SBC Life Articles by Alex Sibley

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- During Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's spring commencement service, May 4, President Paige Patterson charged the 244 bachelor's, master's and doctoral graduates to find the lost among the world's 7.5 billion people and assist them in any way they can. "Where there are people who are lost, you are going to find them and bring them to faith in Jesus Christ," he said. "You're going to go out into a world of war and trouble and difficulty, and you're going to be the messengers of peace and harmony and hope for the future."

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's trustees affirmed the creation of 20 new scholarships for African American students during their April 10-11 meeting in Fort Worth, Texas. Trustees also accepted an invitation to move the seminary's Havard campus in Houston to a more strategic location and approved an overall budget of $35,947,605 for the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Dusty Marshall learned an important lesson during a spring break preaching assignment: When Satan is up to something, God is up to something greater. Marshall was one of 87 students and faculty from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary who participated in the annual "Revive This Nation" initiative, leading revival services in churches from New York to Hawaii during the seminary's March 11-14 spring break.

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Marilyn Maddox wanted to "shore up" her theological studies, but being a wife, mother and fulltime staff member at a Baptist church in Houston, she was unable to relocate to Fort Worth to attend classes at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Fortunately, Southwestern provides an option other than the residential program that fits her particular circumstances: a "flexible access" master's degree.

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Members of the Southern Baptist Convention's evangelism task force met Dec. 5 to each share recommendations that will be considered for a final report to the SBC's 2018 annual meeting in Dallas. The task force gathered on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for the second of three scheduled meetings. SBC President Steve Gaines appointed the task force during the SBC annual meeting in June to focus on how Southern Baptists might be more effective in personal soul winning and evangelistic preaching.

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Dedication of the new Mathena Hall at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary -- with its Martyrs' Walk and Lottie Moon exhibit -- highlighted three days of trustee sessions at the Fort Worth, Texas, campus. Trustees and the seminary community gathered Oct. 18 for the ribbon-cutting ceremonies. During the trustees' Oct. 16-18 sessions, Travis Trawick was elected vice president for institutional advancement and four professors were elevated to new faculty ranks.

There's an eternal perspective to each Christian's testimony, Alex Sibley writes. Each is "an affirmation of who God is and what He has done for us."

COLOGNE, Germany (BP) -- André Töws counts it a privilege to minister in Germany, with its spiritual heritage as the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation. Unfortunately, this is not Germany's only legacy within Christianity. German theologians such as Friedrich Schleiermacher and Rudolf Bultmann guided Christian academic thought toward liberal theology and textual criticism of the Bible, causing people to question the accuracy and trustworthiness of God's Word.

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Following more than 60 years of preaching, Jerry Vines has enrolled in the Ph.D. program at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The prolific preacher, former Southern Baptist Convention president, and frequent speaker at Southwestern's annual preaching conference will begin his studies at the seminary's School of Preaching this fall.

BATON ROUGE, La. (BP) -- As both a crew member at Trader Joe's and a minister at Progression Church in Baton Rouge, La., Joe Handy essentially gets to pastor two locations -- his "Trader Joe's campus" and his "Progression Church campus." At Trader Joe's, a grocery store chain, Handy rubs shoulders with nearly 85 coworkers from a wide range of social, cultural, political and spiritual backgrounds, most of whom have little to no interest in visiting a church.