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Archives For November 30, 1999

Middle Eastern countries feel ‘crush’ of refugee crisis

Meredith Flynn —  August 7, 2014
Syrian refugees cross the border from Syria to Jordan. IMB photo by Jedediah Smith

Syrian refugees cross the border from Syria to Jordan. IMB photo by Jedediah Smith


NEWS | Ava Thomas & Eden Nelson (Baptist Press)

Aman* used to be a banker in Syria, but that’s a life he can hardly remember anymore.

Now three years on the other side of a harrowing escape from his war-torn homeland, he’s stuck in a bleak job market, washing dishes for 10 hours a day to feed his starving family.

And worst of all, he’s starting to wonder if it’s ever going to end.

It’s an exhausting life for Aman and the 3 million other Syrian refugees who have flooded surrounding countries, Don Alan*, a Christian leader in the region, said.

Think back to a day when you missed a meal, or a night when you weren’t sure you were ever going to get home, Alan said. “Multiply that by 100 or 1,000, and that is a portion of what the Syrian refugee feels.”

Alan hopes Christians in the West will take up the cause of their Syrian brothers and sisters and persist in holding them up.

“Pray that we would not become weary of this crisis,” Alan said. “Some of them have been refugees for more than three years. We must persevere in supporting them.”

Aid funds from government organizations are drying up, he said, and Syria’s neighbors are bending under the burden of refugees spilling over their borders.

Lebanon’s tallies indicate that by year’s end, one third of the tiny country’s population will be refugees from Syria. Ross Mountain, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator, called it an “existential crisis” for Lebanon. More than one million refugees have amplified the country’s water shortage into a serious problem.

Refugees are also straining the country’s economy, accepting jobs for less pay than Lebanese, Mountain said.

To the north of Syria, many Turks are also growing weary of absorbing more and more waves of their neighbors.

Though the Turkish government has extended health care and other continuing aid to Syrian refugees, in a January poll 55% of Turks indicated they would like to see the borders closed to fleeing Syrians. Going further, 30% of those wanted to send back the Syrians already living in Turkey.

“Surrounding countries continue to seek ways to find stability in the midst of such a crush of refugees,” Alan said.

Those countries also face fresh challenges, thanks to the emergence of the Islamic state spanning parts of Syria and Iraq, he said.

The militant group ISIS, which recently declared the Islamic state, is exacerbating the region’s refugee problem at an extraordinary rate through broad violence and religious persecution, Alan said. Iraqis are now joining their Syrian neighbors in pouring over the borders – especially Christians.

In mid-July, ISIS gave thousands of Christians in northern Iraq an ultimatum to leave the region or face execution. As a result, Christians are being forced to leave homes and villages where they have lived for centuries, Alan said.

Thousands have fled, and many people are asking if this signals the end of Christianity in Iraq (see sidebar).

The ramifications of the Middle East’s refugee crisis will be “felt for decades to come,” Alan said. It’s a bleak situation, he said, but he hopes Christians around the globe will pray that in the midst of the darkness God will do “something new in our day.”

“Pray that we would be courageous and bold. The Gospel is one of peace, even in the midst of pain and turmoil,” he said. “Pray that we would respond with open hearts and open hands. There are ways we can help today by giving, praying and speaking of the hurt of those fleeing this conflict.”

When the Bible is so clear about helping the marginalized, Alan said, how can Christians not respond to “one of the greatest crises of our time?”

“The question to you and me is will we catch His vision for what He is doing?” Alan said. “As Jesus reminded us, if we do it to the least, the one most forgotten, then we do it to Him.”

*Name changed

Baptist Global Response is providing food and hygiene kits to refugee families. For more info, go to www.gobgr.org

Ava Thomas and Eden Nelson are writers for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. Story excerpted from Baptist Press.

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Gospel is shared, received at teen’s funeral

Meredith Flynn —  August 5, 2014

THE BRIEFING | Dozens of people came to faith in Christ at the August 2 funeral for 15-year-old Braxton Caner, according to reports on social media.

“Dozens saved today @ Brax’s funeral. We wanted the Gospel given,” tweeted Braxton’s father, Ergun Caner, president of Brewton-Parker College in Georgia. Caner also re-tweeted a photo of his son’s football teammates kneeling and praying after the service for Braxton, whose death was reported July 29 as a suicide.

