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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Hispanic church embraces cooperative program

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   [img_assist|nid=8189|title=Embracing CP|desc=Rolando Castro, shown here with his wife Zulma, has stirred new life into Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana de Maryland, as interim pastor, by introducing it to Southern Baptists’ Cooperative Program and its national and international outreach for the Gospel.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=480]HYATTSVILLE, Md. (BP) – “The beauty of the Cooperative Program,” as Rolando Castro sees it from a church’s perspective, “is that you can be involved no matter how big you are, no matter your location.”   Currently serving as interim pastor of a Hispanic congregation in the metro Washington area, Castro added, “You can be involved in reaching the world with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.”   Castro has led Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana de Maryland from giving zero to missions to 10 percent of their offerings through the Cooperative Program to fund missions and ministry by the state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention.   When a church extends itself beyond its neighborhood through the Cooperative Program, it can become involved in international missions and in planting churches across … [Read more...]

On ‘New’ Calvinism: Clarifying statement on salvation proposed

[img_assist|nid=8191|title=The Holy Bible|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=425|height=640]By Michael Foust, Baptist Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – A group of current and former Southern Baptist leaders has signed a statement affirming what they call the “traditional Southern Baptist” understanding of the doctrine of salvation, with the goal of drawing a distinction with the beliefs of “New Calvinism.” The statement was posted May 31 at SBCToday.com and includes a preamble and 10 articles, along with signatures from two entity presidents (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Paige Patterson and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Chuck Kelley), five state executive directors (Georgia’s Bob White, Florida’s John Sullivan, Mississippi’s Jim Futral, Louisiana’s David Hankins, Alaska’s Mike Procter), and in addition to Patterson, five other former SBC presidents (Bailey Smith, Jimmy Draper, Jerry Vines, Morris Chapman and Bobby Welch). The document was titled, “A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation.” (Read the entire document at the bottom of this article.) “For the most part, Southern Baptists have been glad to relegate disagreements over Calvinism to … [Read more...]

Ministering through the S.W.A.M.P.

[img_assist|nid=8193|title=Delivery boat|desc=June and Louis Charrier use an airboat, which is a common means of transportation in the meandering Louisiana swamp, for their S.W.A.M.P. (Serving Wholesome Appetizing Meals to all People) Ministry.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]By Holly Jo Linzay, Regional Reporter   ATCHAFALAYA BASIN – Moss-draped Bald Cypress trees tower majestically in the bayous of the Atchafalaya Basin. A Pelican swoops down to rest on a stand of Cypress knees, as an alligator sidles by. Cloaked in legend and lore, the area is home to the Swamp People, folks who make their living from the Atchafalaya Basin. It is also the place where a new ministry has been started.   “We feel like if you feed a person, you sow a seed, and hope to harvest a soul. That’s what the S.W.A.M.P. ministry is all about. We want to touch people with the goal of harvesting souls,” said Louis Charrier, a pastor, church planter and director of the S.W.A.M.P. ministry.   The ministry’s acronym stands for “Serving  Wholesome Appetizing Meals to all People. The idea of the name came to Charrier one night as he was praying.   “The Lord put that name in my heart. I’m in the swamps and the … [Read more...]

House’s failure to block sex-selection abortions revealing

By Kelly Boggs, Baptist Message Editor   The U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass legislation on May 31 that would have made it illegal to abort an unborn child because of the baby’s sex. Abortions based on sex are widely practiced in India and China, and the vast majority of babies aborted due to sex selection are female.   There are indications the practice of sex-selection abortion is beginning to rear its ugly head in the United States, due in part to the rise of immigrants from Asia and India. As a result, Rep. Trent Franks (R.-Ariz.) introduced HR 3541, known as the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA). Franks indicated the purpose of his bill was to ensure equal rights for unborn children – boys and girls.   The failure of the bill is, to say the least, disappointing. However, the manner in which the House chose to deal with the legislation is also disappointing. Rather than handle the bill in the usual manner, the bill was considered under “suspension of the rules” which makes controversial legislation, like abortion measures, difficult to pass.   According to House protocol, suspension of the rules is a procedure generally used to quickly pass non-controversial bills. … [Read more...]

