Top stories

Georgia Baptists turn out to 'Love Statesboro' and help their neighbors

A volunteer from Southbridge Community Church prays with homeowners after helping them clear debris from fallen trees in Statesboro, Ga., Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (Index/Henry Durand)
STATESBORO, Ga. — Energetic volunteers gathered at Southbridge Community Church on Saturday before spreading throughout Statesboro to help homeowners still cleaning up after Hurricane Helene. The effort, coordinated by the Ogeechee River Baptist Association and Southbridge Church, was dubbed “Love Statesboro.”
Rhon Carter, worship and music catalyst of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, and Lorna Bius, Mission Georgia mobilized, clear yard debris at the Korean Fellowship building of FBC Statesboro, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, (Index/Henry Durand)
Mission Georgia and FBC Statesboro partner to reach Korean immigrants
STATESBORO, Ga. — What does it look like to ‘Love Your Neighbor?’ For First Baptist Statesboro, one way to love their Korean neighbors is by providing them with a safe place to meet and fellowship.
Retired Col. Jerry Whiteside touches panel E3 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which bears the names of the 77 men he fought with who died in the battle of the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965. (Photo/Courtesy Lee Whiteside)
Georgia veteran Col. Jerry Whiteside had a front-row seat to history, twice
SAINT SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Not many people have had even one front-row seat to watch history unfolding before their eyes. Retired Col. Jerry Whiteside, U.S. Army, 87, has had two notable ones.
Brian Foster, left, Pastoral Counselor and Director of the Burnt Hickory Counseling Center, and Matt Petty, Senior Pastor of Burnt Hickory Baptist Church, lead a time of prayer and dedication of the new facilities for the counseling center. (Photo/Burnt Hickory Baptist Church)
Burnt Hickory Baptist Church opens counseling center to serve the community
POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — People seeking counseling in Cobb and Paulding counties now have an option that provides Biblically-based help for those dealing with trauma and crises. Burnt Hickory Baptist Church last week officially opened its new counseling center, which is open to the public and provides pastoral and clinical counseling services for individuals, couples, and families.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Donald Trump elected president in extraordinary political comeback
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.
Volunteers with Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief prepares meals for first responders Oct. 2, 2024, in Mount Vernon, Ga. (Index/Henry Durand, File)
Influx of younger DR volunteers provides multiple opportunities for growth
NEW LEXINGTON, Ohio (BP) — When it comes to Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, the physical nature of the work calls for strong bodies. However, it also calls for experience and maturity useful in ministering to those days or even hours removed from a natural disaster. And since natural disasters don’t schedule their arrival, you need volunteers with at least some flexibility in their schedule.
Baptist Life

Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief efforts continue in wake of Helene

Members of a Disaster Relief crew from Arkansas remove a fallen tree from a home in Valdosta, Oct. 3, 2024. (Index/Henry Durand, File)
SUWANEE, Ga. — Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief efforts throughout south Georgia continue in the wake of Hurricane Helene. According to Dwain Carter,  GBDR director, Sunday, Nov. 3, marked the 38th day of the relief response.
Korean pastors and church leaders greeted each other warmly, some clearly friends and others meeting for the first time. Representing different churches, they joined in the city of Asan, Korea, for one purpose. More than 40 Korean Baptist leaders met in October for a missions consultation based on the book Eight Steps of the Missions Continuum.
UTICA, Ky. (KT) — The path James Perkins has taken to become an International Mission Board missionary is not your typical story. He’s been a soldier, during which time he served a one-year deployment in Afghanistan, then has owned a grocery store. But the call to missions became evident this past January.
ANKENY, Iowa (BP) — Preaching and telling others about Jesus has been everything to Ed Gregory for 58 years. When his time as a full-time pastor ended, he joined the Pastoral Ministry Team of the Baptist Convention of Iowa as an encourager and mentor.
Michael Myers really frightened me on Halloween night. If you aren’t a scary movie fan, Michael Myers was a terrible, awful character from the 1978 horror movie Halloween. He is not real. I know he is not real. But his mask and dark blue coveralls give me chills. Still.
Georgia
Georgia state Sen. Harold Jones of Augusta speaks at a news conference after being elected the Senate's new Democratic leader on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

Harold Jones elected Georgia Senate Democratic leader

ATLANTA – State Senate Democrats Friday elected Sen. Harold Jones of Augusta to serve as Senate minority leader.

Georgia Senate Republicans keep John Kennedy as leader for next 2 years

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia state Senate Republicans will stick with their same leadership team. After an election where every incumbent who was running won another term, majority Senate Republicans gathered behind closed doors Thursday to choose their leaders for the next two years.

Flooding closes I-16 as heavy rains soak southeast Georgia

STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — Flooding rains Thursday inundated several counties in southeast Georgia, where a portion of Interstate 16 was shut down with westbound lanes covered by water.

Trump wins Georgia en route to securing re-election as president

ATLANTA — Former President Donald Trump won Georgia’s 16 electoral votes Tuesday on his way to winning a stunning re-election. The former president reversed his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden in the state, narrowly defeating Vice President Kamala Harris.
Nation
Smoke from a forest fire rises above the trees in Evesham, N.J. on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, when firefighters said conditions were the driest in New Jersey in nearly 120 years. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

NY parks employee dies fighting fires; air quality warnings are issued in New York and New Jersey

POMPTON LAKES, N.J. (AP) — A New York parks employee died battling one of a number of wildfires in New Jersey and New York amid dry conditions that have prompted air quality warnings in both states, authorities said Sunday.

