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Eric Reed

The waiting game

September 1, 2022 By Eric Reed

The waiting game

One of Mr. Rogers’s songs comes to mind: “Something to do While We’re Waiting.” The announcement that the Department of Justice is investigating the Southern Baptist Convention came with no reference to a timetable. It was the SBC Executive Committee that said DOJ had subpoenaed records pertaining to their handling of sexual abuse allegations. DOJ […]

What can we say about Uvalde? 

May 25, 2022 By Eric Reed

Uvalde, Texas

If Greg Zanis hadn’t died in 2020, he would be headed to Uvalde, Texas right now. Or Buffalo, New York. Or Laguna Woods, California. The Aurora, Illinois carpenter built crosses to place at the sites of mass shootings, each with red heart and the name of a victim on it. I first noticed 15 crosses […]

Missionaries report tragic acts of war, then and now

April 8, 2022 By Eric Reed

This copy of the Illinois Baptist from January 1942 was unearthed in a recent renovation of the IBSA archives. An eyewitness account of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by a Southern Baptist leader on the scene echoes the stories from IMB missionaries in Ukraine today.

Sunday, December 7, 1941: Charles Maddry was preparing for three worship services that morning with the fifteen missionaries serving through the Hawaiian Baptist Mission. Dr. Maddry was head of Southern Baptists’ Foreign Mission Board. He was in Honolulu for a three-day conference to plan missions on the islands. “My room in the hotel looked out […]

Do I dare declare judgment?

September 8, 2021 By Eric Reed

Remembering 9-11

The recent collapse of a condo building near Miami and weeks of searching through 22 million pounds of rubble for 97 victims took me back. I couldn’t break away from the coverage. And it reminded me of a question I’ve been asked after several catastrophes. In November 2001, I visited New York City. I was […]

Two scoops of courage

June 10, 2021 By Eric Reed

A friend of mine opened an ice cream shop in May. She dreamed a dream, a big dream, and made it happen during a pandemic. She wrestled with construction, permitting, sourcing, bidding, hiring, marketing, and taste-testing. She cultivated relationships with local officials, churn experts, shop owners, potential staff, and her community. No one told her […]

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Featured Columns

SBC25 Dallas

7 BOLOs for the Dallas Convention

Eric Reed

If the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Dallas June 10-11 proves to be a rowdy rodeo, we will “be on the lookout” for these issues. 1. The long arm of the Law Amendment. The open letter to SBC churches on a method to resurrect the Law Amendment virtually guarantees that someone will try it. Asked […]

Nate Adams

Between summits

Nate Adams

Those who know me or who have been reading this column for a while know that I am on a bit of a quest to climb as many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains as possible. My oldest son, Caleb, and I have summited 37 “fourteeners” together, some with other family members. My wife, Beth, would be […]

Turning volunteers’ no’s into enthusiastic yes’s

Daniel Kim

In the third week of my internship, I was assigned to tear down chairs and tables after an event in our gym. Coming from a smaller church, I assumed I could handle it on my own—until I saw eight tables and 150 chairs that needed to be cleared. After three grueling hours, one thought kept […]

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SBC 2025: Back where we started

Illinois Baptist Staff

Dallas | Messengers to the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Dallas June 10-11 arrived at the probability that motions from the floor on women and the pastorate, financial transparency, and the fate of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission would dominate the discussion. In the business sessions, they did. But in the end, […]

News

Pressley reelected

SBC: New and familiar faces elected

Lisa Misner

Dallas | Clint Pressley was reelected to a second one-year term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention on the first day of the Annual Meeting in Dallas June 10. And his new first vice president is an evangelist familiar to many because of triumph over significant disabilities. One candidate elected without opposition was presented […]

Jennifer Lyell dies after brief illness

HLGU opposes mandate

More News Stories

Mission

“While we have not yet arrived at the destination we envision, I believe we are clearly headed in the right direction,” said IMB President Paul Chitwood to trustees in the May 22 plenary session. IMB Photo

IMB trustees appoint new missionaries, elect first woman chair

Leslie Caldwell

Richmond | International Mission Board trustees approved 65 fully funded missionaries for appointment during their May 21-22 meeting near Richmond, Virginia. The missionaries approved for appointment will be recognized during a Sending Celebration on Tuesday, June 10, at 10:08 a.m. CDT in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Dallas. The event will […]

Metro East church plant hosts multiplication meeting

Sallateeska baptism demonstrates SBC connections

More Mission Stories

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