On July 30, Ergun Caner wrote, “No words. No sermon. No funny quotes. No answers. No note. Nothing but excruciating pain & the assurance that I’ll see him in Glory.” The next day, he posted a photo of himself baptizing then-6-year-old Braxton.

Pastor Rick Warren, who lost his 27-year-old son to suicide last year, was one of many Christian leaders who reached out to Caner and his wife over Twitter. “I am weeping with you @erguncaner and Jill.”

Read The Christian Post’s report here.

Other news:

The_Briefing‘Third way’ church could be removed from fellowship with Baptist association
The executive board of the Los Angeles Southern Baptist Association has recommended that messengers from New Heart Community Church not be seated at the association’s annual meeting in October. Danny Cortez, pastor of the La Mirada congregation, announced earlier this year that he no longer believes same-sex relationships are sinful. The church voted to become a “third way” church that neither condemns nor affirms homosexuality. Read more at BPNews.net.

Missionary doctor recovering from Ebola virus in U.S.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Aug. 3 that Dr. Kent Brantley is “improving” after contracting the Ebola virus. Brantley, an aid worker in Liberia with Samaritan’s Purse, was flown to Atlanta for treatment Aug. 2. Fellow American Nancy Writebol is expected to join him today. Both doctors contracted the Ebola virus while treating patients in a region where hundreds have died from a recent outbreak. Read more at SamaritansPurse.org.

IMB worker reports on ‘invisible war’ with Ebola
The Southern Baptist International Mission Board says it is monitoring the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and medical coordinators “have been in touch with Southern Baptist missionaries in the region to keep them informed of the changing situation,” Baptist Press reports. The IMB has personnel in Guinea and Liberia, two of the countries affected by the outbreak.

A Christian worker in Liberia shared her account of what it’s like to live in a country where people are fighting an “invisible” enemy like the virus. Read it at BPNews.net.

Praying for peace in Jerusalem
Southern Baptist Convention leader Roger S. Oldham gives several specific ways to pray for the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “On the political front, the ‘peace of Jerusalem’ seems to be an elusive dream,” Oldham wrote. “But on the spiritual front, those who know the Prince of Peace have learned that peace is a gift the Lord gives (John 14:27).”

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Mom, daughter connect through letters from Haiti

Meredith Flynn —  August 4, 2014
Volunteers from Illinois are serving this week near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. One team member is Alison Howell, whose daughter, Mackenzie, wrote a children's book to raise money to help re-build the country.

Many mission teams from Illinois have served in Haiti since the January 2010 earthquake. This photo was taken during a one-week trip to the country last summer; read stories and see more photos here.


HEARTLAND | Mackenzie Howell was just five years old when she saw a TV program about the massive earthquake that destroyed parts of Haiti in January 2010. The young Texan decided immediately she needed to do something to help.

Mackenzie_Howell_blog

Volunteers from Illinois are serving this week near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. One team member is Alison Howell, whose daughter, Mackenzie, wrote a children’s book to raise money to help re-build the country.

Since then, she’s raised thousands of dollars for re-building efforts in the country through several different enterprises, including a book about a courageous Haitian girl named Leila.

Mackenzie’s projects connected her with IBSA’s Bob Elmore, who facilitates mission trips to Haiti. Mackenzie’s mom is on one of those trips this week, writing letters to her daughter every day from Haiti. Alison Howell hopes to learn more about the country this week, in preparation for when Mackenzie is ready to go herself.

In her first letter Aug. 3, Alison talked about how God sometimes calls people to do hard things.

“Remember last week in Sunday School when we talked about how God asked Paul and Barnabas to do some difficult things, but they always obeyed Him because they knew that they could trust Him. You and I can trust Him too.

“I can trust Him to take care of me in Haiti, and even more importantly to take care of you, brother and Daddy while I’m gone. You can trust Him to give you the courage to do what He is asking you to do too.”

Follow Alison Howell’s mission trip at her blog, “Letters to my daughter from Haiti.”

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Super Summer staffer pays it forward

Meredith Flynn —  July 26, 2014

Editor’s note: This is the final story in a series of three testimonies about Super Summer, an annual discipleship week for students sponsored by the Illinois Baptist State Association. Click here to read how Hannah Batista met Christ at Super Summer, and here for why youth minister Tim Drury takes his students to Greenville for the week every year.

