By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. We’ve all heard that sports cliché and frankly it is one I don’t particularly like. Yes, it does matter how you play the game, but the point of playing the game is to win. However, how we deal with setbacks reveals our true character and builds resiliency. Like Thomas Edison
By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director Almost everyone has seen the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels perform their amazing aerial acrobatics. These highly skilled pilots are among the best of the best in the world. The “Blues” as they are nicknamed, fly $60 million F/A-18s inches apart at hundreds of miles per hour. There is virtually no margin for error. These pilots strive for perfection every time. But they are
By David Roach Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — Decreases in the number of baptisms and new churches reported by International Mission Board missionaries during the past decade reflect changes in data-reporting methods and missions strategy, not a lack of evangelistic ministry. That’s the conclusion of a March 21 IMB news release issued in response to observations that overseas baptisms for 2015 are at their lowest level since 1969 — 54,762,
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector In the Jan. 27 issue I wrote a column expressing concern about the lack of information coming out of the International Mission Board. The IMB had made some major decisions about needing to cut between 600 and 800 missionary/staff positions due to overspending by $210 million over the past five years or so. In addition, the IMB announced it was eliminating its Communications
By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director It was a dark day two weeks ago when International Mission Board President David Platt stepped to the microphone to inform Southern Baptists that 983 missionaries and 149 IMB staffers were stepping away from their involvement in taking the gospel to the nations. Dr. Platt described it best when he spoke of the “heaviness” of the day. I agreed, and wondered, “How’d we
IMB ‘reset’ will allow missions agency to have balanced budget for 2016-17 By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector RICHMOND — Trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board were told Feb. 24 that 988 missionaries are leaving the missions field along with 149 stateside staff members. Last August IMB President David Platt announced that for financial reasons, the IMB needed to cut 600-800 missionary/staff positions. Over recent years the
Baptist Press RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — Following an “organizational reset” that saw more than 1,100 International Mission Board personnel transition away from the board, President David Platt told a March 3 live stream audience he is ready to focus on the future. “I really want to shift the conversation from talking about numbers and finances to talking about how this army of brothers and sisters going out specifically from Southern
Baptist Press RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — International Mission Board President David Platt will host a one-hour live streamed video session on the entity’s future at 11 a.m. Eastern Time March 3, answering questions and responding to comments submitted via Twitter under #IMBLive. Platt has expressed a desire to move the conversation beyond discussion of the 983 missionaries and 149 stateside staff members leaving IMB through a Voluntary Retirement Incentive (VRI)
By Charles Braddix IMB Writer STOCKHOLM, Sweden — What’s the most embarrassing thing you can talk about in your city? Discussions that include God, said a Scandinavian pastor. The pastor in Denmark told this to sociologist Phil Zuckerman, who spent 14 months interviewing nearly 150 Scandinavians, according to The New York Times. This can pose a dilemma for Christian workers trying to evangelize and plant churches in countries like Denmark,
By Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — After nearly an hour of discussion, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s officers withdrew a recommendation to propose granting representation on three key SBC committees to Baptists in pioneer regions. EC leadership promised, however, to make an alternate proposal with the same goal but addressing logistical concerns raised by EC members. In other business during the EC’s Feb. 22-23 meeting Nashville, the committee recommended
By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. We’ve all heard that sports
By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director Almost everyone has seen the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels perform their amazing aerial acrobatics. These highly skilled pilots
By David Roach Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — Decreases in the number of baptisms and new churches reported by International Mission Board missionaries during the
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector In the Jan. 27 issue I wrote a column expressing concern about the lack of information coming out
By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director It was a dark day two weeks ago when International Mission Board President David Platt stepped to the
IMB ‘reset’ will allow missions agency to have balanced budget for 2016-17 By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector RICHMOND — Trustees of the Southern
Baptist Press RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — Following an “organizational reset” that saw more than 1,100 International Mission Board personnel transition away from the board, President
Baptist Press RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — International Mission Board President David Platt will host a one-hour live streamed video session on the entity’s future at
By Charles Braddix IMB Writer STOCKHOLM, Sweden — What’s the most embarrassing thing you can talk about in your city? Discussions that include God, said
By Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — After nearly an hour of discussion, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s officers withdrew a recommendation to propose granting
