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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Page’s prayer – believers will learn ‘suffiency’ of God’s grace

BY MICHAEL FOUST   NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – As Southern Baptist churches head into a time of prayer and repentance in January, Executive Committee President Frank Page says he is praying that believers "will learn the sufficiency of God’s grace" just as the Apostle Paul learned when he was battling his undefined "thorn in the flesh."   The "universality   of difficulty."     "Many of you have been a pastor or in the ministry in some way," Page said. "You know how many people come up to you and ask, ‘Why am I going through this? Why am I suffering this way?’ ... All of us have a thorn. All of us struggle in life. All of us have afflictions. They are real."     The "natural reaction   of the believer."     Paul’s first reaction to his "thorn," Page noted, was to pray.   "We all want to know, ‘God, why?’ But at least we’re talking to the right person and going to the right source. ‘God, please help me. Lord, explain this, and if you won’t explain it, hold my hand as I walk through it.’"     The "beautiful provisions   of our Lord."     "In prayer, Paul received a beautiful message [but] not the one he wanted," Page … [Read more...]

Poll: Recession has caught up to many churches

By BROOKLYN LOWERY NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – The National Bureau of Economic Research declared in September that the recession that began in December 2007 ended in June 2009. According to a new LifeWay Research study, pastors of Protestant churches might disagree: Data gathered Oct. 7-14 shows that 2010 is on course to be the third straight year with an increased number of churches receiving lower offerings than the prior year. Thirty-four percent of churches report receiving less offering this year than the previous year, compared to 23 percent in 2009 and 19 percent in 2008. Additionally, LifeWay Research reported that 79 percent of pastors say the economy is impacting their church negatively, reflecting media reports that overall offering dollars reportedly have declined for the first time. “It’s hard to explain in financial terms how churches have done as well as they have the last three years,” said Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research. “Churches actually saw average offerings rise 3 percent in 2009, but the recession -- though officially over mid last year -- has finally taken its toll on churches in 2010.” In the October telephone survey, churches reported average 2010 offerings of 3 percent less than their … [Read more...]

‘Little ol’ country church has BIG CP role

By KAREN L. WILLOUGHBY   DES ARC, Ark. (BP) – "Because of the Cooperative Program, we get to be a part of everything," Melvin York, pastor of First Baptist Church in Des Arc, Ark., for 17 years, said. "With the Cooperative Program, you get to support missions at every level in every area."   The Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists’ method for financially supporting state, national and international missions and ministries.   "We practice missions," York said. "I don’t have to preach it. My folks practice it.... Last year we marked $1.5 million to missions since I’ve been here, this little ol’ country church, and $1.1 million of that has been through the Cooperative Program."     … [Read more...]

Leaders sense God’s movement among Native Americans

  By KAREN WILLOUGBY NORTH AMERICA – Two major events for Native Peoples in Spring 2011 attest to a groundswell of Southern Baptist interest in ministry among and with Native Americans and First Nations Canadians. The Gathering, set for March 2-4 at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Okla., is to be a national conference of Native American Christian leaders discussing more effective ways than ever before of reaching Native Americans with the Gospel. The North American Native Peoples Summit April 28-29 at one of the Cross Church campuses in Springdale, Ark., -- invited by Pastor Ronnie Floyd – is to bring together Native Christians from the United States and Canada with those interested in ministering with Native Christians.   0 … [Read more...]

Churches kick off Bible drill thrust

STAFF, Baptist Message STATEWIDE – "What’s Next?" That was the theme of this year’s Bible Drill retreat Jan. 21-22 at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center. More than 230 students and their leaders participated, down a bit from last year’s record 240-plus, though the number of churches increased, said Louisiana’s Bible Drill Coordinator Linda Aguillard of Greenwell Springs Baptist Church in the Baton Rouge area. The theme referred to life, not just Bible Drill, though Bible Drill prepares students for life, Aguillard said. "They study for a full year on that year’s scriptures, and years later they can still say the verse; it’s embedded," Aguillard said with a hearty laugh. "We’re seeing so many of our students going into Christian service. ... This is a leadership-development program, beyond a doubt." Peter Baehr, previously a Bible Driller in New Orleans, went on to become a screenwriter. Harrison Fredericks, a current Bible Driller at First Slidell, is the star of Baehr’s The Little Red Plane, shown at the Friday night session. The evening also included Joshua Spinks, youth minister at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, leading in teaching self-defense using tae kwon do, and tying the self-defense to scripture verses the … [Read more...]

