News For Friday Jul 4, 2008 News For Friday Jul 4, 2008

Religion Religion

The meaning of the 4th in 3 words - Added 10 hours ago

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (BP)--A silly story is told about a little boy asking his father a question, "Dad, do they have the Fourth of July in England?" "Yes, oh yes, son they do have a fourth of July in England. They just...

CULTURE DIGEST: 'I believe' plates face suit; FBI cracks down on child exploitation - Added 10 hours ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Specialty license plates on cars can signal the driver's support of an array of topics from the environment to animals to college sports teams, but those that support belief in God have faced...

Nicaragua surprise confirms missions call - Added 10 hours ago

PUERTO CABEZAS, Nicaragua (BP)--When Marie Davidson heard Jim and Viola Palmer talk about their ministry among the Miskito people of Nicaragua, she was deeply moved. And when, more than a year later, she heard Hurricane...

NEA still pushing liberal ideology - Added 10 hours ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--Leaders of the National Education Association continue to advance a liberal political ideology that includes support of the homosexual agenda, as evidenced by news items surrounding the group's annual...

Christian conservative leaders unify behind McCain, adopt statement with common goals - Added 10 hours ago

DENVER (BP)--Giving a significant boost to Republican John McCain's goal of attracting the votes of social conservatives, nearly 100 pro-family leaders gathering in Denver July 1 agreed to unify behind the Arizona...

Chaplains offer independence to those who fight for it - Added 10 hours ago

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--While soldiers, sailors and airmen are lauded each July 4 for defending freedom on a daily basis, military chaplains fulfill the high duty of offering spiritual freedom to those who serve in the...

Religion today - Added 15 hours ago

!!-- pobj:NY368-0612081810 -->!!-- pobj:NY369-0612081812 -->!!-- pobj:NY370-0612081814 -->!!-- pobj:NY371-0612081820 -->!!-- pobj:NY372-0612081853 -->!!-- pobj:NY373-0612081855 -->It's a wonder vacation Bible school...

Art & commerce collide in 'Wall•E' - Added 1 day ago

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (BP)—"Wall•E" is one of the best films I've seen this year, but it has a controversy attached. No, it's not inappropriate language or furtive sexual innuendo. (The filmmakers have made it family...

Church planting is 'biblical assumption' - Added 1 day ago

OWASSO, Okla. (BP)--The overwhelming assumption of the New Testament is that local churches will plant other churches, Ed Stetzer said June 26 in the keynote address at the 26th annual Southern Baptist Founders...

Whitney: Church discipline is act of love - Added 1 day ago

OWASSO, Okla. (BP)--Church discipline is a crucial aspect of a local church body's health and obedience to Scripture and its goal is the restoration of a wandering believer, author, speaker and professor Don Whitney...

FamilyFEST draws 61 vols to Baltimore - Added 1 day ago

BALTIMORE, Md. (BP)--More than 60 volunteers, from ages 5 to 77, traveled from seven states to do ministry in Baltimore during this summer's FamilyFEST, a hands-on missions opportunity for families sponsored by the...

Gas crisis becomes mission opportunity - Added 1 day ago

CLEVELAND, Ga. (BP)--Every crisis creates opportunities, even for missions. For three hours on a hot summer afternoon in the Georgia mountains, residents recently caught a short break from America's gasoline crisis.They...

Pastor aims to be half his former self - Added 1 day ago

PINE BLUFF, Ark. (BP)--Harold Chandler ain't half the preacher he once was.Last year, at 349 pounds, he was two cheeseburgers short of 350. Today he is under 190 pounds, well on his way to his goal of 170. He has...

Stroke victim's case recalls Schiavo controversy - Added 1 day ago

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (BP)--Just a few years ago, 57-year-old Karen Weber sat at the kitchen table, talking about the Terri Schiavo case with her husband, Ray, and her mother, Martha Tatro, 80. None of the three could have...

Which economy is it going to be? - Added 2 days ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The headlines are all heralding a disaster on the horizon: "Market set to fall on oil price, financials" "Bankruptcies on the Rise" "Rate uncertainty hangs over U.S. stocks" It is impossible to be...

