News

Georgia Baptists expecting a WAVE of record baptisms
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published June 9, 2005

Anticipation! Faith! Hope! These are the words that described the spirit and emotions of Atlantans, Georgians, and Americans as they awaited the announcement of International Olympic Chairman Juan Antonia Samaranch regarding the host city for the 1996 Olympic Games.

Planting for the future
Churches starting churches to reach others
By Scott Barkley, Staff Writer
Published June 9, 2005

In the ten-and-a-half years Clarence Steiner has been based in McDonough, he estimates the Henry Baptist Association has averaged around one church start annually. Most of those have come in recent years, however, to keep up with the area's explosive growth.

Tennessee pastor to be nominated for SBC 1st vice president
Published June 9, 2005

(BP) - Knoxville pastor and past Tennessee Baptist Convention President Mike Boyd will be nominated as first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the SBC's June 21-22 annual meeting in Nashville.

Roy Fish nominated for SBC 2nd VP
Published June 9, 2005

(BP) - Evangelism professor Roy Fish will be nominated for Southern Baptist Convention second vice president during the SBC's annual meeting June 21-22 in Nashville, Tenn.

Crossover rally speaker hopes people become 'infected with evangelism bug'
Published June 9, 2005

(BP) - Bible study author and speaker Jennifer Rothschild says she hopes the Crossover evangelism event preceding the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Nashville in June will cause people to discover a renewed passion for sharing the Gospel.

Tenn. leaders prayerwalk Nashville for SBC meeting, Crossover outreach
Published June 9, 2005

(BP) - About 40 members of the Tennessee Baptist Convention's executive board and TBC staff prayerwalked downtown Nashville, Tenn., in preparation for the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting and the pre-SBC evangelistic Crossover initiatives.

Messengers may tour LifeWay/SBC buildings
Published June 9, 2005

(BP) - Southern Baptist messengers visiting Nashville for the annual meeting in June will have the opportunity to tour the LifeWay Christian Resources buildings and the Southern Baptist Convention building, which is home to the Executive Committee, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Southern Baptist Foundation and Seminary Extension.

Festival to reach families of children with special needs
Published June 9, 2005

(BP) - The Stone Soup Festival promises to reach out to the community in a unique way by ministering to families of children with special needs.

Russian pastor Andrew Ryzhkov targets 55,000 Russian immigrants
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published June 9, 2005

Andrew Ryzhkov, an articulate, personable and enthusiastic pastor from Belarus (part of the former Soviet Union), has planted a church in the metro Atlanta area that is effectively reaching Russian Jews for Christ. The church, started in August 2003, is Calvary Russian Baptist Mission, which meets in Atlanta's North Peachtree Baptist Church.

Two Georgians receive Midwestern Seminary degrees
Published June 9, 2005

Two Georgians were among those receiving degrees at Midwestern Seminary's 45th commencement exercises May 21.

WAVE Revival Report
Published June 9, 2005

Former Georgia Baptist writing on BIG thoughts
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published June 9, 2005

Joey Allen has a missionary's heart and longs to see people come to know Christ in a personal saving relationship. Though a young adult, he has traveled abroad extensively to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and was awarded the Cliff Chandler Graphic Design Scholarship for his creative and artistic abilities. He is currently a student at Dallas Theological Seminary and a member of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas.

SBC Convention Preview
Published June 9, 2005

Georgia NewsBriefs

Historical Commission to honor Dayton, author of first Southern Baptist novel
Published June 9, 2005

On June 12 at 3 p.m. the Georgia Baptist Historical Commission along with the churches of Houston Lake Baptist Church in Perry and First Baptist Perry will commemorate the life of Amos Cooper Dayton (1813-1865) by placing a marker on his grave at Evergreen Cemetery in Perry.

Baptist News Summary

Goal: 50,000 Hispanics become Southern Baptists within five years
Published June 9, 2005

(RNS) A Southern Baptist task force has urged leaders of the nation's largest Protestant denomination to take "unprecedented" measures to evangelize the growing number of Hispanics in the country.

NAMB commissions 55 to serve in U.S. and Canada
Published June 9, 2005

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (BP) - Fifty-five missionaries were commissioned as church planters, mission strategists and campus ministers in the United States and Canada at the May 15 North American Mission Board's commissioning service held at First Baptist Church here.

116 new missionaries sent by IMB
Published June 9, 2005

MIDLAND, Texas (BP) - Trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board appointed 116 missionaries - the second-largest group of new missionaries in board history - during their May 19-21 meeting in Midland, Texas.

