Archives
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EDITORIAL: What can we learn from ticket scalpers?_41805
Posted: 4/15/05
EDITORIAL:
What can we learn from ticket scalpers?Here's news from the well-now-I've-seen-everything department: Scalpers are collecting up to $190 for tickets to a religious service.
Popular pastor/TV preacher/author Joel Osteen is partway through his 15-city “worship tour” across America. The tour is an outgrowth of his successful TV show (according to Nielson ratings, the No. 1 “inspirational program” in the nation), which is broadcast from his charismatic Lakewood Church in Houston (according to Forbes.com, the fastest-growing congregation in America). The tour has been propelled by Osteen's enormously popular book, Your Best Life Now (according to the New York Times, a bestseller).
Osteen is so popular in Chicago that promoters extended his stay to two nights. He'll lead worship services in the Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont, Ill., May 5-6. But even two nights in a major arena can't meet demand, so scalped tickets are fetching almost 20 times their $10 face value. (Folks who take pride in Texas' religiosity might be disturbed to know scalpers only got $100 for Osteen tickets in Dallas. Is Midwestern religious fervor twice as strong as Texas spiritual passion?)
04/15/2005 - By John Rutledge
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Church aims to bring hope to city’s west side_41805
Posted: 4/15/05
Jeremy Everett stands in front of a neighborhood mural that proclaims, "Some people call our neighborhood a jungle. Well I'm going to give them a jungle but it will be a Beautiful Jungle" that has been "tagged" with gang graffiti. Everett is convinced many of the core characteristics of the area–even the deep loyalty that binds gangs together–can be expressed in positive ways. (Photos by Craig Bird) Church aims to bring hope to city's west side
By Craig Bird
Baptist Child & Family Services
Jeremy Everett's office is across the street from this mosaic mural constructed for Pope John Paul's 1987 visit to San Antonio. SAN ANTONIO–The neighborhood has never seen a church like Iglesia de Esperanza, but it sure will seem familiar. At least that's the plan for a new congregation in the heart of San Antonio's west side that is a parallel–but integral–part of a Baptist-sponsored ministry to immigrants.
04/15/2005 - By John Rutledge
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Frog Theatre gets jump on ministry to college students_41805
Posted: 4/15/05
Eric & Michelle Myers lead Second Chances Church and its Frog Theatre ministry near the TCU campus. Frog Theatre gets jump on
ministry to college studentsBy George Henson
Staff Writer
FORT WORTH–The Frog Theatre may be an unconventional name for a church outreach ministry, but that may be the most conventional part of Second Chances' efforts to reach college students in Fort Worth.
04/15/2005 - By John Rutledge
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CBF, Buckner volunteers show love to Rio Grande Valley_41805
Posted: 4/15/05
Members of Concord Baptist Church in Bangs and the Church at Canyon Creek in Austin put a new roof on a home in Progreso as part of the spring break KidsHeart mission week in the Rio Grande Valley. The project was organized by CBF Texas and Buckner Baptist Benevolences in conjunction with the Fellowship's national rural poverty initiative, Partners in Hope. (Photo by Scott Collins) CBF, Buckner volunteers
show love to Rio Grande ValleyBy Scott Collins
Buckner Communications
MISSION–Shovel in hand, Rick McClatchy stood knee-deep and shoulder-to-shoulder with two volunteers in a ditch that soon would become the final resting place for a sewer line.
04/15/2005 - By John Rutledge
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Texas Baptist Forum_41805
Posted: 4/15/05
TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Thankful to be formerI am not a bit surprised that Judge George Greer felt compelled to remove his membership from Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Fla., in light of the Terri Schiavo case.
This decision brings forth the true nature of selective fellowship of Southern Baptists. If you disagree with their dogmatic doctrine, you are ostracized. My own personal experiences in the Baptist fellowship resulted in the same for me.
Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.
"I think a walk in faith constantly confronts doubt, as faith becomes more mature. … My faith is strong. The Bible talks about you've got to constantly stay in touch with the word of God in order to help you on the walk. But the Lord works in mysterious ways, and during all our life's journeys we're enabled to see the Lord at work if our eyes are open and our hearts are open."
President George W. Bush
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Waco from Rome (RNS)
"If you want a mood-elevator, you go talk to a 20-year-old who had just lost both limbs."
Wynonna Judd
Country singer, who visited with injured war veterans (U.S. News & World Report)
"Tragically, millions of Americans today work full time and still fall below the poverty level. The moral values that shape our lives tell us this is wrong. We believe our rich nation should agree that everyone who works full time responsibly will be able to earn enough to rise above the poverty level and enjoy health insurance."
76 prominent evangelical leaders
In a letter to President Bush (RNS)
To the Baptists out there who all are ill-informed of the law: Judge Greer's job as an appellate judge is to review the case to determine if the lower courts followed the law. He did just that. To say he did not completely review the case is ludicrous.
04/15/2005 - By John Rutledge
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Trade-offs of ideal, reality factor into selection of pope_41805
Posted: 4/15/05
(RNS Photo courtesy of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center) Trade-offs of ideal, reality factor into selection of pope
By John L. Allen Jr.
Religion News Service
VATICAN CITY–Picking a pope is a bit like hunting for one's dream house. Buyers start with an ideal: say five bedrooms, three bathrooms, track lighting, hardwood floors, a fireplace, a spacious yard and a great view of the mountains. Then the hard work of looking at what's actually on the market begins, and people have to decide what they can live without in order to make a deal.
04/15/2005 - By John Rutledge
Jim Benson to Edmund Boulevard Church in San Angelo as pastor. 
