By Staff, Baptist Press COLUMBUS, Ohio - Past Southern Baptist Convention presidents - including Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans - along with current SBC President Ronnie Floyd have released a joint statement on same-sex marriage. The full text of the statement follows along with the names of the former SBC presidents who have endorsed it: As Southern Baptist Christians, we are committed to Biblical faith and ethics. As a result, this body of Believers stands on the authority of Scripture and God’s Truth as central to our lives. What the Bible says about marriage is clear, definitive and unchanging. We affirm biblical, traditional, natural marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. The Scriptures’ teaching on marriage is not negotiable. We stake our lives upon the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Consequently, we will not accept, nor adhere to, any legal redefinition of marriage issued by any political or judicial body including the United States Supreme Court. We will not recognize same-sex “marriages”, our churches will not host same-sex ceremonies, and we will not perform such ceremonies. While we affirm our love for all … [Read more...]
At AVANCE, Hispanics hear Ronnie Floyd, David Platt
By Keila Diaz, Florida Baptist Witness COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- In a night marked by worship, fellowship and workshops, Hispanic Southern Baptist pastors and leaders from across the United States came together for AVANCE 2015 prior to the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting. The June 14 gathering began at 5 p.m. with worship led by Julio Arriola from Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, followed by a dinner and featured speaker SBC President Ronnie Floyd. David Platt, president of the International Mission Board, also addressed the group. After the dinner, the IMB, the North American Mission Board and LifeWay Christian Resources hosted workshops. The evening concluded with an informational session from the new Hispanic Leadership Network. Floyd, speaking to some 200 Hispanic Baptists, with translation by IMB Hispanic mobilization leader Jason Carlisle, started his message by quoting Romans 13:11, which states in part, "already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed." "This is the moment God wants to do a mighty work" in America and beyond, Floyd said at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Reaching the United States and other nations for … [Read more...]
WMU elects Linda Cooper as new president
By Baptist Press GROVE CITY, Ohio (BP) -- Woman's Missionary Union elected Linda Cooper of Bowling Green, Ky., to serve as national WMU president during the second day of their Missions Celebration and Annual Meeting, June 14-15, at First Baptist Church of Grove City, Ohio. Cooper, a member of Forest Park Baptist Church, will replace Debby Akerman, who has served as president for five years. In her final presidential address, Akerman thanked those present at the meeting for the opportunity to serve WMU. "Contrary to what some might think, you are not sitting in circles with your hair of blue simply reading missions articles," she said. "You are praying for our missionaries as the day begins; going out in active community missions to the many places where the hurting are found. You are going out through relationship building and steady witnessing to the up-and-out as well as the down-and-out. And you are leading missions teams to go across North America and to the nations of the world." Between the two days of the meeting, some 500 people attended to hear how missionaries and ministry workers live out the year's theme, "All for You," through wholehearted surrender, sacrifice and service. Capt. Michael Coleman, a U.S. … [Read more...]
Humility, intimacy urged at Pastors’ Conference
By Baptist Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Pastors and churches must humble themselves and pursue a closer walk with God if they want to experience His peace, joy and purpose, speakers said at the 2015 Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference in its first two sessions June 14-15. The conference, focusing on the theme "He Must Increase" from John the Baptist's statement in John 3:30, precedes the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Speakers in the Sunday evening and Monday morning sessions included: Dean Fulks, lead pastor of LifePoint Church in Columbus, Ohio, in the opening message of the conference June 14, used the story of Jonah to illustrate the need for pastors to live with repentant hearts. Sometimes pastors may mistakenly believe that God is waiting for them to step out of line so He can clobber them, Fulks said. But a biblical picture is found in Romans 2:3, where Paul writes that God's kindness is what leads to repentance. "God will be glorified by my life. God will be glorified by your life," Fulks said. "Either through my joyful obedience or through my rebellious disobedience ... God will be glorified." As God didn't give up on Jonah, Fulks said He … [Read more...]
Louisiana College hosting Bi-Vocational/Small Church National Celebration
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Hundreds of Ironmen will convene upon Louisiana College next week, but not for a grueling 140.6-mile triathlon. Called by some as the Iron Men of the Southern Baptist Convention, these bi-vocational ministers, pastors of smaller churches and their wives will meet for the annual Bi-vocational and Small Church Leadership Network National Celebration. Scheduled for June 26-27 at LC, the theme for the annual conference is “God Has A Plan For You And Your Church.” The focal scripture will be Jeremiah 29:11. Philip Caples, Vice President of Integration for Faith and Learning at LC and director of this year’s conference, said the school and the Louisiana Baptist Convention are trying to connect with bi-vocational pastors in the state to encourage them to come to the event because of the much-needed training it will provide for their congregations. “One reason that we are excited about this opportunity is because Louisiana College wants to be a resource for all churches in our state,” said Caples, a member of the Bi-vocational Small Church Leadership Network. “However, with approximately 70 percent of Louisiana’s Southern Baptist churches having less than 100 in worship … [Read more...]
