Baptist Press Archive

Thursday, February 19, 2015

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  • EC advances Golden Gate Seminary name change to SBC
    by Staff, posted Thursday, February 19, 2015 (9 years ago)

    NASHVILLE (BP) -- Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary will become Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention if messengers to the next two SBC annual meetings approve a Feb. 17 recommendation of the convention's Executive Committee.

    The EC also approved for recommendation to the June 16-17 SBC annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio:

    -- a proposed amendment to the North American Mission Board's ministry statement to include planting churches overseas in agreed-upon instances with the International Mission Board (see separate story today).

    -- SBC bylaw amendments for the potential use of electronic voting devices in the convention hall and to establish a quorum on all SBC business matters as those present at the time of a vote. Read More

  • SBC to vote on NAMB ministry amendment
    by Art Toalston, posted Thursday, February 19, 2015 (9 years ago)

    Photo by Roger S. Oldham
    NASHVILLE (BP) -- Chaplain-led ministry near overseas military bases someday may become part of the North American Mission Board's church planting outreach if a proposed ministry amendment is approved during the June 16-17 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

    The SBC Executive Committee approved a recommendation to be presented to messengers in Columbus, Ohio, to enable NAMB to "provide specialized, defined and agreed upon assistance to the International Mission Board in assisting churches to plant churches for specific groups outside the United States and Canada." Read More

  • Former Atlanta fire chief sues city, mayor
    by Scott Barkley/The Christian Index , posted Thursday, February 19, 2015 (9 years ago)

    Photo from The Christian Index
    ATLANTA (BP) -- "Americans are guaranteed the freedom to live without fear [of] being fired because of their beliefs and their thoughts," said David Cortman, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, explaining the lawsuit ADF filed on behalf of dismissed Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran.

    "... In America a religious test cannot be used to fire a public servant," Cortman said yesterday (Feb. 18) in a press conference moments after the lawsuit was filed at the state capitol. Read More

  • Obamacare prompts church to close day care

    by Erin Roach/Southern Baptist TEXAN , posted Thursday, February 19, 2015 (9 years ago)

    LONGVIEW, Texas (BP) -- A church is closing the day care center it has operated for more than 30 years in response to requirements imposed by the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare").

    Mobberly Baptist Church in Longview, Texas, said in a statement on its website, Feb. 12, that closing the day care "comes with much sorrow" and follows months of Mobberly staff "praying, researching and discussing the issue." Read More

  • Moore: Pray for ISIS' defeat, salvation

    by Tom Strode, posted Thursday, February 19, 2015 (9 years ago)

    "We can pray for Gospel rootedness in the Middle East, and we can pray to light up their world like the Fourth of July."

    -- Russell Moore

    NASHVILLE (BP) -- Prayers for both the defeat of and the salvation of Islamic State terrorists are not contradictory, Southern Baptists' lead ethicist says.

    Christians should "pray for the Gospel to go forward, and that there might be a new Saul of Tarsus turned away from murdering to Gospel witness," wrote Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, in a Wednesday (Feb. 18) blog post. "At the same time, we ought to pray, with the martyrs in heaven, for justice against those who do such wickedness." Read More

  • Jeffress: ISIS requires heavy U.S. response
    by Erin Roach, posted Thursday, February 19, 2015 (9 years ago)

    Screen capture from Fox News
    NEW YORK (BP) -- The United States must do "whatever is necessary -- including boots on the ground -- to eradicate this cancer of ISIS and radical Islam before it destroys us," Southern Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress said on "The O'Reilly Factor" Feb. 17.

    Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, contended on the Fox News program hosted by Bill O'Reilly that President Obama is "continually lecturing us that we're not in a religious war against Islam." Read More

  • 'Inclusive' Ala. church may be disfellowshipped
    by David Roach, posted Thursday, February 19, 2015 (9 years ago)

    HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (BP) -- The officers of an Alabama Baptist association have recommended that the association's executive board withdraw fellowship from a church whose leaders have given their pastor freedom to perform same-sex weddings. Read More

  • Bible Study: February 22, 2015
    by Staff/LifeWay Christian Resources, posted Thursday, February 19, 2015 (9 years ago)

    NASHVILLE (BP) -- This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, LifeWay publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups. Read More

  • Court rules against florist for refusing gay wedding
    by Staff, posted Thursday, February 19, 2015 (9 years ago)

    Screen capture from YouTube
    KENNEWICK, Wash. (BP) -- The Alliance Defending Freedom will appeal a Washington state judge's ruling against a 70-year-old Christian florist and grandmother who refused to provide flowers for a gay wedding.

    Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene's Flowers in Richland, Wash., violated a gay couple's constitutional rights and state laws, according to Benton County Superior Court Judge Alexander Ekstrom, when Stutzman refused to provide flowers for the couple. Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: Evangelism -- a daily walk with Jesus
    by Chuck Kelley, posted Thursday, February 19, 2015 (9 years ago)

    New Orleans Seminary President Chuck Kelley, noting how a relationship with Jesus empowers personal evangelism, writes, "If you are walking with Him, you will find yourself talking about Him." Read More