Tuesday, December 23, 2014

• Bible's 2 Christmas accounts 'complementary'

  by David Roach, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  

  Image from Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- A historian named Julius Africanus was among the first Christians to wonder why the stories of Jesus' birth in Matthew and Luke differ slightly.

  Around the year 200, Julius apparently sought Jesus' living relatives to ask them why the genealogies of Christ in the two Gospels aren't exactly the same. Was one of the accounts in error? Read More

• WWI truce: 'the most wonderful Christmas'

  by David Roach, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- On Christmas Eve 1914, Austrian soldier Leo Spitzl sat in a military fortification opposite hostile British forces. At dusk the usual sounds of gunfire ceased and an enemy soldier called out, "Hey, Red!" -- a reference to Spitzl's hair color -- "Remember me from London?" Read More

• Census Bureau: 4 family questions in the balance

  by Trey Dimsdale, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Beginning in 1940, select households began receiving the American Community Survey, or ACS. This is the census "long form" with more detailed questions about Americans, their households and their socio-economic circumstances.

  Included on this form are four simple questions related to marriage. Questions 20-23 ask respondents to indicate marital status and marital history in very generic terms. There is no invasion of privacy or prying in these questions. This year, the Census Bureau has suggested the deletion of these questions, an omission that has the potential to hurt families. Read More

• ARCHAEOLOGY: Just 3 miles from Bethlehem

  by Stephen Douglas Wilson, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  

  PADUCAH, Ky. (BP) -- Israeli archeologists have uncovered an impressive entrance to Herod's palace at Herodium. Located only three miles southeast of Bethlehem, Herodium played an important part in the events surrounding the early life of Christ.

  The December announcement by Hebrew University archeologists Roi Porat, Yakov Kalman and Rachel Chachy dovetails well with the seasonal interest in the nativity accounts of Luke and Matthew in the New Testament. Read More

• IMB's top stories: Great challenges, new opportunities

  by Staff/IMB, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  

  RICHMOND, Va. (BP)-- Baptist Press asked the International Mission Board to select 10 of its key news and feature stories of 2014 as the year comes to a close. The following list for 2014 includes a brief description with each subject line and link. Read More

• 'Gospel conversations' among NAMB's 2014 highlights

  by Staff/NAMB, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  

  Photo by Susan Whitley/NAMB

  ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- As 2015 rolls in, the North American Mission Board reflects upon a year that included an increasing emphasis on helping Southern Baptists develop evangelistic conversations, the kickoff of its Send North America Experience Tour, and the launch of a new book designed to help believers see that "every life on mission matters." Read More

• Sexuality, religious liberty draw ERLC's focus in 2014

  by Tom Strode, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Addressing human sexuality and defending freedom of conscience gained high profiles in the work of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in 2014. Read More

• Family carries on businessman's missions giving legacy

  by Marie Curtis, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  

  IMB photo by Chris Carter

  SALINAS, Calif. (BP) -- Francis Murphy understood something important: Most people like tomatoes, in some form. They like them on hamburgers, in salads and with tacos. Whole, sliced or chunked, people want tomatoes, and Francis learned how to provide them year-round. Read More

• VIDEOS: Missionaries thankful #becauseyougive

  by Staff, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- It was a simple concept -- write one thing that happened because Southern Baptists give to international missions.

  Missionaries in various regions of Africa, Asia and Europe wrote on chalkboards, spoke via video or audio or posted to #becauseyougive on Twitter to record their "thank you" for support they receive from the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. Read More

• CHRISTMAS: Peace on earth - with teens

  by Ken Taylor, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- The angels' proclamation to the shepherds at the birth of Jesus included the phrase "Peace on earth" in Luke 2. Indeed the birth of the Prince of Peace ushered in the possibility of a new era of peace and tranquility.

  While it has been seldom realized in the political realm here on earth, in hearts of those who know and follow Christ there is a peace "which surpasses every thought" as highlighted in Philippians 4:7. Read More

• Bible Study: December 28, 2014

  by Staff/LifeWay Christian Resources, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (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

• Bible Study: January 4, 2015

  by Staff/LifeWay Christian Resources, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (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

• WORLDVIEW: Jesus in disguise

  by Erich Bridges, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  On the first Christmas, God willingly entered enemy territory disguised as a helpless child. Have you encountered the Lord in a "distressing disguise"? Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Those adoring angels

  by David Jeremiah, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  While angels are often undervalued in the nativity scene, in reality they had a key role in the events leading up to the night of Jesus's birth, David Jeremiah writes. Read More

• MISSIONS: Give your money to His vision

  by Frank S. Page, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  Do we vote our convictions with our pocketbooks? Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Frank Page exhorts us to teach our children what matters most by giving our biggest gifts to support God's eternal vision expressed in Acts 1:8. Read More

• Los dos relatos bíblicos de la Navidad son 'complementarios'

  Por David Roach, posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014 (9 years ago)

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- El historiador de nombre Julio Africano estuvo entre los primeros cristianos en preguntarse porqué las historias del nacimiento de Jesús en Mateo y Lucas difieren ligeramente.

  Alrededor del año 200, Julio aparentemente buscó a los parientes vivos de Jesús para preguntarles porqué las genealogías de Cristo en los dos Evangelios no eran exactamente iguales. ¿Tenía alguno de los relatos algún error? Read More