“Devil women” and “moving food” are among stories Americans from Louisiana tell about their recent evangelistic mission trip to this East Asian nation, and in their evaluations they describe how they were changed by their encounter with another culture and their experiences in sharing their faith. SOUTH KOREA – “Devil women” and “moving food” are among stories Americans from Louisiana tell about their recent evangelistic mission trip to this East Asian nation, and in their evaluations they describe how they were changed by their encounter with another culture and their experiences in sharing their faith. “It has been an adventure,” Dan Pender wrote to Randy Boyett when they both were in-country. Pender described a visit to the local hot springs, which, he was quick to point out, had separate areas for men and for women. The local pastor “paid for our admission and we went in,” Pender wrote. “It was more than a tour as I stood there naked as the day I was born, with two Baptist pastors. I asked [the Korean pastor] if all his deacon meetings were like this. I told him our men’s group just goes to the IHOP.” I saw something similar. The “western-style” hotel we were staying in touted its sauna. Early Sunday morning I … [Read more...]

The Baptist Message Board of Trustees at its December meeting welcomed three new incoming trustees, recognized three outgoing trustees, elected a new vice chairman, and approved the budget for 2008. ALEXANDRIA – The Baptist Message Board of Trustees at its December meeting welcomed three new incoming trustees, recognized three outgoing trustees, elected a new vice chairman, and approved the budget for 2008. Chairman Robert Daniel formally introduced new trustees – Stephen “Lane” Corley of Hope Church Covington, David Theriot of Springfield and Thomy Green of First Baptist Harrisonburg – to the board. A term is for three years. Jackie Tucker, Naida Sexton and Wayne Bono, the three outgoing trustees were presented plaques of appreciation by Message Editor Kelly Boggs for “faithful service to this board and paper.” “We saw a 10 percent increase in subscriptions, advertising revenue, and church page income,” Boggs said. “It was the second year in a row we have noticed these increases. This year I am only projecting a five-percent increase, but I believe it could be as it was the last two years and come in at 10 percent.” In his annual report to the board, Boggs said the paper had been able to “navigate the … [Read more...]

In Dr. Seuss’s classic tale, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas,” the malevolent main character discovers that Christmas cannot be stolen, stifled, or subdued. In Dr. Seuss’s classic tale, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas,” the malevolent main character discovers that Christmas cannot be stolen, stifled, or subdued. No, even the Whos who inhabit Whoville understood that the reason for the Christmas season is not bound up in gifts, feasts, or decorations. It is a celebration of the heart. While the good doctor’s holiday story is not inherently Christian, it does illustrate profoundly that Christmas is a matter of the soul. Those familiar with the story know that the reason the Grinch did not understand the Whos’ zeal for Christmas was that his heart was “two sizes too small.” Dr. Seuss illustrated in excellent fashion that the reality of Christmas does not exist in external symbols. Much of what is traditionally associated with Christmas has little to do with the reason the holiday is so very special. Decorated trees, blinking lights, dancing snowmen, Santa and his flying reindeer have no connection whatsoever with the essence of Christmas. Many around the world believe that the significance of Christmas only centers … [Read more...]

As we close out another year, I want to say thanks to the churches and people of the LBC for making it possible for our state missions staff to serve Jesus and you. As we close out another year, I want to say thanks to the churches and people of the LBC for making it possible for our state missions staff to serve Jesus and you. You have done a remarkable job. Our churches continue to provide the financial resources for our state and world-wide ministry through the Cooperative Program and through our designated mission offerings. In the face of serious economic challenges in parts of our state, in the midst of the ongoing monumental recovery efforts on our coast from New Orleans to Holly Beach, in spite of cultural battles that demand your constant attention, and with all the duties of effective congregational life, Louisiana Baptist churches have increased their giving to the Cooperative Program. Not only is there cause for celebration with the Cooperative Program, our special offerings for state, national and international missions are on track to increase again this year. Like the Macedonians, you gave yourself first to Christ, then to us. You are heeding the challenge of Kingdom-mindedness and reversing a two-decade … [Read more...]

BATON ROUGE – First Baptist requests that mothers and children at Reality House be “adopted” for Christmas by providing gifts. The house was burned by an arsonist several months ago and everything was lost in the fire. Call Debby Cartwright at 225.766.4109 or John Westbrook at 225.678.8863. A Christmas party is to be given by the Beta Club of Dutchtown Elementary School at the break room of the church. Some of the gifts are to go to the needy. Nell Meriwether is ministry evangelism coordinator. Burn Page is pastor. ALEXANDRIA – Emmanuel Baptist has set a Parent’s Afternoon Out from 12 noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 22. Chris Thacker is pastor. WINNFIELD – First Baptist observed National Children’s Memorial Day the second Sunday in December at its morning worship service in an act of remembrance by lighting a candle for one hour  joining bereaved families around the world to create a virtual 24-hour wave of light around the world. Jerold McBride is interim pastor. MORGAN CITY – Christmas Home Week is set for Dec. 23 through Dec. 29 at First Baptist with a time to focus on Jesus, family and friends. The church’s calendar is cleared to assist in the observance. David Willoughby is pastor. RUSTON – Twenty-one students of … [Read more...]

