JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP)—A decision by Missouri Baptist Convention leaders to cut off funding for certain new church starts has set off a firestorm of protest and further widened a rift among conservative Baptists in the state. MBC Executive Board…
Opinion: Does Christmas matter to the world?
(ABP) — On a recent trip to my hometown, I was surprised to hear some beautiful Russian Orthodox music performed by the “Singing Christmas Tree” in my childhood Southern Baptist church in North Carolina. Perhaps I should clarify this. I…
Red Letter Days: Christmas gifts with a conscience
NEW YORK (ABP) — What's the perfect revenge for the flannel-lined hot-water bottle Aunt Sharon gave you last Christmas? Or the Michael Bolton CD from your brother-in-law? A toilet. Or an ox. A bag of seeds would work, for that…
Happy New Year? For some Christians, it has already begun
COLUMBIA, Mo. (ABP) — When does the new year begin? For Christians observing the church calendar, it began with the start of Advent on Dec. 2. The traditional Christian season of Advent, which begins four Sundays before Christmas, is to…
With Corzine’s signature, N.J. officially bans death penalty
TRENTON, N.J. (ABP) — Stating his firm opposition to what he called “state-endorsed killing,” New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) has signed into law a legislative ban on capital punishment — the nation's first in decades. Shortly before he signed…
Faith leaders reject ‘hateful speech’ while Hispanics leave GOP
NEW YORK (ABP) — Republican presidential candidates appeal to fears over immigration in the primary campaigns at the risk of alienating an important constituency – conservative Hispanics – religious leaders in several early primary states said Dec. 17. In a…
Mo. Baptist leaders restrict funding for church starts, angering some
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — A decision by Missouri Baptist Convention leaders to cut off funding for certain new church starts has set off a firestorm of protest and further widened a rift among conservative Baptists in the state. The…
Study links video violence to aggressive behavior
DALLAS (ABP) — Repeated exposure to video violence — particularly interactive games — influences aggressive behavior more than drug use, poverty or domestic abuse, a University of Michigan researcher has asserted. In fact, the correlation between media violence and aggression…
Iraqi refugee children get scholarships to attend school in Jordan
ATLANTA (ABP) — Forty Iraqi children will receive funding this year from Christian organizations trying to ensure they receive an education. Millions of Iraqis have fled to Jordan and Syria to escape ongoing violence in Iraq. Most arrive with only…
Baptist ‘celebration rallies’ reach hundreds in Lebanon, Egypt
ATLANTA (ABP) — At dinner one night in Cairo, Egypt, Chaouki Boulos invited a restaurant waiter named Mario to the final night of a four-day “Celebrate Jesus” rally. The next night, Mario joined nearly 900 people at the rally, heard…
Volleyball coach at Baptist-affiliated university dies unexpectedly
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — Doris Wefwafwa, a student-assistant volleyball coach at Campbellsville University and former volleyball All-American, died unexpectedly Dec. 10. Wefwafwa, a resident of Kenya, was 34. Wefwafwa died at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown, Ky., after a brief…
Huckabee apologizes to Romney for reportedly anti-Mormon crack
JOHNSTON, Iowa (ABP) — The newest front-runner in the Republican presidential campaign responded to newfound scrutiny Dec. 12, reportedly apologizing for what critics called an anti-Mormon crack. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, apologized to former Massachusetts…