By Bob Allen The Mississippi Supreme Court has reversed 10 of the 13 counts of a traveling Southern Baptist evangelist convicted three years ago of video voyeurism. Sam Nuckolls, a former youth camp pastor for LifeWay Christian Resources, was sentenced…
Jimmy Carter says he is cancer free
By Bob Allen Former President Jimmy Carter announced Dec. 6 that he is cancer-free, four months after revealing that cancer removed from his liver had spread to four spots on his brain. Carter, 91, a lifelong Baptist who identifies with…
Controversial Wiley Drake ministers to San Bernardino survivors
By Bob Allen A former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention counseled survivors of Wednesday’s deadly shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., elected an SBC officer in…
SBHLA director announces retirement plans
By Bob Allen Bill Sumners, an archivist who for more than 30 years has overseen one of the most respected historical collections by a religious denomination, will retire next July as director of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives….
Tennessee’s lone Arabic Baptist pastor dies
By Bob Allen A retired Southern Baptist missionary, whose attempts to evangelize Muslims in Middle Tennessee recently attracted attention in national media, died unexpectedly the day before Thanksgiving. Raouf Ghattas, 69, pastor of the Arabic Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tenn.,…
For surrogate mother, it’s all about making dreams reality
By Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann Though nothing we do compares to the love God showed by giving the world Jesus, opportunities abound to let Christian faith shine through the love shown to others, and when they arise, God asks us to take…
Lobbyist enlists hunters to search for missing wife
By Bob Allen A Missouri Baptist lobbyist whose wife went missing 16 months ago is turning to deer hunters for help. “The half-million hunters that go out in the woods during this deer season, if they would all hear the…
Baptist woman breaks ground — into coaching football
By Jeff Brumley Some women are called to break barriers by becoming deacons, senior pastors and denominational leaders. For Aleena Garcia, 20, it’s coaching football. And while it’s not a church ministry, Aleena said her Baptist faith, plus an early…
Pianist, professor Maurice Hinson dead at 84
By Bob Allen Maurice Hinson, one of America’s most respected authorities on piano literature who taught at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1957 until 2015, died Nov. 11 at age 84 after a battle with cancer. As professor and senior…
Liberty prof says LGBT film fest gives her platform to ‘speak the truth in love’
By Bob Allen Religious arguments against same-sex marriage are weakened in society by the breakup of traditional families, a research fellow with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention said at a recent film festival connecting…
BWA women’s director stepping down
By Bob Allen Patsy Davis, executive director of the Baptist World Alliance Women’s Department for 17 years, announced retirement plans days before an annual day of prayer she helped grow into a recognized ministry connecting Baptist women together around the…
BJC exec blasts religious bigotry
By Bob Allen The head of a Baptist organization dedicated to upholding religious liberty for all Americans joined Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in a pledge signed Oct. 23 in Washington denouncing all forms of religious bigotry. Brent Walker, executive…