"They may not use charismatic terms or practice speaking in tongues, but those identified with this burgeoning renewal movement could soon revolutionize the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)." So says Ron Phillips, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He says members of his congregation are trembling and failing under the power of the Holy Spirit during services. Phillips has been blunt about his new emphasis. "I was a mean-spirited, narrow-minded legalistic fundamentalist--and now I know the joy of the Holy Spirit," the former head of the Tennessee Baptist Convention says. Last November, he invited well-known charismatic revivalist Rod Parsley into his pulpit. He has also called for women to be empowered for ministry. What in the World, |
Group, a magazine for Christian youth, has joined with Hard Rock Cafe to open a new, state-of-the-art Hard Rock Live venue for Christian concerts. The magazine acknowledged that "if past experience holds true, a vocal minority in the youth ministry will be positivly peeved about our relationship with a decidedly secular restaurant/bar chain." But Group defends its actions: "Jesus...so closely attached himself to 'worldly' people and environments that some claimed he was 'of' the world himself. By those standards, most youth ministries could use a little more worldliness." What in the World, |
A federal judge recently ruled that the IRS acted properly in removing the tax-exempt status of a church for its political activism. In 1992, a church in Vestal, New York, took out newspaper ads stating that it was a sin to vote for presidential candidate Bill Clinton. "The Report from the Capitol" | In a recent survey only 1,490 of mainline Protestants "strongly agree" that our nation is experiencing revival. Among Baptists 23 percent strongly agree with respect to gender. Twenty-two percent of women and only 15 percent of men believe a revival is in progress. "Current Thoughts and Trends" | Single adults make up 53 percent of all unchurched adults. Of those who attend church, 63 percent are married and 37 percent are single. "Current Thoughts and Trends" |