Culture Archives - Page 13 of 15 - Baptist & Reflector

FALL FESTIVAL SAFETY TIPS FOR CHURCHES

October 28, 2015

Baptist Press

Fall festivals as outreach events can be fun but experts say proper precautions are vital. This photo of a fall festival at Northpark Baptist Church in Trussville, Ala., was taken in 2014.
-Photo provided by The Alabama Baptist

JASPER, Ala. (BP) — Fall festivals can be fun but broken bones, food poisoning and burns are not. That’s why churches should take steps to protect themselves and their guests from unnecessary risks during special outreach events, experts say.

Before hosting any special event, a church should first make sure its insurance policy covers activities that are outside the normal ministry schedule.

“From a risk management standpoint, what often happens is that churches don’t think about exposures. They are only thinking about having fun. Danger doesn’t even cross their mind,” said Arthur Williams, an account executive with insurance firm Byars Wright Inc. in Jasper, Ala.

However, some insurance policies have special events exclusions, which mean if an injury or accident happens during the event the church has no insurance protection. A church needs to know the specifics of what its insurance policy will and will not cover.

“Check with your agent and confirm there is no exclusion and that the church does have liability and medical payments coverage for special events held on the premises,” Williams said. “Most of the time, you should be able to get your insurer to include that within your policy if it’s not already included.” [Read more…]

KEEP HALLOWEEN IN PERSPECTIVE

October 28, 2015

Eli, aka Spider-Man, and Parker, a cuddly teddy bear.

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

As it has been for centuries, Halloween will be observed on Oct. 31.

According to a study by LifeWay Research, nearly a third of Americans avoid the celebration of Halloween or at least its pagan elements. I agree wholeheartedly with avoiding the pagan elements, but I’m not completely sold on the fact that it is necessary to avoid Halloween completely, especially for younger children.

When I was a kid (I actually was one, believe it or not), we celebrated Halloween. I didn’t know or care about the history of Halloween. All I cared about was that it provided an opportunity to dress up in a costume and get free candy. In those days, candy was a special treat, not the norm that it is today.

The older I grew the less I cared about Halloween. And, as a Christian, I certainly do not like the pagan elements associated with Halloween and the evil that some have associated it with. [Read more…]

MOST AMERICANS CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN: LIFEWAY RESEARCH

October 28, 2015

By Carol Pipes
LifeWay News Office

NASHVILLE — When it comes to Halloween, most Americans don¹t have a problem celebrating the spooky holiday. Yet, one-third say they avoid Halloween or its pagan elements.

Although three in five Americans told LifeWay Research Halloween is “all in good fun,” 21 percent avoid the holiday completely and another 14 percent avoid the pagan elements.

Halloween has been known in North America since colonial days. But it wasn’t until Irish immigrants brought their Halloween customs to America in the 1840s the festival grew in popularity. Since then, it has been woven into the fabric of American culture. By the 1950s, Halloween was mostly considered a children’s holiday celebrated with costumes and candy. [Read more…]

EVEN NON-RELIGIOUS SEE EVIDENCE OF CREATOR

October 21, 2015

By Lisa C. Green
Lifeway News Office

NASHVILLE — Life didn’t just happen, most Americans say — and a surprising number of nonreligious people agree.

More than 4 in 10 of the nonreligious believe physics and humanity point to a creator, LifeWay Research finds. A third say human morality indicates a creator who defines right and wrong.

And although the nonreligious are less likely than other Americans to see evidence of a creator, they are more likely to agree (46 percent) than disagree (40 percent) with the statement: “Since the universe has organization, I think there is a creator who designed it.”

Traditional evidences for belief in a creator resonate with most Americans, including many of the nonreligious, said Ed Stetzer, executive director of Nashville-based LifeWay Research.

“People who seek to set out reasons to believe, often called apologetics, have historically framed their argument in similar ways,” Stetzer said. “The large number of nonreligious people agreeing with some of these arguments points us to a surprising openness to classic apologetic arguments. Or, put another way, even nonreligious people are open to the idea there is a creator.”

Not blind chance

Human life and a complex universe are powerful indicators of creation, Americans say. In a survey of 1,000 Americans, LifeWay Research found almost 8 in 10 (79 percent) believe the existence of human life means someone created it, while 72 percent think the organization of the universe shows a creator’s design. [Read more…]

Actions really do have consequences

October 16, 2015

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Lonnie Wilkey

WTVF (Channel 5 in Nashville) reported on Oct. 15 that Greater Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Lawrenceburg has been “kicked out” of the Lawrence County Association of Baptists.

While that sounds good on a newscast and immediately draws the attention of viewers, “kicked out” is not the proper term in this case.