Zaxxson_NationHEARTLAND | Zaxxson Nation spent Super Summer 2014 teaching high school seniors the most practical parts of discipleship— finding a mentor, building intentional friendships, and investing in a local church. As assistant dean for the green school, which is focused on discipleship, Nation helped transfer to his students some of the same principles he learned as a Super Summer student.

Assistant dean is just one hat Nation has worn since his first week in Greenville 12 years ago. As a 16-year-old student leader from Rochester First Baptist, he realized at Super Summer that his Christianity was based more on head knowledge than faith that had taken root in his heart.

“God really changed everything in my life” that week, Nation said. “And at that point I was ready to serve, to do whatever it took to just serve Him.”

Part of what makes Super Summer different from some other camps is the laser-like focus on knowing Jesus more, Nation said. At his first Super Summer, “When we had free time, we were talking about Jesus. And when we went to bed at night, we were joking around, but we were also sharing our testimonies.”

Years later, he said, “I think it’s the same now as it was 12 years ago when I was a student. It’s still people coming together for the same reason; it’s still students that are serious about their faith.”

Nation acknowledged that Super Summer creates an environment that’s impossible to recreate once students get home and the distractions of life flood back in. Being cut off from regular life for a week is both a blessing and a curse, he said. “God uses it, though; He used it for my life,” he said.

“The other big thing about Super Summer is it’s pretty much where I got my standard for being a godly man,” Nation remembered. He met pastors and leaders who had memorized large chunks of the Bible and shared their faith regularly.

“Super Summer puts you under those guys’ teaching for an entire week, and you leave inspired. And I left personally saying, ‘Wow, I want to be like that.’

“Because as a student I saw that and was challenged by those high standards, I want to go back and work under those guys, and be peers to those guys and continue to learn from them. That’s a huge motivator for me, to think that one day a student could look at me and my life and say that I’m inspiring them in the same way that those guys inspired me.”

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The view from the front porch

nateadamsibsa —  July 7, 2014

Nate_Adams_July7HEARTLAND | Nate Adams

We have a fairly small front porch. We don’t spend much time there, partly because we live on a cul-de-sac, and our front porch doesn’t offer much privacy. It looks directly into the yards, and lives, of several other families.

We spend much more time on our backyard deck. That’s where we can see most of our flowers and our garden. It’s where we grill during the summer time, and where we enjoy the privacy provided by a number of mature trees.

Last weekend, though, our son Caleb brought over his lawn trimmer to see if I could help him make it work, since it used to be my lawn trimmer. When he arrived, I met him on the front porch, and for some reason we sat down there to work on it. Soon my wife, Beth, joined us, and noted that the only other person who seemed to be outside that beautiful Saturday was our neighbor who has cancer. Let me call her Cindy.

Cindy was out tending to her beautiful front yard flowerbeds. Suddenly Beth exclaimed, “Oh my, Cindy just fell.” Caleb and I then looked up from our work, and saw Cindy lying on her sidewalk.

“Maybe she’s OK. Let’s see if she gets up,” we said. “We don’t want to embarrass her by running over there if she just lost her balance for a minute.”

But as we watched, Cindy just laid there for a few seconds. Then, with great effort, she raised one hand and began waving it slowly in the air.

We all then sprinted to her side. Cindy was relieved to see us, and asked if we would help her try to get up. She had fallen on her hip.

Our first, careful efforts to help her brought her so much pain that we all agreed we needed to leave her where she was and get some medical help. We found her husband inside, who called an ambulance and then scurried around to prepare to go with her to the hospital.

We stayed with Cindy for several minutes, comforting her until the ambulance arrived, and then assured both of them of our prayers. As she was rolled into the back of the ambulance, Cindy raised her hand once again, and softly said, “Thank you for seeing me and for coming to help. If you hadn’t, I think I would still be there.”

It has occurred to me many times since that day how unusual and providential it was that we were even in a position to help Cindy. Like so many, we seem to be backyard deck people more than front porch people.

And I have also been convicted how true that is spiritually, in our relationships with our neighbors. How many of the people we know are down and helpless, at the end of their ropes spiritually, and quietly waving one last hand in hope of help? Are we even in a position to see them? Or are we comfortable in our own backyards?

Many of the people we know who have deep spiritual needs don’t even know what or Who they need. Cindy didn’t. She just suddenly knew she was helpless. But because we were in that rare position to see her fall, we were able to play a small role in getting her the help needed.

