By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – First through sixth grade boys will have an opportunity for an up and close encounter with a 10-foot robot at the upcoming Royal Ambassador Congress. Scheduled for March 21-22 at Tall Timbers Conference Center, RA Congress will feature Gigamaxx, a giant robot who will be focused on what it takes to be transformed into a follower of Christ. Louisiana Baptist Convention President Steve Horn, who serves as pastor of First Baptist Lafayette, will interview Gigamaxx and there will be a time for each RA Lad and Crusader to have interaction with the robot. The robot will coincide with this year’s theme, Be Transformed. “We only have one opportunity to reach these young men and we need to do all we can to make an impression on them of the importance of following Christ,” said Gibbie McMillan, LBC men’s ministry and volunteer strategist. “Traditionally we have RAs from 25 plus chapters from across the state of Louisiana, therefore we must make the most of this time. We will be extremely fast paced for about 20 hours and hopefully they will go home excited about their experience at Congress.” In addition to Gigamaxx, RA Congress will also include Pinewood Derby and soap box races, … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 03/07/2014 - 11:40 Pastor Ronnie Floyd By Art Toalston, Baptist Press Editor NASHVILLE (BP) – Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the SBC annual meeting this June, seminary president R. Albert Mohler Jr. said. Floyd has “unparalleled experience as a leader among us, an unquestioned commitment to the Great Commission, and he has demonstrated an unstinting urgency to unite Southern Baptists around our shared beliefs, mission, and programs,” Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., wrote in an open letter to Southern Baptists stating his intention to nominate Floyd in June. During the 27 years Floyd has led Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, it has become “one of the most evangelistic, visible and innovative congregations in our convention,” Mohler wrote. The church encompasses campuses in Springdale, Rogers and Fayetteville. Highlighting Floyd’s support for Southern Baptists’ Cooperative Program channel for funding missions and ministries internationally, nationally and in each state, Mohler wrote: “Over the last several years, Ronnie Floyd has led his church to become one of the … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 03/07/2014 - 11:42 Clint Pressley By K. Allan Blume, Baptist Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP) – Clint Pressley, senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., will be nominated for the office of first vice-president of the Southern Baptist Convention when Baptists meet June 10-11 for their annual meeting in Baltimore, Md. Pastor Ted Traylor announced through the Biblical Recorder he will nominate Pressley. “Clint is a gracious role model in many areas,” Traylor, senior pastor of Olive Baptist Church, Pensacola, Fla., told the newsjournal of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Feb. 28. “He is a pastor/preacher that expounds the Scripture week by week to his people. He leads his church to be generous in Great Commission giving and going, and he leads Hickory Grove in numerous compassion ministries in the Charlotte area.” Right now Pressley serves as vice-president of the SBC Pastor’s Conference and is the vice-chairman of the trustees for The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He is a graduate of Wofford College, Spartanburg, S.C. and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans. Pressley is currently completing the doctor of … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 03/07/2014 - 11:46 IMB President Tom Elliff chats with people attending the IMB trustee meeting in Austin, Texas, Feb. 25-26. Elliff tasked trustees with beginning a search for his replacement. He assured Baptist media members Feb. 26 that God has told him "this is the time to leave." By Diana Chandler, Baptist Press AUSTIN, Texas (BP) – IMB President Tom Elliff asked the mission agency’s trustees to begin searching for his successor because the Lord told him during prayer that it was the best way to ensure a smooth transition to new leadership, Elliff said in a teleconference with several state Baptist papers. “[God’s] telling me that this is the time to leave,” he said Wednesday (Feb. 26), “and that if I will obey Him and ask the Board of Trustees to appoint a search team ... that is the surest way to ensure a smooth transition. “Not every entity has gone through that kind of a process, and sometimes things go along with fits and starts. But we’ve got so many personnel on the field, they don’t need that. They need a sure vision. They need sure communication. They don’t need to feel at any moment that there’s a lack of leadership.” Elliff has no timeline for his departure, but in … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 03/07/2014 - 13:04 Select rating Give it 1/5 Give it 2/5 Give it 3/5 Give it 4/5 Give it 5/5 … [Read more...]