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor I love God’s Grace. That wonderful Doctrine of Grace declares that Salvation is by faith and not by works or merit. This sort of thing doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to the human mind, because mankind is used to thinking that you have to do something to get something. But such is not the case with salvation. We are saved, and justified, solely on the faith principle. I would be willing to bet that everyone reading this letter would agree to that. But what I want to address is how to live a victorious life. How are we sanctified? The first thing is to realize that we are not going to be perfect when we get saved. There are those who teach sinless perfection, but I believe that they are teaching error. <a href="/membership">Continue reading this article</a> for $1.00 or subscribe to the Baptist Message.   … [Read more...]

His, Hers… Hens? The push to make kids gender neutral

By Mary Kassian, Author, Professor Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Forget “his” and “hers.” Sweden has introduced a new, gender-neutral pronoun: “hen.” The word was added to the online version of the country’s National Encyclopedia days after International Women’s Day. (In Swedish, “he” is “han” and “she” is “hon.”) The addition of the new designation was sparked by Sweden’s first ever gender-neutral children’s book, Kivi och Monsterhund (Kivi and Monsterdog), Slate.com reported. The child, “Kivi,” whose gender is non-specified, wants a dog for “hen’s” birthday. <a href="/membership">Continue reading this article</a> for $1.00 or subscribe to the Baptist Message.   … [Read more...]

John Huss: The reformer whose goose was cooked

By Lloyd A. Harsch, NOBTS Nothing happens in a vacuum. The same is true of the Reformation. Before Luther, before Calvin, there was John Huss (also spelled Jan Hus). Huss (which means goose) was born between 1369 and 1373 to peasants in Husinec (which means goose town). With few options for making a living, Huss decided to become a priest. He was initially drawn to the priesthood by the money and prestige it could bring, but as he studied, he developed a deep personal faith. Huss entered the University of Prague in 1390, earning a master’s degree in 1396. He then joined the faculty, becoming dean by 1401. The Renaissance, which was just getting under way, brought a renewed sense of learning and scholarship. One of the results was the founding of numerous universities. Charles IV founded the University of Prague in 1348. He was also the first Bohemian king to become Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The new university drew heavily on German scholars for its faculty. By the time that Huss joined the faculty, Germans still greatly outnumbered Czech faculty. In 1382, Charles’s oldest daughter, Anne, married King Richard II of England. As a result, a number of Czech students came to England to be educated at Oxford, where they … [Read more...]

Questions we’ve pondered

By Archie England, NOBTS Question: What did Adam lose when he chose to eat the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3)? Archie England responds: Created in the likeness of the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28), humanity – when in proper union – could create new life (babies) and rule every aspect of the earthly realm (sea, land, and atmosphere). Bearing His image, then, endowed humanity with lesser but similar character traits of God: creating and administrating. In the process of Adam’s naming all the species, two more traits are unveiled: Adam possessed intellect! He was a sentient being with the ability to reason and make decisions! As the BFM 2000 states initially, Adam had the “freedom of choice.” Likewise, Adam was relational: desiring fellowship. <a href="/membership">Continue reading this article</a> for $1.00 or subscribe to the Baptist Message. … [Read more...]

Teen girls learn Christian babysitting skills

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor WINNFIELD – Babysitting involves much more than just watching children, a half-dozen sixth- and seventh-grade girls from three churches learned recently during a Christian Babysitting Workshop that took place at First Baptist Church. Led by two-time Teacher of the Year Mandi Wolfe, a member at First Winnfield, the workshop was adapted from The Official Christian Babysitting Guide, written by Rebecca Park Totilo. The two-day workshop included CPR training, construction of promotional posters and business cards, instruction in cooking simple meals, examination of the home of a First Winnfield member for possible safety hazards, such as a blow dryer in the bathroom left plugged in, and much more. <a href="/membership">Continue reading this article</a> for $1.00 or subscribe to the Baptist Message.   … [Read more...]

Is Chief Justice Roberts cunning or crazy like a fox?

By World News Service (WNS) – Conservative legal scholars can’t seem to agree: Is Chief Justice John Roberts crazy, or crazy like a fox? Those who think Roberts’ healthcare opinion June 28 was clever have compared it to Chief Justice John Marshall’s landmark opinion in Marbury v. Madison, which recognized the power of judicial review. In that 1803 opinion, Marshall threaded a needle when his court was pitted against his political adversary: President Thomas Jefferson. Marshall’s opinion established the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review but also ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction to rule against Jefferson’s administration in that specific case. So he skipped a bashing of Jefferson but expanded the court’s power. <a href="/membership">Continue reading this article</a> for $1.00 or subscribe to the Baptist Message.   … [Read more...]