After losing 60 percent of its trees to Katrina, then housing a constant flow of disaster relief teams from across the nation, Living Waters Baptist Assembly in Tangipahoa Parish hasn’t had much time or opportunity for sprucing itself up, but all that has changed since Keith Maddox, transitional director for the camp, came on board.         ROBERT – After losing 60 percent of its trees to Katrina, then housing a constant flow of disaster relief teams from across the nation, Living Waters Baptist Assembly in Tangipahoa Parish hasn’t had much time or opportunity for sprucing itself up, but all that has changed since Keith Maddox, transitional director for the camp, came on board.       Governed and supported by seven Louisiana Baptist Associations – New Orleans, Chappapeela, Eastern Louisiana, St. Tammany, La Tangi, Two Rivers, and Washington – the camp sits halfway between Robert and Loranger, La., Maddox said.       “The camp is now putting on a full program for children,” Maddox said at the recent executive committee meeting of the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans. “We have been booked for about the last three weeks. There is a lot … [Read more...]

People across the state have been asking Dick DeBusk about the upcoming Prayer for Spiritual Awakening set for March 22-23 at Kingsville Baptist.         PINEVILLE – People across the state have been asking Dick DeBusk about the upcoming Prayer for Spiritual Awakening set for March 22-23 at Kingsville Baptist.       “When I go throughout the state, people say we talk about prayer all the time, but we don’t do it,” said DeBusk, prayer strategist for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. “We need to practice prayer; that’s what this prayertime is. That’s what people are hungry for; they want to be involved in prayer.       “Prayer is labor,” DeBusk continued. “It is a labor, and it produces results.”       Churches across the state attest to that.       Hebron Baptist, where Joe Alain is pastor, baptized nine people who came forward one recent Sunday.       “Our community is exploding and ripe for a mighty move of God,” Alain said, crediting undergirding prayer for softening hearts.       Marilyn Barranco leads the intercessory prayer ministry … [Read more...]

In one of his lectures on revival, Charles Finney made some observations concerning when a revival of religion is needed.         In one of his lectures on revival, Charles Finney made the following observations concerning when a revival of religion is needed.       When there is a want of brotherly love and Christian confidence among professors of religion, then a revival is needed.       When there are dissensions, and jealousies, and evil speakings among professors of religion, then there is great need of a revival… Religion cannot prosper with such things in the church, and nothing can put an end to them like a revival.       When there is a worldly spirit in the church. It is manifest that the church is sunk down into a low and backslidden state, when you see Christians conform to the world…       When the church finds its members falling into gross and scandalous sins, then it is time for the church to awake and cry to God for a Revival of Religion.       When there is a spirit of controversy in the church or in the land, a revival is needful. The … [Read more...]

Today in a freshman composition class, a student asked about the difference between facts and opinions with regard to the particular essay we are working on. Today in a freshman composition class, a student asked about the difference between facts and opinions with regard to the particular essay we are working on. She remembered from her earliest writing encounters a clear division between the two – facts and opinions. My claim that there is not always a clear distinction did not sit well with her. She remained convinced that a fact could be proven and was incontrovertible. An opinion, on the other hand, was simply a belief. According to her own admission, her beliefs are as good as anyone else’s. As such, I countered, they cannot be proven nor can they be imposed on anyone else. In other words, according to the student, beliefs are to be relegated to that realm of private preference, of values, of non-rational and non-cognitive truth and have little to do with the completely separate public sphere which includes scientific knowledge, facts, rational and verifiable truth. This represents classic Enlightenment, dichotomous thinking at its best – and this from a professed Christian, reared in the church! Such relativistic … [Read more...]

I had never watched an entire episode of Oprah until her program on The Secret.         I had never watched an entire episode of Oprah until her program on The Secret.       In the promo for the show, Oprah announced that the program would present “the secret” to making more money, losing weight, finding the love of your life and achieving job success.       Who could resist hearing more about such a claim, especially when it is made by the most influential woman in America and touted as the key to all her success?       Apparently I wasn’t alone. After the show, Oprah’s website was overwhelmed, e-mails poured in, and within hours The Secret had become the best-selling book in the nation.       I am writing this review in a Barnes & Noble bookstore, and this particular branch has completely sold out of the book – again. I am told that two days ago, every copy of a new shippment, which had just arrived, disappeared in only a few moments.       Australian author of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, introduces the book by admitting, “A year ago, my life had collapsed … [Read more...]