The Weimar Germans would be proud - Added 2 days ago

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Even before the Nazi Party came to power, the doctors of Weimar Germany began to divide humanity into those who should live and those who should die. They developed the category of "life unworthy...

CP: 0.27% behind 2007 pace - Added 2 days ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program are 0.27 percent behind the same time frame in June 2007, according to a news release from SBC Executive...

CP giving undergirds mission emphasis - Added 2 days ago

SARALAND, Ala. (BP)--For First Baptist Church of North Mobile, the Cooperative Program simply undergirds its heavy emphasis on missions and outreach. This is a church where more than 1,100 people attend Sunday morning...

72 new missionaries tell of God's calling - Added 2 days ago

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Journeyman Trevor Yoakum lay face down in mud on the side of a narrow highway in Nigeria. Gunfire exploded in his ears. Squealing tires followed and then the crunch of cars crashing.As Yoakum lay...

La. adopts first-of-its-kind bill allowing teachers to question evolution's claims - Added 2 days ago

BATON ROUGE, La. (BP)--In a first for any state, Louisiana has adopted an academic freedom law giving teachers greater protection and freedom in teaching the strengths and weaknesses of Darwinian evolution, something...

Spain set to give rights to apes - Added 2 days ago

MADRID, Spain (BP)--The Spanish Parliament's move to grant rights previously reserved for human beings to chimpanzees and other apes is a victory for those seeking to minimize the uniqueness of humanity, a bioethics...

Obama is no Joshua; denies uniqueness of Christ, hell - Added 3 days ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--Barack Obama's presidential campaign plans to strike at the heart of the Republican base by attempting to woo Evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics to his side. The Christian Broadcasting Network's...

Bush urges prayer at Hispanic event - Added 3 days ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--President Bush asked participants at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast to pray God "continues to bestow His blessings" on the United States in the final appearance of his presidency at the annual...

FIRST-PERSON: Flood vols keep priorities - Added 3 days ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: As of Monday (June 30), Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers in the Midwest had worked 4,500 volunteer days; prepared more than 240,000 meals, completed 200 mud-out and chainsaw jobs, provided...

ELECTION 08: McCain supports, Obama opposes Calif. marriage amendment - Added 3 days ago

SAN FRANCISCO (BP)--Republican John McCain says he supports a proposed constitutional marriage amendment in California and Democrat Barack Obama says he opposes it, putting the two men on opposite sides of a contentious...

Arizona puts marriage amend. on ballot - Added 3 days ago

!P>PHOENIX (BP)--The Arizona Senate June 27 placed a constitutional marriage amendment on the November ballot, making Arizona the third state to vote this fall on the definition of marriage.California and Florida also...

Flood-stricken Suriname gets Southern Baptist help - Added 3 days ago

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (BP)--While America was riveted by the drama of disaster relief workers helping Midwesterners driven from their homes by rain-swollen rivers, another group of people have been devastated by flooding...

Call for political displays rankles some Mormons - Added 5 days ago

Lester Leavitt has made a request of his family: oppose their church's opposition to gay marriage. Leavitt, from Pompano Beach, Fla., is asking his siblings and children on the West Coast to choose family over a call...

Anglican conservatives launch liberal challenge - Added 5 days ago

Conservatives from the world's largest Anglican provinces who are angered by liberal thinking in churches in North America and elsewhere plan to create a global fellowship that challenges worldwide Anglican unity but...

Presbyterians seek balance on Middle East peace - Added 6 days ago

Seeking elusive balance on Middle East issues, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly on Friday urged its members to become "nonpartisan advocates for peace" and "a voice for the victims of violence in both...

Presbyterian assembly votes to drop gay clergy ban - Added 6 days ago

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), bitterly divided over sexuality and the Bible, set up another confrontation Friday over its ban on ordaining non-celibate gays and lesbians. The denomination's General Assembly,...

Evangelism A/V resources online - Added 6 days ago

!P>INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--The Baptist Press expanded staff which covered the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis included photographers from Gardner-Webb University who produced a collection of slideshows and videos...

Religion in the news - Added 6 days ago

The preacher stood in the doorway of the picturesque church and looked out at the parking lot as his congregation gathered for the early morning service. By the time the Rev. Norman Markle started his sermon, everyone...

