News For Friday Aug 22, 2008 News For Friday Aug 22, 2008

Religion Religion

Abortion: Is this what you mean? - Added 1 week ago

DALLAS (BP)--A Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Sioux Falls, S.D., the only abortion clinic in the state, temporarily closed last month, pro-lifers in the state reported. It was either that or comply with a law...

Zimbabwean farmer faces death & forgives - Added 1 week ago

GRAHAMSTOWN, South Africa (BP)--Martin Fick almost died twice while living in Zimbabwe nearly a decade ago. Miraculously, he survived and learned firsthand about the power of grace and forgiveness. Victims of the...

Ostrich ministry is hope for South Africa - Added 1 week ago

GRAHAMSTOWN, South Africa (BP)--Baby ostriches -- 100 of them -- scamper in all directions, pecking at the dirt, a stray spoon and anything that moves or glitters. In a few months, the Hanise family will sell these...

Gunman enters Baptist bldg. after killing - Added 1 week ago

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BP)--A gunman shot Arkansas Democratic Party chairman Bill Gwatney at the state party's headquarters in Little Rock at about 11:50 a.m. Aug. 13. Fleeing the scene, the suspect drove to the Arkansas...

LETTER FROM CHINA: Lottie Moon gives her thoughts on the breakdown of missionaries - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: Each day during Baptist Press' coverage of the Beijing Olympics, we are publishing a letter from a Southern Baptist missionary who served in China during the years before the People's Republic of China...

Beijing coerces churches to not meet - Added 1 week ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--The Chinese government has forced pastors of unregistered churches to pledge there will be no worship services at their congregations' meeting sites during a three-month period surrounding the Summer...

Olympian finds victory over fear - Added 1 week ago

BEIJING (BP)--Prancing around the house in a Mary Lou Retton leotard, a 4-year-old Stephanie Brown Trafton wanted to be just like the gold medal gymnast from the 1984 Olympics."I think a lot of young girls looked up to...

Nancilea Foster's next challenge: Olympic diving - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tim Ellsworth, director of news and media relations at Union University, is in Beijing Aug. 6-16 covering the 2008 Olympics for Baptist Press. Baptist Press will publish features about Christian athletes...

Religion news in brief - Added 1 week ago

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded more than $25.4 million to continue case management work by social service organizations, including some that had worked with the Katrina Aid Today consortium, which...

Religion today - Added 1 week ago

AishCafe's flashy Web presence makes it look more like a gambling site than the religious experience it is. There are interactive animations, clickable icons and even a mock iPhone to lure in Jewish college students....

Low Sunday School expectations - Added 1 week ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--My friend Allan Taylor wrote an excellent book about how to have a high-expectation Sunday school. Since 1995, when he was called to First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga., as minister of education,...

Russ Lee makes music for missions - Added 1 week ago

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Following a missions tour with his family and the news that his wife has cancer in remission, singer/songwriter Russ Lee uses his musical platform to talk with urgency about missions and...

Trafficking bills differ in critical ways - Added 1 week ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--A clash between the Department of Justice and foes of human trafficking over how to address the global problem is on display in the conflicting pieces of legislation they support.The Department of...

DOJ's reasoning on bill 'indefensible' - Added 1 week ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--The Department of Justice's reasons for opposing legislation designed to strengthen the federal effort against human trafficking are "indefensible," a Southern Baptist public policy specialist says.The...

Land, others warn Bush: Get Department of Justice in line on human trafficking bill - Added 1 week ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--Southern Baptist ethics leader Richard Land has joined in warning President Bush his own Department of Justice is threatening to tarnish his legacy on combating human trafficking.The president of the...

LETTER FROM CHINA: 'Much toil and patience are necessary,' 19th century missionary said - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: Each day during Baptist Press' coverage of the Beijing Olympics, we are publishing a letter from a Southern Baptist missionary who served in China during the years before the People's Republic of China...

Free Bibles available at Olympics - Added 1 week ago

BEIJING (BP)--Bibles and Christian evangelistic materials are being made available free of charge to athletes and visitors at the Olympic Games in China.Holman Bible Outreach International has provided copies of the...

