For the week of November 7, 2002 Potpourri • BATON ROUGE - Stevendale church: Four Fold in concert; Nov. 9, 7 p.m.; Michael J. LoBrutto, pastor.   • KEITHVILLE - First church: Gospel Jubilee featuring several singing groups and Johnny Parrack, tenor; Nov. 16, 6:30 p.m.; for information, call (318) 925-9467; Mike Stowell, pastor.   • DENHAM SPRINGS - Gray’s Creek church: Squire Parsons in concert; Nov. 9, 6:30 p.m.; tickets are $10 per person; Carl Sullivan, pastor.   • PINEVILLE - Pineville Park church: Louisiana College Choral in concert; Nov. 10, 6 p.m.; Thomas Lott, Jr., minister of music/education; Gregory Carroll, pastor. Homecomings • ELIZABETH - Elizabeth church: Nov. 10, 10:45 a.m., dinner on the grounds and singing to follow; Jerry Adams, pastor.   • HOMER - New Hope church: Nov. 10, 11 a.m. with lunch to follow; David Bazer, guest speaker; Kingdom Bound, music; Eddie Ballance, pastor. Revivals • MONTGOMERY - Union Hill church: Nov. 10-13, 7 p.m.; nursery provided; Oda "Tuck" Roberts, evangelist; Frank Alexander, music; Earnest Little, pastor.   • DERIDDER - Temple church: Nov. 17, 6 p.m.; Nov. 18-20, 7 p.m.; evangelists are as follows: Sun.- Stuart … [Read more...]

There is an oft-repeated story about a man who wanders into a Quaker meeting and sits with the other participants as they wait in silence for the Holy Spirit to move one of them to speak or sing or pray.   After a number of minutes of quiet, the uneasy visitor finally leans over to the person sitting next to him and whispers, "Excuse me, but when does the service start?"   "Worship is not social hour. There is work   of the highest order to be done."   - Gerrit Scott Dawson   There is an oft-repeated story about a man who wanders into a Quaker meeting and sits with the other participants as they wait in silence for the Holy Spirit to move one of them to speak or sing or pray.   After a number of minutes of quiet, the uneasy visitor finally leans over to the person sitting next to him and whispers, "Excuse me, but when does the service start?"   And the reply comes, "When the worship ends."   While perhaps a familiar vignette, it nevertheless sums up the place of worship in the life of Christian faith.   It is central.   "If the Lord is to be Lord, worship must have priority in our lives, ..." Quaker author Richard Foster … [Read more...]

Misplaced worship wars? While the debate about worship forms and styles continues in places some are saying the real need is for a focus on the nature of worship itself   The so-called "worship wars" that has disrupted many churches are being fought on the wrong front, researcher George Barna maintains. Misplaced worship wars? While the debate about worship forms and styles continues in places some are saying the real need is for a focus on the nature of worship itself   The so-called "worship wars" that has disrupted many churches are being fought on the wrong front, researcher George Barna maintains.   "We’re only fighting about the style of music because our people don’t know what worship is," Barna told a recent gathering of Christian musicians.   A new study from the Barna Research Group suggests American churches are less conflicted regarding worship music than many people think.   However, neither do church members understand the nature of worship, said Barna, head of the Barna Research Group.   "The real issue is not music but the state of the heart.   "Everything in Worshipland is not okay," Barna said in summarizing the new study, … [Read more...]

For the week of November 14, 2002 Cooperative Program Gifts through the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program totaled almost $13.8 million in October, an increase of a little more than $1 million (8.5 percent) from the previous October. The month kicks off a new fiscal year for the Southern Baptist Convention, which operates on an October 1-to-September 30 basis. In the first month, Cooperative Program receipts fell $981,331 (6.6 percent) behind budget. Meanwhile, designated gifts totaled some $2.7 million last month, a drop of $560,144 (16.9 percent) from last October. Halloween treat The evangelistic spirit of Marjorie Reed was alive on Halloween. Thousands of children descended on her historic east Dallas house to receive candy and gospel tracts and to watch VeggieTales on a giant outdoor screen in the front yard. The annual outreach was begun four years ago by Reed, who died in August at the age of 78 during a service at First Baptist Church of Dallas. Members from the First Baptist Church singles department organized this year’s event, complete with bilingual tracts for the predominantly Hispanic children in surrounding neighborhoods. In four hours the night of Oct. 31, participants handed out 6,000 pieces of … [Read more...]

Members of Baptist congregations would do well to try to understand something of the travail, albeit what is often joyful travail but always travail, involved in preparing and delivering sermons three times a week.   "There was a poll a few years ago that said that of all things to be feared in life - death, disease, drowning - Americans picked as their number-one fear . . . public speaking." (On Speaking Well by Peggy Noonan, Regan Books1998, page XI), Members of Baptist congregations would do well to try to understand something of the travail, albeit what is often joyful travail but always travail, involved in preparing and delivering sermons three times a week.   "There was a poll a few years ago that said that of all things to be feared in life - death, disease, drowning - Americans picked as their number-one fear . . . public speaking." (On Speaking Well by Peggy Noonan, Regan Books1998, page XI),   Noonan, a noted presidential speech writer for Ronald Reagan, and those who answered the polling question could not have imagined what their fear level would be if they considered preparing and delivering three different major speeches a week, 45 to 50 weeks a year, basically to the … [Read more...]

