Every Louisiana Baptist pastor has been there this summer. "We want you to come speak to our opening assembly, pastor," the Vacation Bible School director says. Every Louisiana Baptist pastor has been there this summer. "We want you to come speak to our opening assembly, pastor," the Vacation Bible School director says.   "Our emphasis has been on missions, but if you want to talk with the children about something else, they would love to hear that, too. Just remember, we have to dismiss in 15 minutes, or Ms. Prompt will be upset."   The day arrives, and you remember you have not remembered to prepare what you will say to those bright-eyed, wiggly, restless five- through 10-year-olds.   "I want to talk with you about missions," you are surprised to hear yourself say.   You excitedly wait to hear what you will say next. "First, I want you to know that I am a missionary," you begin. "You’re a missionary, I’m a missionary; you’re a missionary; we are all missionaries."   What will come next? "We are just missionaries all over the place here at home," you add.   "I’m hungry," one little girl says to the boy sitting next to her.   "Me, too," he … [Read more...]

For the week of August 19, 2004 Louisiana vote   Even as national Baptist leaders urge persons to register to vote in the 2004 presidential election, some in Louisiana are reminding persons they have an earlier election of significance. Louisiana voters are set to decide the fate of a state constitutional amendment on marriage on Sept. 18. The amendment would define marriage as only between a man and a woman. Louisiana already has a law that defines marriage in that way. However, supporters of the amendment say it is necessary to prevent state courts from reinterpreting that law and allowing same-sex marriages, as recently occurred in Massachusetts. To be eligible to vote in the Sept. 18 election, Louisiana residents are reminded that they must be registered to vote by Aug. 18.   Political charges   Two prominent Southern Baptist pastors are standing firm against charges they violated their churches’ tax-exempt status, saying that the charges are nothing more than an attempt to frighten churches into silence. Americans United for Separation of Church and State recently sent a complaint to the Internal Revenue Service about Virginia pastor Jerry Falwell and Arkansas pastor … [Read more...]

When viewing the damage caused by Hurricane Charley, our consciences ask, "What can I do to help those poor folks?" When viewing the damage caused by Hurricane Charley, our consciences ask, "What can I do to help those poor folks?"   One of the magnificent aspects of being a Louisiana Baptist and a Southern Baptist is, you are already in the process of doing something and you can do more.   State Baptist conventions, such as the Louisiana Baptist Convention, have disaster relief teams, and those teams are moving toward Florida to help, or they are already there helping.   Thanks to a team of trained volunteers, and the funds you have provided through the Cooperative Program, some Louisiana Baptist Convention Disaster Relief Teams are already in Florida, working in the heart of the severe damage, and others will leave within hours.   Thanks to financial planning and volunteer readiness, our relief teams were able to move immediately. They did not have to wait to organize or find the funds to make the trip.   They will be taking a 16-foot and a 29-foot self-contained meals preparation and feeding units built and equipped to prepare thousands of meal a day. … [Read more...]

On. Aug. 21, Dianne Miller and Jean Brown will board a plane for Athens, Greece, the host of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. On. Aug. 21, Dianne Miller and Jean Brown will board a plane for Athens, Greece, the host of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.   But unlike the millions of spectators in the city, the two Louisiana Baptists are not there to watch their country win a medal. Rather, the women have one prize in mind that is more precious than gold, silver or bronze - winning lost souls for Christ.   Miller and Brown are joining other Christians from around the world to participate in the Greek Evangelical Church’s "Crown of Life" evangelistic effort.   The effort is the result of a partnership between the Greek Evangelical Church and Christian agencies such as the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.   "Crown of Life" participants will clean areas of Athens, distribute bottled water, hand out gospel tracts and host block parties in city neighborhoods. Brown and Miller - who are scheduled to return to Louisiana Sept. 2 - plan to paint faces and create balloon animals for children.   "In the name of our Lord Jesus, we want to meet the needs of people … [Read more...]

Mayhaw missions - that could be the name of what some Central Louisiana women do when they brew jelly to support missions. Mayhaw missions - that could be the name of what some Central Louisiana women do when they brew jelly to support missions.   "In 1991, a group of women got together for a brainstorming session on how we could raise money," explains Debbie Jones, who heads the annual effort.   "It was around the first of May, and mayhaws were just coming in. One of the ladies suggested we could make mayhaw jelly and sell it. I added, ‘I know how to make it,’ so, we went from there."   To obtain the mayhaw berries that are a Louisiana tradition, "the majority of the time, we have gone to the swamp, on our hands and knees, and picked them ourselves," Jones explains.   "(But) They were scarce this year, and someone mentioned an orchard that grew them," she notes. "Faye Scroggs, who owns the orchard, when we told her what we were doing with them, she told us we could come get what we needed, no charge."   After the berries are gathered, the women divide them up to take home and "cook down" for the juice. They then bring the juice to Jones’ house on a Saturday … [Read more...]