Live webcast available for Pastors Conference, SBC Annual Meeting
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Messengers are meeting for the Pastors Conference and Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting through Wednesday. If you are unable to attend, a live webcast is available for both events, which are in Columbus, Ohio. Click here for the live webcast for the Pastors Conference and Southern. Baptist Convention Annual Meeting … [Read more...]
IMB personnel policy may draw messenger questions
By Baptist Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- A Louisiana director of missions has urged pastors in the Baptist association he leads to raise questions about new personnel policies of the International Mission Board during the IMB's report at the June 16-17 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, according to a June 10 report by the Southern Baptist TEXAN newsjournal. Lonnie Wascom, a former IMB trustee and director of missions and ministries for the Northshore Baptist Association in Hammond, wrote in a June 2 email to the nearly 100 pastors in the association that he has major concerns" related to the missionary qualifications policy adopted by IMB trustees during their May 12-13 meeting in Louisville, Ky. Wascom told the Baptist Message that he has nothing personal against anyone at or affiliated with the IMB but just wants people to ask questions. “I love the IMB,” Wascom said. “I pray that God will continue to use the missionaries that Southern Baptists affirm and support to push back the darkness to the ends of the earth. But I’m about the gospel the New Testament teaches, not the one we make up.” SBC President Ronnie Floyd told the TEXAN he hopes any questions posed by messengers during the IMB's report … [Read more...]
The future of the Southern Baptist Convention
By Doug Munton, pastor and author I’m neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. That’s a bad start for confidence in my predictive powers. But let me speculate on the future of the Southern Baptist Convention with whom I have been associated my entire life. In many ways I am describing what is more than what will be. Perhaps this is more of where we are than where we are headed. While it seems likely we will have more of what we currently have, God can change things dramatically. Perhaps we will have a great revival. Perhaps we will have ruin. But here is where it seems we are and where we are headed. (Keep in mind the “neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet” part.) 1. We will be less evangelistic. It is hard to imagine a denomination being much more evangelistic than the SBC was for several decades. While not all churches were evangelistic, and certainly many individual members weren’t, the denomination as a whole was focused on reaching people. For a variety of reasons, we are less so now. Focusing on those reasons is for another blog. (Is it theological, cultural, because evangelism is so hard, etc.?) But it seems obvious we are less likely to be involved in evangelistic activities. We even talk about … [Read more...]
Reflections from a Chinese orphanage
By Josh Owens, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission YUNNAN PROVINCE, China (BP) - In China's Yunnan Province, there is an ancient temple made of copper that crowns Jindian Park. In English it is literally "Golden Temple Park," reflecting the Daoist religion that it serves. Here on Jan. 14, 1994, a police officer noticed a five-day-old orphan, took him up and delivered him to the nearby orphanage. Josh Owens and his sisters Mary (left) and Grace return to China with their adoptive parents, Waylan and Betsy Owens. Nine months and three days later, that orphan was the first boy ever adopted from Kunming Municipal Children's Home. I visited that Chinese orphanage a few weeks ago, and for the first time in two decades I entered Jindian Park. As I wandered among the rooms of the orphanage and up the temple trail in that wooded park, thoughts and questions muddled my mind. Why would I, in a nation of a billion, be left alone in Jindian Park? Why did someone notice me and bother to act? Why would all this happen right after China opened itself to foreign adoptions in 1992? And why would I be adopted into this family, my family? I am now 21 years old and even if my existence could be explained, … [Read more...]
Abedini beating intensifies calls for release
By David Roach, Baptist Press TEHRAN, Iran (BP) - American pastor Saeed Abedini has been "viciously" beaten in the Iranian prison where he is being held for his Christian faith, the American Center for Law and Justice reported June 10, prompting renewed calls for Abedini's release as a condition of any nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran. "It is crucial to speak out for Saeed as we approach the June 30th deadline between the United States and Iran," Abedini's wife Naghmeh said in a June 10 Facebook post. She added June 30 "is also Saeed and I's 11th year anniversary." Naghmeh Abedini is scheduled to address the Pastors' Wives Conference in Columbus, Ohio, June 15 preceding the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 16-17. She will also briefly address the SBC Pastors' Conference June 15, delivering an update on her husband. Pastors' Conference attendees will then pray for her and Saeed. Fellow prisoners attacked Saeed Abedini June 3 as he attempted to leave his cell, punching him in the face and demolishing a table he used while studying and reading, the ACLJ reported. Prison guards stopped the attack and a prison doctor determined Abedini did not have any broken bones. Naghmeh Abedini explained in a … [Read more...]
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