Today’s youth have grown up with "omnipresent cameras," reality television shows and websites that can make them instant stars, so they believe fame and fortune are well within reach, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. TODAY’S YOUTH WANT FAME AND FORTUNE: – Today’s youth have grown up with "omnipresent cameras," reality television shows and websites that can make them instant stars, so they believe fame and fortune are well within reach, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. In the survey released Jan. 9, 81 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds said getting rich is their generation’s most important or second-most-important life goal, and 51 percent said the same about being famous, USA Today reported.   The newspaper, which partnered with Pew to report the results, noted that today’s youth are largely influenced by MTV and reality television shows that can turn an ordinary person into a widely recognized, highly-paid celebrity in a matter of days.   "We’ve got a lot of people who, the entire time they were growing up, the only time anything important was happening, there was a camera present," Robert Thompson, a professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University, told USA Today. "When … [Read more...]

Holding containers of frozen casseroles, Cindy Walker climbed the steps of the homeless shelter excited to see God using home cooked meals to nourish and bless the residents. While she unpacked her car, a young man in his 30s wearing clean, but worn clothes and a backpack parked his bike and offered to help.     PORTLAND, Maine – Holding containers of frozen casseroles, Cindy Walker climbed the steps of the homeless shelter excited to see God using home cooked meals to nourish and bless the residents. While she unpacked her car, a young man in his 30s wearing clean, but worn clothes and a backpack parked his bike and offered to help.   With this suggestion, God was offering Walker another way to serve during WMU’s MissionsFEST in Portland, Maine, Sept. 9–16. In obedience and anticipation, Walker accepted both.   While the man unloaded the car, he confided in Walker about the hard times in his life due to some poor choices he’s made, which led him to the homeless shelter. For the rest of the evening, he talked about the Lord and life while Walker listened.   Before she left the shelter, he said, "Thank you for listening. Most people don’t look at me when I talk, and I don’t know why. But, I see Jesus in your eyes."   As … [Read more...]

When at 23 years old I chose to end my pregnancy, I was clueless about what God had to say about abortion.     When at 23 years old I chose to end my pregnancy, I was clueless about what God had to say about abortion. To be honest, I didn’t know what God had to say about much of anything. As a college student, I had fought for a woman’s "right to a safe and legal abortion." It all seemed so enlightened at the time – until the day that choice was mine. In that moment of free choice, my only guiding emotions were shame, despair, and fear.   For a few extra dollars, my doctor arranged for me to sleep through my "routine procedure" at a local hospital. My plan was to have the abortion and never look back. I still remember struggling to wake up after having an allergic reaction to the anesthesia. I labored for breath through a respirator. I also remember the pained expressions on the faces of my mom and dad as they stood by my bed in the emergency room. The blanketing silence that fell in those moments lasted for the next seven years.   A few days after my "routine procedure" I was rushed back to the hospital due to what my doctor diagnosed as an "incomplete abortion." I distinctly remember his gut-wrenching words: "During the … [Read more...]

Simple is not always a synonym for easy. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Simple is not always a synonym for easy.   Simple can be difficult, but if simple principles are mastered, simplicity can be quite effective. And simplicity is the factor connecting some of today’s most successful ventures including Papa John’s Pizza, Apple’s iPod, Southwest Airlines and even healthy churches.   In the book "Simple Church," Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, and coauthor Eric Geiger used extensive research and more than 400 case studies to support the idea that the healthiest churches embrace a simple biblical process of making disciples.   "The research shows that the churches that have greater simplicity are the churches that have the greatest effectiveness," Rainer said during an interview for Inside LifeWay, a news podcast produced by LifeWay’s communications department. "We define simplicity in the book as a congregation designed around a strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth.   "... Most churches today don’t have a plan to take people from being a new Christian to being a mature Christian," Rainer stated. "The book looks at how many churches out there are making strong … [Read more...]

When "Belinda Baker" left her New Orleans home to work in East Asia, she had a plan: "Settle in, tell my neighbors about Jesus and then [go to another place]. Simple, easy, quick." RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – When "Belinda Baker" left her New Orleans home to work in East Asia, she had a plan: "Settle in, tell my neighbors about Jesus and then [go to another place]. Simple, easy, quick." It didn’t quite happen like that. Nine weeks passed, but no new disciples for Jesus. "I had never gone this long without leading someone to the Lord," Baker said. She immersed herself in the East Asian culture. She rode bikes with them, made friends with as many people as she could, prayed over their houses, ate all their food and got sick – many times. Still, Baker had not led anyone to the Lord. Frustrated, she prayed: "Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew in me a right spirit within You." After nine months, her sister came to visit. Baker told her sister she stank at being a missionary. Her sister didn’t have miraculous words of advice, but God used her to help Baker get a new focus. "She taught me so much [just] from loving my friends," Baker said. "She loved [East Asia]. "The Lord wanted to do His work in His time, and I was … [Read more...]

Missions is a well- established component of Bethel Baptist Church’s overall ministry program, but the arrival of a new pastor has sparked a fresh awareness within the Chicago-area congregation of about 120 people of their shared commitment with other Southern Baptists.     BOURBONNAIS, Ill. (BP) – Missions is a well- established component of Bethel Baptist Church’s overall ministry program, but the arrival of a new pastor has sparked a fresh awareness within the Chicago-area congregation of about 120 people of their shared commitment with other Southern Baptists.   "I believe that as Southern Baptists – being the independent-minded people we tend to be – to have strategized back in the 1920s to voluntarily work together to provide security and consistency for our missionary effort was one of the most visionary and spiritually blessed things we as a convention have ever done," said Wright Eavenson, Bethel’s pastor since March.   "And for us as Southern Baptists to have actually maintained it all these decades, it has to be a God thing."   The pastor noted, "Because we voluntarily cooperate through the Cooperative Program, we have a worldwide missionary force that is able to accomplish things no other organization can. I … [Read more...]