By Beth Masters, Special to the Message LAFAYETTE – In the car and on the way home from a conference, a college senior told her BCM director that she wanted to serve as a missionary after graduation, and from the back seat of the car came the voice of a sophomore saying “Me too, well – at least for the summer!” As the BCM director asked questions about where they wanted to serve and why they wanted to go, many of the answers pointed back to God’s work in their lives, and to Ignite. Ignite is a conference for college students that took place in September. It is designed to get students ignited for Jesus as they start a new school year and to stir a passion in their hearts for missions. As Ignite began and about 200 students gathered on Friday night at East Bayou Baptist Church, you could hear the squeals as students saw friends from other campuses; some students were running to greet each other, and overall a spirit of joy was present as the door opened. From that point on, students were challenged in worship, pushed to consider missions, and given time to fellowship with others. For students from New Orleans, the two most impactful times of the weekend were the Saturday afternoon session – where mission opportunities … [Read more...]

  By Staff, Baptist Message ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES David Womack, pastor of Sherwood Baptist in Baton Rouge, is to retire Oct. 31, after 22 years at Sherwood and 47 in ministry. A reception is set for 2-4 p.m. Oct. 28 in the Sherwood fellowship hall. Jonathan and Bethany [last name removed for security], recently appointed by the International Mission Board, are preparing for assignment in Portugal, where they will teach at a seminary and help the 5,000 Baptists in that nation start new churches. She is the daughter of Randy Hales, DOM in Bienville and Webster-Claiborne Baptist Associations. Jonathan Nida, new as family minister at Norris Ferry. James Hill, new as pastor of Plain Dealing. Needed/Giving Pilgrim Rest Baptist in Covington seeks a part-time minister of youth. Send resume tollbodnar@bellsouth.net. Emmanuel Denham Springs seeks a youth pastor/director. Send resumes to the church at PO Box 279, Denham Springs LA 70727. Pastor: Max Landry. Northside Denham Springs seeks a bivocational part-time minister of music. Send resume to the church at 200 Cockerham Rd, Denham Springs LA 70726 or emailnorthsidebap@bellsouth.net. Pastor: Merlin McCon. Homecomings, Anniversaries, Revivals Horseshoe Baptist Mer Rouge: … [Read more...]

  By Kelly Boggs, Baptist Message Editor The word bully, according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, is defined as a person or persons who “intimidate or persecute [someone weaker].” Though the practice has likely been around since the beginning of mankind’s existence, the advent of the Internet and proliferation of social media has given bullies new and innovative ways to torment their victims. Situations have occurred where the bullying has been so relentless and intense that victims were driven to commit suicide, a practice that is now referred to as “bullycide.” Bully, a documentary by Lee Hirsch that calls attention to the harsh reality of bullying, is currently showing in select theaters in the United States. The film focuses on students victimized by bullies and the families of children who committed suicide in response to being bullied. Though the motives for bullying are varied, they are irrelevant. It is a cowardly and despicable behavior that should never, ever be tolerated for any reason. That said, some lifestyle activists are taking advantage of the bully problem to push an agenda. In Louisiana, House Bill 407 was recently debated before the House Education Committee. The legislation sought to deal … [Read more...]

By Kelly Boggs, Baptist Message Editor“Don’t ask, don’t tell” was a policy employed by the U.S. armed forces. Military officials were instructed not to inquire concerning a serviceperson’s sexual preference and, in turn, the serviceperson was expected to keep his or her sexuality private. In other words, everyone was expected to keep their mouths shut when it came to homosexuality.Homosexual activists, and some liberals, decried the practice of “don’t ask, don’t tell” as un-American, and President Obama signed a repeal of it in 2010. However, a variation of the practice seems to be reemerging in a different form, and it is liberals who are now employing what they once deemed “un-American.”Angela McCaskill, longtime chief diversity officer at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., has been placed on administrative leave because she signed a petition calling for voters to have a say on Maryland’s new law recognizing homosexual marriage.Proponents of traditional marriage gathered enough signatures to place a referendum, Question 6, on the November ballot. Question 6 asks voters whether they are “for” or “against” the new law enacted by the Maryland legislature this past spring and set to take effect Jan. 1.McCaskill was one of the … [Read more...]

