Posts by Annie Corser

Reconciliation reflects the gospel, says KBC leader Chitwood February 12, 2016

20160210_1496 re lowerLOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — Extending forgiveness reflects the heart of the gospel, said Kentucky Baptist leader Paul Chitwood during a Feb. 11 chapel service at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“There is no way that the gospel is put on more beautiful and powerful display than when a believer is able, willing, and ready to extend the forgiveness that we have received,” said Chitwood, executive-director treasurer of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. “Genuine forgiveness is a shocking display of the truth of the gospel.”

Preaching from Matthew 18:33, Chitwood’s message, “The Gospel Mandate of Mercy,” offered a remedy for the pastor’s “common cold” of bitterness. In understanding the miracle of mercy and forgiveness offered to every person through Jesus, Christians are able to extend amazing mercy and forgiveness to others.

Chitwood’s experience in pastoral counseling immersed him in the reality that offering forgiveness is one of the “most profound struggles that human beings face.”

“More often than not, the root issue that was exposed during pastoral counseling was a root of bitterness that was growing within the soul,” he said. “And like gangrene, the infection was overtaking every relationship and every sphere of that person’s life. Sadly it’s an ailment as prevalent as the common cold even in the church. If we will be faithful gospel physicians, we must be prepared to diagnose this condition and to apply the balm of the gospel.”

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Stinson challenges Christians to hope in God during Southern chapel February 8, 2016

20160203_1219 lowerLOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — Fallenness reminds Christians of their great dependence upon God, Randy Stinson said in a Feb. 4 chapel message at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“I think God takes our repetitive longings and just reminds us of our need for him,” said Stinson, Southern Seminary senior vice president for academic administration and provost.

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Mercy entrepreneur Bryce Butler energizes local ministry efforts with business as mission December 16, 2015

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Bryce Butler (right) founded Access Ventures in 2012. A Southern Seminary alumnus (2011), he has used his business skills to energize Louisville ministry efforts.

While serving as a U.S. Army officer in South Korea, Bryce Butler witnessed a depth of darkness and isolation, from human trafficking to poverty, awakening a concern for the broken and hard to reach. A decade later, Butler has combined a heart for missions and mind for business into an outpouring of mercy through his entrepreneurial roles in Louisville.

“I would never, ever, ever, have chosen to go to Korea, but the Lord opted to send me there, and it was awesome,” Butler said in an interview with Southern Seminary News. “My wife Bethany and I adopted from Asia because of my experience in Korea.”

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Southern Seminary helps Scarlet’s Bakery provide hope

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Scarlet's Bakery, 741 E Oak St in Louisville's Shelby Park neighborhood

Scarlet Hope, a local ministry that reaches women in the entertainment industry, will open a bakery in Shelby Park Dec. 16 with the help of Louisville organizations including The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Scarlet’s Bakery is a social enterprise of the ministry and will have its grand opening Jan. 16, 2016.

Several female students and student wives represent Southern Seminary through their volunteering efforts with Scarlet Hope. The ministry began in 2008 as a nonprofit organization founded by Rachelle Starr with the mission of “sharing the hope and love of Jesus Christ to women in the adult entertainment industry.”

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Bob Russell delivers leadership lecture at Southern Seminary November 5, 2015

Bob Russell, retired pastor of Louisville's Southeast Christian Church, offers leadership principles to more than 200 community leaders gathered for a luncheon event at Southern Seminary.
Bob Russell, former senior pastor of Louisville's Southeast Christian Church, offers leadership principles to more than 200 community leaders gathered for a luncheon event at Southern Seminary.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — Effective leadership admits weaknesses, delegates responsibilities, and serves others, said former megachurch pastor Bob Russell during the fifth annual Duke K. McCall Leadership Lecture at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Nov. 3.

“The church cannot be a pyramid with one guy at the top meeting everyone’s needs or the base can only be so big,” said Russell, former senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville. “It’s got to be a circle where we teach people to minister to each other, serve each other.”

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Pastors call for racial reconciliation at Expositors Summit Preconference October 30, 2015

 

Curtis Woods, associate executive director of convention relations for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, addresses church leaders at the Oct. 26 Expositors Summit Preconference on racial reconciliation.
Curtis Woods, associate executive director of convention relations for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, addresses church leaders at the Oct. 26 Expositors Summit Preconference on racial reconciliation.

All ethnic groups must preach racial reconciliation for there to be change among evangelicals, said speakers during the Expositors Summit Preconference at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Oct. 26.

“Racial reconciliation is not an addendum of the gospel; racial reconciliation is wedded to the gospel,” said Curtis Woods, associate executive director of convention relations for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. “How I see God, how I see others, and how I see myself is only made clear through the lens of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

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Southern Fall Festival breaks record attendance September 18, 2015

150911_8271-2 lowerA record estimated 7,000 people braved the rain to experience The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s 11th annual Fall Festival Sept. 11. Attendees entered the Imagination Station and traveled through the Telehopper into the land of Odyssey on the Seminary Lawn. The theme was based on “Adventures in Odyssey,” the Christian radio drama series created and produced by Focus on the Family.

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‘Preach the Word,’ Maryland pastor urges Southern Seminary students September 11, 2015

20150910_7977-lowerThe church cannot survive without the preaching of God’s Word, said Maryland pastor Ken Fentress during a Sept. 10 chapel service at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“If there is no faithful, expositional, biblical preaching of God’s Word, then there is no local church,” Fentress said. “God’s Word is central to salvation and central to the life and the ministry of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

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Stinson confronts impatience in ministry at Southern Seminary chapel September 4, 2015

Provost Randy Stinson preaches during SBTS chapel, Sept. 3
Provost Randy Stinson preaches during SBTS chapel, Sept. 3

Impatience reveals a deeper sin problem and selfishness than we often realize, Randy Stinson said in a Sept. 3 chapel message at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“If you are impatient, odds are, you don’t have joy, you don’t have gentleness, you don’t have kindness, you don’t have self-control, and you don’t have any peace,” said Stinson, senior vice president for academic administration and provost. “[Impatience] is the ultimate disrupter of everything.”

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Midwestern Seminary President Jason Allen challenges Southern students to finish well August 28, 2015

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Midwestern President Jason K. Allen preaches at the Aug. 27 Southern Seminary chapel service.

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Jason K. Allen returned to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to challenge students on finishing well. During the Aug. 27 chapel service, Allen preached from 2 Timothy 4:7 to remind students about Paul’s challenge to Timothy to keep their eyes on the finish line.

“Don’t settle for anything less than the direction God has given you, and don’t settle for anything short of completing that course,” Allen said.

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