This summer, let’s all spend more time on the front porch. Let’s look for the frail waves of the people around us. And let’s help them call on the One who can meet them right where they are. We may see their soft wave of gratitude in eternity.

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association.

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Southern Baptist church splits over whether to affirm same-sex lifestyle

Meredith Flynn —  June 3, 2014

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

A California congregation voted May 18 to retain their pastor, Danny Cortez, who had announced three months earlier that he affirms same-sex lifestyles. The decision by New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, Ca., brings the Southern Baptist Convention to “a moment of unavoidable decision” just before its annual meeting in Baltimore, said Southern Seminary President Albert Mohler.

Cortez blogged May 29 on Patheos.com that New Heart will “formally peacefully separate” June 8, when a group affirming traditional church teachings about homosexuality leaves the congregation. The church took three months to study and pray over the issue after Cortez told them about his beliefs in February. Prior to Cortez’ confession to his church, his teenage son told him he was gay and posted a “coming out” video on social media sites.

The_BriefingIn May, the church voted to keep Cortez as pastor and become a “third way” church that stands in the middle ground between condoning and condemning same-sex relationships.

“So now, we will accept the LGBT community even though they may be in a relationship,” Cortez wrote on Patheos.com. “We will choose to remain the body of Christ and not cast judgment. We will work towards graceful dialogue in the midst of theological differences.”

Despite the church’s decision, “there is no third way,” Mohler said on his blog.

“A church will either believe and teach that same-sex behaviors and relationships on sinful, or it will affirm them. Eventually every congregation in America will make a public declaration of its position on this issue. It is just a matter of time (and for most churches, not much time) before every congregation in the nation faces this test.”

That New Heart’s decision is in conflict with The Baptist Faith & Message, the SBC’s statement of faith, could result in discussion and/or action when messengers gather in Baltimore.

“I am confident that the Southern Baptist Convention will act in accordance with its own convictions, confession of faith, and constitution when messengers to the Convention gather next week in Baltimore,” Mohler said.

“But every single evangelical congregation, denomination, mission agency, school, and institution had better be ready to face the same challenge, for it will come quickly, and often from an unexpected source. Once it comes, there is no middle ground, and no ‘third way.’”

Other news:

Poll: Most believe same-sex couples should be able to adopt
A new Gallup poll shows 63% of Americans believe same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt a child. The percentage of approval is higher than approval for same-sex marriage, which, according to another recent Gallup poll, is at 55%. Read more at Gallup.com.

Imprisoned pastor still sharing the Gospel
The wife of a U.S. pastor imprisoned in Iran says his sentence may be extended because he’s leading people to Christ. “I don’t see him [witnessing] as an act of defiance,” Naghmeh Abedini told Baptist Press about her husband, Saeed. “Knowing Saeed’s heart as a pastor, he’s seeing people in such a dark place…on death row for murders and rapes, and just seeing people who are in prison whose future is so dark. Knowing Saeed’s heart, I know that his heart was to give them the hope that he’s found in Christ that no one can take away, even in prison.”

Abedini, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced last year to eight years in prison for his involvement in the Iranian house church movement. He moved to the U.S. in 2005 and was arrested two years ago during a trip to build an orphanage in Iran. Read more at BPNews.net.

SBC leaders call for ‘renewed passion’ amid declining numbers
Southern Baptist churches reported more than 310,000 baptisms in 2013, but the total was 1.46% less than the previous year. The Annual Church Profile report, compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions, also showed declines in church membership (down 0.9%) and primary worship attendance (down 2.2% to 5.8 million worshipers).

“I am grieved we are clearly losing our evangelistic effectiveness,” said Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. “I continue to pray for revival and a renewed passion for the Great Commission in our churches. May God renew all of us, including me, with a greater heart for the lost.” Read more at BPNews.net.

A Southern Baptist task force addressed declining baptisms in a report released in May, ahead of the denomination’s June meeting in Baltimore. Read their report here.

Viewing habits: What do we all have in common?
Sheldon Cooper, at least according to research by the Barna Group. Their survey found “The Big Bang Theory” is the most commonly watched show among American adults (30%) and the Millenial generation (31%). And with 23% it was #2 on the list for practicing Christians. Among that group, Sheldon, Penny and the gang lost out by two percentage points to “NCIS.” Read more at Barna.org.

