November 5, 2026
69° F
Mostly Cloudy
The voice of Georgia Baptists since 1822
The Christian Index logo
Advanced search
Log in Subscribe
Top stories

Georgia Baptists prepare to gather in Warner Robins for 204th annual meeting

Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, encourages listeners to share the gospel at the annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention at First Baptist Atlanta on Nov. 10, 2025. (Index/Henry Durand, File)
WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Georgia Baptists will gather at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins next week Nov. 8-10 for the 204th annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention, with organizers expecting about 1,200 people to register.
Trending stories
Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, speaks during a press conference at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. McLaurin won the election for lieutenant governor. (Capitol Beat/Caroline Newbern)
Georgia Democrats flip every statewide office, but appear to fall short in the Senate
ATLANTA — Georgia voters delivered major Democratic gains Tuesday, along with several historic firsts. Keisha Lance Bottoms is the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history, but Georgia could also see a Black woman leading the state House.
The Stone family. Sarah is second from right. (Photo/Stone family via Facebook)
Sarah Stone’s family points to hope in Christ following her death
BLACKSHEAR, Ga. — Sarah Ellington Stone, the 19-year-old daughter of Emmanuel Baptist Church pastor Mike Stone and his wife, Andrea, died Tuesday, Nov. 3, following a lengthy illness and 12 weeks in hospice care.
Democratic Senate candidate Texas state Rep. James Talarico speaks at an election night event in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Democrats win the US House and Senate as voters deliver a strong rebuke to Trump and Republicans
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, delivering a decisive rebuke of President Donald Trump and ushering in a new era of congressional resistance to the president. Tuesday's midterm elections laid bare voters' deep frustrations over high prices, the Iran war, and concerns over government corruption. Democrats routed their rivals across the map, flipping states that have voted Republican for decades and that Trump won by double digits just two years ago.
Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks at an election night event, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Georgia Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms makes history as the 1st Black woman ever elected governor
ATLANTA — Georgia voters made history Tuesday, electing for the first time in 238 years of statehood a woman — and a Black person — as governor. In January, when she is sworn in, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, will also become the first Black woman governor of any state in the 250-year history of the nation.
Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., walks out during an election night event, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff wins reelection, defeating Rep. Mike Collins to hold a key Democratic seat
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff was reelected Tuesday to a second term, holding a key seat for Democrats by defeating Republican Rep. Mike Collins in a race that raised the Senate’s youngest member’s national profile as his party prepares for President Donald Trump’s final two years in the White House.
Baptist Life

Engage Week at Fortified Hills challenges members to pray, give, go

Zane Pratt, vice president for global training at the International Mission Board and associate professor of Christian missions at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, delivers a message during Engage week at Fortified Hills Baptist Church in Dallas, Ga., Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand)
DALLAS, Ga. — At Fortified Hills Baptist Church, Engage Missions Week is designed to do more than tell church members what missionaries are doing around the world. Lead Pastor Josh Price described Engage Week as an opportunity for members to understand that they are participants in the mission of God through discipleship, prayer, giving, evangelism, and, for some, going to the nations.

Read more Baptist Life stories

Jerry Lorimer votes at the Kanwaka township hall Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, near Lawrence, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
BOISE, Idaho (BP) – Voters in only 1 of 4 states chose to protect unborn life Nov. 3, while measures protecting gender-specific competitive sports seemed poised to pass in all four states with the issue on the ballot, as vote tallies continued.
The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
WASHINGTON (BP) — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday, Nov. 3, in a case regarding a Colorado law that critics claim constitutes religious discrimination. A group of Catholic preschools is fighting the law because it does not allow an exemption for them to participate in the state’s preschool funding program.
IMB missionary Dr. Heidi Haun, left, checks on patients at Baptist Medical Centre in Nalerigu, Ghana. There are needed roles for IMB missionaries in healthcare, ministering to the needs of local populations and utilizing this time to minister to spiritual needs. (Photo/IMB)
When most Southern Baptists think of missionaries, they often picture church planters and evangelists. But leaders with the International Mission Board say some of the greatest needs today are for professionals whose work happens behind the scenes.
(Photo/Send Relief)
PORCUPINE, S.D. — On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, hunger doesn’t always look the way people expect.
Georgia
Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms embraces a young supporter during a campaign event Nov. 1, 2026, in Macon, Ga. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy, File)

Race for Georgia governor draws more than $150 million in final three months

ATLANTA — The price of everything has been rising, including the cost of becoming governor in Georgia. Since Aug. 1, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and businessman Rick Jackson have raised more than $150 million in their quests to lead the state.

