CARMEL, Indiana —When Jared Barham brought students from his Indianapolis church to the first-ever Crossover Student Rally at Harvest Church in Carmel, Indiana, he had big hopes. The associate pastor of youth at Northside Baptist Church in Indianapolis hoped they’d hear the gospel from a different voice and learn about how to share it with their friends.

INDIANAPOLIS – About 51 percent of Hoosiers, inhabitants of Indiana, say they seldom or never attend church or religious services, according to a recent report by Axios Indianapolis. One local pastor is praying that Crossover will help to turn those numbers around.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Ohio nonprofit that provides off-site Bible instruction to public school students during classroom hours says it will triple its programs in Indiana this fall after new legislation forced school districts to comply.

CLEVELAND, Ga.  — The Truett McConnell University basketball program will be hosting the Truett McConnell Basketball Camp at the White County Middle School for boys on June 24-27, and girls on July 8-11. 

NEW ORLEANS — With this week marking the fifth anniversary of his election as president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, Jamie Dew said serving in the role has been “the honor of a lifetime.” 

WAKE FOREST, N.C. — Southeastern Seminary is excited to announce Benjamin Quinn as the new director of the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture, effective June 1.

Countdown to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris is on!  The city is abuzz with shops and merchants in full prep mode for an influx of 15 million visitors — athletes, spectators, media professionals and volunteers — strolling along the Seine, clamoring for sights of Paris’ legendary art and architecture, and sampling local fare (pain au chocolat, anyone?).  

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — The Deaf Ministry at First Baptist Church Peachtree City hosted a special event on Sunday, June 2, to share the love of Jesus with Deaf and hard of hearing people. Visitors came from Dorsett Shoals Baptist Church in Douglasville and from East Thomaston Baptist Church in Thomaston.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (BP) – When Joseph Josselyn of “Jesus: A Deaf Missions Film” lost his hearing as a toddler, life became “a little painful at times” as he grew, accepted Jesus and worshipped God in the hearing world.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. — Due to recent policy changes on X (formerly Twitter) allowing explicit content, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, The College at Southeastern, and President Danny Akin will be deactivating their accounts on X on Friday, June 7.

I was preaching a local church harvest event. The pastor and I went to play golf one morning. On our drive to the golf course, we suddenly came to a stop in stalled traffic.

Some of Jesus’ last words were “Go, go, and be.”

Our granddaughter, Mattie, is playing travel softball this summer. She has played rec league for the past couple of years and decided this year to make the move to travel ball. On her team the girls …

NASHVILLE (BP) – On Tuesday (June 4) Southern Baptists’ Abuse Reform and Implementation Task Force released its final report and recommendations ahead of the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. The report highlights the release of a new curriculum designed to help local churches of all sizes “establish or evaluate their abuse prevention and response plan.”

CLEVELAND, Ga. — The Truett McConnell University softball program will be hosting the TMU Softball Kids Camp. The prospect camp will include instruction, skills development and games to be played.

Get ready to engage all your senses at the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis, June 9-12. The International Mission Board and Woman’s Missionary Union invite convention attendees to see, smell, touch and hear their way through the life of Lottie Moon, a Baptist missionary to China who served from 1873-1912. 

BRENTWOOD, Tenn — God is beyond our complete understanding, yet we can know Him and have a personal relationship with Him. He keeps the world turning yet is never too busy for us. He created massive galaxies, yet still gave even the tiniest creature incredible detail. How can all these things be true?

ATLANTA, Ga.  — Nonprofit health care clinics in Atlanta are experiencing the weight of demand triggered in part by the late 2022 closure of Atlanta Medical Center. Several clinics inside the city limits are using Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation grants to provide hands-on health care to those in need.

TEMPLE, Texas — The sky grew dark with threatening clouds shortly before 6 p.m. on May 22, but the eight people gathered for the midweek service at Dyess Grove Baptist Church, southeast of Temple, decided to go ahead as planned. “All of a sudden those warnings on our phones went off” at about 6:20, said Pastor Steve Goode.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Southern Baptists have invested significant resources in their capacity to respond with physical help and spiritual hope in the aftermath of natural disasters and other crises. Whether the fallout impacts hundreds of homes or a few dozen, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers quickly engage those dealing with often catastrophic loss.

“That’s the first time anybody allowed me to ask a question,” Fredrik remarked, surprised. Asa and Vanessa Watson’s transparency and willingness to answer tough questions about God and faith led to a deepening friendship with this German man.  

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Lifeway Christian Resources has teamed up with filmmakers Alex and Stephen Kendrick to provide a suite of new resources to accompany their latest project, “The Forge,” which is scheduled to hit theaters August 23.

Although we are still technically in the spring season, I was reminded recently that the first day of June is the beginning of hurricane season. While hurricanes are most prevalent in August and September, the conditions become more favorable in these warmer months. Depending on someone’s age, names such as Camille, Katrina and Hugo can cause many memories and emotions.

In last week’s lesson, we focused on the commission that the risen Jesus gave to His followers. In this lesson, we learn that Jesus not only commissions believers, but He empowers and equips believers for the task of serving in the Kingdom of Jesus.

BARNESVILLE, Ga. — Greg Burrell retired Sunday, June 2, after serving for 40 years as music minister then worship minister at First Baptist Church of Barnesville. He will be honored at services Sunday for his years of dedication to the church and members of his choirs from over the years will perform in his honor.