News

Marriage debate far from over, Georgia Baptist leaders say
GBC launches pro-traditional marriage Web site this week
By Scott Barkley, Staff Writer, Additional reporting provided by Baptist Press
Published July 29, 2004

Even though the proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage was voted down by the U.S. Senate July 14, Ray Newman maintains there is still plenty to do to protect traditional marriage.

Ludowici Church finds helping hands
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published July 29, 2004

First Baptist Church of Ludowici burned to the ground on October 28, 2001. The devastation wrought by the fire was due to faulty electrical wiring. Since the worship center and the educational building were completely destroyed, the church has been meeting in the fellowship hall, the only building untouched by the fire.

Peach State & Big Apple in Partnership
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published July 29, 2004

Life in the United States has been significantly different since the infamous attacks of 9/11. New York City is dramatically different from what it was prior to that Tuesday morning when terrorists maliciously flew American airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Southern Baptists tussle over seminary's ties to denomination
By Bruce Nolan
Published July 29, 2004

New Orleans Seminary continues to be locked in a quiet but determined battle of wills with denominational leaders about how to tie the 3,700-student school to the Southern Baptist Convention.

Camp Pinnacle
By Joe Westbury, Managing Editor
Published July 29, 2004

It looked like North Georgia, the heat felt like North Georgia, and the thick, warm mud oozing between fingers of the young girls sure felt like North Georgia.

A trophy of God's grace
Georgia Baptist draws from experience to share principles of financial freedom
By J. Gerald Harris
Published July 29, 2004

Chrstianity is all about God changing lives. In Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth he wrote: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).

Kerry, Edwards comparable on abortion, same-sex 'marriage'
By Michael Foust
Published July 29, 2004

Presumed Democratic nominee John Kerry chose John Edwards as his running mate July 6 in hopes of balancing the ticket with a senator that some view as a southern moderate.

Georgia NewsBriefs

New associational missionaries arrive
Published July 29, 2004

Baptist News Summary

1,900-plus professions of faith recorded during Crossover Indiana
Published July 29, 2004

A year of planning and praying by Indiana Southern Baptists combined with volunteer support from across the country resulted in 1,932 professions of faith during Crossover Indiana, an evangelistic blitz accompanying the mid-June Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting held this year in Indianapolis.

GuideStone makes health screenings available to all Southern Baptists
Published July 29, 2004

GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention (formerly the Annuity Board) has joined with Life Line Screening (LLS) to make high-quality screenings conveniently available to Southern Baptists at an affordable rate.

Empowering Kingdom Growth emphasis in churches bolstered by DVD
Published July 29, 2004

Bringing a clear message from the heart of God is the goal of “A 40 Day Experience: EKG, The Heartbeat of God,” the newest DVD product in the 40 Day Experience resource line of LifeWay Christian Resources.

1,000 cars for missionaries tallied by Macedonian Call Foundation
Published July 29, 2004

For 25 years, the Macedonian Call Foundation has been providing donated automobiles to international missionary families on stateside assignment, recently reaching the 1,000 vehicle milestone in assisting with immediate transportation needs.

Southern Baptist ministers’ salaries jump more than six percent, study says
Published July 29, 2004

The average combined salary and housing allowance for full-time Southern Baptist pastors is $46,505, according to a national compensation study. That is a jump of 6.7 percent from a similar study conducted two years ago.

Lottie Moon artifact donated to seminary’s missions center
Published July 29, 2004

The Global Missions Center at New Orleans Seminary recently received a piece of mission history. A friend of the seminary donated a roof tile from a school started in China by Southern Baptist missions pioneer Lottie Moon.

Southern Baptist teens third in survey on weekly Bible reading
Published July 29, 2004

Two-thirds of Protestant teens in the United States say they read the Bible alone less than once a week or not at all, according to a recent survey by the National Study of Youth and Religion.

Religious NewsBriefs

Professors urge recitation of creed at Baptist World Alliance meeting
Published July 29, 2004

A group of Baptist professors wants the Baptist World Alliance to recite a creed describing the basics of the Christian faith at a centennial meeting in England next year.

Indian Muslims try to end “talaaq” divorce
Published July 29, 2004

Muslims in India have found themselves divided over ending a traditional Islamic practice that allows a man to divorce his wife by simply uttering the word “talaaq” three times.

Kerry outlines version of faith-based initiative
Published July 29, 2004

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry said he supports government funding of faith-based initiatives as long as they respect the separation of church and state and do not allow discrimination in hiring.

Bikinis, undergarments with images of Hindu deities cause waves of protests in India
Published July 29, 2004

India’s right-wing Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) unleashed protests in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat against lingerie emblazoned with Hindu deities.

People and Places

Anniversaries
Published July 29, 2004

Dedications
Published July 29, 2004

Ministerial Moves
Published July 29, 2004

Cooperative Program Stories

World Changers: an annual summer vocation
Participants already prepared for next summer
By Sherri Brown, Communications, GBC
Published July 29, 2004

Regina Hicks keeps two giant blue tote boxes ready at all times. One is filled with roofing tools; the other is filled with work clothes. This summer Hicks and her two teenage daughters loaded a borrowed truck with the plastic totes and headed for not one, but two World Changers projects.

Bible Study

Live Confidently
By Jerry Smith, Pastor, First Baptist McDonough
Published July 29, 2004

My wife and I celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago in a cabin nestled on the side of a mountain in North Carolina. For one of our “teambuilding” activities, we chose to go whitewater rafting. We had been rafting on several other occasions and on various types of rivers, but never without our two teenagers and pre-adolescent. We chose to go down a river we had paddled before, but this time we used a two-man raft and no guide.

Act Right
By Jerry Smith, Pastor, First Baptist McDonough
Published July 29, 2004

I had a stepmother who had some very definite guidelines about housekeeping. You had to take your shoes off at the back door or you would ruin the carpet. You could not eat in the den because you might get food on the furniture. Every morning, you had to make up your bed, wipe out the bathtub, and pull the shower curtain closed so mildew wouldn’t grow. As long as my brother, dad, and I followed these guidelines, we were always assured of my stepmother’s blessing.

Columns

Help your children achieve balance between work and play
By James Dobson
Published July 29, 2004

Let’s right an upside down world before it’s too late
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published July 29, 2004

Years ago Karl Meninger’s book, Whatever Became of Sin? gave written expression to a widespread suspicion that the concept of “sin” was steadily evaporating from everyday life. If the question posed by Meninger’s book was apropos when he wrote it in 1973, it is even more appropriate today.

The declension of America
By William F. Harrell, Pastor, Abilene Baptist Church, Martinez
Published July 29, 2004

MARTINEZ (BP) — In Webster’s Dictionary, the word “declension” is described as a falling off towards a worse state; a downward tendency; deterioration; decay. It perfectly depicts what is happening to the United States right before our eyes.

The Open Door
By J. Robert White, Executive Director GBC
Published July 29, 2004

In this day as debates rage on about what it means when we speak of marriage and family, I am thankful for the clarity of God’s Word which speaks of marriage by saying, "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh" (Ephesians 5:31). In a following verse the Bible says, "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).