It is the Promised Land of the Bible, the land where Jesus lived and walked and proclaimed his good news - Israel. It is a land steeped in Jewish, Orthodox, Arab and Muslim traditions. And it is a land where a small Baptist community remains, proclaiming its own gospel message to others. It is enduring - but not easy. It is the Promised Land of the Bible, the land where Jesus lived and walked and proclaimed his good news - Israel. It is a land steeped in Jewish, Orthodox, Arab and Muslim traditions. And it is a land where a small Baptist community remains, proclaiming its own gospel message to others. It is enduring - but not easy. For instance, Baptists represent the smallest Christian group in the Arab city of Nazareth where Jesus was reared. Even so, the church in that city is the mother congregation of Baptist work in Galilee, pastor Fuad Sakhnini says. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Narkis Street Baptist Church has been a stronghold of the Christian faith since before World War II. The 400 Baptists in Nazareth may seem miniscule in a city of 70,000 people where cassocked monks rub shoulders with pilgrims from the world over. Even so, Sakhnini insists there is a unique opportunity to reach … [Read more...]

If "bloom where you are planted" epitomized church life in the 1970s, today’s slogan is "you better shop around." Each year, one out of every seven adults changes churches, the Barna Research Group reports. One of six attends two or more churches on a rotating basis. Americans are a religious people - and church remains an important aspect of life for tens of millions of Americans. However, there is less concern about "brand loyalty" to churches than there used to be, explained George Barna, founder of the California-based research group. If "bloom where you are planted" epitomized church life in the 1970s, today’s slogan is "you better shop around." Each year, one out of every seven adults changes churches, the Barna Research Group reports. One of six attends two or more churches on a rotating basis. Americans are a religious people - and church remains an important aspect of life for tens of millions of Americans. However, there is less concern about "brand loyalty" to churches than there used to be, explained George Barna, founder of the California-based research group. "Although Americans do not change churches as regularly as they change the brand of gasoline they use, church loyalty is a modern … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptist Convention leaders once more are asking churches to help make the messenger registration pro- cess run efficiently at next month’s annual state meeting.   Louisiana Baptist churches already have been mailed a letter requesting verification of the number of messengers they are allowed to send to the annual meeting. The letter included a response card that is to be returned by October 22.   Louisiana Baptist Convention leaders once more are asking churches to help make the messenger registration pro- cess run efficiently at next month’s annual state meeting.   Louisiana Baptist churches already have been mailed a letter requesting verification of the number of messengers they are allowed to send to the annual meeting. The letter included a response card that is to be returned by October 22.   Mission churches did not receive letters - only duly-constituted churches. Members of Louisiana Baptist mission congregations may attend the convention as messengers but only if elected by the mission’s sponsoring church. The person counts as a messenger from the sponsoring church.   After the response cards are received, churches will be mailed a … [Read more...]

Arizona officials have alleged the Baptist Foundation of Arizona’s auditor "aided and abetted" fraud by giving the organization a clean bill of health despite warnings to the contrary.   Accounting firm Arthur Andersen has requested a hearing to answer charges by the Arizona Corporation Commission’s Securities Division that it knowingly or negligently helped Foundation officers mislead trustees and investors about financial losses. Arizona officials have alleged the Baptist Foundation of Arizona’s auditor "aided and abetted" fraud by giving the organization a clean bill of health despite warnings to the contrary.   Accounting firm Arthur Andersen has requested a hearing to answer charges by the Arizona Corporation Commission’s Securities Division that it knowingly or negligently helped Foundation officers mislead trustees and investors about financial losses.   Last year, securities officials alleged that officials of the Baptist Foundation conducted a "ponzi scheme" by making bogus transactions between various corporations to hide the fact that investments were losing money. The Foundation eventually collapsed and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last November. Thousands … [Read more...]

As the Baptist General Convention of Texas prepares for a decisive annual meeting, a war of words between state and Southern Baptist leaders continues.   State convention leaders have approved a proposal that would reduce drastically funding for Southern Baptist Convention seminaries and the national Executive Committee and would eliminate funding for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. As the Baptist General Convention of Texas prepares for a decisive annual meeting, a war of words between state and Southern Baptist leaders continues.   State convention leaders have approved a proposal that would reduce drastically funding for Southern Baptist Convention seminaries and the national Executive Committee and would eliminate funding for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.   The proposal still must be approved by messengers to the state convention’s annual meeting at the end of October in order to become effective. More than $4 million in funding is at stake in the issue.   Prior to the meeting, both state and national leaders are seeking to make their cases through mailings and other means.   Southern Baptist leaders have mailed a brochure entitled … [Read more...]

