Submitted by philip on Wed, 04/24/2013 - 10:27 Mike Thibodeaux, Grand Champion By Jerry Love, LBF Communications ALEXANDRIA – Picture a vast spread of open fields dotted with a few trees and bushes; the new grass working hard to push the winter cover of brown away. Scattered about are club-wielding men swinging mightily, at times quietly waiting to approach their target and other times yelling loudly as they move quickly across the undulating expanse. A volley of cheers erupts over here, a quiet groan can be discerned over there …. Is this some primitive battlefield? Nahhh, it’s the 2013 Spring Baptist Golf Fellowship, which took place April 8-9 at Links on the Bayou. Golfers came from across Louisiana, along with a couple of interlopers from Texas, to converge on the Alexandria area for a time of hitting the links, good healthy back-slapping camaraderie and the pursuit of a few trophies and prizes. Of course it would not be a Baptist meeting without good food thrown in the mix. The Baptist Golf Fellowship, sponsored by the Louisiana Baptist Foundation and the Baptist Message, is a time for pastors and laypersons to come together for a time of recreation, relaxation and light-hearted competition around the game … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 04/24/2013 - 10:29 First Baptist Church DeRidder took first place again this year. Members of the the team include Diz Smith, Dennis Millsaps, Jerry Istre and Tony Branham. They had a combined score of 320, 9 strokes better than the competition. Select rating Give it 1/5 Give it 2/5 Give it 3/5 Give it 4/5 Give it 5/5 … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 04/24/2013 - 10:30 The winning team for the scramble was Jerry Price, Fred Morgan, Tony Branham and Don Fox. They combined for a score of 60 for the round. Select rating Give it 1/5 Give it 2/5 Give it 3/5 Give it 4/5 Give it 5/5 Give it 1/5 Give it 2/5 Give it 3/5 Give it 4/5 Give it 5/5 … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 04/24/2013 - 10:32 Former Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden, who was the featured speaker at the 49th annual Governor’s Prayer Breakfast, joins the large audience in welcoming Gov. Bobby Jindal April 11 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel ballroom. By Mark H. Hunter, Regional Reporter BATON ROUGE – The 1985 murder of a Florida State University football player brought an assistant coach to salvation in then-head Coach Bobby Bowden’s office. Pablo Lopez, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound tackle, was shot in the chest with a shotgun at a party, Bowden told more than 1,000 people gathered in the Crowne Plaza Hotel April 11 for the 49th annual Governor’s Prayer Breakfast. A few days after the shooting, Bowden, now 83 and retired from a 50-year, Hall of Fame career, said he gathered the distraught players in the “team room,” where the chairs were arranged in rows of 11 seats according to first, second or third team offense and defense. “I pointed down to that empty chair and said, ‘Hey men, where’s Pablo?’” Bowden said. “It gave me an opportunity to talk to my boys about eternal life.” After the meeting, an FSU assistant coach asked Bowden what he was talking about. “With my Momma’s old Bible, I showed him how to … [Read more...]

Arrivals/Departures   Rick (wife Jonann) Byargeon, pastor of Temple Baptist Ruston, died April 4. Colin Trisler was ordained to the gospel ministry April 14 at First Baptist Winnfield. Pastor: Stephen Laughlin. Jerry (wife Dianne) Penfield, new as pastor of First Baptist Zwolle. Alex Davis, new as youth pastor at Summer Grove Baptist Shreveport. Pastor: Aaron Burgner. Jeff (wife Barbara) Feibel, new as pastor of Woodland Hills Baptist Shreveport. Yvonne Keller, new as children’s ministry leader at Cross Point Baptist Benton. Pastor: Shane Nugent. Peter (wife Misty) Tidovsky, new as music minister at Waller Baptist Bossier City. Pastor: Casey Hough. New as interim pastors: Wayne DuBose at Northwoods Baptist; Billy Crosby at Beulah Land Baptist; and Bill Treadway at Mt. Gilead, all in Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association. University Baptist Shreveport voted to disband. Ben W. Blackwell , new as Associate Pastor and Minister of Music at Faith Baptist Church in New Orleans. Bruce Baker, new as director of missions for Carey Baptist Association. From Lubbock, Texas. Vance (wife Cathy) Thomas, new as pastor of Gambrell Baptist, north of Starks.   Needed/Giving   Donation needed: large van or small bus, … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 04/24/2013 - 10:37 Kermit Gosnell By Staff, World News Briefs Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., recently led a Special Order hour before Congress to raise awareness about abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s murder trial and the mainstream media’s refusal to cover it. Smith was joined by nine other representatives: Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo.; John Fleming, R-La.; Joe Pitts, R-Pa.; Scott Garrett, R-N.J.; Andy Harris, R-Md.; Keith Rothfus, R-Pa.; Roger Williams, R-Texas; Scott Perry, R-Pa.; and Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind. “Mr. Speaker, Kermit Gosnell is a predator who must be publicly exposed and openly denounced,” Stutzman said. “And that’s why I come to the floor—to bring attention to this case [so] that the American people are informed of it, aware of it, and realize the acts that are happening within our own country.” Andy Moore, director of AbortionWiki, condemned the media blackout and urged pro-lifers everywhere to raise awareness through social media. “If this was puppies that Gosnell was killing, the media would be all over it,” he told LifeSiteNews.com. Moore helped organize “TweetFest,” an effort to elevate the hashtag “#GosnellMurders” to Twitter’s top trend list and pressure mainstream media outlets … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press HOUSTON (BP) – SBC President Fred Luter has named the members of the Committee on Resolutions for the June 11-12 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Houston. Luter, pastor of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, appointed the committee in keeping with the provision in SBC Bylaw 20 that its members be named 75 days prior to the start of the annual meeting. Luter named Steve Lemke of Louisiana as committee chairman. Lemke is provost at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, where he also serves as professor of philosophy and ethics, occupies the McFarland Chair of Theology, directs the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry and is editor of the Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry. Lemke is a member of First Baptist Church in New Orleans. The other committee members, in alphabetical order, are: Matthew Arbo, assistant professor of Christian ethics, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, member, Redeemer Fellowship, Kansas City, Mo. Tom Biles, recently retired executive director, Tampa Bay Baptist Association, Tampa, Fla.; interim pastor, First Baptist Church, Dade City, Fla.; member, Idlewild Baptist Church, Lutz, Fla. David Crosby, senior pastor, … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 04/24/2013 - 10:41 M.O. Owens By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP) -- M.O. Owens Jr. was still in knickers on May 13, 1925, the day his parents took him to a pivotal session of the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting. That was the day the Cooperative Program was born. Now 99, Owens recalls the vote that ushered in the CP as a system of financial support for the missions and ministries of Southern Baptists within state conventions and throughout the nation and world. “I was there but I was only 11,” Owens told Baptist Press. “I don’t have a keen memory of specifics. There wasn’t any great opposition, but it was a new idea to the pastors. “I remember very vividly how excited my dad was, how delighted he was, and I do remember so well he was concerned about enlisting the other pastors,” Owens said of his father, the late Milum Oswell Owens Sr., who pastored two churches. “He was the only pastor from that association [Orangeburg County, S.C.] who attended that convention.” His parents must have realized the historical significance of the vote because Owens was allowed to stay with relatives during the other sessions of the five-day event, which took place in … [Read more...]