RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – The number of Muslims in the world will nearly match the number of Christians by 2050. That’s the main headline from “The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050,” a Pew Research Center study released this month. If current population trends continue, the report says, Muslim ranks will increase by 73 percent (to 2.8 billion) – more than twice the growth rate of Christians, who will expand by 35 percent, to 2.9 billion. Total world population is projected to reach 9.3 billion by mid-century. Other projections for 2050: n Hindus will increase by 34 percent to nearly 1.4 billion. n Four of every 10 Christians will live in sub-Saharan Africa. n India, although remaining majority Hindu, will become home to more Muslims than any other country, topping Indonesia. n Atheists, agnostics and others who affiliate with no particular religion will decline as a share of the world population, even as they increase in numbers and influence in North America and Europe. It’s important to keep two things in mind about this study (and others like it). First, it’s more a demographic survey than a religious one. Muslims are increasing primarily because of fertility rates and young populations in … [Read more...]
Moore: Racial reconciliation a matter of spiritual warfare
NEW ORLEANS – In the turbulent wake of racial tensions from recent situations like Ferguson, Mo., Russell Moore, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission president, said at a one-day preaching event in New Orleans that it is not enough for Christians of different races to simply get along for the sake of missions and evangelism, though both are vital. Racial reconciliation must be a matter of spiritual warfare, Moore said. Moore spoke at a recent Preach the Word conference, hosted by Franklin Avenue Baptist Church and presented by the New Orleans Baptist Association, on kingdom, culture, and mission, and addressed how pastors can effectively and faithfully preach the gospel in light of each. “What Dr. Moore talked about today was incredible, it was on time, it is needed, it was convicting, but it was also inspirational,” said Fred Luter, Jr., Franklin Avenue Baptist Church pastor and former Southern Baptist Convention president. “It gave me hope that racial reconciliation is possible within the body of Christ.” Neither achievement nor heritage is enough to bring someone into God’s kingdom, Moore told a full room of African-American, white and Latino pastors, and their wives, at a dinner concluding the event. Moore drew from … [Read more...]
Survey: Americans see value in church attendance
NASHVILLE (BP) – The overwhelming majority of Americans say they find value in attending church, a new LifeWay Research study shows. Two-thirds of Americans think attendance is admirable; only 11 percent consider church useless. Even among nonreligious people, 80 percent believe church attendance is acceptable, and 43 percent label it admirable. Just 29 percent call it useless. But despite their professed fondness for church, Americans are more likely to believe attendance is declining (55 percent) or the church is dying (42 percent) than growing (36 percent) or thriving (38 percent), according to the LifeWay survey of 1,000 Americans from Sept. 19-28 of last year. “Americans have a much more optimistic view of the people and practice of attending church than they do of the health of the church,” said Scott McConnell vice president of the Nashville-based LifeWay Research. “Church attendance is much like regular exercise and driving the speed limit. People do not live out everything they admire.” Confirming McConnell’s assertion that Americans’ churchgoing is at odds with their behavior, even on Easter, traditionally the best-attended Sunday of the year, large segments of the population say they don’t plan to attend, previous … [Read more...]
Arkansas governor urges changes to religious objection bill
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he wants to see changes to a religious liberty law legislators passed March 31, after previously saying he planned to sign the bill. But it’s similar to a new law causing an uproar in Indiana, where Gov. Mike Pence is said to be reviewing modifications to assuage concerns from the gay community. The changes in Indiana would state specifically the bill could not be used by businesses to deny services to people based on sexual orientation. It’s not clear how that might affect Christians in the wedding industry who don’t want to participate in same-sex weddings. Arkansas’s best-known corporate citizen, Walmart, opposes that state’s legislation. Doug McMillon, the company’s CEO called on Hutchinson to veto a bill he said would “undermine the spirit of inclusion” in the state. Several other states, including North Carolina and Georgia, are considering similar legislation. Republican presidential hopefuls, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Dr. Ben Carson, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, have voiced support for the bills. Nigerian Christians watch and pray after historic … [Read more...]
Lane’s senior project helps impact her life, lives in community
PINEVILLE – When Lexi Lane* initially began brainstorming the topic of her senior high school project at Pineville High School, she knew her focus would center on orphans in another country*. She never dreamed how this project would impact her life and many lives around the community. What she received in the process was a return to her roots overseas and seeing first-hand the love of Christ on display through the lives of special needs orphans in the country. Lane said she wanted to go back to see her birthplace, to understand more about the culture, but also to help an orphanage in some way. Lane's life began in a rural area in the country. Adopted at 14 months old, Lane has no memory of what life was like as a baby. When the time came for Lane to choose the topic of her senior project – which is required for graduation – she thought of her desire to give back to her country in doing something for orphans there. Lane’s mom, Pam, started the process by contacting an organization that helps unite families with orphans from around the world. Sean and Pam Keith adopted Lane. Lane was then directed to a childhood advocacy organization. Starting in May 2014, she began raising funds for a trip to work in the orphanage and … [Read more...]
