Page One News

GREAT COMMISSION RESURGENCE REPORT Sweeping Changes Ahead?

GCR Task Force Recommendations

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Changes in store for NAMB, state conventions?

By Staff, Baptist Press

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GCR Task Force releases its long awaited progress report to EC

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

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Breaking News

Goldia Naylor leaves a golden legacy of faith

Goldia Naylor leaves a golden legacy of faith

By Keith Collier

FORT WORTH, Texas (SWBTS) -- Born exactly one year after the founding of the seminary her family would later serve and cherish, Goldia Dalton Naylor defined the wife¹s role as a co-laborer and helpmate. Goldia Naylor, wife of former pastor and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president Robert E. Naylor, died Sunday, Jan. 31, at the age of 100.

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Plan of Salvation

Remember, Jesus suffered too (unrestricted content)

Life is tough. Even those who put their faith and trust in Jesus have it hard.

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The choice is yours (unrestricted content)

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by choices?

You go into McDonalds or Burger King knowing exactly what you want, until you see the menu. Then, you decide you want something else.

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Experience your independence (unrestricted content)

A compelling movie of the 1980s was “The Mission” with Robert DeNiro as a slave trader who in an act of repentance put all his slave-trading gear into an overstuffed net that he dragged behind him

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Editorials

'I'm unhappy with our Pastor'

The most common complaint denominational people and guest preachers hear when they call on local churches is, “I’m unhappy with our pastor.” Invariably, it’s some lay leader of the church speaking.

Joe McKeever Pastor, cartoonist and retired DOM BAGNOLet’s state the obvious here: some pastors we ought to be unhappy with. I’m thinking of one preacher who was known to curse, tell shady stories, gamble, and drink. When he was forced out of the pulpit, no one shed a tear.

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Debate over Tebow ad shows an obvious double-standard

Kelly Boggs, Editor Louisiana Baptist MessageBy Kelly Boggs, Editor Louisiana Baptist Message

The game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts is surely the most anticipated aspect of Super Bowl XLIV.

However, there is another element of Super Sunday that draws a significant amount of attention – commercials.Because the television audience for the Super Bowl is so huge (last year 148 million people tuned into to watch at least some portion of the game), ad space is not only coveted but is also expensive.

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In United States, it's sad but the blind are leading the blind

“And if a blind man guides a blind man,” Jesus said, “both will fall into a pit.” You need look no further than the United States Congress and the American populace to see a visual aid of the truth the Savior declared.

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Insight

What lessons can we learn from Mark Driscoll?

In recent years, Seattle-area pastor Mark Driscoll has come under a great deal of scrutiny for his past use of foul language and a controversial sermon series on sex.

Page Brooks, Assistant Professor of Theology NOBTSI need not repeat here some of the objectionable phrases and words he has used as they are readily accessible via transcripts on the Internet.

Let me say the following at the outset: I believe our speech and behavior should be above reproach. Therefore, I am not defending Discroll’s use of foul language.

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Learning to live a prayer-filled life

By David Jeremiah, Pastor Shadow Mountain El Cajon, California

Our victories are gained on our knees. As we turn ourselves, our plans and our problems over to God, He intervenes. When we bow before Him, we’re acknowledging Him as our “Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.”

David Jeremiah, Pastor Shadow Mountain El Cajon, CaliforniaSometimes we make the mistake of not getting on our knees before accepting a job offer, making a purchase, choosing a new church, or making any decision of consequence. People are quietly watching, and they know when we’re living in prayerful obedience or when on the other hand, we act without consulting Him.

It’s also obvious to others when our knees draw down blessings from above. In the January/February 2003 issue of Pray! magazine, Elmer Towns said that he and his wife made it through college by faith, praying together and trusting God to meet their needs. Towns earned a dollar an hour driving a school bus, but his income barely met their needs.

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Faced with perplexing and tough conundrum

By Jeff Iorg, President Golden Gate Seminary

I need your help. If you can explain the following, please let me know. It really has me stumped.

Jeff Iorg, President Golden Gate SeminaryRecently, I heard a wonderful testimony of a believer who had overcome his struggle with alcohol.

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Letters to the Editor

We need to stand together on common ground

I am honored to serve as chairman of the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Moral and Social Concerns Committee.  I am encouraged each time I meet with this committee.

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La. state senator appreciates prayer

I want to thank Pastor Louis Husser for his letter encouraging more prayer and participation at our capitol in Baton Rouge.

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State Baptists urged to come to Baton Rouge

Recently the Moral and Social Concerns Committee of the LBC met in Alexandria. During the working lunch time we launched a new effort to make a spiritual connection and have a direct impact on what takes place at the State Capitol.

