News For Thursday Jul 17, 2008 News For Thursday Jul 17, 2008

Religion Religion

Atheists' suit against Dakota Boys Ranch dismissed - Added 6 weeks ago

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by atheists and agnostics that challenged the state's sending of children and money to the church-affiliated Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. U.S. District Judge Dan Hovland did...

The sting of death - Added 6 weeks ago

GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP)--"I'm not scared of dyin,' and I don't really care. If it's peace you find in dyin,' well then let the time be near." -- "When I Die," Blood, Sweat, and Tears, 1969There's the rub. Is it peace you...

Scholars: Hell place of conscious suffering - Added 6 weeks ago

GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP)--What awaits penitent and impenitent souls upon arrival in eternity?For Christians, being in the presence of their Lord, Jesus Christ, and being reunited with loved ones who have gone on before...

Heaven doesn't fit popular stereotypes - Added 6 weeks ago

GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP)--The popular notion of the "sweet by and by" is often one of clouds, pain-free bliss and not much else -- except for the occasional angel floating by with a harp. If one's idea of eternity is a...

Tips for tough times - Added 6 weeks ago

!P>DORA, Ala. (BP)--With fuel prices soaring and real estate foreclosures on the rise, we're living in some pretty scary economical times, aren't we? As believers, how are we to conduct ourselves? Is there a way to...

Music leaders: Teach eternity with songs - Added 6 weeks ago

GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP)--If you heard about a church that totally ignored the subjects of heaven and hell in its preaching, what would you think of that congregation?Most of us would think the church was shirking its...

Popular notions, Bible clash over heaven - Added 6 weeks ago

GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP)--Have you ever noticed that when a discussion turns to a recently deceased celebrity, someone invariably says, "I know he's looking down on us right now"? It doesn't matter how godless the person...

5 young preachers reach toward peers - Added 6 weeks ago

JENA, La. (BP)--Five young preachers caught the eye of Jimmy Keene, pastor of Temple Baptist Church, during the revival that swept into Jena, La., from mid-February into April.Keene took note that the five preachers...

Calif. court lets marriage amendment stay on ballot - Added 6 weeks ago

SAN FRANCISCO (BP)--Two months after issuing its landmark "gay marriage" decision, the California Supreme Court handed conservatives a victory July 16, allowing a proposed constitutional marriage amendment to stay on...

Religion today - Added 6 weeks ago

They filled the cafe night after night. To the casual observer, it might have appeared to be a roomful of 20-somethings with enviable amounts of idle time. Yet the 30 young Muslim men and women who met for 30 days had...

Religion news in brief - Added 6 weeks ago

A Torah scroll valued at about $30,000 that was reported stolen from a St. Louis-area synagogue is one of a handful of Torah scrolls stolen in the past year in the United States, mystifying police and the Jewish...

Vacations & budget-busters - Added 6 weeks ago

!P>GAINESVILLE, Ga. (BP)--A few years ago we called attention to the need for Americans to slow down a bit on the apparent obsession some of us have, thinking we need to take a better vacation this year than last. And,...

Josh Hamilton not the true hero - Added 6 weeks ago

JACKSON, Tenn. (BP)--By the time Josh Hamilton brought down the House That Ruth Built, my son Daniel was already in bed.He and I had started watching the Home Run Derby a little earlier, and you could tell that Daniel...

NAMB's Meacham to work with associations - Added 6 weeks ago

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--The North American Mission Board has appointed David Meacham to the newly created position of senior strategist for associations. Prior to his new appointment, Meacham served as NAMB's senior...

'Gay marriage' legalization could be costly for religious liberty, legal experts say - Added 6 weeks ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--Same-sex unions and religious liberty are destined to collide in this country in ways that could prove costly for the free exercise of religion, legal experts said in a Washington panel discussion.The...

Baptists' gifts to Union surpass $3M - Added 6 weeks ago

JACKSON, Tenn. (BP)--Total giving from Southern Baptist churches and entities has topped $3 million for Union University's recovery from a Feb. 5 tornado that destroyed much of the housing and caused major damage to...

