By Jake Roudkovski, Director of Supervised Ministry New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Editor’s note: In part 1, Dr. Roudkovski looked at the history of revivals in the Southern Baptist Convention. That column remains available on www.baptistmessage.com. (Search for Dr. Roudkovski’s name.) To recap: The term revival is defined as the sovereign movement of God through the work of the Holy Spirit in revitalizing the believers in Jesus Christ to a more vital spiritual life, work, and witness. Revival meetings refer to a period of time set aside by a church or churches for the purpose of spiritual revitalization and/or evangelism. … In a classic resource on the history of revival meetings in Southern Baptist life, Chuck Kelley asserted that revivalism was one of the major factors that contributed to the enormous growth of the denomination in the past. … In 1866, the SBC instructed the Home Mission Board [now NAMB] to make evangelism its major work and promote a comprehensive system of evangelism, including the appointment of evangelists. … [img_assist|nid=6756|title=Jake Roudkovski|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=82|height=100]C.E. Matthews’ plan, when implemented in the convention [in the late 1930s], ushered in … [Read more...]

By Bill Warren, Ph.D., NOBTS Professor of New Testament and Greek Question: I’ve heard that Jesus descended into hell after he died and before he was resurrected but can’t find this in the Bible. Is this biblical? If not, where did the idea come from? Bill Warren responds: This idea is often based on the Apostles’ Creed that states that Jesus “descended into hell.” (Other early church creeds do not mention this). Later in church history, some pushed the image to mean “hell” in a negative sense and so developed elaborate art and literature depicting Jesus actually going to the place of the eternally damned, as seen in Dante’s Inferno. [img_assist|nid=6120|title=Bill Warren NOBTS Professor of New Testament and Greek|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100] The actual wording in the Apostles’ Creed is that Jesus descended into “the underworld,” commonly called “Hades” or “the place of the dead,” not “hell” as in the place of the damned. “Hades” refers to the abode of the dead with both positive and negative options existing, with the positive emphasis applying to Jesus as indicated in his statement to the repentant thief: Today you will be with me in paradise – Luke 23:43), thereby showing that both would be in … [Read more...]

ALEXANDRIA – The move Oct. 26 of this year’s Nov. 21-22 Youth Evangelism Celebration from the Cajundome in Lafayette back to the Rapides Coliseum in Alexandria has been accomplished with only minor issues. “Only one or two churches had some minor difficulty changing their hotel reservations,” said Kevin Boles, Louisiana Baptist Convention youth ministry strategist. LBC leadership along with legal counsel, due to contract issues, made the difficult decision to return the LBC’s largest event to its traditional site. “We’ve been dealing with the Cajundome for 18 months, but we simply were not able to come to terms with the contract in a timely fashion,” Boles said. “They’re great people. Lafayette is a great city. It was a heartbreaking decision, but the Lord has given confirmation and affirmation in significant areas.” Two of those “areas” includes the positive response of churches to the sudden change, less than a month before YEC was to take place, as well as the availability of the Rapides Coliseum itself, Boles said. “The churches have responded very well to the change in venue,” the youth ministry strategist said. “They have shown a sweet spirit of cooperation.  Immediate contact was made to any church that had … [Read more...]

By Al Quartemont, Special to the Message PINEVILLE – As alumni of Louisiana College gathered on campus recently for the 103rd annual Homecoming, three stood out by being honored as “distinguished.” At the college’s homecoming chapel, Curt Iles, Ava Nell McWhorter and William Enete Sr. were recognized for the lives of faith they have lived since their graduations from LC. Iles, who graduated from LC in 1979, came to the school from Dry Creek, La., and returned to that community upon graduation, where he has served in education and mission work and has authored seven books. In speaking to the students gathered at the chapel service, Iles read from the journal he kept while at LC and listed four things for students to remember: where you came from, that you did not get here (to LC) by yourself, that your education does not end at LC and that you should seek God’s will in all things. Iles recounted a particular memory with the late Dr. Cavanaugh, when the then-freshman was struggling through his chemistry class and was prepared to drop it. “You know what God’s will is for you?” Iles said in relating that story. “It’s to buckle down and do the best you can ... where you are right now.” Ava McWhorter graduated from LC … [Read more...]

By AMY BRYANT, Special to the Baptist Message PINEVILLE – Former LC softball pitcher Emillie Collins along with long-time announcer Hymie Bradford and former running back Wayne Davis became the latest class inducted by the LC Wildcat Athletic Association at a ceremony that took place recently in LC’s Granberry Conference Center. Collins, a graduate of Grant High School in Dry Prong, was one of the cornerstones of LC’s nationally prominent softball team and a star on the Lady Wildcats squad that won the 2003 NCCAA National Championship. [img_assist|nid=6837|title=Emillie Collins, Wayne Davis and Hymie Bradford were inducted into LCs Sports Hall of Fame recently.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=66]A two-time NCCAA All-American, Collins was the 2002 American Southwest Conference East Division Freshman of the Year. She was also chosen multiple times for the ASC All-Conference team. Collins also excelled academically, earning three ASC All-Academic honors and a spot on the CoSIDA All-district Academic team. Collins received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2005. Bradford graduated from Louisiana College in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and a minor in Journalism. While a … [Read more...]

