Abiding in Christ, the source of godliness and effective ministry, was the focus of the Abide Women’s Conference at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) Feb. 7-8.

More than 300 women — ages teen to 90s — attended the inaugural event under the direction of Tara Dew, wife of NOBTS president Jamie Dew.

“It is our desire at NOBTS and Leavell College to train, equip and serve anyone — male or female — that comes to us,” Dew said. “The Abide Conference is one way we hope to serve the women on our campus, in our local churches and in our broader community to know and love God more deeply.”

Jess Archer, children and youth missions education strategist for the Louisiana Baptist Convention and plenary speaker for the two-day event, encouraged listeners to grow in Christ through prayer, Bible study, stewardship and solitude — spiritual disciplines that are “found in Scripture that promote growth in a believer.”

Source: Baptist Press

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

Missiologist and researcher Ed Stetzer has been named chairman of the 2020 Southern Baptist Convention Resolutions Committee, SBC President J.D. Greear announced today (Feb. 11).

Greear also announced his appointment of Angela Suh Um of Cambridge, Mass., as vice chair. Um will be only the second woman to serve in a leadership role on the committee, according to Baptist Press’ review of SBC records.

“Ed Stetzer has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches across the country in a variety of settings,” Greear told Baptist Press. “Additionally, his vast experience as a researcher makes him uniquely qualified to understand the questions and concerns that the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention face. He is a strong leader who can guide the committee as they help the messengers express their positions on issues that matter to them.”

Greear continued: “Ed has planted a church in Buffalo among the urban poor, served as interim pastor of a traditional SBC megachurch in Tennessee, and ministered to pastors in between, including just two weeks ago at the Oklahoma Baptist pastors conference. He is committed to unity around the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and seeks the Gospel above all.”

Stetzer is a professor at Wheaton College, where he also serves as executive director of the Billy Graham Center and dean of the School of Missions, Ministry, and Leadership. Prior to that, he was vice president at LifeWay Christian Resources, and has served as director of research and missiologist-in-residence for the North American Mission Board.

Source: Baptist Press

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission plans in 2020 to continue its work with not only Congress but the Trump administration and the states on priority issues such as abortion and religious freedom.

The ERLC released its annual Legislative Agenda in early February in the face of another year of a divided legislative branch. Democrats control the House of Representatives and Republicans hold the majority in the Senate.

“In the midst of a challenging political environment, the ERLC will continue to defend existing protections for life and religious liberty while seeking opportunities to advance the issues Southern Baptists care about” at the federal level, Russell Moore and Travis Wussow wrote in the agenda.

Moore is the ERLC’s president, while Wussow is the entity’s general counsel and vice president for public policy.

The goal of the ERLC’s agenda, Moore told Baptist Press, is “to advance our broader mission of shaping consciences rooted in the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

“With our work in Washington and internationally on issues surrounding religious freedom, human dignity, marriage and family, and justice, the ERLC exists to serve churches and to stand for the common good of our neighbors,” he said in written comments. “I look at these priorities with great hope and expectation, knowing that our team will engage these issues with focus and faithfulness in the year ahead.”

The ERLC will again seek to promote its policy priorities in such federal departments as Health and Human Services (HHS), Justice and State, Moore and Wussow wrote in the agenda. “We expect the Trump Administration to continue to issue a number of regulations that uphold human dignity and religious liberty, and we will support those regulatory actions.”

In addition to filing friend-of-the-court briefs with the Supreme Court, the ERLC will “extend its work on the state level” in 2020, they said. “With gridlock in Washington, state-level legislation provides an additional space” in which the entity can work.

Wussow told BP in written remarks, “In this second session of the 116th Congress, we will work to defend existing pro-life and religious liberty protections while also making the case for why we believe the foundational truths in our agenda are for the common good of all our neighbors.

“We want to serve Southern Baptists in 2020 by advancing issues important to our churches and honoring to our Lord.”

The ERLC’s 2020 agenda initiatives include many the entity has worked on for several years:

— Protection of the Hyde Amendment, which has barred Medicaid funding of abortion since 1976 and became the general label for such bans in federal health programs. Congress must pass the Hyde Amendment and similar bans each year as part of spending measures. The amendment faces opposition from within the House Democratic majority.

— Enactment of the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act, which would bar the government from discriminating against adoption agencies and other child welfare entities that refuse to serve in a way that contradicts their beliefs.

