By Kelly Boggs, Baptist Message Editor While researching the subject of New Year’s resolutions I came across the following quote: “He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool.” The person from who made this quote is obviously as much a pessimist as a cynic when it comes to making a fresh start on Jan. 1. G.K. Chesterton had a different take on the making of resolutions. “The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes,” wrote the English author. “Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.” In recent years, the making of New Year’s resolutions – or rather the breaking of them – has become fodder for late-night comics. That said, I agree with Chesterton that there is something noble about seeking to better oneself with the making of resolutions. Once a person reaches the point that he or she sees no value in seeking to become better by resolving to change, that person has given up on living life and has settled on simply existing. This, if you think about it, is in and … [Read more...]

By Wayne Taylor, Executive Director Louisiana Baptist Foundation   I recently opened a checking account for my son, and we looked at the interest rates being paid by the bank.   They offered 0.01 percent on checking accounts and .25 percent on a one-year CD.   I explained to my son that for many years the common passbook savings rate was 5.25 percent, and rates were higher if your money was locked in for a period of time. I explained to him that people save money all their lives in order to retire and live off the interest or earnings from their investments.   Today due to a poor economy and low interest rates, some retired folks are beginning to “eat” their principle and are hoping they don’t outlive their money.   In this low interest rate environment, everyone is searching for higher interest rates, but desperation and greed can cause people to be fooled by a bad deal or unscrupulous people.   I have seen advertisements showing rates as high as 7 percent, 8 percent, and 11 percent.   My fear is that individuals who have been hurt by low interest rates will be hurt more by investing with companies offering  interest rates that are “too high” in this low … [Read more...]

By Rex Butler, Professor of Church History and Pastristics at NOBTS   “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.”   These famous words were written around 200 A.D. by Tertullian, an early church father who lived in Carthage, North Africa. This adage proved true over and over during the first centuries of the church as Christians demonstrated their faith in Christ by delivering the ultimate witness: their martyrdom. In fact, the word “martyr” comes from the Greek word martus, which means “witness.”   When many of those living in the Roman Empire saw that Christians were willing to die rather than renounce Jesus Christ as Lord, they ceased jeering and began seeking after such a faith that could change their own lives.   In A.D. 203, some new believers and their teacher were martyred in the arena in Carthage. Their story is preserved in The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, a document that includes Perpetua’s diary (the earliest existing writing by a Christian woman), a vision of heaven recorded by the teacher named Saturus, and an eyewitness account of the martyrs’ deaths.   In 202, the year before these martyrdoms, the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus desired to restore … [Read more...]

By Bill Warren, Professor of New Testament and Greek at NOBTS   Question: What Do We Know About Jesus’ Family? What happened to them after Jesus was born and later after he was crucified?   Bill Warren responds: You’ve asked a question that Christians have puzzled over from the second century onward. Unfortunately, we don’t know as much as our curiosity desires, but there is some information in the New Testament and other early sources.   In the New Testament, Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:56 mention Mary as Jesus’ mother, Jesus’ sisters (not named) and brothers James, Joses, Jude (or Judas), and Simon. The most natural reading of this text is that these are actual brothers and sisters, not simply “cousins,” and no indication is given that they are children of only Joseph and not Mary.   Matthew 13:56 also notes that Joseph was a carpenter, with Mark 6:3 noting that Jesus was also a carpenter. Of course, the son generally followed in his father’s trade, so we should expect the same trade for both Joseph and Jesus.   Regarding Jesus’ parents, his father is not mentioned as being alive during Jesus’ ministry, so most likely Joseph died between when Jesus was 12 years old and when his … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   MONROE – Rodney Ray didn’t start his latest screen venture planning to address the issue of suicide.[img_assist|nid=7841|title=Movie: New Hope|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=373]   What the owner of R-Squared Productions had in mind was a film about teen-age angst that could be shot during the summer, when most students are out of school. The film was to follow the success of 2010’s Flag of my Father, which took first place at the GI Film Festival in Washington D.C. last May.   But at least four high school students committed suicide in Ouachita Parish during the 2010-2011 school year, and when he heard that, Ray’s script-writing flowed in a new direction.   “Our small community – Monroe has a population of about 48,815 – has had more than 20 suicides in the last year,” said Ray, a member of First Baptist Church of West Monroe, where John Avant is pastor. “Hopefully, New Hope will help break that stronghold locally, nationally and globally.”   New Hope is a film set for release Feb. 10; a pastors’ preview is set for Jan 24 at First West.   “It’s about a community dealing with the effects of a suicide,” Ray … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   STATEWIDE – Jan. 2 started the first of 21 days of praying and fasting for members and pastors/leaders of Louisiana’s more than 1,600 Southern Baptist churches.   The act of confessing private and corporate sins, and the personal recommitment to walking in obedience to God’s direction, was to take place before the start of the 2012 Louisiana Evangelism Conference, themed “Return” and set for Jan. 23-24 at First Baptist Church of Pineville.   This focus pointing Louisianans toward being prepared for God to send a spiritual awakening to the state that spreads out to the nation and world is the joint venture of the entire LBC team that serves Louisiana Baptist churches, led by Executive Director David E. Hankins and President Waylon Bailey, pastor of First Baptist Church of Covington.   January into April offer a basketful of opportunities for Louisiana Baptists.   A week into the time of praying and fasting, the second-annual, day-long PreTeen Invasion is set for Saturday, Jan. 7, in Guinn Auditorium and on the campus grounds of Louisiana College. This is a ministry of the LBC evangelism church growth team.   Louisiana … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message ARRIVALS/DEPATURES Jeff Pate, Todd (wife Megan) Strain, Matt (wife Cassie) Hubbard and Dean (wife Kimberly) Rivers, are to be ordained to the gospel ministry Jan. 18 at Calvary Alexandria. Pastor: David Brooks. Needed/Giving First Broussard has orange pews to donate: 29 pews at 13.6 ft, and 13 pews at 16.6 ft. Call 337.837.1125 or email secretary@fbcbroussard.com. Bienville/Webster-Claiborne Baptist Association churches without pastors: Calvary Springhill, Unity Cotton Valley, West Lake Doyline, Old Union Shongaloo, Mt Paran Shongaloo. DOM: Randy Hales. Concord Union Baptist Association churches without pastors: University, Union Grove, Sardis, Mt. Tabor, First Simsboro, Mt. Union, Evergreen, Pisgah, Conway. DOM: Barry Joyner. Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association churches without pastors: Bethany, Ferry Lake, Greenwood Frist, Mansfield Road, Oil City First, Red River, Shreveport First, Waller. Carey Baptist Association churches without pastors: Bellview, First Cameron, Eastern Heights, First Hackberry, First Lake Arthur. DOM: JP Miles.   Homecomings, Anniversaries, Revivals First Haynesville: Revival Jan. 15-18. Speaker: Cliff Estes. Pastor: Shelby Cowling.   Church … [Read more...]