COMINGS, GOINGS Cecil Gregory, new as pastor at New Light Baptist, Mangham, from Sandel Drive Baptist, Monroe. NEEDED First Baptist, Baton Rouge, needs part-time assistant administrator at the Child Development Center, Call Karen at 225.343.9688 or Sherry at 225.343.0397. First Baptist, Baton Rouge, needs director and teacher at the Parents Day Out Program. Call Sherry at 225.343.0397. New Ramah Baptist, Castor, needs bivocational pastor. Send resume to New Ramah Church, Attention: Pastor Search Committee, 493 New Ramah Road, Castor LA 71016. Woodlawn Baptist, Rayville, needs part-time music minister. Send resume to PO Box 506, Rayville LA 71269, email tim@allenconst.com or fax 318.728.2030. Highland Baptist, needs nursery worker for Sunday evenings only. Call 337.365.6045. GRADUATIONS Robert M. Houston received a Master of Arts in Missiology degree Dec. 7 at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Calvary Baptist in Ruston is his home church. AVAILABLE Sweetwater Baptist, Quitman, has a solid oak pulpit and communion table in excellent condition to be given away. Call 318.259.9143 for details. … [Read more...]

What high-profile events like Promise Keepers and wild-game dinners instigate – namely, a push to mature Christian men – Men’s Fraternity facilitates.  GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) – What high-profile events like Promise Keepers and wild-game dinners instigate – namely, a push to mature Christian men – Men’s Fraternity facilitates. The growing local church ministry program available through LifeWay Christian Resources has mapped out a process through which men, whether saved or lost, can discover what biblical manhood is all about and how to put it into practice. In 1990, Robert Lewis, then the teaching pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Ark., responded to the pleas of the men in his Bible study for a deeper Christian, fraternity-like camaraderie. When Lewis first announced to his church that the Bible study topic would be “discovering manhood,” the group instantly grew from 30-40 men to 300. “I knew then I had stuck my finger into one of these raging spiritual streams Henry Blackaby – author of ‘Experiencing God’ – talks about. God wanted to do something,” Lewis said in a 2004 interview with Baptist Press. The three-year program “Men’s Fraternity” was the result. Also the author of “Raising a Modern-Day … [Read more...]

NEW ORLEANS – When Dr. Steve Lemke was named Provost of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1997, the institution was at a crossroads. The seminary’s enrollment of 1,800 students was on a downward trend, in part because of a delay in filling the presidency after the retirement of Dr. Landrum Leavell. The school’s Doctor of Ministry program was among the smallest in the Southern Baptist Convention. However, Lemke saw much hope. “In many ways, we were Southern Baptists’ best kept secret,” Lemke said. “It was a school that people talked less about. It wasn’t the first choice of a lot of people for seminary training.” A decade later, under the leadership of President Chuck Kelley, Lemke and the faculty, that has changed. Enrollment reached a pre-Katrina high of 3,800 students. The Doctor of Ministry program, once among the Southern Baptist Convention’s smallest, is now its largest. The dramatic increase in enrollment, Lemke said, “is unheard of in seminary life. That’s a small college. We became the largest Southern Baptist seminary before Katrina hit. The storm knocked us back a little bit, but we’re still one of the five largest seminaries in the world.” When Lemke arrived at NOBTS from Southwestern Baptist … [Read more...]

Eighteen months ago the most visible evangelical “witness” in Portage, Wisconsin, was a fellow who stood on a briefcase-turned-soapbox outside the movie theater and screamed at passersby. His message-all hellfire and damnation-wasn’t well-received. Eighteen months ago the most visible evangelical “witness” in Portage, Wisconsin, was a fellow who stood on a briefcase-turned-soapbox outside the movie theater and screamed at passersby. His message-all hellfire and damnation-wasn’t well-received. “People had a bad taste in their mouths for church,” Bob Turner discovered when he began driving the half-hour from his home in Madison in response to God’s call to plant a church in Portage, population 10,000. Portage had no Southern Baptist church. Of the eight churches listed on the town’s website, only three were evangelical. “They were scared to death of church people,” Bob says. “The reaction of some was, ‘You’re not going to scream at us about going to hell are you?’” Bringing the good news  Bob and his wife, Alisha, weren’t deterred by the town’s reticence. “God told me to bring some good news amid the bad,” Bob says. And so he did. River of Life, a church plant of the Central Baptist Association and the Minnesota-Wisconsin … [Read more...]

A small artificial Christmas tree adorned with ornaments and Hershey Kisses sits on the stand next to one patient’s bed. PINEVILLE – A small artificial Christmas tree adorned with ornaments and Hershey Kisses sits on the stand next to one patient’s bed. There are Christmas cards, candy and cookies, a small framed photograph of family, some plaques, as well as other personal items hanging on the wall. Lying to one side of the nightstand is a well-worn Bible. It’s homey, but it is not home for either Vance Stokes or Carl Hudson, both 82. It is a small room in the Extended Care Unit of the Pineville Veterans Administration Hospital, and while the items do provide a little distraction, they cannot hide the machines, tubes, and monitors. “I’m alone a lot of the time,” Stokes said. “My favorite time of day is early in the morning. I am able to look out my window and watch the sunrise.” In the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season – what with the shopping, the parties, the family gatherings – too often men like Stokes and Hudson, both retired World War II Navy veterans, both Southern Baptist, spend their holidays mostly in solitude. These veterans from the WWII generation are dying at an annual rate of 1,300 per … [Read more...]