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1964 convention sermon proves prophetic

eric4ibsa —  June 2, 2014

HEARTLAND | Eric Reed

Owen Cooper was a prophet. “We live in an age when it is popular to be tolerant and it is a stigma to be called intolerant,” the chemical engineer from Mississippi preached to messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention. “Tolerance of a half truth soon leads to tolerance of an untruth and then to tolerance of an error,” he warned. “Social and political pressures in the name of tolerance are quenching the flame of missionary zeal.”

Owen_Cooper_0616

Photo from Mississippi Historical Society website

Cooper was describing his own time, but his convention sermon delivered in Atlantic City in 1964 has proven an apt description of our time.

Among Cooper’s insights: Christianity is losing ground in the U.S., world population is growing faster than the Christian faith, and Islam is on the rise; baptisms in SBC churches are declining, more ministry is focused on places where Southern Baptists are strong than to regions and nations where evangelical witness is weak, and the word “witness” itself is almost lost from our vocabulary – and our activity.

“Southern Baptists are losing their mission zeal because of a growing feeling among many theologians and the laity that, after all, man is not lost.” He cited contemporary articles declaring the beginning of “the post-Christian era.”

In 1964? Really?

“Perhaps it is well to ask ourselves the question, ‘What is wrong?’” Cooper said. “‘What is the trouble? Why the diminution of spiritual momentum in the world, and in our country, and in our denomination?’”

In the two decades after World War 2, the Southern Baptist Convention grew rapidly. An emphasis on Sunday school and evangelism that reached the burgeoning families of returning GIs swelled the ranks. The SBC eclipsed the mainline denominations that peaked in 1964 and started their downward spiral. Even as the SBC rallied for growth in membership, Cooper sounded an alarm. Ten million Southern Baptists were on the church rolls, but three million of them couldn’t be accounted for. Baptisms flatlined.

The numbers are no better today. With 15.7 million members officially, our churches report only 5.8 million in worship on any given Sunday. And baptisms are down for seven out of the last nine years, after 40-plus years mostly plateaued. We peaked in 1972.

“We may find ourselves somewhat in the position occupied by Gideon when his followers included…those who follow the crowd as well as the earnest and dedicated,” Cooper said. Apparently some thinning of the herd at the watering hole wouldn’t hurt. “It’s too easy to join a Baptist church,” he stated.

But more than the incipient decline, Cooper decried the loss of commitment to evangelism. “The Southern Baptist Convention was organized for the purpose of ‘directing the energies of the whole denomination for the propagation of the Gospel.’ Witnessing was acknowledged as our principle objective; it must continue to be such.”

Cooper, a layman, was very public about his faith. (Even in 1964, he said personal witnessing would be considered “intolerant, bigoted, and improper” in many circles.) One of only two laymen elected president of the SBC, he served two terms starting in 1973.

In the 1964 sermon, Cooper called on messengers to increase Cooperative Program giving. In 1962, he said, citing the most recent statistics available, 10% of receipts by Southern Baptist churches went to the CP missions and 8% to state missions; today CP giving is down to 5.4% per church, on average. And he called for more money, missionaries, and church planters in distant and unreached parts of the U.S.

But mostly Cooper called for a return to witnessing: “The challenges and problems faced by Southern Baptists, yea even in Christianity for that matter, seem overwhelming when viewed in their totality. Yet broken into their component parts, it becomes much simpler. As Southern Baptists, as Christians, our task is to ‘win them one by one.’

“Ask men to witness,” he urged. “At the time a person joins the church, he should understand that part of his responsibility is to witness, and opportunities should be provided for Christian witness…Without the primacy of missions and witnessing, the church is without true purpose,” Cooper said, “the pulpit is without power and the pew is without potency.”

Eric Reed found Owen Cooper’s 1964 convention sermon while researching the SBC for the Illinois Baptist series B-101. Cooper, from Yazoo City, Mississippi, was a member of the SBC Executive Committee at the time he delivered it.

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Blessed bikers

Meredith Flynn —  May 19, 2014
Rainy weather

The annual Blessing of the Bikes April 27 in Decatur went on despite stormy weather.

HEARTLAND | Meredith Flynn

It wasn’t a great weather day for the annual Blessing of the Bikes in Decatur, Ill. Gray clouds piled up in the sky on Sunday afternoon, April 27, and then came a downpour, just as hundreds of motorcyclists made their way to and from the Harley-Davidson store to be prayed over by volunteers in orange vests.