Mass. may OK nonresident 'gay marriages' - Added 6 weeks ago

BOSTON (BP)--When Massachusetts redefined marriage in 2004, some feared the state would become "the Las Vegas of same-sex marriage" by attracting homosexual couples from all over America. Thanks to a bill going through...

Hamilton: From heroin to home run hero - Added 6 weeks ago

NEW YORK (BP)--As Major League Baseball showcased its stars in famed Yankee Stadium, the player who emerged from the All-Star break as the biggest star of all, Texas Ranger outfielder Josh Hamilton, spent most of his...

China earthquake relief effort adds focus on 'Hope Centers' - Added 6 weeks ago

CHENGDU, China (BP)--Southern Baptists can respond to the devastating earthquake that struck China's Sichuan province May 12 in a broad range of ways, a blue-ribbon panel of disaster relief experts has reported.The...

Eyes to see - Added 6 weeks ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--One day last year a man walked up the steps of a busy Washington, D.C. Metro station and stood against a wall beside a trash can.To people rushing by on their way to work he was just a guy in...

Recovery from Rita continues in Texas - Added 6 weeks ago

PORT ARTHUR, Texas (BP)--Linda Hailey had tried for three years to clear her family's residential property that was battered by Hurricane Rita in 2005. She hoped to return her parents to a house replacing the one where...

Parts of New Orleans still struggle - Added 6 weeks ago

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--In many ways, New Orleans is coming back. The economy, fueled by rebuilding efforts and open seaports to the Gulf of Mexico, registers unemployment at 3.8 percent. And the annual Jazz and Heritage...

Motorcycle ride turns him to Christ - Added 6 weeks ago

CHEROKEE, Okla. (BP)--What could be better than a motorcycle ride halfway across the state, then to hear one of your favorite University of Oklahoma football players speak? Derek Seevers didn't think it could get any...

Tattooed neo-Nazi met Jesus in prison - Added 6 weeks ago

MINERAL WELLS, Texas (BP)--Seventeen years of prison and a lifetime of hate, violence and racism is mapped on Steven Neill's body. Druids, swastikas, skulls and symbols of the occult circle and mesh darkly up his arms...

Christian & religious families happier, less likely to divorce - Added 6 weeks ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Men who attend religious services regularly are more likely to have happy and stable marriages, more likely to be involved with their children and less likely to divorce, new research...

Shifting sand - Added 6 weeks ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Various theologians and pastors have been warning us for years that if you de-emphasize biblical truth in the church, and more specifically in the pulpit, you will do so to the ultimate harm and...

ELECTION 08: McCain against gay adoption; Obama won't 'impose' faith on his kids - Added 6 weeks ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Republican John McCain told The New York Times in an interview published July 13 he opposes adoption by homosexual couples and believes children need a mother and a father.In a wide-ranging...

Sudanese president charged with genocide - Added 6 weeks ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court requested an arrest warrant July 14 for the president of Sudan's militant Islamic regime, charging him with genocidal acts in Darfur.In presenting his...

FIRST-PERSON: An African village's love - Added 6 weeks ago

SENEGAL, West Africa (BP)--Pitching a tent in the backyard of a traditional African compound will bring untold adventure right to you. Trust me.I am a writer with the media team for the International Mission Board's...

With GPS, they bike into Africa's bush - Added 6 weeks ago

SENEGAL, West Africa (BP)--Their bikes lie nearby as the short-term missionaries sleep in their tents. Beside them are enough supplies to last a week in the African bush -- cans of Spam for when they can't find local...

African village became their home - Added 6 weeks ago

NIGER, West Africa (BP)--The wail of the Muslim call to prayer breaks the silence of the dawn. As roosters begin to crow, Hands On missionaries Kelsi Kelso and Brittany Breedlove greet another day in West Africa.Moving...

Hands On: Students see missions in Africa - Added 6 weeks ago

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (BP)--It's one of those moments where you can almost hear crickets chirping. Two International Mission Board short-term missionaries are trying to get a room full of high school students to...

When no one's looking - Added 6 weeks ago

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)--"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out," Thomas Babington Macaulay. The 19th-century English statesman understood that who we are in private --...

