In the Witness this week

Pastor: Online confession 'Good for the Soul'
JONI B. HANNIGAN
Managing Editor
Published June 7, 2007

COOPER CITY (FBW)—The concept of a dramatic confession is not new. An individual sits in a dark, two-sided booth with a small sliding door where they catch a glimpse of a shadowed figure on the other side. They confess their sins and receive instructions on absolution. What is new is that concept played out online-minus the absolution.

What if a hurricane hits where you live?
Floridians unprepared for disasters, survey shows
CAROLYN NICHOLS
Newswriter
Published June 7, 2007

Page to Carter: Less 'mic' more Bible
Published June 7, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page has called on organizers of a planned January 2008 gathering of moderates and liberals to focus less on their plan to "take the microphone away" from conservatives and attend more to spreading the message of the Gospel.

Ken Whitten to nominate Georgian for Pastors' Conf.
JAMES A. SMITH SR.
Executive Editor
Published June 7, 2007

LUTZ (FBW)—Michael Catt, senior pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., will be nominated as president of the Pastors' Conference, Florida pastor Ken Whitten announced June 1.

Mac Brunson to nominate Texas exec for first VP
Frank Page ready for second term
Published June 7, 2007

JACKSONVILLE (BP)—Mac Brunson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, has announced his intention to nominate James W. Richards, executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Opinion

Point of View

A reminder to Nana: Trust in God's faithfulness
JONI B. HANNIGAN
Managing Editor

Recently my pastor asked for those who had ever heard God speak to them in an audible voice to raise their hand.

The death of legacy
ERGUN CANER
Liberty Theological Seminary

Recently, I sat in the packed auditorium of Thomas Road Baptist Church, and I actually shivered.

LifeWay private prayer language research disappointing
MALCOLM YARNELL
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Prior to recognizing and surrendering to the call of God upon my life, I was a practicing economist and financier. Statistics and accounting—the discipline of mathematics applied to social trends and the management of money—were the focus of my daily thoughts and deeds. The statistical side of economics in comparison with the reporting side of accounting brought greater joy to this former practitioner of the financial arts as economics involves understanding human behavior. Yet, like other social scientists, economists deal with both the measurable and the immeasurable precisely because they are dealing with the attitudes and actions of human beings.

Car wreck confessions: Online mea culpas
CHARLES COLSON
Breakpoint

Confessing your deepest, darkest sins has become the latest craze, at least on the Internet. Recently, a new wave of websites have popped up, calling all sinners to come forward—anonymously, of course.

Florida

Florida News

Pastor: Online confession 'Good for the Soul'

COOPER CITY (FBW)—The concept of a dramatic confession is not new. An individual sits in a dark, two-sided booth with a small sliding door where they catch a glimpse of a shadowed figure on the other side. They confess their sins and receive instructions on absolution. What is new is that concept played out online-minus the absolution.

State Board establishes Orlando 'hub' for education

LEESBURG (FBC)—Florida Baptists' statewide system of theological education was expanded with funding and staff during the State Board of Missions meeting May 25.

SBOM taps Miller as African American Ministries Director, adds 3 new staff

LEESBURG (FBC)—The promotion of a Florida Baptist Convention staff member to a division level position and the hiring of three persons to the Convention staff highlighted personnel matters during the May 25 State Board of Missions meeting at Lake Yale Conference Center.

141 Baptized at Cocoa Beach in special ceremony
Participation spikes in second year of beach baptisms

COCOA BEACH (FBW)—More than 1,000 people showed up at Cocoa Beach as First Baptist Church in Orlando, in a special ceremony, baptized 141 people clad in special blue shirts featuring the church's logo.

Project Light takes Bibles to Congress, Pentagon

LAKELAND (FBW)—In a continuing effort to saturate Washington, D.C., with God's Word, First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland members recently distributed Bibles in the offices of senators and members of congress. Team members visited 435 offices in three government buildings in one business day to personally thank staff members and hand each a Bible.

CROSS ROADS broadcast available on DVD, VHS

JACKSONVILLE (FBC)—Hours before volunteers from Northwood Baptist Church in West Palm Beach are ready to distribute boxes of food; cars line the church's parking lot.

Florida News Briefs

Sheridan House president keynote speaker Aug. 13-15 at Family Leadership conference in Lake Yale

Florida Focus

Florida Focus

A one-time announcement of special events is a free service provided by the Witness to Florida Baptist churches. Please send materials at least three weeks before the date of the event, to Florida Baptist Witness, 1230 Hendricks Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32207, fax 904-346-0696 or submitted using our online form. Items received after deadline may appear in our exclusive on-line version.

National

National News

Page to Carter: Less 'mic' more Bible

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page has called on organizers of a planned January 2008 gathering of moderates and liberals to focus less on their plan to "take the microphone away" from conservatives and attend more to spreading the message of the Gospel.

Spiritual interest rises among Hispanics, study says2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—Two Southern Baptist Hispanic leaders see evidence of a spiritual hunger and high receptivity to the Gospel among Hispanics in a recent study by the Pew Research Center.

Seminary News

Mohler points Southern grads to Paul-Timothy example

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)—The father-son relationship of the Apostle Paul and Timothy provides ministers with much wisdom in serving a local congregation, R. Albert Mohler Jr. told graduates during spring commencement at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Southeastern graduates know value of human souls

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (SEBTS)—Visitors to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary saw the school's passion for people throughout the world during the commencement ceremonies for the seminary and Southeastern College at Wake Forest May 25.

Prisoners ministering to inmates among NOBTS grads
May 2007 NOBTS graduates include 12 with Florida ties

NEW ORLEANS (BP)—New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley said the seminary's 89th graduating class should always remember one lesson learned from Hurricane Katrina: "In Christ alone I have all I need."

