Psst! Hey, pastor, have you doubled-checked your housing allowance expenses versus allocated amount lately?   Yes, season has just passed, and the last thing one wants to consider is that topic again. But this could be beneficial. Psst! Hey, pastor, have you doubled-checked your housing allowance expenses versus allocated amount lately?   Yes, season has just passed, and the last thing one wants to consider is that topic again. But this could be beneficial.   Indeed, for those who do not want to pay more taxes than necessary, now is a very good time for a review, said Randy Tompkins, director of the stewardship/Cooperative Program office for the Louisiana Baptist Convention.   "About halfway through the tax year is a good time to doublecheck the housing allowance expenses versus the housing allowance amount, if a minister has requested a housing allowance and the church has granted the housing allowance," Tompkins said. "Many people assume that once a housing allowance amount is established, it is set for the entire year.   "This is a false assumption."   Under Internal Revenue Service guidelines, ordained ministers are entitled to a housing allowance. … [Read more...]

The doors at Bayou Sorrel Baptist Church near Plaquemine never are locked.   "The church is always open - literally because the doors are never locked and spiritually because the church family’s minds and hearts are always open to fresh ideas from God," says Michael Ellerbe, Bayou Sorrel pastor. The doors at Bayou Sorrel Baptist Church near Plaquemine never are locked.   "The church is always open - literally because the doors are never locked and spiritually because the church family’s minds and hearts are always open to fresh ideas from God," says Michael Ellerbe, Bayou Sorrel pastor.   "The accessibility of the church physically is a mirror of the congregation’s mind-set," he notes. "Bayou Sorrel Baptist Church and its people are here, open and willing to be used by God to further his kingdom."   Located in the small, south Louisiana community of Bayou Sorrel, the church is surrounded by people from various backgrounds. Most Sundays, between 50 and 60 people gather for worship, an increase of 20 percent since Ellerbe and his wife came to the church in 2000.   Although Ellerbe says the church should not be growing in light of the community’s depressed … [Read more...]

For the week of June 19, 2003 Potpourri • WINNFIELD - New Jerusalem church: True Heart in concert; June 22, 6 p.m.; Russ Cooper, pastor.   • ALEXANDRIA - Baptist Temple church: Brothers Redeemed Quartet in concert; June 29, 6 p.m.; Bill Broadwater, pastor.   • WEST MONROE - Highland church: "America, We Must Not Forget" patriotic musical; June 29, 6:30 p.m.; Stan Taylor, minister of music; Skip Dean, pastor.   • BATON ROUGE - Foster Road church: Patriotic Rally; June 28, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.; Huey Moak, pastor.   • BAKER - First church: "America, We Must Not Forget" patriotic musical; June 28, 6 p.m. and June 29, 10:30 a.m.; Ralph G. Parks, minister of music; Dennis Allen, pastor.   • DEQUINCY - First church: Leonard Guillot, guest speaker; June 29, 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.; Duhon Boys, mini concert at 6:30 p.m.; Byron Comish, pastor.   • WEST MONROE - Ridge Avenue church: "Let Freedom Ring" special patriotic service; June 29, 11 a.m.; Grant Blakeney, minister of music/worship; David Maxwell, pastor.   • NATCHITOCHES - Westside church: Patriotic service with special music and special guest speaker, Lloyd Ponder; June 29, 11 a.m.; Ferrel Marr, … [Read more...]

Southern Baptist International Mission Board leaders have responded to a financial shortfall by announcing the elimination of 61 home office positions.   The personnel cuts include 37 current staff members and 24 vacant positions that will not be filled. Southern Baptist International Mission Board leaders have responded to a financial shortfall by announcing the elimination of 61 home office positions.   The personnel cuts include 37 current staff members and 24 vacant positions that will not be filled.   The action affects both part- and full-time workers, as well as management and support staff members.   News of the cutbacks come just after Southern Baptists closed the books on their 2002 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.   Although the offering set a record for overall receipts, the total still fell about $10 million short of its goal.   Leaders said the shortfall means long-term missionary appointments will be capped at 400 persons this year and 300 next year. The board appointed 412 such workers last year and anticipated naming about 500 more this year.   In addition to that limitation, the number of … [Read more...]

Research indicates most parents believe they bear responsibility for the spiritual training of their children - but most spend no time in a typical week doing so and instead rely on churches to fill that role.   The Barna Research Group reports that 85 percent of parents of children under 13 believe they are primarily responsible for teaching their children about spiritual matters, while 11 percent say their church has top responsibility and 1 percent say their school is most responsible. Research indicates most parents believe they bear responsibility for the spiritual training of their children - but most spend no time in a typical week doing so and instead rely on churches to fill that role.   The Barna Research Group reports that 85 percent of parents of children under 13 believe they are primarily responsible for teaching their children about spiritual matters, while 11 percent say their church has top responsibility and 1 percent say their school is most responsible.   However, at the same time, fewer than one of every 10 church families prays or reads the Bible together, Christian researcher George Barna notes. And fewer than one of every 20 families has a worship activity … [Read more...]

