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• FBCH hosts annual CEO Children’s Council meeting
• From Madagascar to Central Asia, Florida Baptist collegians serve globally
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WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)—Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and its undergraduate school, The College at Southeastern, granted degrees to 116 students during fall graduation ceremonies Dec. 18.

Ninety-eight graduates received their master’s or doctoral degrees, and 18 graduated with associate or bachelor’s degrees. The graduates came from 18 states and three foreign countries.

JACKSONVILLE (FBW)—Clutching his Bible in one hand and gesturing towards the sky with the other, Bobby Bowden, one of the winningest coaches in college football, said he didn’t know “when the end” would come for him, but he’s been reading up on the important stuff in life.

“I’m studying for my finals,” Bowden said to members of the football teams who were set to face-off against each other in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. “It ought to be a pretty doggone good football game.”

Jacksonville (FBC)—Ninety computers glow in the black-light lit room, connecting a virtual world of role-playing fantasy. The setting serves a growing cyber culture where video gamers create pseudonyms or “tags” to cloak themselves in anonymity and escape from personal relationships, family and faith.

WINTER HAVEN (FBC)—Joe Caroccio, a single father raising four children, gave up smoking when he began asking, “Does God really want me to spend my money to buy cigarettes?”

Judy Bailey pays cash for every non-fixed item in her household budget and asks herself before making a personal purchase, “Can this money be better spent on a Kingdom purpose?”

JACKSONVILLE (FBC)—During his 26-year tenure with the Florida Baptist Convention, Gary Nichols has assumed many roles while assisting churches in their discipleship efforts—dramatist and clown, Bible drill leader, camp director, author and family life specialist. His statewide leadership in family life ministries earned an appointment on the prestigious Governor’s Commission on Marriage and Family Support Initiatives, which allowed him to rub shoulders with other Christians in the state and federal governments.

JACKSONVILLE (FBC)—Three high school teens, Jessica Bodmer of Key West, Rachel Yeargain of Pensacola, and Stephanie Rodriguez of Port Richey, have been selected as Florida Acteens state advisory panelists for 2009-2010.

The young women were selected on the basis of their church, school and community involvement said Cindy Goodwin, director of the Florida Baptist Women’s Missions and Ministries Department.

NASHVILLE (ERLC)—Of all the issues that face the American family today, none of them has produced more heartache or tragedy than abortion. Many of us have failed to understand that human life is not like any other life. The Bible tells us that God made man in His image and breathed life into man. We are not just a part of the animal kingdom.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)—As I travel throughout North America, I am awed by the work God is doing in this vast mission field. He is at work in the hearts of those who know Him and those who have yet to know Him through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

NEW ORLEANS (BP)—Their research papers are written and every classroom test taken. But New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s newest graduates will face one more exam for the rest of their earthly lives, NOBTS President Chuck Kelley said Dec. 19. The test—related to Proverbs 3:5-6—is how they will answer a defining question: “Are you going to choose to do what God has told you to do?”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—The South is the most religious region, the Northeast and a handful of Western states the least religious, and the rest of the country falls somewhere in between, according to a recently released survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (BP)—Scott Pospisil knew it years ago.

He could see something unique in his eldest son. Ross Pospisil, now a senior linebacker at the U.S. Naval Academy who is preparing for the final game of an impressive four-year career, had plenty of typical boyish vigor, but there was something else. He also possessed a precocious tenderness. Ross loved to serve others.

BELLEVIEW (FBW/FBC)—Some Florida Baptist Churches are more than doubling their Lottie Moon Christmas Offerings for International Missions goals in answer to the International Missions Board’s announcement that missionary appointments may be limited due to lack of funds.

First Baptist Church in Belleview and Friendship Baptist Church in Live Oak set ambitious goals, and then surpassed them.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—The fear of rejection is no excuse to avoid sharing the Gospel, says speaker and author Bill Fay, who suggests a change in perspective is all that’s needed.

Fay’s book Share Jesus Without Fear has been used by churches and Christian schools nationwide as an evangelism tool, and he regularly speaks at Share Jesus Without Fear seminars.

GRACEVILLE (BCF)—Baptist College of Florida senior B.J. Shelton found out earlier this year that God provides. And sometimes, He provides in ways that defy the norm.