Missions News

Teen not just a missionary kid, but a missionary

BURKINA FASO, West Africa (IMB)—He knows two languages fluently, English and French, and is in the process of learning a third. He also greets in seven languages and he is 17 years old.

Serving MKs at home and abroad

Many missionary kid's live in hostile environments with their families. They are called to love and work among people who need to hear about Jesus. They are often pulled from their home, like Zac, and never see their friends again because of civil war.

2007 SBC Annual Meeting

Mac Brunson to nominate Texas exec for first VP
Frank Page ready for second term

JACKSONVILLE (BP)—Mac Brunson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, has announced his intention to nominate James W. Richards, executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Ken Whitten to nominate Georgian for Pastors' Conf.

LUTZ (FBW)—Michael Catt, senior pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., will be nominated as president of the Pastors' Conference, Florida pastor Ken Whitten announced June 1.

Features

Tongues/Private Prayer Debate

Point of View
LifeWay private prayer language research disappointing

Prior to recognizing and surrendering to the call of God upon my life, I was a practicing economist and financier. Statistics and accounting—the discipline of mathematics applied to social trends and the management of money—were the focus of my daily thoughts and deeds. The statistical side of economics in comparison with the reporting side of accounting brought greater joy to this former practitioner of the financial arts as economics involves understanding human behavior. Yet, like other social scientists, economists deal with both the measurable and the immeasurable precisely because they are dealing with the attitudes and actions of human beings.

LifeWay offers research on glossolalia beliefs
Half of SBC pastors surveyed believe private prayer language gift possible, while under six percent of recent SBC seminary graduates practice PPL

NASHVILLE (SBT)—Half of Southern Baptists pastors surveyed by LifeWay Research believe it is possible for the Holy Spirit to give some people the gift of a special language to pray to God privately—often referred to as a private prayer language. However, in a separate survey of recent SBC seminary graduates, less than 6% of the graduates said they prayed in tongues, have a private prayer language or practiced glossolalia. Among those graduates now working in Southern Baptist ministries, the number of practitioners goes down to less than 4%.

First person
Is praying in tongues biblical?

Everyone seems to be talking about speaking in tongues these days. Though that is not the same as everyone talking in tongues, there is no doubt that there is great interest in this topic. There are many facets to the subject of tongues. Is it the initial evidence of Spirit baptism? Should all Christians speak in tongues? Was speaking in tongues only intended for the New Testament era? Is it actual language or only "ecstatic utterance"? Those are all important questions that beg our attention, but in this article I am only going to address directly the question of tongues as prayer language. Dealing with that topic will require that I open the door on a couple of these other issues, but I will not be able to investigate them with any thoroughness at all.

Hurricanes: Baptists Respond

What if a hurricane hits where you live?
Floridians unprepared for disasters, survey shows

Godly Men

Blue Angels
Chaplain on the flight deck

PENSACOLA (FBW)—Loitering around Training Air Wing Six, home of the U.S. Navy's famed Blue Angles precision flying team, is sweet irony to Lt. Michael Peyton who was dropped in 1983 from the University of Florida's Air Force ROTC program.

Army Chaplain Pete Keough
Chaplain sees war's toll, God's hand

FORT POLK, La. (BP)—Southern Baptist Army chaplain Pete Keough is no stranger to war and the loss it brings—nor the mysterious ways of God.

Baptist Businessman Walter Johnson
Background checks give peace of mind in church settings

OCALA (FBW)—A Christian organization about to hire a pastor for an executive position halted the process when a red flag appeared on his criminal record. The pastor claimed he didn't commit the crime, but the company performing the background check was unwilling to check further to verify the information.

Baptist Businessman Jim Tatum
'Suits for Servants' arrive in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS (BP)—Pinstripes and solids abounded when New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary students picked up their new suits May 10-11, thanks to Jim Tatum's "Suits for Servants" ministry.

Graduate Darrell Brit
Graduate recalls journey

GRACEVILLE (BCF)—During graduation practice, I showed one of the younger graduates my first student I.D. On it was the picture I took when I began this journey more than nine years ago. The college did not have Heritage Village; it did not have the gymnasium that we graduated in; the Chapel did not look like it does today; the library was much smaller; and the name of the school was "Florida Baptist Theological College," not "The Baptist College of Florida." And in those days there was hair on my head.

First person from the front
In Iraq soldiers aid & 'protect the children'

This unnamed Godly Man is one of our very own Florida Baptist pastors who has recently returned from military service in Iraq where his son continues to serve. He represents an untold number of Godly Men who are serving in the military.:

Media Montage

Persecuted women model sacrificial living

JACKSONVILLE (FBW)—In Singing through the Night: Courageous Stories of Faith from Women in the Persecuted Church, Anneke Companjen, a missionary with Open Doors, shares many untold stores of the persecuted church—stories of women who bravely follow Christ at any cost. These women have lost husbands, children, homes, jobs—even their very freedom and yet continue to praise and serve their Lord.

Obituary

Baylor's Herbert Reynolds dies at age 77

Edward Stalnecker, evangelist, dies at 75

Bible Study

Family Bible Study

June 24: Renew Your Devotion Today
Deuteronomy 29:10-15; 30:1-20

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

June 10: Practice Obedience Diligently
Deut. 4:1-2, 6-9, 15-20, 39-40

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

June 17: Remember the Lord Is God
Deut. 8:1-14; 17-18

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

Explore the Bible

June 24: From Despair to Confidence
Habakkuk

Mark Rathel is professor of theology at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

June 10: The Day of the Lord
Obadiah

Mark Rathel is professor of theology at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

June 17: If God Be Against Us
Nahum

Mark Rathel is professor of theology at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.