In a time when many churches and organizations around the SBC are cutting budgets and staff, there’s at least one evangelist who thinks recent hard financial times provide a great opportunity for the church. DEVILLE (BP) – In a time when many churches and organizations around the SBC are cutting budgets and staff, there’s at least one evangelist who thinks recent hard financial times provide a great opportunity for the church. “I think what this will do, it will bring us to desperation, and desperation is the point at which God sends revival,” says longtime evangelist Bill Stafford, referring to the current economic turmoil. “God is going to teach us a principle of trust and faith and show us a dimension of His sufficiency, where people will hunger to come to church. Not to hear about the doom and gloom, but to hear about the living Christ who is in me and all of His sufficiency is my sufficiency.” Stafford has been preaching for almost 57 years, most of those in full-time evangelism. He quit a career in combustion engineering when he was called to preach at 19. Since then, he’s preached all over the country and even earned the nickname “Wild Bill” in the Southern Baptist Convention for his straightforward preaching … [Read more...]

He’ll be knee-deep in weeds at the Interstate 10 underpass at Franklin Avenue in New Orleans or setting sod at a neighborhood home, but one thing is certain: Robert Claverie, 64, won’t be in one place for long. NEW ORLEANS (BP) – He’ll be knee-deep in weeds at the Interstate 10 underpass at Franklin Avenue in New Orleans or setting sod at a neighborhood home, but one thing is certain: Robert Claverie, 64, won’t be in one place for long. Claverie, who is retired, feeds the homeless at 7 a.m. and directs teams of volunteers in neighborhood clean-up the rest of the day, all financed from personal funds. One of the first to return to his flood-ravaged neighborhood after Hurricane Katrina, Claverie tapped into his insurance money to feed relief workers and start the clean-up process. Staff employees of MissionLab, a ministry of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary that links church mission teams to ministries in New Orleans, spotted him clearing debris from a neighborhood street three months after the storm. “They asked me if I wanted help,” Claverie said. “I said, ‘Sure, if you’re in it for the long run. But it’s hard work and there’s a lot to do.’” MissionLab connects church groups of all ages to mentors like … [Read more...]

Mary Mercer brings new meaning to the word “hardbody.” WINNFIELD/ALEXANDRIA – Mary Mercer brings new meaning to the word “hardbody.” Fourteen teenagers were in First Baptist Winnfield’s bus driven by Mercer, and on their way to the Monday evening session of the Youth Evangelism Conference when a bullet smashed through the glass door and glanced off Mercer’s right side. “I was driving along and I heard something and felt something and at first I thought one of the kids had popped a balloon,” Mercer said in her recall of the Nov. 24 scare. “I looked over and there was a bullet hole in the door, and the glass was shattered from top to bottom. “When I realized it was a shot, and I knew I had felt something, I thought, ‘Am I bleeding? Am I going to live long enough to get these kids to safety?’” She pulled over when she felt she was far enough from the shooter for the teens – including her daughter Kaitlyn – to be safe. The 15-passenger bus she was driving was the first in a caravan of four vehicles on its way from the Hampton Inn north of Pineville to the Alexandria Coliseum. The shot rang out as she passed two houses and a trailer no more than two minutes from the hotel, Mercer said. When she pulled over, so did the … [Read more...]

‘Tis the season… ‘Tis the season… Much of the talk heard on television, radio, at the mall, in the elevator, most anywhere this time of year centers on giving.  More specifically, Christmas giving.   Commercials, billboards, store banners and signs all tout the “perfect gift for that special someone.” Giving is a wonderful thing.  The long- standing tradition of our culture is to give gifts to our friends and loved ones in honor of Jesus’ birth. There are many illustrations shown to us through scripture that exhibit the pure spirit of giving. There is the familiar story of the Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10 where the man of Samaria gave his first aid kit, his ride (a donkey) and his financial resources to help a stranger who had been attacked and left for dead.  In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul writes of Macedonian Christians giving from their poverty to help other believers.  And, of course, there are the gifts brought to Jesus by the wise men. But the greatest gift of all is the reason we celebrate Christmas: God’s gift of His Son, Jesus, to be the Savior of all.  As we celebrate the birth of the Messiah, the Promised One, let’s remember to give from a heart of grace so that His name can be made known to all … [Read more...]

For many years now homosexual-rights activists have claimed they merely seek tolerance for their lifestyle. Tell that to Phyllis Burgess. For many years now homosexual-rights activists have claimed they merely seek tolerance for their lifestyle. Tell that to Phyllis Burgess. In the wake of Californians’ adoption of Proposition 8, which establishes yet again that marriage is only between one man and one woman, homosexual activists have ravaged the Golden State with extreme protests, seeking to intimidate those who used the democratic process to set aright the state’s marriage law in response to four judges who created the “right” to marry for homosexuals in that state. Consider the following from a Nov. 15 article in The Washington Post: “In Sacramento, a high-profile theater director resigned from his job of 25 years after a boycott threat over his $1,000 donation in support of [Proposition 8]. In Los Angeles, a Mexican restaurant owner, a Mormon who donated $100, was reduced to tears and left town after hundreds of protesters confronted her at work, by phone and on the Internet.” Arnoldo Archilla, an employee at the El Coyote restaurant told the Post, “You express your beliefs and your have to be punished for it? This … [Read more...]