SBC leaders say diversity is still needed
NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention’s progress in racial reconciliation will fall short of what is needed if it is measured by the one-time election of an African-American president, speakers said at a leadership summit. A panel of Southern Baptist leaders commented on the status of race relations in the convention during a March 27 discussion at “The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation,” a two-day meeting sponsored by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in Nashville. Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, replayed briefly for attendees his 2012 election as the first black president of a convention that was started in 1845 by a breakaway group of Baptists who supported the appointment of slave owners as missionaries. He recalled a conversation he had with Charles Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, when no other nominees had surfaced to challenge him in the race a month before the annual SBC meeting. “Fred, I just think our convention feels that it’s time,” Luter quoted Kelley as saying. Luter’s election by acclamation was greeted by an emotional, standing ovation. “It was one of the greatest hours in the life of the Southern Baptist Convention,” … [Read more...]
Every People Group Task Force continues work on plan
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – The Every People Group Task Force met recently, continuing charting a plan on how Louisiana Baptists can reach those of various ethnicities in the state. James Jenkins, church planting director for Louisiana Baptists, said the charge of the task force is three-fold: ● Evaluate the ethnic diversity in Louisiana and its implications for Louisiana Baptists, ● Create avenues for input and involvement in LBC life by non-Anglo leaders and congregations, ● Lead Louisiana Baptists in effective engagement with ministry among all people groups in the state. The task force was appointed as a result of the President’s 2020 Commission, which was affirmed by messengers during the 2013 LBC Annual Meeting in Alexandria. The President’s 2020 Commission report was crafted collaboratively by 400 Louisiana Baptist pastors, leaders, staff members and laypeople working in 20 subcommittees of 20 members each. Ten “key actions in reaching our state” – known as KAIROS – were developed to engage two audiences – the next generation and every people group. As the first step in carrying out its charge, the Every People Group Task Force agreed to outline a missiology for the work … [Read more...]
Construction of Museum of the Bible Underway
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Amid snow flurries in the nation’s capital, construction on the world’s first museum devoted solely to the Bible began in February as demolition began on the site near Capitol Hill. “It’s an exciting day for us,” said Steve Green, president of the craft store chain Hobby Lobby, who birthed the idea for the museum. “It’s been a dream, and it’s becoming a reality.” The Museum of the Bible is a $400 million project scheduled for completion in 2017 and will feature the Green Collection, one of the world’s largest private compilations of biblical texts and artifacts. … [Read more...]
Court Rules Same-sex Marriage Rights Trump Florist’s Beliefs
OLYMPIA, Wash. – A Washington state judge ruled in February that a Christian flower shop owner is required under state law to provide full services for same-sex wedding ceremonies, even though it violates her faith. Barronelle Stutzman sold flowers to gay couple Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed for more than nine years, and considered Ingersoll a friend. But when he asked her to create the flower arrangements for the couple’s wedding in 2013, the great-grandmother said she couldn’t because of her “relationship with Jesus Christ.” She referred them to another business for assistance. The Washington state attorney sued Stutzman for allegedly violating the Washington Law Against Discrimination and its Consumer Protection Act. Ingersoll and Freed soon filed their own lawsuit against Stutzman. The ruling settles both suits by summary judgment in the plaintiffs’ favor, preventing the case from proceeding to trial. Voters in Washington legalized same-sex marriage on Nov. 6, 2012. … [Read more...]
Ala. Supreme Court halts same-sex marriage licenses
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama Supreme Court has ordered a halt to same-sex marriage licenses in the state, posing a direct challenge to a federal court in Mobile that overturned the state’s marriage laws. The Alabama court, in a March 3 decision, stated: “As it has done for approximately two centuries, Alabama law allows for ‘marriage’ between only one man and one woman. Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to this law. Nothing in the United States Constitution alters or overrides this duty.” This fact, the court stated, “does not change simply because the new definition of marriage has gained ascendancy in certain quarters of the country, even if one of those quarters is the federal judiciary.” The court issued its opinion as one body, called “per curiam,” rather than identifying the judges who drafted the 148-page ruling regarding probate judges who are the state officials responsible for issuing marriage licenses. The religious liberty firm Liberty Counsel, which filed a lawsuit on behalf of state moral concerns organizations ALCAP and the Alabama Policy Institute and a county probate judge, said it was a 7-1 ruling by the nine-member court, with one … [Read more...]