INMATE DISCOVERS GOD’S PROVISION

BY STAFF, IMB Communications BANGKOK, Thailand (BP) – Rather than looking forward to freedom, Noon dreaded the day of her prison release. No one had visited her or had even written a letter during the time she had served in Thailand for drug possession. She realized that when prison officials set her free, she would have no place to go and no home to go to. “Everyone in my family, my relatives, they rejected me and forgot me,” the quiet 25-year-old remembers. [img_assist|nid=6896|title=Hands are clasped in prayer at the Womens Correctional Institution for Drug Addicts in Bangkok, Thailand|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=67|height=100]But then another prisoner, a Christian, told her about God. The Christian prisoner also began to teach Noon how to pray. “The first prayer I prayed was ‘If You are God, please bring someone to visit me,’ because for almost two years, no one visited me or wrote a letter to me,” Noon says. “I said, ‘God, if You want me to know Your grace, answer me and let someone come to visit me.’” One week after her plea to God, an officer announced over the loudspeakers that a visitor had, in fact, come to see her. She remembers crying, “Oh, thank You, God! Thank You, God!” “I was so excited … [Read more...]

Small church, bivocational work gets affirmation at NAMB conference

BY ADAM MILLER, NAMB Communications ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – The challenges and opportunities smaller Southern Baptist churches might embrace to reach their communities with the Gospel was the focus of a Small Church and Bivocational Pastors Missional Initiative Dialogue at the North American Mission Board. Congregations of less than 200 members account for 33,522 churches within the Southern Baptist Convention, a majority of the nation’s largest non-Catholic denomination. The meeting of two dozen church and denominational leaders served as a follow-up to an 18-month series of discussions between NAMB’s church planting group and field partners, including pastors, associational directors of missions and state convention staff. This birthed the idea for a “small church missional initiative” geared to connect smaller churches to each other for greater impact and cohesion. “This was sort of like the capstone on the whole project,” said George Garner, a church planting strategies consultant at NAMB who moderated the meeting. “We’ve been working on a strategy the last 18 months and it evolved to the place where we really want to put this together under one frame. “What we’re trying to do is get a snapshot. The perception is … [Read more...]

Foundation reduces budget, further diversifies portfolio

ALEXANDRIA – The Louisiana Baptist Building in Alexandria was the location of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation’s last quarterly Board of Trustees meeting for 2010. The meeting took place Oct. 26 with the Operating and Investment Committees meeting in the morning and the full board meeting in the afternoon. The business addressed during the full Board of Trustees session was fairly routine, with the Trustees approving the budget for fiscal year 2011. The new budget reflects a two percent decrease in projected expenses as compared to 2010. In other business the Board approved allocating an additional $250,000 to offset any negative financial impact that may still occur from the recent economic crisis. The trustees made this move in an effort to assure the churches and institutions of the security of their funds invested with the LBF. Trustees also approved a motion from the Investment Committee to establish a master limited partnership (MLP) account that will give the Foundation an alternative investment vehicle to help diversify the total portfolio. The amount invested in the MLP is limited to five percent of the total assets. The Foundation already uses a preferred stock fund in a similar diversification … [Read more...]

Perry Hancock: You just had to be at this associational meeting

BY STAFF, Baptist Message BAYOU MACON BAPTIST ASSOCIATION – At least once a year, each of the Baptist associations across Louisiana meet for fellowship and to hear the news of what God is doing among them. Associations are a group of churches in a given geographic area, such as Carey Baptist Association of the Southern Baptist churches in southwest Louisiana. [img_assist|nid=6421|title=Perry Hancock President, CEO Louisiana Baptist Childrens Home|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=88|height=100]The purpose of associations is multi-faceted: fellowship that brings together people from many churches into a large group; training events, such as for Sunday school teachers or VBS leaders; doctrinal alignment – before churches are accepted into the association, their doctrinal statements are examined for “like faith and order” with Baptist tenets; and combined force in missions and ministry, such as a community ministry center, or a short-term missions trip. Representatives from LBC entities – children’s home, college, foundation, Baptist Message – often are present at the associational meetings. Sometimes (when invited by the association) they give reports of what their entity is doing; sometimes they’re there just to mix and … [Read more...]