By Kelly Boggs, Editor   "There's an app for that," is a phrase that is part of many advertisements for the iPhone. Apple, maker of the popular smartphone, has trademarked the expression that conveys an application for most every subject is available for download online via the company's app store. Apple currently offers 134,000 apps, which is short for "applications" and refers to software programs utilized by a smartphone. While thousands of apps have gained Apple's approval, two Christian-based apps have recently been rejected. If you are interested in the Manhattan Declaration or Exodus International, you will find there's no longer an app for either. The Manhattan Declaration, according to its website, "is a 4,700-word declaration that speaks in defense of the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty." As such, the document contains language that opposes "gay marriage." To date, approximately 490,000 people, including many leading Christian leaders, have signed it. Exodus International states on its website that it "is committed to encouraging, educating and equipping the Body of Christ to address the issue of homosexuality with grace and truth." Exodus, often referred to as an … [Read more...]

By Chester Quarles, Professor Emeritus in Criminal Justice at the University of Mississippi   Before you can develop a strong church security plan, you must complete a risk assessment.  Your local police department's crime prevention unit can be of service here.  They can tell you of crimes in your neighborhood and of crimes against other churches in their jurisdiction.  Knowledge is your first line of defense!   The word risk implies any possibility of loss or attack. To a novice, it seems vague--an elusive term.  "I'm a minister," you might say, "not in the intelligence service."  However, you can quantify the information you need to protect your congregation and facilities.  You can make judgments as to whether your information is very reliable, reliable, or unknown.   Risk assessment is usually historical.  We need to know what has gone before.  We need to know if an incident at another church could happen at ours.  Then we can make a list of the threats and weaknesses which most concern our membership. We can look at crime trends  and  then rate our information by assigning a reliability factor to it.  The police crime prevention unit can help you  prioritize your risks.   There are … [Read more...]

By Philip Timothy, Message Staff Writer   DAYTONA BEACH – How far would one be willing to go to engage in spiritual warfare? One mile, 10 miles, 100, or possibly 1,000?   [img_assist|nid=7214|title=Daytona Bike Rally|desc=F.A.I.T.H. Riders known as “catchers” engage bikers passing in front of their ministry tent to register to win a Harley motorcycle in Daytona Beach during Bike Week in early March. Joni B. Hannigan/Florida Baptist Witness photo|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=66]Ten volunteers from Louisiana FAITHRiders chapters traveled more than 900 miles to join 175 other Faith Riders from 10 states in sharing the Gospel with bikers at the annual Daytona Bike Week March 4-13.   “Daytona has been hosting this bike week for the last 70 years, but this was the first time a ministry effort of this size has been undertaken,” said LBC Evangelism Associate Keith Manuel.   FAITH Riders’ National Director Buddy Newsome said the event, which drew more than 400,000 bikers, was modeled after the Dakota Baptist Convention’s highly successful ministry efforts at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally – set this year for Aug. 8-14, but the intentional evangelism is to span Aug. 3-13.   “The … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   WOODWORTH – More than 400 first through sixth-grade boys and their leaders are expected to participate at the annual RA Congress, set for April 8-9 at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center.   On the busy-every-minute schedule: pinewood derby, soapbox derby, RA Olympics, campcraft, and missionaries, plus headliners Combat Team of Tulsa, Okla.   “Children learn and remember the principles the team teaches, but most importantly, many many children have come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior,” said Cheryl Baker, children’s minister at Brookside Baptist Church in Tulsa, Okla., according to the www.combatteam.com website.   Combat Team is a Christian martial arts demonstration team founded in 1997.   “We open our program with an exciting introduction of the team … [and] then explain what COMBAT stands for: Confidence, obedience, motivation, benevolence, attitude, teamwork,” says CEO Brian Bryan, an 8th degree black belt, on the website, “and how it can be incorporated into their lives. …”   High-flying kicks lead to the message that prayer works and God answers prayers. Crushed stacks of concrete demonstrate that no … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   PINEVILLE – Two central Louisiana ministries are to benefit from the missions celebration and annual meeting of the Women’s Missionary Union, affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention.   Participants are asked to bring items for the Hannah’s Plea crisis pregnancy center, and for the trucker’s ministry at Kingsville Baptist Church.   The statewide WMU event is to start at 2 p.m. Friday, April 1, with registration and a missions/ministry fair that includes a Louisiana prayerwalk at the church. The evening session starts at 6:45 p.m. with an international missionary, representative from WMU SBC, and the Voices of LC.   A reception honoring Glenda Hofius, state WMU president, is to start about 8:45 p.m. The Baptist Nursing Fellowship breakfast starts at 7:15 a.m. Displays and the LifeWay Christian Store will open at 8:15 a.m.   Saturday’s business session, which starts at 9 a.m., is to include a talk by Tobey Pitman, longtime director (until Hurricane Katrina) of the Brantley Center in New Orleans, and a recently retired missionary with the North American Mission Board. Pitman continues to serve on the Northshore in community … [Read more...]

