COMINGS, GOINGS n  Casey Williams, new as minister of youth and recreation, Temple Baptist, Ruston. n  Johnathan (wife Liza) Bush, appointed as chaplain by NAMB, Louisiana Air National Guard and Ochsner Hospital. n  Marla Fuller, appointed as chaplain by NAMB, Baton Rouge General  Medical Center. n  Jeff (wife Angela) Hoffman, appointed as chaplain by NAMB, Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Department. n  Scott Smith, new as pastor, First Baptist, Tullos.  NEEDED  n  Full-time youth minister needed at First Baptist, Jonesville. n  Full-time pastor needed at Trinity Baptist, Oakdale. Send resumes to Pastor Search Committee, 210 W. Beck Avenue, PO Box 74, Oakdale LA 71463. n  Part-time minister of youth needed at First Baptist, Montgomery. Send resume to PO Box 475,  Montgomery LA  71454 or call 318.628.7284. REVIVALS n  LIVINGSTON – First Baptist, 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, May 4; 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, May 5-7. Joe Aulds, evangelist; Price Harris, music; Tim Norris, pastor. n  FRANKLINTON – First Baptist Senior Adult Revival, Monday through Friday, May 5-9. Luther Stanford, pastor.  CHURCH AND ASSOCIATION EVENTS  n  ZWOLLE – First Baptist AWANA Talent Show, 5 p.m. Sunday, May 4. … [Read more...]

Television has been blamed for excessive weight gain, violent behavior, promiscuity, and a lack of physical fitness among our nation’s youth, and that’s just the fallout from the commercials. Television has been blamed for excessive weight gain, violent behavior, promiscuity, and a lack of physical fitness among our nation’s youth, and that’s just the fallout from the commercials. American homes now have more television sets than people, according to Nielsen Media Research. There are 2.73 TV sets and 2.55 people in the average home, with the average person watching four hours, 35 minutes of television each day. It is hard to put a finger on the mysterious attraction television images seem to have on normally level-headed folks, particularly young people and males of any age. While television and other media may not be totally to blame—these children do have parents—reading is less and less a hobby for America’s young people. A study released in November 2007 by the National Endowment for the Arts reveals the typical young adult—aged 17-24—is in front of the television 2 to 2 ½ hours a day but spends only seven minutes with an open book. Who is watching the children watch television?   Newton Minow, who served as … [Read more...]

People who don’t go to church may be turned off by a recent trend toward more utilitarian church buildings. By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than what most think of as a more contemporary church building.  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--People who don’t go to church may be turned off by a recent trend toward more utilitarian church buildings. By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than what most think of as a more contemporary church building. The findings come from a survey conducted by LifeWay Research for the Cornerstone Knowledge Network (CKN), a group of church-focused facilities development firms. The online survey included 1,684 unchurched adults – defined as those who had not attended a church, mosque or synagogue in the past six months except for religious holidays or special events. “Despite billions being spent on church buildings, there was an overall decline in church attendance in the 1990s,” said Jim Couchenour, director of marketing and ministry services for Cogun, Inc., a founding member of CKN. “This led CKN to ask, ‘As church builders … [Read more...]

Why does the Southern Baptist Convention need to start even more churches than the 43,000-plus now on the books? ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – Why does the Southern Baptist Convention need to start even more churches than the 43,000-plus now on the books? David Meacham, senior strategist for church planting with the North American Mission Board, says it’s because Christian denominations – especially the 16-million-member SBC – regard planting new churches as the single most effective way to evangelize. New churches, Meacham said, simply do a better job of reaching more people for Christ than long-established churches. “A three-year-old church is only half as effective in reaching people for the Lord as it was in its early days,” Meacham noted. “And once a church is 15 years old, it becomes only one-third as effective.” Reflecting the overall current deficit in new church planting, Meacham cited a 10-year study of 300,000 Christian churches in America by Dave Olson, director of church planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church. The research indicated that 3,200 churches close their doors each year in America, while only 3,600 churches are started. “That resulted in a net gain of 4,600 churches between 1990 and 2000,” … [Read more...]

Southern Baptist churches are catching a vision of taking the Gospel to people groups that have never heard – even when there is no missionary to help them, International Mission Board trustees were told during their April 7-9 meeting in Dallas, Texas.  DALLAS (BP) – Southern Baptist churches are catching a vision of taking the Gospel to people groups that have never heard – even when there is no missionary to help them, International Mission Board trustees were told during their April 7-9 meeting in Dallas, Texas. In the past two years, about 125 congregations have accepted the challenge of taking the Gospel to unreached people groups in West Africa. Bartlett Baptist Church near Memphis, Tenn., is one of many churches nationwide that has taken responsibility for getting the Good News to a people group in West Africa that has no long-term missionary, said Randy Arnett, the IMB’s leader for work in that region. “In 2004, I looked at our region and asked how we were going to reach all the micro people groups there,” Arnett said. “I looked at the numbers and saw there was no way we were going to put missionaries with all those people groups. We just didn’t have the personnel.” Arnett’s team began recruiting churches to … [Read more...]

