Resources from 2014

While angels are often undervalued in the nativity scene, in reality they had a key role in the events leading up to the night of Jesus's birth, David Jeremiah writes.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- As 2015 rolls in, the North American Mission Board reflects upon a year that included an increasing emphasis on helping Southern Baptists develop evangelistic conversations, the kickoff of its Send North America Experience Tour, and the launch of a new book designed to help believers see that "every life on mission matters."

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)-- Baptist Press asked the International Mission Board to select 10 of its key news and feature stories of 2014 as the year comes to a close. The following list for 2014 includes a brief description with each subject line and link.

SALINAS, Calif. (BP) -- Francis Murphy understood something important: Most people like tomatoes, in some form. They like them on hamburgers, in salads and with tacos. Whole, sliced or chunked, people want tomatoes, and Francis learned how to provide them year-round.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- A historian named Julius Africanus was among the first Christians to wonder why the stories of Jesus' birth in Matthew and Luke differ slightly. Around the year 200, Julius apparently sought Jesus' living relatives to ask them why the genealogies of Christ in the two Gospels aren't exactly the same. Was one of the accounts in error?

NASHVILLE (BP) -- El historiador de nombre Julio Africano estuvo entre los primeros cristianos en preguntarse porqué las historias del nacimiento de Jesús en Mateo y Lucas difieren ligeramente. Alrededor del año 200, Julio aparentemente buscó a los parientes vivos de Jesús para preguntarles porqué las genealogías de Cristo en los dos Evangelios no eran exactamente iguales. ¿Tenía alguno de los relatos algún error?

MOORE, Okla. (BP) -- J.T. Elliff, father of Southern Baptist leaders Tom, Bill and Jim Elliff and Sandy Smith who is married to evangelist Bailey Smith, died Dec. 12 in Moore, Okla. He was 97. Tom Elliff, immediate past president of the International Mission Board, recounted in a blog that day, "Just before my father's bodily tent was unstaked from the bed and transported out of the room, we sang his favorite hymn, 'My Jesus I Love Thee.'

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Racial tension, Ebola, ISIS terrorists, Houston pastors subpoenaed, midterm elections and Ice Bucket Challenge are just a few of the topics that may come to mind while reflecting back on 2014. In addition to those, the announcement of pastor David Platt as president of the International Mission Board was among the top stories of the year on Baptist Press' website.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (BP) -- Many of the top films of 2014 did their best to promote secular significance while avoiding a spiritual component found in the greatest films of years past. Successes including "It's a Wonderful Life," "Dead Man Walking," "Schindler's List," "Places in the Heart," and "Tender Mercies" are works of art, both nurturing and entertaining. There were some good films this year, but no enduring classics.