HOUSTON, Texas — A settlement has been reached in a sexual abuse lawsuit against 93-year-old Paul Pressler, a retired Texas judge who was a key figure in the Southern Baptist Convention’s conservative resurgence that began in the late 1970s. In the lawsuit, Pressler’s former assistant Gareld Duane Rollins Jr., had accused Pressler of molesting him. Pressler has denied the accusation.

After all these years, why have you started that Bible reading plan again? You know how many times you’ve read Genesis 1–20 only to quit soon after. One year you even got to Leviticus. For some, the most practical advice is just to start in Joshua. Why not? You’ve never made it to Joshua before!

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Lifeway Christian Resources had one of its best years ever in 2023, highlighted by a third consecutive year of revenue growth, strong participation in camps and events and the launch of new resources designed to serve churches as they take the gospel further into the world.

RICHMOND, Va. — Southern Baptist missionaries have braved some dire circumstances over the past year to share the gospel in the tiniest of African villages to the largest of Asian cities and nearly every place in between.  In a year-end report, the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board thanked churches for their financial support that keeps missionaries on the field.

PEMBROKE, Ga. — First Baptist Church of Pembroke is a midsized congregation in a small town, but, thanks to a massive Hyundai automotive plant under construction, it could quickly become a large church in a bustling industrial suburb. Pastor Tommy Smith and his congregation are preparing for a population explosion. Pembroke is poised to grow by thousands almost overnight. Local governments have already begun expanding infrastructure to accommodate additional residents. School districts are planning building expansions. And, if churches are to minister effectively to the newcomers, they need to be prepared as well.

After the events that brought sin into God’s creation, sin spread faster than any health pandemic. In fact, every single person has been impacted by sin. Genesis 4 describes the devastating …

These days all it takes is the turn of a radio dial, selection of a television station or download of a podcast, and you will hear conflicting opinions on the occurrences of our society. Meaningless or inconsequential news stories become fodder for a diverse group of people to argue or act in a divisive manner.

It’s hard for me to let go of Christmas. The scriptural admonitions woven into the Nativity of Christ to not be afraid are still on my mind. When the angel visited Mary in Nazareth, the words gushed from Gabriel’s mouth: “Do not be afraid … you have found favor with God.”  Seeing an angel right in front of her would have been terrifying.  Pondering it from this side, I wonder at how important those words would come to be. 

I don’t know why but it always seems like in December I get the urge to declutter everything.  Maybe it’s because we put the Christmas decorations up and everything looks different.  I have to say my daughter is much like me.  I remember a time several years ago when she was cleaning out and decluttering the girls’ rooms.  She was getting rid of toys that they no longer played with, were broken, or had missing pieces.

BAXLEY, Ga. —Signs of spiritual renewal swept across Georgia in 2023, producing thousands of new believers in the Bible Belt state. Church leaders reported a widespread “spiritual hunger in communities large and small” that they said generated a huge spike in numbers of commitments to Christ. Evidence of that was on full display in Baxley in October when some 10,000 people attended a four-night evangelistic crusade in the local football stadium. Some 1,600 of them responded to the gospel.

Georgia Baptists were busy people over the past year. Here's a sampling of photos of them in action, as seen in The Christian Index during 2023.

SNELLVILLE, Ga. — Fayetteville pastor Josh Saefkow will serve a second one-year term as president of the Georgia Baptist Convention, the state’s largest religious group with some 1.4 million members. That’s one of a long series of significant stories reported in The Christian Index during 2023.

POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — Chip Dean, the new pastor at First Baptist Church of Powder Springs, is a winsome and energetic Christian gentleman who embodied every trait that the congregation was looking for. “Our search team was searching for someone who values who we are and who can lead us to reach our community for Christ,” said Bo Smith, who led the pastor search. “We soon realized that Pastor Dean has the heart of a shepherd, the gift of preaching, a passion to disciple believers, and the ability to lead. We were looking for a pastor, but ended up getting an entire family that we love and that will be an example to us all.”

NEWNAN, Ga. — Christians crowded into churches across Georgia on Christmas Eve where they heard words of hope in a world that’s rife with turmoil. Doug McCart, pastor of Unity Baptist Church in Newnan, preached to a congregation that has survived a series of tornadoes in recent years. “We can’t save ourselves,” said McCart, who sheltered with his wife inside the church last year while a tornado ripped it to pieces around him. “We need a savior.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College community celebrate God’s kindness for all He has done in the past year. From receiving support and awards to overseeing academic initiatives and institutional events, 2023 has been a year filled with God’s grace to the seminary and college.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.  — Thursday, Dec. 21,  marks a historic milestone in the history of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and in the presidency of R. Albert Mohler, Jr., as he has surpassed Duke K. McCall as the longest-tenured president in the institution’s history. In addition, he is the longest-serving leader of any SBC entity.

TULSA, Okla. — Harrison Moseby is a Tulsa firefighter, a husband and a father. He is also a dedicated follower of Christ and an active member of his church, Owasso, First. What makes the journey of this young man especially noteworthy, though, is that Harrison was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that he has been battling since 2022.

Many moons ago, my beloved was sharing a difficult situation with church consultant Dan Garland.  Things had been going splendidly…then they were not. Dan is a treasure.  He has been a Godsend to us.  Since our friendship began in 1999, he has shared from his heart stories of wonderful experiences from his days as a pastor and also gut-wrenching hard times that I am so thankful God brought him through.  Over the decades, he has shared insight, encouragement, and laughs with us.

Christmas is just a few days away. The younger grandchildren at my house are definitely excited. Presents were wrapped and put under the tree, and it is killing them to know what they are. I think I have heard, "Can we open just one present?” numerous times a day. 

Churches across Georgia have been celebrating the Christmas season with candlelight services, Nativity scenes, and theatrical productions, all geared toward heralding the birth of Christ. Here are photos churches have posted to Facebook in recent days.

Over 400 volunteers gathered in New York City and Jersey City, N.J., last weekend to distribute more than 9,600 coats as part of the largest-ever Coats for the City initiative since its inception in 2011.  The outreach event, which took place the first week of December, saw teams from 32 churches across North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama partner with the New York Metropolitan Baptist Association to distribute coats at more than 30 distribution centers throughout the region.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Japan is one of the most unreached countries in the world when it comes to the Gospel being spread there. With this fact in mind, 18 students and one faculty member from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary took part in a mission trip to Nagoya, Japan, to both share the Gospel and lead a biblical counseling conference in early December.

ATLANTA — Inside the Capitol rotunda, a towering Christmas tree shines with thousands of lights. Red poinsettias line the staircases. Long strands of garland hang from railings. And a children’s choir sings about the birth of Christ. That was the scene when Gov. Brian Kemp and his family kicked off the Christmas season in Georgia earlier this month with the lighting of the state Christmas tree, a clear signal that it’s still politically correct to celebrate Christmas as a Christian holy day in the Bible Belt.

“If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like for 150 plus Christ followers to get together and do something meaningful and impactful, you’re looking at it,” Tony Wolfe, SCBaptist Executive Director-Treasurer, said. This year, SCBaptists, partnering with several other faith communities in South Carolina, processed 16,500 Prisoner Packets that will be distributed by chaplains to each of the inmates across the state.

Christmas Eve came on Monday in 1951. My dad and I went to the church that morning to pack “goodie” bags for all the children who would be coming to church for the annual Christmas pageant produced by our church. Families would come to watch the rather pedestrian depiction of the Christmas story unfold in mid 20th century Western North Carolina fashion. The shepherds wore bathrobes. The wise men also wore bathrobes, but theirs were made of silky-looking robes. I often wondered if they had borrowed them from their wives.