Permit me to express deep gratitude to all in the Louisiana Baptist Convention who have come to the aid of us in the hurricane-ravaged regions of South Louisiana. Permit me to express deep gratitude to all in the Louisiana Baptist Convention who have come to the aid of us in the hurricane-ravaged regions of South Louisiana. We in the North Shore Baptist Association have been blessed by demonstrations of kindness and generosity at every level of Baptist life. We have been on the receiving end of demonstrable acts of compassion. When I think of how scripture admonishes us to deal with “fights and quarrels” (James 4:1) by “humbling ourselves before the Lord” (James 4:10), I think of how our fellow Baptists have humbled themselves to serve us in our time of need. I have seen it as our brothers and sisters have joined together to feed, clothe, shelter, operate chain saws, use blunt end shovels, provide medical help, restore and rebuild houses and church buildings, and many other things, for the tens of thousands affected by the storms. It is an honor for me to be a part of our Baptist family. Sometimes in the exhaustion of the day or the stresses brought about by the trauma of such events as we … [Read more...]

My family and I are missionaries with the International Mission Board. We serve in the South Asia region, home to the largest number of unreached people groups in the world. My family and I are missionaries with the International Mission Board. We serve in the South Asia region, home to the largest number of unreached people groups in the world. We previously served two churches in Northeast Louisiana as youth/student pastor for a total of 10 years.  I always read the Baptist Message while serving in Louisiana. I still maintain close ties with “partner” churches in Louisiana and, of course, family that live there. We want to personally thank Louisiana Baptists and the Baptist Message staff for the vision to maintain an electronic version of the paper online for those of us who consider Louisiana our home, but due to service in the Lord’s work, don’t live there. Thanks and keep up the good work. We are counting on you. Joel W. IMB missionary … [Read more...]

Louisiana College will remain fully accredited, school officials learned last week. By Brian Blackwell LBM Newswriter Louisiana College will remain fully accredited, school officials learned last week. The Baptist school had been on probation since December 2004 following a visit by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to the campus when association leaders cited concerns about academic freedom and governance at the school. Since that time, the school has worked to address concerns and has involved administrators, faculty and trustees in the process. A decision on whether to lift the school’s probation or take other action was made at the association’s scheduled meeting Dec. 6 in Atlanta, Ga. If SACS had not removed LC from probation at the meeting, the school would  either have undergone another year of probation or had its accreditation removed. Joe Aguillard called the announcement “miraculous,” since most schools endure a 24-month probation period. “The fact that we got off in 11 months is, in our estimation, miraculous but the diligence that we used to attack the issues were recognized as being so appropriately handled that they found us in compliance,” said the LC … [Read more...]

Welcome to new editor Kelly Boggs! Welcome to new editor Kelly Boggs! After eighteen months of searching and considering options to recommend to the state convention, trustees elected, unanimously, Kelly Boggs. Kelly Boggs brings a fresh perspective to the editorship of the paper. He has been a pastor with a strong interest in writing and with experience writing opinion pieces for secular publications and Baptist Press. One person who has followed his writings said that he has written about culture and society from a Christian perspective. And, he has done this in secular papers in an area of our nation that does not have a “Bible belt mentality” and where such writings are not common. Kelly Boggs comes to Louisiana from Oregon. Oregon is considered a “new work state” for Southern Baptists, or what is generally known as a “pioneer mission state for Southern Baptists.” This means that being the pastor of a Southern Baptist church did not carry a built-in audience. To have such a privilege certainly means what he did, he did well. His pastoral experience means he will approach his editorship with the local church in his heart, and his experience will mean he understands the most important aspects of … [Read more...]

Christmas presents a dilemma for children. What should they request of Santa? They do not want to seem greedy, but there are some things they dearly want and what better time to ask for them than Christmas? After all, Santa’s sleigh is loaded and he can give things parents cannot normally give. Parents, on the other hand, know that Santa is in fact limited by the resources of the parents. Christmas presents a dilemma for children. What should they request of Santa? They do not want to seem greedy, but there are some things they dearly want and what better time to ask for them than Christmas? After all, Santa’s sleigh is loaded and he can give things parents cannot normally give. Parents, on the other hand, know that Santa is in fact limited by the resources of the parents. A friend of ours has two daughters, Katelyn, age eight, and Emily, age four. Obviously, excitement was building toward Christmas around their home. But, their parents had just built a new house and much of what Santa may have given was tied up in boards and nails. Their parents want to teach their offsprings that even at Christmas, restraints are often necessary. “This Christmas, you can each ask three gifts from Santa. Jesus got three gifts … [Read more...]

