It is vital that parents begin rearing their children with the kingdom of God in mind, a pair of Southern Baptist leaders say. It is vital that parents begin rearing their children with the kingdom of God in mind, a pair of Southern Baptist leaders say. In a new book by Broadman & Holman Publishers titled “Parenting with Kingdom Purpose,” authors Ken Hemphill and Richard Ross cite the need for a fresh approach to raising children – one that focuses on fulfilling God’s plans for each child’s life and on bringing families closer to each other and to the Lord. The book is designed to offer helps on how to parent one’s children with the kingdom of God in mind. No issue could be more important and central for today’s families, the pair of authors insist. “We are losing our young people at an alarming rate,” said Hemphill, who serves as national strategist for the Empowering Kingdom Growth initiative in the Southern Baptist Convention. “That’s why it was vitally important to write a book that not only explains the importance of parenting children with a kingdom purpose but that also provides practical suggestions for how to develop and maintain a kingdom focus throughout life,” he emphasized. Using … [Read more...]

When pastor Mark Roberts started his blog, he envisioned a small outreach to his community and parishioners at Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, Calif. When pastor Mark Roberts started his blog, he envisioned a small outreach to his community and parishioners at Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, Calif. But little more than a year later, the blog at markdroberts.com draws 1,500 visitors daily – 2,000 on weekends. “I have readers literally all over the world,” said Roberts, pastor to a 750-member congregation. His review of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” has drawn more than 25,000 visitors and continues to draw readers by the hundreds. It is but one small example of the growing reach of Christian bloggers going online to evangelize, mobilize and occasionally demonize. They marvel at the way blogs give them an opportunity to engage with a lively and diverse audience they could never attract on their own. The term “blog” is short for Web log and refers to the online journals that have given a public voice to anyone with an Internet connection. Bloggers helped insulate President George Bush last fall from doubts about his military service by calling into question a CBS report on the … [Read more...]

Week of June 20, 2005 Potpourri SLIDELL – Immanuel church: Jamie Womack, guest speaker; June 26, 10:45 a.m.; Mike Rasberry, pastor. CLAYTON – Faith church: Patriotic service; June 25, 6 p.m.; Hershel Clanton, pastor. BAKER – First church: “With Liberty and Justice for All” musical; July 3, 10:30 a.m.; Marvin Smith, minister of music; Dennis Allen, pastor. HAUGHTON – Koran church: “America, We Must Not Forget” musical; July 3, 11 a.m.; Hardy Yeatts, minister of music; George Rogers, pastor. MONROE – North Monroe church: “In God We Trust” musical with Testify as special musical guest; July 3, 10 a.m.; David McCormick, minister of music; Bill H. Dye, pastor. POLLOCK – Pleasant Hill church:  “Taking a Stand” men’s retreat; July 8, 7 p.m. with supper at 6 p.m.; July 9, 10 a.m.; Jack Daniels, Tim Lovelace, Harold Danley and Mark Lanier, special guests; for information, call (318) 765-3548; Casey Johnson, pastor. MANY – First church: “America, We Must Not Forget” musical presented by the combined choirs of First church in Many and Zwolle; June 26, 6 p.m.; Phil Smith, music minister; Steven L. Kelly, pastor. Youth WOODWORTH – Tall Timbers Conference center: Boy’s Mission/RA Camp; July 11-15; cost is … [Read more...]

the Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly to end its eight-year boycott of The Disney Company during its annual meeting last week in Nashville, Tenn. The Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly to end its eight-year boycott of The Disney Company during its annual meeting last week in Nashville, Tenn. However, while the resolution to halt the boycott gained near-unanimous support on the floor, William Dotson of Kentucky asked for convention-goers to maintain the boycott. He said the convention was not wrong in 1997 in targeting Disney but that it would be wrong to call off the boycott of Disney now. But the man who helped instigate the boycott in the first place disagreed. “They have made some changes,” Wiley Drake of California said of Disney. “It’s time to drop that boycott.” Strong support was registered for the reversal of the boycott resolution adopted at the 1997 annual convention. Only a few messengers voted against the new resolution, which states that Southern Baptists will “continue to monitor the products and policies of The Disney Company.” The point has been made, SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Richard Land said in an interview following the … [Read more...]

SBC registration A total of 11,641 messengers from 4,976 churches registered for last week’s Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tenn. That total easily tops the 8,600 messengers from 3,642 churches that attended the 2004 convention. Presidential election Florida pastor Bobby Welch last week was re-elected by acclamation to a second one-year term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. “A prophet has been among us,” evangelist Junior Hill of Decatur, Ala., in nominating Welch. “Seldom has any man risen ... more fitted to the task at hand.” Hill commended Welch for his impeccable character, his passionate leadership and for “focusing on the main task – winning the lost to Jesus Christ.” Hill concluded by saying Welch’s “untiring passion for the unsaved” is needed again in the coming year. During his first term as president, Welch crisscrossed the nation to promote “The ‘Everyone Can’ Kingdom Challenge!” to unite Southern Baptists around evangelism, with a goal of Southern Baptist churches baptizing 1 million people during the 2005-06 church year. Welch has been pastor of First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, Fla., since 1974. Convention officers In addition to re-electing Florida pastor Bobby … [Read more...]

