March 28, 2023
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Chainsaws buzzing in tornado zone as survivors talk about their frightening experiences

WEST POINT, Ga. – When Sherry Bennett heard hailstones pounding against her roof and walls early Sunday morning, she worried it would put dents in cars in her neighborhood. Turned out the hail was the least of her worries. An EF-3 tornado with winds up to 165 mph picked up her Jeep Cherokee and slammed into the side of her house. The twister also ripped the roof off her house, carried away her garage, and blew two neighboring homes away entirely.
Trending stories
 Another 32 saved in single day at Bowdon ministry outreach
BOWDON, Ga. – The small town of Bowdon is the latest to experience a localized revival with more than 32 people making salvation decisions on Saturday at a ministry outreach that drew some 900 people. Several local churches worked together to organize the event – dubbed Love Loud Bowdon – that showered people with a variety of gifts ranging from appliances to groceries. “The whole purpose is to show the love of God,” said Mountain View Baptist Church Pastor Scott Estes.
Deadly tornado outbreak destroys Bethel Baptist Church in West Point, damages Northside in Milledgeville
LaGRANGE, Ga. – A tornado damaged an estimated 100 homes and other structures in Troup County on Sunday, destroying Bethel Baptist Church in the small community of West Point and heavily damaging 20 to 30 additional homes there, authorities said. Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief advance teams were on the ground assessing damage in Troup County on Sunday.
Atlanta's First Baptist Church celebrating 175 years of ministry
ATLANTA — In 1846 the railroad town of Marthasville, Georgia, was booming. The town, formally called “Terminus,” was no longer a terminus. A rail bridge had been completed over the Chattahoochee River and the Western and Atlantic Railroad was pressing westward. The Executive Committee of the Georgia Baptist Convention decided to take an unprecedented move. For the first time in its 25-year history, a specific location would be targeted for planting a church.
Revival in Georgia: 119 college, university students make salvation decisions since January
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Georgia is seeing revival on college and university campuses where 119 students have made salvation decisions since early January. Beverly Skinner, collegiate ministry catalyst for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said the new believers were introduced to Jesus by young Christians involved in Baptist Collegiate Ministry who have shared the gospel with 3,965 of their fellow students between early January and mid-March.
Evangecube key to helping Deaf people respond to the gospel in continuing Georgia revival
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – Localized revivals that have been happening in congregations across Georgia have now reached the state’s Deaf ministries where five people are set to be baptized in coming weeks. While not the largest number of salvation decisions seen this year among any particular faith community, it is a significant number in a state where 3.1 percent of the population live with hearing impairment.
Baptist Life

Revival creates traffic jam at the baptistry in Valdosta’s Northside Baptist Church

VALDOSTA, GA – Joseph York, the 20-year-old son of the Tommy and Greta York, walked down the aisle during the recent Bible conference at Northside Baptist Church in Valdosta. He made a commitment to Christ and became a candidate for baptism. Tommy, who serves as a deacon and Sunday School teacher at Northside had the privilege of baptizing his son on the following Sunday and explained that the baptismal candidates were lined up so far that it created a traffic jam at the baptistry.

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With the rise in online church services, many have different opinions on the acceptability or validity of online church attendance for those with the ability to attend in person. Lifeway Research finds pastors and churchgoers split over the question. But other research projects may provide more clarity on tangible benefits that come exclusively from physical attendance.
ROME, Ga. — Shorter University's The Hawkeye magazine received a first-place award in the American Scholastic Press Association's annual contest/review for scholastic yearbooks, magazines, and newspapers. The Hawkeye magazine is a student-produced publication of the Department of Communication Studies; it is produced twice a year (once each semester).  
LaGRANGE, Ga. – Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief crews have begun what is expected to be lengthy deployment helping storm victims clean up after a weekend tornado outbreak. Dwain Carter, director of disaster relief for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said crews responded in Troup County with chaplains, chainsaw units and a mobile kitchen, plus showers and laundry units.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Terri Stovall, dean of women, interim associate dean in the Jack D. Terry School of Educational Ministries and professor of educational ministries, has an adventuresome spirit that is unleashed every time the wind hits her face as she rides her Harley Davidson CVO Tri-Glide motorcycle or a roller coaster. 
Georgia

Georgia lawmakers: Localities must apply homeless camp bans

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia lawmakers are telling cities and counties that they must enforce existing bans on public camping or sleeping by homeless people while saying local governments and hospitals can't dump homeless people in other counties without permission. The House voted 99-76 to pass Senate Bill 62 on Monday. The Senate later approved House amendments adding the ban on dumping, sending it to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature or veto.

