Moving forward to shift more Southern Baptist resources to areas of North America with the most widespread lostness, North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell has announced new missionary placements for several states in the northeast United States that have not had a full-time missionary fully funded by NAMB.

He looked like the ideal youth minister – recommended by a friend of the pastor, personable, and leading a thriving ministry to teens at Wayside Baptist Church in Miami. But looks were deceiving.

More than 25,000 background checks conducted by churches or organizations on prospective workers in the past three years have turned up more than 1,600 felony offenses, with the number of organizations conducting background checks having risen 27 percent in the past year, according to LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Billy Graham remains passionate for the Kingdom, Frank Page observed during a May 12 visit with the 93-year-old evangelist.