A devastating cyclone in South Asia in December opened a door for a Southern Baptist Convention Send Relief team to minister to survivors both physically and spiritually. In the wake of the cyclone, Send Relief workers worked tirelessly to address  immediate needs.

KANSAS CITY, Mo—In the Spring Convocation service at Midwestern Seminary on Tuesday, President Jason Allen announced the installation of two faculty members to endowed chairs and preached a sermon titled, “Too Busy Not to Pray.” Beginning the service, Allen reflected on the importance of Convocation, stating, “At the beginning of each semester, we come together to set ourselves apart and renew our commitment to the task of training men and women for the cause of Christ and for the Church.”

In Isaiah 43:19, the Lord said, “See, I am doing a new thing…”  But I don’t always love new things, new ways.  At times, when things change, I’m dragging my Crocs on the way.   These days I find myself praying often for the Lord to help me be flexible.  Not bendy, but easier to adapt.  I know not all change is bad.

In our kitchen, we have a round table with chairs for four people. The two youngest granddaughters, Liza and Lottie, always want to sit beside Wayne when they are eating, but there is usually a problem. It seems they both want to sit in the same chair. Now mind you both of the chairs on either side of Wayne would qualify as “sitting beside Buddy,” but they want the same specific chair. This becomes a problem, and usually a problem that involves tears.

When Timothy Hamilton texted his brothers a link to the World’s Toughest Row endurance race with the suggestion that they should participate together, not all his brothers were easily convinced. But three years later, on January 19, 2024, Hamilton, his brothers Trent and Thomas, and their nephew Ben Clark were the third team to cross the finish line after 37 days of rowing in a 30-foot-long boat across the Atlantic, raising thousands of dollars for Send Relief’s work among Afghan refugees.

ONTARIO, Calif. — Gateway Seminary President Jeff Iorg called back to his first convocation message, delivered in August 2004, by encouraging students to maintain a passion for ministry during the school’s opening chapel services this spring semester. He began his 40th convocation sermon Monday with a line from the introduction of his original message.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Explaining the history of confessional statements and how the core value of “confessionally guided” shapes the classroom and community of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, president David S. Dockery encouraged students, faculty, and staff to understand the “hermeneutical lens” of the institution’s fourth core value during Wednesday's convocation service to begin the academic semester.

Mildred Skipper Heyser, 95 years old, passed away into heaven peacefully Sunday, January 21st in her Birmingham home. She took her last breath while in the arms of her daughter.

SUWANEE, Ga. — Georgia Baptist churches gave nearly $36 million last year to support state, national and international missions through the Cooperative Program, a Southern Baptist initiative that’s been described as the greatest evangelistic initiative of the modern church age. David Melber, chief operating officer for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said financial contributions from the state’s 3,400 churches exceeded budget projections by some $2.5 million in 2023.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A search team’s choice to lead the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee staff has pulled his name from consideration. Neal Hughes, director of missions in Alabama's Montgomery Baptist Association and chairman of the search team, made that announcement in a statement released Tuesday.

Some of you may remember the figure Buford Pusser, the legendary sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee, from more than 50 years ago. His story has been portrayed in movies, books and songs. He was known for his towering demeanor and intimidating presence in the face of those who dared to break the law.

The long genealogical record of Noah’s family highlights the division and spread of humanity according to languages, lands and nations, though not necessarily in chronological order. Genesis 11 describes different human languages developing from human pride.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — With far fewer churches gathering in person, Southern Baptist congregations didn’t do much baptizing during the COVID-19 pandemic, but, when restrictions eased in 2021 and 2022, the number of baptisms rose 46 percent. That’s based on a Lifeway Christian Resources review of statistics submitted by churches through what’s known as the Annual Church Profile, a yearly census of Southern Baptist churches.