Georgia deputies shoot, wound motorcyclist after chase

CALHOUN, Ga. (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies shot and wounded a motorcyclist following a high-speed chase in northern Georgia, authorities said. The shooting happened early Sunday in Gordon County, where a motorcyclist sped away when Gordon County deputies tried to pull him over for not having a license plate, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

Police investigate after drugs, alcohol put teen in hospital

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Police in coastal Georgia are investigating what led up to a teenager being left at a hospital after becoming severely intoxicated with drugs and alcohol. Glynn County police said investigators interviewed the 19-year-old victim Sunday at a hospital in Brunswick, five days after he was admitted. Three juveniles brought the teenager to the emergency room late Tuesday, police said, and left before officers arrived.

Georgia activist killed by troopers shot first, officers say

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia authorities say state troopers in January fatally shot an activist who had fired at authorities after a trooper shot pepper balls into the protester’s tent, according to incident reports obtained Friday by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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Nation

Man charged with firebombing Wisconsin office of pro-life lobbyists

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — After nearly a year of searching, investigators used DNA pulled from a half-eaten burrito to capture the man they believe firebombed a prominent Wisconsin pro-life lobbying group's office. The U.S. attorney's office in Madison announced that police arrested 29-year-old Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury at Boston's Logan International Airport on Tuesday. He was charged via the complaint with one count of attempting to cause damage by means of fire or an explosive.

Boy Scouts' $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan upheld by judge

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A federal district court judge has upheld the approval of a $2.4 billion bankruptcy reorganization plan aimed at resolving tens of thousands of child sexual abuse claims against the Boy Scouts of America. The ruling docketed Tuesday rejects arguments by non-settling insurance companies and attorneys representing dissenting abuse survivors that the reorganization plan was not proposed in good faith and improperly strips the insurers and survivors of their rights.

Nashville shooter who killed 6 drew maps, surveilled school

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A former student shot through the doors of a Christian elementary school and killed three children and three adults after elaborately planning the massacre by drawing out a detailed map and conducting surveillance of the building, police said. The victims at The Covenant School in Nashville included three 9-year-old children, the school’s top administrator, a substitute teacher and a custodian. Panicked parents rushed to the school to see if their children were safe and tearfully hugged their kids.

3 children, 3 adults fatally shot at Nashville grade school

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Three children and three adults were killed in a shooting at a private Christian grade school in Nashville on Monday, and the female shooter also died after being shot by police, authorities said. The violence occurred at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade.

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World

Migrants start fire at Mexico detention center, killing 40

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Migrants fearing deportation set mattresses ablaze at an immigration detention center in northern Mexico, starting a fire that killed at least 40 people, the president said Tuesday, in one of the deadliest events ever at a Mexican immigration lockup. Hours after the fire broke out late Monday, rows of bodies were laid out under shimmery silver sheets outside the facility in Ciudad Juarez, which is across from El Paso, Texas, and a major crossing point for migrants. Ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue swarmed the scene.

Portugal: 2 dead, several injured in Muslim center stabbing

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portuguese police shot and injured a man suspected of stabbing two women to death at an Ismaili Muslim center in Lisbon Tuesday, authorities said. The women were Portuguese staff members at the center, Ismaili community leader Narzim Ahmad told Portuguese TV channel S.I.C.

Ukraine president extends tour of war’s front-line areas

OKHTYRKA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president visited the Sumy region in northern Ukraine on Tuesday, continuing his tour over recent days of areas of the country that have felt the brunt of Russia’s full-scale invasion and as the stage increasingly looks set for a Ukrainian counteroffensive. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with officials and local people in two cities in the region, which borders Russia. It was partially occupied by Russian forces after the war started more than a year ago. The Russians withdrew from the region by early April.

France sees new pension protests, police brace for violence

PARIS (AP) — Protests and strikes against unpopular pension reforms kicked off again Tuesday across France, with police security ramped up amid government warnings that radical demonstrators intended “to destroy, to injure and to kill." Concerns that violence could mar the demonstrations prompted what Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin described as an unprecedented deployment of 13,000 officers, nearly half of them concentrated in the French capital.

