Posts by Annie Corser

Hope in God fights fear of man, says Trillia Newbell at Equip April 20, 2016

trillia-about-960x1438LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — The best way to fight fear is gaining a greater understanding and awe of God, said author Trillia Newbell at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Equip seminar for women in ministry, April 2.

“We have a savior who relates to our suffering,” said Newbell, director of community outreach for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention. “Jesus is aware and acquainted with the grief of man. He is acquainted with my grief, he is acquainted with your grief. ... [For] the redemption of the world, he endured great pain. Pain I can only imagine. Pain and wrath on our behalf.”

More than 100 women gathered for “Equip: Practical Training for Women in Ministry” to hear Newbell discuss how to fight fears of man, the future, tragedy, and physical appearance. Newbell is the author of Fear and Faith: Finding the Peace Your Heart Craves (2015).

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Southern Seminary to serve Louisville in fourth annual 1937 Project April 6, 2016

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The 1937 Project is a campus-wide outreach as part of Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer's Give A Day week of service, which Southern Seminary has participated in since 2012.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will participate in Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer’s Give A Day Week of service with the fourth annual 1937 Project, April 23. The mayor’s office said the outreach, which honors the seminary’s role in helping the city recover from the 1937 Great Flood, is “one of the largest, most consistent groups over the last four years.”

“The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is an integral part of our Give A Day week of service,” Fischer said. “Last year they helped over 3,000 kids participate in a toy giveaway and this year they will organize a cleanup in Shelby Park, work with the Louisville Nature Center, among many other projects. We are sending a message that Louisville is taking its place among the world’s great cities, and compassion is one of our greatest strengths! For that, I have to say to all of you — thank you. What you’ve done has been amazing and inspiring.”

The 1937 Project unites students of Southern Seminary and the city of Louisville for a day of community service. Volunteers will gather April 23 to serve in more than 20 teams across Louisville. According to seminary leaders, the outreach is designed to further its gospel witness and practically meet the needs of Louisville residents, as well as modeling Christian service for future church leaders.

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Strong view of Christ overcomes despair, Dilbeck says at Southern Seminary chapel March 22, 2016

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Hance Dilbeck is the senior pastor of Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City and serves as the president of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — A weak view of Christ is the result of many Christians today not thinking about theological issues, said Oklahoma Baptist leader Hance Dilbeck in a chapel message at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, March 17.

“The sad thing about the church today is that we don’t think much. We don’t think much about anything. And unfortunately, we don’t think much about our Christology,” said Dilbeck, president of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. “Most of our thoughts today about the Christ are surface and shallow and sentimental.”

Dilbeck illustrated this point by describing a real-life interaction of a mother and her daughter in Oklahoma City. After seeing a bronze statue of Jesus, the young girl rightly identified the figure. While she recognized him, her knowledge of who Jesus was came out when she added, “He died on an Easter egg hunt.”

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Southern Seminary’s Renown Youth Conference encourages students to seek wisdom March 9, 2016

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Boyce College student band Lexington Road leads worship at the March 5-6 Renown Youth Conference.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — Leaders at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary challenged more than 600 middle and high school students to seek wisdom with a Christian worldview, March 5-6, at the Renown Youth Conference, hosted by Southern’s undergraduate school Boyce College.

“If you start somewhere other than, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,’ you are not wise,” Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said. “That’s where wisdom starts.”

Mohler challenged the 646 students and leaders — the annual conference’s highest attendance in five years — to seek wisdom through a study of biblical wisdom literature.

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Hawkins explains keys to influential leadership during Southern Seminary chapel

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Guidestone President and CEO O.S. Hawkins speaks on influential leadership in a March 3 chapel message at Southern Seminary.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — A “very influential person” can shape a lasting legacy, said Southern Baptist leader O. S. Hawkins in a chapel message at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, March 3.

“The world has a way of forgetting those folks who deemed themselves important people, but it has a long memory when it comes to remembering those who have influenced our lives,” said Hawkins, president and chief executive officer of GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Preaching from 2 Corinthians 10:13-18, Hawkins said the Apostle Paul was concerned with the areas of influence God gives his people. Hawkins redefined the commonly used acronym “VIP” with “very influential person.”

Based on his new book, VIP, Hawkins explained that influence comes from a person with vision, integrity, and purpose.

