Archive for February 2012
Helping churches go where they are led
When the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention talks about partnership missions, it’s not with a one-size-fits-all approach in mind. What the convention does have in mind, [...]
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Report: Iran may be set to execute pastor
TEHRAN—Iranian officials may have issued an order to execute a pastor at the center of a high-profile case that has drawn international attention, according to a legal group that has followed the case. The statement asked for Christians worldwide to pray. The American Center for Law and Justice Tuesday (Feb. 21) quoted [...]
Continue ReadingAtheist billboards timed for Black History Month
“Doubts about religion? You’re one of many.” The slogan on billboards in half a dozen American cities in February, including one in Dallas, is intended to [...]
Continue ReadingSBTC missions training opportunities abound
Interested in learning more about putting action to your faith at home or across the globe? The SBTC has training events planned throughout the year, from the annual SENT Conference—a weekend gathering with multiple speakers and breakout sessions—to smaller events with a specific missions focus in mind. There are also vision [...]
Continue ReadingSBTC seeks churches for 'Send Montreal' effort
MONTREAL—Driving across borders usually doesn’t result in drastic changes in scenery or culture. Crossing from the United States into the Canadian province of Quebec on Interstate 87 is an exception. In the bustling city of Montreal, just 42 miles north of Champlain, N.Y., half of 1 percent of the city’s citizens [...]
Continue ReadingSouth Asia partnership seeks churches
The need is immense and the mission field vast in South Asia. Millions of people have never heard the gospel and indigenous workers are few and untrained. Local governments are hostile and the danger is real. Despite the challenges, the call of the gospel remains. Answering the call, the Southern Baptists [...]
Continue ReadingCross-cultural missions: NO PASSPORT? NO PROBLEM.
If a church wants to do cross-cultural missions without passports, good news: The world has come to Texas. And it keeps on coming. Two examples are Texas’ largest metropolitan areas, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston (respectively, the nation’s third- and sixth-largest metros). Together, they comprise nearly 13 million people. As of August 2010, [...]
Continue ReadingWhat is Christian missions, anyway?
Rebekah Naylor entered a mud hut in an Indian village to find a woman lying on a mat, severely handicapped by burn scars on her arms and legs. Naylor, a longtime missionary doctor with the SBC’s International Mission Board, examined the woman and later performed surgery at an area hospital to [...]
Continue ReadingTask force: Keep legal SBC name, but adopt informal name, 'Great Commission Baptists
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The task force appointed to study a possible name change of the Southern Baptist Convention is recommending the convention maintain its legal name but adopt an informal, non-legal name for those who want to use it: Great Commission Baptists. The report Monday night ended weeks of speculation by Southern Baptists [...]
Continue ReadingChild abuse and the church: Be diligent
Few stories in the media gain as much attention as those of abuse of a child, whether the abuse is physical or sexual. The recent flurry of stories of sexual abuse in major universities underscores this fact. Interestingly, the head football coach and the president of a major university lost [...]
Continue ReadingPolitics and our Romans 13 responsibility
Polite conversation among many is to avoid religion and politics. Unfortunately, those two topics are at the top of the list for discussion during this election year. Politics has always had a seamy side. There have always been those who will use any means possible to gain power. Occasionally there are [...]
Continue ReadingLifeWay trustees vote to continue selling ‘11 NIV
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Trustees of LifeWay Christian Resources voted to continue selling the new NIV Bible in LifeWay stores, approved a new vice president for its largest division and elected new board officers. Meeting Feb. 13-14 at LifeWay offices in downtown Nashville, trustees heard a report from a special task force appointed to [...]
Continue ReadingElection—God's gracious purpose
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article with endnotes explores diverse views of the doctrine of election, including Calvinism (also called the "doctrines of grace"), within the Southern Baptist Convention. The article is reprinted from the June 2010 edition of SBC LIFE, journal of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee. The writer [...]
Continue ReadingGa. editor draws responses to Calvinism column
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Southern Baptists must decide whether they are satisfied with a "presumable encroachment of Calvinism" in their leadership and their seminary graduates, Baptist paper editor Gerald Harris wrote Feb. 9, drawing responses from several SBC entities. In a column titled "The Calvinists are here," Harris, editor of The Christian Index, newsjournal [...]
