God chose “the foolishness of preaching” as the preferred instrument for communicating the message of salvation, the Apostle Paul wrote. But when the time arrives to stand and deliver that message, how does a preacher measure whether it's an exercise…
OFFERINGS: Harding brings clean water, love of Christ to Ethiopians
ATLANTA — In Ethiopia, the new rush of fresh, drinkable water brings a rush of joy. “When you strike water and the well starts to work, you should hear the joy,” said David Harding, one of CBF's global missions field…
EDITORIAL: Spiritual leadership is the demand of the day
Each Lord's Day pastors throughout the world stand before their congregations and deliver sermons they believe are messages from the Lord. Speaking from experience, the weight of such weekly work is both exhausting and exhilarating. The sheer effort required in…
OFFERINGS: Taking the gospel to Russia’s struggling Udmurt people
IZHEVSK, Russia (BP) — No father should have to bury a son. But the world can be a sad place — particularly the piece of it called Udmurtia (ood-MER-ti-yah) in the foothills of Russia's Ural Mountains. On a spring day…
Adventures of a church planter
Jeremiah Bell Jeter was in a dilemma. After several years of a highly successful pastorate at the prestigious First Baptist Church of Richmond, “the music demon” visited the church. In today's language, it was “the worship wars.” And it all…
OFFERINGS: Ukrainian believers take gospel to Kazakhstan
PAVLODAR, Kazakhstan (BP) — Roman Gopanchuk gestures with his left hand and leans forward to explain a Scripture passage to his home Bible study group in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. Just outside the living room door, Gopanchuk's 8-year-old son, Timofey, plays with…
SECOND OPINION: Getting past reaction
One of the enduring tendencies in human life is reaction. Unhappy with the prevailing tendencies of a person or group we oppose, especially in situations of sharp conflict, we swing sharply in the other direction. Oftentimes when we do so…
We three kings of Orient are … mostly unknown to Christians
They came. They saw. They gifted. That's about all we know of the foreign visitors who traveled to Bethlehem to see the infant Jesus. The scene ingrained in the public imagination — a stately procession of three kings in turbans,…
Out Loud
“A headline last Sunday about a Muslim man and an Orthodox woman who are partners in two Dunkin' Donuts stores described their religions incorrectly. The two faiths worship the same God — not different ones.” The New York Times The…
New Baptist Covenant preach-in features Forbes, other notables
ATLANTA (ABP) — A miniature preaching festival within next year's Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant will feature one of the nation's most famous preachers among a group that is broadly diverse in terms of ethnic background, gender, denominational affiliation…
Conservative Christians show growing acceptance of divorce
WASHINGTON (RNS)—When Pentecostal power couple Randy and Paula White recently announced they were headed to divorce court, the most remarkable part of the reaction was that there wasn't much reaction at all among their supporters. For increasing numbers of clergy,…
State resolutions focus on alcohol, gambling, homosexuality, abuse
WASHINTON (ABP) — The pleasures of the flesh — specifically liquor and sex — were among the most popular subjects of resolutions passed by Southern Baptist-affiliated state conventions this fall. Although many state conventions avoided resolutions on controversial issues of…