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...]
Kendrick brothers’ latest film an option for messengers, others after SBC Pastors Conference
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Messengers and others looking for a way to spend their time after the Monday evening session of the Southern Baptist Pastors Conference can watching the next film from the Kendrick brothers. War Room, the fifth film from Alex and Stephen Kendrick, will be screened at 9 pm in the Battelle Ballroom. An exclusive Q&A with the Kendricks will follow. Scheduled for an Aug. 28 release by Sony Picture Entertainment’s TriStar Pictures, War Room is a drama “with humor and heart that explores the power that prayer can have on marriages, parenting, careers, friendships, and every other area of our lives,” according to a press release. The main characters, Tony and Elizabeth Jordan, seem to have it all – great jobs, a beautiful daughter and a dream house. However, their marriage is failing. Elizabeth meets a client of hers, who challenges her to establish a war room and battle plan for prayer for the family. Meanwhile, Tony struggles surface and he must decide whether he will make amends for his family. The Kendrick brothers previously made Courageous, Fireproof, Facing the Giants and Flywheel. … [Read more...]
MVP Curry credits God, family for success
By Daniel Woodman, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) -- At four minutes left in the first half, the camera catches a blur moving in the corner of the screen. Enter Stephen Curry, who receives a pass from his teammate and drains a 3-point shot over a lunging defender on the biggest stage of the NBA, game one of the Finals. After his shot, the camera also picks up Curry making a quick fist pump to his chest and then pointing a finger toward the rafters of Oakland's Oracle Arena. It's Curry's way of thanking God for his success and eventual victory that night over the Cleveland Cavaliers. While Curry put on a dazzling display in the spotlight, the young star had an even more impressive regular season campaign. The number of 3-pointers made by Curry this season (286), was good enough to break the previous record of 272, which Curry notched just two years ago. Combined with a 67-win season by his Golden State Warriors and the number one seed in the Western Conference Playoffs, Curry's ability as a dynamic shooter garnered him the NBA's Most Valuable Player award. Lebron James and James Harden were just a couple of the superstars Curry edged out for his first MVP award in his six-year career. Unlike many superstars, Curry … [Read more...]
Public apologies spur church discipline warnings
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Public apologies by two U.S. megachurches for a lack of compassion in the exercise of church discipline have prompted some Baptist pastors to underscore the need for humility and congregational polity during the attempted restoration of wayward members. Most American churches have not exercised biblical church discipline for a century, Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas, told Baptist Press. "Because we have so little practice with it, along the way, as we seek to restore it, people are going to make mistakes. This kind of humility required to apologize for making a mistake, I think, is going to be needed and needed in large quantities in order to be successful in getting to a healthy place with regard to what church membership is." Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church in Dallas, a Southern Baptist multisite congregation, apologized during worship services May 30-31 for a domineering approach by elders in some church discipline cases, the church confirmed to BP. Christianity Today reported on one case in which the church's leaders initiated the discipline process when a woman ended her marriage after discovering her husband had viewed child pornography for years. She … [Read more...]
Religious liberty wins hiring case at Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (BP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in favor of a Muslim job applicant provided what religious freedom advocates hailed as a wider victory for people of faith. In an 8-1 decision, the high court ruled June 1 an employer cannot make religious exercise an element in hiring decisions. The justices' opinion favored a federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), over a clothing retailer, Abercrombie & Fitch, in a case involving the refusal of a store in the chain to hire a young Muslim woman who wears a headscarf. The court's seven-page decision -- brief by the standards of the justices' majority opinions –- said the federal law in question "does not demand mere neutrality with regard to religious practices -- that they be treated no worse than other practices. Rather, it gives them favored treatment, affirmatively obligating employers not 'to fail or refuse to hire or discharge any individual ... because of such individual's'" religious exercise. The Supreme Court "got this one right," said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). "The court recognized an important truth: People should not be discriminated against because … [Read more...]
