September 22, 2024
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GBMB and Friends of Kaleo reach agreement that could keep Camp Kaleo open

A camp counselor leads her group on a hike at Camp Kaleo in Forsyth, Ga., on July 18, 2023. (Index/Henry Durand, File)
SUWANEE, Ga. — The Georgia Baptist Mission Board and Friends of Kaleo, Inc., have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that could allow the continued operation of Camp Kaleo. Friends of Kaleo is a non-profit group of former staff, campers, churches, pastors, missionaries, and families created last year to generate financial support for Camp Kaleo and support its ministry.
Trending stories
Ricky Thrasher presents Frank Nuckolls, left, with a letter of appreciation at the 200th anniversary celebration of the Flint River Baptist Association.
Flint River Baptist Association celebrates 200th birthday
ZEBULON, Ga. — On Sunday evening, Sept. 15, the Flint River Baptist Association met at First Baptist Church in Zebulon for its annual associational meeting and bicentennial anniversary celebration. Associational Mission Strategist Frank Nuckolls announced that “What He’s Done!” would be the theme for the meeting.
A Northside mission team led a group of about 100 kids in a VBS-like Sunday morning worship experience in South Africa. (Photo/Northside Baptist Church)
Josh Foster mobilizes Northside Baptist members to be missionaries
VALDOSTA, Ga. — Georgia Baptists are blessed to have a significant number of churches that seek to enable and empower a community of saints to embrace and evangelize a lost world through the love of Christ. Northside Baptist Church in Valdosta is one of those churches.
Ben Mandrell, center, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, presented checks totaling $678,283.32 to International Mission Board president Paul Chitwood, right, and North American Mission Board president Kevin Ezell on Tuesday, Sept. 17, during the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee trustee meeting. (SBC/Brandon Porter)
Lifeway presents largest missions offering to IMB and NAMB in recent years
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — This summer, as thousands of kids and students attended Lifeway camps across the country, camp staff challenged them to think more broadly about their role in God’s mission to make disciples of all nations, and campers responded by giving generously to Southern Baptist missions endeavors.
Steve Browning, lead pastor of First Baptist Church Alpharetta. (Photo/FBC Alpharetta)
First Alpharetta Pastor Steve Browning to be nominated for president of Georgia Baptist Convention
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Steve Browning, lead pastor of First Baptist Church Alpharetta, will be nominated to serve as president of the Georgia Baptist Convention at the annual meeting scheduled for Nov. 11-12 in Statesboro.
Jason Crumly from West Rome Baptist church baptizes Shorter University defensive back Deidric Gibson as head coach Zach Morrison, left, celebrates. (Photo/courtesy Zach Morrison)
Shorter University football team sees 48 decisions, 17 baptisms before start of season
ROME, Ga. — Close to 50 football players on the team at Shorter University made decisions for Christ this year before the season started, and 17 followed through with believer’s baptism. Zach Morrison, in his seventh year as head coach, described what happened after players arrived at the school in early August for preseason training and conditioning camp.
Baptist Life

Jeff Iorg installed as SBC Executive Committee president

SBC Executive Committee members pray over new EC president and CEO Jeff Iorg and his wife, Ann, Iorg during their installation service Monday, Sept. 16. (Photo/SBC video via The Baptist Paper)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — While Jeff Iorg’s initial plans for retirement won’t happen as expected, the former president of Gateway Seminary noted he and his wife, Ann, are at peace because “God called, and here we are.”

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Kindergarten teacher Terrie Osborne helps students in her class at the Winter Garden Christian Academy,, Aug. 29, 2024, in Winter Garden, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Florida pastor Melvin Adams knows a few hours of church programming every week is no match for the more than 30 hours children spend at secular schools, absorbing lessons that he says run counter to their family’s Christian beliefs.
The presidents of Gateway Seminary and Korea Baptist Theological University and Seminary signed a memorandum of understanding to foster a growing educational relationship between the two schools. (Photo/Gateway)
ONTARIO, Calif. — The presidents of Gateway Seminary and Korea Baptist Theological University and Seminary signed a memorandum of understanding on Sept. 12, 2024, to foster a growing educational relationship between the two schools.
An unnamed tropical system brought heavy rain and flash flooding to southeastern North Carolina that washed out roads and impacted homes and businesses. (Biblical Recorder/Clay Warf)
SOUTHPORT, N.C. — Days after an unnamed tropical storm-like system dumped historic rainfall across the Cape Fear region of southeastern North Carolina, disaster response volunteers with N.C. Baptists on Mission are assisting those impacted by the storm.
Earl Martin
After a 14-month battle with cancer, Earl R. Martin passed peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones on August 23, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas. Martin, who taught missiology and world religions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1982-1987, was born in Milton, Pennsylvania, in 1927. In 1948, he married Mary Jane Winchester, his high school sweetheart in Washington D.C.
Georgia
A hiring sign is seen at a restaurant in Cartersville, Ga., March 21, 2023. (Index/Henry Durand, File)