By PHILIP TIMOTHY, Message Staff Writer BOSSIER CITY – For all he has accomplished, developer John Good Jr. readily admits he could never have accomplished any of it without God in his life. One of Louisiana’s premier developers, Good has developed such high-profile projects as Stonebridge, the Louisiana Boardwalk, and Villaggio. Founder and principal of the Good Companies, Good has been honored numerous times, including being recognized in February as “Entrepreneur of the Decade” by a prominent Bossier City civic organization. [img_assist|nid=6839|title=John Good, a long-time member of Trinity Heights Baptist Church in Shreveport, is a highly successful real estate developer.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=67|height=100]“God has seen fit to allow me do some extraordinary things,” Good said. “There is no way I could have accomplished the things I have accomplished without Him. Truthfully, all of the honors I have received belong to Him.” A long-time member of Trinity Heights Baptist Church, the 56-year-old Good has carved a niche in real estate development throughout the state of Louisiana, and especially in the Shreveport/Bossier City area. His company, headquartered in Texarkana, Texas, engages in … [Read more...]

By KAREN L. WILLOUGHBY, Managing Editor ALEXANDRIA – Baptisms are down in Southern Baptist churches across Louisiana. And, baptisms are up. Wayne Jenkins and Keith Manuel, director and associate, respectively, on the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Evangelism/Church Growth team, recently conducted a study on baptisms in the state’s nearly 1,600 churches over the last 10 years. “The difficulty in looking at these numbers is that in 2001, LifeWay [Christian Resources] changed their reporting method, which caused our numbers to drop by 1,000,” Jenkins said. “After [Hurricanes] Katrina and Rita, we were down by another thousand or so immediately, and we never have picked that completely back up. That’s the down side. “The good side is that the last two years we’ve been up over the previous year, so we’re moving in the right direction,” Jenkins continued. “We don’t know about this year yet; we’re still getting stats in, but we’ve heard some good reports from churches.” Baptisms increased overall by 1.5 percent in the 2008 church year, and by 6 percent in the 2009 church year. “I think we’ve turned the corner; our pastors are doing a good job,” the evangelism/church growth director said. “We’ve got to do a better job in … [Read more...]

It’s often said that statistics are often sterile, cold and boring. There’s an old adage that even draws the connection between statistics and lying. As true as these statements may be, sometimes data, charts, graphs and raw numbers give us the basis for a picture as nothing else can. The Louisiana Baptist Foundation uses numbers, statistics and dollar figures in our annual financial statement and the Book of Reports for the annual meeting. These figures are used to show how well the Foundation is managing the assets entrusted to it. The reports also show that the LBF continues to do the job of encouraging gifts made through trusts, bequests and other estate stewardship planning concepts.   All the numbers may give a snapshot of the Foundation and its purpose, but don’t show the finer details of how the assets are used to impact the lives of people. In the ten-year period from January 2000 through December 2009, the Louisiana Baptist Foundation paid out $42,404,877 to churches, entities, ministries and institutions associated with the Louisiana and Southern Baptist Conventions. The underlying reason that the Foundation is able to make these distributions is: Because someone gave! Much of this amount was paid to … [Read more...]

The Louisiana Baptist Foundation recently upgraded its website to better serve Louisiana Baptists. The upgraded site, the first major revision in three years, offers several tools to allow visitors the opportunity to begin the process of Estate Stewardship Planning. Estate stewardship involves the careful and responsible management of all assets entrusted to an individual by God, for His glory. The new website of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation provides specific information about the Foundation.  The website also allows visitors to use the same tools and resources offered by MyLegacyOfFaith.org, a website designed and produced in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Foundation and other Baptist entities. Through LBFinfo.org, guests of the site can access brochures regarding stewardship gift strategies. There are testimonies of couples and individuals who have moved beyond tithing and given God control over all of their assets. The desire of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation is that every Louisiana Baptist participate in quality estate planning as an act of stewardship. The website reinforces the principles of Biblical estate stewardship: God owns everything. We are called to be stewards of our time, talent and … [Read more...]

CENLA – Trained volunteers are needed to help counsel individuals who make spiritual decisions Friday evening, Nov. 12, at Louisiana College’s Wildcat Stadium, announced Cenla DOM Robert Daniel. A pre-event session for volunteers who are already trained to share their faith is to take place at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 in Bolton Chapel on the bottom floor of Guinn Auditorium on LC’s campus. CrossOver is the evangelistic outreach to the local area in conjunction with the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s annual meeting. This year Big Creek, Central and North Rapides associations are participating in CrossOver. The associations are partnering with MegaForce Ministries, who use feats of strength to draw a crowd to hear the Gospel, Daniel announced. The MegaForce team will be in local schools and churches throughout the week, culminating in the Friday night harvest event at Wildcat Stadium. That is where they need your help. Only volunteers who already are trained to share the Gospel are needed. Specific training for the use of follow-up materials will be provided on the evening of the November 12 at 6 p.m. before for the event. Call the Associational Office to volunteer or for more info: 318.445.5772. … [Read more...]