News Articles by Jerry Rankin

EDITORS' NOTE: In a report to trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board during their Oct. 31-Nov. 3 meeting in Dallas, President Jerry Rankin listed five myths making the rounds about the International Mission Board in some Baptist circles. The text of Rankin's report follows.

DALLAS (BP)--It is a challenge to communicate the realities of IMB mission strategies and what God is doing among such a large dispersed constituency as the Southern Baptist Convention. We live in an environment in which information is suspect. There seems to be a perception that media shapes the news with self-serving spins, and messages from large institutional organizations amount to little more than promotional hype. Attempting to communicate the truth of what God is doing through the IMB and the integrity of our motives and decisions is not always welcomed and applauded by the conventional thinking of our post-modern society, nor is it necessarily respected by those among Southern Baptists who are not supportive of the conservative direction of the denomination.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--The world has never been a safe place, but as Americans we lived under the illusion of security and immunity from terrorist attacks. The hijacking of four commercial airliners and the tragic destruction of lives at the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11 have shattered all those illusions.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Isaiah 6:8 is one of my favorite mission challenges. If I do not preach on the text, I usually bring it into the appeal to respond to God's call and join him on mission.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--For three years the International Mission Board has been focusing the attention of Southern Baptists on "The Unfinished Task." Our Lord commissioned us with the task -- to disciple the nations -- almost 2,000 years ago.

For three years the International Mission Board has been focusing the attention of Southern Baptists on "The Unfinished Task." Our Lord commissioned us with the task — to disciple the nations — almost 2,000 years ago. The rather slow, incremental expansion of the gospel throughout history has begun to accelerate in recent years. But the […]

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--The story of the Good Samaritan is an all-too-familiar one for Christians. Our indignation rises whenever we are reminded of the pious, busy religious leaders hastening to their appointments, ignoring the man suffering by the side of the road.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--The year 2000 was a historic marker for missions advance. Remember Bold Mission Thrust? This ambitious effort by Southern Baptists to reach all the world with the gospel was targeted for completion in 2000.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--The last few months have been a time of heady celebration. As the new year unfolded, so did reports of unbelievable advance in our Great Commission task. There were 451,301 new believers baptized on mission fields around the world last year -- a 24 percent increase over those reported the previous year. The 6,525 new churches started represented a 37 percent increase over the year before.

Jesus made the contrast clear. There is no equivocation in distinguishing the truth found in Him alone from that claimed by all other religious and cultural traditions. He could not have affirmed it more strongly as His argument with the Pharisees reached a peak of confrontation. Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am […]

The following are edited excerpts from the report by Dr. Jerry Rankin, president of the SBC International Mission Board, to the Executive Committee during their September meeting. God is continuing to bless as we move forward with the seventh consecutive year of record missionary appointments. Our missionary personnel office, who is now nurturing over 3,000 […]