The Flickr Southernbaptistconvention Image Generatr

All who enter a church school of Southern Baptists get quoted at them the supposed words of David, who was purportedly a king of Judah circa 1000 BCE:

I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

The placement at the door of a school suggests the words are intended to be prescriptive, that young readers will be trained to think and speak only of "blessing" and praising their special deity. Can you imagine?

I am certain I would be very unhappy, were my thoughts and communications to be confined to such a narrow range of fantasy. Moreover, the idea that something would be "continually in my mouth" is a stomach-turning gross-out. So the Southern Baptists have failed again to win me to their side.

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In downtown Portsmouth, Virginia, on October 13th, 2023, outside the Court Street Academy in the Drs. Wilbur and Katharine Kersey Education Building at the Court Street Baptist Church, on the west side of Court Street between London Street and Queen Street.

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Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names terms:
• Portsmouth (7022210)

Art & Architecture Thesaurus terms:
• Baptist (300153825)
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• church schools (buildings) (300006580)
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• engraving (action) (300053829)
• gray (color) (300130811)
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• religious buildings (300007391)

Wikidata items:
• 13 October 2023 (Q69306951)
• 1950s in architecture (Q11185577)
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• October 13 (Q2925)
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• Psalm 34 (Q1361196)
• South Hampton Roads (Q7567420)
• Southern Baptist Convention (Q1351880)
• Tidewater (Q7800894)
• Tsenacommacah (Q7849523)

Library of Congress Subject Headings:
• Buildings—Virginia (sh90004921)

Yea it's from 1922 and is owned by the Southern Baptists nowadays. I shuddered when I learned that!

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In downtown Wichita Falls, Texas, on February 14th, 2023, a building owned by the First Baptist Church at the northwest corner of Austin Street and 9th Street, during a dust storm.

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Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names terms:
• Wichita (county) (2002092)
• Wichita Falls (7014626)

Art & Architecture Thesaurus terms:
• Baptist (300153825)
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Wikidata items:
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Library of Congress Subject Headings:
• Brick walls (sh85016796)
• Buildings—Texas (sh85017805)

Pembroke First Baptist Church is on Union Chapel Road in Pembroke, North Carolina in Robeson County.

In college, Natalie Nation realized that God could use her skills and passion for swimming to impact places where few are choosing to follow Christ. She is headed to Yokohama to serve Japanese college students as a swim coach. IMB Photo

Saleem and Sue Ellen Bhayani embrace their son, Samuel, as the family prepares for the Sending Celebration. The emotional moment was one of many as these newly appointed missionaries leave their homes and extended family to bring the gospel to the nations. The Bhayanis are sent by Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas, to France. IMB Photo

A fifth-generation missionary stands with her husband, sharing the testimony of how they were called to South Asia as missionaries. These missionaries’ identities are obscured because some missionaries are called to people groups that may be hostile toward the gospel. For their safety and those they serve among, they are not publicly connected with IMB. In their countries of service, they are generally known by their real names or sometimes by a nickname given to them by local friends. IMB Photo

Alba Mosquera is fulfilling a call she felt from the Lord in 2008. The former teacher will be using the cross-cultural experience her job and church have given her to share the gospel with Europeans. IMB Photo

Tyler and Rachel English, along with their daughters, Asher (5), Graycen (3), and Wrenley (1), will serve as missionaries in Guatemala. Tyler grew up on the mission field, and Rachel’s uncles (D.Ray and Daren Davis) serve with the IMB. IMB Photo

Krisztina McDowell studied missions in Hungary. Her husband, David, studied Central European History in America. They share a passion for European peoples, and God brought them together. Now they’re returning to Europe as a family of five to plant churches in Poland. The McDowells are being sent by First Baptist Church, Umatilla, Florida. IMB Photo

“Honestly, we wondered if there’s a place in God’s mission for regular people like us,” Jack Thompson said. He and his wife, Rachel, are being sent to support missionaries in Sub Saharan Africa through accounting and financial services. Their sending church is First Southern Baptist Church of Glendale, Arizona. IMB Photo

International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood announced a healthcare ministries fund called the "Dr. Rebekah Naylor fund for Global Healthcare Strategies" during the IMB dinner June 12 in New Orleans. Dr. Naylor was presented a plaque for her 50 years of ministry.

IMB Photo

Jeff Ginn, affinity group leader for the American Peoples with the International Mission Board, shares about ministry in Colombia June 12 during the IMB dinner at the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. Each year, the IMB hosts this dinner to update Southern Baptists on what God is doing around the world.

IMB Photo

More than 2,000 attended the International Mission Board dinner June 12 on the eve of the two-day 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. Each year, the IMB hosts the dinner to update Southern Baptists on what God is doing around the world.

IMB Photo

“When you are obedient to God, He provides the time, resources and opportunities,” Annel Robayna, IMB’s Hispanic church mobilization strategist, told attendees at the IMB dinner June 12 before stopping to pray for the unreached.

IMB Photo

“As you think about your calling and pray for more to be called to go to the edges of lostness, we ask everyone here in the room tonight to join us in the journey as we seek to find and know these 3,072 people groups who have no missionary presence and likely no Gospel access,” IMB President Paul Chitwood told attendees at the IMB dinner June 12 in New Orleans.

IMB Photo

Attendees of the International Mission Board Dinner pray together June 12. The event was held prior to the two-day SBC annual meeting June 13-14 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

IMB Photo

Attendees at the IMB dinner were invited to write a note to an IMB missionary, thanking them for their dedication to reaching the lost.

IMB Photo

International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood announced a healthcare ministries fund called the "Dr. Rebekah Naylor fund for Global Healthcare Strategies" during the IMB dinner June 12 in New Orleans. While accepting the honor, Naylor said, “Thank you very much. It’s a privilege to serve. I can certainly testify that God keeps promises and joy comes in obedience.”

IMB Photo

IMB President Emeritus Jerry Rankin speaks with North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell (right) and IMB President Paul Chitwood during the IMB dinner at the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. At the dinner, Chitwood took a moment to recognize Rankin's 40 years of service. The crowd gave Rankin a standing ovation for his years of service and dedication to the IMB.

IMB Photo

I treated the word "parking" as a plural noun ("parking are") and seemed to equate a parking sign with a parking lot (the "parking [is] discolored"). Between those absurd details, my carefully correct use of plural possessive, the little-used adverb "brownly," my verbification of "all-caps," and my gleeful othering of the culturally dominant Baptists ("their bibles"), I thought I was being hilarious.

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In downtown Valdosta, Georgia, on November 21st, 2021, on the south side of West Central Avenue (Interstate 75 Business Loop, U.S. Route 84, U.S. Route 221, and Georgia State Route 38), east of North Oak Street.

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Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names terms:
• Lowndes (county) (2000383)
• Valdosta (2024591)

Art & Architecture Thesaurus terms:
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Wikidata items:
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• Southern Baptist Convention (Q1351880)
• Treaty of Fort Jackson (Q1466527)
• U.S. Route 84 (Q410700)
• U.S. Route 221 (Q4816645)
• Valdosta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area (Q7909460)

Library of Congress Subject Headings:
• Church signs (sh99003802)