Sacred Harp Backwoods to big screen_12604

Posted: 1/23/04

Sacred Harp: Backwoods to big screen

By Howard Miller

Religion News Service

HENAGAR, Ala. (RNS)– Ask Shane Wootten how long he's been attending Sacred Harp singings, and for a moment the question hangs in the air as if it's silly.

01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

Teens more likely to surf the Net for religion than for porn, survey reveals_12604

Posted: 1/23/04

Teens more likely to surf the Net
for religion than for porn, survey reveals

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (RNS)­U.S. teens say they are three times as likely to use the Internet for religious purposes as for pornography, a new study shows.

The National Study of Youth and Religion found that 17 percent of teens surveyed use the Internet a few times a month or more frequently to link to religious Web sites, while 5 percent use the Internet to connect to pornographic sites.

Overall, teens used the Internet most for homework, with 77 percent saying they used it for this purpose a few times a month or more frequently.

01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

Texas Tidbits_12604

Posted: 1/23/04

Texas Tidbits

Valley Baptist CEO wins national award. James Springfield, president and chief executive officer of Valley Baptist Health System in Harlingen, has won the American College of Healthcare Executives 2004 Robert S. Hudgens Memorial Award for young healthcare executive of the year. Springfield joined Valley Baptist Health System in 2001 as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He was named president and CEO in 2003.

Baylor Medical honored. Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas recently received the Magnet Award for excellence in nursing services from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The center granted the designation, achieved by fewer than 2 percent of hospitals nationwide, after Baylor Medical in Dallas met or exceeded standards in 14 areas of nursing leadership, clinical practice, education, research and quality during a weeklong on-site survey last November.

ETBU names CFO and treasurer. Controller Richard Hutsell has been named chief financial officer at East Texas Baptist University. Wanda Conder, former dean of financial services, has been appointed treasurer of the university.

01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

TOGETHER: Why is it so hard to live like Jesus?_12604

Posted: 1/23/04

TOGETHER:
Why is it so hard to live like Jesus?

Frank Dang, a gifted and articulate Vietnamese-American minister, gave his testimony at the Texas Evangelism and Missions Conference. He has just joined the Baptist General Convention of Texas' WorldconneX staff to help Texas Baptists increase missions involvement around the world, and he told about his father's miraculous salvation experience and his own journey to Christ.

As he spoke of his missions calling, he recalled an encounter with a Muslim in Afghanistan who said, “Please, tell the American Christians that if they can find a way to live like Jesus taught people to live, all the people I know would gladly follow Jesus.”

Why is it so hard for those of us who follow Christ to follow him? One reason is because Jesus set such a high standard.

01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

Cybercolumn for 1/26 by Berry D. Simpson: What movies say about a guy_12604

Posted: 1/23/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
What movies say about a guy

By Berry D. Simpson

I was discussing favorite movies with a bunch of guys and wondering what our movies say about those of us who loved them.

I like the movie “Gods and Generals.”

01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

storylist_12604

Posted 1/23/04 Storylist for 1/26 issue GO TO SECTIONS: • Texas       • Baptists       • Faith      • Departments      • Opinion      • Bible Study      Our Front Page Articles • No…

01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

New models emerging for ministry to homeless population_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

New models emerging for
ministry to homeless population

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

New approaches to helping the homeless population are giving hope to Christians who want to get people off the streets and into warm housing.

01/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Homelessness: No easy answers_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

HOMELESSNESS:
No easy answers

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Social acceptance and compassion fatigue are leading Americans to leave needy individuals out in the cold, according to advocates for the homeless.

01/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Advocates for homeless see little hope apart from spiritual renewal_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Advocates for homeless see
little hope apart from spiritual renewal

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Spiritual renewal is the key to homeless people overcoming their personal issues and getting off the street, according to leaders of Christian ministries.

01/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Number of hungry in developing countries increased in late 1990s_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Number of hungry in developing
countries increased in late 1990s

ROME (RNS)–The number of hungry people in developing countries rose during the second half of the 1990s, despite a concerted campaign against hunger in the world, the United Nations reports.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in its report on “The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2003” that the total number of the hungry in the developing world dropped by 37 million in the first half of the 1990s, then rose by 18 million in the second half of the decade.

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The latest estimates “signal a setback in the war against hunger,” the report said. Nations represented at the World Food Summit in 1996 pledged to reduce the number of undernourished people worldwide by half by 2015.

01/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

CYBERCOLUMN for 1/19: Embrace imperfection by Jeanie Miley_11204

Posted: 1/19/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
Embrace imperfection

By Jeanie Miley

My favorite movies of this season have left me with unresolved and unanswerable questions. Each of them had characters who endured unfulfilled dreams, unrequited love and the challenge of imperfection and incompletion that is so like … well, life.

Being entertained by a movie is fun, but I really like being challenged to think thoughts I’ve never thought before. I love to be provoked to explore paradox and irony. I like wrestling with unimagined possibilities, even when I am pushed out of my comfort zone and asked to accept and embrace life as it really is, imperfections and all.

01/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

COMMENTARY: Use MLK Day to reflect by Scott Sharman_11204

Posted: 1/19/04

COMMENTARY:
Use MLK Day to reflect

By Scott Sharman

Pastor of Alsbury Baptist Church, Burleson

I drove to the post office this morning only to find it closed in honor of Martin Luther King's birthday.  My first reaction was one of mild frustration.  My next was to consider why this day is set aside as a national holiday.

Several years ago I read "A Letter from a Birmingham Jail," the letter penned by King to white clergy critical of his efforts.  The letter powerfully defended the non-violent protests against institutionalized racism in Birmingham, Ala.  Furthermore, Dr. King questioned why the white clergy was criticizing rather than joining the protests.

01/19/2004 - By John Rutledge