SUWANEE, Ga. — Churches are seen as playing an important role in helping people deal with the epidemic of loneliness that is sweeping through modern America but not as key players on other pressing issues. That’s according to a researchers at the Barna Group, an organization that monitors cultural and religious trends.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Clint Pressley, senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention during this summer’s SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis. In a news release emailed to the Biblical Recorder on Sunday, Jan. 21, Chris Justice, senior pastor of Lee Park Baptist Church in Monroe, N.C., said he plans to make the nomination when Southern Baptists gather for the annual meeting June 11-12 at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis.

The Fix Chapel doesn’t look like a typical congregation. For one thing, the church meets on Saturday nights. It’s a time of week that proves to be especially challenging for many of the recovering addicts in the congregation.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. — Southeastern Seminary and The College at Southeastern welcomed students back on campus today for spring convocation and the first day of classes. During his convocation message, President Danny Akin charged students, staff, and faculty to pursue a lifestyle of Christ-like humility as they make disciples of Jesus.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of pro-life advocates rallied under falling snow on Friday at the annual March for Life, as speakers urged the impassioned crowd to capitalize on the movement's major victory in the Supreme Court and keep fighting until abortion is eliminated. They packed the National Mall carrying signs with messages such as “Life is precious" and “I am the pro-life generation.” After listening to speeches, the crowd, braving frigid temperatures, marched past the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court. One group was beating a drum and chanting: “Everyone you know was once an embryo."

Rev. Hinton Harmon Harris, Jr., passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of January 15, 2024, and awoke in heaven. Hinton H. Harris, Jr., was born on February 8, 1937, in Powhatan, Va., to the late Hinton H. Harris, Sr., and Alice Harris. After graduating from Fairfax County High School in Virginia, Hinton took a train to Carson-Newnan College in Jefferson City, Tenn., where he met his bride, Barbara Jean Ellison.

Cars and buses buzzed past a group of people walking the Turkish streets. The group enjoyed modern plumbing, and with the flip of a switch, lights would come on in most buildings. Still the ruins that stood before them, with their dirt paths and ornate columns, reminded them of where they were.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Georgia pastor Tim Oliver has authored a new devotional book, Chapter a Day, that’s now available on Amazon and Kindle. Since 2017, Oliver, pastor at Lakeside Baptist Church in Milledgeville, has been writing daily devotionals, going through the books of the Bible one chapter at a time. In this volume, Oliver walks readers through the life of Christ and the history of the early church through devotionals based on the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as well as the Book of Acts.

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Columbus Roberts’ life was a rags to riches story of a struggling sharecropper who overcame long odds to become a wealthy businessman and one of the Georgia Baptist Convention’s most influential laymen. Born in 1870, Roberts was the oldest of 11 children born to a hardscrabble family shortly after the Civil War. He dropped out of school when he was 10 to labor in the cottonfields. From this humble start, with only a fourth-grade education, Roberts would amass a great fortune, be elected Georgia’s agriculture commissioner, make a strong bid for governor, and later serve as president of the Georgia Baptist Convention.

LIBURN, Ga. — Pastor Samuel Aleman, an architect who inspired a long line of other Spanish-speaking professionals to become ministers, has retired after more than three decades leading Atlanta’s oldest and largest Hispanic Southern Baptist congregation. “He opened the door to many Hispanics to say, ‘I have a career, and I can serve the Lord,’” said Javier Chavez, a Gainesville pastor and university professor.

The girls sat around the wall.  Some on mats, some in plastic chairs.  Their breakfast trays came so they ate while we studied.  Last Sunday at 7 a.m. sharp, we had the privilege of meeting the girls at the county jail for Bible study. The morning’s lesson was from Luke 2:41-52.  It’s one of my faves.  I used to call it, “Jesus was Lost.”  I can most assuredly tell you Jesus was NEVER, EVER lost. 

At the end of last year, our church invited people to join a 21-day prayer and fast beginning January 1st  and ending January 21st.  This was open to anyone who wanted to participate.  You would choose something to fast from and then on Monday through Friday there would be a church service at 6 a.m. to attend, on Saturday the service would be at 8 a.m. and of course on Sunday you would just attend one of the church services.