In our Rapid Response series, we tackle common concerns about (and objections to) the Christian worldview by providing short, conversational responses. These posts are designed to model what our answers might look like in a one-on-one setting, while talking to a friend or family member. Imagine if someone said, “If God is both all-loving and all-powerful, why does He allow evil things to happen? Doesn’t the mere presence of evil disprove the existence of God?” How would you respond to such a cla..

Copyright (c) 2016 Baptist Press. Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. The original story can be found at http://www.bpnews.net/47959/la-baptists-highlight-soulwinning-emphasis

La. Baptists highlight soul-winning emphasis

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP) — During their annual meeting highlighting a statewide soul-winning emphasis for 2017-2018, Louisiana Baptists heard various ministry reports that included disaster relief efforts fol..

Copyright (c) 2016 Baptist Press. Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. The original story can be found at http://www.bpnews.net/47962/pope-clashes-with-biblical-teaching-baptists-say

Pope clashes with biblical teaching, Baptists say

WASHINGTON (BP) — Pope Francis' newly extended permission for all priests to forgive the sin of abortion demonstrates sharp disagreement between Roman Catholicism and evangelical Christian..

Copyright (c) 2016 Baptist Press. Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. The original story can be found at http://www.bpnews.net/47961/christian-killings-said-to-be-religious-cleansing

Christian killings said to be religious cleansing

NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA (BP) — The increasingly militant killings of Christians in north-central Nigeria by Muslim Fulani herdsmen are described as revived attempts at religious and ethnic clean..

Copyright (c) 2016 Baptist Press. Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. The original story can be found at http://www.bpnews.net/47963/heartbroken-tenn-fires-destroy-homes-churches

'Heartbroken': Tenn. fires destroy homes, churches

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (BP) — Wildfires in and around the east Tennessee resort area of Gatlinburg have destroyed the facilities of at least one Southern Baptist church, claimed buildings at..

We are drawing near the end of another year—a year in which I did a lot of reading. Today I want to give some of my top picks of the 100 or so books I read in 2016. First, though, let me offer a few caveats: First, these are almost certainly not the best books of 2016 in any objective sense; rather, they are my favorites, the ones that have remained in my mind and impacted my life since I read them. Second, they are in no particular order. And finally, at the request of several readers I am posting this list before the end of the year because some people would like to refer to it as they do their Christmas shopping. Enjoy!

Sexual Morality in a Christless World by Matthew Rueger. Though the last few years have brought us no shortage of books on how to live on this side of the sexual revolution, Matthew Rueger offers something unique in examining and explaining the historical and cultural backdrop to the New Testament’s teaching on sexual morality. In this way he shows that Christian se..

It’s Christmas time again.

And every year pastors have the task to create yet another great Christmas sermon. But after many years of preaching the same message, you can get repetitive.

The message every year should remain the same, but you need a bit of a creative twist on the way you present it every year to keep the message fresh.

So, if you’re stuck in a rut trying to come up with a different way to tell the Christmas story once again, here are forty ideas straight out of the Bible to get..