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Theological Thought

Worship: More than a feeling of awe

By Ed Steele, Associate Professor of Music Leavell College, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

C. S. Lewis spoke how dogs generally won’t look to what you point at with your finger. Instead, they go sniff the finger, missing your intentions.

Worship, for many, is like that. They begin to focus on worship itself, rather than the God to whom all worship belongs.  

Ed Steele Professor of Music in Leavell College at New Orleans Baptist Theological SeminaryAs I teach and converse with students about worship, one of the most common things I find is the fascination of the “feelings” of worship. There is a sense that if they haven’t felt like they had in the past, then it must not have been real worship.

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Questions We've Pondered

By Bill Warren, Ph.D., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Professor of New Testament and Greek

Question: Is it okay for Baptists to pray the Lord’s Prayer, and if so, why don’t we use it more often in our churches?

Bill Warren NOBTS Professor of New Testament and GreekBill Warren responds: To begin with a generalization, praying what Jesus taught us is always okay.  Christians have treasured this prayer throughout the ages and used it in worship as well as personal devotional lives.

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Faithfulness in the face of competing worldviews

By Jason Hiles, Assistant Professor of Christian Studies Louisiana College

Jason Hiles Professor of Christian Studies Louisiana CollegeThe narrative of Daniel begins in the third year of Jehoiakim king of Judah, which is the year that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, captured Jerusalem and carried many of its inhabitants into exile.

Among the captives were a number of young men who had no obvious faults, were handsome, and had obtained a measure of wisdom that apparently drew the Babylonians’ attention (Daniel 1:4a). In short, the victorious king took for himself the cream of the crop from among Judah’s youth, robbing an entire generation of its future leaders and wise men.

Once chosen, the young men were taken into the king’s palace where they were educated in the literature and language of their captors (Daniel 1:4b).

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Focus

The Sanctity of Human Life

By Jami Becher, Baptist Press

Dawn Pate is director of the Osceola Pregnancy Center, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Kissimmee, Fla.KISSIMMEE, Fla. (BP) – At the age of 17, Dawn was in crisis.

She was pregnant and alone. She couldn’t tell her friends – the gossip and humiliation at school would be unbearable. She couldn’t tell her parents – they would be so hurt and disappointed.

She was a teen facing an adult decision all alone. Is it any wonder she made the wrong choice?Fortunately, Dawn wrestled with her decision a little too long and when she visited a Florida abortion clinic, it was too late to end her pregnancy.

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Profile

Prayer the foundation of Rod Masteller's life, ministry

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor

SHREVEPORT – “I want to challenge the church and pastors to fall on our knees before God and ask for His anointing on Louisiana Baptists.” says Rod Masteller, who holds doctoral degrees in divinity and in sacred theology.

Dr. Rod MastellerMasteller is Senior Pastor of Summer Grove Baptist Church, a 160-year-old church that now meets in what was one of the largest shopping malls in Shreveport.

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Staying Fit For the Lord

By Philip Timothy, Message Staff Writer

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Anyone who has ever played organized sports, been a part of a team, or wished they could right a lifelong regret, should definitely read the Mike Flynt story. Better yet, they should meet the man.

Flynt’s story – simply put – is inspiring.

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70 Years Ago Love bug bites at the Baptist Children's Home

By JoAnn Carrigan, Special to the Message

BATON ROUGE – Ruby Louise Hilton was born on Dec. 14, 1919, the eldest of five siblings. Jesse Thomas (JT) Halley was born on July 30, 1916, one of four siblings. Jesse married Ruby on Oct. 29, 1939. This is their story – a “happy-ever-after” love story.

Looking back on her life, Ruby says with confidence, “I can see how the Lord had His hand in our lives from the very beginning.”

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Family Life

The Counseling Connection

By Derek Brown, Adolescent/Family Counselor Celebration Church, Metairie

What is Sexting and Should I Really Be Concerned About My Teen or Pre-teen Actually Doing This?

In recent decades, teens would pile into skating rinks and football games to meet their needs for social belonging. In today’s world, technology has become the primary venue for communicating with peers. Whether by internet, cell phone, or some other multimedia device, teens are meeting their social and relational cravings through the digital world. 

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Are you a compassionate Spouse?

By J. B. & Shugie Collingsworth, Home Life Magazine

What is compassion?

What does it mean to be compassionate?

It refers to empathy, concern, or kindness. What can it mean in a marriage? Much!
We have compassion for children who live in terrible circumstances, people who are sick, people with disabilities, right?

