Baptist Press Archive

Friday, February 10, 2006

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  • South Dakota House passes ban on abortion, challenging court's Roe v. Wade decision
    by Michael Foust, posted Friday, February 10, 2006 (18 years ago)

    PIERRE, S.D. (BP)--In a direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the South Dakota House of Representatives easily passed a bill Feb. 9 that would ban nearly all abortions in the state. The bill passed by a vote of 47-22 and now goes to the state Senate, where a vote is expected to be tight. Ten of the Senate's 35 members are sponsors. It is not known whether Gov. Mike Rounds, a pro-life Republican, would sign it.

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  • Global missions gain $1M from record gifts by Fla. Baptists
    by Art Toalston, posted Friday, February 10, 2006 (18 years ago)

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    CP care


    Photo Miami missionary Mike Daily, supported in part by Florida Baptists’ gifts through the Cooperative Program, assists in one of a dozen free medical clinics provided by Florida Baptist churches and associations. Photo by Ken Touchton/Florida Baptist Convention


    EUSTIS, Fla. (BP)--Southern Baptist resources for reaching the world for Christ have been expanded by more than $1 million from record Cooperative Program gifts by Florida Baptists.

        “The generosity of Florida Baptists has been absolutely overwhelming,” John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention, said during a Jan. 27 state board of missions meeting at Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center in Eustis.

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    CP witness


    Pastor Omar Medrano (right) is supported through Florida Baptist Cooperative Program funds as he shares the Gospel with migrant workers. Photo by Ken Touchton/Florida Baptist Convention


        “We have received $2.2 million in Cooperative Program overages, $3 million in disaster relief, record gifts in special offerings and the highest state mission offering in history [of nearly $1.2 million],” Sullivan said of Florida Baptists’ stewardship achievements in 2005.

    The mission board earmarked $1,016,139 of the CP overage for Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries, akin to the state convention’s distribution formula for sending gifts from Florida churches to the SBC.

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  • FIRST-PERSON: How the Cooperative Program works
    by John Sullivan, posted Friday, February 10, 2006 (18 years ago)

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    It begins with you


    Southern Baptists’ Cooperative Program begins with the offerings by church members, a portion of which is sent by the churches to their state or regional Baptist convention, which in turn allocate a percentage of the receipts to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries. Photo courtesy of the Florida Baptist Convention


    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--The Cooperative Program was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925. However, I believe the concept was in the mind of W.B. Johnson and Southern Baptists’ founding fathers in 1845 when they wrote that the SBC was designed to organize “a plan for eliciting, combining and directing the energies of the denomination.” The words still appear in the SBC Constitution.

    The word “elicit” means “to call forth,” such as in emotions, feelings and responses. I think the founding fathers used the word “combining” because they believed we could accomplish more together than individually because of the common cause of the Great Commission.

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  • Air Force religion guidelines garner both praise & criticism
    by Erin Curry Roach, posted Friday, February 10, 2006 (18 years ago)

    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP)--The Air Force’s latest effort to regulate the free exercise of religion within its ranks was met with mixed reaction as some conservatives praised new Air Force guidelines as a step in the right direction while others voiced concern that the guidelines still discourage the use of prayer in Jesus’ name in public settings.

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  • Lincoln’s stance for truth secured his place in history, pastor says
    by Erin Curry Roach, posted Friday, February 10, 2006 (18 years ago)

    EULESS, Texas (BP)--Abraham Lincoln is undoubtedly one of history’s most compelling figures, and his life has been studied extensively by thousands of scholars, including a Southern Baptist pastor who at one time owned more than 300 books about the nation’s 16th president.

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  • Olympics match Baptist chaplain with Costa Rican skier
    by Tim Ellsworth, posted Friday, February 10, 2006 (18 years ago)

    TURIN, Italy (BP)--It might not be as widely known as the Jamaican bobsled team, but the Costa Rican cross-country skiing team has been a fixture at the Winter Olympics for more than two decades.

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  • FIRST-PERSON: Originalism vs. modernism
    by Kelly Boggs, posted Friday, February 10, 2006 (18 years ago)

    ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)--According to an Associated Press report, it seems that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer frequently makes decisions about the constitutionality of a law based on criteria that is subjective and speculative.

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