2007 Archives
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Romney garners praise, criticism for church-state views in speech
Posted: 12/14/07
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivers an address titled “Faith in America” at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station. (REUTERS /Jessica Rinaldi) Romney garners praise, criticism
for church-state views in speechBy Robert Marus
Associated Baptist Press
WASHINGTON (ABP)—Mitt Romney’s speech on faith and public affairs elicited both praise and criticism from a broad spectrum of observers—and it didn’t always break down along traditional right-left lines.
The highly anticipated speech by the Republican presidential contender was designed to allay the fears of evangelical Christians, who make up a large proportion of GOP voters in Iowa. Recent polls have shown churchgoing evangelicals are more likely than any other major group to harbor doubts about electing a Mormon president.
12/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Texas Tidbits
Posted: 12/14/07
Texas Tidbits
Group encourages women in Baptist pulpits. Baptist Women in Ministry is encouraging Baptist churches to invite a woman from their congregation, community or a seminary to preach Feb. 3 as part of the Martha Stearns Marshall Day of Preaching. The day honors Marshall, an 18th century Baptist preacher, and is meant to further develop the skills of Baptist women who feel God’s calling to preach. Last year, more than 50 congregations in the United States and one in Japan participated in the day. Baptist Women in Ministry hopes at least 100 churches will participate this year, said Julie O’Teter, a member of the group’s leadership team. For more information, visit www.bwim.info or e-mail Julie.Oteter@bgct.org.
Texans on New Baptist Covenant program. Two Texas Baptist pastors—George Mason from Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas and Ellis Orosco from Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen—will be part of a miniature preaching festival within next year’s Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant. The homiletics mini-conference is scheduled to take place during the breakout-session times at the conference, Jan. 30-Feb. 1 in Atlanta.
Church delays decision on gay couples. Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth postponed a scheduled Dec. 2 decision on whether to include homosexuals as couples in a church pictorial directory. The church referred the matter to its deacons, who are expected to bring a recommendation by Feb. 24. The issue surfaced when some gay church members asked to be photographed as couples and pictured as such in the church directory, scheduled for publication as part of the church’s 125th anniversary celebration. Some members expressed concern that picturing gays as couples would be perceived as the church’s endorsement of homosexual behavior. The Baptist General Convention of Texas—with which Broadway is affiliated—is on record affirming churches that minister to homosexuals but has characterized homosexual behavior as sinful. BGCT practice has been to reject financial contributions from a church that endorses homosexual behavior, thereby essentially cutting ties between that church and the state convention.
Valley Baptist’s cardiovascular care recognized nationally. Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen has been named one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation—and the only one south of Houston—for saving lives and reducing complications in heart patients. The results from the Thomson Top 100 Hospitals awards will be published in Modern Healthcare, and the award will be presented to Valley Baptist at the 100 Top Hospitals Summit in Colorado Springs, Co., next summer. Thomson Healthcare analyzed and scored Valley Baptist and more than 1,000 other hospitals around the country for patient survival rates, preventing infections, and other measures related to heart attack, congestive heart failure, bypass surgery, angioplasties and other coronary interventions.
12/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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TOGETHER: Tune your heart to the wait
Posted: 12/14/07
TOGETHER:
Tune your heart to the waitRosemary says I am a terrible “waiter.” She says everywhere I go, I have to have a handful of stuff to read or a list of calls to make or a piece of paper to write another list on. I can’t stand to be waiting with nothing to do.
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board
When we served a church composed of military families in Germany, we learned they know a lot about waiting. Husbands and fathers often were gone for weeks at a time. They accepted the waiting as a necessary part of being in the Army. Soldiers told of being gone from their families during World War II for three, four, even five years without furlough.
Can you imagine that kind of waiting?
While living two years in a German village, we were introduced to Advent, which instantly made sense to me. Here was a way that Christians through the centuries had reminded themselves in a daily way that Christmas is about Christ. Each day in the homes, an Advent calendar with Scriptures and prayers would mark the days of waiting for Christmas.
12/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Executive Board may vote on short-term interim executive director
Posted: 12/10/07
Executive Board may vote on
short-term interim executive directorBy John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board may bring in an interim executive director—at least for a short time.
BGCT Executive Board leaders are examining options for short-term leadership of the board’s staff in the likely event the next convention executive director will not be on the job before BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade retires at the end of January.
12/10/2007 - By John Rutledge
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