For the week of 23 August, 2001 Potpourri •ALEXANDRIA - Calvary church: Scot Cameron in concert; Aug. 26, 6 p.m.; David Brooks, pastor.   •BETHANY - Camp Bethany: men’s fish fry; Sept. 10; meal, 5:30 p.m.; cost is $6 per person; Gene Howard, speaker; meal, 5:30 p.m.; program, 7 p.m.; for information, call the camp at (318) 938-1221; Robert Cole, camp manager.    PINEVILLE — Guinn Auditorium on the Louisiana College campus: Greater Vision in concert, joined by Higher Faith; August 31, 7 p.m.Advance tickets are $10 or $12 for Artist Circle seats (first seven rows). Tickets are $12 at the door. Tickets are available at Family Christian Store, LifeWay Christian Store and Christian Book Center and White Steeple Bookstore in Alexandria and at Eva’s Flower & Gift Shop in Jonesboro. For more information, call Tim and Gwen Fogger at (318) 259-8659.   •SHREVEPORT - Calvary church: "Success That Matters" men’s seminar produced by Man in the Mirror; Sept. 7, 7 - 9:30 p.m. and Sept. 8, 8 a.m. - 12 noon; registration cost is $25 (includes continental breakfast and snacks); wives are invited to the first session on Sept. 8 at no cost; for information, contact Pam McLeod at (318) 687-4920; … [Read more...]

C. Lacy Thompson LBM Associate Editor   In a much-anticipated decision, President George Bush recently agreed to allow very limited federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. In a much-anticipated decision, President George Bush recently agreed to allow very limited federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.   It was a decision that did not completely please anyone - but it was one that walked a political and moral tightrope that left most people somewhat happy.   Bush did not agree to unfettered stem-cell research, a decision that would have pleased the scientific community. He also did not shut down all funding of embryonic stem-cell work, a decision that would have cheered pro-lifers.   Instead, in a deft move, he negotiated a middle ground of sorts to allow work to advance in some fashion, while setting up a means of studying the issue further.   As Bush wrestled with his decision, the Baptist Message sought to inform persons of the issue and its implications. A stem-cell research debate primer was published in the August 2 issue of the newspaper.   Now that Bush has announced his decision, the Baptist Message once more offers a … [Read more...]

C. Lacy Thompson LBM Associate Editor   Someone recently wrote a column about how modern technology was supposed to free persons from being tied to "the office." Someone recently wrote a column about how modern technology was supposed to free persons from being tied to "the office."   Instead, the high-tech, computerized, e-mailing, cell phoning, voice messaging, handheld organizing world of the new century has done the opposite, the writer said.   Now, the entire world is one big office, the writer stressed. A person never is out of touch, never unavailable, always on call.   Such a situation creates some obvious problems - including spiritual ones.   "Be still, and know that I am God," the Old Testament psalmist urged.   And while the idea of "stillness" or solitude or silence may seem foreign in this mad-dash world, the truth of the verse still stands. The bottom line is simple - there is a direct correlation between "stillness" and one’s awareness of God.   Conversely, one also must suppose a correlation between the rush of the modern world and the growing spiritual confusion of so many people in it.   "Be still, and know … [Read more...]

Polly House Baptist Press   Have you heard about the latest epidemic? Signs of it can be found everywhere.   "Man, I never seem to get everything done these days."   "I know we need to get together, but there never is enough time." Have you heard about the latest epidemic? Signs of it can be found everywhere.   "Man, I never seem to get everything done these days."   "I know we need to get together, but there never is enough time."   "I figured out that between the cell phone, beeper, e-mail and regular telephone, I’m never ever alone."   As even casual observation reveals, there is an epidemic of "hurry sickness" in today’s run-as-fast-as-you-can world, John Tadlock emphasized recently.   "Everyone is busy," said Tadlock, collegiate ministries group leader with the Baptist General Association of Virginia. "Everyone uses the words, ‘There aren’t enough hours in a day.’ "   However, the truth is that days have the same number of hours they always have, Tadlock noted during a recent Southern Baptist conference in Glorieta, N.M.   The truth is that "hurry sickness" is spreading like wildfire.   Hurry … [Read more...]

The case of a lost Chandra Levy stubbornly refuses to fade from the news. The day this "On Second Thought" is written, Congressman Gary Condit is scheduled to be interviewed by Connie Chung this evening. We could hope enough questions will be answered The case of a lost Chandra Levy stubbornly refuses to fade from the news. The day this "On Second Thought" is written, Congressman Gary Condit is scheduled to be interviewed by Connie Chung this evening. We could hope enough questions will be answered at least to stop the cable-news-programs-turned- tabloids-of-the-airways from rehashing the situation 10 hours every day. That likely will not happen. Newspapers, magazines and broadcast programs will still manage to have every self-professed expert in any field discuss all they do not know and a smidgen of what they do know about anything even remotely related to the case.   One thing we have seen - we have seen an unrelenting search for Ms. Levy. The glaring searchlights of the media and public attention drove Washington, D.C. police and then the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to use every means possible to find either the living Ms. Levy or her dead body. While law enforcement has halted urgent physical … [Read more...]