Trump announces golf partner and former Georgia senator will co-chair inaugural committee

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump announced on Saturday that his inaugural committee will be chaired by Florida real estate investor Steven Witkoff and former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who he called “longtime friends and supporters.”

Federal judge tosses Illinois' ban on semiautomatic weapons

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday overturned Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, leaning on recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that strictly interpret the Second Amendment right to keep and bear firearms.

Justice Department brings criminal charges in Iranian murder-for-hire plan targeting Donald Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Donald Trump, charging a man who said he had been tasked by a government official before this week's election with planning the assassination of the Republican president-elect.
World
Bangladesh Nationalist Party activists shout slogans during a protest to counter former prime minister Sheikh Hassan's Awami League party rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

Opponents of ousted Bangladesh ex-premier Sheikh Hasina foil attempts to hold rally in Dhaka

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Rival political groups of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday thwarted a plan by her Awami League party to hold a rally in Bangladesh’s capital, seen as a potential first effort to make a comeback on the streets since she fled the country in August amid a mass uprising.

Attackers assaulted Israeli fans after a soccer match in Amsterdam, leaving 5 people hospitalized

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Attackers assaulted Israeli fans overnight after a soccer match in Amsterdam, leaving five people hospitalized, Dutch authorities said Friday. Dozens were arrested.

Cuba left reeling after Category 3 hurricane ravages island and knocks out power grid

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island, destroying hundreds of homes, knocking out the country’s power grid and damaging other infrastructure.

Cuba left reeling after Category 3 hurricane ravages island and knocks out power grid

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island and knocked out the country’s power grid.
Perspectives
We know something about anxiety. Sometimes it shows up on an x-ray. You can hear it in the pacing rhythm of footsteps late at night. Troubled eyes and wrinkled foreheads are also telltale signs. Desperate silence and nervous chatter are dead giveaways.
Every church has a process for making disciples.  In other words, all churches are doing something with the hopes of making disciples.  Unfortunately, most churches are not very successful in making disciples. 
A young boy went into the drug store along the town square where he lived and asked the pharmacist if he could make a phone call. Of course, the man said yes. He knew the lad to be a good boy who came from a fine family.
Eva Thelka Eisenhut was born in 1928 in Apolda, a small town that later became part of Communist East Germany. She was the oldest of four girls living with their parents in a four-room upstairs apartment.
We have all been bombarded with television advertisements, phone calls, text messages, emails, billboards, posters and multiple conversations about the 2024 presidential election and all the other ceaseless appeals to vote for one candidate or another.
Business
Pistachios are hand sorted at the Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds processing plant in Lost Hills, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

California farmers enjoy pistachio boom, with much of it headed to China

LOST HILLS, Calif. (AP) — In a sprawling plant in the heart of California's farmland, millions of shells rush down a metallic chute and onto a conveyor belt where they are inspected, roasted, packaged and shipped off to groceries around the world.

Federal Reserve cuts its key interest rate by a quarter-point amid postelection uncertainty

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Thursday by a quarter-point in response to the steady decline in an inflation rate that had angered Americans and helped drive Donald Trump’s presidential election victory this week.

Iran's currency falls to an all-time low as Trump clinches the US presidency

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s currency fell on Wednesday to an all-time low as Donald Trump clinched the U.S. presidency again, signaling new challenges ahead for Tehran as it remains locked in the wars raging in the Middle East.

Boeing factory strike ends as workers vote to accept contract

SEATTLE (AP) — Factory workers at Boeing voted to accept a contract offer and end their strike after more than seven weeks, clearing the way for the aerospace giant to resume production of its bestselling airliner and generate much-needed cash.

US employers added just 12,000 jobs last month

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers added just 12,000 jobs in October, a total that economists say was held down by the effects of strikes and hurricanes that left many workers temporarily off payrolls.
Sports
Georgia Tech linebacker Trenilyas Tatum is hugged by a fan after defeating Miami, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Haynes King leads Georgia Tech past Cam Ward, No. 4 Miami 28-23 for Hurricanes' 1st loss

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Tech coaches believed the best way to beat Cam Ward and No. 4 Miami was to keep the ball away from the quarterback.

Dart and Davis help No. 16 Mississippi shut down No. 2 Georgia for 28-10 win

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Jaxson Dart threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Antwane Wells Jr. in the third quarter, and No. 16 Mississippi shut down No. 2 Georgia for a 28-10 victory on Saturday.

Obituary: Bobby Allison, NASCAR Hall of Famer and 3-time Daytona 500 winner, dies at 86

Bobby Allison, founder of racing’s “Alabama Gang” and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, died Saturday. He was 86.

Cunningham finishes triple-double with huge plays at both ends as Pistons beat Hawks 122-121

DETROIT (AP) — Cade Cunningham finished off his triple-double by scoring the winning basket with 8.5 seconds left, and the Detroit Pistons beat the Atlanta Hawks 122-121 on Friday night.