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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

FIRST PERSON: The Louisiana Baptist Mission Builders story

By Don F. Mabry and Ed Jelks ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) -- The Louisiana Baptist Mission Builder program started with the Lord calling Ed Jelks to build mission church buildings, and to stop building barns, as a bi-vocational pastor. Ed was attending Home Mission Week at Ridgecrest, North Carolina, when he sought out Leon Hyatt, director of the Cooperative Missions Department of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Ed did not know it, but the Louisiana Baptist Missions Team had been praying for, and discussing the need for somebody to direct a program to construct buildings for mission churches in Louisiana. Ed Jelks and Leon Hyatt discussed how such a program could be started, then went and found Don Mabry on the front porch of the auditorium at Ridgecrest. They discussed with him what they had been talking about and the dreams that they had, and wanted to know if such a thing could be done. Don’s reaction was, “Well, we do not have any budget, and it has never been approved by the Convention’s administration or the Executive Board of the LBC. But, yes, there is a need, and with some more discussion and planning, it could be done.” In November 1979, the Louisiana Baptist Executive Board Missions Committee approved the Mission … [Read more...]

FIRST PERSON: Ayann Hirsi Ali finds Christianity

By Ron F. Hale, special to the Baptist Message JACKSON, Tenn. (LBM) -- Ayann Hirsi Ali, a former Dutch politician, apostate Muslim and now a defector from “New Atheism” is professing Christianity as her newfound religion, and the recent change of paths in her journey of belief has shocked the world of elite thinkers and writers. Her recent article, “Why I Am Now a Christian,” does not offer any kind of reference to a conversion experience. The closest she comes to making a declaration of faith in Jesus is to state that “Christ’s teaching implied not only a circumscribed role for religion as something separate from politics. It also implied compassion for the sinner and humility for the believer. “I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive,” she added. “Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?” Yet, her declaration of being an adherent of Christianity has caused deep discussions in high circles, especially of atheists, around the world. Ayann’s life story began in Somalia in 1969, born to Hiri Magan Isse, a leader in the Somali Revolution. During his imprisonment, Ayann … [Read more...]