‘Points of Challenge’ speakers urge SBC toward greater faith
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| Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, gives an emotional account of the challenges his congregation has faced since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.Photo by Jonathan Blair |
The challenges underscored SBC President Bobby Welch’s “Everyone Can” campaign to baptize 1 million souls in a year.
David Cox, co-pastor of First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla., first challenged Southern Baptists to win the world to Christ through clearly demonstrated Christian love.
“You know if there is one thing that we are missing in our Southern Baptist Convention, something that we need to grasp more of, it is the whole concept of Christian love and loving one another and loving sinners,” Cox said.
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| “If we are going to be fishers of men we have to put our hooks in the water,” says James L. Walker, pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church, Arden, N.C., during a June 13 session of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C. Photo by Matt Miller |
Preaching from Mark 9:12-13, Cox exhorted messengers to remember that it is not the healthy who need a physician but the sick and that Jesus desires our compassion over sacrifice.
“If you’re trying to get a handle like I am on what’s this all about, and what God is calling me to do and what He is calling us to do as a convention, I believe with all my heart it is to love a lost and dying world and to show them the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said. “I’m not sure they know that we love them. I’m not sure at all.”
Multiple ethnic groups & family units represented in baptisms
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| Darlene Jerez, 15, of Iglesia Cristiana Internacional in Greensboro, N.C., is baptized by her pastor, David Duarte, in a session of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 13-14 in Greensboro, N.C. Each session of the meeting featured a baptism service performed by a local church.Photo by Bill Bangham |
In what SBC President Bobby Welch called “a wonderful expression -- the first big step of a believer,” local pastors baptized 17 Anglo, Vietnamese and Hispanic families and friends in the presence of messengers gathered at the convention.
“In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I baptize you,” each of the pastors echoed as they led their portion of the ceremony, interspersed throughout each of the sessions.
Jesse Wilson, the pastor of discipleship at Life Community Fellowship, baptized six people who recently came to faith in his Jamestown, N.C., church.
Golden Gate announces partnership with Korean Seminary
GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)--Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, told messengers about the seminary’s passions and partnerships during the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention June 13.
N.O. Seminary pledges not to abandon local churches & ministries
GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)--Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, praised God’s provision and sacrificial giving by Southern Baptists during his report to messengers at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention June 13.
‘Tangible acts of service’ must accompany the Gospel, Akin says
GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)--Whether by taking the Gospel across the streets of North America or to the nations of the world, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has the Great Commission on its heart, according to President Daniel Akin.
Mohler: Southern serves churches by preparing Gospel ministers
GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)--Developing mature, faithful Christian workers to serve in the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ is why Southern Baptist Theological Seminary exists, President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said June 14 at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Greensboro, N.C.
Southwestern deans outline importance of a seminary education
GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)--Students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and its College at Southwestern are being trained in Western philosophy and expository preaching in order to confront culture and win lost people to faith in Jesus Christ, David Allen and Emir Caner reported to Southern Baptist Convention messengers June 13.
SBC resolutions include call for balance on immigration
GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)--Messengers to the 2006 Southern Baptist Convention overwhelmingly approved 15 resolutions June 14, including one that sought to balance faithful enforcement of the United States’ immigration laws with compassionate outreach to all immigrants.
‘Stay focused on the task’ of reaching the nations, Rankin says
GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)--God is moving as never before with opportunities to carry out the missions task, International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin said during the closing session of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C., June 14.
Welch calls for ‘more’ in presidential address
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| Bobby Welch tells churches “We can do more, we should do more and we will do more” referring to baptisms in his final address as president of the Southern Baptist Convention June 14 at the annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C.Photo by Jonathan Blair |
Preaching from the John 6:1-14 account of the young boy whose five loaves and two fishes ultimately fed 5,000 people, Welch often repeated the word “more.”