Submitted by Baptist Message... on Mon, 03/10/2014 - 11:22 Test Breaking Select rating Give it 1/5 Give it 2/5 Give it 3/5 Give it 4/5 Give it 5/5 … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee will consider a proposal June 9 to update the SBC constitution regarding qualifications for churches to send messengers to the annual meeting. During its Feb. 17-18 meeting in Nashville, the Executive Committee decided to place the item on its June 9 agenda prior to the SBC annual meeting in Baltimore to allow Southern Baptists time to discuss the proposed change and provide feedback. The committee's deliberations, then, will determine whether the proposed revision will be presented to messengers at the June 10-11 SBC annual meeting. The Executive Committee also took action on motions referred from the 2013 SBC annual meeting in Houston regarding gender-neutral Bible translations and churches' response to mental health issues.   Church messenger qualifications   The proposal to amend Article III came as a motion from the floor at last year's SBC annual meeting -- the 16th motion on this article in the past 35 years -- to reevaluate the minimum qualifications for seating additional church messengers at the SBC. Article III currently states that churches in friendly cooperation with the convention can send one additional … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Thu, 03/13/2014 - 13:22 During his address to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee Feb. 17 in Nashville, SBC President Fred Luter thanked the body for prayers and encouragement offered during his tenure as the first African American president of the SBC. By Diana Chandler, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention will encounter affliction as it serves the Lord, but will complete its God-given mission because of the Lord's promises, Luter said in his presidential address to the SBC Executive Committee Feb. 17 in Nashville. Using Psalm 34:19 as a text, referencing the Old Testament's Job and adding humor with the fictional James Bond, Luter said the Lord not only brings tribulation to the righteous, but successfully brings the righteous through those same troubles. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous," the Scripture reads, "but the Lord delivers him out of them all" (NKJV). "One of my favorite James Bond movies of all time was 'Goldfinger.' The guy had James Bond on this saw, and James Bond was about to get killed. … And some way, somehow, [Bond] turned his watch, and his watch becomes a laser, and stopped the saw. And I said how does he do that? "I … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Thu, 03/13/2014 - 13:24 Frank Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee, told committee members that Southern Baptists face “challenging days” with Cooperative Program giving. But he also expressed hope for future. By Shawn Hendricks, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) -- Southern Baptists face "challenging days" with Cooperative Program giving, Frank Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee, told committee members in Nashville, voicing hope for an upswing in giving. While sharing his passion for CP and its role in supporting missions and ministry around the globe, Page said the momentum for the "1% CP Challenge" continues to grow for churches to increase CP giving by 1 percentage point of their budgets. "I have written personal letters to almost 3,000 pastors thanking them for their involvement" in the 1% CP Challenge, Page said Feb. 17. "Our state executives are saying, 'Frank, please don't stop. Our people are just starting to get it.…' We won't stop. "It is my passion that fuels my heart belief in this," Page said. "I supported this before I was paid to support this. As a pastor I strongly supported over 10 percent of our church's undesignated receipts to the Cooperative … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) -- A more visual redesign of sbc.net, the official website of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, has officially launched, Frank Page announced to committee members in Nashville. While the new website will feature much of the same information and resources that readers have logged on to the site to access, it also will include a variety of new visual updates, said Page, president of the Executive Committee. One of those updates includes a rotating slideshow of images and stories across the top of the site. "SBC.net has a new look," Page told committee members Feb. 17 as he pointed out new features of the site displayed on a video screen. "We believe it's going to be an excellent resource for our convention. "Everything that you've always seen and [that is] important will be on there," he said. Two of the most popular features of the site, he said, allow people to search for jobs in Baptist Life and for cooperating churches. The site also features a daily devotional and a newsfeed of Baptist Press stories. "We want it to be a one-stop shop," Page said. "Anything you need to deal with SBC-wise will be on sbc.net." … [Read more...]