By Bob Allen Southern Baptists and Roman Catholics in Tennessee — along with Free Will Baptists, the Assemblies of God and others — are joining forces to marshal support for a state constitutional amendment allowing lawmakers to restrict abortion in the Bible…
Prayers for Eastern Christians become easier sell for evangelicals
By Jeff Brumley and Ken Camp It’s hardly unusual to hear evangelicals and other Protestants praying for persecuted Eastern Christians these days, especially those fleeing terrorists forces in Syria and Iraq. But that wasn’t always the case. and if there…
Officials say Baptist-affiliated Brewton-Parker remains accredited
By Bob Allen A decision this summer to revoke a Georgia Baptist college’s accreditation has been reversed, officials at Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Ga., announced Sept. 30 in a press release. The release said administrators learned the day before…
Mohler says gay diplomat unpopular among Christians in the Dominican Republic
By Bob Allen President Obama’s appointment of the first openly gay ambassador to the Americas isn’t playing well with Christians in the Dominican Republic, says a Southern Baptist leader recently there for a preaching conference. “They understand this appointment for…
Baylor professor disputes reports of religious, church decline
By Terry Goodrich Reports of religion’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, says Byron Johnson, co-director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. Close examination of data from the General Social Survey and other data sources show that across 40…
African Baptists ask world’s churches to set aside Oct. 11-12 for Ebola prayer
By Bob Allen The All-Africa Baptist Fellowship has set aside Sunday, Oct. 12, to focus prayer on the Ebola outbreak, which to date has claimed more than 3,000 lives across West Africa. The prayer focus, endorsed by leaders of American…
European Baptists lament violence in Mid-East, Ukraine
By Bob Allen The European Baptist Federation council pledged solidarity with persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East in a resolution approved at a Sept. 24-27 gathering in Bucharest, Romania. The resolution “deplores as evil the aggression…
American Baptist missions group condemns both anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim prejudice
By Bob Allen Meeting on the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the board of directors of American Baptist International Ministries passed resolutions condemning both anti-Semitism and prejudice against Muslims. Citing acts of anti-Semitism including…
Worried about ISIS and Ebola? Pray the news, experts say
By Jeff Brumley These days, the news is full of disease, violence and death. It’s hardly possible to go a day, or even an hour, without exposure to images of beheadings, airstrikes, nations invading nations, downed or missing airliners and…
Mohler says churches cannot avoid LGBT issue
By Bob Allen A leader in the Southern Baptist Convention says this week’s ouster of a congregation for violating the denomination’s teaching that homosexuality is always a sin established a dividing line that sooner or later every church will have…
Virginia Baptist nominee’s election could break new ground
By Robert Dilday Virginia Baptist pastor Nancy Stanton McDaniel will be nominated in November for first vice president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia — a position whose incumbent for almost a decade and a half has been elected…
Faith leaders protest use of solitary confinement
By Bob Allen The prolonged use of solitary confinement in prisons and jails violates a U.N. treaty the United States both signed and ratified against torture and other “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” a group of faith leaders…