8 Americans make new friends in Beijing - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: The volunteers identified in this story will leave China on Aug. 15 and some of them have future plans to do mission work in other sensitive locations. For security purposes, Baptist Press is using only...

'Lost Boy' sees Olympics as God-given second chance - Added 1 week ago

BEIJING (BP)--Lopez Lomong, the 1,500-meter runner who carried the U.S. flag during the opening ceremony in National Stadium, is a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and the providence of God. Lomong, 23,...

Settlements reached in Chicago clergy abuse cases - Added 1 week ago

The Archdiocese of Chicago said Tuesday it had agreed to pay more than $12.6 million to settle lawsuits by 16 people who accused priests of sexual abuse, and it made public a candid deposition in the case by Cardinal...

Confusing the 'gay marriage' issue - Added 1 week ago

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--The fact that the Los Angeles Times favors "same-sex marriage" is not a new revelation. To the contrary, the paper has positioned itself in support of "same-sex marriage" for some time.Furthermore,...

'Prejudicial' language to stay on Calif. ballot - Added 1 week ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP)--If a proposed California marriage amendment passes this fall, it will have to overcome what supporters call a "prejudicial" ballot title and summary.After losing at a lower court and then at an...

Democratic National Committee gave $25,000 to defeat Calif. marriage amendment - Added 1 week ago

!P>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP)--The Democratic National Committee has given $25,000 to help defeat a proposed constitutional marriage amendment in California, despite the fact that a significant percentage of Democrats in...

Out-of-state donations critical to the success of Calif. marriage amendment - Added 1 week ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP)--People living outside of California can't vote on the much-publicized constitutional marriage amendment known as Proposition 8, but they can donate financially, and thus far both sides of the...

2008 Baptist Hymnal makes official debut - Added 1 week ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The new 2008 Baptist Hymnal made its official debut during a morning worship Aug. 8 at LifeWay Christian Resources' home office in Nashville, Tenn., and again that evening at the city's renowned...

LETTER FROM CHINA: Ignorance about Chinese is inexcusable, Lottie Moon said - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: Each day during Baptist Press' coverage of the Beijing Olympics, we are publishing a letter from a Southern Baptist missionary who served in China during the years before the People's Republic of China...

Olympian to teach at Baptist school - Added 1 week ago

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP)--Jeremy Knowles, a member of the Bahamas Olympic swim team, will start a new job as a fourth grade teacher at Hickory Grove Baptist Christian School in Charlotte, N.C., when he returns to the United...

Archer ties Olympic mark, then loses - Added 1 week ago

BEIJING (BP)--U.S. archer Jenny Nichols tied an Olympic record in her opening-round win Aug. 12 over Indonesia's Ika Yuliana Rochmawati, but she couldn't build on that success.Nichols fell to Japan's Nami Hayakawa in...

Outfielder credits prayer for helping him make Olympics - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tim Ellsworth, director of news and media relations at Union University, is in Beijing Aug. 6-16 covering the 2008 Olympics for Baptist Press. He is assisted with photography by David McIntyre, a...

Beijing Olympics Photo Gallery 1 - Added 1 week ago

The Beijing Olympics include moment after moment of effort, suspense, victory and defeat. On assignment for Baptist Press, photographer David McIntyre captures the heart and soul of the competitions in a pictorial of...

Universalism at funerals - Added 1 week ago

DULUTH, Ga. (BP)--As a pastor for many years I discovered there were certain things that were extremely difficult to do. It was difficult when I had to tell young women (or men) in the churches I served that I could not...

Sturgis outreach leads to 1,300 decisions - Added 1 week ago

STURGIS, S.D. (BP)--Tears told this tale.One couple past the first flush of youth came to Sturgis, S.D., to escape the ordinary. Winning a new Harley would have been the ultimate Sturgis souvenir, so they agreed to...

Proposed Dem. platform sides with 'gay marriage' supporters, calls for DOMA repeal - Added 1 week ago

!P>PITTSBURGH (BP)--In a major victory for homosexual activists, the 2008 proposed Democratic Platform goes on record as opposing the Defense of Marriage Act, a law passed in 1996 that gives states protections from...

