David, a young Jewish businessman, was walking down a busy street in Buenos Aires one day when he spotted a book lying atop an overflowing trash can.   BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (BP) – David, a young Jewish businessman, was walking down a busy street in Buenos Aires one day when he spotted a book lying atop an overflowing trash can. It was open. It seemed to beckon to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he read the chapter title on the open page: “Jesus Found in Old Testament Scriptures.” “What are the Christians trying to do now, saying Jesus is in our Scriptures?” David indignantly asked himself. He knew the holy books well; he had studied Judaism and Hebrew in Israel. He snatched the book out of the trash and took it home, intending to study it and disprove its claims. He read the book. Then he read the New Testament. Through his own quest for truth, he became a believer in Jesus the Messiah. Later he encountered Andrew, a Southern Baptist worker, at a Messianic Jewish meeting. “I want to talk to you,” David told Andrew. “I have some Bible questions.” They met at a restaurant for dinner and conversation. When Andrew arrived, he found David with the Torah (first five books of the Old Testament), the New Testament … [Read more...]

When the opportunity presented itself, First Baptist Larose was quick to respond. LAROSE – When the opportunity presented itself, First Baptist Larose was quick to respond. Six days after Gustav made landfall with 115-mile-per-hour winds, and three days after the passage of Ike’s 15-foot storm surge, church members forgot about the damage to their church and homes to tend to their less fortunate neighbors to the south. Despite the storms causing        extensive damage to the church – an estimated $10,000 – Larose found itself to be one of only a few dry islands in a sea of muddy water and debris along U.S. Hwy 1. “Gustav made landfall on Monday, but we were not allowed back into the area until five days later [Saturday],” Pastor Gary Hanberry of First Baptist Larose said. “As soon as the storm had passed, I was getting calls from people, who knew me personally, like evangelist Randall Gill of Ambassadors For Christ Worldwide Missions in northwest Mississippi, and Sam Johnson of Woodhaven Baptist Church in Ocean Springs, Miss., wanting to know what was needed. “Randall actually didn’t wait until I got back as he came in with a truckload of supplies on that Friday,” Hanberry said. “I had some church members unload … [Read more...]

She is known simply as “Ms. Chocolate.” For 40 years, Gwen Williams has worked in youth ministry at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. NEW ORLEANS – She is known simply as “Ms. Chocolate.” For 40 years, Gwen Williams has worked in youth ministry at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. Wilson has a simple, yet powerful message for pastors when it comes to winning for Christ a generation poisoned by drugs, gangs, sex and violence. “We have to love this generation like Jesus did. We are challenged more and more to show this culture that the God we serve works,” she said. “It is a huge challenge,”  Jeff Wallace, youth pastor at Peace Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., told the group. In a generation in which 38 percent of all new babies are born into single-parent homes, where children spend three hours daily on the internet and the culture is being bombarded by a hip-hop culture, the old methods of doing church will not work. In fact, Wallace said, 60 percent of the youth he sees each Sunday morning are new faces. “If we think we can sit in holy huddles and reach these kids, we’re fooling ourselves,” Wallace said. The message of living out an unchanging, transparent and loving gospel was the … [Read more...]

“The battle for the Bible is never over,” James W. Richards Jr., executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention said during Louisiana College’s 102nd Founder’s Day observance last week. PINEVILLE – “The battle for the Bible is never over,” James W. Richards Jr., executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention said during Louisiana College’s 102nd Founder’s Day observance last week. Thirty-five years earlier, Richards, as an LC student who was answering a call to the ministry, became upset along with other students upon hearing the truths of the Bible challenged. “It was the first time I had ever heard the veracity of the Bible questioned,” Richards said. He did not like what he heard, and neither did many of his fellow students, who also objected. Their protests caused quite a stir on the tiny campus and eventually led to a chapel service where Richards heard a de-emphasis on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. It led to his leaving the college. It also began an 11-year exodus among conservative Baptists that ended when Richards felt God’s call to fight for Biblical inerrancy. Their fight has led to a return to “a high view of Scripture” among the Louisiana and Southern Baptist … [Read more...]