Jesus’ plan from the beginning was that his disciples would evangelize the world. The method He employed was to get them in a vital relationship with God and show them how He worked, before He gave them the responsibility. Jesus’ plan from the beginning was that his disciples would evangelize the world. The method He employed was to get them in a vital relationship with God and show them how He worked, before He gave them the responsibility. For the first six articles in this series on developing disciples the way Jesus did, go towww.baptistmessage.com and search for “evangelism.” “[I]t is rather startling to observe in the Gospels that these early disciples really did not do much more than watch Jesus work for a year or more,” Robert Coleman wrote in Chapter 6 – Delegation – of The Master Plan of Evangelism. And when He did send them out, he gave them clear instruction. “In effect, the disciples were told to concentrate their time on the most promising individuals in each town who would thereby be able to follow up their work after they had gone,” Coleman wrote. “This was to receive priority over everything else.” The disciples were told to expect hardship, because “his way was contrary to the accepted pattern of … [Read more...]

First Baptist Church here gave an enthusiastic “Hoo-rah” when asked in early November to provide Thanksgiving dinner for the Wounded Soldiers group at Fort Polk. LEESVILLE – First Baptist Church here gave an enthusiastic “Hoo-rah” when asked in early November to provide Thanksgiving dinner for the Wounded Soldiers group at Fort Polk. “Our folks love the GIs and love the post and were willing to sacrifice for them,” said Jerry Penfield, pastor. The church would be glad to provide the requested 100 meals, he told the woman from Wounded Soldiers, which organized during the last year. “A couple of days later she called back and said the number had grown to about 200, and I told her we could handle that, but just barely,” the pastor said. “She called again two days before the dinner and said there’d be 500 people, and this dinner was set for the day after our big church Thanksgiving dinner.” Suddenly the church’s willingness to help became a God-sized challenge, and God came through, the pastor said. Women of the church arrived early in the morning of Nov. 20 to make dressing and the other ‘fixin’s’ of a holiday feast – corn, sweet potato casserole, and ham, plus many members brought all kinds of desserts for the Wounded … [Read more...]

For students and their families, the move to a seminary campus brings many new challenges. NEW ORLEANS (BP) – For students and their families, the move to a seminary campus brings many new challenges. Seminary families often are faced with tighter finances, smaller living quarters and the stress of theological studies. With the adjustment to new churches and new schools for the children, the combined effect can strain family relationships – especially marriages. “Coming to seminary is just stressful for your marriage,” said Kathy Steele, assistant professor of psychology and counseling at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. “How can a pastor or minister go out and build a healthy church if his own family is unhealthy?” Steele and a small group of campus leaders at NOBTS who developed a burden for student marriages, began meeting together in May to develop a plan to help strengthen and enrich marriages. Known as the Marriage Initiative group, they believe a focus on strong marriages during ministerial training will result in healthier ministers and, in turn, ministries. NOBTS provost Steve Lemke agrees. “No married minister can be maximally effective in Christian service without a healthy marriage,” he said. … [Read more...]

Several Southern Baptist churches across Louisiana provided Thanksgiving dinner for people in their communities. STATEWIDE – Several Southern Baptist churches across Louisiana provided Thanksgiving dinner for people in their communities. See page 5 for Leesville, and page 10 for Hammond, Loranger and Mandeville. In Cenla, the Message found First Baptist Winn-field the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and First Baptist Pineville and Longview Baptist Church, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. “We’ve been stressing a lot about doing our faith and not just talking about it,” said Stephen Laughlin, First Winnfield pastor for the last four months. “We tried to reach out in every area we could,” the pastor added. “We didn’t reach everybody this year, but that’s why the good Lord made next year!” It was the first year for First Winn-field’s community Christmas dinner, the 13th for First Pineville, and more than 30 years for Longview. It was chicken and ham for First Winnfield, turkey at First Pineville, and roasted pig at Longview. What all the churches had in common though, was eager church members’ willingness to volunteer in whatever way they could help. “If pastors want a galvanizing event that will put their people to … [Read more...]

Baptist Temple Central Louisiana Baptist Association Baptist Temple, where perhaps 150 people gather for worship each Sunday, prints a full page of prayer concerns for Wednesday night prayer each week, under the headings In the Hospital, Immediate Needs, Long Term Needs, Serving in the Armed Forces, Members – Homebound and Nursing Home, Family and Friends – Homebound and Nursing Home. In addition to names, and to place of duty for the military, the list includes the following: “Political concerns in America, our church and [new pastor] Dr. and Mrs. James Sample, Hurricane victims, Haitian Christian Mission, Last Frontier ‘007’ missionaries, Burma friends – especially children in school” – all of which gives evidence of a church serious about prayer. First Baptist Tullos LaSalle Baptist Association First Baptist Tullos does much the same, listing known prayer needs on a full page in their Sunday morning bulletin. This list includes the names of church members in area nursing homes, unspoken requests, and “our church, our deacons, youth, Sunday school, outreach class, missionaries, our military, President Bush, leaders of our nation, families of troops, men and women serving in Iraq, nation of Israel, China, … [Read more...]