The Christian Index

Georgia Baptist Convention’s annual meeting being moved to Augusta’s Warren Baptist Church

AUGUSTA, Ga. – This year’s Georgia Baptist Convention annual meeting is being moved from Augusta’s Marriott Convention Center to nearby Warren Baptist Church, a move that will provide significant cost savings. “We’re grateful for the hospitality of the people at Warren Baptist,” said Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Director W. Thomas Hammond Jr. “They have everything we’re looking for in an annual meeting venue – a spacious sanctuary, plenty of meeting rooms and ample parking.”

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Kentucky residents turning to Christ in aftermath of deadly flash floods

FLEMING-NEON, Ky. – In the aftermath of flash flooding that killed 37 people in the Kentucky mountains, residents here are turning to Christ. Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Director Dwain Carter said it’s not unusual for people to seek God amid tragic circumstances. That why, he said, teams of Disaster Relief volunteers realize their role isn’t simply to help with the clean up, but to offer spiritual guidance to survivors.

Former coal town comes together with help from Georgia Baptists

FLEMING-NEON, Ky. (AP) — Barely a week after floodwaters swept downtown and left a foot of mud and twisted, gutted buildings along Main Street, an incongruous sight appeared: A flashing sign declaring JR’s Barber Shop “OPEN.” As National Guard troops patrolled outside and volunteers on backhoes mounded up debris, J.R. Collins stood behind his barber chair, giving a touchup to one of his regulars. Like most in Fleming-Neon, Collins comes from a family built on mining — both his grandfathers worked in coal — and he has stayed in the close-knit town even as the industry shrank and others fled. Those who remain are determined to prove their community is about more than coal.

Love in action: Smyrna Baptists purchase wheelchair-accessible van for Ray Coleman after stroke

DOUGLAS, Ga. – For retired Associational Missionary Ray Coleman, attending church has always been central in his life, but, since having a debilitating stroke two years ago, he had been unable to go. Until now. Churches in the Smyrna Baptist Association, where he served for two decades, joined together to purchase Coleman a wheelchair-accessible van that has allowed him to be on the road again.

Flood survivor: 'My three little boys are OK; that's what matters'

FLEMING-NEON, Ky. – It was a neighbor’s phone call that alerted Thelma Hall to the flash flood ravaging Fleming-Neon, a tiny community near the Kentucky-Virginia border. Cars were bobbing in the street just outside her front door in floodwater that killed at least 37 people throughout eastern Kentucky.

Georgia Baptist volunteers encounter 'heartbreaking' scenes in Kentucky

JENKINS, Ky. – Yards in this tiniest of Kentucky towns are piled high with soggy mattresses, sofas and other furnishings ruined by last week’s deadly flashfloods. Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief crews are in Jenkins and nearby Fleming-Neon helping victims with cleanup in the aftermath of the flooding that killed at least 37 people.

Baptist Life

MercyMe to be part of digital premiere of Georgia’s SPARK conference Aug. 25

DULUTH, Ga. – Bart Millard, lead singer of MercyMe, will welcome thousands of participants to the digital premiere of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s SPARK conference. The popular contemporary Christian band will also perform three songs during the conference, which is billed as “a total church conference,” meaning it provides training on all aspects of ministry.

Town honors Ahmaud Arbery day after end of hate crimes case

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Ahmaud Arbery is being honored by his hometown after stiff sentences for hate crimes against the white men who chased and killed him. Dozens of people joined Arbery's family on a sweltering street corner Tuesday as Brunswick city officials unveiled signs designating a 2.7-mile roadway as Honorary Ahmaud Arbery Street. Arbery was fatally shot on Feb. 23, 2020, after being chased by three men in pickup trucks who wrongly suspected him of committing crimes.

Renaming Army bases that honor Confederates would cost $21M

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — An independent commission says renaming nine U.S. Army posts that commemorate Confederate officers would cost $21 million. The name changes would lead to the rebranding of everything from welcome marquees and road signs to water towers and hospital doors. The Naming Commission released its final report to Congress on recommending the new Army base names Monday.

Georgia farm fined after food waste release causes fish kill

WASHINGTON, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia dairy farm has been fined after a release of food waste caused a fish kill. It's a rare instance of the government getting involved with a practice that counties can’t regulate despite chronic complaints from residents. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division fined McAvoy Farms, also known as Mar Leta Farms, $5,000 after nearly 1,700 fish died in the Little River in Wilkes County on June 16.

Georgia plans $68.5M overhaul of football stadium

ATLANTA (AP) — The University of Georgia is starting a $68.5 million project to overhaul its football stadium, making it easier for Bulldogs fans to get around and building more suites for premium donors. University System of Georgia regents voted Tuesday to approve the plan for Sanford Stadium. It will be paid for with private donations and borrowing by the private UGA Athletic Association.

More Georgia news

Nation

Afghan man charged in killing of 2 Muslims in Albuquerque

Police have announced a breakthrough in the killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A man from Afghanistan — himself a Muslim — was charged Tuesday with two of the slayings, and authorities identified him as a prime suspect in the other killings that put the entire community on edge. Muhammad Syed, who is 51, was taken into custody a day earlier after a traffic stop more than 100 miles away.

