Mark Coppenger

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)–When I became executive director for the Indiana convention in 1988, I was surprised to see that most of the Cooperative Program dollars that came from Indiana churches stayed in the state and that many of the dollars that went on to the SBC offices in Nashville eventually returned to Indiana through programs […]

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)--For my generation, the fall of the Berlin Wall was astonishing, even stupefying.

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)–On this, the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I propose a thought experiment. Let’s imagine that a cohort of Americans calling themselves Sons of the Kingdom seize Malaysian and Saudi Arabian Airlines jets and fly them into the Petronas Towers (designed after minarets) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the Saudi Royal Palace […]

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)--The resurrection can bring to mind so many associative memories: from decorating Easter eggs with PAAS dye and wax crayons, to poignant and precious moments with family, to particular Easter services that moved hearts and changed lives. And of course there is the music: "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and "Low in the Grave He Lay," as well as less formal favorites as "When We All Get to Heaven" and "I'll Fly Away."       There are so many memories and emotions connected to Easter, but it all rests on one simple, propositional truth. Our Baptist Faith and Message puts it this way: "Jesus was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion."       Southern Seminary's Abstract of Principles puts it this way: "He was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended to His Father, at whose right hand He ever liveth to make intercession for His people."       Most importantly, the Scripture puts it this way: "For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve" (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).       The resurrection of our Lord and Savior is more than just the object of sentimental reflection or the center of doctrinal statements. The Bible indicates the resurrection that took place almost 2,000 years ago has ramifications that span the millennia ...

The resurrection of our Lord and Savior is more than just the object of sentimental reflection or the center of doctrinal statements.

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)--Several years ago, when we began to plant Evanston Baptist Church, we knocked on doors throughout the city, asking people what they thought the Gospel was.

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)--Today's top Chicago Tribune headline screams, "All signs pointing to panic," and Matt Drudge crowns his webpage with the photo of a snarling bear.

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)--In the seven-minute YouTube video, "The Church of Oprah Exposed," Oprah Winfrey reports that her impatience with "rules, belief systems and doctrines" began when she, in her late 20s, heard a Baptist pastor say that God was jealous.

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)--Recently, my Apologetics in Contemporary Ministry class was turning through the premier issue of Salvo, published by the folks at Touchstone. Salvo is a hard-hitting publication, one designed to discomfit sub-Christian and anti-Christian ideologies arrayed against “the faith once for all delivered to the saints.”

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)--As I write this, I’m in Washington, D.C. for the Evangelical Theological Society meeting, a gathering of a thousand or so biblical inerrantists teaching in colleges and seminaries around the nation, plus a lot of seminary students. For several days, we feast on paper presentations, discounted books and conversations with old and new friends.