God gets the glory when churches live
By Mark Clifton A dying church robs God of His glory. Yet it doesn’t have to. Those two truths have driven my journey with legacy church planting for the past decade. Each year about a thousand churches disappear from the Southern Baptist database, the majority of...
Students gain insights into SBC & its leaders
by Tom Strode NASHVILLE (BP) -- For seminary student Jamin Eben, the inaugural Student Leadership Conference cosponsored by two Southern Baptist entities proved doubly beneficial. Eben, a third-year master of divinity student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary...
NAMB’s Ezell nurtures church after pastor’s death
by Lonnie Wilkey/Baptist and Reflector ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- The pastor's heart in Kevin Ezell would not let him say no when the Nashville-area Long Hollow Baptist Church asked him to serve as interim pastor. The North American Mission Board president intentionally...
A new approach to mental illness in the church
We must stop ignoring mental illness and start graciously offering hope. We must stop ignoring mental illness and start graciously offering hope. By Ed Stetzer Churches, we need a new approach to mental illness. Or, maybe not new, but a more Christlike approach to...
10 reasons everybody at church should wear a nametag
By Chuck Lawless At many conferences and meetings I attend, I am expected to wear a nametag. The business world thinks about nametags, but the church world gives them too little thought. Here are ten reasons EVERYONE in church ought to wear a nametag. Few people know...
Download free church facility audit
Thom S. Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources has just released a free church facility audit. This audit is specially designed to help churches improve the overall guest friendliness on their website and facilities. Go to ThomRainer.com/subscribe to...
Global religious freedom draws leaders’ appeal
by Tom Strode WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's lead religious freedom advocate is part of a widely diverse, informal coalition urging Congress to strengthen protections for the rights of people of faith overseas. Russell Moore, president of the...
Can we be pro-homosexual?
by Dave Miller The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” Matthew 11:19 It was one of the barbs that the religious leaders sent Jesus’...
Partners in service
A Dayton native returns home to plant a church By K. Faith Morgan DAYTON, Ohio – When Randy Chestnut and his wife of 35 years, Denise, sensed God calling them to establish a church and ministry in Old North Dayton, it was a homecoming for both. Raised in the area, the...
Gay marriage gap widens for evangelicals & culture
by Bob Smietana NASHVILLE (BP) -- Americans who have gay or lesbian friends are twice as likely to say gay marriage should be legal as those who have none. And more than half of Americans, meanwhile, say homosexuality is not sinful. Such survey results place...
