It’s a new day at First Baptist Church of Pineville. PINEVILLE – It’s a new day at First Baptist Church of Pineville. “The membership is growing, and the worship services are filling with praise, joy and excitement,” reports Chairman of Deacons Doug Ashe. “New prospects are showing up nearly every week to check out what all the buzz is about.” A little more than two years ago, the future didn’t look so bright, church leaders say. A split had occurred and the remaining members were discouraged, disillusioned and worried about the future of the church. Church members who stayed credit Director of Missions Herb Dickerson, who refused to let the venerable church die, and Reggie Ogea of NOBTS, who took on an intentional interim that lasted 15 months, which he says now was both the most difficult and most rewarding interim position of his life. Church members who left? Some are coming back, encouraged by the visits from the deacons and new pastor, Stewart Holloway, and by the buzz he’s generated as a gentle, loving, Christ-centered pastor. Some have moved on; they found new church homes. Some no longer go to any church. Doug Ashe was chairman of the deacons through it all. “We had to regroup and figure out what we … [Read more...]

A recent study discovered a trend toward irreligion in America. The American Religious Identification Survey, conducted by the Program on Public Values at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., found that 15 percent of respondents said they had no religion. A similar survey conducted in 1990 found that 8.2 percent of Americans were irreligious. A recent study discovered a trend toward irreligion in America. The American Religious Identification Survey, conducted by the Program on Public Values at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., found that 15 percent of respondents said they had no religion. A similar survey conducted in 1990 found that 8.2 percent of Americans were irreligious. While 15 percent does represent not a huge number of Americans, the figure is significant, especially in light of the fact that it represents an increase of 55 percent over a time frame of 18 years. If the trend continues at this same pace, in 18 years 23 percent of Americans will claim no religion. In 36 years the number will stand at 36 percent and in 54 years the number of irreligious in the United States will grow to 55 percent – a clear majority. It is interesting to note that the growth of irreligion in America has occurred at the same … [Read more...]

Did the headline get your attention? I hope so. Not only was it meant to “make you look” but it also contains an important truth from the Bible. Did the headline get your attention? I hope so. Not only was it meant to “make you look” but it also contains an important truth from the Bible. Malachi 3:6 starts with a call to revival. The Lord tells His people to “return to God.”  They respond by asking, “How are we to return?”  Malachi tells them that they are to stop robbing God by not giving their tithes and offerings to the Lord.  According to Malachi, “tithing” simply means you are “not a thief.” Malachi makes it clear that the tithe already belongs to God.  Giving God what already belongs to Him is not so much an act of stewardship; it simply keeps you from being a thief.  Some people are under the impression that “tithing” is all that is required in order for a person to be considered a good steward.  However, even if a person is faithful to tithe and then goes on to blow the rest of his or her money on “wine, women and song” it becomes obvious he or she is not a good steward.  Stewardship begins with tithing but continues with the remaining 90 percent.  The 90 percent actually belongs to God as well, because … [Read more...]

The decision by the Obama administration to surrender to bad state policies on so-called medicinal marijuana will have disastrous effects. The decision by the Obama administration to surrender to bad state policies on so-called medicinal marijuana will have disastrous effects. Medicinal marijuana is the Trojan horse of the marijuana decriminalization movement. The movement sees it as the means to appeal to people’s compassion in order to change public opinion about marijuana and ease the way toward decriminalization of marijuana. The Obama administration’s decision to cave on enforcement of federal drug laws against marijuana distribution represents the dropping of the first shoe on decriminalization of marijuana and signals the next one is coming. With the federal government out of the way, we can expect to see a rapid rise in marijuana distributors and marijuana demand in states that have fallen victim to the medical marijuana scam. None of this escalation will prove especially helpful to the sick or to society. Those who use medicinal marijuana will pay the price first, and then everyone else will. Marijuana is not a necessary or particularly effective pain-relieving aid. For years, the pain-relieving … [Read more...]

For well over a century, many prophets of doom have predicted world overpopulation would lead to ecological disaster, famine, poverty and other woes. For well over a century, many prophets of doom have predicted world overpopulation would lead to ecological disaster, famine, poverty and other woes. As Philip Longman points out in the March 24 edition of USA Today, the world’s population is expected to hit 7 billion by 2012, up from the 6 billion mark set in 1999. So, is overpopulation a real threat? Hardly. Though population density can threaten sustainability in some areas of the globe, the far greater danger for our future is what Longman calls “depopulation.” On a global scale, we are seeing the population of older persons exploding and the numbers of young persons falling. The trend toward depopulation started in Europe, spread to Asia, and is now detectable even in Latin America. The United Nations now predicts that total world population may begin falling as early as 2040, and much of the surviving population will be very old indeed. Consider this observation from Longman: “Under what the U.N. considers the most likely scenario, more than half of all remaining growth comes from a 1.2 billion increase … [Read more...]

