I hope as you read this that the temperatures will be cool, the leaves will be on the ground and the mornings will be bright. The hot days of summer are behind us and for the next few weeks, we observe various holidays and special times with family members and friends. Of course, we know that gratitude should be perpetuated daily in the believer’s life.

STATESBORO, Ga. — At the 202nd annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention last week, Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, celebrated the work of Mission Georgia. Mission Georgia is the GBMB’s state mission offering, and it is the only offering designed and committed specifically to reaching the state with the gospel.

STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Baptists adopted last week a 2025 budget that calls for more than $62 million to be given through the Cooperative Program and other offerings. That money, a 2.5% increase over the current year, will fund gospel-sharing efforts around the world, and across the nation and the state.

PHILADELPHIA (BP) – The Bible protects against what the U.S. surgeon general has termed an “epidemic of loneliness” as harmful to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, the American Bible Society said in releasing its latest chapter of the 2024 State of the Bible.

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — The annual Lifeway Women’s Leadership Forum provides a space for women to be trained for leadership, as women are equipped to live out their faith in their leadership in ministry, the workplace, and their homes.

STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Baptists gathered on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 11 and 12, for the 202nd annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention at First Baptist Statesboro.

MOUNTAIN CITY, Tenn. — Looking for a walker or hospital bed or some other medical equipment and don’t know where to go? Roan Creek Baptist Church would be a good place to start.

GADSDEN, Ala. — News of Hurricane Helene’s devastation in the Carolinas began to spread when a group text message among seven Christian pilots that fly out of the Gadsden airport kickstarted a plan to send help to storm survivors. “Let’s see if we can fill up a DC-7 with supplies and get them to North Carolina,” wrote Tim Meeks, one of those local pilots.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Every Christian knows the importance of Christmas, but often, we miss the wonder and the weightiness at the heart of our celebration. “Recapturing the Glory of Christmas: A 25-Day Advent Devotional” from R. Albert Mohler Jr. helps readers worship Christ more faithfully throughout the season.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — An International Mission Board Sending Celebration is a time to support those who are going on the field to share the gospel with a lost world. Such an event allows participants the chance to commemorate those who mentored and discipled them.

ALPHARETTE, Ga. — A diverse group of more than 170 planters representing at least 14 different languages and 153 Sending Churches attended Send Network’s Orientation, a biannual event for newly endorsed church planters, held Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 11-13, at NAMB’s headquarters in Alpharetta.

When Jacob and Makenzie Goble settled in their seats at NAMB’s Send Luncheon during the Southern Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting this past June, they had no idea they were in for an unexpected surprise. “When they started talking about foster care and adoption in-depth, I thought, ‘This is so exciting!’” shares Jacob.

Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers recently wrapped up a five-week deployment to Georgia in response to the widespread damage from Hurricane Helene. During their deployment, the volunteers served 3,067 meals and completed 200 jobs.  

The joy of working together for the glory of God was on display as a houseboat constructed of nearly 700,000 craft sticks floated on Lay Lake near Birmingham, Alabama, on Nov. 7. The boat launch was the culmination of a year-long effort as the Woman's Missionary Union engaged Southern Baptist churches in making craft stick units as a way to learn about the Cooperative Program, a plan through which cooperating Southern Baptist churches give a percentage of their undesignated receipts in support of their respective state convention and Southern Baptist missions and ministries.

STATESBORO, Ga. — Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, encouraged messengers at the organization’s annual meeting, telling them on Tuesday that they are “leading the way” in the state. Hammond outlined several ways in which Georgia Baptists are out in front, serving pastors, supporting churches, and reaching the state with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Baptist messengers at the annual meeting overwhelmingly approved updates to the convention’s 200-year-old governing documents on Tuesday. The amendments to the bylaws were provisionally approved at last year’s meeting.

STATESBORO, Ga. — Messengers to the annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention elected new officers Tuesday to lead them in the coming year. Steve Browning, lead pastor of First Baptist Church Alpharetta, was elected as president.

STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Baptists expressed their support for passage of a religious freedom restoration act in the state, as well as affirming the right to life of every human being.

Apparently, our dog Dixie is afraid of the vacuum cleaner. I ran it before church last Sunday morning. Because she was scared, she had a conniption, barking loudly and lunging at it as it moved. Since she rarely barks, the sudden outburst was unexpected. I kept saying, “It’s OK. It’s OK,” but she refused to believe me.

WACO, Texas — Messengers to Texas Baptists’ annual meeting soundly defeated a motion affirming the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, the Southern Baptist Convention statement of faith that limits the role of pastor to men.

STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Baptists gathered Monday for the start of the 202nd Annual Meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention at First Baptist Statesboro.

I watch the local news every evening on television. Following the broadcast, the game show “Family Feud” comes on. It is a mindless routine and mildly entertaining to try to guess the answers. One funny thing about watching from a recliner is that no matter how loudly I express my responses, the contestants never seem to hear me or comply.

Acts 26 exemplifies for modern believers how to share the gospel even in difficult circumstances. This chapter includes one of three accounts of Paul’s testimony within the Book of Acts.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — It started out as an average Sunday evening at Tri-County Baptist Church on Sunday, Nov. 3. Seventeen preschool and elementary-aged kids in the church’s “Sunday Night BLAST” program were busy in their classes. But then everything changed quickly.

STATESBORO, Ga. — W. Thomas Hammond, Jr., executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, and Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, announced a new partnership, Send Network Georgia, on Sunday night with the aim of planting more churches in Georgia.