From the States, published each Tuesday by Baptist Press, relays news and feature stories from state Baptist papers and other publications on initiatives by Baptist churches, associations and state conventions in evangelism, church planting and Great Commission outreach, including partnership missions. Reports about churches, associations and state conventions responding to the International Mission Board's call to embrace the world's 3,800 unengaged, unreached people groups also ... Read More