Archives
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Christian presence in Holy Land small and getting smaller
Posted: 9/15/06
Christian presence in Holy
Land small and getting smallerBy Steve Chambers
Religion News Service
BETHLEHEM, West Bank—Nakla Qaber, whose Greek Orthodox roots stretch back generations in a West Bank Christian enclave, runs a successful restaurant at a time when most Palestinians are struggling.
But when it came time for his son and three daughters to make their own way in the world, they went off to college in the United States and Canada and never came back.
Muslims Abu Iyad (left) and Abuzayed Odeh watch the news on Al-Jazeera at their Christian friends’ auto body store in Bethlehem. “We share all our life, the good times and bad times,” Iyad said. (RNS photo by Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.) 09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Poll shows some prejudice against Muslims
Posted: 9/15/06
In the Muslim village of Jalah,Egypt, the local imam, Haliz Muhammed Fazar (center), and village leaders gather on a porch to meet visitors and discuss the Quran. (BP photo courtesy of IMB)
9/11 Five Years Later
• For American Muslims, everything changed on 9/11
• Differentiate 'Muslim' from 'terrorist' scholars say
• No sweeping revival, but impact of 9/11 still felt in churches
• Negative perceptions of Muslims persist, panel says
• Who's Who in Islam: major groups
• Christian presence in Holy Land small and getting smaller
• Islam built on five pillars of worship & five pillars of faith
• Poll shows some prejudice against Muslims
• Children of Abraham: Muslims view God, church & state through different lensesPoll shows some
prejudice against MuslimsBy Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Four Americans out of 10 acknowledge having some prejudice against Muslims, but those with Muslim acquaintances are more likely to show favorable attitudes, a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll shows.
Thirty-nine percent of Americans asked to honestly assess themselves said they have at least some feelings of prejudice against Muslims while 59 percent said they did not.
09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Group critiques prosperity gospel
Posted: 9/15/06
Group critiques prosperity gospel
By Hannah Elliott
Associated Baptist Press
DALLAS (ABP)— Media promotion of a so-called prosperity gospel is deluging modern-day churches—and driving them into error, former Southern Baptist Convention President Jimmy Allen told the nation’s largest African-American Baptist group.
“Prosperity gospel is now a problem because we’ve learned to study the market, and now the marketplace is dictating the message,” said Allen, who led in the formation of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
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National Baptist leader asserts nation, church abandoning ideals
Posted: 9/15/06
National Baptist leader asserts
nation, church abandoning idealsBy Ken Camp
Managing Editor
DALLAS—Two esteemed institutions—the United States and the church—appear in danger of abandoning the high ideals of their founding documents, the president of the nation’s largest African-American Baptist group said.
“A haunting shade hangs over both our country and the church,” said William Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention USA, in his message to the group’s annual meeting in Dallas.
See Related Articles:
• Group critiques prosperity gospel
• National Baptist leader asserts nation, church abandoning ideals
09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Scrapbooking enables women to pass along their values
Posted: 9/15/06
Wendy Jones and her sister, Christi Denney, work on projects during the Scrapbook and Craft Extravaganza at Mobberly Baptist Church. Scrapbooking enables women
to pass along their valuesBy Rachel Stallard
Special to the Baptist Standard
LONGVIEW—Jodie Hilburn found a distinctive way to tell her husband she was expecting their third child—through a scrapbook project for his office. Carol Weiss is preparing for her family’s first holiday season without her father this year, after borrowing her mother’s Christmas album. Wendy Jones found a hobby on which she knew her family would not mind her spending time and money.
All three women are proud to call scrapbooking—or cropping—an art form. And many more women consider it a ministry of Christian encouragement and outreach.
Stacy Pentecost of Macedonia Baptist Church in Longview participates in an Open Crop held once a month at Scrapbooks & Such in Longview. She is finishing a book from her children’s band trip to Disney World. 09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Texas Tidbits
Posted: 9/15/06
Texas Tidbits
Accreditation extended for UMHB program. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs has extended until 2012 accreditation of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor’s community counseling program. The program is part of the graduate psychology and counseling department at UMHB, which offers master’s degrees in professional counseling.