Debbie and Wayne Brinkley thought they had a plan - they would eat in as many Chinese "chifas" (diners) as they could to learn where the Chinese living in Lima, Peru, gather.   Also, when they were not eating in chifas, they would drive around Lima, marking locations on a map. Debbie and Wayne Brinkley thought they had a plan - they would eat in as many Chinese "chifas" (diners) as they could to learn where the Chinese living in Lima, Peru, gather.   Also, when they were not eating in chifas, they would drive around Lima, marking locations on a map.   They ate and marked - and marked some more. They noted more than 100 chifas on a single street alone. Little did they know they had embarked on an impossible mission. There are almost 6,000 chifas in Lima.   The Brinkleys are Southern Baptist missionaries who recently changed from working with Spanish speakers to focusing on the more than 400,000 Chinese living in Lima. Nearly 100 percent have no relationship with Jesus Christ.   "We were praying about how to reach the Chinese with the gospel," Wayne Brinkley says. "And we had the thought, ‘What if there was a church in every chifa?’"   His wife answers … [Read more...]

Sitting around the table, the Wong (not their real name) family laughs and talks, teasing each other as their elderly mother brings a dish of noodles from the kitchen.   Chopsticks then fly, diving into the steaming hot bowl. Sitting around the table, the Wong (not their real name) family laughs and talks, teasing each other as their elderly mother brings a dish of noodles from the kitchen.   Chopsticks then fly, diving into the steaming hot bowl.   Off to the side sits the father of the house, smiling and reveling in the joy of children and grandchildren. He listens to the chatter as he strokes his long, gray beard.   He is blessed to have such a family. All three of his daughters are married, as well as his three sons. All have jobs - hard to come by in this part of China.   The rotund father glances at the clock and rises. He nudges his eldest son and then disappears. The son grabs his hat and rushes out the door.   A few doors away, a young Chinese man steps up to a microphone. He belts out a guttural song much different than the karaoke his peers perform just down the street. This song is not Chinese hip-hop, but an Arabic call … [Read more...]

Healthy churches are not determined by budgets, buildings or even baptisms, John Marshall stressed recently.   "A great church makes a great commitment to the Great Commandment and Great Commission," said Marshall, pastor at Second Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo. "A healthy church must proclaim first and foremost the fact that every human being is created for the purpose of loving God." Healthy churches are not determined by budgets, buildings or even baptisms, John Marshall stressed recently.   "A great church makes a great commitment to the Great Commandment and Great Commission," said Marshall, pastor at Second Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo. "A healthy church must proclaim first and foremost the fact that every human being is created for the purpose of loving God."   In a recent lecture series at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Marshall cited three aspects of a healthy church with "heart-healthy" members - individuals must love God first, neighbor second and be a part of fulfilling the Great Commission.   "The call to be a Christian is the call to give heart, soul and mind to someone above this world," he stated. "No life is fulfilled until wholly … [Read more...]

Re: Contemporary worship services   Contemporary services focus seems to be to peak the interest of youth by offering music with instrumentation at elevated decibel levels, use of abbreviated verse in songs repeated numerous times, extended periods... Re: Contemporary worship services   Contemporary services focus seems to be to peak the interest of youth by offering music with instrumentation at elevated decibel levels, use of abbreviated verse in songs repeated numerous times, extended periods of standing that enables more freedom of body movement and, often, casual dress. The pastor frequently omits suit and tie, perhaps in an attempt to become one of them. Employment of psychological manipulation seems evident.   The contemporary service is frequently employed by churches that offer two or more worship services and, on occasion, more than one Sunday School session. Sometimes, one Sunday School is set aside for the youth, leaving the others primarily for senior adults, since the younger adults usually follow their children. Even with one Sunday School, the young adults usually gravitate to the contemporary service.   Seldom has a church opted for only a contemporary … [Read more...]

For the week of November 14, 2002 Potpourri • PITKIN - First church: Missions Celebration; Nov. 24, 11 a.m. with dinner on the grounds to follow; Monica Skiles, missionary to Tanzania, guest speaker; Stephen Laughlin, pastor.   • ZACHARY - Milldale church: Accepting reservations for 2003 Bible Conference; Feb. 17-20; Bailey Smith, Jim Cymbala, Sonny Holland, Malcom Ellis, Jerry Chaddick and Bill Riddick, guest speakers; for information, call (225) 654-8168 or write Milldale Baptist Church, 11950 Milldale Rd., Zachary, LA 70791; Jimmy Robertson, pastor. Youth • DEQUINCY - First church: "Hallelujah Heart" children’s musical; Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m.; Jared Prewitt, minister of music/education; Byron Comish, pastor. Revivals • VIDALIA - First church: Nov. 23, 7 p.m. youth night; Nov. 24, 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. senior adult night; Jeff Vernon, evangelist; Dan Glenn, music; Gary Nunn, pastor.   • SHREVEPORT - Northwoods church: Nov. 17, 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.; Nov. 18-20, 7 p.m.; Russell Harbin, evangelist; Starla Harbin, music; Billy Stevens, pastor.   • BATON ROUGE - Stevendale church: Nov. 17, 10:30 a.m. with covered dish luncheon to follow and 6:30 p.m.; Nov. 18-20, 6:30 p.m.; … [Read more...]