Thank you very much for your timely and extremely well-written editorial entitled "Bravo for war on tobacco - now regarding alcohol..." Thank you very much for your timely and extremely well-written editorial entitled "Bravo for war on tobacco - now regarding alcohol..."   I believe you hit the nail on the head when you wrote "Our government is addicted to the income from taxing alcohol and from the political contributions of its manufacturers."   I hope your editorial will help us all to realize that as bad as tobacco is for us - alcohol adversely affects, to a greater degree, the health of the user and an untold number of innocent people. It surely is time to go after the beverage industry with the same justification and zeal as we do the tobacco industry.   I appreciate your in-depth and substantive discussion of this important issue. Sam Lane … [Read more...]

The Search Committee of the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention has begun the process of finding an Executive Director. The Search Committee of the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention has begun the process of finding an Executive Director.   If you know of someone who would be qualified to serve in such a critical position, please encourage them to send a resume and cover letter to the convention office, attention Administrative Committee, P.O. Box 1347, Draper, Utah 84020. The committee will receive resumes through October 31.   Please continue for pray for our convention during the time of transition. Debbie Ward Acting Executive Director Utah-Idaho Convention … [Read more...]

As a Baptist minister and prison chaplain at Allen Correctional Center, I have been called to minister to and through the Criminal Justice System but also to lead and train fellow Christians to minister to this large group of people As a Baptist minister and prison chaplain at Allen Correctional Center, I have been called to minister to and through the Criminal Justice System but also to lead and train fellow Christians to minister to this large group of people. There is a desperate need for Baptists around the state to become involved in ministering to inmates, their families and victims. In our state, this group includes one half million people that are virtually untouched by any church. God loves them so we must reach out.   I would like to invite a pastor and or lay person from your church to Allen Correctional Center on Tuesday, Nov. 7. You should arrive at about 10:30 a.m. We will feed you like a king and treat you the same. All I ask for is an hour and a half to inform you about prison ministry and tour our facility.   The secretary of the Department of Corrections has opened the door to Christians to minister in the prison system around the state. Faith-based programs work to reduce … [Read more...]

There is nothing like a good cop show, whether it is on the big silver screen or the blinking eye of a television. Cop shows abound, and in some seasons, rule.   And why not? Cop shows are natural harbingers of drama, suspense, action, romance. There is not a better entertainment setting for the struggle of good and evil, right and wrong. There is nothing like a good cop show, whether it is on the big silver screen or the blinking eye of a television. Cop shows abound, and in some seasons, rule.   And why not? Cop shows are natural harbingers of drama, suspense, action, romance. There is not a better entertainment setting for the struggle of good and evil, right and wrong.   Since the early days of movies, good guys have struggled to overcome bad guys. Who can, to this day, resist stopping the channel flipping at a Humphrey Bogart kind of guy, a pompadour hat with the brim turned down, standing in the shadows, doing his detective work?   So, who is your favorite cop character? Humphrey Bogart whose storyline always had more romantic interest than struggle with a bad guy? Or maybe you are of the Dirty Harry generation. You still like to see Clint Eastwood do his … [Read more...]

Southern Baptists across the nation sit by and watch the battle of the Titans as officers of the Southern Baptist Convention and the leadership of the Baptist General Convention of Texas clash. What may very well be at stake is the future of the Cooperative Program, which has been the funding engine that has driven the work of national Southern Baptists and the Baptists of 34 state conventions since 1925. Southern Baptists across the nation sit by and watch the battle of the Titans as officers of the Southern Baptist Convention and the leadership of the Baptist General Convention of Texas clash. What may very well be at stake is the future of the Cooperative Program, which has been the funding engine that has driven the work of national Southern Baptists and the Baptists of 34 state conventions since 1925. In the last 22 years that the controversy has rattled the Southern Baptist Convention, the Baptist General Convention of Texas has gone its own way. While Texas Baptist churches have provided some of the key leadership of the movement to take the Southern Baptist Convention in a more conservative direction, the state convention overall has not been in lockstep with the national … [Read more...]