April 23, 2024
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‘God truly showed up’ at Macedonia Baptist Church Spring revival

Macedonia Baptist Church pastor Wade Lott embraces a newly baptized believer. (Photo/Macedonia Baptist Church)
HIAWASSEE, Ga. — Macedonia Baptist Church in Hiawassee wrapped up a fruitful week-long Spring revival last week, seeing seven people profess faith in Christ and 14 come forward to be baptized since Easter Sunday.
Trending stories
More than 200 newly-endorsed church planters pose at the Send Network Orientation. (Photo/NAMB)
Send Network hosts orientation for 200+ new church planters
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — More than 200 church planters represented 189 sending churches at Send Network’s most recent orientation for newly endorsed church planters last week. Five different languages were spoken among the planters, who hailed from 24 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.
The Sons of Jubal perform at First Baptist Church of Dallas, Ga., on Aug. 24, 2023. Inset: Historical photo of the sons of Jubal. (Main photo: Index/Henry Durand, File; Inset: Photo courtesy Ken Drane)
Sons of Jubal celebrate 70 years of making joyful noise to the Lord
For the past 70 years, the members of the Sons of Jubal chorus have been raising their voices in song to worship and glorify the Lord.  From the group's inception, they have used music to declare the truth of the gospel across Georgia, the United States, and the world.
Dan Spencer, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Sevierville, preaches at the church. (Photo/FBC Sevierville livestream)
Tennessee pastor Dan Spencer to be nominated for SBC president
SEYMOUR, Tenn. — Dan Spencer, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Sevierville, has become the sixth nominee for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention at the 2024 SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis.
Trustees elected Adam Groza as the eighth president of Gateway Seminary. From left: J. Robert White, Adam Groza, Jeff Iorg, Phil Kell. (Photo/Gateway Seminary)
Gateway Seminary trustees elect Adam Groza as president
ONTARIO, Calif. – In a unanimous vote on Monday, April 15, Gateway trustees elected Adam Groza as Gateway Seminary’s eighth president during their spring 2024 meeting.
Charlie Cooper preaches recently at Middle Ground Baptist Church. (Index/J. Gerald Harris)
Middle Ground pastor Charlie Cooper proves that ‘it’s hard to keep a good man down’
SYLVANIA, Ga. — Despite his planned retirement, pastor Charlie Cooper knew in his heart that he wanted to still have opportunities to preach. The night before his last Sunday preaching at First Baptist Sylvania in February 2021, Cooper prayed that the Lord would still be able to use him.
Baptist Life

2024 Holy Smoke barbeque competition raises over $17,000 for children's homes

One of the teams competing at the 20th annual Holy Smoke barbeque competition. (Photo/Macedonia Baptist Church)
PRESTON, Ga. — Springtime in Preston means that it’s once again time for the Holy Smoke Christian Grilling Competition, sponsored by Macedonia Baptist Church. Other churches in the area also joined to support the barbeque competition, which raises funds for the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home in Meansville and the Methodist Girl’s Home in Americus.

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Shirley Brown has recently celebrated her 50th anniversary singing in First Baptist Cumming's choir. (Photo/FBC Cumming)
CUMMING, Ga. — When Shirley Brown was a little girl growing up in small-town Georgia, her mama only allowed her to spend social time at the church. With a song in her heart and a thirst for fellowship, Shirley joined the choir.
Bible study illustration. (Index/Henry Durand)
Parents are met with a variety of challenges no matter the age or developmental stage of their child. First-time young parents may worry about feeding options and sleep schedules or grow anxious when their newborn shows signs of sickness or fever.
Bible study illustration. (Index/Henry Durand)
In our culture, we do not value dreamers. I tend to be a daydreamer. I have had people say to me, “Mark to Earth,” as I dreamed about the coming months. In the Bible, God uses dreams at least a dozen times to reveal His nature or plan.
More than 300 missionary sending partners from 76 countries gathered in Asia for the first Global Senders Forum. (Photo/IMB)
The melody was the same, but the voices united in worship sang in numerous languages. “Then sings my soul,” sang a group in Arabic. Deaf believers lifted hands to sign “My Savior, God to thee, how great Thou art.” The diverse group of worshipers praised in styles unique to their culture.
Georgia
A hiring sign is seen at a restaurant in Cartersville, Ga., March 21, 2023. (Index/Henry Durand, File)

Georgia adds jobs in March while jobless rate stays flat

ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.1% last month even as the state added 16,200 jobs, the Georgia Department of Labor reported Thursday. The number of jobs reached more than 4.9 million in March, an all-time high.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp enters to address the House of Representatives, March 28, 2024, at the state Capitol in Atlanta. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)