By Mark H. Hunter, Special to the Message   [img_assist|nid=7218|title=A lasting memory|desc=Fifty Students from more than a dozen countries were able to participate in an event hosted by the LSU BCM. Among the activities they got to experience was to fish.|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100]BATON ROUGE – Food, fun, fishing and friendship were on the agenda when more than 50 International college students from across the state met Feb. 25-26 at the LSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry.   The idea behind the International Student Retreat was to introduce the foreign students to American culture beyond what they usually experience on the campuses of LSU, McNeese State and Tulane University.   “The goal for the retreat was cultural exchange and friendship,” said Steve Masters, LSU BCM director. “This is an incredible opportunity to reach out to them and show them the love of God.”   The students, from more than a dozen countries, met host families on Friday evening for dinner, then went to the BCM for an evening fellowship. They returned late Friday night to the host homes where they spent the night, many for the first time in an American house.   On Saturday they attended … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   STATEWIDE – Churches and associations across Louisiana are spreading the news: VBS this summer is about children on a “Big Apple Adventure.”   Set in the city known as the crossroads of the world, VBS organizers at the SBC’s LifeWay Christian Resources say kids this year will discover adventure on every corner.   Using the sights and sounds of New York – with set locations such as Times Square and Grand Central Station – they will hear Bible stories about people who stepped out in faith and connected with Jesus.   Through these stories, they will find out that they, too, can step out in faith, beginning with a relationship with Jesus and moving on to connect with a life of faith that lets them share the message of Jesus with the world.   “I think this is possibly the most evangelistic VBS we’ve ever offered,” said Jerry Wooley, LifeWay’s VBS specialist. “All of them keep the name of Jesus at the forefront, of course; the goal of each VBS is to draw kids into a relationship with Jesus, but this one lets them know how important it is to share that message with other people.”   Each day’s Bible story focuses on someone having … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   BOSSIER CITY – “The hardest things about military life today is the deployments, the uncertainty, the not knowing what’s happening next,” says Sara Horn, military wife and speaker of two military-related conferences in early April.   [img_assist|nid=7221|title=Sara Horn|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=144|height=120]A faith-based conference for wives of active duty, National Guard and Reserve military personnel is to be offered at Barksdale Air Force Base Saturday, April 9.   A conference to equip churches to effectively minister to military families is to take place the previous evening, April 8, at Airline Baptist Church in Bossier City.   “The timing couldn’t be more perfect for this,” said Faye Scott, children’s minister at Airline Bossier City and one of the organizers of Horn’s visit. “There’s talk of a huge deployment in the next couple of weeks.”   Horn, newly arrived in the Baton Rouge area with her 10-year-old son Caleb to live near her deployed husband’s family, is an experienced journalist and author who has traveled twice to Iraq to write about Christians serving in the military. Her latest books include GOD Strong: A … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press   DENHAM SPRINGS – For the 25th year, Amite Baptist Church is producing an Easter Spectacular that every year is surprisingly different from the previous year’s 300-person production, though it tells the same story each year of God’s gift to each person who accepts His love.   As its gift to the greater Denham Springs/Baton Rouge populace, Amite’s Easter Drama continues to be free, but tickets are essential to assure seating at the six-day event that routinely edges very close to the maximum seating allowed by the fire department.   This year the dates are April 5-10, with performances at 7 p.m., plus 2:30 p.m. weekend matinees. Call the church office at 225.665.2762 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays only, or go online at www.amitechurch.organytime, to reserve tickets.   Previous productions have had the titles “The Lamb” (2010) and “A Message of Hope (2008),” plus 22 others. This year it’s “Chains: A Dramatic Musical of the Life of Christ,” referring to Psalm 107:14: He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains .... The question “What are your chains?” appears in promotional materials.   An interpreter for the … [Read more...]

[img_assist|nid=7224|title=Central Louisiana History Days|desc=Linda Yeager, a member at First Pineville, was among several Southern Baptists at the recent Central Louisiana History Days displaying their knowledge of early-American crafts. Here she shows the soap she makes by pouring water over ashes to make lye, which she mixes with glycerine and sweet-smelling flowers and herbs. Among other Southern Baptists at the first-ever event, R.V. Couch, pastor of Kidron Baptist Church in Harrisonburg, displayed his handcrafted violins and similar stringed instruments. Harold Griffith of Trinity Pineville showed how to make corn husk brooms. The two-day springtime event is to be repeated March 9-10 next year, said organizer Red Holsomback of Colfax.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427] … [Read more...]