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9Marks at Southern Seminary expounds on conversion March 4, 2016

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Mark Dever, president of 9Marks and senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — Healthy churches understand conversion is impossible apart from God, said pastors and leaders at the 9Marks Conference at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Feb. 26-27.

“Conversion is an even greater work of God than creation,” said Mark Dever, president of 9Marks and senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. “Because at creation God had to do something with nothing, but when God comes to make the heart believe, he finds opposition and rebellion, he finds man against himself. As we read in the New Testament, we are at enmity with God. Christ therefore must … give new life.”

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James W. Cox, longtime Southern Seminary preaching professor, dies at 93 February 23, 2016

James W. Cox, who taught preaching at Southern Seminary for more than four decades, died Feb. 21 at 93.
James W. Cox, who taught preaching at Southern Seminary for more than four decades, died Feb. 21 at 93.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — James William Cox, a renowned homiletics professor who taught at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for more than four decades, died Feb. 21 in Louisville, Kentucky, at 93.

Born in Kingston, Tennessee, on Jan. 18, 1923, Cox trained generations of pastors and wrote several notable books on preaching. He joined Southern’s faculty in 1959 as professor of Christian preaching and in 1981 became the first occupant of the Victor and Louise Lester Chair of Christian Preaching. He retired in 1993 and served as a senior professor until his death.

“Dr. James Cox was one of the greatest scholars of preaching of the past century. His knowledge of homiletics and the history of preaching was unsurpassed,” said Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. “He was also a Christian gentleman who was always ready with a kind word and a faculty member who warmly encouraged his colleagues. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his faithful wife of so many years, Patricia, and the Cox family.”

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The world needs Christians of integrity, says D.A. Horton during Southern chapel February 19, 2016

20160215_1708 lowerLOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — Integrity leads Christians to preserving the beauty of the gospel, said D.A. Horton during a Feb. 16 chapel service at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“The reputation of Christ and the beauty of the gospel is far more glorious and worth fighting for than those momentary things that the enemy wants to leverage to disqualify those that God is leveraging for leadership within the body of Christ,” said Horton, church planting resident for The Summit Church, a multisite church based in Durham, North Carolina.

Expositing Psalm 51, Horton’s message, “Reclaiming Integrity is Our Value,” focused on the importance of integrity leading to the confession of sin, the confrontation of sin, and Christians modeling compassion to the godless.

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Boyce College professors challenge evangelical response to homosexuality in new book February 17, 2016

20151110_5759c lowerLOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — The gospel demands change, write Boyce College professors Denny Burk and Heath Lambert in a new book, Transforming Homosexuality: What the Bible Says About Sexual Orientation and Change. Burk, professor of biblical studies at Boyce College, and Lambert, executive director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors and visiting professor of biblical counseling, recognize the truth of the gospel is for homosexuals because it is for all people. They argue that while homosexuality might be an uncomfortable subject to talk about, the Bible sets clear boundaries that need to be pervasively championed.

“If we withhold that truth from them out of fear of offending them, then we don’t love them. We cut them off from salvation,” they write. “The only way for them to be saved is to receive Christ. The only way to receive Christ is by repentance and faith.”

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SBTS prof compiles 50 historical reflections on marriage in new book February 12, 2016

Robert L. Plummer, professor of New Testament interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Robert L. Plummer, professor of New Testament interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — As husbands and wives consider biblical marriage with Valentine's Day approaching, a new book by professors at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary offers historical reflections on marriage from major figures in church history.

In Held in Honor: Wisdom for Your Marriage from Voices of the Past, co-authors Robert L. Plummer, professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern, and Matthew D. Haste, associate professor of ministry studies at Columbia International University Seminary and School of Ministry in Columbia, South Carolina, provide biblical reflections and personal application to accompany each historical selection. The idea for this book began with Plummer’s desire to collect the main ideas from other marriage books he was reading.

“My thought was, 'I wish I could just take one paragraph out of that because that's the main point, and just read that because I don't really have a whole lot of time.' I just really wanted the meat of something,” Plummer explained. “Then when I would read something like Luther's famous essay on the estate of marriage, I would realize that it was written 500 years ago, but it was really good. … I really liked the feeling of being connected to the historic witness to the church.”

Describing Ephesians 4, Plummer said that Held in Honor embodies the passage’s explanation that God raises up leaders and teachers continually throughout history. This book seeks to provide condensed historical documents as personal witnesses of the challenge and beauty of a God-centered marriage.

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