By Hayes Wicker, Senior Pastor First Baptist Naples, Fla.   While multitudes mourn the death of Charles Colson, probably the best-known and most influential American Christian other than Billy Graham, I experience a profound sadness as his pastor of 20 years.   I first met Chuck while in view of a call. I presented an audacious covenant to the First Baptist Church of Naples which was attached to the secret ballot, challenging the church: “You cannot separate a man from his message and his methods; a vote to call me is a vote to confirm this covenant.”   While not a member yet, Chuck came to me and affirmed this action and asked permission to put my covenant in his next book, The Body.   When Chuck joined our church, I urged him to teach a class for non-members, titled “Why Believe?” It became the basis of his book How Now Shall We Live? and gave credibility to our new ministry.   Colson’s autistic grandson, Max, was visiting one day, saw baptism and wanted to profess Christ himself. I authorized Chuck to baptize him in his pool. Chuck was an unashamed Baptist in doctrine and mission, and a faithful steward.   Chuck had an incredible ability to affirm others. I … [Read more...]

By Andy Johnson, Pastor Cross Roads Baptist Church Farmerville The vast majority of Baptist churches throughout Louisiana – and across the country – will hold Vacation Bible School during the upcoming summer months. Some even do it twice a year. Whether it revolves around alligators, pandas, apples, or big pirate ships, there is always a ton of work to be done to transform pristine sanctuaries and educational facilities into a broad array of sounds, colors, and themes designed to widen the eyes of children – ranging in age from 3 years old all the way to 12. There are lessons to be learned, videos to watch, games to play, crafts to construct, cookies and punch to be consumed. There is also music to sing and gyrate to, and humor to be enjoyed. And of course, there are decisions to be made. As a VBS volunteer, you may find yourself asking if all the fuss is worth it – all the tireless hours spent decorating, the countless evenings given to cut paper, tape posters to walls, color pictures, all the hopes your efforts will result in a worthwhile experience for all the kids to enjoy – all without destroying the drywall. Though the aforementioned decisions about themes and decorations may be important, they are not the most … [Read more...]

By Joe Aguillard, President of Louisiana College, William Armstrong, President of Colorado Christian University, Ken Smith, Geneva College We are presidents of three private, evangelical colleges throughout the country. Our colleges enrich each of our communities. We educate young men and women for virtuous and productive roles in society. We engage in service and charitable outreach. We provide jobs to many hundreds of citizens and provide their families generous health insurance. But the Obama administration has passed a rule that will penalize our colleges with faith-based fines merely because we center our beliefs about the sanctity of human life on the Bible, not on the demands of federal bureaucrats. The administration’s mandate that religious employers provide coverage of abortion-inducing drugs for their faculty, staff, and students is a bridge too far in America. This “conscience tax” is a blatant violation of the freedoms of religion and speech guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and affirmed by federal laws such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This mandate would be unjust even if it applied only to those who accept government funding, but it does much more than that. It applies to private, religious … [Read more...]

By Rex Butler, NOBTS When Pope Gregory II commissioned the missionary known as Boniface, he said, “You seem to glow with the salvation-bringing fire that the Lord came to send upon the earth” as cited by Mark Galli in 131 Christians Everyone Should Know). Gregory gave him the name “Boniface” (“doer of good”), a name to which Boniface lived up to by his hard work and impacting preaching in eighth-century Germany. Boniface was born about 680 A.D. as Wynfrith (or Winfrid) in Wessex in southern England, to Christian parents. His family entertained a number of monks coming to establish Christian institutions in the region, and young Wynfrith was so taken with their way of life that, at the age of five, he determined to dedicate himself to God’s service. His parents were appalled, for they had different aspirations for their robust, intelligent son than his being shut up in a monastery. His father both rebuked him violently and tried bribes, but after his father recovered from the plague and credited the prayers of the faithful monks, Wynfrith’s parents gave him their blessing and placed him at the age of 7 in a Benedictine monastery. Wynfrith started as a boy lector and worked his way up the minor orders of clerical rank. He … [Read more...]

By Archie England, NOBTS   Question: Judaism uses the term “Shema” to refer to their theological understanding that God is one (and not a Trinity). Where is this in the Old Testament, and what does it mean?   Archie England responds: “Shema” is a Hebrew word that means “hear!” and it’s the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4. What follows this imperative verb in verses 4-9 has become known as the “Shema.” The passage is used in their morning and evening prayer service, and it is explained by Judaism as expressing the monotheistic essence of God (as opposed to our Christian doctrine of Trinity).   Deuteronomy 6 immediately follows Moses’s second recounting of the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:6-21). As such, its emphasis is the first commandment: “No other gods before me.” To accomplish such spiritual purity of relationship with the Lord God of Israel, God commanded Moses to teach (6:1) Israel His commandments, statutes, and judgments. Only by discipling Israel in such knowledge would Israel become capable of fearing (a kind of fear that results in worshipful reverence) the Lord God and living in obedience to Him (6:2). This fear and obedience was the centerpiece of Israel’s covenant relationship with … [Read more...]