Gov. Kemp signs income tax cuts as property tax measure heads to November ballot

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgians will owe less in income taxes this year and will get a chance in November to vote to cap increases in how homes are valued for property taxes. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday signed measures cutting income taxes by a projected $700 million on residents and businesses. The income tax cuts are retroactive to Jan. 1.
Dickey Betts, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, exits the funeral of Gregg Allman, June 3, 2017, in Macon, Ga. (Jason Vorhees/The Macon Telegraph via AP, File)

Obituary: Allman Brothers Band co-founder and legendary guitarist Dickey Betts dies at 80

Guitar legend Dickey Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” has died. He was 80.
A worker places a section of metal barricade along a main road on Tybee Island, Ga., Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

Tybee Island aims to better control big crowds after spring bash brought chaos in 2023

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Thousands of college students expected this weekend for an annual spring bash at Georgia's largest public beach will be greeted by dozens of extra police officers and barricades closing off neighborhood streets. While the beach will remain open, officials are blocking access to nearby parking.

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Nation
New York City police in riot gear stand guard outside the Columbia University campus after clearing the campus of protesters, April 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)

Pro-Palestinian protests sweep US college campuses following mass arrests at Columbia

NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia canceled in-person classes, dozens of protesters were arrested at New York University and Yale, and the gates to Harvard Yard were closed to the public on Monday as some of the most prestigious U.S. universities sought to defuse campus tensions over Israel's war with Hamas.

A woman gathers possessions to take before a homeless encampment was cleaned up in San Francisco, Aug. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

With homelessness on the rise, the Supreme Court will weigh bans on sleeping outdoors

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will consider Monday whether banning homeless people from sleeping outside when shelter space is lacking amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. The case is considered the most significant to come before the high court in decades on homelessness, which is reaching record levels in the United States.
Mandisa accepts the award for pop/contemporary album of the year at the Dove Awards, Oct. 7, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Obituary: Mandisa, Grammy-winning singer and 'American Idol' alum, dies at 47

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mandisa, a contemporary Christian singer who appeared on “American Idol” and won a Grammy for her 2013 album ‘Overcomer’, has died. She was 47.
The Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

15 people injured when tram collides with guardrail at Universal Studios theme park near Los Angeles

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) — More than a dozen people suffered mostly minor injuries when a tram used for tours crashed into a railing at Universal Studios Hollywood near Los Angeles, authorities and the company said.

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World
Marc Baptiste is treated for a bullet wound at a Doctors Without Borders emergency room in the Cite Soleil neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, April 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

From the mission field: Haiti health system nears collapse as medicine dwindles, gangs attack hospitals and ports stay shut

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — On a recent morning at a hospital in the heart of gang territory in Haiti’s capital, a woman began convulsing before her body went limp as a doctor and two nurses raced to save her.

People look at fragments of the television tower which was destroyed in a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

A Russian strike on Kharkiv's TV tower is part of an intimidation campaign, Ukraine's Zelenskyy says

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian missile strike that smashed a television tower in Kharkiv was part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to intimidate Ukraine’s second-largest city, which in recent weeks has come under increasingly frequent attack.
A missile defense site near an international airport and air base is seen in Isfahan, Iran, Monday, April 22, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Satellite photos suggest Iran air defense radar struck in Isfahan during apparent Israeli attack

JERUSALEM (AP) — Satellite photos taken Monday suggest an apparent Israeli retaliatory strike targeting Iran's central city of Isfahan hit a radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery, contradicting repeated denials by officials in Tehran of any damage in the assault.
Cars burn after they were hit by rockets from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

Israeli military intelligence chief resigns over his role in failing to prevent Oct. 7 attack

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The head of Israeli military intelligence resigned on Monday over the failures surrounding Hamas' unprecedented Oct. 7 attack, the military said, becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the deadliest assault in Israel's history.

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Perspectives
David Chancey
Did you see the recent B. C. Sunday comic in which the character is working strenuously to climb the steep mountain? Each panel shows his progress. Then he finally reaches the summit, and asks, “Ever arrive at a place and forget why you’re there?”
J. Gerald Harris
In a recent breakfast meeting with Pastor Todd Wright of Midway Church in Villa Rica, our conversation turned to the importance of leaving a legacy for those who will come behind us. It was a meaningful discussion for many reasons, but I was reminded of the words of King Solomon in Proverbs 13:22: “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” (NKJV).
William F. Harrell
Recently, my wife, Carolyn and I were eating a sandwich for lunch in one of our favorite restaurants. We were quietly talking about a lot of things when suddenly my wife pointed out a little bug which was sitting on the window ledge.
Benjamin Hawkins
More than 2 million people flocked to northern Italy in 2015 to take a rare glimpse at the Shroud of Turin, purportedly the burial cloth in which the crucified Christ was wrapped and which now bears His image. Around the same time, CNN featured the shroud in the first of several documentaries attempting to uncover the “historical Jesus” by examining such relics.
Mike Griffin
We are once again looking forward to our 2024 public affairs training events. Our theme for this year’s training will be the same as last year, "Living for Christ in the Public Square."