The Baptist Foundation, Baptist Employees of Louisiana (BEL) Credit Union and Baptist Message all expect to return to the Baptist Building sometime this year. ALEXANDRIA – The Baptist Foundation, Baptist Employees of Louisiana (BEL) Credit Union and Baptist Message all expect to return to the Baptist Building sometime this year. The return of the affiliate entities of the Louisiana Baptist Convention is a result of building maintenance upgrades, sound business practices and greater efficiency with Cooperative Program dollars, LBC officials say. “We live in extraordinary economic times,” said David Hankins, executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. “All across the landscape of Southern Baptist life, state conventions and their ministries are examining the use of every dollar. The Louisiana Baptist Convention is no exception. Anything we can do to be more efficient with our overall costs that go to utilities or operations allows us to invest more into Kingdom ministry.” The plan is that the affiliate organizations will return to the Baptist Building and the properties they have been in are to be leased for income to pay for continuing maintenance of the Baptist Building. The Baptist Building is 50 years … [Read more...]

Everything the Louisiana Baptist Convention does came together April 29, when the Associational Leadership Planning Conference took place at Kingsville Baptist Church, where missions-minded bicyclist Bart Walker is pastor. PINEVILLE – Everything the Louisiana Baptist Convention does came together April 29, when the Associational Leadership Planning Conference took place at Kingsville Baptist Church, where missions-minded bicyclist Bart Walker is pastor. Like the well-oiled gears on Walker’s GIANT TCR-2 roadbike, the many facets of the state convention worked together in the main address by Eddie DeHondt, director of missions in the Northeast Louisiana Baptist Association, and by the presentations from LBC staffers about every aspect of Southern Baptist work in the state. “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor,” DeHondt preached from Ecclesiastes. He gave multiple examples of how churches have partnered together, including First Baptist Rodessa, located near the Arkansas border. They were down to an elderly group of no more than eight people, who expended all their energy in finding a preacher each week after their pastor left. Brookwood Baptist offered to partner with them. Brookwood … [Read more...]

A recent USA TODAY article described the problem law enforcement agencies have with uncooperative witnesses to murders and other violent crime. The rate of solved murders throughout the United States is down because of the silence of witnesses. A recent USA TODAY article described the problem law enforcement agencies have with uncooperative witnesses to murders and other violent crime. The rate of solved murders throughout the United States is down because of the silence of witnesses. Is there a valid comparison here with the church? Are salvations and baptisms down because of the silence of witnesses? According to Jake Roudkovski, professor of evangelism at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, only 5 percent of believers ever lead one person to Christ. If this is the case, silence is killing our friends. The population of the United States and Canada is 332 million. According to the North American Mission Board, more than 250 million people in these two countries do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Does that number include someone you know? In the USA TODAY article, an FBI representative said criminals have created a climate of fear to silence witnesses. I wonder how many times I’ve heard the same … [Read more...]

Drive by your local booming suburban church, or the up and coming congregation everyone’s talking about in your community. You might find a state-of-the-art children’s complex – complete with antibiotic soap dispensers on every corner. You might find a Family Life Center – previously known as a gym – with a basketball court, foosball tables, maybe even an Olympic size pool. You’ll almost certainly find a feeding hall, perhaps with a franchised gourmet coffee kiosk nearby. What you will not find is a graveyard. Drive by your local booming suburban church, or the up and coming congregation everyone’s talking about in your community. You might find a state-of-the-art children’s complex – complete with antibiotic soap dispensers on every corner. You might find a Family Life Center – previously known as a gym – with a basketball court, foosball tables, maybe even an Olympic size pool. You’ll almost certainly find a feeding hall, perhaps with a franchised gourmet coffee kiosk nearby. What you will not find is a graveyard.  Not many churches have cemeteries anymore. In some ways, that’s a good thing. Churches that are growing and evangelistic rightly conclude that sharing the Gospel with the living is more important than … [Read more...]

The summation phrase for the nine-week Jena (La.) Revival is captured in the lyrics of the song, “How great is our God ... and all will see how great, how great, is our God!”  JENA, La. (BP) – The summation phrase for the nine-week Jena (La.) Revival is captured in the lyrics of the song, “How great is our God ... and all will see how great, how great, is our God!” For nine weeks LaSalle Parish experienced a mighty revival unlike it’s seen in many years. At last count, well over 100 people came to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and most of those were adults. The number of people who reconciled with God and each other are too many to tally. Jena is the community of less than 3,000 that became divided by a racial incident last year. In Sept. 2007, approximately 20,000 people marched down the streets of Jena to express support for six young men known as the “Jena 6.” After months of tension and much prayer, something extraordinary occurred. A revival meeting began at Midway Baptist Church Feb. 17. What started out as a typically planned four-day event became so much more. Little did the members of that church know that God would call on church leaders to extend that meeting from four days to 48 … [Read more...]