Incidents of religious intolerance around the world are taking to a "tsunami wave," warned Paul Dekar, professor of evangelism and missions at Memphis (Tenn.) Theological Seminary. Incidents of religious intolerance around the world are taking to a "tsunami wave," warned Paul Dekar, professor of evangelism and missions at Memphis (Tenn.) Theological Seminary.   "(The) global scope of violations of religious freedom, as well as human rights generally, far exceeds the capacity of global institutions ... to address them," Dekar told the Baptist World Alliance Freedom and Justice Commission.   Dekar reminded the commission that the Baptist World Alliance is a frontline organization for Baptists in the fight for religious freedom, which is a biblical concern.   "Our concern for religious freedom begins with the Bible," Dekar recently emphasized.   He listed four crucial absolutes:   •Each human bears the image and likeness of God   •In Christ, believers participate in the divine nature   •In everything, believers are called to do to others as we would have them do to us   •God hates injustice and oppression, "and God weeps over what … [Read more...]

P>It is the fall of 2001 - do you know where your child is on the Internet?   Parents may not be as sure of the answer as they once were. It is the fall of 2001 - do you know where your child is on the Internet?   Parents may not be as sure of the answer as they once were.   Indeed, a new front in the battle over online pornography has opened, disabling some of the defenses used by parents to protect children from such material, a new congressional report charges.   Internet file-sharing programs are enabling users to download sexually explicit videos and photographs onto home computers, circumventing much of the filtering software designed to block the reception of pornography from the World Wide Web.   Hard-core adult pornography, child porn, sexual violence and bestiality are accessible without charge to people of all ages through new file-sharing programs such as Music City Morpheus, Aimster and BearShare. Users of such programs can even be unintentionally exposed to pornography when searching for other images.   That unsettling news for parents and others concerned about the proliferation of pornography came in a report issued by a section of … [Read more...]

It is the fall of 2001 - do you know where your child is on the Internet?   Parents may not be as sure of the answer as they once were. It is the fall of 2001 - do you know where your child is on the Internet?   Parents may not be as sure of the answer as they once were.   Indeed, a new front in the battle over online pornography has opened, disabling some of the defenses used by parents to protect children from such material, a new congressional report charges.   Internet file-sharing programs are enabling users to download sexually explicit videos and photographs onto home computers, circumventing much of the filtering software designed to block the reception of pornography from the World Wide Web.   Hard-core adult pornography, child porn, sexual violence and bestiality are accessible without charge to people of all ages through new file-sharing programs such as Music City Morpheus, Aimster and BearShare. Users of such programs can even be unintentionally exposed to pornography when searching for other images.   That unsettling news for parents and others concerned about the proliferation of pornography came in a report issued by a section of … [Read more...]

Sharon Pumpelly goes to work every day knowing that 500 people in her country will die of AIDS before the sun sets.   It is a race against the clock that Christian workers across Africa are fighting. The AIDS epidemic already has claimed 13 million Africans. Still, it is one that can be stopped. Sharon Pumpelly goes to work every day knowing that 500 people in her country will die of AIDS before the sun sets.   It is a race against the clock that Christian workers across Africa are fighting. The AIDS epidemic already has claimed 13 million Africans. Still, it is one that can be stopped.   Southern Baptist missionaries and their African partners are seeking that end. They do not want multitudes of Africans to die before hearing of God’s love and forgiveness.   "I keep saying one generation could end AIDS - one generation of young people following God’s ways," says Pumpelly, a Southern Baptist missions worker in Kenya. "Either I’m ignorant enough or naive enough or have faith enough to believe that’s how youth should be challenged. ... They are the hope, and they can make that kind of choice."   That hope prompted Pumpelly and a student ministry team in Uganda, … [Read more...]

As AIDS ravages the continent of Africa, Southern Bsptists and others respond with God's love and a message of hope for the future   Sue Sprenkle SBC International Mission Board As AIDS ravages the continent of Africa, Southern Bsptists and others respond with God's love and a message of hope for the future   The elderly woman sits in silence just outside the hospital’s open door. The electricity is off, but she does not notice the darkness. In a moment, a loud sob escapes her lips. It is the sound of grief - her daughter died just 20 minutes ago. Now, the woman grabs the hand of the person next to her and lets out a piercing wail. Soon, the wail turns into a slow, sad, mournful song.   For the past few days, this elderly woman sat next to her daughter, holding her hand, coaxing her to eat. When the daughter shivered from burning fever, she added a blanket. As visitors came and went, the mother made sure everyone greeted her daughter, even after the girl was comatose.   When the room filled with the sickening, sweet smell of death, everyone left but the mother - still smiling, still hoping.   In the hallways of Zimbabwe’s Sanyati Baptist Hospital, no one … [Read more...]