Pastor protection bill passes Texas House, Senate
AUSTIN, Texas (BP) -- Passage of the only surviving religious liberty bill in the 84th session of the Texas Legislature gives pastors some legal protection against litigation should they refuse to preside over a same-sex marriage. Senate Bill 2065, the Pastor Protection bill, passed overwhelmingly May 21. With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to rule by the end of June on whether states must recognize same-sex marriage as a constitutionally protected right, conservative Texas legislators filed bills that would, if passed, provide legal standing for citizens, businesses and clergy against an anticipated wave of legal action. But the lack of support from state leadership and the legislators' self-imposed censorship in the wake of protests at Indiana's capitol in April left stymied all other legislation that would have given a legal defense for those opposed, on religious grounds, to same-sex marriage. The lone religious liberty bill to be debated, SB 2065, passed the House of Representatives 141-2 on its second reading, garnering even the support of two gay representatives. The next day it passed unanimously, 142-0, earning the votes of its two earlier opponents. On May 25 it was sent to Gov. Greg Abbott who has said he would … [Read more...]
2016 VBS to ‘submerge’ kids in God’s Word
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Next summer, kids will have the opportunity to dive past the surface and go deeper into God's Word with "Submerged," the 2016 Vacation Bible School theme from LifeWay Christian Resources. The theme helps challenge a culture consumed with celebrity -- one marked by the image of beauty and popularity, LifeWay VBS specialist Jerry Wooley said. "It's a value system that's unrealistic and an impossibility to achieve or maintain," he said. "During Submerged, kids will discover it's not what's on the surface that matters, but the internal truth that only God can see." Each day of next year's VBS, students will explore the way Jesus saw people and examine the truth of the key verse,Psalm 139:23-24: "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way." "This is an adventure that will take us not only to the depths of the ocean," Wooley said, "but to the depths of our hearts as well. We will be challenged to let God not only search our hearts, but reveal the truths of our hearts as well." VBS remains one of the most effective evangelistic events for churches. Using the most recent statistics available, Wooley said nearly 3 … [Read more...]
CP 2.57 percent ahead of year-to-date projection
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Year-to-date contributions to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee are 2.57 percent above the year-to-date SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget projection and 2.09 percent above contributions received during the same time frame last year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Frank S. Page. The year-to-date total represents money received by the Executive Committee by the close of the last business day of May and includes receipts from state conventions, churches and individuals for distribution, according to the 2014-15 SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget. The $128,551,618.17 received by the Executive Committee for the first eight months of the fiscal year, Oct. 1 through May 31, for distribution through the Cooperative Program Allocation Budget represents 102.57 percent of the $125,333,333.33 year-to-date budgeted projection to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America. The total is $2,633,111.07 or 2.09 percent more than the $125,918,507.10 received through the end of May 2014. The Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists' channel of … [Read more...]
Fred Luter named NAMB Ambassador
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- The North American Mission Board has named former Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter as its new national African American ambassador. In that role, Luter will focus on involving more African American churches in the SBC and in church planting. "We still have a lot of lost souls out there who aren't in anyone's church," Luter said. "One of the primary messages I'll have for pastors is to encourage them to have compassion for the lost. If we're going to be successful in church planting, that has to happen." Luter will speak on behalf of NAMB throughout the year and represent the mission board at a variety of SBC events, sharing NAMB's goal to increase the number of African American churches in the convention from 4,000 to more than 5,000 in the next five years. Luter will continue to serve as senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. In 2012, he became the first African American to be elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention in its 167-year history. "I am overjoyed to learn of Dr. Fred Luter's appointment," said K. Marshall Williams, pastor of Nazarene Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pa., and president of the National African American Fellowship … [Read more...]
Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting 2015 schedule
COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention Committee on Order of Business has released this year's schedule for the annual meeting in Columbus. This year's annual meeting theme is "Great Awakening: Clear Agreement, Visible Union, Extraordinary Prayer," based on Romans 13:11. In addition to following the schedule, messengers can stay updated on this year's annual meeting with the 2015 SBC mobile app that is now available. The app can be downloaded on your mobile device by accessing the App Store or Google Play or selecting one of the options at sbcannualmeeting.net. This year's preferred Twitter hashtag will be #sbc15. SBC 2015 schedule TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE 16, 2015 8:15 Opening Worship -- Julio Arriola, Convention music director, global worship pastor, Cross Church, Springdale, Ark. 8:25 Welcome and Call to Order -- Ronnie Floyd, SBC president, senior pastor, Cross Church, Springdale, Ark. Announcement of Committee on Committees, Credentials Committee, Tellers Committee, and Resolutions Committee 8:30 Scripture -- Jordan Easley, senior pastor, Englewood Baptist Church, Jackson, Tenn. Prayer -- Daniel Cho, college pastor, Antioch Baptist Church, Cambridge, Mass., chaplain, Harvard … [Read more...]