BUA provides mentoring program. Baptist University of the Americas has launched a higher-education mentoring program for Hispanic youth and their families living in San Antonio’s South Side. The Sigueme program uses Hispanic university students and BUA staff as mentors and role models for public school students. Key partners in the mentoring initiative include Buckner Baptist Benevolences and Communities in Schools, a national nonprofit group. The program also involves working with South Side churches to promote education through ongoing training for youth pastors, as well as providing seminars for families with prospective college students.
09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Problems can lead to divine opportunities
Posted: 9/15/06
TOGETHER:
Problems can lead to divine opportunitiesProblems can lead to special, unexpected moments. Rosemary broke her arm the other day; and, as we were getting this taken care of, a woman eyed Rosemary’s cast and said, “Oh, you broke your arm, too. I just got two casts off my arms. I broke them both this summer.”
We had a conversation with this woman and her husband that genuinely blessed us, and in a few moments, we discovered they were members of one of our Texas Baptist churches.
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board
They told us how much they were enjoying their intentional interim minister and the blessing his preaching and wise counsel were bringing to their fractured fellowship.
The husband is on the transition team charged by the church with helping them process their way to a new future for their congregation.
09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Transitional home provides refuge for teenaged girls
Posted: 9/15/06
Celeste, 18, turned herself into the courts at age 15 in order to receive an education. Now, she is studying to be a lawyer and lives at the Buckner Transitional Girls' Home in Guatemala City. Transitional home provides
refuge for teenaged girlsBy Jenny Pope
Buckner Baptist Benevolences
It’s a bright, golden-colored refuge that rests among the hectic streets of Guatemala City. A bus stop sits across the way, and hatchback cars and colorful buses whirl by on their way to outlying territories. Outside it’s noisy, dusty and fast-paced.
See Related Articles:
• Buckner brings hope to orphans in Guatemala
• Transitional home provides refuge for teenaged girls
But inside the home is drastically different. It’s airy, open and calm. A plant-lined atrium greets guests upon entry; bedrooms line the walls with photos, stuffed animals and posters of celebrities; there’s a cozy living room with several couches and a TV; and fresh laundry flaps in the cool air outside an open kitchen.
09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Called board meeting focuses on Valley
Posted: 9/15/06
Called board meeting focuses on Valley
By Ferrell Foster
Texas Baptist Communications
DALLAS—Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board officers expect to call a special board meeting by the end of October to consider the results of an investigation into the use of church-starting money in the Rio Grande Valley.
Jim Nelson of Austin, vice chairman of the board, said the complexity of the investigation made it impossible for investigators to finish the task by the regular Sept. 25-26 board meeting.
09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Cyberbullies harass, humiliate peers
Posted: 9/15/06
Cyberbullies harass, humiliate peers
By David Briggs
Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Beware the wrath of a dumped boyfriend or girlfriend spreading rumors about a former partner on MySpace. Pity the middle-school student whose clothes, popularity or appearance becomes the object of derision in public chat rooms frequented by classmates.
These days, teenagers and their parents don’t have to look out just for sexual predators online. Some of their peers are turning into cyberbullies, using sites such as MySpace and Facebook to harass and humiliate classmates.
09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Predators make Web risky for teens
Posted: 9/15/06
Predators make Web risky for teens
By George Henson
Staff Writer
DALLAS—Most teenagers don’t need a warning about the predators waiting on the Internet. That thrill is what drives some riskier behaviors, a Dallas assistant district attorney said. And that makes parents’ role in keeping children safe even more important.
Some teens may think flirting and sexual innuendo on the Internet is a safe risk, like riding a thrill ride at an amusement park, but that is a false assumption, said Brooke Robb, an assistant district attorney who specializes in prosecuting Internet crimes against children. She spoke to a group of youth ministers from Dallas Baptist Association churches.
09/15/2006 - By John Rutledge
