DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board staff has filled four positions in its congregational strategists team, including the leaders of the congregational strategists and church starters.

Paul Atkinson, who was serving as interim team lead of the church starters, has been named leader of the church starting team. Tim Randolph, who has served as a congregational strategist in the Temple area, has been named leader of the congregational strategists. Randolph will continue serving as a congregational strategist as well.

03/30/2007 - By John Rutledge

10 Things Every Minister Needs to Know by Ronnie Floyd (New Leaf Press)

Ronnie Floyd states there is nothing like it in the entire world. He is speaking of serving in vocational ministry. In this small, but very readable, book, Floyd recounts the life lessons he has learned in more than 30 years as a pastor.

He asserts the book is for ministers of all ages and in all seasons of life. Yet he is convinced these 10 lessons transcend vocational ministry and touch other worlds as well—life, business and influence.

I would recommend the book highly to any believer, not just ministers. Floyd gives practical advice to all believers in all walks of life. He discusses the importance of being over doing. He also discusses the importance of family-building rather than ministry-building, faith, relationships, decision-making and maintaining a proper balance in life. He concludes with wisdom on how to believe God for your future.

What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com.

03/30/2007 - By John Rutledge

Southwestern Seminary hires fundraiser. Robert Hawley of Prosper, former regional capital resource manager for LifeWay Christian Resources, has joined the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary staff as associate vice president for institutional advancement. Hawley began his fund-raising career as a pastor in California when he raised support for missions endeavors. He also has been vice president of sales training and operations for a communications company in Dallas, vice president of Stephen’s Children Foundation, chief administrator of the Christian Motorcyclists Association and president of Open Doors Ministry USA. Hawley holds a bachelor of arts degree from Mercer University in Macon, Ga., and a master of divinity degree from Talbot Theological Seminary in La Mirada, Calif.

Billy Graham’s grandson injured in Iraq. Capt. Edward Graham, Billy Graham’s grandson and evangelist Franklin Graham’s youngest son, sustained shrapnel wounds to his arms, legs and back in Iraq. Graham, a 27-year-old Army Ranger and West Point graduate, did not suffer life-threatening injuries and was recovering at an undisclosed hospital, according to news reports. He is one of four children of Franklin Graham and one of 19 grandchildren of evangelist Billy Graham.

03/30/2007 - By John Rutledge

DALLAS—Forty Dallas Baptist University students loaded into six vans before daylight on a recent Saturday to participate in the school’s annual Habitat for Humanity spring break mission trip.

One 21-member building crew headed east to Sumter, S.C., where the DBU team partnered for five days with students from the University of Wisconsin-Stout to work on a home for a young family with two children.

03/30/2007 - By John Rutledge

“The progression from two to three … wives is not an arithmetic progression for evangelicals; it’s exponential,” said Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “Three is at least one too many.”

03/30/2007 - By John Rutledge

Heart-Healthy Living magazine puts it out there in black and white in its spring issue. “Couples who kiss often are eight times less likely to feel stressed or depressed.” Ta-da!

03/30/2007 - By John Rutledge

No joke. Comedian Eddie Griffin was practicing for a charity car race to promote his upcoming movie, Redline, when he lost control of a rare Ferrari Enzo and crashed it. (See the wreck on YouTube here.) Griffin totalled the car. It cost $1.5 million.

Wrap your brain around that: A $1.5 million red sportscar, gone in a nanosecond. Can you even comprehend anything on four wheels costing $1.5 million?

The car’s owner took the wreck pretty well. Redline producer Daniel Sadek reflected: “I’m glad Eddie came out of the crash OK, but my dream car got destroyed. I went to my trailer for about 15 minutes, and I thought: ‘There’s people dying every day. A lot of worse things are happening in the world.’”

03/30/2007 - By John Rutledge

Survey says moral values weakened. Three-quarters of Americans believe moral values in America have weakened in the last 20 years, and almost half think they have significantly weakened, according to a survey released by the Media Research Center. The survey found 74 percent of American adults said they believe moral values in the United States are weaker than they were two decades ago, while 48 percent said moral values were “much weaker.” Sixty-eight percent of Americans surveyed said the media—both entertainment and news—have a detrimental effect on moral values. More specifically, 73 percent said entertainment media had a negative influence on moral values, and 54 percent said the news media do. Eighty-seven percent of Americans said they believe in God, while 36 percent agreed that people should always live by God’s principles and teachings. The study was conducted by the polling firm Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates and the center’s Culture and Media Institute. The results were based on 1,000 surveys of American adults ages 18 and older by telephone and 1,000 surveys completed online in December. It had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

Wipe out malaria, first lady urges. Laura Bush congratulated religious and community organizations involved in the fight against malaria and urged others to join in the campaign at a White House conference. She highlighted the President’s Malaria Initiative, called PMI, which was launched in 2005 and aims to spend $1.2 billion over five years to address malaria in 15 countries. The first lady cited several groups—from Catholic Relief Services to megachurch pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in California—that are fighting the disease, which kills about 1 million people, many of them children, each year.

03/30/2007 - By John Rutledge