ST. PAUL, Minn. – On Apr. 18, the Minnesota Senate passed a bill on a 43-23 vote, requiring centers that conduct 10 or more abortions per month to be licensed and inspected by the state.   “We haven’t had a good vote in the Minnesota Senate like this in a long time on an issue like abortion,” said Sen. Claire Robling, the bill’s sponsor. “I worked very hard to make this a reasonable bill. I think when the public realizes that we have no health department inspection or licensing of abortion clinics, they are shocked. They just assume that they would be. It’s an invasive procedure, and there are so many risks.”   Senate File 1921 was written in response to an egregious situation drug-enforcement officers found in Pennsylvania in 2011. Kermit Gosnell’s Philadelphia abortion clinic had gone uninspected for years — but when officers investigating him for illegally distributing prescription drugs finally entered his building, they found fetal remains in trash bags, unsanitary equipment, and a facility that reeked of cat urine.   Gosnell was charged with eight counts of murder – seven in connection with babies whose birth he induced in the last trimester, then killed by severing their spinal cords with … [Read more...]

By Philip Timothy, Message Staff Writer   Too often youth ministers/ministries just “let it happen.”   Andy Blanks, co-founder of youthministry360 and author of 7 Best Practices for Teaching Teenagers the Bible, pointed out to his audience that statistics reveal a larger than imagined percentage of youth ministers do little or no planning for their small group Bible study time with their youth  … they just let it happen. Not good.   “Events, big or small, are good, but too often youth ministers miss the opportunity to lead teenagers to know God and His ways through small group Bible studies,” Blanks said. “Regrettably, it’s an opportunity that’s unfortunately wasted.”   Blanks and Les Bradford, close friend and co-founder of youthministry360, spent Friday, April 25, discussing with more than 60 youth leaders from across the state practices they could employ to better engage their teens.   Bradford, a member of The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Ala., and Blanks, a member of Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, Ga., worked for Student Life in Birmingham for a number of years.   They led the publishing team in creating the Student Life Bible Study and … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   ALEXANDRIA – Singles from all the more than 1,600 Southern Baptist churches in Louisiana were invited to a  recent gathering especially for them at the Baptist Building.   Worship was led by Brad Ewing, a member of the worship team at First Baptist Church of Bossier City.   With a theme of “Shine Out,” Moses Caesar of Phoenix, Ariz., whose ministry is geared toward singles, spoke on developing the disciplines of the Christian life: Bible reading, studying, scripture memory and the like.   It was the second year in a row for an event geared specifically to single adults, said Jeff Ingram, Adult Ministry Strategist on the LBC Evangelism/Church Growth Team.   “I want to encourage single adults to be healthy in their relationship with God and with others, so they can be more effective in reaching, teaching and ministering to others through their local churches,” Ingram said. “Expect more for Singles in 2013.” … [Read more...]

[img_assist|nid=8118|title=A helping hand|desc=Members of First DeQuincy serve hot dogs at the town’s Louisiana Railroad Days Festival.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=362]By Rita LeBlue, Special to the Message   DEQUINCY – Members of the First Baptist Church have been giving out free water at the Louisiana Railroad Days Festival booth for more than 20 years.   “Free” anything is otherwise unheard of at the festival. Lemonade costs five bucks. So it’s a much-appreciated service. But that’s not the only way First DeQuincy members go about their Father’s business during this small town’s largest attraction.   Before the first revolution of the ferris wheel or the first sizzle of a funnel cake, some church members roll out their grills and set them up at the fairgrounds for a cookout and outdoor worship service for the carnival workers.   First DeQuincy has been quietly doing this for the last seven years. This year about 30 carnival workers participated.   Fair workers like Jerry Shankle lined up to eat. He’s a game operator from Gulfport who said that while his baseball throw game is not “rigged,” because “that’s against the law,” he pointed out, “there are rules that do … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Marketing Director   DENHAM SPRINGS –The tremendous burden for the American church was too much for Joshua Spinks.   A student minister at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church in 2010, Spinks would experience many sleepless nights wondering how to reach the un-churched.   “In places like China, Africa and India the gospel is spreading like wildfire in the face of persecution,” Spinks said. “But here in the states where there is freedom and liberty to serve God, the church is dying, in many respects. The why is what kept me up at night.”   Those feelings of trepidation eventually led to the founding of the Way church, a mission of Zoar Baptist Church in Baton Rouge that began with small groups meeting in homes throughout Denham Springs. The church officially launched its first service Nov. 1, 2011.   Spinks’ idea for the church began after reading the book Four Soils. One of the book’s themes is that discipleship comes through planting churches and training leaders from those churches to plant other churches.   By April 2011 Spinks was visiting the home of close friend Scott Cheatham. Through a conversation there the two men learned they shared the … [Read more...]