Bobby Welch is the first person elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention since Jimmy Allen (1978-79) who came to the office with a specific agenda beyond the controversy of the last 25 years. Bobby Welch is the first person elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention since Jimmy Allen (1978-79) who came to the office with a specific agenda beyond the controversy of the last 25 years. Jimmy Allen actually campaigned for the office because he believed Southern Baptists should engage in missions at a different level. His vision was to establish official means by which vast numbers of short-term, primarily self supporting volunteers would join workforces with the vocational missionaries on foreign fields and in the United States. His campaign was successful, although his ideas were initially resisted by leaders of the then Foreign Mission Board and Home Mission Board. Yet, his agenda gave strong impetus the recommendations of the Executive Committee’s 1976 Missions Challenge that had as its goal 5,000 volunteers on the field by 1982. These pushes birthed the Mission Service Corps. Tens of thousands – if not hundreds of thousands – of people personally have worked on mission fields since … [Read more...]

Fire destroyed facilities at Oberlin Baptist Church in Oberlin the night of June 20 – and a man has been charged with setting the blaze. Fire destroyed facilities at Oberlin Baptist Church in Oberlin the night of June 20 – and a man has been charged with setting the blaze. The 28-year-old man was seen running from the scene after he reportedly stole objects from the church and set the fire to erase all evidence of his crime. The late Sunday night blaze completely destroyed a pair of church facilities and heavily damaged the sanctuary. It is expected to be classified as a total loss, pastor Shane Nugent said. Nugent said he received a call about the fire on Father’s Day night after 11 p.m. Other church members also had been alerted and gathered at the scene. Even as the fire burned, the church members gathered in an impromptu prayer session across the street. “I told them as we prayed, ‘Our church buildings are gone, but the church is still here,’” Nugent recounts. He said his trust remains in God. “God is in control,” Nugent said. “I know he has something in mind for us. We just have to pray and seek his will.” Early last week, Nugent was uncertain where the church would conduct services while … [Read more...]

It was built up as the largest pre-convention evangelistic thrust ever for Southern Baptists – and in the end, it lived up to the billing. It was built up as the largest pre-convention evangelistic thrust ever for Southern Baptists – and in the end, it lived up to the billing. Some 6,500 to 7,000 out-of-town volunteers joined with local workers in Nashville, Tenn., to share the gospel in a variety of ways across the city. All in all, as many as 10,000 to 12,000 volunteer workers joined in the various efforts. By the end of the pre-convention Crossover initiative, organizers reported a total of 2,544 professions of faith. Throughout Nashville, residents were introduced to the gospel as a result of block parties, festivals, hands-on care ministries and door-to-door visiting. Indeed, volunteer teams recorded more than 17,900 visits at homes and apartments across Nashville last week, early reports indicate. Volunteers shared the gospel more than 4,965 times and saw 564 people make professions of faith. A man in his 50s who was working in his yard was among those introduced to the savior. Within a couple of minutes after a Crossover team stopped at the home, Andrew Porter of Memphis, Tenn., asked the man … [Read more...]

It was the last house on the street, and the last visit of the day. Southern Baptist volunteers Steve and Jeal Atwood from Bradford, Tenn., were about to experience a divine appointment. It was the last house on the street, and the last visit of the day. Southern Baptist volunteers Steve and Jeal Atwood from Bradford, Tenn., were about to experience a divine appointment. As part of the Crossover door-to-door visitation effort last week, the Atwoods had combed every house on Hillside Road in north Nashville, planting seeds for Christ but seeing no decisions for Christ. Minutes from ending their day, they knocked on one more door – this one of a 67-year-old widower who had lost his wife a month earlier. After Steve Atwood guided the widower through an evangelistic outline, the man prayed to receive Christ, tears streaming down his face. But the visit nearly did not take place – the man’s address was not on the official visitation list. However, earlier in the day, the Atwoods said they felt led to sweep both sides of the street and visit every house. “He’s the last one we talked to,” Jeal Atwood noted. A local church plans to conduct a follow-up visit with the man. “He’s lonely and he’s grieving, and … [Read more...]

The Southern Baptist Convention has secured its ties to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, concluding years of wrangling about how best to do so. The Southern Baptist Convention has secured its ties to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, concluding years of wrangling about how best to do so. In addition, a 2005-06 Cooperative Program budget has been approved, after a move to take money from missions in order to engage in the “cultural war” in America was rejected. Both actions came as messengers dealt with recommendations from the SBC Executive Committee at last week’s annual convention in Nashville, Tenn. In addressing the New Orleans Seminary situation, messengers voted four-to-one to make the convention the “sole member” – or single controlling entity – of the school’s corporation. However, the vote of 5,627 (78.6 percent) to 1,528 (21.4 percent) came only after seminary President Chuck Kelley was given time to explain the school’s reservations with the sole membership model. Sole membership relates to a legal structure designed to specify ownership rights of the convention over the seminary. The issue dates back to 1997, when the Executive Committee asked convention agencies to make … [Read more...]