News Articles by Jim Burton

STURGIS, S.D. (BP) -- Josh Mueller wasn't exactly sure what he was getting into when he drove to the annual Sturgis Bike Rally. His brother Jeff is his pastor at Restore Church in their hometown of Yankton, S.D. Jeff had recruited Josh to volunteer at the Dakota Baptist Convention's Sturgis Bike Giveaway evangelism initiative. During their first shift at the evangelism venue, Josh was too nervous to share his faith with anyone, much less a stranger. Like many Christians, Josh was nervous about personal evangelism. Unlike many Christians, Josh develops a stutter when he's nervous.

BARDSTOWN, Ky. (BP) -- Only a few people recognized the words written more than 150 years ago when David Floyd read them at Bardstown Baptist Church during a God and Country emphasis. Citing a call to "public humiliation, prayer, and fasting" to be observed by all Americans, the state representative and military veteran shared these words of proclamation to his church: "Whereas it is fit and becoming in all people at all times to acknowledge and revere the supreme government of God, to bow in humble submission to His chastisements, to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and to pray with all fervency and contrition for the pardon of their past offenses and for a blessing upon their present and prospective action."

ATLANTA (BP) -- On a Thursday night in May 1944, my father, James "Jimmy" Warren Burton, delivered the valedictorian address on the topic of citizenship at the Owensboro High School commencement in Kentucky. "However grave the crises of the future may be," he said, "our country will pass safely through them if at all times it has the support of citizens who are loyal and intelligent and who are skilled in the arts of democratic citizenship."

ST. GEORGE, S.C. (BP) -- An estimated 3.6 million Americans fought in the Pacific Theatre in World War II, overcoming brutal encounters on island after island against Japanese soldiers burrowed into the hillsides. The late Jimmy Connelly was one of those Americans. The Navy made Connelly chief of a troop-landing Higgins Craft during the massive amphibious assaults at the outset of the Allies' first major Pacific offensive against the Japanese -- Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Each craft could ferry up to 36 Marines, and when they stormed the beaches, Connelly operated a 7.62mm belt-fed machine gun to provide cover. On his 10th trip to transport troops into the Solomon Islands battle zone, he also was carrying several hundred five-gallon cans of gasoline. When a mortar round struck their craft, shrapnel pierced his neck and arm, and his pants were set afire, propelling him into the ocean.

FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta, Canada (BP) -- The "Beast," a Canadian wildfire that has scorched an area larger in land mass than New York City, forced the evacuation of Fort McMurray in the oil-rich sand reserves of northeast Alberta and spurred Baptist Disaster Relief workers into action.

HOUSTON (BP) -- A flash flood on April 18 swamped Houston when as much as one foot of rain fell on the nation's fourth largest city, claiming seven lives and making it the wettest day there since 1888. Most of the victims died in their cars while trying to traverse flooded roads. An estimated 1,200 Houstonians required rescue assistance. The city finally caught a break on Friday, April 22, their first dry day since the initial downpour, though rain returned on Sunday along with tornado warnings. Citizens reported tornado sightings in southeast Harris and Galveston counties.

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- The iconic Gateway Arch represents the pathway to the west for most travelers and locals. For Jim Breeden, St. Louis Metro Baptist Association's (SLMBA) executive director, it's also the gateway to a mission field in need of hope. That's why he welcomes the estimated 3,500 Southern Baptist volunteers who will converge on the metropolitan area June 11 for Crossover St. Louis.

PENSACOLA, Fla. (BP) -- The Easter service drew a packed crowd, so when 12-year-old Steve Davis entered the auditorium, the only seat he found was at the side of the platform. The crowd didn't intimidate Davis; he was the first to respond to the invitation that morning to profess faith in Christ. A few minutes later, he was not alone on the front pew where he sat to fill out paperwork at First Baptist Church in Richmond, Ind. A favorite aunt and uncle also responded to the ...

HAMMOND, La. (BP) -- When flood victim Lynell Davis walked into the Southern Baptist Incident Command Center at Woodlawn Park Baptist Church, long-time Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer Marlene Thompson could see that he was distraught. "He looked like he hadn't slept in days," said Thompson of Colyell, La. "He sat down and was shaking, said he hadn't had food." The volunteers at Woodlawn Park in Hammond, La., provided Davis with food, and then ...

RUSTON, La. (BP) -- Damage from torrential Gulf Coast rains recently blanketed parts of Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi leaving the region not only drenched, but also looking at possibly years of recovery. Storm waters have damaged an estimated 5,000 homes in Louisiana alone in about 28 parishes, but that number will likely rise. As water recedes in one town and recovery begins, it's likely cresting in another. Some of the state's bigger rivers have yet to crest. "This flood was not a respecter of any one place or people," said David Abernathy, the Louisiana Baptist Convention's disaster-relief incident commander. "This thing hit everybody. Rivers and lakes are cresting at records never seen before."