By Staff, Baptist Press ST. LOUIS (BP) -- John Avant, pastor of First Baptist Concord in Knoxville, Tenn., will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors' Conference, according to an announcement by fellow Tennessee pastor Steve Gaines. Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., stated in an April 27 announcement to Baptist Press: "I have known John Avant for over 30 years. We were in the Ph.D. program together at Southwestern Seminary in the 1980s. We both served as pastors of Southern Baptist churches in Texas at that same time. He is a man of Christ-like character. He has experienced personal revival as well as revival in his churches. He is a devoted husband and father, a Gospel preacher, a loving pastor, a soul winner and a servant leader. "Having served as the president of the SBC Pastors' Conference myself in 2005," Gaines said, "I am fully aware of the responsibilities of that position, and I am confident that Dr. Avant will do a wonderful job serving all Southern Baptist pastors." A former vice president for evangelization at the North American Mission Board, Avant has pastored seven churches in Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas. Gaines said Avant "is known for the … [Read more...]

By Erich Bridges, Christian Examiner RICHMOND, Va. (Christian Examiner) – George Turner, 23-year-old seminary freshman, thinks he's ready to step in for the senior pastor at his church. It's not that Rev. Price is burned out. He's just, well, a little stale. His preaching is too predictable. Worship style? Yawn. "I just think we need to be more tactile and relational," young Turner observed. "I've experienced deep connections with the mystery of the dance of God burning incense in my dorms." Rev. Price, out on a hospital visit, was unavailable for comment. Turner and Price aren't real, by the way. They're fictional characters invented by the Babylon Bee, a satirical website that lampoons church topics. But they hit uncomfortably close to home when it comes to the generational changing of the guard in churches across America. Baby boomer pastors and lay leaders are beginning to hand the reins over to Millennials in thousands of churches. But the hand-off isn't necessarily going smoothly – on either end. The generational struggle goes deeper than the well-documented "worship wars" over hymnbooks versus praise choruses, traditional versus contemporary worship or shirt-tails and jeans versus coats and ties. The underlying … [Read more...]

By Michael Foust, Christian Examiner TUPELO, Miss. – A petition pledging a boycott of Target over its new bathroom policy reached an incredible 1 million names Thursday night, even as faith bloggers debated whether the protest itself is a good idea. The boycott was launched April 20 and is being led by the American Family Association, which is hosting a petition that reads: "Target's store policy endangers women and children by allowing men to frequent women's facilities. Until Target makes the safety of women and children a priority, I will shop elsewhere." Support for the petition hit 1 million names Thursday in its ninth day, a feat boosted by the petition going viral on social media. Under the new store policy, customers can use the restroom that corresponds to their chosen gender. But it is the lack of details that has opponents particularly upset. Specifically, can a man simply walk into the women's restroom if he so chooses, even with women and young girls present? Target was asked an almost identical question on its Facebook page but did not give a direct answer. When a Washington state open-bathroom law went into effect this year, a man walked into a Seattle public pool locker room and refused to leave, even when … [Read more...]

By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner MIDDLETON, Wisc. (Christian Examiner) – Protestors descended on a student- and parent-led lunchtime Bible discussion in a public park next to a Wisconsin high school Tuesday in an effort to stop the assembly. For the first time since the event adjacent to Middleton High School began in Fireman's Park in 2014, the "Jesus Lunch" was met with calls for "separation of church and state" and shouts of protest about white Christians being divisive at the school. Those students who protested, the Wisconsin State Journal claimed, were supported by the atheist Freedom from Religion Foundaiton (though the paper referred to FFRF as "secular"). To read the rest of the article, click here. … [Read more...]

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.), along with U.S. Representatives Diane Black (R-Tenn.) and Pete Olson (R-Texas), issued the following statements regarding the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) decision to investigate the use of federal funding allocated to Planned Parenthood and other federally funded organizations that perform or promote abortions in response to the Members’ request last month. “For years Planned Parenthood and their pro-abortion allies have deceived the public on how they spend their taxpayer dollars,” said Senator David Vitter. “We absolutely need to shed light on how these types of organizations are spending federal funds, and I suspect the forthcoming GAO report will confirm our fears of Planned Parenthood’s inexcusable misuse of taxpayer dollars for abortion.” “I thank the GAO for acting responsibly and committing to carry out our request for an independent review of the taxpayer funding provided to Planned Parenthood and related organizations,” said Congressman Diane Black. “As a nurse for more than 40 years, I know that abortion is not healthcare and I am incensed that, year after year, my constituents see their money sent to Washington and distributed to … [Read more...]

By Alliance Defending Freedom staff WASHINGTON – Alliance Defending Freedom asked a federal district court Friday to order the Internal Revenue Service to identify records it has withheld for nearly two years that are related to secret procedures for investigating churches. The existence of the secret procedures became known through the agency’s settlement of an atheist group’s lawsuit, but the IRS has stonewalled the release of details. In 2014, ADF filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for the records. The IRS refused to produce any records for a full year. When it finally started producing documents in July 2015, months after ADF filed suit through its attorneys with Judicial Watch, the agency withheld more than 10,000 out of 16,000 pages requested, and of the pages it did produce, more than 2,000 are almost entirely blacked out. Now ADF is asking the court to order the IRS to comply with its legal duty to justify the thousands of records withheld or else produce them. “The IRS is not above the law, and Americans deserve to know the truth about the agency’s secret deals with activists,” said ADF Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb. “The IRS has a legal obligation to explain why it is hiding things or else … [Read more...]

By Tobin Perry, Christian Examiner LAKE FOREST, Calif. (Christian Examiner)—At worship services last weekend Saddleback Church commissioned Danny Duchene —who had spent 33 years in a California prison—as a pastor. Duchene will lead the church's efforts to put a church in every prison in the United States. "As I stand here today, I'm aware I'm only here by God's mercy," Duchene told the assembled crowd during one of Saddleback's worship services. "I am very grateful to the pastors, friends and family that God has shown his mercy through. The Bible says in James 2:13 that 'mercy triumphs over judgment.' My life is an example of that truth." Duchene's testimony came as part of Rick Warren's sermon called "God Can Use Anybody," during a message series on "The Miracle of Mercy." To read the rest of the story, click here. … [Read more...]

By Joni B Hannigan, Christian Examiner ST. LOUIS (Christian Examiner) – A week after a Florida pastor announced 42-year-old J.D. Greear would be nominated as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Johnny Hunt, a former SBC president, announced he would nominate Steve Gaines, 59, pastor of the Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church, to the post during the denomination's June meeting. The second nomination earlier this month for the position marks the first time in six years — since the election of Marietta, Georgia Pastor Bryant Wright in Orlando in 2010 — there has been at least three nominees. Baptist Press announced March 24 that New Orleans pastor David Crosby would be nominated for president by former SBC president Fred Luter. To read the rest of the story, click here. … [Read more...]