Georgia unemployment increases for fourth straight month

ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate rose in August for the fourth month in a row, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. The state’s jobless rate of 3.6% last month was up two-tenths from July’s 3.4% but still six-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate. However, Georgia continued to set workforce records in August.

Former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday School class at the Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Ga., Aug. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Jimmy Carter receives Holbrooke award from Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation

NEW YORK (AP) — Less than two weeks before his 100th birthday, former President Jimmy Carter is receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation, which has set aside its longstanding rule that the winner accept the honor in person.
(Photo/Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities)

State launches 988 decal distributions to prevent student suicides

ATLANTA — Georgia’s mental health agency is partnering with the University System of Georgia to place decals listing the 988 suicide and crisis hotline number in the dorm rooms of every public college and university campus.
Georgia running back Trevor Etienne (1) leaps over Kentucky defensive back Kristian Story during the second half Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Kemp order lets colleges, universities make direct NIL payments to student-athletes

ATLANTA — Georgia colleges and universities may directly compensate student-athletes for the use of their name, image, and likeness under an executive order Gov. Brian Kemp issued Tuesday.

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Nation

Mass shooting kills 4, wounds many in nightlife area in Birmingham, Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A mass shooting killed four people and wounded 18 others in a popular nightlife area in Birmingham, Alabama, with many of the victims caught in the crossfire, police said early Sunday. No one was immediately arrested, and police asked the public for information.

This photo taken April 27, 2022, by Tonya Junker shows a sinkhole in the Hideaway Hills neighborhood near Rapid City, S.D. (Tonya Junker via AP)

Giant sinkholes in a South Dakota neighborhood make families fear for their safety

Stuart and Tonya Junker loved their quiet neighborhood near South Dakota's Black Hills — until the earth began collapsing around them, leaving them wondering if their home could tumble into a gaping hole.
FILE - The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali, May 12, 2024, in Baltimore, as seen from Riviera Beach, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FBI agents have boarded vessel managed by company whose other cargo ship collapsed Baltimore bridge

BALTIMORE (AP) — Federal agents have boarded a vessel managed by the same company as a cargo ship that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse, the FBI has confirmed.
Sean O'Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, speaks during the Republican National Convention, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

Teamsters union declines to endorse Trump or Harris for president

WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined Wednesday to endorse Kamala Harris or Donald Trump for president, saying neither candidate had sufficient support from the 1.3 million-member union.

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World
Henri Lema poses for a photograph outside his house in Nazareth village Southern Cameroon, Wednesday Aug. 21, 2024. Indigenous people have lived in harmony with the forests of central Africa for hundreds of years. But the government of Cameroon is trying to integrate them into mainstream society as mining and logging activities rapidly encroach. (AP Photos/Angel Ngwe)

Lack of birth certificates puts Cameroon’s Indigenous people on the brink of statelessness

MAYOS, Cameroon (AP) — The morning sun filtered through the forest canopy, casting dappled light on this village in Cameroon. For the Baka Indigenous community, it was a timeless image.

FILE - A black rhino, on the Red List of Threatened Species according to IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), eats grass at Nairobi National Park, on the outskirts of Nairobi, on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

The number of rhinos is slightly up but poaching has increased too

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The rhino population across the world has increased slightly but so have the killings, mostly in South Africa, as poaching fed by huge demand for rhino horns remains a top threat, conservationists said in a new report.
Israeli security and rescue forces work at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gil Nechushtan)

Hezbollah hits back with rockets as it declares an 'open-ended battle' with Israel

NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets early Sunday across northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, as Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon. A Hezbollah leader declared an “open-ended battle” was underway as both sides appeared to be spiraling closer toward all-out war.
In this photo released by Iranian Red Crescent Society, rescue personnel, police officers and some other people gather around the site of a coal mine where methane leak sparked an explosion on Saturday, in Tabas, some 335 miles (540 kilometers) southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Iranian Red Crescent Society, via AP)

At least 34 killed as methane leak causes explosion at eastern Iran coal mine, state TV reports

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A methane leak sparked an explosion at a coal mine in eastern Iran, killing at least 34 people and injuring another 17, Iranian state television reported Sunday. Some miners are believed to be trapped inside.