INTERNATIONAL DIGEST: Beijing police evict Christian activist as US congressmen visit - Added 6 weeks ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--As two U.S. congressmen wrapped up a human rights fact-finding visit to China during the run-up to the Olympic Games, officers of Beijing's Public Security Bureau broke down the door of a...

Jury declines to indict abortion doctor - Added 6 weeks ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--A Kansas grand jury has decided not to file charges against the country's best-known, late-term abortion doctor after a six-month investigation.A citizen-initiated grand jury in Sedgwick County...

Cancer fight didn't deter missionary's call - Added 6 weeks ago

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Theresa Thompson never did anything half-hearted. Not even dying. Instead of returning to the United States when she was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer last year, the then 40-year-old Southern...

Draper: Healing entails God's sovereignty - Added 6 weeks ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Healing lies within the sovereignty of God, and He chooses to heal people according to His will, former LifeWay Christian Resources President Jimmy Draper wrote in a series on biblical doctrine...

FIRST-PERSON: Faith & healing -- Where's the evidence? - Added 6 weeks ago

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Todd Bentley's healing ministry has gained national attention. His daily meetings for the past three months in Lakeland, Fla., have attracted hundreds of thousands from all over the world. The...

Celebration to mark 50-year work in N.E. - Added 6 weeks ago

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. (BP)--The Baptist Convention of New England is making plans to celebrate 50 years of Southern Baptist work in the region and 25 years of state convention status as part of its annual meeting this...

Baptists rally to N. Orleans homeless needs - Added 6 weeks ago

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--Homelessness in New Orleans has changed in the nearly three years since Hurricane Katrina, and Southern Baptist ministries have embarked on strategies to better meet the needs.Groups serving New...

ELECTION 08: Obama tells group he'll 'never back down' in his support of legal abortion - Added 6 weeks ago

NEW YORK (BP)--With his support of abortion rights under attack by John McCain and pro-life groups, Democrat Barack Obama responded aggressively July 10, calling it an issue from which he will "never back down."Obama...

Myanmar relief focuses on Southeast Asia partnership - Added 6 weeks ago

YANGON, Myanmar (BP)--In spite of obstacles that prevented a traditional disaster relief response, Southern Baptists have found creative ways to help victims of Cyclone Nargis in the two months since the storm unleashed...

Religion in the news - Added 7 weeks ago

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was installed as head of the U.S. church less than two years ago, inheriting a mess not of her own making. The global Anglican Communion was in an uproar over the...

WORLDVIEW: The stars in their courses - Added 7 weeks ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: An audio version of this column is available here.SAN JOSE DE QUERO, Peru (BP)--I agree with the philosophers who say it takes more faith to be an atheist than to believe in God, the Author of...

Ky. church confronts danger of moral failure - Added 7 weeks ago

PADUCAH, Ky. (BP)--When Todd Brady heard about a minister at a prominent Texas Baptist church being caught in a sex sting, his first thought was, "Oh, Lord, I pray we never see something like that happen here in our...

Inmates relay gratitude for self-study plan - Added 7 weeks ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Quite a few letters from inmates arrive at Pam Stubblefield's desk."I get letters almost daily telling me how a certain workbook in the Christian Growth Study Plan has made a difference in the...

Iowa town shows gratitude to Baptists - Added 7 weeks ago

LAMONT, Iowa (BP)--Flood debris sitting in the sun produced a foul odor in Lamont, Iowa, a small town of 490 people about 35 miles east of Waterloo. Some residents piled debris on the curb for sanitation workers to haul...

Poll: Marr. amend. stance could cost Obama - Added 7 weeks ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--Voters are more likely to pull the lever for a presidential candidate who supports proposed state constitutional marriage amendments -- a finding that could boost Republican John McCain and spell...

Funds to controversial U.N. group denied - Added 7 weeks ago

!P>WASHINGTON (BP)--The Bush administration has refused for the seventh consecutive year to forward federal money to a controversial United Nations family planning fund linked to the support of China's coercive...

Iran detains 2 Christians who converted from Islam - Added 7 weeks ago

ISTANBUL (BP)--Iranian authorities have held two converts to Christianity in the southern city of Shiraz for eight weeks on suspicion of "apostasy," or leaving Islam. In Iran, apostasy is a crime that can be punishable...