![]() I was in my church.” And it was during a worship service at his church two years ago that Pastor Mike wrote “Big,” which Kerry Douglas, founder of the BlackSmoke music label, heard and persuaded Mike to record the song. I did not leave Alabama to do what I was doing. “I am grateful that God made that promise to me. I believed that if you love your family, your city and love God, the world will come looking for you,” insisted Pastor Mike. “It was always my heart’s desire to turns my city upside down, just as the apostles did in the book of Acts. By the age of 26, there were 300-to-400 of us and by the age of 27, there were 5,000 of us,” he recalled. “I started my church at age 25 with 10 friends. The fellowship began as a college ministry and now boasts thousands of members. Born Mike McClure, Jr., Pastor Mike founded The Rock Church in Birmingham, Alabama 10 years ago. However, considering his unwavering faith in God, it’s no surprise that the young artist has reached such heights in a relatively short time in the industry. “Even when the ugly is all around you, Jesus empowers you to be able to see the beautiful things and to dwell upon them.In a nod to the versatility of his music, the artist, track and album are listed in the New Artist of the Year, Urban/Inspirational Single or Performance of the Year, Music Video of the Year, Rap/Hip Hop Gospel Album of the Year and Song of the Year categories. “A good sense of taste arising out of a distinctively Christian aesthetic empowers you to acknowledge the ugly things in the world without losing hope,” Mr. He said Baptists should look for the good while recognizing the bad. Barber made an oblique reference to the sexual abuse case revealed last year, whose aftershocks continue reverberating throughout the 13.3-million member denomination. ![]() Speaking to delegates in opening remarks, Mr. Mike Stone, who was also a runner-up in 2021, by a margin of 68.4% to 31.4%. Bart Barber, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas, won a second one-year term as SBC president. A member of the SBC Executive Committee said the resignation was a tactic to rejoin the SBC.Īll three appeals involved paper ballots so the results won’t be available until Wednesday morning, a spokesman for the SBC Executive Committee confirmed. The church said the cleric resigned in May and thus the church should be readmitted. Linda Barnes Popham is the pastor.Ī third congregation, Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Florida, appealed its expulsion over an issue involving alleged sexual abuse by its pastor. One is appealing on the same grounds as Saddleback - Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, where the Rev. ![]() Saddleback was one of three SBC congregations challenging their removal and seeking a vote of delegates at the business session in New Orleans, which concludes Wednesday. It’s a matter of biblical commitment, a commitment to the scripture that unequivocally we believe limits the office of pastor to men.” He said, “Southern Baptists decided this is not just a matter of church polity. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the prohibition on female pastors was inserted into the “Faith and Message” statement “because 30 years ago, this issue threatened to tear this denomination apart.” “If doctrinal disagreements between Baptists are considered sin, we all get kicked out! You’ll never get 100% of Baptists to agree 100% on 100% of every doctrine.” ![]() “But the 1,928 churches with women on pastoral staff have not sinned,” he said.
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![]() The dread of collimating mirrors can be a turn-off, especially for a beginner, but the XT8 addresses this task admirably.įirst, the instructions walk you through the process clearly with good illustrations. Looking at the lunar surface itself, the scope delivered, offering sharp, high-contrast views of crater Gassendi and the rilles on the floor of the Mare Humorum.Īlthough a few minor shortcomings mean it falls slightly short of getting top marks, the XT8 PLUS is a well thought-out package that offers a good option for a first scope.Īll the accessories essential to getting started are included, while the detailed instructions will make the learning curve much easier for a first-timer. When observing objects near the Moon or a streetlight, these internal reflections severely reduced the contrast. When slewing towards a bright gibbous Moon we noticed some glare in the eyepiece: this was due to light reflecting off the internal surface of the telescope, meaning it was not adequately blackened. Observing deep-sky objects is a strength of Dobsonians and this one was no exception, but the next test was the Moon. Unfortunately, the 1.25-inch Barlow lens cannot be used with the 2-inch DeepView eyepiece. Zooming in with the 10mm Plössl, the view was still sharp and well-defined, so we tried out the supplied 2x Barlow lens.Īt 240x magnification, the view remained sharp in moments of good seeing. We got an excellent view of the Ring Nebula in Lyra – small, bright and glowing faintly in the middle. The very diffuse Triangulum Galaxy is a challenge under light-polluted skies, but the XT8’s 8-inch aperture succeeded in showing its faint glow in the 28mm DeepView eyepiece. This is a common problem and easy to fix, though it’s not mentioned in the instructions. We discovered that this was due to the primary mirror clips being over-tight and deforming the mirror slightly. Switching to the 10mm Plössl eyepiece at 120x magnification, the diffraction rings were concentric but elongated, suggesting that some astigmatism was present in the optical train. The 28mm DeepView eyepiece was reasonably sharp, but showed astigmatism towards the edge of the field. It is a little plasticky, with a small screen and slightly elongated red dot, but it still allowed us to locate our target. ![]() ![]() Turning skywards, we slewed to Vega using the red-dot finder supplied, the Orion EZ Finder II reflex sight. However, there is no handle on the tube for guiding the scope, which would have been a welcome addition. The scope is well-balanced and even when we inserted our own heavy eyepieces only a little tension adjustment was needed to stop the front end from tipping. The mount’s axes were adequately smooth to slew the scope and track objects at high magnifications. Let's take a look at the all-time results for each year of the contest and get a better sense for the damage this year's Mustard Belt winners could do.īefore 2011, and with the exception of 1975, men and women competed against one another in an open competition. ET, which sounds a little early to be wolfing down 30 hot dogs, but more power to them! The men's contest will be held on Monday, July 4, at noon E.T. Now, we have a faceoff between Lesco and Sudo to see whether the former can begin a new dynasty or the latter will reclaim her own. Sudo set the high water mark for women, who have had their own contest since 2011, with 48.5 dogs, but she didn't compete in the contest last year because she was pregnant. ![]() There is also added intrigue in the women's race 2022 winner Michelle Lesco returns to try to defend her Mustard Belt title from last year, when she ate 30.75 hot dogs, but she'll have to go through hot dog eating stalwart Miki Sudo. ![]() After Covid-19 and capacity limitations changed the structure of the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2020 and '21, in 2022 it's back to being held outdoors at Coney Island, at the corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues.Īccording to Nathan's, 35,000 fans are expected to converge on the location to see if reigning champion and world record holder Joey Chestnut can yet again best his own mark of 76 hot dogs to set a new record.Ĭhestnut is the heavy betting favorite against the field, and among those his best challenger is Geoffrey Esper at -140 (bet $140 to win $100). |