JESUS film hits 5 billion mark
As of July 1 the viewing audience of the JESUS film exceeded 5 billion. Translated and distributed internationally by the Jesus Film Project, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ Interna-tional, the film has been viewed in every country of the world.
Since its release in late 1979, the JESUS film has been translated into 743 languages and shown in 236 countries, territories and protectorates. In addition, an audio version of the film, The Story of Jesus, is available in 241 languages. Over the years, 1,529 mission agencies and denominations have used the film, along with the current 2,756 JESUS film teams.
Southern Baptists continue to be the largest global distributors of the film through International Mission Board teams. In fact, their distribution efforts are so widespread that the mission agency is unable to keep track of the incredible quantities and creative variety of JESUS film uses, reported Mark Snowden, IMB overseas communications director.
In many places we widely distribute the movie in the marketplace, tourist destinations or to seamen in strategic ports, Snowden said. In other places, a multiple-language DVD is quietly handed to a seeker who encounters a believer. We also have distributed the JESUS film in a special audio format on radio and cassette.
For copies of the JESUS film call 800-432-1997 or visit www.jesusfilm.org.
Source: Baptist Press, August 1, 2002
|
Networking in the pews
With corporate giants toppling and unemployment up, more job hunters are turning to church. For years, churches have provided networking workshops and seminars on topics such as rsum writing and interview skills. Churches that offer these job assistance programs are now experiencing a boom of interested seekers, according to TIME.
Nearly a quarter of all churches offer some type of job programs.
If I were a country preacher, Id be out riding around on the combine, talking about the price of corn, says Rod Anderson, pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. But I have a congregation full of middle-management and technology professionals, and they are experiencing the pain of downsizing.
Crossroads Career Network in Atlanta has helped 27 churches launch programs and plans to expand to 45 by the end of the year.
Source: TIME, July 15, 2002
|
Divorce not the answer for unhappy marriages, study shows
The popularly held notion that divorce is the answer to marital unhappiness was recently debunked by a team of leading family scholars at the University of Chicago. Their study discovered that people who divorce their spouses when marriages get rocky are less likely to find happiness than those who stay married. They found no evidence that unhappily married adults who divorced were any happier than unhappily married people who stayed married. Researchers, led by University of Chicago sociologist Linda Waite, also determined that 80 percent of unhappily married spouses who stayed married reported that their marriages were happy five years later. Divorce didnt reduce symptoms of depression or raise self-esteem compared to those who stayed married, the study found.
In popular discussion, in scholarly literature, the assumption has always been that if a marriage is unhappy, if you get a divorce, it is likely you will be happier than if you stayed married, said David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values. This is the first time this has been tested empirically, and there is no evidence to support this assumption.
Source: USA TODAY, July 11, 2002
|
You dont say!
Well, all persons are sinners in need of a savior. Jesus Christ is the sole mediator. And the gospel, we are told by the Apostle Paul, comes first to the Jews and then to the gentiles. And salvation is found in His name, and in His name alone, through faith in Christ.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. defending Southern Baptists responsibility to proclaim the gospel to all people including Jews during a spirited debate on MSNBCs Donahue.
Source: The Donahue Show, MSNBC, August 20, 2002
|
ILLUSTRATION BY DALE GLASGOW
Depression tops calls to LeaderCare helpline
More than any other problem, pastors and their family members are calling a new helpline about depression.
In the eight-month period from September through April, 383 people have called LifeWay Christian Resources helpline searching for some kind of mental relief. Of those calls, 26 percent are seeking help for depression. Leader Care provides personal development resources as well as crisis prevention, intervention and restoration resources to ministers and their families. Among the services it offers is a 911-type helpline, 888-789-1911.
Of the calls, 101 were from people suffering from depression; 98 wanted more information about LifeWays LeaderCare Retreats (these retreats are designed to assist hurting ministers/spouses experiencing forced termination, depression, stress, immorality and other issues; 65 were from pastors who were forced out of their jobs; 62 had marital problems; 22 had addiction issues; and 35 had some other type of conflict within the church. LeaderCare has counselors who are on call 24 hours a day to answer the helpline.
Source: Baptist Press, May 13, 2002
|
Door-to-door proselytizing protected by Supreme Court
 The U.S. Supreme Court decided June 17 that anonymous door-to-door proselytizing is protected by the Constitution. In an 8-1 decision, the high court ruled that communities cant require religious groups to obtain a permit before witnessing door to door.
The justices sided with Jehovahs Witnesses, who challenged an ordinance in a small Ohio town requiring canvassers to register with the city, obtain a permit before engaging in door-to-door solicitation and produce the permit if a resident asks. Leaders of the village of Stratton, Ohio, said the ordinance was needed to protect elderly residents from harassment by solicitors and fraud by con artists going door to door. The towns Jehovahs Witnesses refused to apply for a permit, however, saying it was tantamount to forcing them to get permission from the government before preaching to their neighbors.
It is offensivenot only to the values protected by the First Amendment, but to the very notion of a free societythat in the context of everyday public discourse a citizen must first inform the government of her desire to speak to her neighbors and then obtain a permit to do so, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in his opinion for the majority.
Source: Religion Today, June 18, 2002
|
|