For the week of June 26, 2003 New job for Patterson? Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees were scheduled to meet June 24 to consider Paige Patterson as the next president of the Fort Worth, Texas, school. Patterson currently is president at Southaestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. Patterson confirmed he had agreed to the meeting. "What happens after that nobody knows, ..." he said. "I don’t know what they (Southwestern trustees) are going to do, but there is a fairly good chance they may extend the call to come to Southwestern." The opening at Southwestern arose when Ken Hemphill retired as president in order to become a national strategist for the Empowering Kingdom Growth initiative of the Southern Baptist Convention. Speculation quickly focused on Patterson, who previously served as president of Criswell College in Dallas. (The Baptist Message will include details on the scheduled meeting in the July 10 issue) Messenger totals A total of 7,077 messengers registered for last week’s Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix. The total is well below the total of 9,609 registered at the 2002 annual meeting. North Carolina Baptists sent the largest number of messengers - 567. Other … [Read more...]

About the only thing that was "hot" about the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix last week was the Arizona weather. There were no arguments, no controversies, no strong challenges to reports or committee motions and almost no strident words. About the only thing that was "hot" about the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix last week was the Arizona weather. There were no arguments, no controversies, no strong challenges to reports or committee motions and almost no strident words.   The most positive initiative to come from the convention was the emphasis on family, or in the new denominational parlance, kingdom families. Messengers were challenged to sign a pledge to follow seven guidelines to strengthen their families, and most did. Undoubtedly churches will be urged to have members sign the same pledge.   As would be expected when addressing marriage from a biblical perspective, messengers again spoke strongly about the issue of homosexuality. As program personalities held high the biblical standard of marriage as one man and one woman for life, obviously, homosexuality is viewed as something entirely contrary to that principle. The subject was mentioned several times … [Read more...]

Each day in America, more than 3,571 families end in divorce, even as more than 50 percent of the children in America’s public schools are living in single-parent homes. Each day in America, more than 3,571 families end in divorce, even as more than 50 percent of the children in America’s public schools are living in single-parent homes.   To make matters worse, of the children who live apart from their biological fathers, 50 percent have never set foot in their father’s home.   In such a time when the family is disintegrating, Southern Baptists have launched an effort to bring hope and healing.   In a Kingdom Family Rally just prior to the 2003 Southern Baptist Convention last week, leaders enunciated "Seven Pillars of a Kingdom Family" by which families can embrace a Scripture-based path for the home.   James Dobson from Focus on the Family visited via video and commended Southern Baptists for their initiative.   "We simply can’t let the institution of family be destroyed by the postmodernism that swirls around us," Dobson said.   "I am personally excited about this new kingdom family initiative," added Dennis Rainey, president of Family Life Today. … [Read more...]

Water is a very big issue in the Valley of the Sun, an area known for its dry, hot climate. So, when several thousand Southern Baptists shared the Living Water of Jesus Christ as part of Crossover Arizona, it made perfect sense to douse their message with the conventional hydrating variety. Water is a very big issue in the Valley of the Sun, an area known for its dry, hot climate. So, when several thousand Southern Baptists shared the Living Water of Jesus Christ as part of Crossover Arizona, it made perfect sense to douse their message with the conventional hydrating variety. "Would you like some water?" Clyde Besson asked hikers as they came off nearby Camelback Mountain on June 14. "It’s free, and it’s cold - I promise you," added Besson, who serves as pastor at Mountain View Baptist Church in Phoenix. "Has this bottle been blessed?" quipped one hiker as she grabbed the water. Volunteers offered water to more than 300 hikers. Each bottle was marked with the church’s name and the text of John 4:14, in which Christ promises, "Whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst again." The water giveaway was one of 62 separate events scheduled for the June 11-22 Crossover evangelism effort involving 42 Arizona … [Read more...]

The article "More and more teenagers are having sex" in the June 5 issue of the Baptist Message by Richard Ross is just the usual cop-out by people who should know better. The article "More and more teenagers are having sex" in the June 5 issue of the Baptist Message by Richard Ross is just the usual cop-out by people who should know better. Mr. Ross lays the blame on parents when anyone knows parents are just grownup teens. If a person is a sexual deviate in his youth, he’ll be the same as a parent. What kind of advice is that? It’s the blind leading the blind.   Parental guidance has been advocated for years, yet it isn’t working or why the title to the article. The article also says Mr. Ross is one of the founders of the "True Love Waits" campaign, another gimmick which hasn’t seemed to work. This is no surprise since true love does not wait. Ask most pregnant teens, and they will tell you it was true love. The reason teens should wait is not some trick phrase but because God says so ... THOU SHALL NOT. This needs to be preached down the throats of parents and teens both. Only faith can overcome sexual immorality, and faith "cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Let’s get real and … [Read more...]