When my three grown sons were small children, we would often play with a wooden train. Because they were so young, the boys would sometimes construct a track that ended up becoming two separate sections.         When my three grown sons were small children, we would often play with a wooden train. Because they were so young, the boys would sometimes construct a track that ended up becoming two separate sections.       It was at that point that one of them would request with excitement: “Daddy, build me a bridge.”       And so I would. The train could then run smoothly.       I am a part of a denomination that has many tracks but few bridges. And if we don’t start building some bridges quickly, God’s hand of blessing may move beyond us.       Let me share with you an example of recent days.       I recently spoke at the Baptist Identity Conference at UnionUniversity in Jackson, Tenn. From an outsider’s perspective, one might conclude that the crowd was likeminded. After all, it was a gathering of mostly Southern Baptists.       But I knew … [Read more...]

Evangelistic deer hunts. Christian fish fries. Wild game dinners at church. North American missionary Ken Wilson has a lot of tools in his Gospel-sharing tool box to win people to Christ amid the thick woods and crystal-clear lakes of northern Michigan.         MESICK, MICH. – Evangelistic deer hunts. Christian fish fries. Wild game dinners at church. North American missionary Ken Wilson has a lot of tools in his Gospel-sharing tool box to win people to Christ amid the thick woods and crystal-clear lakes of northern Michigan.       “Well, our motto is whatever it takes, we get ‘em anyway we can,” says Wilson.  While he actually was referring to deer as he stealthily walked through the woods with his bow – dressed head-to-toe in camouflage gear – he uses the same strategy for winning souls for Jesus.       As an associational missionary for the Northwest Baptist Association also supported by the North American Mission Board, Ken Wilson – the fanatical outdoorsman – knows he lives in a hunting and fishing paradise.       “I don’t think God could have called me to a better place than northern Michigan,” he says, … [Read more...]

BAGNO, the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, includes all of five parishes – St. Charles, St. Bernard, Orleans, Jefferson, and Plaquemines – and the majority of a sixth, St. John the Baptist.         NEW ORLEANS – BAGNO, the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, includes all of five parishes – St. Charles, St. Bernard, Orleans, Jefferson, and Plaquemines – and the majority of a sixth, St. John the Baptist.       Of those, four parishes were impacted by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. To recap the devastation, at least 80 percent of the city of New Orleans was flooded, with some parts under 20 feet of water. The breach on the 17th StreetCanal levee caused flooding in Jefferson Parish streets, with some lower-     lying areas receiving significant water damage.     Plaquemines Parish was flooded severely, while St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans and the most exposed to the storm surge, also was flooded because of extensive levee failure. It is reported that up to 90 percent of these levees were damaged.       Statistics for the association are sketchy at best at this point, said association staff. … [Read more...]

NEW ORLEANS – Despite hurricanes, death, and the many challenges of life, Joe McKeever, director of missions for BAGNO, the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, persists in ministry.         NEW ORLEANS – Despite hurricanes, death, and the many challenges of life, Joe McKeever, director of missions for BAGNO, the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, persists in ministry.       By far the weirdest thing McKeever’s experienced in the ministry? “That would be Katrina,” the DOM said.       While destruction of the magnitude of Katrina is a test many ministers will never face, death is a constant, and McKeever remembers one in particular that dealt a heart-wrenching blow not only to the family involved, but the community as well.       “I’ve just lost Millie’s baby and I’m losing Millie. Pray!” The doctor, Charles, told his wife, who promptly called McKeever who came and paced the floor with Lenny, Millie’s husband and a church member.       Millie, acting on a premonition, had asked Charles to stay in the hospital near her from the time she was admitted until she gave birth, … [Read more...]

Looking for a ministry that will help you reach out to your community? A child care program could be the answer for your church.         SHREVEPORT – Looking for a ministry that will help you reach out to your community? A child care program could be the answer for your church. Becky Estes saw that opportunity here at Willow Point Baptist more than 20 years ago and pounced. Again. Making a third go of it after beginning two daycare centers elsewhere proved to be just as rewarding, she said.       According to a Louisiana report, Investing in the Child Care Industry –www.dss.state.la.us/Documents/OFS/Investing_In_The_Chi1.pdf – published in 2005, almost 60 percent of families in the state with children under age six have both parents in the workforce. Translation: more than 2.5 million families in the state may need child care. Yet the state has a mere 1,762 licensed child care facilities, each of which is capable of serving about 45 children, depending on staffing and space.       The need for more quality child care options seems apparent.       Louisiana Baptist churches respond to this need with a variety of … [Read more...]