Hamas leader's son, now a Christian, says only Gospel can transform Mideast - Added 1 week ago

!P>LA JOLLA, Calif. (BP)--When a volunteer from the United Kingdom met a young Middle Eastern man in Jerusalem's old city and invited him to a Bible study, he had no idea he was talking to the son of a key figure in the...

Poll: Homeschooling a constitutional right - Added 1 week ago

!P>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--More than eight in 10 Americans were at odds with a California appeals court that ruled in February that parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children, according to...

LETTER FROM CHINA, Lottie Moon: 'Opportunities' for mission work 'boundless' - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: Each day during Baptist Press' coverage of the Beijing Olympics, we are publishing a letter from a Southern Baptist missionary who served in China during the years before the People's Republic of China...

Bush attends church in China - Added 1 week ago

WASHINGTON (BP)--President Bush attended the worship service of a church registered with China's communist regime Aug. 10 and afterward promoted freedom of religion in a brief public statement.The president's visit to...

At Beijing church, 'all nations' worship - Added 1 week ago

BEIJING (BP)--Ever since she was 9 years old, Barb Sturges wanted to live in China.The Portland, Ore., native got her wish in 1986, when she moved to China for the first time. She's now been a China resident for 13...

Cyclist disappointed but still thankful - Added 1 week ago

!P>BEIJING (BP)--U.S. cyclist Amber Neben was in sixth place with one lap to go in the women's road race Aug 10, but trouble with her chain led to a disappointing 33rd-place finish in the event."I dropped my chain about...

Family's love carries U.S. swimmer to Beijing Olympics - Added 1 week ago

BEIJING (BP)--Elaine Breeden's swimming career almost didn't get started. Her uncle signed her up for swim lessons when she was 4, but Breeden was too afraid to get into the water."I refused to get in, and I remember...

Emir Caner to lead Truett-McConnell - Added 1 week ago

CLEVELAND, Ga. (BP)--Emir Caner, founding dean of The College at Southwestern in Fort Worth, Texas, was elected as the eighth president of Truett-McConnell College on Aug. 8.Caner, 37, who was raised in a Sunni Muslim...

Calif. marr. amend. backers lose in court - Added 1 week ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP)--A California judge handed opponents of a proposed constitutional marriage amendment a victory Aug. 8, refusing to change what conservatives call "prejudicial" ballot language.Amendment...

Nature know-nothings - Added 1 week ago

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--A recent conversation brought a troubling development into focus. A man told me that he had bought a home with some measure of reluctance, fearing that the location of the house so near to a...

Opening ceremony reflections - Added 1 week ago

BEIJING (BP)--As I watched the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, I sat in wonder. The performance was by far the most incredible production I've ever seen.The costumes were exotic and colorful. The choreography was...

Union honors Wilkey, Hall for coverage - Added 1 week ago

JACKSON, Tenn. (BP)--Lonnie Wilkey, editor of the Baptist & Reflector, and Will Hall, executive editor of Baptist Press, became the first two fellows inducted to Union University's Center for Media, Faith and Culture...

Ag classes break ground in Venezuela - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of a series of articles to be released in advance of this year's Week of Prayer for International Missions, Nov. 30-Dec. 7. Missionaries who serve in South America as well as churches...

INTERNATIONAL DIGEST: Venezuela's Chavez pushes through 26 decrees - Added 1 week ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has used special legislative powers granted him by lawmakers to push through a package of laws similar to his "21st-century socialism" proposals voters rejected in...

Calif. court reverses homeschool ruling - Added 1 week ago

LOS ANGELES (BP)--In a huge win for thousands of Christian families in California and nationwide, a California appeals court Aug. 8 reversed itself and ruled that parents do in fact have a right to homeschool their...

LETTER FROM CHINA, Bertha Smith: 'Unworthy of the privilege' - Added 1 week ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: Each day during Baptist Press' coverage of the Beijing Olympics, we are publishing a letter from a Southern Baptist missionary who served in China during the years before the People's Republic of China...

Steven Curtis Chapman talks of tragedy - Added 1 week ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Two months after the tragic accident that claimed the life of his 5-year-old daughter Maria Sue, Steven Curtis Chapman appeared with his wife and three oldest children on CNN's "Larry King Live"...