I have umpired baseball for more than 30 years and there are probably a handful who would say that I threw them out of or kicked them out of a baseball game. I look at it this way. I have never kicked anyone out of a game. The actions of some coaches and players have led me to inform them that they could no longer participate in the game. In essence, they “kicked” themselves out of the game because of what they did or said. [Read more…]

Church’s decision to call woman pastor leads to action by Lawrence County Baptists

October 16, 2015

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

LEOMA – The Lawrence County Association of Baptists voted during its annual meeting Oct. 12 to withdraw fellowship from Greater Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Lawrenceburg.

The African-American congregation, which was a church plant of Faith Baptist Church in Loretto in 1992, recently called a non-Baptist woman as pastor (Shonda Reynolds-Christian).

The association voted 73-4 to remove Greater Tabernacle Baptist Church immediately from its list of cooperating Baptist churches, according to Mike Kemper, director of missions of the association. [Read more…]

Counseling homosexuals involves ‘speaking truth in love,’ leaders say

October 16, 2015

By Andrew J.W. Smith
SBTS News Office

A record 2,300 attendees gathered on Southern Seminary’s campus for the annual ACBC conference Oct. 5-7.
– SBTS photo by Emil Handke

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Christian counselors should be able to speak lovingly and winsomely to people struggling with homosexual attraction, said evangelical leaders at the Oct. 5-7 homosexuality conference at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The conference, titled “Homosexuality: Compassion, Care, and Counseling for Struggling People,” was sponsored by the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).

“The integrity of our message is at stake in this, brothers and sisters. If we believe that the Bible teaches homosexuality to be a sin, and if we believe that Jesus Christ changes people, but we don’t know how to help them, then … we will make a mockery of the Word of God,” said Heath Lambert, executive director of ACBC and associate professor of biblical counseling at Southern Seminary and Boyce College. “If we don’t know how to lay hold of the grace of Jesus, we will slander the Word of God and the grace of Jesus.”

Using Ephesians 4:15 as his text, Lambert argued believers should pay close attention to the way Christ himself modeled “speaking the truth in love,” because without him they will speak truth without love. Any help Christians want to give should be motivated by genuine love for homosexuals, Lambert said, which does not apologize for biblical standards. The Bible has not changed, and neither should the convictions of believers, he said. [Read more…]

Billy Graham marks 97th year with new film

October 14, 2015

By Baptist Press

“Value of a Soul,” the My Hope evangelistic outreach film that will mark Billy Graham’s 97th birthday, features Purple Heart recipient and retired Army Maj. Scotty Smiley, who lost his vision in a car bomb explosion in Iraq.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP) — The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) will release Oct. 15 a new film in its global “My Hope” outreach and is encouraging pastors to use the free resource in conjunction with Graham’s 97th birthday celebration Nov. 7.

“Value of a Soul” showcases the testimonies of three born-again believers, including a former hard-core underground rapper, a Purple Heart recipient and a twice-divorced mother who suffered an abortion years ago at age 16.

The new film and accompanying resources are suited for use by pastors and laypeople alike, My Hope vice president Steve Rhoades said in a press release.

“Our focus is on encouraging and equipping the local church to simply share Jesus,” Rhoades said. “We want to help local congregations by providing high-quality free resources — like “Value of a Soul” — anyone can use to reach out with a message of hope in their communities.” [Read more…]

Survey reveals views on animal welfare

October 14, 2015

By LifeWay news office

NASHVILLE — Protestant pastors overwhelmingly agree humanity has a God-given duty to care for animals.

They just don’t mention it much from the pulpit.

In a survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors, sponsored by Every Living Thing, a national campaign for the Evangelical Statement on Responsible Care for Animals, LifeWay Research finds a distance between pastors’ beliefs about animal welfare and their church activities. [Read more…]

Conference on transgenderism responds to challenges

October 12, 2015

A panel of R. Albert Mohler Jr., Denny Burk, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Owen Strachen discuss the transgender movement during the ACBC/CBMW preconference, Oct. 5.
– SBTS photo by Emil Handke

By Baptist Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — The transgender movement presents an unprecedented theological and cultural crisis for the church, said Southern Baptist scholars at an Oct. 5 pre-conference event, “Transgender: Transgender confusion and transformational Christianity,” at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The preconference preceded the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) annual conference, which is being held at the seminary Oct. 5-7 in Louisville, Ky. The preconference, co-sponsored by ACBC and the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), is believed to be the first time evangelicals have held such an event to discuss the transgender movement.

“We have underestimated the challenge that we’re facing, and we have underestimated it in ways that betray the fact that the lessons of church history are so quickly forgotten,” said Southern Seminary president R. Albert Mohler Jr. “The challenge that is now presented us by this comprehensive moral revolution taking place around us is tantamount for the kind of theological challenge that the church faced in the Trinitarian and Christological controversies of the first [few] centuries.” [Read more…]

Recent Posts

Tags

Categories