“Opinion polls,” someone once said, “measures the public’s satisfaction with its ignorance.” While that assessment might seem somewhat cynical, it is probably not too far from the truth, which is why I have never understood the media’s obsession with polls as a primary source of news. “Opinion polls,” someone once said, “measures the public’s satisfaction with its ignorance.” While that assessment might seem somewhat cynical, it is probably not too far from the truth, which is why I have never understood the media’s obsession with polls as a primary source of news. Let me draw an analogy to football. I am an avid fan of NCAA Division III football. This level of NCAA football does not offer athletic scholarships. Hence, the players at D-III are student-athletes in the purest sense, which is one of the reasons I like this level of football. What does NCAA D-III football have to do with opinion polls? Unlike NCAA Division I – now known as the Football Bowl Subdivision – D-III has a playoff system to determine its national champion. And while there are a couple of D-III “Top 25” polls that are conducted each week, in the grand scheme of things, they are meaningless. Those who participate in the poll are fans of D-III and … [Read more...]

The American political season is in full gear. As has been the case the last several election cycles, the role of Christian values is being hotly discussed in many quarters. The American political season is in full gear. As has been the case the last several election cycles, the role of Christian values is being hotly discussed in many quarters. The questions center around the nature and content of Christian values, which person or party has them, and what difference does it make. Naysayers (those who reject the notion of Christian values or those who disapprove of the subject being interjected into politics) are very quick to point out any failures, inconsistencies, or hypocrisies among those who claim to be proponents of Christian values. So it was, when the unmarried teenage daughter of a conservative Christian national candidate revealed she was pregnant, some critics immediately began to point fingers and ballyhoo the cause of her family’s professed beliefs and practices. “So this is Christian values,” said they. “They are no different than everyone else except they claim to be better.”  Are the critics right? Does the failure of Christians (or their children) to faithfully uphold godly standards in personal … [Read more...]

Fall is here! Now is the time to plan for a fall festival or an alternative to Halloween for your community. Fall is here! Now is the time to plan for a fall festival or an alternative to Halloween for your community. Depending on how large an outreach you are planning, you may or may not be behind in preparing for the event. With proper planning, special evangelistic events such as these can have a tremendous impact on your congregation. Under a canopy of pine trees, Pine Grove Baptist Church in Ruby, La., ministers to 150 people on an average Sunday morning. Recently, pastor Dwayne Rogers led his church to host a Community Celebration. Besides games, inflatables and lots of food, the church set up a tent for groups to sing. It was an old-fashioned community picnic. They even invited local politicians to come meet their people. The members had a prayer booth, a missions booth and a booth for guests to receive a special gift packet. The church wanted their guests to feel special and welcome at Pine Grove, and their hard work paid off. The following Sunday, four new families accepted the church’s offer to attend services. That one event increased their attendance 10 percent. Planning for this type of event … [Read more...]

At first there were four Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief meal preparation sites in or near Houma in the wake of Gustav’s gouge, said Wayne Hunt, pastor of Coteau Baptist. HOUMA – At first there were four Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief meal preparation sites in or near Houma in the wake of Gustav’s gouge, said Wayne Hunt, pastor of Coteau Baptist. Arkansas was set up at the Houma Town Hall; North Carolina at the Civic Center; Kentucky was at University Baptist in Thibodaux; Oklahoma was at Christ Baptist; and Tennessee at Coteau Baptist. “One by one they started leaving, until all the meal preparation was taking place here,” Hunt said. “People have no idea how bad it was with the double-whammy of these two storms. According to the national press, Gustav is the storm that missed New Orleans, but the eye went over Houma and Thibodaux, just like Betsy.” Hunt monitored the National Hurricane Center’s report of Gustav’s onslaught of Houma/Thibodaux. “Two hours later, the eye hadn’t moved 10 miles,” the pastor reported. “Ike brought in the storm surge; Gustav, wind. Over 10,000 homes were flooded, all under water. “The coolest thing about the way our church responded is that they acted out what … [Read more...]

“Upwards of 25,000 children die from hunger or hunger-related causes every single day, somewhere in the world,” according to materials produced by the Louisiana Baptist Agricultural Missions Fellowship. “People who have adequate food have many problems, but those who have no food have only one problem.” ALEXANDRIA – “Upwards of 25,000 children die from hunger or hunger-related causes every single day, somewhere in the world,” according to materials produced by the Louisiana Baptist Agricultural Missions Fellowship. “People who have adequate food have many problems, but those who have no food have only one problem.” We have hunger issues right here in Louisiana. Ruby Holder at Delta Storefront Ministries in Ferriday – part of the poverty-stricken Mississippi River Delta – tells of providing upwards of 500 families a month with “gap” groceries that tide families over until their next too-small paycheck. Delta is one of more than 30 community ministries in Louisiana that routinely provide emergency grocery assistance, according to records maintained by John Hebert, Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Church and Community Ministries director. Routine. Emergency. Groceries. How is it possible those three words could be in the same … [Read more...]

Ag Missionary Kerry Johnson starts a new egg incubation project for a Zapotec family … [Read more...]