MADSONVILLE, Ky. (KT) – The cooperative effort of 45 churches in the Madisonville area to host a crusade preached by Georgia-based evangelist Rick Gage netted 172 professions of faith and 436 other decisions. “It was incredible,” said Kevin Maples, the senior pastor of Madisonville First Baptist who helped spearhead the effort.

ATLANTA – The work of Mission Georgia was showcased during the Atlanta Braves’ annual Faith and Family Day observed during their game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.

NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee voted Tuesday to establish a sexual abuse awareness day that will be known as Caring Well Sunday.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Members of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee voted Tuesday to propose a change in the timeline for submitting and publishing resolutions to be voted on by messengers at SBC annual meetings.

NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee has voted to "disfellowship" two churches, one in North Carolina and the other in New Jersey.

MARTINEZ, Ga. – Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief is seeing heightened interest from people wanting to join its ministry to victims of floods, tornadoes and other natural calamities. More than 100 people received training on Saturday at Abilene Baptist Church in Martinez so that they can take part in Disaster Relief deployments. “That’s significantly more than ordinary,” said Dwain Carter, who heads the Disaster Relief ministry for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

LEBANON, Tenn. (BP) – Before attending the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee meeting in Nashville, Albert Mohler made another stop on his “Ask Anything Tour,” at The Journey Church in nearby Lebanon, Tenn.  Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., spoke at The Journey Church on Saturday, where he addressed a wide variety of questions from the solid crowd after a short lecture about the importance of a Christian worldview.  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ben Mandrell, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, presented checks totaling $543,300.81 to International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood and North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell on Monday,  during the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee trustee meeting.

PONCE, Puerto Rico – The entire island of Puerto Rico lost power over the weekend as Hurricane Fiona brought havoc on Sunday, Sept. 18. Send Relief pre-positioned its response ahead of the storm’s landfall and has begun assessing the need.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptists need to uphold and support Scriptural truth while maintaining love and cooperation, Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber said in addressing the SBC Executive Committee on Monday in Nashville. “You are just as much a defender of the truth when you argue for cooperation, as you are a defender of the truth when you argue for (Scriptural) purity,” Barber told the committee as it convened for its fall session.

NASHVILLE (BP) – In his Monday night plenary session address to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, Willie McLaurin urged Southern Baptists to continue to cooperate in carrying out their shared mission. McLaurin, interim president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, said just like the early church, the SBC must set the correct priorities during difficult times.

CLAYTON, Ga. – A roll of toilet paper presented to leaders of Camp Pinnacle on Saturday was no gag gift. That became apparent when Georgia WMU President Lauren Sullens and Georgia Baptist Women strategist Beth Ann Williams saw “$25,000” written on the bathroom tissue.

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) – Going Deep is not just a book Clint May has written on children growing with God. It has been his driving vision for 20 years for children to share their Christian faith through hands-on experience in mission trips, evangelism, and other ministries. 

CLAYTON, Ga. – Surrounded by scenic mountains, Camp Pinnacle is a place of breathtaking natural beauty, but those who have spent time here over the years say it’s a spiritual element that truly sets the Appalachian getaway apart. “It’s a place that we regard as holy because of our personal experiences with the living God on this hallowed ground,” said Barbara Curnutt, former executive director of the Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union of Georgia.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – One of the top elected leaders of the Georgia Baptist Convention has challenged pastors to set the standard for their congregations when it comes to leading people to Christ. “If we’re going to see Georgia won for Christ, it’s going to begin in the pulpits,” said Brian Parker, pastor at First Baptist Church of Kingsland on Georgia’s southeast coast and fourth vice president of the state convention. “We have got to be the examples.”

PLANT CITY, Fla. (BP) – For families who don’t know, it’s tough to comprehend the stress of being a police officer. Dan Middlebrooks understands, and founded Chaplaincy Care, which focuses on first responder agencies in Hillsborough County, Fla.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. – Fayetteville pastor Josh Saefkow, a champion of the Cooperative Program and current chairman of the Georgia Baptist Executive Committee, will be nominated to serve as president of the Georgia Baptist Convention at an annual meeting set for Nov. 13-15 in Augusta. Buford First Baptist Church Lead Pastor Stephen Fountain said he intends to nominate Saefkow, who has been pastor of Flat Creek Baptist Church since 2016.

My beloved gifted me with The Women of the Bible Speak by Shannon Bream.  I’ve been digging into the lives and stories of 16 Bible girls, applying their wisdom to life today. When I began the chapter on Esther, I wondered what new things God would show me. 

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Georgia Baptists face great challenges in reaching in the state with the gospel, and that’s why it’s imperative that they work together, Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Director Thomas Hammond told a group of the state’s top leaders this week. “Our business is to fulfill the mandates that have been given to us by our Lord to do His work,” he told members of the Georgia Baptist Executive Committee on Tuesday.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – A Mission Georgia initiative to build 15 tiny homes for survivors of human trafficking will get a financial boost on Sunday from the Atlanta Braves during the franchise’s annual Faith and Family Day. The Braves will present a check to Wellspring Living, the nonprofit organization that the Georgia Baptist Mission Board is partnering with to build the homes south of Atlanta.

NASHVILLE (BP) – This week’s Bible study is adapted from the Explore the Bible curriculum by Lifeway Christian Resources and focuses on Amos 5:4-15.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The Georgia Baptist Executive Committee has appointed eight pastors to serve on the Committee on Committees, a key panel that nominates members to serve on the Administration Committee and the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation. Tom Vann of Rentz Baptist Church in Rentz will serve as chairman.

WADDY, Ky. (BP) – In the midst of ongoing recovery from recent natural disasters, Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief workers trained more than 200 volunteers during an event at Graefenburg Baptist Church on Saturday. Of those trained, nearly 100 had never received any type of disaster relief training before. After completing the training on Saturday, those first-timers received certification to serve with Kentucky Disaster Relief on future projects.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Shorter University President Donald Dowless made a strong case on Tuesday for the value of the faithful Christians who are graduating from his school’s nursing program. “One of these nursing students may one day be the last person someone on their deathbed gets to talk to,” he told the Georgia Baptist Executive Committee in a meeting at North Metro Baptist Church in Lawrenceville. “Do you want someone from a Baptist school who has been trained to share Jesus Christ as part of the loving care of that person? That’s what I would want.”

SPINDALE, N.C. (BP) – Although it was difficult and painful, a North Carolina church is beginning to see the fruit of a challenging replant process that began more than two years ago. Lead Pastor Dale DuBose and his wife Meriana met and married while attending Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary before moving to Spindale for Dale to become the youth pastor at Main Street Baptist Church in early 2015.