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Perspectives
My first car was a green Ford Maverick with the shift on the column and a broken gas gauge. I had to keep up with my miles between gas purchases so that I would not run out. I think it was a 1971 model. I bought this baby for $500 with my grass-cutting earnings. When I was 10 or 11 years old, I decided it was time to make some money. I hung a poster in the nearby convenience store on Highway 49 in my hometown of Milledgeville that read “Will mow lawns in Allenwood. Call David Chancey at . . .”
Challenging. Exciting. Humbling. I’ve met numerous SBC missionaries during my years of service at NAMB, and these three words surface in many of their stories. From planting churches to meeting needs through compassion ministries, the calling these missionaries have given their lives to is not easy, but it’s worth it as they get to share the hope of the gospel and see lives forever changed by Jesus. 
Last week, the Georgia Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tourism replaced House Bill 237, sponsored by Rep. Leesa Hagan, which would establish the Southeast Georgia Soap Box Derby as the official soap box derby of the State of Georgia with language that now makes it a Sports Betting bill. See my Public Affairs Ministry FB video: https://fb.watch/jj4m-2bDrL/
Three billion people, a burgeoning mass which makes up 40% of the world’s population, use Facebook. I’m a persistent viewer and periodic poster myself. Yet, as I suspect is the case with many of you, I often grow weary of scrolling through digital reams of pictures and text. And though I enjoy keeping up with the good and exciting things going on in the lives of family, friends and others, I’m tired of the political bickering, religious ranting, and selfies of feet on the beach. Nevertheless, I don’t plan to abandon Facebook. I can’t! I won’t! Why?
LAS VEGAS – I recently spent time in Southern California with 600 church planters and their wives during a Send Network Gathering. They are all planting churches in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. If you could have been there in that room with those men and women of God who are joining in the mission of God, you would be so encouraged by what God is doing in North America and among our Southern Baptist family of churches.

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Business

Honda recalls more than 330,000 vehicles due to mirror issue

Honda is recalling more than 330,000 vehicles because heating pads behind both side-view mirrors may not be bonded properly, which could lead to the mirror glass falling out and increase the risk of a crash. Vehicles included in the recall are 2020-2022 Odyssey, 2020-2022 Passport, 2020-2021 Pilot and 2020-2021 Ridgeline.

First Citizens to acquire troubled Silicon Valley Bank

NEW YORK (AP) — North Carolina-based First Citizens will buy Silicon Valley Bank, the tech industry-focused financial institution that collapsed earlier this month, rattling the banking industry and sending shockwaves around the world.

Fed raises key rate by quarter-point despite bank turmoil

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve extended its year-long fight against high inflation Wednesday by raising its key interest rate by a quarter-point despite concerns that higher borrowing rates could worsen the turmoil that has gripped the banking system.

US home sales surged in February as mortgage rates dipped

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes surged in February to the fastest pace in six months as homebuyers seized on a modest drop in mortgage rates and a slight pullback in prices. Existing home sales jumped 14.5% last month from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.58 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. That’s the strongest sales pace since September and it's higher than the 4.2 million economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Ringling Bros. circus reborn — minus animals

NEW YORK (AP) — The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus has been reimagined and reborn without animals as a high-octane family event with highwire tricks, soaring trapeze artists and bicycles leaping on trampolines. Feld Entertainment, which owns the “Greatest Show on Earth,” revealed to The Associated Press what audiences can expect during the show's upcoming 2023 North American tour kicking off this fall.

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Sports

Hawks hold off Mitchell, Cavaliers; Bucks win Central

ATLANTA (AP) — Dejounte Murray sank three free throws with 2:14 remaining to give Atlanta the lead and added a fall-away jumper with less than a minute left to lead the Hawks to a 120-118 win over the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. Murray led Atlanta with 29 points and Onyeka Okongwu added a season-high 21. The Hawks remained tied with Toronto, which beat Miami 106-92 on Tuesday night, for the eighth-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Miller, Wong rally Miami past Texas 88-81 for 1st Final Four

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — On the eve of Miami playing for a place in its first Final Four, the quiet conversation floating through the team hotel did not revolve around all that the Hurricanes had accomplished this season. Instead, they talked about what had happened to bring last season to a close. The sting of an Elite Eight defeat was fresh to those who were there. And they made everyone else feel it, too.

San Diego State muscles past Creighton, makes 1st Final Four

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Darrion Trammell had shot enough free throws in practice to believe at least one would fall when it mattered. San Diego State's 5-foot-10 senior guard was fouled by Creighton's Ryan Nembhard when he put up a floater near the free-throw line with 1.2 seconds left in a rugged NCAA Tournament East Region final that was tied at 56-all. Trammell's first free throw clanged off the rim, but he knocked down the second, and that was enough to push the defense-first Aztecs into their first Final Four with a 57-56 victory on Sunday.

Hawks can't stop streaking Grizzlies, lose 123-119

ATLANTA (AP) — Hidden in the Memphis Grizzlies’ six-game winning streak is a potentially more important number for the team’s postseason hopes — two straight road wins. Ja Morant scored 27 points in his return to the Memphis starting lineup and the Grizzlies held off the Atlanta Hawks 123-119 on Sunday night to extend the NBA's longest active winning streak.

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