The Cooperative Program comes to life in several video and print resources available to churches. Second in a two-part series. Other video and print resources about the Cooperative Program include: --The Difference – A Resource Suite for Southern Baptist Missions and Ministries, Volume 2 ($15). Promoted as “The Ultimate Resource for the Mission-Minded Church,” the DVD-ROM features more than 30 video features, most under three minutes in length, including never-before-seen features highlighting various Southern Baptist missions and ministries. Sermons, Sunday School lessons, PowerPoint presentations, posters, bulletin inserts and graphics also are included on the disc. Potential uses of The Difference include ongoing missions promotion; missions conferences or special emphases; morning, evening or midweek worship services; new member classes; leadership meetings; a church’s budget planning team; small-group Bible studies; church newsletters; and missions bulletin boards. --Project M Praise and Worship and Project M Classic. These music CDs (sold separately for $8 each) feature praise and worship songs from the artists who made them known as well as beloved hymns of the faith. The CDs are punctuated with stories of … [Read more...]

Royal Ambassadors (RAs) across the state rev up east spring at t he annual RA Congress for a time of good-natured competition, Christian fellowship, and insight into God’s work through missionairies. WOODWORTH — Royal Ambassadors (RAs) across  the state rev up east spring at t he annual RA Congress for a time of good-natured competition, Christian fellowship, and insight into God’s work through missionairies. This year’s Congress at Tall Timbers drew almost 500 RA’s and their counselors. Armed with tiny cars they built and decorated themselves, boys and counselors alike pitted their creations against one another in an event that usually takes several hours to complete said Joe Waggener, RA Director at First Baptist Church Mansfield and a participator in the event for at least the last 27 years. “We have to start months ahead,” Waggener said of preparing for the event at his church. “We have to order our cars or have them made.” Participants can choose to order pre-cut cars or blocks of wood out of which they cut their own cars. “After that, we let the boys sand them,” he said. “We usually ask them what design they want and give them a choice of different designs. Some are slim, some look like pick-up trucks, and … [Read more...]

Eric Crochet, bass singer for the Southern Plainsmen Quartet and a member of Davis Crossing Baptist Church here, has no plans to move on any time soon, he said. GLENMORA – Eric Crochet, bass singer for the Southern Plainsmen Quartet and a member of Davis Crossing Baptist Church here, has no plans to move on any time soon, he said. Crochet, who knows his gift for music is from God, has not only mastered his own voice, but can play other instruments as well, including piano, banjo, guitar, bass guitar, bass violin, and mandolin. He’s learning the violin, he added. “What I do, the Lord gave me, and I give all credit to Him,” said Crochet, who has a special passion for singing. “I’ve been singing my whole life, unofficially, I guess,” he said. “My mama says I could sing before I could talk. The way I see it, I’ve always been called to sing,” he continued. “It’s something I feel like the Lord wanted me to do ever since I can remember. As far as I know right now, God wants me to sing. That might be for another five years or the rest of my life.” The Southern Plainsmen Quartet, organized in May 1978 in West-Central Louisiana, appears in Christian churches regardless of denomination on an expense- plus-love-offering basis,  … [Read more...]

It’s a winding, nine-hour car trip from Greencastle, Pa. (pop. 3,700), down to Lynch, Ky. (pop. 900) But Fred and Nicole Smith, their two kids and grandma Theresa Farson don’t mind.  ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – It’s a winding, nine-hour car trip from Greencastle, Pa. (pop. 3,700), down to Lynch, Ky. (pop. 900) But Fred and Nicole Smith, their two kids and grandma Theresa Farson don’t mind. They have driven it once and, this July, they’ll drive it again as part of the North American Mission Board’s “Families on Mission” initiative. During the Fourth of July weekend, when many American families will be trekking through amusement parks or to the beach, the Smith clan will be sharing the Gospel, hammering boards, installing siding, painting, cleaning or maybe baking. “The economy in Lynch is so poor and the people there are so needy,” Nicole Smith said. “It was such an eye-opening experience for our kids and even for us adults. We got a bigger blessing from the people down there than they received from us.” Smith said her 16-year-old son Brandon and 11-year-old daughter Cierra are excited about going back to Lynch, clawed out decades ago from eastern Kentucky’s Appalachian Mountains and the nearby coal mines. “We all hope to … [Read more...]

Nearly 600 people went through Servant Leadership training on Friday, May 3, at East Bayou Baptist Church in Lafayette. LAFAYETTE – Nearly 600 people went through Servant Leadership training on Friday, May 3, at East Bayou Baptist Church in Lafayette. The 3 ½ hour conference was led by Jim Hunter, internationally known for his development of executives in developing the skill of a servant leader. “You are either green and growing or ripe and rotting,” Hunter told the 570 attendees of the need to step up their game as leaders. “Everybody wants to change the world, but nobody wants to change themselves,” he added. Hunter told the crowd of local business professionals that good leaders get the attention off themselves and help others accomplish tasks as a result of building relationships. “We get the job done not by lighting a fire under their butts,” he said, “but rather when we light a fire in their hearts.” Hunter is the author of the internationally best-selling book The Servant, subtitled A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership. The Servant teaches the timeless principles of servant leadership and is the text used in many MBA and other higher education curriculum around the world. Hunter’s … [Read more...]