Every spring, riders gather in Decatur and at the Bald Knob Cross in southern Illinois to be blessed. Over the sounds of revving engines, pray-ers put their hands on the shoulders of each rider and ask God for a safe motorcycle season.

It’s a tradition IBSA’s Pat Pajak has kept for several years, including the most recent blessing. He hustled home from a preaching engagement that Sunday afternoon to change into his Harley shirt, blue jeans and leather vest. On the way to the blessing, he stopped to help a couple whose bike had hit a pothole and slid down an embankment.

“After patching up a cut on the wife’s chin and helping her husband wrestle the bike out of the mud and wet grass, I shared how the Lord had watched over them,” Pajak said. “Our discussion led to the Blessing of the Bikes, which they were headed to, and ultimately the Gospel.

“Standing on the side of Highway 51 in the rain, I had the privilege of leading both of them to Jesus Christ.”

Pajak was 30 minutes late by the time he got to the Harley-Davidson parking lot, but he – and his new brother and sister in Christ – had already been extraordinarily blessed.

F.A.I.T.H Riders is a ministry for motorcyclists who want to use their passion for biking to share the Gospel. For information about how to start a chapter in your church, contact Pajak at (217) 391-3129.

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SBC task force suggests five solutions for baptism decline

Meredith Flynn —  May 13, 2014
Sonja Conrad was baptized during a spring crusade at First Baptist Church, O'Fallon, Ill.

Sonja Conrad was baptized during a spring crusade at First Baptist Church, O’Fallon, Ill.

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

A task force appointed to study declining baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention released its report May 12, detailing five problems they believe have contributed to the recent downward trend. The task force, appointed last year by the North American Mission Board and comprised mostly of pastors, also suggested five solutions focused on prayer, evangelism and discipleship.

When it was published in June 2013, the Annual Church Profile (ACP) report showing the previous year’s facts and figures sounded several alarm bells: 25% of Southern Baptist churches reported zero baptisms. And 60% of churches baptized no one in the 12-17 age bracket.

“We have a spiritual problem,” the task force acknowledged in its report. “Many of our SBC pastors and churches are not effectively engaged in sharing the gospel and yet continue business as usual. We need a sense of brokenness and repentance over the spiritual climate of our churches and our nation.”

Churches also need to get back to celebrating baptisms, the group said. “Many of our churches have chosen to celebrate other things as a measure of their success rather than new believers following Christ in baptism. We have drifted into a loss of expectation.”

To address the decline, the task force suggested five focus areas for pastors that correlate to five problem areas (spiritual, leadership, discipleship, next generation, and celebration):

1. Pray for spiritual awakening.

2. Model personal evangelism and provide pathways. (NAMB has introduced a new evangelism tool called “3 Circles: Life Conversation Guide.)

3. Create a disciple-making culture.

4. Serve the next generation.

5. Celebrate evangelism and baptism.

“…We encourage our fellow SBC pastors to join us in owning this problem,” the task force said. “Together, we can seize this opportunity to lead our churches and be part of the solution.”

For more on the task force’s report, evangelism tools, and a new video challenge, go to www.namb.net/baptismtaskforce.

Boko Haram offer to release kidnapped girls may be ploy, Nigerian Southern Baptist says
Terrorist group Boko Haram released a video Monday offering to release about 100 of the Christian girls they’ve kidnapped, in exchange for the release of Boko Haram prisoners in Nigeria. But the offer could be a tactic to buy time to strategize, Adeniyi Ojutiku told Baptist Press. Ojutiku is a Southern Baptist and co-founder of Lift Up Now, a Christian-based grassroots organization addressing political, economic and social challenges in his homeland Nigeria.

“They have wiped out families. They have killed generations of people, even infants,” Ojutiku said of Boko Haram. “They have maimed people for life. They have killed hundreds and thousands of people. And then to conceive that you would negotiate with such very, very despicable … people who commit such heinous crimes, it is unthinkable to me.

“These people must be prosecuted,” he said. “There cannot be sustainable peace without justice.” Read the full story at BPNews.net.

Arkansas becomes first southern state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples
County clerks in Arkansas were thrown into a state of confusion by Judge Chris Piazza’s decision to overturn the state’s ban on same-sex marriage on Friday, May 8. By Monday, clerks in some counties were issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, while others had decided not to. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel filed paperwork to temporarily extend the ban Monday, the Associated Press reported, but clerks can continue to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples until the state’s Supreme Court processes documents from both sides on Tuesday.

