October 21, 2024
I’d like to invite you to sign up for what I believe can be an essential new prayer resource for Georgia Baptists.
It’s a free daily newsletter that will contain all the significant news of the day from around the world. And, I don’t have to tell you, the world certainly needs prayer right now.
To sign up, go to https://christianindex.org/daily-newsletter-signup-form/index.html.
Beginning next week, the newsletter will arrive in email inboxes around 4:30 a.m., following roughly the same schedule as the hardcopy morning papers that used to be delivered to your front door. It’ll be there waiting for you when you get up.
For Georgia Baptists who start their mornings with Bible reading and prayer, the newsletter will alert them to the greatest needs of the day – wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, famines and more.
Keep in mind, Southern Baptists are likely on the ground wherever news is happening. You can pray in real time for our International Mission Board staff and for victims of whatever calamities are happening in the world.
Oh, but don’t think the newsletter will be all bad news. We’ll have good news in there too – news about the great things happening in the Baptist community for which we can praise God. We’ll tell you about cutting-edge ministries in our churches. We’ll tell you about the work of our missionaries in Georgia, throughout North America and around the world.
In other words, this newsletter will keep you in the know about pretty much everything you need to know.
Newsletters have become an industry standard in journalism, the result of the move from print to online newspapers. The Index does several newsletters. You’re probably most familiar with the weekly one devoted entirely to Baptist news that is emailed to you each Thursday afternoon. That newsletter, of course, will continue.
This new daily newsletter will have a bit of different feel, because it will contain breaking news from around our state, nation, and world. It also will contain the timely Baptist news and features. People who sign up for the daily newsletter won’t have to wait until Thursday for the weekly one to arrive.
I’ve been in journalism for a few decades now, and what I’ve found is that morning newsletters quickly become must-reads. It’s one of those things people look forward to.
Newspaper expert Tim Franklin, the senior associate dean at Northwestern University’s journalism school, said newsletters are like friends who check in every day like clockwork.
“You don’t have to seek it out. It’s as familiar as a morning cup of coffee. Your loyalty to it grows over time. It’s often brief and respects your time. It makes you smarter. It gives you something to talk about.”
That’s what I hope this daily newsletter becomes for you.
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Roger Alford is editor of The Christian Index. Reach him at ralford@gabaptist.org.