Two Louisiana College Professors receive grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents  Wade Warren, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and assistant dean of the college, and coordinator for the department of biology, and Mike Brunet, Ph.D., assistant professor and program director of the athletic training education program, developed a grant proposal to the Louisiana Board of Regents during the 2006 fall semester. The grant was awarded in the amount of $69,000, which will be given this year. The money will be used for program enhancements in the athletic training educational program and to add a new human cadaver laboratory.  History Professor named as President of Civil War Roundtable Henry O. Robertson, Ph.D., associate professor of history at Louisiana College, was elected president of the Red River Civil War Roundtable for the 2007-08 year. The Civil War Roundtable meets in Alexandria at Sammy’s Steakhouse on McArthur Drive the First Thursday of the month, September through May. The next meeting will be an end-of-the-year banquet at Kent Plantation House in Alexandria. For more information, contact the current Civil War Roundtable president, Charles Neal, at cneal@kalb.com. Two LC students receive … [Read more...]

DEVILLE – Fathers at Philadelphia Deville were encouraged to bring their sons to a men’s ministry workday to benefit the elderly, widows and single moms. The women’s ministry is collecting games such as UNO, dominoes and more, as well as coloring books and crayons/markers, for nursing home residents in the area. Upward Basketball camp for grades 1-4 is set for July 16-19, and for grades 5-8 is set for July 23-26. Philip Robertson is pastor. KENTWOOD – First Kentwood members met at the community center pavilion April 28 for Kentwood Clean-Up Day. The LBC’s Michael Stewart led in a Making the Most of Your Money event April 22. Joey Miller is pastor. JONESBORO – DiscipleNow for youth at First Jonesboro is set for May 4-6. The youth fundraiser Shrimp Fettucinni & Auction is set for 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, May 20. Cost: $6/plate. Charles Wesley is pastor. Clay Smith is minister of youth and education. In mid-April members participated in a construction missions trip to assist Church Point Baptist in building its fellowship hall. FERRIDAY – In a classic example of a church reaching out into its community, nine people in prison attended Sunday morning Bible study April 15 as part of First Ferriday. Another 72 … [Read more...]

Comings and Goings --Ouachita Baptist Association churches without pastors: New Era, Sicily Island First Baptist, Wallace Ridge. --Delta Baptist Association churches without pastors: Tensas. --Chris (wife: Rachel) Young, pastor, Providence Shreveport. --Northwest Baptist Association churches without pastors: Cypress, Grawood, Linda Lay, Oil City, Plain Dealing, Trinity Heights, BanSuk Korean English pastor; churches without ministers of music: Benton, Beulah Land, Emmanuel Vivian, Kingston Road, Linwood, Pinecroft and Woodland Hills, all part-time, plus Trinity Heights, full-time; churches without ministers of youth: Benton, Cypress, Mooringsport, North Keithville, Northwoods, Oil City, Providence, and Rodessa, all part-time, plus Airline, full-time; churches seeking children’s minister, full-time: Grawood. --Pastor, First Lafayette Spanish Mission. Contact Steve Horn, pastor of First Lafayette, atsteve.horn@fbclaf.org or 337-233-1412, for more information. --Gerald Gates is new as music minister at Greenacres Bastrop. --Scotty and Cindy Sanders resigned as associate pastor and children’s minister from First West Monroe to accept new assignments in Flower Mound, Texas. --Student minister needed at New … [Read more...]

The Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Directors of Missions will celebrate three centuries of associational work in America during a three-day gathering in San Antonio, June 9-11, prior to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. SAN ANTONIO (BP) – The Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Directors of Missions will celebrate three centuries of associational work in America during a three-day gathering in San Antonio, June 9-11, prior to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. The leader of the national group said he believes the 300th anniversary celebration comes at an appropriate time, when the usefulness of the association is being questioned in some circles of denominational life. “Some say the association is a dinosaur,” Tom Biles, president of the SBCADOM and director of missions with the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Baptist Association, told Baptist Press. “But my view is that associations are still relevant for today’s churches. God’s work through associations is just as important as it’s ever been.” Biles said he is certain that associations remain a powerful means of equipping churches for ministry and missions. And the evidence, he said, is easy to see. In his association in Florida, … [Read more...]

For the second year in a row, the SBC Pastors’ Conference will feature Monday morning breakout seminars – something that proved very successful last year.  SAN ANTONIO (BP) – For the second year in a row, the SBC Pastors’ Conference will feature Monday morning breakout seminars – something that proved very successful last year. But Pastors’ Conference President Hayes Wicker doesn’t want Southern Baptists to think the seminars are the highlight of the conference, which will be held June 10-11 in San Antonio. In fact, Jerry Vines and Chuck Colson will speak during the first session, held on Sunday evening, while the Monday afternoon and evening sessions will feature James MacDonald, James Merritt and Johnny Hunt, among others. The conference’s theme is “Jesus Christ ... From Him, Through Him, To Him,” a reference to Romans 11:36. “Our desire is to, first and foremost lift up Jesus Christ and focus on Him -- and not just programming or paradigms or controversial issues,” Wicker, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Naples, Fla., told Baptist Press. “That one passage of scripture says to me everything about the Christian life and Christ’s victory and sufficiency that we need so much.” The conference, Wicker said, … [Read more...]