Continue ReadingTexas AG voices opposition of Obama 'contraceptive mandate'
AUSTIN—Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has joined with 11 other state attorneys general in a letter urging the Obama administrative to drop the controversial “contraceptive mandate” requiring religious employers to subsidize contraceptives, including abortion-causing drugs. “The more we learn about Obamacare, the more unconstitutional it becomes,” Abbott said in a statement. [...]
Continue ReadingChanges to 'contraception mandate' called accounting gimmick
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration found little support among pro-life groups when it announced on Friday that its controversial “contraception mandate” would shift the responsibility to offer free contraceptives—including abortion-causing drugs—away from religious organizations to their insurance carriers. The White House claimed the move accommodates religious groups who objected to the earlier version [...]
Continue ReadingMidwestern Seminary president resigns amid pressure
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The trustees of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) Friday accepted the resignation of seminary president R. Philip Roberts effective Feb. 29 during a called meeting at an airport hotel. Robin Hadaway, associate professor of missions at the seminary, was named acting president, accordingto trustee Kevin Shrum of Madison, Tenn., [...]
Continue ReadingRangers outfielder, wife talk about marriage
FLOWER MOUND—If your wife is years ahead of you in spiritual head knowledge, don’t let that keep you from being the spiritual leader in your home. That is part of what Texas Rangers right fielder David Murphy said God is teaching him in his 11th year as a follower of Christ [...]
Continue ReadingPastor seeks to reach second-generation Asians on campus
DENTON—The aroma of native foods wafting through the hallways from the church kitchen foretold that something important would follow. For the English-speaking young adults in the [...]
Continue ReadingLand: Obama mandate is a Baptist issue
WASHINGTON—The issue at the center of the swelling controversy over the Obama administration's refusal to protect the conscience rights of employers in its "contraceptive mandate" is "about as basic as it gets," especially for Baptists, says Richard Land. "Does the government have the right to intrude on the consciences of people [...]
Continue ReadingGuideStone: Obama mandate violates religious liberty
WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's benefits entity has joined the growing chorus of evangelical and Roman Catholic voices publicly protesting the Obama administration's mandate that health insurance plans cover contraceptives, including ones that can cause abortions. GuideStone Financial Resources, which provides health insurance coverage and other services to more [...]
Continue ReadingSusan G. Komen restores Planned Parenthood funding option
WASHINGTON (BP) -- Susan G. Komen for the Cure revised a policy Friday that it had recently used in deciding to stop funding for Planned Parenthood, leaving the impression it had reversed itself on future grants to the country's No. 1 abortion provider. The statement issued by the world's leading breast [...]
Continue ReadingNAMB president keynoting SBTC CP Luncheon
North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell will be the keynote speaker during the annual SBTC Cooperative Program Luncheon at the Frisco Convention Center on Tuesday, Feb. 28 during the Empower Evangelism Conference. Musical guests will be Josh and Angela Stanbery. Josh is music pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church’s Dallas campus. Ezell [...]
Continue ReadingThe agenda of disgust
It’s trendy this season to talk about how unhappy voters are with their choices for president. After listening to candidates and pundits hack the president and his aspiring opponents for the 2012 presidential election to pieces, some are calling for someone else to step into the race—someone we can get [...]
Continue Reading‘I Am Not Ashamed!’ Empower Evangelism Conf. Feb. 27-29 in Frisco
The 2012 SBTC Empower Evangelism Conference is planned Feb. 27-29 at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco. The theme, “I Am Not Ashamed,” is taken from Romans 1:14-17. This year’s conference will feature many familiar names, from evangelists such as Junior Hill to pastors such as Florida’s Ted Traylor and Bob [...]
Continue ReadingLewisville church carving paths for gospel in East Asia
The Great Commission commands believers to “go and make disciples of all nations.” But in many nations that command seems impossible because mission work and Christianity are outlawed. Lakeland Baptist Church in Lewisville is breaking through those barriers, using conversational English in East Asia to make inroads in places where Christianity [...]
Continue ReadingSr. Adult Luncheon Feb. 29
Comedian and musician Aaron Wilburn will headline the annual SBTC Senior Adult Luncheon on Feb. 29 at the Frisco Convention Center. Musical guest will be LaDonna Gatlin, recording artist, award-winning speaker and sister of the Gatlin Brothers. Wilburn is known for appealing to a wide spectrum of audiences with humor that [...]
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