By World News Magazine (WNS) – According to a survey from LifeWay Research and first reported by Religion News Service, 37 percent of Americans view homosexuality as a sin, down from 44 percent a year earlier. “The culture is clearly shifting on homosexuality and this creates a whole new issue: How will America deal with a minority view, strongly held by evangelicals, Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, and so many others?” said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research. The number of Americans who do not believe homosexuality is a sin remained nearly the same, at 43 percent in September 2011 and 45 percent in November 2012. There was an increase in the percentage of those who said they were unsure of what they believe. Those who identify as “born-again, evangelical, or fundamentalist Christian” are the most likely to say that homosexual behavior is a sin (73 percent). Conversely, those who never attend religious services are the most likely to say they do not believe homosexual behavior is a sin (71 percent).   Washington National Cathedral to Allow Same-Sex “Weddings”   (WNS) – Evangelical policy groups are not surprised by the Washington National Cathedral’s announcement Jan. 9 that same-sex … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Thu, 01/31/2013 - 09:48 By Staff, LBC Communications ALEXANDRIA – Opportunity Louisiana: For the Gospel; For Our State; and For this Time is the theme for the President’s 2020 Commission announced during the initial meeting of the Steering Committee on Jan. 15 at Baptist Building in Alexandria. The meeting was directed by Louisiana Baptist Convention President Waylon Bailey of First Baptist Covington and LBC Executive Director David Hankins. “Our theme springs from Ephesians 5:16 where Paul challenges believers to ‘make the most of every opportunity,‘“ Hankins said. “This is our intent, to maximize the opportunities the Lord places before us in Louisiana.” The President’s 2020 Commission was approved by the LBC Executive Board during the annual meeting of the LBC last November in West Monroe. Since November, 20 leaders from around the state were selected to lead 20 subcommittees, which will study and make recommendations regarding 20 different areas of ministry. Each subcommittee includes 20 members, bringing the size of the 2020 Commission to 400 people representing approximately 300 churches. “Our purpose for this exercise is to develop and recommend a seven-year strategy for … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Thu, 01/31/2013 - 13:45 Pictured from left to right: Amanda Whisnant, Paul Whisnant and Charla Knapp By Joey Martin, Special to the Message VIDALIA -- Where in the world is Belize? Charla Knapp of Vidalia can tell you. She's been four times. For the record, Belize, formerly British Honduras, is a country located on the north eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered to the north by Mexico, to the south and west by Guatemala and to the east by the Caribbean Sea. And while Belize Barrier Reef is the second longest in the world and home to more than 100 different kinds of coral and some 500 species of fish, the trips have been anything but a vacation. But they have been just as rewarding for Knapp, a nurse practitioner at Concordia Medical Center. "I made a vow to God to serve in missions," Knapp said. "I started googling international missions and two or three came up. I sent out feelers and the first and only one came from Paul (Whisnant). It felt right and I started raising money and asking friends if they would like to go with me. Four months passed and I couldn't find anybody. I was starting to get cold feet, but God kept telling me to go on and I raised the … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Thu, 01/31/2013 - 13:48 After being commissioned in mid-January, De De and Curt Iles are headed to East Africa to serve as missionaries, where they will help spread the Word to the people groups in Southern Sudan and the Democratic Congo. By Rachel Ortego, Regional reporter DRY CREEK – Curt Iles grew up in Dry Creek Baptist Church and like all good little boys he was enrolled in “RA’s,” (Royal Ambassadors), a missions discipleship program for young boys. He was just supposed to learn about missions. Instead, he fell in love with missions with a passion that would eventually lead him and his wife to sell everything they own and commit to a two year stint in Uganda. “I have always loved missions and missionaries from being in RA and attending camp, but that was not the direction my career would take me,” said Iles, whose career started in education – he was a school teacher, coach and principal before serving for 20  years as manager of Dry Creek Baptist Camp. His wife Dede was a school teacher. About 20 years ago, an article piqued the couple’s interest about the IMB (International Missions Board) Masters Program for people over 50 who want to be missionaries. “The … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor DERIDDER – Churches in Beauregard Baptist Association are making the first steps toward adopting one of the world’s unreached and unengaged people groups. The 47 churches and missions in Beauregard, where Tim Patrick has been director of missions since April 2011, are considering their response to a challenge by Tom Elliff, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board. “This is another example of the wheel of God’s working,” Patrick said. “He starts things turning and like spokes on a wheel the people and churches involved are gaining coordination and moving forward.” Patrick was at the 2011 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention when Elliff spoke of the 3,800 people groups across the world where fewer than 2 percent had responded to the gospel. There are more than 11,000 people groups on earth, Elliff said then; approximately 3,800 are UUPGs. The first "U," unengaged, means there is no known active, evangelical church-planting strategy among the people group. The second "U," unreached, describes a people group that is less than 2 percent evangelical Christian. A "people group" is the largest group through which the Gospel can flow … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Thu, 01/31/2013 - 13:53 These are the few of the kids Beauregard DOM Tim Patrick got to minister to while in Southeast Asia. This visit to Southeast Asia is the fourth for Patrick and his wife Judy By Rachel Ortego, Regional Reporter It’s an area in Southeast Asia where people sacrifice chickens to their various gods, where natives worship at Buddhist shrines freely and government officials often knock on the door of suspected missionaries and question them for hours. It is in this country of more than 1.5 million unreached and unengaged people groups that authorities are hostile to Christians: babies are often thrown into jail with their missionary parents. And it is in a recent visit to this area that Tim Patrick, Director of Missions for the Beauregard Parish, placed laptop computers into the hands of IMB missionaries so God’s word could be translated into Bible stories to reach the lost. This visit to an area in Southeast Asia is the fourth for Patrick and his wife Judy. But the day they gave computers to IMB (International Mission Board) missionaries he describes as the best day of his life. “I have never been more blessed than to see the genuine thankfulness of … [Read more...]