Cartledge leaving N.C.’s Biblical Recorder
Biblical Recorder editor Tony Cartledge will leave his post at the state newspaper in mid-year to join the faculty of Campbell University’s divinity school in Buies Creek, N.C. Cartledge, 55, will serve as associate professor of Old Testament beginning in August. He has served as editor of the Biblical Recorder, the journal of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, since 1999. He taught Old Testament adjunctively at Southeastern Baptist Seminary and Appalachian State University during the 1980s. Cartledge holds a doctor of philosophy degree in Old Testament from Duke University, a master’s degree from Southeastern, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia. Prior to joining the Biblical Recorder, Cartledge served 26 years as pastor of churches in Georgia and North Carolina.
Anti-conversion bill raises concern in India
Christians in northern India’s Himachal Pradesh state could be subject to up to two years in prison and heavy fines for evangelizing if a bill recently passed by the government is signed into law, according to Jerry Dykstra of Open Doors, an organization that ministers to persecuted Christians. People who want to become Christians would be required to give at least 30 days prior notice to the government or face a fine. The bill, which has not yet been signed into law, is worded in a manner that leaves great leeway for police or local government officials to define what constitutes “forcible” conversion, Dykstra told Mission Network News. Radical Hindu elements in such offices have used similar laws in five other states to punish and restrict Christian activity at their pleasure. Of the 6 million people in Himachal Pradesh, Christians number only about 8,000.
Akin podcast to focus on biblical exposition
Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Seminary, has launched a podcast of sermons and teaching material rooted in biblical exposition. The podcast can be accessed through Akin’s website, danielakin.com; Southeastern’s website, sebts.edu; or by searching for his name at the iTunes Music Store podcast directory. Users can subscribe to the podcast so that it can be updated automatically each time a new sermon is added online. “My prayer is that God will use this podcast as a way to reach people all over the world with his word, as well as teach the value and importance of expository preaching,” said Akin, president since 2003 of Southeastern, located in Wake Forest, N.C. Akin is the author of commentaries on the epistles of John and the Song of Solomon, and of several books, including “Discovering the Biblical Jesus: Evidence From An Empty Tomb” and “God on Sex.” David Nelson, Southeastern’s senior vice president of academic administration, noted that amid thousands of podcasts available and scores of new ones appearing daily, “Dr. Akin is rare in that he is a scholar-teacher whose preaching speaks to the heart and the mind, both instructing and inspiring.”