Couples CompassionThe part compassion plays in our lives can be huge. It causes us to sponsor a child in a third world country for dollars per month, send money to missions, give to the needy in our own backyards, and makes us stop and think when we see the less fortunate. 

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The Counseling Connection

By Michelle Louviere, Director of Counselilng Celebration Church, Metairie

Michele Louviere, director of counseling, Celebration Church, MetairieQuestion: Overall, I have a good relationship with my spouse, but we struggle with handling conflict.

Having a bad argument can quickly rob us of our feelings of closeness. Can you help us?
Michelle Louviere responds: Handling conflict is a challenge for all couples. In a few moments, a couple can go from being intimate to feeling frustrated, isolated and wounded.

Unresolved conflict can lead to a couple building walls of protection around their hearts that can eventually result in a broken relationship.

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Missions and Ministries

First West hosts Secret Keeper Girl changing the world, one girl at a time!

By Lisa Hartine, Special to the Message

MONROE – Today’s generation of young girls is experiencing pressure that their moms didn’t begin to know until high school.

Today’s society dictates tight skirts, skinny jeans, midriffs showing, or words printed on the seat of shorts or the front of tees that are often suggestive or otherwise inappropriate.

Secret Keeper Girl addresses issues of modesty and purity in a fun, age-appropriate mannerResearch shows that one in every five teens appears older than she actually is because of the way she dresses.  This could put a young girl in dangerous situations, including early sexual experimentation.

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Introducing Foster Care and Adoption Ministries to the local church

Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home & Family Ministries
Introducing Foster Care & Adoption Ministries to the Local Church
Regional Info Meetings – 7:00 PM
YOU’RE INVITED!

Come and discover how you and your church can make an eternal difference in the lives of over 5,000 children in Louisiana who need the love of Christ, a Christian home and a church family. For more info call 318-343-2244.

February 23: LBCH, Monroe 7200 DeSiard St., Monroe

March 15: FBC Houma 7382 Main St., Houma

March 16: Harbor Community Church 6100 Canal St., New Orleans

March 23: FBC Pineville 901 Main St. Pineville

April 6: Calvary Baptist Church 9333 Linwood Ave., Shreveport

April 19: Florida Blvd. Baptist Church 10915 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge

April 20: Bedico Baptist Church 28156 Hwy. 22 E. Ponchatoula

The United Nations estimates there are over 145 million orphans in the world. There are also 130,000 children in the U.S. foster care system waiting to be adopted. With more than 500,000 children and youth in out-of-home care in the U.S., it is hard to ignore the impact of child abuse and neglect on our nation’s next generations.

In Louisiana, there are more than 5,000 children in the state foster care system with only 2,200 foster care homes available for placement. These children desperately need a loving Christian home and supportive church family.

In June 2009, the Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution on adoption and orphan care. Here is a portion of what it proclaims:

WHEREAS, Upward of 150 million orphans now languish without families in orphanages, group homes, and placement systems in North America and around the world; and

WHEREAS, Our Father loves all of these children, and a great multitude of them will never otherwise hear the gospel of Jesus Christ; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, June 23-24, 2009, express our commitment to join our Father in seeking mercy for orphans; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call on each Southern Baptist family to pray for guidance as to whether God is calling them to adopt or foster a child or children…

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God's mountain-surviving, church planting Cowboy Preacher

By Mickey Noah, Baptist Press

North American Mission Board missionaries Jim and Myrtle Ballard serve in Idaho assisting new churchesBLACKFOOT, Idaho – North American Mission Board missionary Jim Ballard – all 243 lbs. of him – lay sprawled in agonizing pain on a snow-covered dirt trail high in the mountains of the Salmon National Forest in eastern Idaho. 

Four of his ribs and a vertebra were fractured, and his sternum was cracked.  His lung punctured, Ballard was spitting up pink, foamy blood, which dotted his full salt-and-pepper beard.

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Louisiana Churches

Northshore associations explore consolidations

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor

HAMMOND – Three associations in southeastern Louisiana are pondering consolidation of their administrative structure.

The North Shore Baptist Association office serves the people between Pearl River on the Mississippi state line and LivingstonThe executive boards of the three Baptist Associations served by Director of Missions and Ministries Lonnie Wascom each voted unanimously in their January meetings to recommend to their churches that they establish a new Northshore Baptist Association at their 2010 annual meetings.

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FBC Chalmette enjoying explosive growth

By Bethany Hales, Special to the Message

NEW ORLEANS – A church that was decimated by Hurricane Katrina is now rebounding in a big way.

