WEST POINT, Ga. – Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers don’t receive pay for the work they do, unless they count the smiles, thank yous and hugs. “We get our necks hugged a lot,” said Ronnie Register, a retiree from First Baptist Church in Sparks, Ga. who, along with his wife, Linda, has responded to disasters across the country. “The people we help are so overwhelmingly appreciative.”

Her words convicted me to the bone marrow.  My eyes filled with tears and I covered my mouth to keep from sobbing out loud.  She hadn’t intended to make me cry.  Jen is one of everybody’s favorite people.  She is the church aunt or grandma all of us need.  She gives hugs and words of wisdom.  Plus, she is lots of fun.  “There’s something I wanted to tell you,” she began. 

Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force announced a strategic shift in their efforts to establish and maintain a Ministry Check website to track church leaders who have been credibly charged with sexual abuse.

MOUNT VERNON. Ga. — Brewton-Parker College recently honored Benjamin and Patricia Cochran by dedicating a dormitory to commemorate their support of the college's commitment to Christian education. Members of the Cochran family, the local community, and various college employees attended the dedication ceremony. The dorm has officially been named Ben & Pat Cochran Hall.

While regular church attendance has dropped slightly since 2019, church participation has remained “remarkably steady” throughout the pandemic, according to an analysis from Pew Research.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. – A wildly successful discipleship event that drew some 1,300 youth to New Hope Baptist Church in March has been showcased in The Christian Post, an online evangelical publication based in Washington. The Disciple Now gathering, held on New Hope’s north campus from March 24-26, involved students in grades seven through 12 and provided small group Bible studies led by college students and large group events led by nationally acclaimed speakers and worship bands, the publication reported.

College students across Georgia left campus and classes during their spring break. But while many went to beaches and parties, Baptist Campus Ministry students went on mission trips throughout the United States and the world. Students saw salvations, calls to ministry, and the impact that sharing the love of Christ can make in the lives of others as well as their own.

NASHVILLE — The Southern Baptist Convention’s 86-member Executive Committee will meet in special session on May 1 to consider a presidential candidate to replace Ronnie Floyd who resigned last year. The identity of the candidate will remain under wraps until after the meeting that’s set for noon at the Grand Hyatt DFW hotel in Dallas, Texas.

VILLA RICA, Ga. – Localized revivals that have been popping up across Georgia don’t appear to be slowing. More churches reported mass numbers of salvation decisions over the past week, including Villa Rica’s First Baptist Church where 53 people surrendered to Christ between Thursday and Saturday. “We’re definitely seeing a move of God in Georgia like we haven’t seen in a long, long time,” said Villa Rica Pastor Kevin Williams.

Lun’s journey from hiding in the jungle in a Southeast Asian country to working at the Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children is a journey of the Holy Spirit’s protection and guidance. Lun lost her father and brother to the civil war in her country. Her country’s recent history is a blood-spattered one. People groups have struggled and fought the ruling party for self-governance and independence for decades.  

EATONTON, Ga. – Lake Country Baptist Church sent a team of eight persons to Guatemala, March 21-28, to work with a Guatemalan church in Puerto Barrios which is located about eight hours northeast of Guatemala City.  Lake Country partnered with the Iglesia Bautista Siloe Church there.  An organization, E3 Volunteers, assists churches from the United States to partner with Central and South American churches and this organization assisted our church on this mission trip.  The Lake Country Baptist team consisted of retired health care workers and several children's ministry leaders from our church.

During Holy Week, Bible readers find inspiration and comfort throughout Scripture, but they spend most of their time reading verses in the Gospels. Data from YouVersion’s Bible app reveals which verses and books of the Bible are most popular among users in the week leading up to Easter.

WEST POINT, Ga. – A week after a tornado demolished an entire neighborhood around Bethel Baptist Church, Pastor Chris Hendricks stood among the ruins on Sunday and declared that “our God has delivered us.” Members of the congregation gathered beneath a tent on the Bethel parking lot for Sunday worship, a brilliant sun beaming down on the twisted lumber that used to be their church building.

PRESTON, Ga. – Residents in this southwestern Georgia farming community have a name for the sweet aroma that was rising Saturday from barbecue grills scattered across the grounds of the the Macedonia Baptist Church community center. They call it holy smoke – and for good reason.

Martha Eunice Gillespie Lowe, 94, peacefully left this world for her eternal home Thursday March 30, 2023 at Givens Estates, Asheville, N.C. Martha was born, July 10, 1928 in Shawnee Oklahoma to the late Rev. Dr. J.T. and Janie Green Gillespie. She was the sixth of 12 children and the fifth of nine sisters

The specifics of Tim and Annie’s call to missions changed, but the calling itself never altered. God led the Tidenbergs to bring the gospel to the nations, and they obeyed. When they retired from their church planting role in East Africa, they moved to the U.S. to lead a church. Then, they felt led to move back overseas. Now, they spend their time in West Africa resourcing, equipping and supporting missionaries as member care consultants with the International Mission Board.

In 2011, when John D. Massey began serving as associate professor of missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he said it was a “great thrill” to serve the Lord by being a “part of the process of training those” who would be “sent out by the churches” to serve as missionaries through the International Mission Board the same way he and his wife, Vanessa, were a decade earlier.

As a homeschool mom, I’ve created something of a problem at my house.  I’ve raised ferocious readers.  C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Laura Ingalls, and many other classic authors line our shelves along with missionary stories recorded by Rosalie Hunt and Elisabeth Elliot. It won’t be long before procuring more shelving is added to my husband’s honey-do list.  What a good problem.

MACON, Ga. – Pastors have the most important jobs and perhaps the toughest as they work to share Jesus in a culture that is growing increasingly resistant to the gospel, the leader of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board said Thursday.

Fear is a Goliath we all face on a daily basis. Life is full of hard things.  Just today, you will face uncertain, unknown situations.  You have the choice of trusting God in scary circumstances. Being afraid is ok.  A while back, I heard when you are scared and your heart is racing, that means you are getting ready to do something very brave.  I like that.  Plus, it’s true.

CORDELE, Ga. – Retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Terry Ryan spent 20 years serving in the U.S. military. Now, he’s in the Lord’s army. Ryan, pastor of Penia Baptist Church outside Cordele, spent much of his military service as a flight technician aboard a Lockheed P-3 Orion plane, searching the oceans for enemy submarines.

My granddaughters love to dance.  They will ask Alexa to play music and they make up dances, again and again and again.  When their cousins come over they choreograph a dance and then always put on a performance for anyone who is available to watch. 

FORT WORTH, Texas — Before he began serving as director of Hispanic Programs and professor of missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Mark McClellan had a variety of occupations and ministry assignments, including as a trial lawyer, United States Army Infantry Captain, and missionary in Guatemala with the International Mission Board.

KANSAS CITY, Mo — Midwestern Seminary Trustees gathered this week to receive an array of seminary updates, celebrate the Lord’s faithfulness in worship and prayer, and approve several matters of key institutional business. During his President’s Report, Jason Allen reminded the trustees of the importance of faithfulness and sanctification in the ministry.

WEST POINT, Ga. – When Sherry Bennett heard hailstones pounding against her roof and walls early Sunday morning, she worried it would put dents in cars in her neighborhood. Turned out the hail was the least of her worries. An EF-3 tornado with winds up to 165 mph picked up her Jeep Cherokee and slammed into the side of her house. The twister also ripped the roof off her house, carried away her garage, and blew two neighboring homes away entirely.