Hopefully, no one missed an amazing article in the Index not long ago about 220 students coming to know Christ on a single night in Carroll County. That article talked about a spiritual shift that is bringing the Bible back to the Bible Belt. “People are searching for truth,” said Kevin Williams, pastor of First Baptist Church of Villa Rica and one of the organizers Gridiron Day.

The Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s series of regional SPARK conferences have gotten off to a strong start, and, if your church hasn't yet gotten on board, it’s not too late. At the first of the regional conferences, Scott Sullivan, the Mission Board’s discipleship catalyst, challenged church leaders to develop strategies to grow strong disciples who can unleash the power of the gospel in their communities and around the world.

Recognizing that school districts are struggling to fill bus driver positions, Holly Creek Baptist Church in north Georgia stepped up to help, and, in so doing, opened the door to an outside-the-box ministry that’s paying huge spiritual dividends. Several Holly Creek folks have become bus drivers, fitting bus routes into their daily ministry routines.

A few things I wonder about: Why are doctors’ offices—especially the dermatologist’s—so cold? You’re asked to strip down to your skivvies, and it feels like 50 degrees in there. If it’s intended to prevent lingering, well, I’m ready to go as soon as I get my pants on.

Retired educator Margie Bowen has climbed Stone Mountain over 1,000 times. The Atlanta resident started climbing Stone Mountain east of Atlanta for exercise, but as she climbed several times each week, she kept count. Eventually, she reached the hundreds, and on New Year’s Eve ten years ago, former students and several family members joined her as she reached the 500 mark.

“What do you find attractive about Jesus?” When Von Rogers, the associate campus missionary at the University of North Georgia, originally asked me this question, I told her that I did not know. I was a junior in college who had grown up in the church but who was tired of nuance-less rules and older Christians constantly seeming to have pat answers. I knew Jesus would always be my Savior, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be part of church anymore.

You may have heard this before. I went out to find a friend and none were to be found. I went out to be a friend and found them all around.  Where do you find friends?

Throughout a rather long ministry, I have encountered beloved church members, friends and family members who have lost loved ones. It is bittersweet to experience the death of sainted, elderly parents who have lived long, made a positive impact on their community, left a godly legacy, and had welling up within them the assurance of a mansion on Hallelujah Avenue in God’s celestial city.

As a new school year approaches, many church leaders seek church members who can serve in the church. In a Lifeway Research study of Protestant churchgoers, 66% said they did not volunteer for a charity (ministry, church, or non-ministry) in the last year. Could the gap between desire and action stem from our failure to trust younger generations to serve and lead?

Ten years ago, I was visiting Shelter Yetu, an orphanage in Naivasha, Kenya. A young boy stood alone at the chalkboard, wiping away the day’s lessons with an old rag. The child—an orphan, I was told—sang quietly as he worked. I watched him from the doorway for a few minutes before greeting him in Swahili. After some small talk about the day’s activities, I asked Boniface how long he had been at the orphanage. “One year,” he told me.