For the week of February 7, 2002 Doctrine training   Three 2002 Louisiana Baptist Annual Doctrine Training sessions have been scheduled. Training will focus on the book, "How to be Holy" by Rick Melick and will be taught by Stephen Trammell, pastor at Florida Boulevard Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. The sessions are open to pastors, staff members and adult church members. Cost is $14 per person. Sessions are set for March 2 at 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center in Woodworth; March 4 at 5:15-9 p.m. at Temple Baptist Church in Ruston; and March 5 at 5:15-9 p.m. at Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. To register, send registration fee, name, address, phone, church name and choice of conference to Louisiana Baptist Convention, Attn: Kenneth Mooney/Doctrine Study, P.O. Box 311, Alexandria, LA 71309. For details, call (800) 622-6549 or (318) 448-3402.   Cooperative Program   Southern Baptist Cooperative Program gifts totaled $17.4 million last month, an increase of $1.8 million (11.8 percent) from the previous January. Four months into the Southern Baptist Convention’s fiscal year, overall gifts total almost $60.8 million, an increase of $1.57 million (2.7 … [Read more...]

Harvey McCone did not know he was training for foreign missions during his stint in the Army Reserve, but that seems to be exactly what the Lord had in mind.   "We never mobilized while I was in the Reserve 23 years," McCone explains. "But in a sense, that is what I do as executive director of Fundabrez. We handle the logistics of locating and air freighting medicines to Maracaibo. Harvey McCone did not know he was training for foreign missions during his stint in the Army Reserve, but that seems to be exactly what the Lord had in mind.   "We never mobilized while I was in the Reserve 23 years," McCone explains. "But in a sense, that is what I do as executive director of Fundabrez. We handle the logistics of locating and air freighting medicines to Maracaibo. We enlist and make arrangements for teams of medical personnel and other volunteers to come here. We get the medical van set up and arrange for the operation of the various medical crusades.   "I guess what we do is mobilize against disease and sin," he says with a smile.   Fundabrez is a Venezuelan Baptist foundation in partnership with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board that brings medical … [Read more...]

In Venezuela, a mission recently turned tiny church is struggling to start a mission among some of the poorest people in Maracaibo.   Eglesia Bautista Fuente De Arom in Maracaibo, Venezuela, existed for years as a mission until only months ago when the congregation of 35 members constituted into a church. In Venezuela, a mission recently turned tiny church is struggling to start a mission among some of the poorest people in Maracaibo.   Eglesia Bautista Fuente De Arom in Maracaibo, Venezuela, existed for years as a mission until only months ago when the congregation of 35 members constituted into a church.   Now, the pastor and members are working to bring an embryo of a mission into life as a church. They know the process will be long, difficult, trying and require more resources than they now have. Still, they are determined. They know Southern Baptists from North America were just as determined to see their congregation formed and grow.   "These people have nothing," Pastor Antonio Martinez says as he drives his worn-out car through the area known as Paraguachon. "These people make their living by digging through the city dump of Maracaibo, looking for anything they … [Read more...]

Centuries ago, the Christian church closed the canon of its Bible with the book of Revelation and its last verse plea - "Come, Lord Jesus."   Centuries later, the plea remains a Christian heartcry - and the only hope for a modern church and world in desperate need of spiritual awakening and revival. Centuries ago, the Christian church closed the canon of its Bible with the book of Revelation and its last verse plea - "Come, Lord Jesus."   Centuries later, the plea remains a Christian heartcry - and the only hope for a modern church and world in desperate need of spiritual awakening and revival.   "We live in a time when there is only one hope - and that is revival among the people of God," international evangelist and author Sammy Tippit summarized during last week’s Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference.   However, Tippit was not the only speaker who cited the need for revival or spoke of the urgency of repentance for modern Christians. That theme was woven throughout the two-day meeting at Louisiana College in Pineville.   This year’s conference attracted persons from across the state, with more than 1,000 people attending each session. In addition, an … [Read more...]

Christians should be "Godly gamblers" if they want to matter, John Avant told Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference participants last week.   "If your church hasn’t tried to do something that would absolutely bankrupt the church if it fails, then you have not led your people out on the edge," said Avant, pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Ga. Christians should be "Godly gamblers" if they want to matter, John Avant told Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference participants last week.   "If your church hasn’t tried to do something that would absolutely bankrupt the church if it fails, then you have not led your people out on the edge," said Avant, pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Ga.   Avant told about scuba diving in an area called "The Shark Wall." He recounted how he swam in the waters filled with sharks, over the edge of a coral reef that dropped thousands of feet. Talking about the exhilaration of the experience, he encouraged churches also to"get out on the edge" as well.   "What are you doing in the church that might be dangerous? We need to wake up. It is not about you, it is about God."   Avant said that when persons … [Read more...]

Christians must recover the concept of repentance and realize the root problem of their lives and world lies within, Kerry Skinner warned Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference participants last week.   "Our problem today is not ‘out there’ somewhere, ..." said Skinner, an associate with Henry Blackaby Ministries. Christians must recover the concept of repentance and realize the root problem of their lives and world lies within, Kerry Skinner warned Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference participants last week.   "Our problem today is not ‘out there’ somewhere, ..." said Skinner, an associate with Henry Blackaby Ministries.   "It’s your own heart."   Jesus made that point clear in Mark 7, Skinner noted. However, a modern world does not like to label sin as "sin" or talk about the need for repentance, he said.   Thus, too many people struggling with a sin problem do not recognize it as such, seeking instead to rename it or medicate it or find a human remedy, Skinner continued.   "We have churches full of sin that everybody thinks they can handle," he warned conference participants.   Even though Jesus made it clear the heart is the source … [Read more...]

Modern Christians must return to "simple, pure devo-tion to Jesus Christ," Sammy Tippit told the Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference last week.   "We live in a time when there is only one hope - and that is revival among the people of God," said Tippit, a Louisiana native and international evangelist. Modern Christians must return to "simple, pure devo-tion to Jesus Christ," Sammy Tippit told the Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference last week.   "We live in a time when there is only one hope - and that is revival among the people of God," said Tippit, a Louisiana native and international evangelist.   For such a revival to occur, only one thing is required - for persons to return to God, Tippit said.   If that happens, God has promised to heal and revive His people, to come to them and to cause them to grow, he said, noting churches are full of hurting, discouraged people who have fallen away in their intimate relationship with God.   "The worst thing that can ever happen ... is to stop growing in the grace of God," Tippit warned.   The international preacher cited three ways to get back to communion and intimacy with God, … [Read more...]

People have wanted to respond to God for a long time - but many churches have not provided them the opportunity, Richard Blackaby told Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference participants last week.   Instead, too many pastors and church staff members are so busy pushing their own agenda, they push aside God’s, warned Blackaby, president of the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta. People have wanted to respond to God for a long time - but many churches have not provided them the opportunity, Richard Blackaby told Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference participants last week.   Instead, too many pastors and church staff members are so busy pushing their own agenda, they push aside God’s, warned Blackaby, president of the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta.   The root problem is that Christians need to become "reoriented" to God, he said.   Referring to Luke 9, Blackaby noted that every time Jesus announced His agenda, the people around Him discouraged Him and explained their own agendas instead.   Blackaby said while Jesus’ ministry was drawing people to God, His disciples’ ministry was sending them away. While Jesus … [Read more...]