Alongside the greenery and candles usually associated with Advent, some churches this year are using lions, witches and wardrobes to help worshipers experience the Christmas story. Alongside the greenery and candles usually associated with Advent, some churches this year are using lions, witches and wardrobes to help worshipers experience the Christmas story. Drawing on images from Narnia – a mythical world created by Christian author C. S. Lewis – these churches are leading members on an Advent journey from a cold land where it is “always winter and never Christmas” into a vibrant country where “the spell is broken” and believers encounter “deeper magic before the dawn of time.” Congregations are capitalizing on renewed interest in The Chronicles of Narnia series of children’s books, sparked by a new movie version of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” As worshippers enter University Baptist Church in Houston, they pass through a cardboard wardrobe in the vestibule before they enter a sanctuary decorated with a winter theme. When Lucy, one of the main characters in the story, entered Narnia, one of the first images that caught her eye was a lamppost in the middle of a snowy field. Similarly, a … [Read more...]

Lots of food and plenty of hugs among fellow ministers and wives created an atmosphere of hope and renewal during a Christmas party for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans hosted by First Baptist Church in Covington. Lots of food and plenty of hugs among fellow ministers and wives created an atmosphere of hope and renewal during a Christmas party for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans hosted by First Baptist Church in Covington. The event provided an opportunity for some of those persons to see each other for the first time since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in South Louisiana. Waylon Bailey, the Covington church’s pastor, who experienced some of the same horrors in his community as did the New Orleans pastors, said, “... We are touched to have you here.  You are our heroes.” Noting how Baptists from around the nation responded to the crisis, Bailey said, “I have never been more proud to be a Southern Baptist.” Recounting how his neighbors have responded to him since receiving help by Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams, Bailey said, “God is making a difference in all of this.... There is now an openness to the Gospel like we have never seen before.” First, Covington and … [Read more...]

Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, certified arborist Jim Breaux offered a week of tree service to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. But the onslaught of flooding across the city put his trip on hold. Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, certified arborist Jim Breaux offered a week of tree service to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. But the onslaught of flooding across the city put his trip on hold. When Breaux’s crew arrived two months later, one week of work stretched to three once they saw the extent of the tree damage on the campus. Breaux, his son Austin and two other employees removed broken limbs and dead wood. They also pruned the trees and completed stump grinding for the many downed trees. All this at no cost to the seminary. Breaux, owner of Personal Touch Tree Service in Dallas, lived in New Orleans for 10 years. During that time, he developed a friendship with a young couple at First Baptist Church in New Orleans – Chuck and Rhonda Kelley. Chuck Kelley was still a New Orleans Seminary student when Breaux met the future seminary faculty member and president. Breaux left New Orleans 18 years ago, but he continued his friendship with the Kelleys and serves on the … [Read more...]

God has moved so dramatically among one Last Frontier people group in South Asia that the Southern Baptist missionaries working among them since 1997 are planning to shift their focus to another people without access to the Gospel. God has moved so dramatically among one Last Frontier people group in South Asia that the Southern Baptist missionaries working among them since 1997 are planning to shift their focus to another people without access to the Gospel. When Marty and Jodi Hunter* decided to accept responsibility for taking the gospel to India’s Lingayat people, other Christian workers didn’t offer them much hope of success. In 1997, researchers could count only 800 Christians and no churches among the Lingayats, a high-caste Hindu group that numbers 15 million. “People discouraged us, saying the people were hard-hearted, that the work would be fruitless,” Hunter says. “Today we’re looking at about 3,000 believers  – most of them people who have come to faith in the past two years.” The number of Lingayat believers is growing so rapidly that Hunter believes they will see 18,000 believers in 1,000 house churches by 2006 – a movement strong enough to be left in the capable hands of local believers … [Read more...]

Margaret Coffey is a faithful member of Unity Baptist Church and “attends” services every week even though she is homebound and lives nearly 100 miles away. Margaret Coffey is a faithful member of Unity Baptist Church and “attends” services every week even though she is homebound and lives nearly 100 miles away. Thanks to remote listening technology offered through LifeWay Christian Resources, Coffey can feel connected to Unity Baptist and a Christian family in spite of her inability to physically go to the Allardt, Tenn., church every week. “She feels like she knows some people in the church,” says Linda Smith, Coffey’s daughter and a Unity Baptist member.     “She feels like they know her and know of her and know me as her daughter. Mom really felt like she was connected.” A number of individuals resort to television or radio broadcasts of worship services when they must attend church from their homes. While these methods offer sermons and worship, they lack the personal connection a  church family provides. Mike Northcutt, pastor of Eastmont Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., recognized the need to provide worship opportunities for homebound individuals, but his church couldn’t afford to … [Read more...]