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Business
FILE - A Tesla charging station is seen, Sept. 28, 2023, in Woodstock, Ga. Tesla knocked roughly a third off the price of its “Full Self Driving” system, which can’t drive itself and so drivers must remain alert and be ready to intervene, to $8,000 from $12,000, according to the company website. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Tesla cuts the price of its "Full Self Driving" system by a third to $8,000

NEW YORK (AP) — Tesla knocked roughly a third off the price of its “Full Self Driving” system — which can’t drive itself and so drivers must remain alert and be ready to intervene — to $8,000 from $12,000, according to the company website.

FILE - The TikTok Inc. building is seen in Culver City, Calif., March 17, 2023. The House has passed legislation Saturday, April 20, 2024, to ban TikTok in the U.S. if its China-based owner doesn't sell its stake, sending it to the Senate as part of a larger package of bills that would send aid to Ukraine and Israel. House Republicans' decision to add the TikTok bill to the foreign aid package fast-tracked the legislation after it had stalled in the Senate. The aid bill is a priority for President Joe Biden that has broad congressional support. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

The House votes for possible TikTok ban in the US, but don't expect the app to go away anytime soon

The House passed legislation Saturday that would ban TikTok in the United States if the popular social media platform's China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year, but don't expect the app to go away anytime soon.
Drivers charge their Teslas in Santa Ana, Calif., on March 20, 2024. (Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP, File)

Tesla shares tumble below $150 per share, giving up all gains made over the past year

Tesla's stock tumbled below $150 per share, giving up all of the gains made over the past year as the electric vehicle maker reels from falling sales and steep discounts intended to lure more buyers.
A 2023 Model X sits outside a Tesla dealership on June 18, 2023, in Englewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Tesla wants shareholders to reinstate $56 billion pay package for Musk rejected by Delaware judge

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Tesla will ask shareholders to reinstate a $56 billion compensation package for CEO Elon Musk that was rejected by a judge in Delaware this year and to move the electric car maker’s corporate home from Delaware to Texas.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks Tuesday, April 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Fed chairman Powell says elevated inflation will likely delay rate cuts this year

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned Tuesday that persistently elevated inflation will likely delay any Fed interest rate cuts until later this year, opening the door to a period of higher-for-longer rates.

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Sports
Atlanta Braves' Travis d'Arnaud runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the fourth inning against the Miami Marlins on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Travis d'Arnaud homers again and Bryce Elder shuts down Marlins in Braves' 3-0 win

ATLANTA (AP) — Travis d'Arnaud hit his fifth home run in four games and Bryce Elder pitched 6 2/3 spotless innings in his return from the minors as the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 3-0 on Monday night. David Fletcher capped a three-run fourth with an RBI single to help the Braves win for the seventh time in eight games.

Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan announces his retirement Monday, April 22, 2024, in Flowery Branch, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Matt Ryan officially announces his retirement

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — On the very first pass of his very first NFL minicamp, Matt Ryan delivered a wobbly throw that left his new Atlanta Falcons teammates shaking their heads. They couldn't help but wonder if the team made a huge mistake drafting this skinny kid out of Boston College with the No. 3 overall pick in 2008.
Texas Rangers' Andrew Knizner follows through on a three-run home run in the fourth inning against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Rangers hit 3 homers, overcome early deficit to stop Braves' 6-game win streak with 6-4 victory

ATLANTA (AP) — Andrew Knizner hit a three-run homer, Adolis García added a two-run shot and the Texas Rangers avoided a three-game sweep with a 6-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night.
23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan celebrates a win by his driver Tyler Reddick after a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Talladega. Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

MJ for the win: Reddick pulls off a Talladega buzzer-beater for Michael Jordan

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — So much for Michael Jordan being a jinx at the race track. The Basketball Hall of Famer celebrated as if he was still on the court after Tyler Reddick stole a NASCAR Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway, speeding across the line after front-runner Michael McDowell — swerving back and forth in a desperate bid to hold the lead — crashed with the finish line in sight.

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