By Owen Strachan, Boyce College Professor There’s been a lot of talk about evangelicals opting out of the culture wars recently. Some of that could be good. Few of us want to identify the church with the Republican Party, or to act as if anything is more needful than the promotion of the Gospel. But some of this discussion has been deeply harmful. Why? Because there is a desperate need for the church to be the church in this fallen world. Now is not the time to back off from a robust cultural ethic. Now is the time to engage. Some still think that they have the luxury of sitting out the national debate over homosexuality. They think, “Well, the battle over marriage is for those frothy-mouthed Christians who send out the weird newsletters and are always sounding the doomsday bell. I don’t really have the stomach for that; I don’t want, after all, to be weird, or un-liked. Nope. No thank you.” Others are more biblical in their convictions, but still think they can opt out of the conflict over marriage and homosexuality. They think, “I don’t want my Christianity to be political. The church should do what the church does. I’ll sit this one out and trust in a sovereign God.” Both positions suffer from a common flaw: lack … [Read more...]

By Joesph Backholm, Executive Director of Family Policy Institute Editor’s note: Joseph Backholm is executive director of a pro-traditional marriage organization in Washington state, where citizens will vote on the definition of marriage in November. According to the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers held certain truths to be self-evident. By my understanding, that means there are some things we agree are true even if millions of dollars are not spent to study the subject. For many of us, that list would include the idea that drugs are bad, nice people have more friends, and that it’s a good thing for kids to have a mom and dad. Curiously, what used to be self-evident is apparently quite controversial. In March I was part of a forum during which I was accused of bearing false witness for saying it is preferable for kids to have a mom and a dad. On one hand it concerns me that otherwise intelligent adults would argue that it isn’t at least desirable for kids to be connected to their mother and father. But as someone interested in winning a public debate on the marriage issue, it encourages me when the other side forced to defend the absurd. The other side counters the idea that kids should have … [Read more...]

  By Charles Quarles, Dean of the Caskey School of Divinity at Louisiana College Even though it was written in 1779, John Newton’s hymn “Amazing Grace” remains a favorite of Christians everywhere. It has aptly been called the “Anthem of Southern Baptists” because of its powerful and poetic expression of the truths of the gospel that Baptists hold dear. Unfortunately, when we sing the old familiar hymns, we may mouth the words without reflecting on the great truths that they express. Let’s think for a moment about one of the great doctrines that the hymn articulates: The hymn opens with the exclamation: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. The verse offers a vivid description of the helpless state of the lost sinner. He is a “wretch,” an utterly despicable person. The words “I once was lost, but now am found” evoke memories of the parable of the loving father and lost son in Luke 15 and remind us that we were all prodigals who were completely unworthy of the Father’s love. Newton did not stop there. He reminded us that we wretches, we prodigals, were blind to the truths of the gospel until God’s amazing grace gave us sight. The … [Read more...]

  By Bill Warren, NOBTS Question: What do we know about the Apostle Paul, one of my favorite Bible characters? Bill Warren responds: Paul, what a giant of a Christian! Paul wrote a large portion of the New Testament, was a major Christian leader in Acts, and has continued to impact Christianity throughout the centuries. “Paul” was his Greco-Roman name, while “Saul” was his Jewish name. He was a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37-38), having been born in Tarsus, a major center of learning in the Roman world. His education may have included training there, but the evidence is not sufficient to be certain. The norm, however, was for young boys to finish their primary training before shifting often to a different setting for secondary training, so perhaps Paul studied in Tarsus before moving to Jerusalem to study under the leading Rabbi of the time, Gamaliel. Paul knew Greek well, understood the non-Jewish world and its customs, and interacted easily with non-Jewish people, so regardless of how and where, he was well educated by both Greco-Roman and Jewish standards. God used this training as Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was used to open the door fully for non-Jews to become followers of Jesus without converting to Judaism (a … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 08/01/2012 - 01:00 Orphans Ministry: Rooms filled with babies might not receive all the love and attention they might like. This LBCH group fills their lack.   By Staff, LBCH Communications MONROE – Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home & Family Ministries sponsored its first international orphan care mission trip in June. Sixty Louisiana Baptists, representing 16 LBC churches, bonded into an awesome mission team. They ministered to 75 medically-needy infants and children residing at a malnutrition center in San Juan, Guatemala. The LBCH mission team ranged in age from 15 to 72 and tackled a variety of assignments during the week. Some provided direct daily care for the children including bathing, feeding, changing diapers, rocking babies, and stacking blocks with toddlers. Others sorted and organized the contents of 40 suitcases of clothes and supplies donated by our Louisiana churches. Some provided worship times for the children with a daily puppet show, story time, balloon animals, and Bible songs in Spanish. Others assisted staff with daily cleaning and sanitizing the children’s rooms, bedding, and bath areas.  Missionaries also helped with daily meal … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 08/01/2012 - 01:00 Life Changing Experience: Seventeen-year-old Claire holds one of the babies she cared for while on mission in Guatemala.   y Claire, Louisiana Baptist Children's Home Editor’s Note: Claire is a 17-year-old of Love Cottage at the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home. Here is her account of a mission trip to Guatemala. MONROE – The day we left for our adventure in Guatemala was an exciting, thrilling, loving, crazy-filled day. There were nine of us who traveled together to the airport in our jam-packed van. When we arrived at the airport, words can not describe the wonder and amazement I felt. Of course, I was scared to death because this was my first time to fly and my first time to leave the country. God really did take care of me. With the help of Children’s Home staffers Beth Green, Kathy Lacaze, and Shawna Baugh, along with some new friends I made along the trip, I got through the airplane ride, tears and all. The minute we landed, I began to realize that I was actually in a new world. This was not the Louisiana small town I knew. I was more excited than ever to see the wonders God had in store for me. As soon as everyone landed, we got down to … [Read more...]