Major test of first possible Lyme vaccine in 20 years begins

DUNCANSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Researchers are seeking thousands of volunteers in the U.S. and Europe to test the first potential vaccine against Lyme disease in 20 years. The shot developed by Pfizer and French biotech Valneva aims to block Lyme spread while a tick is biting. The new study will test three initial doses between now and next spring, and then a booster dose a year later.

Muslim communities fearful after 4 killings in Albuquerque

The killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico, are sending fear through Muslim communities across the U.S. First was the death of a Muslim man from Afghanistan late last year. Then came two more slayings in the last two weeks — men from Pakistan who attended the same mosque. Those deaths were followed Friday by the city’s fourth homicide of a Muslim man in nine months.

'The Sacrifice Zone': Myanmar bears cost of green energy

The birds no longer sing. The cows die. And if the people in this northern Myanmar forest complain, they too face the threat of death from militias. This forest is the source of key metallic elements known as rare earths, often called the vitamins of the modern world. Rare earths turn up in everything from hard drives to elevators and are vital to the fast-growing field of green energy. But an AP investigation found their cost is environmental destruction, the theft of land and the funneling of money to brutal militias.

Shelling hits town near Russian-held nuclear plant

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's presidential office says Russian shelling killed at least three civilians and wounded 23 others in the past day, including an attack not far from a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant. The governor of Ukraine's southern Dnipropetrovsk region said Tuesday that the Russians fired over 120 rockets from Grad multiple rocket launchers at Nikopol, a town across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

US inflation will likely stay high even as gas prices fall

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans may finally be catching a break from relentlessly surging prices — if just a slight one — even as inflation is expected to remain painfully high for months. Thanks largely to falling gas prices, the government’s inflation report for July, to be released Wednesday morning, is expected to show that prices jumped 8.7% from a year earlier — still a sizzling pace but a slowdown from the 9.1% year-over-year figure in June, which was the highest in four decades.

Most electric vehicles won't qualify for federal tax credit

DETROIT (AP) — A tax credit of up to $7,500 could be used to defray the cost of an electric vehicle under the Inflation Reduction Act now moving toward final approval in Congress. But the auto industry warns that the vast majority of EV purchases won’t qualify for a tax credit that large. That’s mainly because of the bill’s requirement that, to qualify for the credit, an electric vehicle must contain a battery built in North America with minerals mined or recycled on the continent.

Hungary fines Ryanair over raising prices to cope with tax

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary has accused Ryanair of consumer protection violations after it raised ticket prices to cope with a tax on what the government calls “extra profits.” Justice Minister Judit Varga wrote Monday on Facebook that an investigation found “unfair trade practices,” leading to a $777,058 fine. It's the first tied to the new tax, which led Ryanair and others to increase prices.

Musk says Twitter deal could move ahead with 'bot' info

Elon Musk said Saturday that his planned $44 billion takeover of Twitter should move forward if the company can confirm some details about how it measures whether user accounts are ‘spam bots’ or real people. The billionaire and Tesla CEO has been trying to back out of his April agreement to buy the social media company, leading Twitter to sue him last month to complete the acquisition.

Serena Williams says 'countdown has begun' on tennis career

Serena Williams says she is preparing to step away from tennis after winning 23 Grand Slam titles, turning her focus to having another child and her business interests. “I’m turning 41 this month, and something’s got to give,” Williams wrote in an essay released Tuesday by Vogue magazine. Williams said she does not like the word retirement and prefers to think of this stage of her life as “evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”

Georgia Baptist Convention’s annual meeting being moved to Augusta’s Warren Baptist Church

MercyMe to be part of digital premiere of Georgia’s SPARK conference Aug. 25

Town honors Ahmaud Arbery day after end of hate crimes case

Renaming Army bases that honor Confederates would cost $21M

Georgia farm fined after food waste release causes fish kill

Georgia plans $68.5M overhaul of football stadium

Afghan man charged in killing of 2 Muslims in Albuquerque

Man exonerated of 4 killings offers free gas in Detroit

Major test of first possible Lyme vaccine in 20 years begins

Muslim communities fearful after 4 killings in Albuquerque

'The Sacrifice Zone': Myanmar bears cost of green energy

Rescuers to move whale stranded in French river to saltwater

Palestinians say Israeli troops kill 3 in West Bank raid

Shelling hits town near Russian-held nuclear plant

US inflation will likely stay high even as gas prices fall

Most electric vehicles won't qualify for federal tax credit

Hungary fines Ryanair over raising prices to cope with tax

Pfizer buying spree continues with $5.4B hematology deal

Musk says Twitter deal could move ahead with 'bot' info

Serena Williams says 'countdown has begun' on tennis career

Falcons G Mayfield returns to practice after injuring back

Alabama No. 1 in preseason coaches' poll; Ohio St. 2, UGA 3

PGA Tour says players knew consequences of joining LIV Golf