BUFORD, Ga. — Stephen Fountain, lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Buford, is a winsome and caring pastor who has led his church to become a loving and compassionate fellowship. He has successfully connected his church with the community because he is intricately bonded with the community himself.

ROME, Ga. — Dr. Heath Hooper, dean of the College of Business at Shorter University, recently starred in the Extra Special People (ESP) Rome Big Hoops charity basketball game.

DALLAS, Texas  — GuideStone has received the 2024 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award. This award recognizes the most engaged workplace cultures in the world. Gallup found that GuideStone continued to engage and develop its team in innovative ways.

The Social Security Act was passed during the Great Depression in 1935. Because Americans' life expectancy was increasing, Social Security was established to provide retirement income for American workers reaching the age of 65 and disability income for those injured on the job. 

FORT WORTH, Texas — Carl J. Bradford, assistant professor of evangelism and occupant of the Malcolm R. and Melba L. McDow Chair of Evangelism, has been appointed dean of Texas Baptist College, the undergraduate school of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the institution’s leadership announced today.

It was my turn to teach at the jail on Sunday.  I shared one of my favorite Resurrection stories… Mary Magdalene went to the tomb while it was still dark.  “Dark” was an understatement.  

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Midwestern Seminary trustees elected three faculty into endowed chairs, celebrated a rededication of the Spurgeon Library, and approved key institutional business items at the Spring Trustee Meeting on campus on Monday and Tuesday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The trustees of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary met Monday for their annual Spring meeting, during which they approved the budget, elected new board officers, elected faculty, and honored outgoing board members.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary board of trustees heard reports of renewed financial stability and enrollment growth during their meeting Tuesday and Wednesday on the Fort Worth campus, marked by a spirit of unity, President David S. Dockery said.

Last week was spring break for my grandchildren. When they returned to school Monday they learned there was a solar eclipse and they would get to participate in watching the eclipse. The schools my granddaughters attend passed out glasses to everyone so they could all be outside and view the eclipse.

CONYERS, Ga. — Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief teams deployed this week to assist homeowners in the wake of a tornado that hit Conyers last week. The EF-2 tornado with maximum winds of 115 mph touched down in Rockdale County early Wednesday morning, April 3, according to the National Weather Service. GBDR teams responded to remove downed trees and clear debris.

ROME, Ga. — Two Shorter University professors recently took their class on an extraordinary experience trip, almost 6,000 miles from their traditional classrooms. The group headed to Ghana for business leadership opportunities and a chance to share the love of Christ with those in Ghana.

Messiah: The promised savior and deliverer, foretold in the Old Testament scriptures, who is believed to be the anointed one of God, sent to redeem and save humanity from sin and bring about God's kingdom on earth.

MIAMI — Pastor AD Lenoir, senior pastor of Westview Baptist Church in Miami since 2009, was stabbed to death on the steps of his church building Saturday, April 6. Police have arrested James Dawkins, a homeless man whom Lenoir had befriended and had been helping, and have charged Dawkins with first-degree murder.

FORT WORTH, Texas — In dealing with people who are grieving, a pastor must study two books: the Bible, and “the book of the human heart,” Ed Welch said, adding they must know people nearly as well as they know Scripture.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. — This semester, The College at Southeastern launched its new North Carolina Field Minister Program for women at North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, less than 20 miles from The College’s Wake Forest campus. This new field minister program will equip incarcerated women for gospel ministry throughout North Carolina’s prison system.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. — Earlier this month, Southeastern Seminary announced Steven McKinion, professor of theology and patristic studies and John Leadley Dagg Chair of systematic theology at Southeastern, as the new director of its PhD program.

LEXINGTON, Ga.  — The last two years have been a whirlwind for Pastor Matt Bartlett and Lexington Baptist Church in Lexington. At its recent low point, the 176-year-old church had 39 people in attendance, with half being from the pastor’s own family and friends.

Gather your friends and race to Indianapolis this June for the WMU Missions Celebration just prior to the SBC Annual Meeting.

What annoys you? That may be a broad question requiring you to make a list or perform an evaluation. It could be something minor that irritates you and does not affect you that much, or it could be something so grand it leads you to frustration or even anger.

The Bible affirms that God does not change. As humans, we constantly need to change. As I approach retirement, I am reflecting on both the times of blessing as well as the challenging times. On occasion, my challenging times came because I was fighting against God’s will.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — At a recent Georgia Baptist evangelism conference in Tifton, Ga., Keith Fordham was recognized for his godly service of 50 years as a vocational evangelist. His fundamental goal in life is to glorify the Lord by helping those who are lost find salvation and eternal security in Jesus Christ.

ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) — Associate Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Louisiana Baptist Convention Dale Lingenfelter announced today that he plans to nominate Don Currence for the office of Southern Baptist Convention registration secretary.

ROME, Ga. — Last week, the Department of Theatre and Musical Theatre at Shorter University boldly chose to tackle Christopher Marlowe's complex play, Dr. Faustus.

SNELLVILLE Ga. — The Church on Main will not soon forget Hannah’s baptism. A 15-year-old with cerebral palsy, Hannah was nonverbal and communicated through a device that tracked her eye movements and generated speech for her. Through that device, she told her mother she had committed her life to Christ and wanted to be baptized.