TOGETHER: God pours his Spirit on Texas churches_51605

Posted: 5/13/05

TOGETHER:
God pours his Spirit on Texas churches

Four teen-aged boys gathered quietly around me before the morning service at the Baptist church in Anton, a small West Texas community. I was there for a revival meeting, and the boys wanted to pray for me. One by one, they prayed for the guest evangelist.

It was a special moment for me, because when I arrived on Saturday, Interim Pastor Cecil Golden had told me the church was already experiencing revival. Several teen-agers had been saved recently, and he would baptize two of them the next morning.

I was thrilled that in preparing for a revival meeting, God had already begun to give revival to the church. But it also made me anxious lest I not be spiritually ready to match up with the hearts of the people.

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

07/17/2006 - By John Rutledge

Forney group trapped in Lebanon

Posted: 7/17/06

Forney group trapped in Lebanon

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

FORNEY—Ten people from First Baptist Church in Forney are trapped in Lebanon as the Hezbollah militia continues fighting with Israel.

The Beirut airport has been shut down after missiles repeatedly pounded it. The fighting started when Hezbollah guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in a border raid. Hezbollah is a Shiite militant group with a strong presence in southern Lebanon.

07/17/2006 - By John Rutledge

Cybercolumn by Brett Younger: The whole story

Posted: 7/14/06

CYBER COLUMN:
The whole story

By Brett Younger

A month and a half ago, The New York Times Book Review ran a cover story asking, “What is the best work of American fiction in the last 25 years?” The editors surveyed 125 prominent writers, critics and literary sages to identify the best novel published since 1980, and 22 books received multiple votes.

I consider myself a reasonably well-read person. Most of the time, I’m working on a book. I carry books with me to the bank in case I get caught in a line. I keep a book in the car in case I have to wait at a drive-thru. I read a lot. So, I assumed—as anyone who knows me would assume—that I’ve read most of the 22 best American novels of the last two and a half decades.

07/14/2006 - By John Rutledge

Ethicists weigh in on court’s decision to protect Guantanamo detainees

Posted: 7/14/06

Ethicists weigh in on court’s decision
to protect Guantanamo detainees

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)—While a prominent Southern Baptist leader says a recent Supreme Court decision weakens the United States’ ability to combat terrorists, some other Christian ethicists say even those accused of terrorism deserve to have their rights upheld through the due process of law.

Days after the Supreme Court declared illegal the military tribunal system set up for prisoners in the U.S. detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, White House officials announced July 11 that all prisoners there will be extended the protections of the Geneva Conventions.

07/14/2006 - By John Rutledge

BaptistWay Bible Series for July 23: Living with single-minded purpose

Posted: 7/12/06

BaptistWay Bible Series for July 23

Living with single-minded purpose

• 2 Timothy 2:1-17, 20-13

By Joseph Matos

07/12/2006 - By John Rutledge

Family Bible Series for July 23: God’s provision is bountiful and continuous

Posted: 7/12/06

Family Bible Series for July 23

God’s provision is bountiful and continuous

• Exodus 15:22-26; 16:2-4, 31-35

By Greg Ammons

07/12/2006 - By John Rutledge

Explore the Bible Series for July 23: Our understanding of God’s ways is limited

Posted: 7/12/06

Explore the Bible Series for July 23

Our understanding of God’s ways is limited

• Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22

By James Adair

Baptist University of the Americas, San Antonio

Like Job, Ecclesiastes is a book that challenges the traditional wisdom of its day. It questions the notion of a moral cause-and-effect universe, the idea that the righteous inevitably are rewarded and the wicked are punished.

07/12/2006 - By John Rutledge

Bo Pilgrim provides record gift to DBU

Posted: 7/12/06

Bo Pilgrim provides record gift to DBU

DALLAS—Dallas Baptist University took a major step toward construction of its first chapel building in 108 years, thanks to an $8 million contribution from Bo Pilgrim.

The gift from Pilgrim, co-founder and chairman of Pilgrim’s Pride, the second-largest poultry company in the United States and Mexico, represents half the total of DBU’s $16 million Chapel Campaign.

The 1,400-seat Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel will be located in the heart of the DBU campus in southwest Dallas.

“We are grateful beyond words for the generosity of Mr. Pilgrim,” DBU President Gary Cook said. “With this gift, we will be able to fulfill a dream for a chapel, which has been on the heart of members of the DBU family ever since we moved to Dallas in 1965.”

07/12/2006 - By John Rutledge

Baptist colleges face crisis, Godsey says

Posted: 7/07/06

Baptist colleges face crisis, Godsey says

By Marv Knox

Editor

ATLANTA (ABP)—Baptist higher education faces a monumental crisis, due in large part to abuses of control and financial dependence, longtime university president Kirby Godsey told participants at the Whitsitt Baptist Heritage Society’s annual meeting.

Godsey will retire this summer after 27 years as president of Mercer University in Macon, Ga. He received the Whitsitt Society’s 2006 Courage Award and delivered the society’s Penrose St. Amant Lecture on “The Future of Baptist Higher Education.”

07/07/2006 - By John Rutledge

Yee urges Fellowship to become fully intercultural

Posted: 7/07/06

Yee urges Fellowship
to become fully intercultural

By Marv Knox

Editor

ATLANTA (ABP)—The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship must transcend mere multiculturalism to become fully intercultural, CBF Moderator Joy Yee told participants at the group’s general assembly in Atlanta.

The fellowship of traditional, progressive Baptists can be multicultural simply by gathering people representing various ethnicities, races, geographies, ages, genders and classes in the same place, Yee noted. But to be intercultural, it must dynamically involve each group with all the others, she explained.

07/07/2006 - By John Rutledge

Convocation urges immigration reform

Posted: 7/07/06

Convocation urges immigration reform

By Craig Bird

Baptist Child & Family Services

ATLANTA (ABP)—The central question in the debate on immigration reform is not about economics or politics, Hispanic Baptist leaders told the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

“The basic issue is whether Jesus still has a mission to the poor,” Albert Reyes, president of Baptist University of the Americas, explained as he introduced a document titled “Proclamation for Immigration Reform” at a solemn assembly held during the CBF general assembly.

07/07/2006 - By John Rutledge

WMU may move annual meeting

Posted: 7/07/06

WMU may move annual meeting

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—The Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas board of directors voted to explore holding the missions organization’s 2008 annual meeting at a time other than immediately prior to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

Texas WMU Executive Director-Treasurer Carolyn Porterfield said the board will consider whether moving the meeting could increase attendance and be a wiser use of the organization’s funds. The board will hear the findings of the exploration during its November meeting.

07/07/2006 - By John Rutledge