• 

  Does biblical command to care for aliens depend on their legal status?_12604

  Posted: 1/23/04

  Does biblical command to care for
  aliens depend on their legal status?

  By Ken Camp

  Managing Editor

  Churches' responsibility to care for “aliens and strangers” as the Bible commands transcends legal issues about immigration policy, according to David Guel of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

  01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• Even in Churches of Christ, there’s no sign of ceasefire in worship wars_12604

  Posted: 1/23/04

  Even in Churches of Christ, there's
  no sign of ceasefire in worship wars

  By Craig Bird

  Associated Baptist Press

  SAN ANTONIO (ABP)–The raging debate over worship music has surfaced in a most unlikely place–within the Churches of Christ, which bear the historical distinction of shunning all musical instruments in worship.

  01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  Texas Baptist Forum_12604

  Posted: 1/23/04

  TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
  Uncooperative Baptists

  Why do Southern Baptist Convention leaders want to withdraw from the Baptist World Alliance? (Jan. 12) They want to make sure they cannot be accused of being cooperative Baptists. To that end, they seek to be as uncooperative as possible with any Baptist body.

  E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

  Perhaps we should not refer to these people as “fundamentalists.” They have forsaken the fundamentals, preferring to focus on peripheral issues. They would better be described as “peripheralists.”

  Leon Johnson

  01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• Baptist statesman Albert McClellan dies_12604

  Posted: 1/23/04

  Baptist statesman Albert McClellan dies

  By Marv Knox

  Editor

  Albert McClellan, a Baptist statesman and executive whose ministry spanned parts of six decades, died in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 9 after a long illness. He was 91.

  01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  Mexican Baptists hope church-starting goal sparks movement throughout Latin America_12604

  Posted: 1/23/04

  Mexican Baptists hope church-starting
  goal sparks movement throughout Latin America

  By John Hall

  Texas Baptist Communications

  MATAMOROS, Mexico­The National Baptist Convention of Mexico is ushering in a “spiritual revolution” through what appears to be the beginnings of a church-starting movement, missions observers have noted.

  01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  On the Move_12604

  Posted: 1/23/04

  On the Move

  Scott Bowman to First Church in Winnsboro as minister of music and senior adults.

  Dan Brown to Clearview Church in Marshall as pastor.

  Bill Burch has resigned as youth minister at Colonial Hills Church in Cedar Hill.

  01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• Fear turns to fulfillment for prison ministry volunteer discipleship teacher_12604

  Posted: 1/23/04

  Fear turns to fulfillment for prison
  ministry volunteer discipleship teacher

  By John Hall

  Texas Baptist Communications

  GATESVILLE–Fear ran through David Barron's body when he first entered a prison in 1978 to help with the data entry systems. Now the clanging of prison gates closing behind him regularly welcomes him to his mission field.

  01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• Most American voters want a deeply religious president, recent poll reveals_12604

  Posted: 1/23/04

  Most American voters want a deeply
  religious president, recent poll reveals

  By Adelle Banks

  Religious News Service

  WASHINGTON (RNS) — Almost 60 percent of likely voters surveyed say it's important for a president to believe in God and be deeply religious while also having the backing of most Americans on how he is managing the economy and foreign policy.

  01/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  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.”

  CHARLES WADE Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

  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