One year after arriving as executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home, Perry Hancock has a clear focus for the agency. One year after arriving as executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home, Perry Hancock has a clear focus for the agency.   Indeed, he has worked with trustees, administrators and staff of the agency to set that focus down in five core values.   "The core values are actually core convictions that lead to core commitments (on the part of children’s home personnel)," Hancock explained. "They remind us of what’s important and help to keep us focused on ministry."   As approved by trustees recently, each core value for the Louisiana Baptist agency based in Monroe is accompanied by a passage of Scripture.   The core values read:   • We value the Bible as the foundation and guide for our ministry.   "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine or reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." (II Timothy 3:16)   • We value the worth of the children and families to whom we minister.   "So, God created man in his own image; in the image of God, he … [Read more...]

In the eyes of many, Louisiana has led the way for other states when it comes to embracing forms of legalized gambling. In the eyes of many, Louisiana has led the way for other states when it comes to embracing forms of legalized gambling.   No state in the nation has more forms of gambling than Louisiana - or perhaps as much gambling.   Horse racing.   Racinos (racetrack casinos).   State lottery.   Scratch-off tickets.   Video poker.   Land-based casinos.   Riverboat casinos.   Off-track betting.   Various forms of charitable gambling.   Louisiana has it all. And one does not have to travel very far - or look very hard - to find it.   Except for those parishes that booted the machines several years ago, video poker machines are seemingly everywhere.   Land-based casinos are strategically located.   Riverboats dot the state.   And is there anywhere one cannot buy a lottery ticket?   In the fiscal year ending June 30, gamblers in Louisiana lost $2.1 billion (yes, that is a "b") at state-licensed casinos - Harrah’s casino in New Orleans, racetrack … [Read more...]

Christians must work to uphold God’s standards, not withdraw from the civic arena, Southern Baptist theologian Russell Moore emphasized. Christians must work to uphold God’s standards, not withdraw from the civic arena, Southern Baptist theologian Russell Moore emphasized.   "Salvation does not mean a flight from creation, ..." said Moore, senior president for academic administration and dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.   "Instead, salvation means restoring sinners to the task for which we were made, a task that includes caring for the created order and for one another," Moore said.   That includes a responsibility to impact culture by participating in government, Moore noted. However, reports indicate more than 4 million evangelicals failed to vote in the 2000 presidential election.   Such disengagement undercuts the cause of justice in the nation and invites divine judgment, warned Ken Connor, a Washington, D.C., attorney and coauthor of "Sinful Silence: When Christians Neglect Civic Duty," a new book by Ginosko Publishing.   "The Scripture is very clear," he noted. "The Lord may shut up his ears to our … [Read more...]

If physician Thomas Diflo hears his patients talk of going abroad to buy a kidney, heart or lung, he advises against it. If they do purchase such an organ, he refuses to provide follow-up treatment. If physician Thomas Diflo hears his patients talk of going abroad to buy a kidney, heart or lung, he advises against it. If they do purchase such an organ, he refuses to provide follow-up treatment.   Diflo and others in the medical community warn that Americans traveling overseas for body parts are fueling a human organ trade that exploits the world’s poorest people.   But in the United States, where more than 85,000 people are on waiting lists for organ donations, desperate patients are taking dramatic, risky action, even though the exchange of money for human organs has been illegal since 1984.   Some Americans go so far as to seek destitute people overseas who may believe they have no other choice than to sell their bodies in order to support their families, said Eric Cohen, a resident scholar at the Washington-based Ethics and Public Policy Center.   "There are practices that happen in other parts of the world we shouldn’t promote by going over there to buy (organs)," … [Read more...]

I love/hate power lawn mowers. Love them because as a preteen, just about all the money I earned was from cutting grass. All we had was one of those reel models. Its power should have been measured in kid power because there was no other source. I love/hate power lawn mowers.   Love them because as a preteen, just about all the money I earned was from cutting grass. All we had was one of those reel models. Its power should have been measured in kid power because there was no other source.   Its reel was never "just right" and never met the stationary blade in a way to expedite mowing. Only one man in our small town could sharpen the blades on that reel and it cost me two lawns to get it done.   There was no way to simply push the mower one time over the lawn. It was more like - take a step forward, and thrust the mower forward and pull it back, forward and back, forward and back. In essence, the mower had to be pushed over the grass at least three times to get a good cut.   Is it any wonder that the mower I bought two years ago was the best I could find? It is self-starting, self-propelled. If one must cut grass, this is the way to go.   As long as it goes. … [Read more...]