A church that is the destination of many mission trips is not content to just sit on the sidelines. AVONDALE— A church that is the destination of many mission trips is not content to just sit on the sidelines. First Baptist Avondale sent 21 of its members to Puebla, Mexico, on the church’s first international mission trip Feb. 20-27, to work with Belen Baptist Church and International Mission Board missionaries. This team, including children, youth, and adults, did construction work, puppet shows, street evangelism, and medical work. “So many people have ministered to us in Avondale that we wanted to experience missions abroad and be a blessing to the people at Belen,” said Jess Archer, the minister of education who helped organize the trip. “We want our church to realize that being on mission for God is a command He gives all believers, no matter the size of the church.” Archer is a New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary student who is a part of the Unlimited Partnerships program. She is being sponsored by Forest Hills Baptist Church in Brentwood, Tenn., which pays her salary and mentors her. Avondale members worked with an orphanage, nursing home, pediatric hospital, abandoned and handicapped children’s … [Read more...]

What began as a vision for Philip Wade more than 20 years ago, has now become a reality. On May 2, Cypress Baptist Church in Benton will host the premiere performance of The Philippian Fragment, a musical production written by Wade. BENTON—What began as a vision for Philip Wade more than 20 years ago, has now become a reality. On May 2, Cypress Baptist Church in Benton will host the premiere performance of The Philippian Fragment, a musical production written by Wade. Based on the book The Philippian Fragment written by Calvin Miller, the script is a fictional account of a church in the second century through which problems in the modern-day church are satirized. In a fashion similar to the Flintstones, the production has Scrolls-a-Million instead of Books-A-Million, and Togas R Us instead of Toys R Us, to name a few. “It’s got some very funny things in it and some very serious things as well,” said Wade, music minister at Cypress Baptist for nearly 18 years. The production chronicles a collection of letters sent by a young pastor, Eusebius, to an older pastor, Clement, discussing the joys and trials of church work. In dealing with problems such as the wealthy trying to control the church, or differing opinions … [Read more...]

Several Southern Baptist churches in Louisiana provide a double-blessing ministry to drivers who are 55 and older. STATEWIDE – Several Southern Baptist churches in Louisiana provide a double-blessing ministry to drivers who are 55 and older. They help people drive more safely for more years, and get them a break on their insurance. “In life and in driving, back up as little as you have to,” said James M. Smith, a volunteer instructor with the AARP Driver Safety Program, to a class of 38 students that took place in late February at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, north of Shreveport. Bellaire and Airline in Bossier City, Summer Grove Shreveport, First Vivian, Grawood Keithville and Calvary Alexandria are among churches in the state that host the AARP Drive Safety Program. Other host sites, and volunteers to do the training, are being sought statewide, Smith said. The course provides a review of driving skills and techniques, as well as strategies and tips to help older drivers adjust to normal age-related physical changes that could affect driving ability. “I’m probably not going to tell you anything new,” Smith said before doing just that. “If you’re traveling 70 miles an hour, every second you travel 102.8 … [Read more...]

I do not like change, so I was nervous about the change from high school to college. I do not like change, so I was nervous about the change from high school to college. So, the summer after I graduated I prayed for help with the transition. I already knew the director of the BCM, so I figured I would become involved there. God definitely used the BCM to help me make friends and enjoy college. I thought that college was going to be a horrifying experience, but with a lot of prayer God showed me  how it is definitely a wonderful time in life. He used the BCM to do this because I have made some great friends who I believe will be lifelong friends. The BCM has become a big part of my life. God has also used the BCM to stretch me. He has done this because I will be going on my first ever mission trip this summer; I am going to Alaska with the BCM, which is something I never imagined I would do. God has changed me a lot in the year and a half I have been in college and the BCM is one of the major tools He has used. – Brittney White The reason why I love the BCM can be best described by a conversation we (me and some people from the BCM) had with a waitress one Tuesday night. We were all talking and cutting up when the waitress … [Read more...]

Daniel Rogers, a member with his family at Mt. Olivet Baptist near Mansfield, is in the Army Reserve, reactivated last November for a year of duty at Fort Sill, Okla. STANLEY – Daniel Rogers, a member with his family at Mt. Olivet Baptist near Mansfield, is in the Army Reserve, reactivated last November for a year of duty at Fort Sill, Okla. A weekend pass in late January brought the soldier with 28 years of active and reserve military duty, and his family – four boys, one daughter, two daughters-in-law, a granddaughter and another grandkid on the way – close to the Lord, he wrote in a recent email. Several hadn’t been feeling well, but were getting better, all but his 15-year-old daughter Samantha. “She seemed to be getting worse,” Rogers wrote. “She began to vomit and pass out. I did not like the way she was looking. We jumped up and took her to the local hospital’s emergency room. My daughter passed out several more times in the E.R. The doctor decided to run an EKG on her. The results showed what appeared to be Wolfe Parkinson White Syndrome. The doctor explained to us this causes sporadic excessive rapid heartbeat. “Not being 100 percent sure, he made contact with a specialist at Willis Knighton North of … [Read more...]