HAMPTON (BP)—The annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia convened Nov. 12-13 in Hampton, drawing nearly 1,200 people who marked the convention's surpassing the 500 mark in total churches. In a business session, messengers admitted 21 churches into…
Video violence and aggressive behavior linked, studies show
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 is at least as strong as…
Mo. Baptists restrict church start funding
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…
Set example, students urged at HIV/AIDS conference
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)—Today's young Christians are the church, not the church's future, and it's time they take seriously the Bible's call to care for “the least of these,” including those with HIV/AIDS, Francis Chan told students at a youth…
SECOND OPINION: Silent night: Not easy for most of us
RICHMOND (BP) — Message spotted on a church sign: “Christmas: expectant hush, not last-minute rush.” Rush we can do. Hush, not so much. Given a choice between a day of silence and stillness or of noise and distraction, the average…
Happy new year?
When does the New Year begin? For Christians observing the church calendar, the new year began Dec. 2, with the start of the Advent season. The liturgical year is an “or-derly way to look at the full scope of Christian…
FAITH DIGEST
Court rejects faith-based prison program. An Iowa prisoner rehabilitation program run by evangelicals oversteps church-state boundaries and should not receive government funds, a federal appeals court has ruled. InnerChange Freedom Initiative runs a program “dominated by Bible study, Christian classes,…
Fair-trade items offer 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 year? Or the Michael Bolton CD from your brother-in-law? Maybe a toilet. Or an ox. A bag of seeds would work, for that matter….
Reaching the campus, one student at a time
FARMVILLE—It's no secret that one of the goals of Baptist Collegiate Ministries is outreach. At Longwood University we've integrated a new program into our activities hoping to attract new students with a non-threatening medium: videogames. This year we've started hosting…