IMB Holds Sending Celebration, Evangelical Support for Israel & Surprising Answers About Unanswered Prayers

International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood believes lostness is the world’s greatest problem. That is, being cut off from peace with God because of sin and rebellion against God. Chitwood travels the country speaking about lostness and calling for believers to respond to take the gospel around the world.

This week, 30 people in North Carolina answered that call. They were commissioned by the IMB to go and share the good news.
While the IMB regularly commissions people to go, it’s rare for such a big group to come from one state at one time. In fact, Chitwood said it was the first time it’s happened in the organizations 178 year history.

Chitwood is calling on people to join these North Carolina believers and to lift them up in prayer.
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One month after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, Israel’s ground invasion into the Gaza Strip has reached a new stage with ground forces deep inside Gaza City, The Associated Press reported Nov. 7.

And as fighting intensifies in the Middle East, antisemitic sentiments appear to be rising here at home.

A statement issued by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in the days immediately following the Oct. 7 attack continues to gain signatories who agree with the statement’s call to “fully support Israel’s right and duty to defend itself against further attack, and urgently call all Christians to pray for the salvation and peace of the people of Israel and Palestine.”

Thousands have added their names to the statement since its release Oct. 11.

More than 2,000 have signed the statement. You can see it at ERLC.com.
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Good News for Today is sponsored by The Voice of the Martyrs

Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.
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If you pray, you’ve been there. You’ve experienced times when God’s obvious answer is no or wait. It may not have been the answer you were seeking, but it was the answer.

In a piece in the Baptist Press Toolbox, Kie Bowman helps us think through those answers.

He writes, “God has His reasons for waiting before He answers. Rather than getting discouraged, therefore, we should try to remember that God’s delays are not necessarily God’s denials. In fact, when we pray, and the answer is “no” or “wait” we are actually experiencing God’s best. As Charles Spurgeon correctly observed, “God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.”

The answer to your prayer may not be what you expected. It may be the opposite of what you hoped for. But for the believer, the only unanswered prayer is an un-offered prayer because our God answers prayer.”

You can read the full piece and learn more about our daily emails at Baptist Press.com.