Baptist News Global

Holy Spirit transforms individuals, communities, creation, African says

HONOLULU—Christians who listen to the Holy Spirit will experience transformation and become agents of transformation, an African Baptist leader told the Baptist World Congress. The kind of transformation the Holy Spirit produces redeems the lives of individuals, communities and all…

BWAid leader reflects on 20 years of ministry in relief and development

HONOLULU — Standing in the exhibit hall during the Baptist World Congress in Honolulu, Paul Montacute surveys the array of displays and smiles with delight. “Just look at that,” says the director of BWAid, the relief and development arm of…

Become ‘jubilee people,’ pastor tells world Baptists

HONOLULU—Christians are called to join Jesus as “jubilee people,” Australian pastor Allan Demond told participants at the 20th Baptist World Congress in Honolulu July 31. “Imagine if there was a place on earth where God’s Spirit breathed righteousness and truth…

Science vs. religion? It’s an unnecessary battle, say panelists

HONOLULU—Science and religion do not need to quarrel, a molecular engineer and an ethicist told participants at the 20th Baptist World Congress. Clayton Teague, director of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, and Bill Tillman, professor of Christian ethics at…

Missions demands local strategies, global vision, panelists assert

HONOLULU—Innovative missions today demand contextualized ministries shaped by local churches—not one-size-fits-all imported strategies implemented by professionals, a missions professor from Texas and a pastor from South Australia told a focus group at the Baptist World Congress. Mike Stroope, missions professor…

Christianity’s relation to culture a matter of spiritual discernment

HONOLULU—Should Christians ever abandon their cultures for the sake of the gospel? Baptists from all over the planet struggled with what to “embrace” and what to “release” of their cultures during a discussion session held in conjunction with the 20th…

Christians must liberate & be liberated, seminarian tells BWA

HONOLULU — Christians are called to be agents of liberation, but they also desperately need to be liberated themselves, ministry educator Janet Clark stressed at the 20th Baptist World Congress in Honolulu July 30. Jesus focused on liberation in his…

If Jesus needed the Spirit, then so do Christians today, says U.S. pastor

HONOLULU (ABP) — Today’s Christians need the Holy Spirit’s guidance, just like Jesus did 2,000 years ago, an American pastor told participants at the Baptist World Congress. Julie Pennington-Russell joined 26 other Bible scholars to teach Scripture lessons in eight…

Baptists explore ethics of tourism at World Congress session in Hawaii

Convention center in Honolulu. HONOLULU (ABP) — Baptists meeting in one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations were reminded July 29 that beneath the glitz and glitter of the tourism industry lie moral issues that call for a Christian…

World Baptists honor Lotz for human rights advocacy

HONOLULU (ABP) — To be true to their heritage and principles, Baptists must continue the fight for religious liberty for all people, insisted Denton Lotz, who received the Baptist World Alliance’s Human Rights Award July 30 in Honolulu. Denton Lotz…

Educator says liberation central to Jesus’ mission

HONOLULU (ABP) — A Canadian Baptist educator told delegates at the 20th Baptist World Congress July 30 in Honolulu that evangelicals in the West have tended to over-spiritualize Christ's mission to the poor and oppressed. Janet Clark, dean of Tyndale…

Longtime mission leader Avery Willis dies

BELLA VISTA, Ark. (ABP) — Avery Willis, a former Southern Baptist missionary and administrator best known as developer of the MasterLife discipleship materials used around the world, died July 30, nearly eight months after being diagnosed with a rare form of…

Y’all means all

Religious liberty ‘is not a sword to harm others,’ Laser says

The stories we tell define us

Whatever happened to heaven?