Pensacola Florida (FL)

Official web site of this international fellowship of Missionary Baptist churches. They were influenced by the Landmark Baptists and stress the autonomy of ...

The Baptist Missionary Association of Texas (BMAT) consists of approximately 400 Baptist churches across the state of Texas

Welcome to the Biblical Hebrew (Self-Taught) Study Group. For those who want to learn Biblical Hebrew for the sake of knowledge without college tuition. "Study to shew yourselves approved unto God...”

Baptist International Missions Inc.

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What The Bible Says - Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

Looking for a bivocational pastor

What The Bible Says - Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

What The Bible Says - Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

Seeking the Lord for their next Pastor

Luke 22:35-38 And he said unto them, “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing?” And they said ...

John 21:15-25 “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?

Matthew 25:1-13 1. The Circumstances (v. 1-5) 2. The Call (v. 6-10) 3. The Contrast (v. 11-13)

Ezra 2:1, 64-70 1. They were Sustained by God 2. They were Special to God 3. They were Serving with God.

We do not deserve to wield influence in the church while being simps and sycophants to the secular world.There’s good reason for the church to be wary of social media influencers—particularly those who speak to spiritual matters. We aren’t wrong to be disconcerted at the idea of Christians being led by online personalities who might be more charismatic than theologically sound or more creative than credible, especially when the influencers are disconnected from church discipleship and discipline themselves. Algorithms, monetization, and viral moments create endless temptations and adverse incentives that can seduce even well-meaning creators into serving themselves and the worst elements of pop culture.Yet I’m also persuaded it’s possible for Christians to speak faithfully in that tension, and that we do ourselves no favors by running away from the reality of social media’s influence.I was reminded of this while attending this month’s Black Christian Influencers (BCI) Conference, where founder Jackie Horbrook succeeded in curating an atmosphere that was both aesthetically dope and substantively gospel-centered. Christian creators in fields as varied as theology, activism, and fashion came together to discuss how to use their platforms to glorify God—and how to navigate the risks that come with staying on the cutting edge of culture while centering Christ.Those risks are not as new as they may seem. In John 7, Jesus’ brothers essentially tell him that he’s not maximizing his potential as a pre-digital influencer. He needed to be more outward-facing, they argued, and show off his miraculous works more frequently because “no one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret” (v. 4).That advice exposed their failure to understand ...Continue reading...

ECFA is adding leadership integrity to its accountability criteria. The accreditation agency for over 2,700 evangelical nonprofits wants to raise its standards to address “one of the greatest financial risks” posed to churches and ministries today: moral failures by leadership.For decades, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) has established guidelines around financial transparency, stewardship, and governance. This year, the organization announced plans to add a new requirement to address the integrity and character of a ministry’s leaders.It’d be the biggest change to ECFA’s standards in 45 years.First introduced in March 2024, the proposed standard states, “Every organization shall proactively care for its leader and support the integrity of its leader in conformity with ECFA’s Policy for Excellence in Supporting Leadership Integrity.”ECFA members and experts in the Christian nonprofit agree with the idea of the new standard but aren’t sure exactly how to implement it.In an interview with Christianity Today, ECFA president and CEO Michael Martin likened the standard to a guardrail. While no written policy or accountability measure could eliminate sinful behavior by leadership—each leader ultimately bears responsibility for their own integrity—organizations can be doing more to help keep them in check.“There’s consensus around the idea … that the board has an opportunity and responsibility to come alongside a leader to help leaders be in a position where they can best thrive,” Martin said.In 2021, ECFA surveyed more than 800 of its member ministry leaders and board chairs, and 94 percent said leadership failures are impacting donor trust. Respondents also said they needed more ...Continue reading...

Wherever there are states offering some real legal protections for unborn children, you've heard alarms sounded. A rash of stories have suddenly appeared about desperate women and anxious doctors fearful that, because of the law, they will be unable to treat their patients for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, or other medical conditions that may pose a […]The post Abortion Bans are Not Denying Pregnant Women Health Care appeared first on LifeNews.com.

Long-standing norms against drinking, tattoos, and Catholic-coded church practices have rapidly fallen. What's going on?Something has happened in the last 25 years in American evangelicalism—what I believe to be a massive generational shift. I’d like to sketch a picture of the change I see and ask if you see it too.First, though, let me set the scene. I have in mind low-church Protestant traditions in the United States: churches centered on the Bible, evangelism, and personal faith in Jesus; often but not necessarily nondenominational, with moderate to minimal emphasis on sacraments, liturgy, and ecclesiastical authority; and marked by a revivalist style as well as conservative beliefs about sex, marriage, and other social issues. Historically, these congregations were predominantly white and middle- to lower-class, though not as uniformly as is often imagined. Many were founded within the last three decades, and they’re typically given to long sermons, contemporary worship, monthly Communion, and lots of lights.These are the churches in which I’ve noticed what I would call a kind of loosening. This shift is largely unwitting, or at least unplanned. It is not consistent or ideological; it is not a program or platform; it’s not even conservative or liberal per se (and my goal here is not to render an overall positive or negative judgement on the change). This loosening consists of a broad relaxation of previously unspoken—or at least unwritten—social norms.The most obvious example is attitudes about alcohol. For generations, American evangelicals were known to be highly suspicious of drinking, sometimes to the point of being teetotalers. This remained true through my teen years, and when I heard that Brother Joe or Sister Jane enjoyed a glass of wine before bed, it was whispered ...Continue reading...

His upbeat hits and worship collaborations are capturing younger listeners on social media. Some of the most popular music we hear in our Instagram and TikTok feeds comes from Forrest Frank, the independent artist and music producer known for his viral, feel-good songs.His beat-driven pop combines vibey grooves and infectious hooks in hits like “Up!” and “Good Day.”Frank was the top-ranked new artist on last year’s Billboard Christian charts, and his advice for fellow Christian musicians is this: Make good music, and the audience will follow.The 28-year-old has found a massive audience by leveraging his production abilities, social media savvy, and collaborative approach to music-making. But he’s confident his songs climb the charts on Spotify and trend on social platforms because they are good songs, not because he’s figured out how to hack the algorithms.“If your content’s not doing well, the song’s not good enough,” the 28-year-old said on YTH Nation, a podcast by the youth ministry at Elevation Church.The Waco, Texas-based musician and Baylor University grad is half of the popular duo Surfaces, and he has teamed up with an array of popular Christian artists including Elevation, Maverick City Music, Lecrae, and Hulvey.A common theme of Forrest Frank’s social media content is debunking the perception that Christian music is boring or corny, or that young people won’t listen to music with faith-forward lyrics. His success seems to be proving that there is a large cohort of Gen-Z Christians looking for music that speaks openly and unapologetically about Jesus.One of his viral reels shows Frank and Hulvey leading a passionate crowd of young adults in worship at a concert with ...Continue reading...