INDIANAPOLIS (ABP) — Candidates are lining up two-by-two for this year's Southern Baptist Convention presidency — two big-church pastors, two small-church pastors, two former missionaries. For the first time in almost three decades, six men will be nominated for the…
Baptists continue to respond to disasters
(ABP) — Baptists continue to mobilize supplies and prayer in an effort to minister to victims of natural disasters in China and Myanmar. News reports May 22 indicated the death toll in China had risen to 50,000, with 220,000 injured,…
Pass the popcorn
Christians tend to hear the words ‘popular culture' and react as if spitting something yucky from their mouths,” said David Dark, author of Everyday Apocalypse: The Sacred Revealed in Radiohead, The Simpsons and Other Pop Culture Icons and The Gospel…
Virginia Baptists focused on China, Myanmar
RICHMOND — Virginia Baptists are responding to the natural disasters in both China and Myanmar through the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's glocal missions and evangelism team. Terry Raines, the board's disaster relief coordinator, participated in a May 24 meeting of…
Christians called to make culture; let God handle transformation
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 for cultural…
Musician’s daughter killed in car accident
FRANKLIN, Tenn. (BP) — Maria Sue, the 5-year-old daughter of Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman, died May 21 after she was struck by an SUV driven by her teenage brother in the family's driveway south of Nashville, Tenn. The Tennessean…
Popular culture challenges Christians to ‘think outside the box,’ scholars insist
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, two culture observers at Houston Baptist University conclude. “We are shaped by popular culture…
Southern gospel music legend Dottie Rambo dies in crash
MOUNT VERNON, Mo. (ABP) — Southern gospel music singer and songwriter Dottie Rambo, 74, was killed when her tour bus ran off a highway near Mount Vernon, Mo., May 11. She was en route to an engagement in Texas after…
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 —…