ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — A Hispanic Baptist pastor arrested last summer by immigration authorities won't find out until September whether he will be deported for a crime committed in 1995. Hector Villanueva, pastor of Bautista la Rocha in Siler City,…
HERITAGE: The final act
The first offering taken at the new Park View Baptist Church in Portsmouth was for missions. There were 57 charter members and on the day of constitution in 1899 the congregation gave $5.50 for foreign missions. On Sunday, April 3,…
VITAL SIGNS: A church for those who wander
The book of James closes with a most interesting assertion: “My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will…
OUT LOUD
“To impugn our motives (that we are selling out the Bible for the pottage of popularity), to reduce our concerns about love and justice to sentimentality, to dismiss us with the ‘L’ word and a questionable narrative surrounding it, and…
Tennessee amends anti-Shariah bill
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — Tennessee lawmakers are rewriting a bill that described Islamic law as a threat to U.S. security and seemed to equate peaceful Muslim practices with terrorism. State Sen. Bill Ketron and House Speaker Pro Tempore Judd Matheny,…
Churches need social networking policies
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — Social networking tools using the Internet through computers and smart phones are powerful aids for communicating, but churches should have policies in place governing their use before problems arise, a computer programmer advised in a breakout…
Couple fights ‘choking game’ tragedy
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — A dangerous thrill-seeking practice commonly called "the choking game" is claiming hundreds of teenage lives as it crosses the line from dangerous to deadly. No one knows how many children die from practicing this "game," which…
Sidebar: Website warns of risky behaviors promoted on Internet
(ABP) — A group called Cyberhood Watch has listed what it considers the top 10 dangerous behaviors promoted by teens. Site managers Dave Ballard and Bill Wardell cite the eagerness of teens to share their exploits with others online with…
From the Eastern Shore to Cumberland Gap
STAFF CHANGES • Doug Davis, to Poroporone Church, Shacklefords, as pastor. • Don Wilson, to Nelson Church, Nelson, as senior pastor. MISSION MOMENT: For Children’s Ministry Day on Feb. 19, the children of Orange Baptist Church in Orange visited the…
EDITORIAL: The unpredictable journey through Baptist life
How are things in the Tarheel state? It depends on who you ask. To basketball fanatics who follow the Blue Devils or the Tarheels, we won’t know until they have recovered enough to respond. We can imagine their outlook on…
Filmmaker discusses faith, forgiveness on ‘The View’
NEW YORK (ABP) — A filmmaker promoting a movie based on his family's tragedy explained on national television March 25 how he not only could believe in a God that would allow his parents to be murdered and his family…
Baptist ethicist says US role in Libya fails ‘just war’ test
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) – A Baptist ethicist said March 25 that President Obama's stated intent for U.S. military intervention in Libya lies outside parameters used for centuries to determine whether a war is morally just. Speaking March 19 in Brazil,…