Issuu

B-1O1: The urgency of the End Times, pages 13-14 • #CreativeThanksgiving, page 15

Volume 108, No. 16

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

IB Insider

and

What Columbus Day shares with Cooperative Program page 4

Awakening

Washington: One year after the storm page 5

‘Elevate Marriage’ speakers urge higher standards page 6 Turkeys page 16

News and updates Throughout the week:

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Broadview Missionary Baptist Church Choir

Constitution revision, ‘Common Core’ resolution delayed as messengers pray for revival Springfield | The 108th Annual Meeting of the Illinois Baptist State Association might best be described as quietly surprising. Some actions expected from 433 registered messengers meeting at the Springfield Crowne Plaza Nov. 5-6 were postponed, including a resolution on Common Core Education Standards that was sent back to the Resolutions Committee for further study. And a revision to the IBSA Constitution that was originally proposed for expedited consideration (reported in

the Oct. 20 Illinois Baptist) will instead go through the regular two-year process needed for amendments. The primary focus of messengers turned Wednesday night to pleading for spiritual awakening—individually, in small groups, and as a body. At this Annual Meeting, prayer rose to the surface. Like last year, Mission Illinois again set the meeting’s theme, but with a new emphasis on prayer reflected in the Wednesday evening “Concert of Prayer.” Continued on page 3

Heaven, hell and heresies

Survey says Americans ‘fuzzy’ on faith details

Nashville, Tenn. | It’s probably not surprising that 45% of Americans believe there are many ways to heaven. But that 19% of evangelicals believe the same is one of the warning signs in a new report by LifeWay Research. Among other findings: 45% of Americans believe the Bible was written for each person to interpret as they choose, and 67% believe everyone sins, but most people are by nature good. “What comes screaming through this survey is the pervasive influence of humanism,” noted R.C. Sproul, chairman of Ligonier Ministries, who commissioned the research to measure American views of Christian theology. Many Americans get the basics right but are often fuzzy on the details, said

Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research. “People like to believe in a generic Christian-ish god with cafeteria doctrines,” Stetzer said. “However, when we asked about harder beliefs—things that the church has [considered] and still considers orthodoxy—the numbers shift.” The online survey of 3,000 Americans asked 43 questions about faith, covering topics from sin and salvation to the Bible and the afterlife. Heaven is for real

Traditional Christian theology teaches heaven and hell are actual places, and the majority of Americans agree. But

2014 IBSA Annual Meeting Special coverage begins on page 7 Praying at the wailing wall— in Springfield

A mountain of corn meets a tiny but determined shovel

Ministers’ wives keep faith in trying times

Come to this fountain so rich and sweet

they differ on what it takes to get there. Along with measuring how many Americans believe there are many ways to heaven, the survey also found how likely people in certain religious groups are to agree. Catholics (67%) and Mainline Protestants (55%) are most likely to say heaven’s gates are wide open, while Black Protestants (33%) and Evangelicals (19%) were less likely to say so. People believe hell is for real too, the survey found, although slightly less real than heaven; 61% of people said hell is a real place, compared to 67% who said the same about heaven. Regardless, researchers found, most people don’t seem too worried about sin or going to hell: 67% told researchers that most people are basically good, even though everyone sins a little bit, and only 18% say even small sins should lead to damnation. Continued on page 2