  By Brian Blackwell, Marketing Director PINEVILLE – The recent relocation of Cenla Christian Academy to the campus of Trinity Baptist Church is like a marriage, with the same goal in mind, leaders say. “The school and church are united with the common goal to serve God,” said Gerald Crooks, principal of the school. “The environment is so warm and welcome that you can’t help but feel good about it. You can feel the love of God putting these two entities together.” Cenla Christian Academy officials learned at the end of the spring semester they would have to find another home. Crooks said leaders at the Journey Church campus, where Cenla Christian Academy had been holding classes since its founding in 2006, notified the school at the end of May that the school did not fit into its long-term plans. Crooks and others affiliated with the school then inquired about moving to Esler Baptist Church in Pineville.  But Crooks said when school leaders determined the space was too small to accommodate the more than 100 junior and senior high students, Esler Baptist Church Pastor Mark Breland suggested they contact Darryl Hoychick, pastor of Trinity Baptist. Within three weeks members of Trinity Baptist voted 133-1 to approve the … [Read more...]

  By Philip Timothy, Staff Writer RAYNE – From all over the country they came for the annual Campers on Mission National Rally. RVs, motorcoaches, and campers sporting license plates from North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama and Florida – 18 states in all – filled Gossen Memorial Park where the city of Rayne annually holds its Frog Festival. There was the usual national business matters that had to be handled, but there was also a time for fellowship, Bible study, worship, the exchange of ideas, and, of course, good food. “Certainly we come together to do national business,” said Mona Brockman of Prairieville, La., and event coordinator. “But we’ve also put together an awesome program with plenty of fun things to do, as well as instruction on some of the things we do best in this state.” Bill Austin, president of Louisiana’s COM, said, “This year is a little bit different than in the past because of what is going on with NAMB. “To be honest we have pretty much gone our separate ways,” said Austin. “We as a national organization have dealt with it and we are going on without them. It really hasn’t phased us, because financially we didn’t get any money from them to operate.” NAMB, though, used to … [Read more...]

  By Robert Lemoine, Special to the Message LAKE PROVIDENCE – Lives are changing in this poverty-stricken Mississippi Delta town. Mission teams from across the United States working with First Baptist Church of Lake Providence are making a difference with ministries such as construction, medical clinics, Bible clubs, and personal visits with senior citizens. “We’ve seen racial tensions soften and living conditions improve in the past weeks,” said Mitch Minson, pastor of First Lake Providence since September 2008. “With God’s help, we will touch the lives of at least 1,000 people this summer in a community of only 4,000. That’s 25 percent!” With the financial help of a local charitable foundation, and Mission Serve, which pairs churches seeking missions opportunities with areas looking for help, these volunteers will put new roofs on ten houses, paint eight houses, and build a handicap entrance for another by the end of this summer. Mission Serve, headquartered in Cumming, Ga., is an organization founded in 2003 at the request of the Georgia Baptist Convention by Andy Morris, who had been director of World Changers, which was started in 1990 by the SBC’s Brotherhood Commission. “All of this is the work of God; we don’t … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 08/01/2012 - 01:00 Bike Rack: Welder J.B. Owens (above) of First Baptist Haynesville, built this bike rack for the Baptist Collegiate Ministries’ new building at LA Tech, at the request of Pastor Shelby Cowling.   By Staff, Baptist Message RUSTON – At a recent board of directors meeting for the Baptist Collegiate Ministry for Louisiana Technical University, a need for a bike rack was expressed. Kevin Inman is BCM director at what’s known as “LA Tech.” “Students were parking their bicycles any place they could find in which to chain it,” wrote Pastor Shelby Cowling in a recent article in the Wireless, newsletter for First Baptist Church of Haynesville. Cowling is a member of the BCM board of directors. “I left thinking that providing a bike rack was something that FBC Haynesville could do,” Cowling wrote. “After searching for one unsuccessfully, I asked Mr. J.B. Owens  if he could build one. He readily agreed.” When Cowling arrived with the bike rack, “some young men were ready to unload it,” the pastor wrote. “[Inman] said it was just in time because classes for the summer semester started the next day and he was expecting students to start coming to the BCM.” The … [Read more...]