Friday, February 19, 2016

• Call it 'genocide,' coalition urges Obama on ISIS

  by Tom Strode, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Russell Moore, head of Southern Baptists' Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has again called on the Obama administration to designate Christians as genocide victims at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria -- this time as part of a broad coalition.

  Moore was among more than 110 signers of a Feb. 17 letter to President Obama urging him to categorize as genocide the terrorist campaign of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. The communities cited in the letter as victims of genocide include Christians, Yazidis, Shia Muslims, the Turkmen and the Shabak. Read More

• Prayerwalking: Reaching a city on foot

  by Elaine Gaston, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  INDONESIA (BP) -- It started with a map and a book.

  The map laid out the sprawling city in which International Mission Board worker Howard Brackey* lives. The book challenged Howard to put feet to his prayers for the city.

  The book hit close to home. In "That None Should Perish: How to Reach Entire Cities for Christ Through Prayer Evangelism," author Ed Silvoso described undertaking the task of prayerwalking a large South American city. As Howard read the book, he thought about his well-creased map of his large Indonesian city.

  

  "God put the vision of this particular map in my head. I thought, 'All right, we're going to prayerwalk this city.'"

  As part of an urban city team, Howard figured he and his teammates could at least prayerwalk major roads in the city that is roughly the same size as St. Louis but, like most Asian cities, is densely populated with millions of people. Read More

• Cuba: Obama visit stirs religious liberty discussion

  by David Roach, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- As President Obama prepares to become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba in 88 years, a U.S. senator has said further steps to normalize relations with Cuba could hinder the advance of religious freedom in the island nation.

  Cuban Southern Baptists hold a range of views about the effect of strengthened U.S.-Cuba ties on religious liberty. For example, a Maryland pastor told Baptist Press normalized relations between the U.S. and Cuba will enable the latter's oppressive communist government. A Kentucky minister said closer ties will help persecuted Cuban believers. Read More

• FCA founder Don McClanen lifted sports into ministry

  by Tim Ellsworth, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  GERMANTOWN, Md. (BP) -- Don McClanen, who founded Fellowship of Christian Athletes in 1954 after enlisting the support of several Christians in sports, died Feb. 16 at age 91.

  More than 60 years after its founding, FCA is a worldwide ministry headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., with 1,200 staff members who use athletics as a means of reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Read More

• New book: Homosexuals & everyone else need Gospel

  by Annie Corser & Art Toalston, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- The Gospel demands change for homosexuals just as it demands change for all people, two Baptist collegiate professors write in a new book, "Transforming Homosexuality: What the Bible Says About Sexual Orientation and Change."

  "If we withhold that truth from them out of fear of offending them, then we don't love them. We cut them off from salvation," Denny Burk and Heath Lambert write. "The only way for them to be saved is to receive Christ. The only way to receive Christ is by repentance and faith." Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Charles C. Ryrie (1925-2016): A tribute

  by David S. Dockery, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  David S. Dockery describes the late Charles Ryrie, longtime Dallas Theological Seminary faculty member and member of First Baptist Church in Dallas, as "a thoughtful theologian, a stalwart defender of the truthfulness of the Bible and faithful follower of Jesus Christ." Read More

• EDITORIAL: Somos como Jonás

  by Gustavo V. Suárez, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  El libro de Jonás es uno de mis libros favoritos porque me recuerda mucho del hombre pecador. Es mas, cuando voy al médico y veo el alto y bajo de un electrocardiograma pienso, "eso bien puede ser la descripción espiritual de muchos hombres." ... Read More

• La muerte de Scalia nubla los casos de aborto y libertad religiosa

  Por Tom Strode, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- La muerte del juez adjunto Antonin Scalia no solamente provoca una lucha por su reemplazo y plantea la Corte Suprema como un asunto en la elección presidencial, sino que probablemente afectará casos importantes acerca de la vida y la libertad en este periodo.

  Scalia, 79 años, fue encontrado muerto en su cuarto la mañana del 13 de febrero mientras estaba en un viaje de caza de codornices en un resort en el oeste de Texas. Se reportó que murió mientras dormía. Read More

• EDITORIAL: Somos como Jonás

  Por Gustavo V. Suárez, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  El libro de Jonás es uno de mis libros favoritos porque me recuerda mucho del hombre pecador. Es mas, cuando voy al médico y veo el alto y bajo de un electrocardiograma pienso, "eso bien puede ser la descripción espiritual de muchos hombres." ... Read More

• EN PRIMERA PERSONA: Dios, los Estados Unidos y la política: asuntos claves que enfrentan los creyentes evangélicos

  Por Ronnie Floyd, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  SPRINGDALE, Ark. (BP) -- Por todos los Estados Unidos las campañas políticas están llenas de conversaciones sobre Dios. Los candidatos y sus conversaciones públicas sobre Dios van desde lo cómodo hasta lo inusual. A menudo, esto da como resultado una confusión en las mentes de los electores cristianos, no saben a quién otorgarle su apoyo.

  Una visión del mundo bíblica

  Hay una competencia entre las visiones del mundo en esta temporada de elecciones. No se ... Read More

• Llamadas a línea directa de tráfico de personas subió 24% en 2015

  Por Gaye Clark/WORLD News Service, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  NEW YORK CITY (BP) -- Las víctimas del tráfico humano buscan ayuda en número elevados, de acuerdo a un grupo que opera un centro nacional de llamadas telefónicas y textos.

  Más de 1.600 sobrevivientes del tráfico humano consiguieron ayuda en 2015 -- un incremento de 24 por ciento en relación a 2014, de acuerdo a Polaris, organización sin fines de lucro en contra del tráfico humano. La línea directa también recibe llamadas de amigos preocupados, familia y transeúntes que presencian incidentes de tráfico humano. Read More

• Platt pide a líderes estatales animar a la unidad

  Por David Roach, posted Friday, February 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  

  Foto de Shawn Hendricks.

  PONCE, Puerto Rico (BP) -- El presidente de la Junta de Misiones Internacionales (IMB por sus siglas en inglés) David Platt ha pedido a los bautistas en papeles estatales animar a la unidad entre los bautistas del sur a continuación del anuncio la próxima semana de cuántos miembros del personal de IMB han dejado la junta a través de una serie de programas de renuncia voluntaria.

  Al dirigirse a una asamblea de líderes bautistas estatales el 16 de febrero en Ponce, Puerto Rico, Platt también detalló lo que estimó algunos de los más emocionantes trabajos a ... Read More