Georgia Department of Public Safety now able to accept digital driver's license and ID

ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Public Safety announced Oct. 30 that motorists now have the option to present a state-issued digital driver’s license or identification card to its Georgia State Patrol Troopers, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officers, and Capitol Police Officers during traffic stops and other interactions, such as crash investigations, across Georgia.
Gov. Brian Kemp at the Capitol with Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, as Wilson answers questions with First Lady Marty Kemp watching, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. (Capitol Beat/Ty Tagami)

Kemp says Audi plant delivers on pledge to grow jobs in rural Georgia

ATLANTA — German automaker Audi’s decision to locate its first U.S. plant in Georgia was a trifecta for Gov. Brian Kemp, who sees it as a major part of his legacy as he prepares to leave office.
An ACT Assessment test. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

Georgia ACT scores decrease

ATLANTA — Georgia’s class of 2026 scored lower on the ACT than the class of 2025, but they still beat the national average. Georgia’s 2026 graduates who took the college admissions test after their freshman year earned an average composite score of 20.9, down half a point from the score of the prior year’s graduates.

More Georgia news

Nation
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks with reporters alongside President Donald Trump after they arrived on Air Force One, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, at Dubuque Regional Airport in Dubuque, Iowa, en route to a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Speaker Johnson won't seek reelection as House Republican leader after party's midterm losses

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson will be stepping aside from Republican Party leadership after Republican losses in the midterm election, declining to seek support to stay on as House minority leader in the new Congress, according to two people familiar with his decision Wednesday.

Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Byron Donalds, left, and Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, right. (AP Photo)

Midterms launch wave of historic firsts for some states — and for the nation

Yes, the 2026 midterms included a large number of losses for Republicans and President Donald Trump. At the same time, voters elected a number of candidates who made history by becoming the first members of their racial, ethnic, religious, or sexual-orientation groups to hold certain offices.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

U.S. to end annual aid to Israel as allies shift toward defense partnership

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will stop providing $4 billion in aid each year to Israel in 2027 as the longtime allies move toward a relationship centered more on arms sales and defense cooperation, President Donald Trump said Tuesday.
An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portland, Ore., Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

Man charged with mailing hundreds of letters containing powder to officials ahead of the election

Federal authorities charged an Oklahoma man with sending hundreds of letters containing nonhazardous white powder to public officials ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections.

Read more national news

World
A woman crosses a street in front of a billboard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump behind bars and calling for his killing in central Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo)

US strikes Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, official says

The United States launched strikes on Iranian targets, a U.S. official said, in what appeared to be a limited operation. Iranian state media reported explosions being heard on the islands of Qeshm and Hengam in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and in the nearby mainland area of Bandar Abbas. Unlike earlier in the war, the strikes were not publicly announced.

Rescuers evacuate a wounded civilian from a residential building after a Russian attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Death toll hits 31 after Russian strike on Ukrainian aid site, with dozens still missing

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The death toll from a Russian attack in southern Ukraine on a site where people had gathered to receive humanitarian aid rose to 31 on Tuesday, with dozens of people still missing, as a wave of overnight strikes targeted power plants across the country, damaged hospitals and wounded scores of people.
People celebrate after Aleksandar Vucic, leader of the Serbian Progressive Party, conceded defeat in the parliamentary election in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Detentions, resignations, probes shake Serbia after students toppled strongman Vucic in election

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Detentions, resignations, switching of sides, attempts to destroy evidence of wrongdoing. News has been coming in at such a pace in the wake of former Serbian strongman Aleksandar Vucic's electoral defeat on Oct. 25 that a website dubbed ‘system breakdown’ has been formed, with AI feeding the information in real time.
A representative of the Nova Kakhovka administration walks past an unexploded Russian FPV drone during a localized ceasefire linked to a humanitarian aid mission to Oleshky, in the village of Kozatske, Kherson region, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Russia bombs aid center and shelter in southern Ukraine, killing 24, authorities say

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia bombed an aid distribution center and neighboring shelter in southern Ukraine on Monday, killing 24 people, Ukraine's emergency services agency said.

