Friday, March 22, 2019

• Trump's campus free-speech order praised, critiqued

  by David Roach, posted Friday, March 22, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  iStock

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- An executive order by President Trump seeking to protect free speech on college campuses -- especially by Christians and political conservatives -- has drawn mixed responses.

  Conservatives applauded Trump's effort to protect free speech, though at least one Republican senator questioned the president's specific approach. Some liberal groups claimed the executive order might actually inhibit the free exchange of ideas at colleges and universities. Read More

• Former IMB missionary leader Steve Smith, 57, dies

  by Mary Jane Welch, posted Friday, March 22, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Photo from stevesmithbooks.com

  RICHMOND (BP) -- Steve Smith, who filled key leadership roles in Asia with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, died March 13 after a long illness. He was 57.

  Smith and his wife Laura served with IMB for 18 years, always focused on parts of the world where the Gospel was little known. He began his service in East Asia and was later named to direct work among Southeast Asian peoples. He also served as a consultant on church-planting movements for other areas. Read More

• State pro-life bills advance after N.Y. legalization

  by Tom Strode, posted Friday, March 22, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  iStock

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Pro-life governors have signed into law a host of measures to protect unborn children in the wake of efforts in New York and states to expand abortion rights to birth and beyond.

  Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill Thursday (March 22) to prohibit abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, continuing a series of pro-life advances by states and their governors. Read More

• Marijuana legalization, hemp use advance in U.S.

  by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, March 22, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  iStock

  SANTA FE, N.M. (BP) -- Legislation decriminalizing simple possession of recreational marijuana in New Mexico is awaiting Gov. Michelle Grisham's signature, days after Florida lifted a ban on medical marijuana cigarettes.

  In related corporate news, CVS Pharmacy announced it will begin selling health and beauty products containing cannabidiol oil (CBD) from the hemp plant, a close relative of marijuana legalized nationally in December 2018 that does not produce marijuana's characteristic euphoria. Read More

• Greenway lays out 'big-tent vision' for Southwestern

  by Alex Sibley, posted Friday, March 22, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  SWBTS Photo

  FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- "I believe Southwestern Seminary historically has been at its best when it's been known as the big-tent seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention," Adam W. Greenway said in his first chapel sermon as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, March 21. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Are you an enemy of the cross of Christ?

  by Kelvin J. Cochran, posted Friday, March 22, 2019 (5 years ago)

  Becoming an enemy of the cross occurs when professing Christians compromise their faith, Kelvin Cochran writes, noting, "The influence of popular culture, moral relativism and politics has turned their hearts from the truth." Read More

• EDITORIAL: Edificando la Iglesia de Cristo

  by Peter Citelli, posted Friday, March 22, 2019 (5 years ago)

  Así también ustedes, puesto que anhelan dones espirituales, procuren abundar en ellos para la edificación de la iglesia (1 Corintios 14:12 NBLH). Read More