Tips to help families be on mission
by Paige Turner SOUTHEAST ASIA (BP) -- International Mission Board missionaries serve all over the world. They help tell people about Jesus in jungles, huge cities and rural villages. They’re serving among people from various cultures and religious backgrounds. But...
Time to choose
by Erich Bridges RICHMOND, Va.—Believing in Jesus as Savior isn’t hard. Following Him as Lord — that’s the hard part. We want to do things our way, not His, because we do not love Him enough to obey Him. The saddest part of the story of Jonah, one of history’s most...
Iowa Missions Offering Focus: Impact University
For the past seven years Impact University has offered a servant leadership group called the “Black School” providing the oldest group of students the opportunity to serve other students and staff during the week of camp. The goals of the week are, 1) to challenge...
Four words every Southern Baptist needs today
By Ronnie Floyd In this critical hour in our nation and world, I want to challenge each Christ follower and church to live by these four words. In a day when people want to define their own truth, I believe we need to anchor our lives and ministries in God’s truth. I...
Moore’s ‘Onward’ addresses engaging culture
by Tom Strode NASHVILLE (BP) -- Sanity and Christianity should mark the church's cultural engagement, Russell Moore says. So he wrote a book to help followers of Jesus live up to both. "I noticed that fellow Christians often struggled with how to understand and...
Views on divorce studied
by Aaron Earls NASHVILLE (BP) -- Pastors believe not all divorces are created equal, but for many Americans any reason is as good as another, a new study shows. "Pastors make a distinction about the rightness of a divorce based on the reasons behind it," said Scott...
Ezell tells Send Conference: “You are not alone”
by Joe Conway NASHVILLE – The significant role of the Cooperative Program in Southern Baptist life took center stage at the 2015 Send North America Conference during a main session panel discussion led by Kevin Ezell on Aug. 4. Ezell, president of the North America...
Pastors, counseling, and mental health: 6 Guidelines for pastors to consider
Mental health issues are too prevalent for pastors to not be counselors. But they must do so wisely. by Sarah Rainer I write this blog with two things in mind: a) Help those with mental illness to receive proper treatment, and, b) Aid pastors that engage in counseling...
How to pastor an evangelistic church
Pastors, do you know what an "evangelistic church" looks like? Are you even taking the time to share the gospel? By Ed Stetzer I’ve heard the story of a man who was criticized for his evangelism methodology by a fellow believer. He was told that his methods weren’t...
Seven steps churches are taking to replace the stand-and-greet time
By Thom S. Rainer I would have never expected the response to a topic that seemed so innocuous. On this blog many people were very vocal that they really didn’t like the stand-and-greet time during the worship services. To be fair, there were some defenders of this...