  By Timothy George, Founding Dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University Earlier this year I was asked to address a group of Southern Baptist pastors on the question of Christian faith and political engagement. Though no one knew for sure who the candidates would be at that time, the first question I was asked was, “How should an evangelical Christian decide who to support in this election?” That was a legitimate question, and has prompted me to think of some wider implications. 1) We should be grateful to live in a representative democracy where the right to vote and the rule of law are respected. Such has not always been the case, even in our own country, as the history of slavery, women’s suffrage and the struggle for civil rights indicates. Religious liberty and political responsibility are closely related: If we default on the latter, we may well forfeit the former. Vote! 2) The American republic was founded on a clear distinction between church and state, as the First Amendment shows, but this has never meant the separation of faith from public life. What we believe about ultimate matters has a direct bearing on how we deal with issues of everyday life. What is a human being? How do we foster a society … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 10/24/2012 - 01:00 The Shelby family: Rob and Amy Shelby in their Prairieville home with their nine children. (Back row, left to right) Cade, 12, Tate, 10, Ian, 11 helped save their father from drowning in a neighbor's pool on July 4. (Middle row, L. to R.) Abram, 7, Sarah, 4, Rob, Asa, 3, Amy holding Isaac, 1, and leaning on her chair is Cai, 8 and Emma, 5.   By Mark H. Hunter, Regional Reporter PRAIRIEVILLE – Robert Shelby knew something was terribly wrong when he couldn’t move his arms or legs to swim back up to the surface. Fully conscious but helpless, he laid on the concrete bottom of a neighbor’s pool holding his breath, hearing his children’s laughter echo down from five feet above him. The associate pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, 40-year-old father of nine children and husband to Amy – who is pregnant with baby girl and number ten – was showing several of his children how to dive on the morning of July 3. He slammed his head on the bottom, broke the C-6 vertebrae in his neck and pinched his spinal cord. “I prayed and asked God what are you supposed to do when you are about to die?” Shelby said after two months of recovery and rehab. “It … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) – The Cooperative Program ended its fiscal year 3 percent over budget and at 99.41 percent of last year’s contributions. Church giving hopefully has dipped as low as it will from the U.S. economic downturn and may be ready to stabilize or climb, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Frank Page said. “Those who research these things tell us that church giving usually lags one to two years behind the general economy,” Page said. “God’s people are not immune from the hardships associated with this life. ... It should come as no surprise, then, that church giving has been deeply affected by the nation’s four-year recession. “With that in mind, the Executive Committee sought to achieve a balance between faith and realism when it set this past year’s budget,” Page said. The SBC received $191,678,994.28 in CP gifts during the fiscal year Oct. 1, 2011-Sept. 30, 2012, or $199,650.88 less than the $191,878,645.16 received during the last fiscal year. This year’s giving is $5,678,994.28 above the budget goal of $186,000,000. “We finished 3 percent ahead of our budgeted goal and only slightly under last year’s CP total. This is hallelujah territory! To God be the … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 10/24/2012 - 01:00 Luter speaks at NOBTS: SBC President Fred Luter preached during the Sept. 20 chapel service at NOBTS.   By Frank McCormack, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter preached during New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Sept. 20 chapel service, his first speaking engagement there of his historic presidency. “My life has been turned upside down since this election on June 19,” Luter said. “I never realized this position of Southern Baptist Convention president would bring so much notoriety.” Luter said he has received phone calls from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, a call from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s camp, personal letters from former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and a proclamation from Texas Governor Rick Perry. “Then a month ago, my wife and I got the greatest joy of our life. We sat for 45 minutes in the home, at the kitchen table, of Dr. Billy Graham,” he said. Reflecting on all the experiences of the past three months, Luter, pastor of New Orleans’ Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, asked for prayer. “I’m just asking for your prayers for … [Read more...]

By Staff, World News Magazine (WNS) – A federal appeals court panel decided Oct. 10 to uphold but delay enforcement of a South Carolina law requiring people to produce a government-issued photo ID before casting a vote. The three-judge panel agreed unanimously that given the short amount of time before Election Day, the voter ID law may have “discriminatory effects” if implemented this year. The law will take effect in 2013. Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told CitizenLink that people have plenty of time to get a photo ID. “It prevents people from impersonation fraud, from voting under false or fraudulent registrations,” he said. “It prevents illegal aliens from voting if they have to produce a government issued photo ID. It can potentially prevent double voting by people registered in more than one state.” “The fact remains, voter ID laws do not discriminate or disenfranchise; they ensure integrity at the ballot box,”  South Carolina Alan Attorney General Wilson said. “This ruling also affirms South Carolina’s voter ID law should have been pre-cleared by the U.S. Justice Department.” Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 10/24/2012 - 01:00 Family adopt twin girls: Perry and Michelle Gardner are shown holding their adopted twin girls: Connally and Haven. Gardner, the pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Jonesville, and his wife received news of the adoption on Father’s Day 2012. They traveled to Ethiopia in August to meet their daughters for the first time.   By Marc Eichelberger, LBCH Communications JONESVILLE – Perry and Michelle Gardner have been married for seven years. Through various personal and shared experiences, they both had a strong desire to pursue adoption for their family. Their plan was to have a biological child, then pursue adoption. Little did they know that God had a much different plan for their family. After a year of trying unsuccessfully to conceive and a series of doctor’s visits, tests and second opinions, the couple learned that their infertility was certain and irreversible. Perry serves as pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Jonesville. In March 2010, the couple shared their struggle of infertility with their church family. It was a time of healing for the couple that allowed their church family to walk beside them as they journeyed towards becoming parents. “We … [Read more...]