Wednesday, February 04, 2015

• Floyd to take revival message to NRB

  by Staff, posted Wednesday, February 04, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and a key advocate urging prayer for spiritual awakening in America, will take that message to the National Religious Broadcasters in a Feb. 25 worship service during the NRB annual convention in Nashville.

  NRB President Jerry Johnson -- a longtime Southern Baptist leader -- said, "We are praying that God will use Dr. Floyd and this worship experience to lead all of us to a place of revival, awakening and spiritual renewal. Read More

• Ore. judge: Bakers discriminated against lesbians

  by Staff, posted Wednesday, February 04, 2015 (9 years ago)

  GRESHAM, Ore. (BP) -- Christian bakers who declined to provide a cake for a same-sex commitment ceremony violated Oregon law and may face a hefty fine, a state agency has announced.

  An administrative law judge ruled that Aaron and Melissa Klein unlawfully discriminated against a lesbian couple in 2013 by refusing their request for a cake, thereby breaking a state law that protects civil rights based on sexual orientation. Read More

• Answers in Genesis files lawsuit against Ky.

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, February 04, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  PETERSBURG, Ky. (BP) -- Answers in Genesis is suing the government of Kentucky for alleged discrimination in refusing to extend a sales tax rebate incentive program to the Ark Encounter theme park the apologetics ministry is building in northern Kentucky.

  The state's decision to deny the tax incentive based on AiG's status as a religious organization is against the law and violates legal precedent, the lawsuit asserts. Read More

• Ukraine: Mission workers report rockets, relief

  by Marc Ira Hooks, posted Wednesday, February 04, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  IMB/Tom Long

  MARIUPOL, Ukraine (BP) -- Hostilities between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists flared up again two weeks ago with a surprise attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

  In the aftermath of a Jan. 24 rocket strike that left 27 dead and 123 injured in Mariupol, Ukrainian Baptists are busy providing shelter and repairs. Locals say in addition to the 13 buildings that suffered a direct hit, 73 blocks of apartment buildings were damaged and more than 100 cars were destroyed. Read More

• Persecuted Christians in Mexico kept from homes

  by Staff/Morning Star News, posted Wednesday, February 04, 2015 (9 years ago)

  AUSTIN, Texas (BP) -- In one of at least three instances of persecution of evangelical Christians in southern Mexico's Chiapas state last month, village leaders reneged on their agreement to allow 47 evangelicals who were expelled for their faith to return to their homes and land. 

  In accordance with the agreement arranged by state officials, Protestants from Buenavista Bahuitz village on Jan. 20 tried to return to their community after syncretistic Catholics expelled them in 2012 for their faith. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Small is the 'new big'

  by Chuck Kelley, posted Wednesday, February 04, 2015 (9 years ago)

  NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, notes that 90 percent of Southern Baptists' 46,000-plus churches have less than 250 people in Sunday worship. Southern Baptists' future, Kelley writes, "will be determined by how well we nurture our small churches and enhance their fruitfulness." Read More