Baptist Press Archive

Monday, February 01, 2016

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  • Backpacks & Bibles reach into Appalachia, Miss. Delta
    by K. Faith Morgan, posted Monday, February 01, 2016 (8 years ago)

    ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- Since 2001, Appalachian Regional Ministries, a ministry of the North American Mission Board, has collected and distributed more than 140,000 Christmas backpacks and boxes filled with toys, clothing, school supplies, food and hygiene items and a Bible.

    As the ministry has expanded over the years, backpacks were distributed in the 2015 outreach to more than 46,000 children affected by poverty in Appalachia as well as the Mississippi Delta and beyond. Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: Larger churches & their denomination
    by Terry Dorsett, posted Monday, February 01, 2016 (8 years ago)

    Larger churches: Your denomination needs you, Terry Dorsett, executive director of the New England Baptist Convention, writes. "Many churches in our family of faith are located in small villages and mountain towns or other out-of-the-way places that will never be serviced by a larger church," he notes. "For the sake of the Gospel, we must have a strong denominational budget so these small churches can continue to be assisted." Read More

  • 'Men's Game Banquet': Seminary aims for souls
    by Alex Sibley, posted Monday, February 01, 2016 (8 years ago)

    Photo by Matt Miller
    FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- A Paige Patterson-penned Gospel tract gives evidence to his credentials as an expert hunter.

    In "Hunting the Most Dangerous Game," one portion of the tract by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's president reads:

    "My 500 Nitro Express double rifle was already on my shoulder, safety off, ready for instant response. When the charge came, time stood still. A flurry of action and this magnificent ... Read More

  • Sudan releases pastor held without charges
    by Morning Star News/Sudan Correspondent, posted Monday, February 01, 2016 (8 years ago)

    JUBA, South Sudan (BP) -- Sudanese authorities have released one of two pastors detained without charges since December 2015, Morning Star News reported Jan. 31.

    Kwa Shamaal, head of missions for the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC), was arrested Dec. 18 and released Dec. 21, but had been required to report daily to the office of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), where he was held from 8 a.m. until midnight, sources said. That requirement was removed Jan. 16. Read More

  • Ky. governor's stance stymies Planned Parenthood
    by Kristen Lowry/Kentucky Today, posted Monday, February 01, 2016 (8 years ago)

    File photo
    FRANKFORT, Ky. (BP) -- Planned Parenthood stopped performing abortions at a Louisville clinic after Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin objected to violations of state law.

    The organization had begun offering abortions during the week of Jan. 18 but when that news was made public on Thursday, Jan. 28, Bevin reacted harshly.

    "They are openly and knowingly operating an unlicensed abortion facility in clear violation of the law," the governor said in a statement. "We will use the full force of the commonwealth to ... Read More

  • Boko Haram burns children alive in Jan. raids
    by Diana Chandler, posted Monday, February 01, 2016 (8 years ago)

    Screen capture of CNN report.
    MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (BP) -- Boko Haram killed more than 100 people in firebombs, shootings and suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria at the end of January, the most deadly attacks near Maiduguri where a survivor told the Associated Press he heard the cries of children burning alive inside their homes.

    At least 86 bodies had been collected by Jan. 31 in the attacks the previous day on Dalori Village and two nearby camps housing 25,000 refugees, where charred and bullet-ridden corpses littered the streets, survivors and soldiers told the AP. Read More

  • Prison task force mirrors SBC resolution
    by David Roach, posted Monday, February 01, 2016 (8 years ago)

    File photo
    WASHINGTON (BP) -- The recommendations of a bipartisan congressional task force on reducing the federal prison population have drawn praise from some evangelicals and parallel at several points the recommendations of a 2013 Southern Baptist Convention resolution on "America's growing prison population."

    Among the recommendations of the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections were elimination of mandatory minimum sentences for some nonviolent drug and weapon-possession offenses; implementation of a Second Look program to permit early release of ... Read More