WORLDVIEW: Why not work together? - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: An audio version of this column is available at http://media1.imbresources.org/files/53/5351/5351-28843.mp3.RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--There's not a lot of love for baby boomers out there these days. Our parents...

Pastor reads 68 books in a year - Added 1 week ago

ROCKWOOD, Tenn. (BP)--Mike Winters challenged himself to read more books than ever before.Averaging more than a book per week, the Southern Baptist pastor read 68 books during 2007.Winters, 57, told Baptist Press he...

Reading groups show theology not boring - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following stories are part of a monthly Baptist Press series to explore and describe how individuals, churches, associations and conventions exhibit a passion for Christ and His Kingdom.BIRMINGHAM,...

Baptists bring hope in Midwest - Added 1 week ago

WINFIELD, Mo. (BP)--Driving south from Reedsburg, Wis., toward Iowa City, Iowa, and into Winfield, Mo., on the outskirts of St. Louis, there is a sense that you are following a very large, unbreaking wave.In Reedsburg,...

New era of cooperation anticipated following historic meetings in Germany - Added 1 week ago

BONN, Germany (BP)--Two "historic" meetings in Germany in May marked significant progress for the Southern Baptist initiative to develop a network of relationships among conservative evangelicals worldwide.An estimated...

Iowa flood softens cultural barriers - Added 1 week ago

!P>DES MOINES, Iowa (BP)--Central Iowa received at least five more inches of rain overnight June 25 and the rains continued Thursday, threatening more destruction in a region plagued by flooding in recent weeks.But...

MARRIAGE DIGEST: Lesbian couples make up large majority of Calif. 'gay marriages' - Added 1 week ago

!P>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP)--California's "gay marriages" appear to be following trends in other states, where lesbian couples are far more likely than homosexual men to legalize their relationships. The Sacramento Bee...

55 IMB retired missionaries honored - Added 1 week ago

ROCKVILLE, Va. (BP)--It may have seemed a bit awkward -- and certainly dangerous -- as far as baptisms go. But looking back over 34 years of missionary service, it's a moment Bill Fudge can describe only as holy.Fudge...

IMB task force to take future look - Added 1 week ago

ROCKVILLE, Va. (BP)--Trustees of the International Mission Board created a task force to examine future directions for Southern Baptists' 163-year-old missions enterprise during their June 23-25 meeting at the...

Wording of Pew poll question criticized - Added 1 week ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A new Pew Research Center poll result showing evangelicals holding universalistic beliefs regarding salvation may have been skewed somewhat because of how the question was worded.The full Pew...

Bush lifts North Korea sanctions; Land disappointed - Added 1 week ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--President Bush announced June 26 he would lift some trade sanctions against North Korea and remove the communist regime from a list of state sponsors of terror, drawing expressions of disappointment...

Episcopal Church convicts Pa. bishop of cover-up - Added 1 week ago

An Episcopal bishop was found guilty by a church panel of covering up his brother's assaults of a teenage girl in the 1970s. Charles E. Bennison Jr., 64, was convicted of two counts of engaging in conduct unbecoming of...

Religion news in brief - Added 1 week ago

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) suffered its worst annual membership decline in decades last year. The Louisville-based denomination reported 2.2 million active and confirmed members in 2007, a loss of 57,572 members...

Religion today - Added 1 week ago

!!-- pobj:NY382-0616080901 -->!!-- pobj:NY383-0616080925 -->!!-- pobj:NY384-0616080929 -->!!-- pobj:NY385-0617081551 -->As a 19th-century Augustinian friar, Gregor Mendel was expected to pursue his groundbreaking...

Is the CBF Baptist? Christian? - Added 1 week ago

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--Jesus wasn't God, and even He didn't consider Himself to be Savior. It would not be surprising in the least to find most non-Christians embracing such views. After numerous examples of similar...

Needed: broken-hearted prophets - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: This monthly column about the issue of homosexuality by various authors is a partnership between Baptist Press and the SBC Task Force on Ministry to Homosexuals.SOUTHLAKE, Texas (BP)--One year ago the...

Court rules child rapist cannot be executed - Added 1 week ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 25 a child rapist may not be executed if he did not kill his victim.The vote was 5-4 in the case, with Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy joining the high court's four...