‘God at Work’ study brings Cooperative Program to life for children
Years ago, Belinda Stroud began to have a burden. “I kept thinking about how the next generation doesn’t understand the Cooperative Program,” said Stroud, a children’s ministry specialist for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. “I just wanted to educate them, and I felt like by educating children we could also educate their parents.” […]
Better Than One
Two are better than one! In those five words from Ecclesiastes 4:9, we learn a great Biblical truth. Think about it: In Genesis 2:18, we read, for the very first time recorded in Scripture, that God said something wasn’t good. Of all the beautiful and majestic beings and worlds God created, He also declared how […]
Why Younger Alabama Baptists Should Give To Support Gospel Missions Through The Cooperative Program
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”(Isaiah 52:7, NIV) Taking the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, whether that be across the street or thousands of […]
10 Thoughts About the CP
1. Stays true to the original vision. The Cooperative Program is an agreement among churches, state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention to cooperate to conduct mission ministries in the United States and around the world. It is a channel through which our offerings flow to underwrite missions and ministries performed by more than 6,400 […]
Seven Mistakes Ministers Make Concerning Retirement
1. Not using the Church Retirement Plan through GuideStone. GuideStone does a very good job with our money. Their investments are competitive with secular companies. The Church Retirement Plan has unique tax treatment for ministers. Due to the dual tax status of ministers, making tax-deferred contributions saves on federal, state and self-employment taxes on the […]
The Next Generation
It was a beautiful late spring day in north Alabama, and I was taking my then four-year-old son fishing with me. He and I would go to a farm area not far from my house. I loved to fish, and my son loved to throw rocks in the water. I’ll grant you that isn’t usually […]
Psalm 39:5-6
Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them. Psalm 39:5-6 […]
We Are the Cooperative Program!
The Cooperative Program (CP) is much more than money or a funding strategy. True, it has been Southern Baptist’s main strategy for nearly 100 years to gather unified funds from autonomous SBC congregations and use them to carry the message of Christ to our neighbors and the nations. The funding journey begins with you and […]
Cooperative Program
Major is an 11-year-old boy who listens to the needs of a lost world and begins to despair. “What could I possibly do that would impact a lost world, feed masses of hungry people, help orphans and abandoned children, and make serious efforts to reach lost people here in Alabama?” Major’s head spins as he […]
One. More. Time.
“On the line!” Those words struck fear in me when I was in high school playing basketball. The last part of practice – conditioning – always started with those dreaded words. Sometimes we would run until our coach got tired of blowing his whistle. Other times he would tell us how many sprints we had […]