By Baptist Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) — Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd called for pastoral leadership in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination to seize a “Bonhoeffer moment” by refusing to be silent in the face of persecution, to hold on to the Word of God, take heart and be encouraged. “The lostness has never been greater in our dangerous and hopeless world,” Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector COLUMBUS, Ohio – With the decision of the United States Supreme Court on whether all states must recognize same-sex marriage still to come, Southern Baptists have made it clear where they stand. Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Columbus passed a resolution June 16 that declared that “no matter how the Supreme Court rules, the Southern Baptist Convention reaffirms its

By Baptist Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) — Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd was reelected without opposition to a second term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention June 16 during the SBC annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Registered messengers totaled 5,277 messengers at the time. Floyd was nominated by North Carolina pastor J.D. Greear, who said, “God’s hand has been upon Brother Ronnie. I believe he is the man God has

By Baptist Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) — Messengers to the 2015 Southern Baptist Convention adopted nine resolutions — some on culturally divisive issues — with almost no opposition. All the resolutions offered in the Tuesday afternoon session (June 16) at the SBC’s meeting gained passage by unanimous or nearly unanimous votes. The messengers affirmed biblically based stances on such topics as same-sex marriage, racial reconciliation and the sanctity of human

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector COLUMBUS, Ohio – Prayer needs to be the priority of every Christian’s life, affirmed Tennessee Baptist Steve Gaines of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova. In the final message of the afternoon session of the Southern Baptist Pastors Conference June 15, Gaines observed, “a day without prayer is a wasted day.” Using Mark 11:22-26 as his text, Gaines noted that prayer can still move

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector COLUMBUS, Ohio – At least 345 individuals prayed to receive Christ as a result of Crossover 2015. Crossover is an evangelistic thrust held in the city hosting the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. Events were held for several days, but the major thrust occurred on Saturday, June 13. Rich Halcombe, director of missions for Metro Columbus (Ohio) Baptist Association, told messengers

By Baptist Press DALLAS — Churches and ministries that reimburse their employees for individual health coverage may soon find themselves facing stiff penalties of up to $36,500 per employee, per year, under the federal health care law commonly known as Obamacare, as a grace period expires June 30. The penalties on employers who maintain employer payment plans were to begin in January, but the IRS granted a six-month reprieve. Organizations