Translators work to get Bible into dangerous territory
Ten million landmines may still be buried in Angola, left over from a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. But Wycliffe Associates, known for their efforts to translate the Bible into every language, is working to take God’s Word to the southern African nation, The Christian Post reports. “These people have been ravaged by brutality and poverty,” said Bruce Smith, president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “They live in daily danger of stumbling onto hidden land mines. But worst of all, many have never even heard a word of scripture in their own language.” Read more about Wycliffe’s Angola project at ChristianPost.com.

HGTV stops production on show starring Christian brothers
A reality show in the works about two house-flipping brothers was shelved after the group Right Wing Watch posted about David and Jason Benham’s beliefs about marriage, homosexuality and abortion. “Flip it Forward” would have followed the Benham brothers as they helped six families renovate homes, reports ChristianityToday.com. “We promised we would give Jesus glory whether in victory or defeat,” David Benham said after the show’s cancelation. “Sure seems like we’ve been defeated lately. But you know what? God is bigger than all of this.”

 

 

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O’Fallon church baptizes 103 in spring crusade

Meredith Flynn —  May 5, 2014
After being baptized in a horse trough, David Vittetoe celebrates as John Howard, minister to students, assists. The troughs gave the church three locations to baptize the 103 people who came forward.

After being baptized in a horse trough, David Vittetoe celebrates as John Howard, FBC O’Fallon minister to students, assists. The troughs gave the church three locations to baptize the 103 people who came forward.

 

HEARTLAND | Lisa Sergent

Over a single weekend, more people were baptized at First Baptist, O’Fallon, than in all of 2013. The church’s crusade March 29-30 resulted in 103 baptisms, 17 salvation decisions, and 15 rededications.

Tom Dawson, FBC’s minister of adult education who helped organize the crusade, described it as “a wonderful event.” He called Texas evangelist Ronnie Hill “electric. He brought God’s Word straight to peoples’ hearts.”

Dawson said the church did “quite a bit of preparation” in the month before the crusade. Prayer, training, and logistics were key. Groups spent time praying for Hill and for those who would come and make decisions. Church members were trained to be “encouragers,” or counselors, to talk with people as they came forward.

Carol Cluff, adult ministries specialist, said the encouragers were trained a few days in advance of the crusade. “We wanted to make sure every person who stepped forward had someone to come with them, to talk with them about what prompted them to come forward, and to make sure they fully understood the commitment they were making.”

She noted many of those who were baptized had come to understand they had been “baptized out of order. Several people realized they had been baptized as a baby or even as a child without knowing Christ and wanted to be baptized now as believers in Jesus. Others had accepted Christ at youth events some time ago, but not taken that step.”

Sarah Schultz rejoices with Skip Leininger, associate pastor of FBC O’Fallon, after being baptized at the church’s March 29-30 crusade.

Sarah Schultz rejoices with Skip Leininger, associate pastor of FBC O’Fallon, after being baptized at the church’s March 29-30 crusade.

Hill urged the church to be ready to baptize people in each session and not make them wait until a later date. In anticipation of a large number of baptisms, the church made sure to have plenty of T-shirts, shorts and towels on hand. Plus, they placed two horse troughs filled with water on either side of the platform giving them three locations, including the baptistery, to baptize people in a single service.

“We were ready to baptize people on the spot,” Dawson said.

First Baptist has made follow-up a priority, stressing the importance of continued discipleship. In a series of follow-up actions, encouragers are keeping in touch with those they counseled and are connecting them with small groups within the church. As part of the effort, Senior Pastor Doug Munton is leading a special sermon series covering the Good News and the importance of baptism along with why Christians should share their faith and be fishers of men.

Munton is pleased with the crusade’s outcome. “We had a great crusade,” he shared. “The Gospel was preached clearly and the response was great. Many people trusted Christ as Savior and that never gets old to me. And, it was such a privilege to see more than 100 people follow the Lord in believer’s baptism.”

Leininger prepares to baptize Sonja Conrad.

Leininger prepares to baptize Sonja Conrad.

Dawson said church members are excited. The momentum continued into Easter as the church had its largest Easter Sunday worship attendance – 2,569 people.

“The crusade was wonderful,” said Cluff. “It lit us on fire.”

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