Tuesday, December 27, 2005

• One year after deadly tsunami, villagers in India thank Southern Baptists for help

  by Goldie Frances*, posted Tuesday, December 27, 2005 (18 years ago)

  CHENNAI, India (BP)--When Cole Elbridge* stood to accept the village leader’s appreciation, he did so on behalf of Southern Baptists who have given nearly $17 million to help survivors of the tsunami that ripped through southern Asia’s coastlines on Dec. 26, 2004, leaving a quarter of a million people dead and millions homeless. Read More

• Tsunami brings Sri Lankan home to meet Jesus

  by Goldie Frances*, posted Tuesday, December 27, 2005 (18 years ago)

  Giving thanks Silva thanks God for sparing his daughter’s life during the tsunami and bringing him back to Sri Lanka to be with his family – a decision that ultimately led to his new faith in Jesus Christ.

  COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (BP)--Silva wants his daughter to remember Dec. 26, 2004, to know for certain her young life is a miracle for which he is forever grateful.

        “I want her to know how her mother [saved] her in the tsunami -– not her father, because I was away,” he said.

        Having worked the past six years in Saudi Arabia, Silva, 32, had been home only once for a short visit after his daughter’s birth. That changed Dec. 26, when a friend called to ask whether he had heard about the tsunami. He hadn’t. Read More

• Atlanta Falcons kicker puts spotlight on Christ

  by Luanne Byrd, posted Tuesday, December 27, 2005 (18 years ago)

  Eye on the prize Atlanta Falcons kicker Todd Peterson has been a pro football player for 12 years, and he has kept his focus on his Christian faith. “If we keep our eyes on the Author and the Perfector of our faith, we’ll be OK,” he says.” It’s not about me, it’s all about Him.” Photo courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons.

  ATLANTA (BP)--“I don’t have a game plan when I share my faith,” Todd Peterson, a kicker for the Atlanta Falcons, said. “If I act like Jesus, if I’m controlled by the Holy Spirit, and if God is the One who is empowering me, I don’t really have to have a game plan or a strategy for sharing. God will give me that opportunity.”

        Team evangelism is quite familiar to this 12-year NFL veteran after previously playing for the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers. Step aside from his field goal career stats that include an impressive number of long kicks and you’ll catch a glimpse of his much larger career focus -- sharing Christ with his teammates. Read More

• Does Christianity squash women? Author explores feminism

  by Sara Horn, posted Tuesday, December 27, 2005 (18 years ago)

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Can women have it all? A new book from Broadman & Holman explores that very question by defining womanhood from a biblical perspective. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Why the church needs apologetics

  by Mark Coppenger, posted Tuesday, December 27, 2005 (18 years ago)

  EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)--Now and then apologetics (argumentation for defense of the faith) has a direct impact on lost people, leading them toward conversion, or at least away from hostility. For instance, perennial skeptic Antony Flew now expresses a form of theism, in part because of the argument from intelligent design in nature. (See the interview at www.biola.edu/antonyflew/.) Read More