In the Witness this week

FBC photo by Vanessa Rodriguez

Florida Baptist Convention Executive Director-Treasurer John Sullivan addresses women attending the Celebration of Missions Conference following a parade of international flags carried by natives of each country. Members of First Baptist Church in Fort Walton Beach’s Girls in Action identify the country of each flag with signs.

Missions Friends celebrates 110th birthday
Published May 4, 2006

FORT WALTON BEACH (FBC)–Through vivid accounts of God’s work in the U.S. and across the world, missionaries and church leaders issued a call to pray diligently, give generously, and go boldly as Christ’s witnesses during the April 21-22 Celebration of Missions at First Baptist Church of Fort Walton Beach.

Women’s lives changed through New Start ministry
Published May 4, 2006

ORLANDO (FBW)–According to the Gospels, the Virgin Mary was overwhelmed in hearing from the Lord’s messenger that she was going to give birth to a son. She knew she possibly would have to raise her child as a single mother. Where did she turn for help?

Did Constantine ‘invent’ the New Testament?
Published May 4, 2006

GRACEVILLE (FBW) – Dan Brown’s phenomenal best-seller The Da Vinci Code attacks the essence of Christianity by attacking the deity of Christ. Constantine, the fourth-century Roman Emperor, used the Council of Nicaea to “promote” Jesus from mortal to deity, Brown asserts. To certify this promotion of Jesus, Constantine further “invented” a new Bible by imperial financing that excluded other gospels by the power of the Roman Emperor.

Opinion

Editorial

A Baptist heretic, Jimmy Carter and ‘A North American Baptist Covenant’
JAMES A. SMITH SR
Executive Editor

There he goes again.

Point of View

Another examination of The Da Vinci Code reveals ‘mischief’
CHARLES COLSON
Breakpoint

Three years after its original release, Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code is riding a whole new wave of publicity. With the recent plagiarism trial in Great Britain and the upcoming release of the film adaptation, the book is making headlines all over again.

‘CSI,’ Intelligent Design and an awesome cover-up
MARK COPPENGER
Baptist Press

God created the world, but the opponents of Intelligent Design (ID) would have us believe that, if He did so, He did it without a trace – or that it would be unscientific to admit that you found His fingerprints on nature.

Adult versus embryonic stem cells
C. BEN MITCHELL
Baptist Press

On Nov. 6, 1998, in a three-page article in the journal Science, professor James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin reported that he had developed the first colony of human embryonic stem cells. And the controversy over that discovery continues unabated.

Florida

Florida News

Missions Friends celebrates 110th birthday

FORT WALTON BEACH (FBC)–Through vivid accounts of God’s work in the U.S. and across the world, missionaries and church leaders issued a call to pray diligently, give generously, and go boldly as Christ’s witnesses during the April 21-22 Celebration of Missions at First Baptist Church of Fort Walton Beach.

Adoption workshop urges biblical support of orphans

PENSACOLA (FBW)–With 135,000 children in the foster care system in the United States and an estimated 35-70 million orphans worldwide, Hillcrest Baptist Church in Pensacola is taking a closer look at how it can be part of a larger effort to promote adopting children into Christian homes.

Workshop, EvangeCube lead to swimming pool baptism

MILTON (FBC)–Nine persons were led to faith in Christ during a workshop on intentional evangelism as church leaders in the Santa Rosa Baptist Association put into practice insights learned during the three-day meeting.

Lives change, baptisms increase using IECS

JACKSONVILLE (FBC)–The numbers begin to tell the story.

Florida News Briefs

Retreat features Artic Edge theme

Conference gives Sunday School helps

Regional disaster relief training sessions

Conference helps churches in change

National

National News

IMB president speaks candidly on a variety of issues
Part II: Rankin on blogging, relationships with SBC leaders and retirement

MARIANNA (FBW)–A week after the trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board met in Tampa and hammered out how they would handle disagreement in the future, IMB president, Jerry Rankin, told Florida Baptist Witness the board’s actions were “healthy,” though the mission entity cannot be distracted by “controversies, perceptions and conjecture.”

Public Policy

ERLC asks pastors to support marriage amendment

WASHINGTON (BP)–The Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy entity and the advocacy offshoot of a well-known pro-family organization have collaborated to urge pastors to promote support for a federal amendment to protect marriage.

Churches still tax-exempt, may support amendments

PHOENIX (BP)–Churches can support proposed constitutional marriage amendments without any fear of losing their tax-exempt status, an attorney with a religious liberty organization says.

Features

Godly Women

Women’s lives changed through New Start ministry

ORLANDO (FBW)–According to the Gospels, the Virgin Mary was overwhelmed in hearing from the Lord’s messenger that she was going to give birth to a son. She knew she possibly would have to raise her child as a single mother. Where did she turn for help?

Gainesville pastor’s wife: Traveling, teaching & treatment

GAINESVILLE (FBW)–Freda Crawford, in the midst of treatment for multiple myeloma, renewed her passport and used it within two weeks of receiving the document. In her sixth year of struggling with cancer, Crawford is busy at Gainesville’s Westside Baptist Church, at the University of Florida, and with family members in Nicaragua.

MISSIONS: Beyond the wheelchair
Miami woman travels to Dominican Republic

MIAMI (FBW)–“If I can do it, anybody can,” said Bernadette Todd in challenging her fellow Southern Baptists to venture into the international mission field. Wheelchair-bound Bernadette Todd, a member of Christ Fellowship Church in Miami, returned recently to her home from a 10-day speaking tour in Dominican Republic, and is already planning another mission trip to Bolivia in July.

Resources

Media Montage

Did Constantine ‘invent’ the New Testament?

GRACEVILLE (FBW) – Dan Brown’s phenomenal best-seller The Da Vinci Code attacks the essence of Christianity by attacking the deity of Christ. Constantine, the fourth-century Roman Emperor, used the Council of Nicaea to “promote” Jesus from mortal to deity, Brown asserts. To certify this promotion of Jesus, Constantine further “invented” a new Bible by imperial financing that excluded other gospels by the power of the Roman Emperor.

La. convention offers Da Vinci Code ‘Fact or Fiction’ DVD

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)–Did Jesus Christ have a wife? Is the Bible a mere compilation of ancient manuscripts? Will the upcoming Sony release of The DaVinci Code create a panic in the Christian community?

CD encourages graduates to keep faith in Christ strong

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (FBW)–The youth ministry resource group interl’inc has issued the 2006 ConGRADulations! CD, a tool developed to help graduates stay strong in their faith as they transition into a new phase of their lives.

Bible Study

Family Bible Study

May 14: Hannah: Determined Devotion
1 Samuel 1:1-2, 6-7, 10-13, 15-18, 27-2:2

Wiley Richards is a retired professor of theology and philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

May 21: Lydia: Willing Service
Acts 16:11-15, 40; Philippians 1:3-11

Wiley Richards is a retired professor of theology and philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

Explore the Bible

May 14: Accept God’s Free Offer
Isaiah 54:1–57:21

Troy Bush is the minister of evangelism and missions at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola.

May 21: Get Real
Isaiah 58:1–66:24; Micah 6:6-8

Troy Bush is the minister of evangelism and missions at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola.