News Articles by Tim Ellsworth

WOODSTOCK, Ga. (BP) -- Fathers must train their children to use technology wisely, Brian Jennings told men in a breakout session at the Johnny Hunt Men's Conference. Jennings, middle school pastor at First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga., led a session on "Digital Discipleship," addressing the explosion of technology use; its consequences in the lives of kids and teenagers; and strategies that fathers can use to keep their families safe.

WOODSTOCK, Ga. (BP) -- With nearby Atlanta hosting this year's Super Bowl, the Johnny Hunt Men's Conference tapped into the football mood with a "Game Plan" theme for Christian living during Jan. 25-26 sessions that drew about 5,000 men. "As we were looking through [Hunt's] notes and what all he was going to be discussing," Chris Lee, promotional director for the conference, said, "we realized that a lot of it was kind of ...

CLEMSON, S.C. (BP) -- Despite being a big-time college football player headed to the NFL, Miguel Chavis was on a path to destruction. Self-centered and vile. Hedonistic and drunk. A tough brute who partied hard and pursued every fleeting pleasure he could think of. You name it, and Chavis, during his early years as a defensive tackle at Clemson, was probably guilty of it. "I was living in the flesh for 3 1/2 years and was sexually immoral and addicted to pornography, and was really just captured and captivated and enslaved by people's opinions of me," said Chavis, now the defensive player development coach at Clemson.

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (BP)-- Alabama running back Josh Jacobs and three other Crimson Tide football players provided a pleasant surprise for a 13-year-old boy while delivering a mattress and bed to a Tuscaloosa home in partnership with Calvary Baptist Church's S.D. Allen Ministry. Jacobs walked into the house, and the boy who lived there looked him up and down. "Are you Josh Jacobs?" the boy asked. Jeff Hurn, director of the S.D. Allen Ministry, noted it "was such a cool thing that somebody that these kids essentially look up to as role models, it's something special to see them realize that those guys are real people who care as well."

BOSTON (BP)-- Ted Barrett had made a deal with God, or so he thought, when he was a young umpire in the minor leagues. He wondered for a while if God was calling him into ministry. He promised God that if baseball didn't work out, and that if he never got a job in the big leagues, then he'd pursue that calling. Barrett did more than just get a job in the big leagues. As the umpire crew chief for this year's World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers, he has reached the pinnacle of his profession.

BOSTON (BP)-- Luis Ortiz stepped into the shadow of the Green Monster at Fenway Park in Boston 25 years ago to make his Major League debut with the Red Sox. His career as a player, shortened by injuries and a playing field that wasn't always level, never blossomed. In an era when steroids abounded, Ortiz refused to take shortcuts to success. Tuesday night (Oct. 23), Ortiz stepped onto the field in Fenway Park once more, this time as the assistant hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers -- his childhood dream of making it to the World Series finally realized. The Dodgers lost 8-4 in the opening game of the series. They play again tonight.

Southern Baptist evangelists who are concerned about the evangelism and baptism trends they see in the SBC want to partner with pastors and local churches in efforts to reach the lost.

Revival services are no longer common. Baptisms are declining. Full-time evangelists are rarely invited to speak in Southern Baptist churches. Those concerns were the topic of conversation among a group of fifteen evangelists in Jackson, Tennessee.

JACKSON, Tenn. (BP) -- Christians must ask everyone to follow Jesus and willingly associate with those who don't, James Merritt, a former Southern Baptist Convention president, said during the third annual West Tennessee Evangelism Rally at Union University. "The business of the church, and the business of every follower of Jesus Christ, is to find missing people and invite them to follow Jesus," said Merritt, pastor of Crosspointe Church in Duluth, Ga. "If we are not in that business, we are out of business." Merritt was the keynote speaker at the rally that drew more than 800 people for a worship service, dinner and breakout sessions March 4 at Union's campus in Jackson, Tenn. The event included for the first time a women's track and a student track.

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (BP) -- The extinguished Olympic torch on Sunday officially ended the 2018 Winter Olympics. And for some Christian athletes, this year's games were especially sweet -- but they seemed to keep their wins in perspective. U.S. freestyle skier and gold medalist David Wise had the words "I cannot fail because it is not my victory" written on his sleeve during the competition. "That is my way of reminding myself I am not here to glorify myself," Wise said. "I ...