Baptist Press Archive

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

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  • Gatlinburg man grieves loss, forgives suspects
    by David Roach, posted Tuesday, December 20, 2016 (7 years ago)

    GATLINBURG, Tenn. (BP) -- A Gatlinburg, Tenn., man who lost his wife and two daughters in the wildfires that swept through the area has extended forgiveness publicly to two juveniles suspected of starting the blaze.

    Michael Reed -- whose wife Constance, 34, and daughters Chloe, 12, and Lily, 9, died at their home Nov. 28 -- wrote about the tragedy in a Facebook

    post reported by various media outlets. "I forgive you," he wrote. "My son forgives you ... We know you didn't mean for this to happen. We know you would take it all back if you could.

    "We will pray for you. Every day. We will pray for your parents and your family members," Reed stated in a Dec. 15 open letter to the suspects. "Every day. We will pray for your peace. We will show you grace. Why? Because that's what Jesus would do. Faith ... Hope ... Love ... The greatest of these is love." Read More

  • Incoming N.C. gov. negotiates restroom law repeal
    by Evan Wilt, WORLD News Service, posted Tuesday, December 20, 2016 (7 years ago)

    RALEIGH, N.C. (BP) -- After months of angry debate over North Carolina's restroom law, state lawmakers are planning to repeal it.

    North Carolina Republicans passed HB2 in response to a Charlotte ordinance that forced city businesses to open their restrooms based on gender identity. Signed in March, HB2 superseded the ordinance before it took effect. The state law requires persons to use restrooms and locker rooms according to the sex listed on their birth certificates and applies to government buildings, schools and universities. It blocks municipalities, such as Charlotte, from adopting their own restroom rules. Read More

  • Diversity, smaller churches in Pastors' Conf. line-up
    by Diana Chandler, posted Tuesday, December 20, 2016 (7 years ago)

    PHOENIX (BP) -- On Sunday mornings in the ballroom of a New Orleans country club, Ryan Rice Sr. preaches to about 55 worshippers at the Southern Baptist church he founded in 2015. The full-time pastor seeking his first seminary degree is among 12 leaders chosen to preach at the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors' Conference June 11-12 in Phoenix. Read More

  • Bobby Bowden documentary in theaters Jan. 8
    by Staff, posted Tuesday, December 20, 2016 (7 years ago)

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Legendary college football coach Bobby Bowden and his family will kick-off the NCAA Football National Championship weekend next month with the release of the true story, "The Bowden Dynasty: A Story of Faith, Family and Football."

    The film explores the life and career of Bowden, the winningest coach in college football.

    "There is no question Coach Bobby Bowden is a legend on the grid-iron, but he also is a man that has 'run the race' in order to live a life that honors God in all he does," said Trey Reynolds, director of LifeWay Films, which is partnering with the film's promotion. "We encourage churches, small groups, and families to go to theaters Jan. 8 and experience The Bowden Dynasty on the big screen." Read More

  • Mich. Baptists increase CP allocation to SBC
    by Staff, posted Tuesday, December 20, 2016 (7 years ago)

    BSCM photo
    BURTON, Mich. (BP) -- Michigan Baptists will forward a larger percentage of Cooperative Program receipts to the Southern Baptist Convention this year, despite an anticipated decrease in CP receipts from the state's 262 churches.

    The $1,292,886 in CP funds the Baptist State Convention of Michigan (BSCM) anticipates receiving from its cooperating churches in 2017 is 8.6 percent less than this year's receipts of $1,415,291, the BSCM reported. Yet, the state will forward $351,256 of 2016 CP receipts, 32.5 percent of the total, to the SBC for national and international causes. In 2016, the state forwarded 31.5 percent of CP receipts to the SBC. Read More

  • Personal revitalization focus of Colo. Baptists
    by BP staff, posted Tuesday, December 20, 2016 (7 years ago)

    CBGC photo
    VAIL, Colo. (BP) -- Colorado Baptists focused on "The Revitalized Christian" at their 2016 annual meeting, a theme drawn from Isaiah 6:1-8 that continued a focus on church revitalization begun last year.

    "Every Christian needs to be revitalized," said Mike Routt, Colorado Baptist General Convention (CBGC) president. "If every Christian was revitalized, we would have church revitalization." Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: What Child is this?

    by David Jeremiah, posted Tuesday, December 20, 2016 (7 years ago)

    "As sinners, we are trapped in the plexiglas of guilt, caught in the snare of our own making, separated from God, lost and alone in the world," pastor David Jeremiah writes. "But Jesus, who was God Himself, became a man to communicate with us, to die for our liberation, and to rise again for our salvation." Read More