Baptist Press Archive

Tuesday, July 05, 2016

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  • Cuban believers make disciples in Ecuador
    by Kate Gregory, posted Tuesday, July 05, 2016 (8 years ago)

    Photo by Ricky Gibson/IMB
    MONTALVO, Ecuador (BP) -- The first Cuban Baptist international missionary couple under the Western Cuba Baptist Convention's Cubans to the Nations initiative has started an evangelical Bible study in an area where there had been none. The missions theme of the convention, "Christ's disciples making disciples," has taken root in South America.

    About two years ago, International Mission Board missionary Johnny Maust began arranging for partnering mission teams from the U.S. to have lunch at Lupita Diner in Montalvo, Ecuador. He had befriended the owner, Hermida Cabeza, 70, a Christian, and showed a video at the restaurant depicting the Book of Matthew, but he wanted to establish a more consistent presence there. Read More

  • Zika bill stalled over Planned Parenthood funding
    by David Roach, posted Tuesday, July 05, 2016 (8 years ago)

    WASHINGTON (BP) -- A bill that would provide emergency funding to combat the Zika virus is stalled in the U.S. Senate in large part because Democrats object to provisions limiting the amount of Zika funding that could be distributed to Planned Parenthood.

    After bipartisan negotiations on the bill halted last month, Republicans put forward a bill that appropriates $1.1 billion to combat Zika, which is expected to spread in the continental U.S. this summer following a wave of infections in Latin America. The measure allows some Zika-related funds to be used for contraception and prenatal care but directs those funds to primary health care providers and specific international organizations rather than Planned Parenthood. Read More

  • Heritage Baptist underscores CP's eternal difference
    by Karen L. Willoughby, posted Tuesday, July 05, 2016 (8 years ago)

    Submitted photo
    MONROE, Mich. (BP) -- Churches, such as Heritage Baptist Church, talk frequently about the eternal difference the Cooperative Program makes in the lives of individuals worldwide.

    CP fuels a national pastor in Uganda -- who first heard of God's love from an International Mission Board missionary -- as he travels from village to village, spreading God's story. CP fuels the North American Mission Board church planter in Massachusetts who tells a 12-year-old boy who has never heard the name Jesus about the love God has for him. CP fuels the desire of the church member in Utah -- discipled at an Oregon church -- to join a mission trip to Mexico to build homes for people who were living in cardboard shacks. CP, founded in 1925, is the Southern Baptist Convention's unified giving channel that supports the convention's missions and ministry. Read More

  • Pregnancy center free speech case considered
    by Mary Reichard/WORLD News Service, posted Tuesday, July 05, 2016 (8 years ago)

    CALIFORNIA (BP) -- A federal appeals court is considering whether a state can commandeer pregnancy centers to deliver government-approved messages about abortion options.

    Last fall, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law requiring all California health facilities to tell clients about the availability of free or low-cost abortion. Pro-life advocates dubbed the law the "Bully Bill" because it forces community-funded crisis pregnancy centers to post signs that refer women to abortion providers in violation of their religious beliefs. Read More

  • CP 5.22% above projection at fiscal year three-quarter mark
    by Staff, posted Tuesday, July 05, 2016 (8 years ago)

    NASHVILLE (BP) -- Year-to-date contributions to Southern Baptist Convention national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee are 5.22 percent above the year-to-date SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget projection, and are 2.88 percent above contributions received during the same time frame last year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and CEO Frank S. Page. Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: Go, mow & glow
    by Diana Davis, posted Tuesday, July 05, 2016 (8 years ago)

    Opportunities abound for evangelism in one's community, Diana Davis writes, noting an Indianapolis church's outreach by mowing the lawns in a nearby neighborhood. "The primary focus is to show God's love, to engage strangers in conversation and invite them to know Jesus," Davis writes. "No church or small group is too small, too old, too stagnant or too busy." Read More