img_assist|nid=5974|title=Kelly Boggs, Editor Louisiana Baptist Message|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=78|height=100]By Kelly Boggs, Editor Louisiana Baptist Message The game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts is surely the most anticipated aspect of Super Bowl XLIV. However, there is another element of Super Sunday that draws a significant amount of attention – commercials.Because the television audience for the Super Bowl is so huge (last year 148 million people tuned into to watch at least some portion of the game), ad space is not only coveted but is also expensive. A 30-second spot during last year’s Super Sunday cost around $3 million. When companies pay that many bucks just to air a commercial, they are hoping the result will be significant bang. In order to stand out in the crowd of commercials, some companies have not shied away from controversy, choosing to include sex and sleaze in their spots during the Super Bowl. Ordinarily, controversy erupts after the questionable commercials have aired. This year, however, it is different. It seems a few liberal women’s organizations and abortion rights groups are stirring the controversy pot even before they have viewed one particular … [Read more...]

By Jim Law, Senior Pastor First Baptist Church Gonzales [img_assist|nid=5978|title=Jim Law, Senior Pastor First Baptist Church Gonzales|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=94|height=100]Is missing church sinful? If you have the flu, many would be grateful you stayed home. But I don’t think illness is the reason that absenteeism among Southern Baptists is so widespread. Neither do I think that absenteeism can be explained by providential hindrances. According to a 2007 Lifeway Research study, Southern Baptists have some 16 million on the denominational role, however only 6.1 million show up for church on any given Sunday. When you look at the numbers, it would take a lot of “oxen in the ditch” to explain a 10 million person discrepancy. I would assert that widespread absenteeism occurs because of the sin of “forsaking.” The writer of Hebrews spoke of this sin of forsaking the gathering of believers for worship and encouragement. He even noted that some were doing that very thing. A. T. Robertson’s comments are insightful: “Already some Christians had formed the habit of not attending public worship, a perilous habit then and now.” At the heart of church life is a covenant commitment that binds us together in … [Read more...]

By Rob Zinn, Pastor Immanuel Baptist Church Highland, California [img_assist|nid=5981|title=Rob Zinn Pastor Immanuel Baptist Church Highland, California|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=64|height=100]We are a people who have been called by God to go into the world with the Gospel. We are a people with a command to make disciples, baptize them and teach them. Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that “you will receive power ... and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” That is a big task, and unlike some today who want to go to only one or the other, we must understand it’s not either/or. It’s both/and.How do we accomplish such a large task? The answer is, we do it together! The Great Commission can be accomplished if we will come together to get the job done. There is no one church that can do it, but together we can do much. The genius behind the Cooperative Program is a spirit of unity. It is an opportunity for every size church to give as God leads and pool the gifts to reach a common goal. No other denomination has what we have as Southern Baptists. Through the Cooperative Program, local churches can reach their Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and world for … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter [img_assist|nid=5990|title=Judi Folds, wife of Tokyo Baptist Pastor Dennis Folds, leads a Bible study at Bethel Colony for recovering addicts.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=56]NEW ORLEANS – Dennis and Judi Folds left Louisiana 30 years ago to follow the Great Commission and take the Gospel to a distant land. A team of Japanese Baptists – the fruit of the Folds’ ministry in Tokyo – recently came to New Orleans on the same mission. The 12-member team from Tokyo Baptist Church partnered with five members from First Baptist Church, Minden, and one from First Baptist, Homer, to share the Gospel in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. As a result, three area residents came to faith in Christ. “[The Tokyo team] has been a blessing to work with,” said Bill Crider, First Minden’s minister to senior adults/missions. “And the people here have been very receptive.” Tokyo Baptist Church, founded by Cooperative Program-supported missionaries and American military personnel stationed there in 1959, averages 1,400 in five weekend services, with 50 nationalities in attendance. Services take place in English. “Our goal is to send a mission team to each country represented at our … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter NEW ORLEANS – A banjo player, Fusako Takada’s love of Jazz took her from Japan to New Orleans a dozen years ago. Though Takada didn’t know it at the time, her quest for music set her on a path to faith and new life in Christ. While in New Orleans in 1998, Takada was introduced to the story of Jesus through the gospel music of the African-American community. Back home, Takada joined a gospel choir led by an American in Tokyo. [img_assist|nid=5988|title=Fusako Takada of Tokyo Baptist Church teaches Bill Crider to do origami.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]Takada dropped in early for choir practice one day and heard the Bible being taught by the director. “I thought religion was for the weak-hearted and that the Bible had nothing to do with my life,” said Takada, 33. “But I was amazed at what I heard!” Soon, Takada gave her life to Christ and found a church home at Tokyo Baptist Church, where retired International Mission Board missionaries and Louisiana natives Dennis and Judi Folds were serving. The daughter of a geisha – a respected women’s role rich in Japanese tradition – Takada knew her newfound faith would be viewed as forsaking her heritage. But Takada … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter [img_assist|nid=5993|title=Jim Louviere, shown with wife Michele, planted a church in Metairie that presents the message in the language of today s culture|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]NEW ORLEANS – If having a good time was the same as being happy, this metro area should be filled with contented people, or so notes the website of Crescent City Rock, a church plant in Metairie with five baptisms since its start in November. To those searching for more, the church offers the hope that “Life rocks when built on The Rock.” The church meets Sunday mornings in a glass-walled sports gym at a YMCA during the center’s operating hours. A relaxed atmosphere and high visibility draws in the curious for interactive meetings. Jim Louviere, lead pastor, said his church uses language today’s culture understands without watering down the message. “The Gospel is the power of salvation and the hope of New Orleans,” Louviere said. “But [the Christian faith] is a whole new world to many and we want to reduce the barriers to coming to Christ.” The church plays off the city’s fervor for the New Orleans Saints football team with small groups called SAINT (Small-Groups Assembled in … [Read more...]