Draper blog moves to LifeWay.com
Published June 9, 2005

NASVHILLE, Tenn. (BP) - On June 1, James T. Draper, Jr., president of LifeWay, launched a new weblog on LifeWay's younger leaders webpage (www.lifeway.com/youngerleaders). Once there, click on "weblog." Draper cited the response to his original blog, posted at www.Crosswalk.com, as the reason for the change.

Former Georgia pastor among leaders profiled in Southwestern News
Published June 9, 2005

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) - Insights into the leadership team of Southwestern Seminary are featured in the latest issue of Southwestern News magazine.

LifeWay cancels 'Fast 50' seminars for SBC meeting
Published June 9, 2005

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) - LifeWay Christian Resources has canceled the "Fast 50" seminars scheduled for June 23-24 following the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

Names in the News
Published June 9, 2005

Beginning in the fall, Eugene Merrill will join Southern Seminary's faculty to serve as distinguished professor of Old Testament interpretation. Meanwhile, he will continue serving as distinguished professor of Old Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Religious NewsBriefs

French Catholics defy government call to work on Pentecost Monday
Published June 9, 2005

PARIS (RNS) A large chunk of the French population ignored a government order to work May 16, normally a state holiday called Whit Monday that honors the Christian feast of Pentecost.

Carolina hog farmer granted license to slaughter halal lambs, goats
Published June 9, 2005

(RNS) A North Carolina hog farmer who slaughtered lambs and goats for local Muslims has been granted a license to build a $200,000 slaughterhouse that will follow the dictates of Muslim law.

Court allows ill teen to refuse blood transfusion on religious grounds
Published June 9, 2005

VANCOUVER (RNS) A court here has allowed a teenage Jehovah's Witness to seek cancer treatment at a New York hospital that offers a "blood avoidance" program.

Historic Torah taken by Nazis returned to chief rabbi six decades later
Published June 9, 2005

ROME (RNS) A precious 17th century Torah containing the body of wisdom and law of Jewish scripture has been returned to the chief rabbi of Rome more than six decades after it disappeared in a Nazi raid on Rome's Jewish ghetto.

People and Places

Dedications
Published June 9, 2005

Honors
Published June 9, 2005

Obituaries
Published June 9, 2005

Cooperative Program Stories

Top 100 Fastest Growing Sunday Schools
By Sherri Brown, Communications, GBC
Published June 9, 2005

There is no magic formula to growing a Sunday School, says a minister from one of the fastest growing Sunday Schools in Georgia.

Bible Study

Get Growing!
By Danny Cochran, Pastor, Holly Creek Baptist Church, Chatsworth
Published June 9, 2005

Is the Christian life a completed work, a continuing process, or a future hope? Actually, it is all three. The Christian experience of justification is a completed work and the Christian stands before God without guilt. It is a continuing process in the sense that God is working in the life of the believer, making him more like Christ (Phil. 1:6; Rom. 8:29). This process includes separating the believer from sin and for the purposes of God in his life.

The Best Is Yet To Be
By Danny Cochran, Pastor, Holly Creek Baptist Church, Chatsworth
Published June 9, 2005

This week's study is the last of three in which the different aspects of the Christian experience are discussed. The first study examined the theme of justification. That is the completed aspect of the Christian experience in which the Christian, having received full and free forgiveness, stands before God with no guilt. The second study examined that ongoing experience of Christianity known as sanctification, in which the Christian is growing in his relationship with Christ and likeness to Him.

Columns

American Psychiatric Association Supports Same Sex Marriage
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published June 9, 2005

God only had one Son without sin, but He never had a son without trials and tribulations. Human beings are creatures of emotion. God gave us the capacity to laugh, cry, fear, mourn, rejoice, worry, get angry, etc. These are the normal and natural experiences of life. However, these emotions or feelings may become overwhelming at times and so help is needed.

The challenges of cross-generational transition
By Ed Stetzer, Director of Research, NAMB
Published June 9, 2005

ALPHARETTA (BP) - Let's hope this will be the "Year of the Younger Leader" at the SBC annual meeting. As greats like Adrian Rogers, Jerry Vines, Jim Henry and others begin to transition their leadership, so too must the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Open Door
By J. Robert White, Executive Director, GBC
Published June 9, 2005

Alcoholism is the entire family's problem
By James Dobson
Published June 9, 2005