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Perspectives
Mike Griffin
The Georgia Baptist Mission Board is encouraging all our churches to make sure their members are registered to vote in the general election by October 7. Citizens may go to the Georgia Secretary of …
Todd Gray
I remember one Sunday leaving a church service and asking a close friend for feedback on my preaching. The friend said, “Maybe you’re called to teach instead of preach.”  My friend was only confirming what I knew. The sermon didn’t go well, and it was my fault.  
PJ Dunn
Launching new groups is one of the most impactful ways to cultivate a disciple-making culture within the church. As we strive to create environments where people grow together in faith, we need to think strategically about how and when new groups are formed. Group launch days provide churches with the perfect opportunity to help members not currently involved in small groups find a place to belong and grow.
David Chancey
Pastor Joe McKeever shared about an experience his friend Ralph Bethea had while distributing Bibles in Russia after the fall of communism. Bethea visited an older gentleman who talked of abandoning communism and returning to his mother’s faith.
Todd Gray
What drives you to your knees in prayer? A pastor friend said, as I was listening to him describe a remarkably difficult time in his pastorate, that this event was certainly causing him to pray, and in his words, “anything that makes you pray is a good thing.” 

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Business
FILE - In this photo taken with a slow shutter speed, autumn's colors peak on hardwood trees in a cemetery near the Congregational Church, Monday, Oct. 10, 2016, in Cumberland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

The Midwest could offer fall’s most electric foliage but leaf peepers elsewhere won’t miss out

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fall is back, and bringing with it jack-o'-lanterns, football, pumpkin spice everything and — in some parts of the country — especially vibrant foliage.

Colorful Tupperware products are seen in Bellflower, Calif. on Aug. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Garrett Cheen, File)

Tupperware files for Chapter 11

NEW YORK (AP) — The company behind Tupperware, the plastic kitchenware that revolutionized food storage after World War II and became inextricably linked to the parties where women seeking a measure of financial independence and fun in midcentury America sold the colorful products, has filed for bankruptcy.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Federal Reserve cuts key rate by sizable half-point

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by a half-point.
Boeing wing mechanic lead Lee Lara, who has worked for the company for 16 years, yells in response to honks from passing drivers as workers wave picket signs while striking Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, near the company's factory in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Boeing says it's considering temporary layoffs to save cash during the strike by machinists

SEATTLE (AP) — Boeing plans to freeze hiring and reduce travel and is considering temporary layoffs to save cash during a factory workers’ strike that began last week, the company told employees Monday. The company said the moves, which include reduced spending on suppliers, were necessary because “our business is in a difficult period.”
Boeing Machinists Union members react to passing vehicles while on the picket line at the company's factory in Renton, Wash., on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Striking Boeing factory workers say they are ready to hold out for a better contract

SEATTLE (AP) — Blue-collar workers from Boeing walked picket lines in the Pacific Northwest instead of building airplanes on Friday after they overwhelmingly rejected a proposed contract that would have raised their wages by 25% over four years.

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Sports
Atlanta Braves' Ramón Laureano splinters his bat during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Albies, Urshela homer as Braves edge Marlins 5-4

MIAMI (AP) — Michael Harris II tripled, singled and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 5-4 on Sunday.

Mississippi wide receiver Tre Harris III (9) dodges Georgia Southern defensive back Ayden Jackson (25) while running the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Oxford, Miss. (AP Photo/Sarah Warnock)

Jaxson Dart throws 4 TD passes as No. 5 Ole Miss routs Georgia Southern 52-13

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Jaxson Dart threw two touchdown passes in the opening nine minutes and finished with four as No. 5 Mississippi routed Georgia Southern 52-13 on Saturday night.
Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson hits a two-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Olson hits tiebreaking homer and Braves beat Marlins 6-2 to stay 2 back of Mets for wild card

MIAMI (AP) — Matt Olson broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 6-2 on Saturday to stay two games behind the New York Mets for the last National League wild card.
Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough (9) runs for a first down during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Brooks, Holloway come up big in second half to help No. 19 Louisville outlast Georgia Tech 31-19

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — What pleased Louisville most about a hard-fought victory over Georgia Tech was the collective effort that made it possible.

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