By Quinn Lavespere, Special to the Message [img_assist|nid=5994|title=LC Professor and International Coordinator of Nursing David Sharp spoke on Approaching Spirituality in client care.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]The Louisiana College School of Nursing held a symposium on “Spirituality In Health Care” on Thursday, Jan. 21, in the Granberry Conference Center. LC Professor of Nursing and Dean of School of Nursing and Allied Health, Kimberly Sharp, said that the main goal of the symposium was to teach nursing students and others working in health care about spirituality and how to address the spiritual needs of clients.Sharp said that a full digest of the symposium’s events will be made available through a weblink on the LC nursing website after the symposium is over. “We’re hoping this is going to be part of a rolling series,” said Sharp. “We want to be able to do it every year for students and people who are working in health care professions who have an interest in understanding more about spiritual health and how to address spiritual health care needs.” Presenters at the symposium included distinguished scholar and consultant Irene Alyn, who spoke on “Spirituality and Nursing,” and LC professor and … [Read more...]

By Gary Chapman, Homelife Magazine Although some people enjoy winter sports, I don’t know any couples who enjoy winter marriages. Winter marriages are characterized by coldness, harshness, and bitterness. The dreams of spring are covered with layers of ice, and the forecast calls for freezing rain. Marc has been married for 24 years but says of his marriage, “It’s discouraging. We disagree on everything. We are both bull-headed, and this has created many conflicts. There is a coldness about our relationship.” His wife, Marsha, says, “Marc is so critical. I feel there has been more effort on my part than his. He will not listen and doesn’t care about my feelings. At this stage, we spend little time together and give almost no affirmation or touch.” The Winter Season of Marriage Hurt, anger, disappointment, loneliness, rejection, and sometimes hopelessness are the emotions that couples experience when their marriage is in the winter season. What brings a couple to such an ice age? Rigidity – the unwillingness to consider the other person’s perspective and to work toward a meaningful solution. All couples face difficulties, and all couples have differences. These differences may center on money, in-laws, … [Read more...]

By Michele Louviere, Director of Counseling Celebration Church Metairie [img_assist|nid=5997|title=Michele Louviere, Director of Counseling Celebration Church, Metairie|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=90]Question: I recently became a mother. Since I grew up in a dysfunctional family, I really am unsure about what a healthy family looks like. Can you describe the difference between an unhealthy family and a healthy family? Michele Louviere responds: Of course, the perfect family does not exist. All families have some problems or dysfunctions, but certainly, striving for a healthy family is a great gift for your new baby. Probably, one of the greatest differences between a healthy family and an unhealthy family lies in how family members are valued. In a healthy family, individuals are allowed to talk, to feel, and to trust. Each person is treated as special and unique; while, each person is also loved unconditionally. In an unhealthy family, the opposite occurs. Individuals are not allowed to talk, to feel, or to trust. All individuals are not special and are only loved if that love is earned. In unhealthy families, one or both parents are emotionally or physically absent or abusive. Sometimes, all of the … [Read more...]

By Daniel Clymer, Special to the Message The moving of the waters is a beautiful thing, when it is caused by the new birth of a believer in Jesus Christ. All across New Mexico, baptistries are being filled and the water is being stirred by those who gave their lives to Jesus during last fall’s Native American evangelistic events. “Jesus, Hope For All Nations!” revivals and evangelistic events have brought new hope to 89 Native people who made professions of faith and have brought more than 150 people to a closer relationship and commitment to God through rededications. [img_assist|nid=6009|title=Fruitland Community Church in Farmington NM partnered with Mt. Olive Baptist in Louisiana during a 2009 fall revival.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=71]Nearly 50 congregations from New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma hosted events, and 35 of those were New Mexico Native American congregations. Two others were multi-cultural churches in New Mexico. God moved in amazing ways through these churches and their evangelism partners from Louisiana, Texas and Canada; and the effects of the Holy Spirit moving in New Mexico reached Louisiana, New York, Illinois, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana and … [Read more...]