— Defunding Planned Parenthood, which performed more than 345,000 abortions during its most recent statistical year. The organization received $616.8 million in government grants and reimbursements during its latest financial year. The Trump administration issued a new rule in 2019 that prohibits Title X family planning funds from going to organizations that perform, promote or refer for abortions, thereby costing Planned Parenthood at least $50 million a year.

Source: Baptist Press

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

WAYNESBORO, Pa. (BP) — It would be challenging to find a ministry couple in Pennsylvania more committed to the role of Woman’s Missionary Union than Kathy and Steve Sheldon.

For the past 35-plus years, the Sheldons have invested their lives in families, churches and communities in their home state of Pennsylvania. Much of their ministry focus has revolved around engaging their churches and associations in missions on the local, state, national and international levels — and the primary missions tool they have utilized is involvement in WMU missions support and discipleship programs.

“One of the things I found very early in my pastoral ministry was one of, if not the deepest foundation in Southern Baptist churches is missions — and the pillar of that missions is WMU,” Steve Sheldon said. “I knew if I was going to have a strong mission church that reached its community and reached the world, we needed to work through WMU.”

His wife Kathy agreed, saying: “Every church that we have served in has had WMU or I’ve introduced it to them. It’s really been important to me and to Steve because it’s a way to introduce missions to every age group, and through that, our future missionaries.

“I just think this is a wonderful way for them to be introduced to what is already happening and what their opportunities are, either locally or internationally,” she added. “There’s just so many different situations that they could be involved in. In the churches, we’ve tried to do that as far as mission trips, as far as mission projects locally and to involve every age group. I think that’s a big factor in WMU.”

Unwavering focus on missions

The Sheldons’ strong commitment to missions and all things WMU started early in their ministry journey. After being stationed in San Diego while Steve was in the U.S. Navy and then serving in churches in Kentucky while he was studying at Campbellsville College (now University) and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Sheldons returned to their home state in 1984 “and have been serving in Pennsylvania ever since,” Kathy said.

During that time, she served 11 years as president of Pennsylvania/South Jersey WMU while Steve served as a pastor and director of missions, including 23 years as pastor of Bux-Mont Baptist Church in Hatboro, Pa., in suburban Philadelphia. He recently retired as pastor of Wrightsdale Baptist Church in Peach Bottom, Pa., and they moved back to their hometown of Waynesboro.

“We’ve always encouraged the WMU organizations across the spectrum of ages,” Steve said. “Some of the churches didn’t have them but Kathy was real good at introducing those. That’s been foundational to our ministry — the mission organizations — because that’s where we train our missionaries.”

Kathy stresses missions involvement for everyone, ranging from Missions Friends, Girls in Action, Royal Ambassadors and Acteens to Women on Mission.

Source: Baptist Press

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

WASHINGTON – Thursday saw a drastic spike in coronavirus cases with China reporting nearly 15,000 new infections and more than 250 more deaths. 

The increase is due to expanded diagnosis criteria, allowing doctors to more quickly diagnose patients and begin treatment. 

Worldwide, about 60,000 people are infected with this novel coronavirus – now labeled COVID-19 – and more than 1,300 people have died because of it. 

The latest spike raises questions about China’s testing methods and numbers, resulting in the firing of two-party officials in Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak. 

With the number of coronavirus cases on the rise, health officials are warning it could soon start spreading in the United States. 

The newest case in the US was confirmed Thursday in San Diego at a quarantined military base. 

Of the new cases confirmed outside China, nearly 50 were on board a Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan. 

“As each day progresses, we are having additional people tested positive,” David Abel, a cruise ship passenger from the United Kingdom, said in a video recorded with his phone. 

And a Holland America cruise ship has finally been cleared to dock in Cambodia after it was turned away from five different ports in Asia. No coronavirus cases have been confirmed on board, however. 

“We’re all a bunch of humans that have lives outside of this cruise ship that need us,” said US passenger Angela Jones. “Families, children, pets, jobs.” 

Now, help from Israel in the form of new technology could help curb the virus. 

A facemask, made by Israeli company Argaman, has the ability to kill 99 percent of viruses, including the coronavirus. 

“It kills all viruses, all bacteria, all fungus and will do it 100 percent of the time, all day, all night, seven days a week,” Argaman president Jeff Gabbay told CBN News. “You can wash it. You can bleach it. You can dye it. You can hit it with a baseball bat. It’s going to do its job.”

Israeli scientists use invisible soundwaves to inject copper particles, with antiviral properties, into cotton. These engineers then combine the ancient tradition of spinning cotton with today’s technology. The result is a mask far more effective than the standard N-95 mask used by millions. 

The company is shipping these life-saving masks to Hong Kong.  

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source