MOBILE, Ala. (RNS) — The messages are simple enough. Some include a prayer. Others offer stories or pictures. Then, slipped into the cyber-epistle, the reader comes across the kicker: If you love God and/or are not ashamed of your religious…
English service held at Chinese church
NANJING, China — I have been attending St. Paul's Church in Nanjing for a number of years. About five years ago, the senior pastor, Kan Renping, began an English Bible study on Thursday nights. This went on for about a…
McCain rejects Hagee’s endorsement
(ABP) — After months of pressure to reject the endorsement of conservative televangelist John Hagee, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain finally did so May 22 after the preacher's views on Hitler raised new controversy. In a decade-old sermon, reported…
FIRST PERSON: My way to Jesus
Since I was a small boy, I knew I was different from the other boys. My grandfather is a pastor who stays at his church in the town and he has recently retired at the age of 90. My aunt…
Furman faculty, students divided over Bush speech
GREENVILLE, S.C. (ABP) – Students, administrators, faculty and alumni of Furman University are in an uproar over a speech by President Bush, scheduled for the school's May 31 commencement exercises in Greenville, S.C. The controversy at the moderate school –…
Pass the Popcorn: Christians struggle to decide how best to engage culture
(ABP) — If Christians don't learn to engage the popular culture that surrounds them, they will drown in it, experts insist. “Christians tend to hear the words ‘popular culture' and react as if spitting something yucky from their mouths,” said…
Bluefield College board approves strategic plan
BLUEFIELD, Va. (ABP) — Bluefield College will focus on academics, global service, expanded resources and partnerships as part of its new five-year strategic plan. Trustees of the Virginia Baptist school approved the four-part plan at their April board session. The…
Donor offers giving challenge at BTSR
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — The Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond could receive up to $1 million in new giving by the end of next April due to an anonymous donor's challenge to churches, seminary officials have announced. The donor —…
CBF worker reaches internationals at Mississippi State University
STARKVILLE, Miss. (ABP) — Diana Bridges is an avenue to God in Northern Mississippi for internationals like the Muslim woman who always asks Bridges to pray for her. “God listens when you pray,” she told Bridges. With a call to…
Pass the popcorn: Christians called to make culture; let God handle transformation
(ABP) — Andy Crouch feels uncomfortable when Christians talk about “transforming culture” or “making an impact on society.” But he strongly believes churches should do far more to encourage Christians to make culture — right where they live. “I'm all…
Pass the Popcorn Analysis: Engage culture without assuming it
(ABP) — I've got to be brutally honest; I'm not a Rob Bell fan, although many of my students are. He has two best-selling books: Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (2005) and Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between…
Pass the Popcorn: Popular culture challenges Christians to ‘think outside the box’
HOUSTON (ABP) — It can be difficult to hear God's word in today's media-saturated culture of iPods, YouTube, satellite radio, and DirecTV with over 500 channels and on demand movies. That's the conclusion reached by two culture observers on the…