First Baptist Chalmette, averaging 300 or more in Sunday School attendance before Hurricane Katrina, lost 97 percent of its membership after the storm.

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Gentilly Baptist rededicates its sanctuary

By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter

NEW ORLEANS – Rebirth and a call to mission was the theme of the recent sanctuary rededication of New Orleans’ Gentilly Baptist Church. The service came four and half years after the facility flooded in Hurricane Katrina.

“Welcome to Gentilly Baptist Church, where hope is alive,” Dennis Cole, associate pastor, said to the people in the packed worship center.

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Landscapes and Milestones

Churches statewide abound with mission projects

By Joanne Brechtel, Administrative Editor

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MILESTONES

Compiled by Joanne Brechtel

NEEDED

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Pastors of two cowboy churches recently helped a third one start

RUSTON – Pastors of two cowboy churches recently helped a third one start.

Gary Brewster of Cowboy Church at the OK Corral in Eros, and Clyde Miley of Red River Cowboy Church at Lake End, organized a Ranch Rodeo at the Ruston fairgrounds to help start the Circle Cross Cowboy Church with Chuck Johnston as founding pastor.

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News of the LBC

McCartney to headline football event at Louisiana College

By Al Quartemont, Special to the Message

PINEVILLE – LC football coach Dennis Dunn remembers well the first time he met Bill McCartney.

The encounter with the man who led Colorado to a National Championship in football in 1990 and would eventually start the Christian ministry, Promise Keepers, came in February 1992, when Dunn and his assistant coaching staff at Evangel High School of Shreveport made a trip to Boulder, Colo.

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LBC staff, entities pray each Wednesday morning

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor

ALEXANDRIA – Little is said about it, though those who happen to be in the Baptist Building Wednesday mornings are invited to participate in the staff’s weekly prayer gathering.

If he’s in town, Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Music Leadership Strategist Randy Turner starts the 9:30 a.m. prayertime with a song. One recent week it was He is Jehovah, followed by All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.

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Annual training prepares volunteeers for DR ministry

By Staff, Baptist Message

LORANGER, RUSTON – Tsunami: American Samoa; earthquake: Haiti, earthquake: Chile. These are the current international needs for disaster relief volunteers.

And over the course of the last year, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief engaged in more than 170 disaster responses – feeding, plus clean-up following floods, fires, storms, and other types of disasters.

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News of the SBC

Hunt announces SBC theme; registration opens for Orlando

By Staff, Baptist Message

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Ken Starr named as Baylor's 14th president

By Staff, Baptist Press

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Top biblical scholars highlight 2010 NOBTS Greer-Heard Forum

By Paul F. South, NOBTS Communications

NEW OLREANS – Two of the world’s best-known religious scholars will dialog at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on a question that has sparked debate for some 2,000 years: What did Jesus really teach?

John Dominic Crossan and Ben Witherington III will be the featured speakers at the  2010 Greer-Heard  Point-Counterpoint  Forum, Feb. 26 and 27 at Leavell Chapel.

The event marks the seminary’s sixth Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum. The Forum is designed to provide a venue in which a respected evangelical scholar and a respected non-evangelical scholar discuss critical issues in religion, science, philosophy, or culture.

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Web Only

Women's Missions Ministry FBC Monroe

By Sarah Sutton, Message Summer Staff Writer

MONROE – For the past year and a half the women of First Baptist Monroe have been working to promote something in their church they felt was seriously lacking– connection.

The Women’s Missions Ministry began in mid 2008, thanks to Sandy Miller, coordinator.

In January 2008 Sandy Miller and her husband Pastor Alan had been at FBC for a little over a year and a half.  It was then, she said, that God gave her a vision for a women’s ministry.

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Luke Lee Profile

By Sarah Sutton, Message Summer Staff Writer   

SHREVEPORT – Luke Lee began making short films in high school as a fun, on the side hobby.  He said he never planned on making it a career.

Lee works full time as Media Associate, overseeing the video portion of the media ministry, at Brookwood Baptist Church in Shreveport.  However, the 22-year-old filmmaker started producing videos for the church long before he was listed on the payroll.

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Brookwood's "Renovate" Project

By Sarah Sutton, Summer Staff Writer

    SHREVEPORT – Brookwood Baptist Church in Shreveport is making massive changes in order to further advance their ministry to the people inside and outside of the church.

With the extreme growth Brookwood experienced over the last few years, the church decided that their current facilities were no longer equipped to handle the changing needs.

Once Brookwood assessed these new needs, they created a plan to modify the available spaces, creating the project “Renovate.”

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