Read more world news

Perspectives
Dawn Reed
A few years ago, my beloved was asked to preach the annual sermon at the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s annual meeting. (He’s from Big Creek of Pike County. Neither of us saw that coming.) He would have the privilege of sharing a sermon with his preacher friends and peers from all over the state.
Catherine Renfro
Before we can build a culture of evangelism in our lives and ministries, we must begin with an honest look inward. The first phase of this process is to examine: to ask ourselves, “How am I doing spiritually?” 
Lester Potts
Last weekend, my wife, Edie, and I attended the Georgia–Florida football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. As you might imagine, the atmosphere was electric.
Jill Johnson
Wayne and I had a friend who recently passed away, totally unexpectedly. From what we were told, he was working on a church project and had a massive heart attack and died. We were talking about this, and Wayne commented on how short life is. He actually said we are on the downhill of our life, and he wanted to finish well, enjoying every day to its fullest.
Adam Dooley
Technology entrepreneur Bryan Johnson is spending millions of dollars in an ambitious effort to overcome aging and extend his life. His elaborate regimen includes strict dietary restrictions, rigorous exercise, extensive medical monitoring, and experimental treatments. His Don’t Die movement even boasts, “We might be the first generation that doesn’t die.”

Read more perspectives

Business
Hiring signs are displayed in Wheeling, Ill., Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

US job postings jumped sharply in September, potentially a good sign for anyone seeking employment

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers ramped up their job postings in September as stronger economic growth may be encouraging more hiring.  U.S. job openings jumped to 7.5 million from a revised 7.19 million in August, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. It is the largest number of openings since May and up from a recent low of 6.9 million in March.

A tugboat pushes a container ship to a port in Yantai, eastern China's Shandong province on Oct. 14, 2026. (Chinatopix via AP)

China's economy accelerated in the July-September quarter on robust exports

HONG KONG (AP) — China said Monday its economy grew 4.5% in the July-September quarter from a year ago, fueled by robust exports, moving closer to meeting its official annual growth target for the year as trading partners seek to balance their trade deficits with the country.
The Social Security Administration office is seen in Mount Prospect, Ill., Oct. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

Social Security recipients to get 3.6% cost of living boost, an average of $75 per month

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Social Security Administration projected Wednesday that the annual cost-of-living adjustment for older adults and people with disabilities will go up by 3.6% beginning in 2027, with some recipients complaining that is not enough to offset soaring prices.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture seal is seen on a podium during a news conference in Washington on July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

More than 160,000 pounds of meat bearing false USDA inspection labels recalled

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 83 tons of meat are being recalled across the U.S. because the products were not properly inspected by federal authorities and were shipped out with falsified inspection stickers, the Department of Agriculture said.
A hiring sign is displayed at a grocery store, in Schaumburg, Ill., Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Claims for unemployment benefits drop to 197,000, the lowest since mid-July as layoffs remain rare

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, as U.S. jobless claims remain at historically low levels and most Americans enjoy job security.

Read more business news

Sports
FC Tenerife forward Jesus de Miguel is carried on a stretcher after colliding with Andorra goalkeeper Jesus Owono during a soccer match in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo)

Spanish police investigating after soccer player dies following on-field collision

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish police have opened an investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter after a soccer player died following an on-field collision with the opposing team's goalkeeper in a second-division match.

Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum drives against Indiana Pacers center Jay Huff during the first half in Indianapolis, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Down to 6 players, Jay Huff and Pacers put scare in Hawks before losing 108-104

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jay Huff scored 22 points for Indiana and the Pacers, down to six players because of injuries and rest, put a scare into the Atlanta Hawks before losing 108-104 on Monday night.
Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson warms up during the team's batting practice ahead of Game 4 of a National League Division Series game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, on Oct. 7, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Christian Walker, Matt Olson win 4th Gold Gloves and Wilyer Abreu gets his 3rd

ST. LOUIS (AP) — First basemen Christian Walker of Houston and Matt Olson of Atlanta won their fourth Gold Gloves on Sunday, while Boston right fielder Wilyer Abreu won the fielding honor for the third year in a row.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) passes against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first half in Tampa, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Falcons' Michael Penix Jr. vows to bounce back from worst performance of his young career

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Michael Penix Jr. couldn't recall ever playing so poorly. And it especially stung that the worst performance of the young Atlanta quarterback's career came during a homecoming of sorts against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Read more sports news

© Copyright 2026 The Christian Index | Copyright/Terms of Use
Powered by Creative Circle Media Solutions